Miliaresion
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The ''miliaresion'' ( el, μιλιαρήσιον, from la, miliarensis), is a name used for two types of
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
coins. In its most usual sense, it refers to the themed flat silver coin struck between the 8th and 11th Century.


History

Originally, the name was given to a series of silver coins issued in the 4th century that were struck 72 to the pound and were the equivalent of 1,000 ''
nummi New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) was an American automobile manufacturing company in Fremont, California, jointly owned by General Motors and Toyota that opened in 1984 and closed in 2010. After the plant was closed by its owners, th ...
''. Thereafter and until the 7th century, the Byzantines did not get regularly circulate silver coins, although there were a very small number of commemorative issues struck. In the 7th century, a ''miliaresion'' was an alternative name possibly given to a variation on the short-lived
hexagram , can be seen as a compound composed of an upwards (blue here) and downwards (pink) facing equilateral triangle, with their intersection as a regular hexagon (in green). A hexagram ( Greek language, Greek) or sexagram (Latin) is a six-pointed ...
coin minted during the time of
Heraclius Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was List of Byzantine emperors, Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exa ...
and
Constans II Constans II ( grc-gre, Κώνστας, Kōnstas; 7 November 630 – 15 July 668), nicknamed "the Bearded" ( la, Pogonatus; grc-gre, ὁ Πωγωνᾶτος, ho Pōgōnãtos), was the Eastern Roman emperor from 641 to 668. Constans was the last ...
. From , this variant coin, broader and thinner than the hexagram, was instituted by
Leo III the Isaurian Leo III the Isaurian ( gr, Λέων ὁ Ἴσαυρος, Leōn ho Isauros; la, Leo Isaurus; 685 – 18 June 741), also known as the Syrian, was Byzantine Emperor from 717 until his death in 741 and founder of the Isaurian dynasty. He put an en ...
().. The new coin, for which the term ''miliaresion'' is usually preserved among numismatists, was apparently struck 144 to the pound, with an initial weight of circa 2.27
gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure wate ...
s, although in the Macedonian period that increased to 3.03 grams (i.e. 108 coins to the pound).. The design of the coins bears a striking resemblance to a series of silver coins minted in the previous century by the Persian
Sassanid Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
, which were later copied by the islamic
Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...
. It is from the latter's influence that it seems the Byzantines drew inspiration to adopt the new design, particularly in light of the
Isaurian dynasty The Byzantine Empire was ruled by the Isaurian or Syrian dynasty from 717 to 802. The Isaurian emperors were successful in defending and consolidating the Empire against the Caliphate after the onslaught of the early Muslim conquests, but were l ...
's iconoclastic policies. Like the contemporary silver ''
dirham The dirham, dirhem or dirhm ( ar, درهم) is a silver unit of currency historically and currently used by several Arab and Arab influenced states. The term has also been used as a related unit of mass. Unit of mass The dirham was a un ...
'' of the Caliphate, the ''miliaresion'' featured initially no human representations, sporting instead the names and titles of a single emperor or emperors on the reverse and a
cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...
on steps on the obverse. In the first century of the ''miliaresion''s issue, it appears to have been struck solely as a ceremonial coin on the occasion of the appointment of a co-emperor, and hence always features the names of two Byzantine emperors. Only from the reign of Emperor Theophilos () did the coin become regular issue, struck throughout an emperor's reign. In the 10th century, Emperor
Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
() introduced a bust of
Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
on the obverse, and
Romanos I Romanos I Lekapenos ( el, Ρωμανός Λεκαπηνός; 870 – 15 June 948), Latinized as Romanus I Lecapenus, was Byzantine emperor from 920 until his deposition in 944, serving as regent for the infant Constantine VII. Origin Romanos ...
() added an imperial bust to the center of the cross. Shortly thereafter, the earlier
cross potent A cross potent (plural: crosses potent), also known as a crutch cross, is a form of heraldic cross with crossbars at the four ends. In French, it is known as '' croix potencée'', in German as a ''Kruckenkreuz'', all translating to "crutch cross ...
