★ A very interesting and historically important seal! ★

Byzantine lead seal of Philaretos Brachames, protosebastos (11th cent.)
Obverse: St. Theodore standing facing, wearing military dress, holding spear in right hand, resting left on shield, columnar inscription: O ΑΓΙΟC-[ΘΕΟΔΩΡΟC] = Ὁ ἅγιος Θεόδωρος (Saint Theodore), all within dotted border.

Reverse: Inscription in 6 lines, +[Κ(ΥΡΙ)ΕΒΟΗΘΕ[Ι]/ΤΟΑΠΤΕΧΕ./Π.ΠΡΩΤΟC[E]/BACΤΩΝΦ[Ι]/ΛΑΡΕΤΩ/ΒΡΑΧΑ[ΜΗ] = +Κύριε, βοήθει τῷ πρωτοέχοντι πρωτοσεβάστῳ Φιλαρέτῳ Βραχάμῃ (Lord, help the first being, protosebastos Philaretos Brachames), no visible border.

A very interesting and historically important seal!

Philaretos Brachamios (Varazhnuni), Romanos IV’s strategos, doux and, according to Anna Komnene (An.Komn. 2:64.5—8), domestikos, was —if we believe MICHAEL I THE SYRIAN (Chronique, tr. Chabot 3:173)— an Armenian robber from the village of Shurbaz; thus his identification as a Byzantine gen-eral is questionable. After Romanos IV’s blinding, Philaretos became independent ruler of Tarsos, Antioch, Edessa, Melitene, and some other east-ern centers. Greek, Syriac, and Armenian tradi¬tions all charge Philaretos with cruelty and greed: he allegedly confiscated the riches of Antiochene magnates and distributed them among his sup¬porters. After Nikephoros Ill’s accession to the throne, Philaretos acknowledged his allegiance to the Byzantium and was proclaimed kouropalates and do¬mestikos ton scholon of the East; in 1084 he surren¬dered Antioch to the Turks. He disappeared thereafter from the scene, but an anonymous Syriac chronicle mentions the sons of Philaretos domestikos, “Christians” (i.e., Orthodox) who ruled over Maras and Black Mountain (A.S. Tritton, H.A.R. Gibb, JRAS [Jan. 1933] 72O. The family is not known after the 11th C., except in 1171 when Brachamioi served as messengers in nego¬tiations between Manuel I and the Armenians. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Cheynet-Vannier, Etudes 57—74. Adontz, Etudes 147— 52. V.A. Arutjunova-Fidanjan, Armjane-chalkidonity na vos- tocnych granicach Vizantijskoj imperii (Erevan 1980) 152—69. C.J. Yamiey, “Philaretos: Armenian Bandu or Byzainine General?” REArm n.s. 9 (1972) 331—53 (Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991), Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, p. 319).

Condition: Very Fine

Weight: 11.90 gr
Diameter: 22 mm