Porphyrogennitos

Porphyrogennitos (Latinized as Porphyrogenitus) (Greek: Πορφυρογέννητος, literally "born in the purple") is a honorific title in the Diadochian Empire given to a son, or daughter (Porphyrogenita) born to the monarch.

The Porphýra Chamber

The Porphýra, the Purple or Porphyry Chamber, a pavilion of the Great Palace of Atlantis is the place were the imperial children are born into the world. This pavilion is a free-standing building in the Great Palace complex in the Boukoleon Palace. The Pavilion got its name because its walls, floor and ceiling were completely veneered with Imperial Porphyry

Qualifications

From the early 8th century until the title of Porphyrogennitos was open to all children of the Emperor by his legal wife in 1470, were as follows

To be entitled to the style Porphyrogennitos one had to pass certain requirements, including:

• The most distinctive condition is that the child be born in the "Πορφύρα" (Porphýra, the Purple or Porphyry Chamber, a pavilion of the Great Palace of Atlantis): no child born anywhere else could legitimately be called Porphyrogennitos.
• The second qualification for status as a Porphyrogennitos is that the father must be a reigning Basileus or Emperor
• The Third qualification is that the mother must be married to the Basileus (and therefore an empress) and additionally must have undergone a formal, sacred ceremony creating her an Augusta.