of
Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...
was transformed into a newer, radiant cross-crosslet, often with flanking portraits of the reigning co-emperors (such as those found on the ''miliaresia'' of Romanos I and
Constantine VII Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Kar ...
, or those of
Basil II Basil II Porphyrogenitus ( gr, Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος ;) and, most often, the Purple-born ( gr, ὁ πορφυρογέννητος, translit=ho porphyrogennetos).. 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar S ...
and his brother
Constantine VIII Constantine VIII Porphyrogenitus ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Πορφυρογέννητος, ''Kōnstantinos Porphyrogénnetos''; 960 – 11/12 November 1028) was ''de jure'' Byzantine emperor from 962 until his death. He was the youn ...
). The transformation continued in the mid-11th century, when images of an emperor, Christ, and the
Theotokos ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...
all appeared on the coin together. By the mid- 1060s, the diversity of the images culminated in several examples depicting a reigning empress appearing alongside her emperor, which appears to have begun under Constantine X Doukas and
Eudokia Makrembolitissa Eudokia Makrembolitissa ( el, Εὐδοκία Μακρεμβολίτισσα, Eudocia Macrembolitissa) was a Byzantine empress by her successive marriages to Constantine X Doukas and Romanos IV Diogenes. She acted as regent of her minor son, Mich ...
, due to the latter's heavy influence on the court. However, by the middle of the 11th century, due to a debasement of the currency begun by
Romanos III Argyros Romanos III Argyros ( el, Ρωμανός Αργυρός; Latinized Romanus III Argyrus; 968 – 11 April 1034), or Argyropoulos was Byzantine Emperor from 1028 until his death. He was a Byzantine noble and senior official in Constantinople whe ...
, 23 and 13 fractions of the ''miliaresion'' also began to be minted, and the military and financial collapse that occurred primarily under the Doukas dynasty in the 1060s and 1070s severely affected the quality of the coin. By the 1080s, the coin fell out of prominence, and only a few rare examples exist from the reign of
Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...
(). It was discontinued after 1092 (due to Alexios I's currency reform), but remained as a
money of account Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...
, equal to 112 of a ''
nomisma ''Nomisma'' ( el, νόμισμα) was the ancient Greek word for "money" and is derived from nomos (νόμος) anything assigned, a usage, custom, law, ordinance".The King James Version New Testament Greek Lexicon; Strong's Number:3546 The te ...
''. Following the reform, it was replaced by a low-grade billon ''trachy'' cup coin, initially worth a quarter of a ''miliaresion'', but over the following century it was significantly devalued, especially after the collapse of the
Komnenian dynasty Komnenos ( gr, Κομνηνός; Latinized Comnenus; plural Komnenoi or Comneni (Κομνηνοί, )) was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 to 1185, and later, as the Grand Komnenoi (Μεγαλοκομνην ...
following the death of
Manuel I Komnenos Manuel I Komnenos ( el, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, translit=Manouíl Komnenos, translit-std=ISO; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Romanization of Greek, Latinized Comnenus, also called Porphyrogennetos (; "born in the purple"), w ...
in 1180. The ''miliaresion'' appears to have been mostly forgotten by the 13th century, especially after the
Sack of Constantinople The sack of Constantinople occurred in April 1204 and marked the culmination of the Fourth Crusade. Crusader armies captured, looted, and destroyed parts of Constantinople, then the capital of the Byzantine Empire. After the capture of the c ...
in 1204, but was in some ways revived in the form of the ''
basilikon The ''basilikon'' ( el, βασιλικόν όμισμα}, "imperial oin), commonly also referred to as the (Greek: δουκάτον), was a widely circulated Byzantine silver coin of the first half of the 14th century. Its introduction marked t ...
'', a flat silver coin issued in the Palaiologan-era empire from roughly 1300 onward.. After the
fall of the Byzantine Empire The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city fell on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun o ...
by the latter half of the 15th century, the name of the ''miliaresion'' survived as a relic in Western European languages, where the term ''milliarès'' was used for various kinds of Muslim silver coins.


