ΠΟΡΦΥΡΑ - Porphyra

A Prôtospatharios, Magistros, and Strategos Autokrator of 11 th cent.
the equipment of Georgios Maniakes and his army according to the Skylitzes Matritensis miniatures
and other artistic sources of the middle Byzantine period.
similar to other specimens of East-Roman jewellery of the 10-
11 th centuries 120 . Furthermore, Maniakes held the rank of
Imperial Πρωτοσπαθαριοs, so that it suits him the spathion
chrisokanos, i.e. the sword with golden hilt or grip described in
many passage of the Book of Ceremonies 121 as rank sign of
these Imperial Guardsmen 122 .
In the folio 213v (fig. 1) what looks like a normal whip
could be a flail, i.e. a three leather hanging straped whip to
which bronze weights or maces were attached. It was a weapon
that East-Romans adopted from the Khazars, who had served in
the Imperial Guard for two centuries 123 . It was a small mace to
which a whip was fixed at the top and, for this reason, was
called a battle-flail. Such an weapon could be used from
horseback and it allowed stronger hit than a normal mace. The
weapon was composed by a leather or horn body furnished of
strapes – of real leather or black hemp whip, the latter stronger
than a normal whip, and a wooden, leather or horn shaft - with
small bronze-spheres as weights or maces at the ends. 124 Those
of bronze were the best weights for flails, because they were
smaller and lighter than those of stone or stag horn, but stronger
and harder. Magnificent even if rare specimens come from
Dinogetia, in the East-Roman Cities of South-Romania 125 . In the
plate 1A it has been reconstructed from those finds.
In the Kedrenos text the weapon used by Maniakes to bit
120 See for instance figg. p.159, 260-264, 276 in Das Reich der Salier, 1024-1125, Romisch-Germanischen
Zentralmuseum Mainz/Forschungsinstitut fur Vor und Fruhgeschichte/Bischoflichen Dom und Diozesanmuseum
Mainz, Sigmaringen 1997.
121 De Cer. II, 574-575, 640; in De Ceremoniis I, 82 they wear a σπαθη ζωστικη; on these swords see also Kolias,
Waffen, pp. 157-158; for an example of Protospatharioi or high rank guardsmen wearing such kind of swords see
folios 239, 440 of Gregorius Nazianzenus Parisinus 510, in Der Nersessian, L’illustration, I, pls. XLI, LIX.
122 See Kletorologion of Philotheos, in Oikonomidès, Les listes, pp. 91 and n. 36 ; 127, 132 n. 97.
123 About the Kazhars in the Imperial Guard see De Cer. II, 576, 660-661, 692-693 ; they where enlisted in the
Τριτη Εταιρεια, see Oikonomidès, Les Listes, p. 327. About the use of flails by the Khazar warriors see M. V.
Gorelik, Warriors of Eurasia, Montvert, Stockport, 1995 pp. 18-19.
124 S. Stefan-Barnea-Cosma, Dinogetia, p. 340, 404.
125 From Dinogetia we have in particular only 3 specimens of bronze pears, of the second half of 11 th cent.; their
limited number is due to the difficulty to get them. They are bronze melted in a form of small pear, forming a weapon
of more or less effectiveness as regards to the relationship between heaviness and mass. Among the three solid
specimens, two are prevalent with 8 vertically extended protusions. In the lower part, the body ends with a small
rounded protusions, in the upper part, with a powerful circular ring, to which the whip end was linked. One of the
weight is a little bigger, with rounded protusions on the body. The second, smaller, presents protusions on the edge.
The third is thinner and smoother than the others, with a blunted body. Their dimensions are 5 cm. long with a 2,8 cm.
diameter. A good number of horn stag shafts (25 specimens), have also been discovered, a little bigger and stronger
than knife shafts, even though of the same length ; this was the kind of shaft probably used for the flail to which ends
were linked horn, stone or bronze maces they are furnished at ends with two small transversal holes, probably for this
function of fastening to the flail. Some are empty inside, with a tubular appearance. Others are empty only for a small
part, with the two holes at ends. Most of them have a polished body, very shining. However some others, even though
finished and used, seem not to have been intentionally polished. For this reason curved light horn sections, which could
have a better grip because of their pattern, were preferred as shafts. Only some of them have got a brief decoration, and
among the others it has been discovered a half-worked specimen. See Stefan-Barnea-Cosma, Dinogetia, p. 88 and fig
42 n. 18 p. 82 for the hand-grip, p. 340 and fig. 182 n. 1-2, 184 n. 1-2 for the bronze specimens. Other specimes of
bronze of the Khazars have been found in Sarkel Belaja-Veia, s. Artamonov, in Sarkel Belaja Veia, in Trudy Volgo-
Donskoi Archeologiskegoj Ekspedicii, I, Materialy i issledovanije po archeologii URSS, 62, Moscow 1958 fig. 55 p.
76.
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