Vladimir Putin: President of Russia

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Kempeitai, Kgb, Savak, Dina, Confederate Secret Service, Agentes in Rebus, List of Defunct Intelligence Agencies, Ib Affair, Sigurimi, Ozna, Frumentarii, Stb, Kopkamtib, Valtiollinen Poliisi, Jinyi Wei, Bureau of Barbarians, Centro Superior de Información de La Defensa, Rcmp Security Service, Organización Democrática Nacionalista, Sentinel Association, Areani. Excerpt: The agentes in rebus (Greek : or ), were the late Roman imperial courier service and general agents of the central government from the 4th to the 7th centuries.History The exact date of their institution is unknown. They are first mentioned in 319, but may date to Diocletian 's reforms in the late 3rd century. The agentes replaced the earlier and much-detested frumentarii , and fell under the jurisdiction of the magister officiorum (Master of the Offices), hence their alternate Greek name of magistrianoi . As a result of the reforms of Diocletian, the frumentarii were disbanded. The central imperial administration still needed couriers, and the agentes in rebus filled this role. Originally they acted as the dispatch carriers, but eventually assumed a variety of duties - the title itself translates as "Doers of Things". They survived into the Byzantine Empire , being eventually abolished sometime in the early 8th century, as most of the magister's functions were taken over by the logothets tou dromou . The last reference to an agens comes in the chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor , where the magistrianos Paul is recorded as having been sent on an embassy in 678. Organization and function The agentes in rebus were formed into a schola of the palace, and in common with other public services of the Dominate , their service was militarized, and considered a militia . Indeed, the agentes were divided into five ranks...