Michael imperial spatharios and tourmarches of Pamphylia (ninth century)
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V); in the quarters: ΤΣ|ΔΛ. Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Wreath border.
ΜΙΧ
ΗΛΒΣΠ/
ΕΤΟΡΜΡ.
ΠΜΦΥΛ
ΗΣ
Μιχαὴλ βασιλικῷ σπαθαρίῳ κὲ τορμάρχῃ Παμφυλήας
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V); in the quarters: ΤΣ|ΔΛ. Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Wreath border.
ΜΙΧ
ΗΛΒΣΠ/
ΕΤΟΡΜΡ.
ΠΜΦΥΛ
ΗΣ
Μιχαὴλ βασιλικῷ σπαθαρίῳ κὲ τορμάρχῃ Παμφυλήας
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.4889 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 28.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 73.1. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Μιχαὴλ βασιλικῷ σπαθαρίῳ κὲ τορμάρχῃ Παμφυλήας.
Mother of God, help your servant Michael, imperial spatharios and tourmarches of Pamphylia.
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)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The reading in line 2 (rev.) of ΒΑ as βασιλικῷ seems preferable to the Zacos-Veglery transcription as βασιλικῷ πρωτο.
The Roman province of Pamphylia (cf. ODB III, 1568) was certainly part of the theme of the Kibyrraiotai. The tourmarches of Pamphylia is mentioned in the treatise of Philotheos (899: Listes, 149); he does not appear in the taktikon Uspenskij (ca. 843), but this omission is not significant because this list of tourmarchai has obvious lacunae (Listes, 55). The specimen published below, which comes from the first half of the 9th century (note the two-loop beta), shows that the position of tourmarches of Pamphylia, as written in the manuscript of Philotheos (not of Pisidia, as it has been suggested), most probably existed early in the 9th century. It is not clear to us whether the tourmarches of Pamphylia was a naval commander or the head of land troops, like the tourmarches of Lykaonia, with whom he is mentioned and who commanded elite troops of foederati raised in Lykaonia and Pisidia. This latter hypothesis seems more likely because of previous history (Lykaonia, Pisidia, and Pamphylia constituted a separate military region already in the 4th region); to a similar conclusion points also the 9th century seal of an ek prosopou of Pamphylia, an officer who was no doubt independent from the strategos of the Kibyrraotai (Zacos-Veglery, no. 3228). See Listes, 343; Winkelmann, Ämterstruktur, 79, 120.