Bardas imperial spatharokandidatos and epi tou manglaviou (tenth century)
Obverse
Outline of peacock visible. Indecipherable traces of epigraphy at right, but surely the remains of a formulaic invocation:
Κύριε or Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of five lines, followed by a decoration of dots.
ρ.
σιλι.
σπθρ.
κνε.
τομγγ
Βαρ[δ]ᾷ βασιλι[κ(ῷ)] σπαθαρ[ο]κανδ(ιδάτῳ) (καὶ) ἐ[π(ὶ)] το(ῦ) μαγγ(λαβίου)
Obverse
Outline of peacock visible. Indecipherable traces of epigraphy at right, but surely the remains of a formulaic invocation:
Κύριε or Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of five lines, followed by a decoration of dots.
ρ.
σιλι.
σπθρ.
κνε.
τομγγ
Βαρ[δ]ᾷ βασιλι[κ(ῷ)] σπαθαρ[ο]κανδ(ιδάτῳ) (καὶ) ἐ[π(ὶ)] το(ῦ) μαγγ(λαβίου)
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.1183 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 20.0 mm |
| Credit Line | Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore. |
Translation
Κύριε or Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Βαρδᾷ βασιλικῷ σπαθαροκανδιδάτῳ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μαγγλαβίου.
Lord or Mother of God, help Bardas imperial spatharokandidatos and epi tou manglaviou.
Bibliography
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The ἐπὶ τοῦ μαγγλαβίου was the head of the manglavion, a detachment of imperial bodyguards. The unit is attested from the end of the eighth century to the end of the eleventh. Oikonomides (Listes, 328) has noted that μαγγλαβίτης originally constituted an office that eventually became a title. Τhis does not seem to be the case with Bardas, who nevertheless holds a middling rank.