Eumathios Philokales, grand doux and praitor of Hellas and the Peloponnesos (eleventh/twelfth century, ca. 1118)
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin orans with medallion of Christ on breast. Sigla: ̅ΘΥ̅ : Μήτηρ Θεοῦ. No border visible.
Reverse
Inscription of seven lines. No border visible.
ΘΚ...
ΥΜΕΘˋ
ΕΓΑΛΔΚΙ
ΠΡΑΙΤΡΙΕΛ
ΑΔΟΣΠΕΛΟ
ΟΣ,ΤΦΙ
ΟΚΑΛΗ
Θεοτόκε βοήθει Εὐμεθίῳ μεγάλῳ δουκὶ (καὶ) πραίτωρι Ἑλλάδος καὶ Πελοποννήσου τῷ Φιλοκάλῃ
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin orans with medallion of Christ on breast. Sigla: ̅ΘΥ̅ : Μήτηρ Θεοῦ. No border visible.
Reverse
Inscription of seven lines. No border visible.
ΘΚ...
ΥΜΕΘˋ
ΕΓΑΛΔΚΙ
ΠΡΑΙΤΡΙΕΛ
ΑΔΟΣΠΕΛΟ
ΟΣ,ΤΦΙ
ΟΚΑΛΗ
Θεοτόκε βοήθει Εὐμεθίῳ μεγάλῳ δουκὶ (καὶ) πραίτωρι Ἑλλάδος καὶ Πελοποννήσου τῷ Φιλοκάλῃ
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.3249 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 24.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 22.15. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει Εὐμεθίῳ μεγάλῳ δουκὶ καὶ πραίτωρι Ἑλλάδος καὶ Πελοποννήσου τῷ Φιλοκάλῃ.
Mother of God, help Eumathios Philokales, grand doux and praitor of Hellas and the Peloponnesos.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 2: South of the Balkans, the Islands, South of Asia Minor (Open in Zotero)
- Sigillographie de l’Empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Zur Sigillographie der byzantinischen Themen Peloponnes und Hellas (Open in Zotero)
- Le Peloponnese byzantin jusqu’en 1204 (Open in Zotero)
- Les sceaux byzantins du Médaillier Vatican (Open in Zotero)
- Realities of Byzantine Provincial Government: Hellas and Peloponnesos, 1180-1205 (Open in Zotero)
- Les personnages byzantins de l’Alexiade: Analyse prosopographique et synthèse (Open in Zotero)
- La Morée franque: Recherches historiques, topographiques et archéologiques sur la principauté d’Achaïe (1205-1430) (Open in Zotero)
- Die Skleroi: Eine prosopographisch-sigillographische Studie (Open in Zotero)
- Theophanis Chronographia (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Die byzantinische Armee im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert: Studien zur Organisation der Tagmata (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Line 2 (rev.): Note the odd spelling of the name, Εὐμεθίῳ instead of Εὐμαθίῳ; however, the pivotal letter Ε as well as the abbreviation mark after Θ are certain (the Schlumberger specimen carries the normal speling of the name). This variant is problematic because it can be understood as a pun with the name: instead of εὖ+μάθ-, "quick learner," we have εὖ+μέθ-, "can't hold his liquor." As we are dealing here with a very powerful man, very overbearing toward his subordinates, we must take it that this seal was made and used with his own approval. Was this a mistake of the engraver that the grand doux found unnecessary to correct or was it a deliberate pun on a seal used only in correspondence with friends?
Eumathios Philokales was a well-known figure of the late 11th/early 12th century (cf. Bon, Péloponnèse, 197, no. 48; Laurent, Vatican, no. 68; Herrin, chart between p. 276-77, no. 6; Skoulatos, Personnages, 79-82; N. Oikonomides, Οἱ αὐθένται τῶν Κρητικῶν τὸ 1118, Pepragmena of the 4th International Congress of Cretan Studies II [Athens, 1981] 311-13). He is attested with the titles of grand doux doux and praitor (of Hellas and Peloponnesos: but this is not written out) in a document of Patmos of August 25, 1118 (MM VI, 96). We assume (contra Skoulatos) that our seal must refer to this period of his life.