Gallery

File:Islamic coin, Time of the Rashidun. Khosrau type. AH 31-41 AD 651-661.jpg,
Rashidun , image = تخطيط كلمة الخلفاء الراشدون.png , caption = Calligraphic representation of Rashidun Caliphs , birth_place = Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia present-day Saudi Arabia , known_for = Companions of t ...
imitation Imitation (from Latin ''imitatio'', "a copying, imitation") is a behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's behavior. Imitation is also a form of that leads to the "development of traditions, and ultimately our culture. I ...
of a coin () of
Sassanid The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
King
Khosrow II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩, Husrō), also known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian king (shah) of Iran, ruling fr ...
. This transitional coin from the early years of the Caliphate illustrates some of the design features that appear to have inspired the Byzantine ''miliaresion''. File:Hexagram of Theodosius III.jpg, A rare example of a hexagram of
Theodosius III Theodosius III ( el, Θεοδόσιος, Theodósios) was Byzantine emperor from May 715 to 25 March 717. Before rising to power and seizing the throne of the Byzantine Empire, he was a tax collector in Adramyttium. In 715, the Byzantine na ...
(), struck just a few years prior to the introduction of the ''miliaresion''. Note the design of the hexagram's cross which was carried through when designing the ''miliaresions obverse. File:Dirham of Umar II, 718-719.jpg, A ''dirham'' of Caliph Umar II (). Note the total lack of imagery on the coin. Size is approx. 25mm, and weighs 2.78 grams, both very close to its Byzantine counterpart. An important contemporary inspiration for Leo III's new coin. File:Leo III miliaresion.jpg, An early example of Leo III's new coin, the ''miliaresion''. Note the similarities with the three preceding coins, namely: the concentric circular edging, the stylized standing cross, and the use of text and simple symbols with no human figures. File:A miliaresion of Theophilos.jpg, ''Miliaresion'' struck by Theophilos () featuring the early cross potent design on the obverse begun by Leo III, with invocative phrasing on the reverse. This classic design persisted until the reign of
Leo VI the Wise Leo VI, called the Wise ( gr, Λέων ὁ Σοφός, Léōn ho Sophós, 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well r ...
(). File:Romanos I with co-emperors, miliaresion, 931-944 AD.jpg, ''Miliaresion'' struck by
Romanos I Lekapenos Romanos I Lekapenos ( el, Ρωμανός Λεκαπηνός; 870 – 15 June 948), Latinized as Romanus I Lecapenus, was Byzantine emperor from 920 until his deposition in 944, serving as regent for the infant Constantine VII. Origin Romanos ...
(), which modifies the classic design to include a miniature portrait within the center of the cross (obverse) and the names of the senior emperor and co-emperors,
Constantine VII Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Kar ...
,
Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...
and
Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...
(reverse). File:Basil II coin.jpg, ''Miliaresion'' struck by
Basil II Basil II Porphyrogenitus ( gr, Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος ;) and, most often, the Purple-born ( gr, ὁ πορφυρογέννητος, translit=ho porphyrogennetos).. 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar S ...
(), and
Constantine VIII Constantine VIII Porphyrogenitus ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Πορφυρογέννητος, ''Kōnstantinos Porphyrogénnetos''; 960 – 11/12 November 1028) was ''de jure'' Byzantine emperor from 962 until his death. He was the youn ...
() featuring the radiant cross-crosslet design of the zenith of the Macedonian period. This new design first appeared by the end of the reign of
Romanos I Romanos I Lekapenos ( el, Ρωμανός Λεκαπηνός; 870 – 15 June 948), Latinized as Romanus I Lecapenus, was Byzantine emperor from 920 until his deposition in 944, serving as regent for the infant Constantine VII. Origin Romanos ...
, and solidified under the sole rule of
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Kar ...
. File:Miliaresion-Romanus III-sb1822.jpg, ''Miliaresion'' struck by
Romanos III Romanos III Argyros ( el, Ρωμανός Αργυρός; Latinized Romanus III Argyrus; 968 – 11 April 1034), or Argyropoulos was Byzantine Emperor from 1028 until his death. He was a Byzantine noble and senior official in Constantinople whe ...
(), featuring a departure from the original cross and phrasing design, and instead portraying the Theotokos with the infant Christ on the obverse and the standing emperor dressed in imperial regalia on the reverse. File:A Miliaresion featuring Michael VII Doukas and Maria of Alania.jpg, ''Miliaresion'' struck by
Michael VII Doukas Michael VII Doukas or Ducas ( gr, Μιχαήλ Δούκας), nicknamed Parapinakes ( gr, Παραπινάκης, lit. "minus a quarter", with reference to the devaluation of the Byzantine currency under his rule), was the senior Byzantine e ...
() and his empress,
Maria of Alania Maria of Alania (born Martha; ka, მართა; 1053–1118) was Byzantine empress by marriages to emperors Michael VII Doukas and Nikephoros III Botaneiates. Her status as empress was considered a significant success for a newly unified Ki ...
, again featuring a radiant cross-crosslet design. This is a rare example of an empress being portrayed on the same coin as a reigning emperor. File:Alexius I Miliaresion.jpg, An extremely rare example of a ''miliaresion'' struck in the early years of the reign of
Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...
(). A cross style and layout similar to the one used on Michael VII's ''miliaresion'' of the 1070s is used, and Alexios appears alongside his wife, Eirene Doukaina.


References


Sources

* *


Further reading

* * * {{Byzantine coinage Coins of the Byzantine Empire Silver coins Leo III the Isaurian