grammaticus
A teacher of medium and higher education in Byzantium. In the Middle and Late Byzantine periods it also denoted an administrative official, usually a secretary. In the 15th century, according to pseudo-Kodinos, the secretary was synonymous to the notarios.

maistor ton rhetoron
A teacher of rhetoric in the Patriarchal School of Constantinople; also the chief imperial orator. The maistor of rhetoron was appointed by the emperor himself, and his responsibilities included delivering encomiastic speeches for the emperor on various occasions.

monody
Literary work of oratorical character which was also a memorial speech.

prokypsis
<προκύπτω> 1. Elevated wooden platform. 2. A ceremony which dates to the reign of the Komnenoi and the Palaiologoi. According to the ritual the emperor mounted a wooden platform, behind a curtain and when the audition began, the by-standers clerics and men of the court intoned the polychronion. The origin of the ceremony remains unknown, its roots though go back to the idololatrous period. Sources of the 14th c. describe the ceremony as it was performed on Christmas Eve.

protosynkellos
The protosynkellos was the assistant and often the successor of the Patriarch or the archbishop, as he was a person with great influence. Until the 5th c. the title of the synkellos was used for the same office. In the course of time, the synckllos undertook more responsibilities and this resulted in the creation of the titles of the protosynkellos and the great protosynkellos. The latter in the Paleologean era signified the protosynkellos of the Patriarch.

sermon
Ecclesiastical literary work. A speech which is delivered during the Mass and discusses a certain theme from the Bible. Through the sermons the orator usually lauded the emperor or the patriarch.