Medieval Academy of America

The Question of the Byzantine Mines

Author(s): Speros Vryonis, Jr.
Source: Speculum, Vol. 37, No. 1 (Jan., 1962), pp. 1-17
Published by: Medieval Academy of America
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A JOURNAL OF MEDIAEVAL STUDIES

Vol. XXXVII

JANUARY 1962

No. 1

THE QUESTION OF THE BYZANTINE MINES

BY SPEROS VRYONIS, JR
WHERE
did Byzantium get its metals afterthe period of the Arab conquest?
These metals - primarilygold, silver,copper, iron, and lead - were of considerableimportanceto Byzantiumfor its superb coinage and manufactureof
luxuryitems,as well as forthe manufactureof weapons and forotherindustries.
The problemof the sourceofthesemetalshas not been satisfactorily
treatedand
perhaps it really cannot be completelysolved because of the lack of sufficient
sourcematerial.M. Bloch and M. Lombard touchedon this point whendiscussing the generalquestionof the circulationof gold in the Middle Ages. According
to thesetwo scholars,Byzantiumwas, up to the seventhcentury,the domain of
gold par excellencefor three reasons: (1) a favorable balance of trade which
broughtin a steady stream of gold; (2) arrival of new gold fromneighboring
lands whichpossessed gold mines; (3) the already existingstock of gold within
the Empire. But by the end of the sixth centuryByzantium'sgold stocks had
greatlydiminishedbecause of the fluxof gold to the East, and because, withthe
Arab conquestsin the seventhcentury,the Byzantineslost contact with those
lands wherethe gold was mined.Of coursethisreasoningleftthe phenomenonof
the gold solidus unexplained.If Byzantium did lose controlof the gold to the
Arabs, how was it that the Byzantinesolidus remainedpure and stable to the
middleof the eleventhcentury,i.e., fora periodof over fourhundredyearsafter
the Arab conquestshad begun?The explanationwhichLombard and Bloch give
is that (1) Byzantiumbegan to touch its inactive gold stocks,and (2) it eventually acquired a favorablebalance of trade with the West, whichin turn was
acquiringgold fromthe Arabs in favorablecommercialrelations.But one might
well ask whetherByzantium mightnot have obtained gold, or other metals,
withinits own domains.'
In the question of Byzantine mines one must begin, as with so many other
aspects of Byzantinehistory,withthe sourcesofthe late Roman Empire.Except
fora limitednumberof inscriptions,
the principalsource is Roman legal litera1 M. Lombard, "Les bases mon6tairesd'une suprematie 6conomique: L'or musulmandu VlIe
siele au XIe siecle," Annales, ii (1947), 146-160; M. Bloch, "Le problemed'or au moyen-age,"
Annalesd'histoireeconomiqueetsociale,v (1933), 1-34.

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92

The QuestionoftheByzantineMines

ture. Here the most importanttestimonyis that of the CodexTheodosianus,the

miningdecreesof whichare repeated,oftenverbatim,in the Codexlustinianus,
the Basilica, and the Hexabiblosof Armenopoulos.The information
in the Codex
Theodosianusis ofa generalnature.One ofthemoststrikingfactswhichemerges
fromthis legal collection,and a not unexpectedone, is the widespreaduse of
workin the minesas punishmentforcriminalsand prisonersof war. This is of
coursean old practice.To condemnsomeoneto the mines,in metallumdamnare,
or in Byzantine language, peTraXXLvELV,
was probably the worst punishmentin
Roman law next to the punishmentof death itself.The unfortunateindividuals
condemnedto such a lifenaturallysoughtto escape it by any means, with the
resultthat the legal proscriptionsforbiddingthe hidingof escaped minersare
severe.Most of these unfortunateminerswere no doubt employedin minesbelongingto the state. A combinationof the rigorsof mininglifeand the scarcity
of labor manpowerin the late Empire forcedthe emperorsto issue measures
whichwould keep the supply of minersfromdwindling.Thus we read a decree
of the Emperor Theodosius II to the Count of the Sacred Imperial Largesses
Maximus dated 424:
If miners
shoulddesertthe district
wheretheyappearto have been bornand should
to foreign
migrate
parts,theyshallundoubtedly
be recalledto thefamilystockand the
household
oftheirownbirthstatus.Moreover,
ifsuchmenand womenshouldprefer
to
chosemarriage
unionsfromthehomesofprivatecitizens,
theirprogeny
shallbe divided
intoequalpartsbetweenMy fiscandtheparentsandthosewhoareprovedto be parents
of onlyone shallsurrender
sucha singlechildentirely
to thefisc.In thefuture,
ifany
personshallbe bornefroma minerand fromanyotherstock,he shallnecessarily
follow
theignoblebirthstatusofa miner.2
However,it seemsthat not all minersbelongedexclusivelyto the state during
the later Roman Empire, fora decree of EmperorsValentinianand Valens addressedto Cresconius,Count of Minerals and Mining,in 365 reads:
Withlongpondereddeliberation
We considerthata sanctionmustbe issuedto the
effect
thatifanypersonshouldwishtheindustry
ofmining
to flourish
by hisownlabor
he mayacquireadvantagesbothforhimself
and forthestate.Therefore,
ifanypersons
shouldcometogether
in largenumbers
voluntarily
forthispurpose,Your Laudability
shall requiresuchpersonsto pay eightscrupleseach of gold dust.Moreover,if they
shouldbe able to collectmore,theyshallpreferably
sellthesameto thefisc,fromwhich
theyshallreceivean appropriate
pricefromOurLargess.3
And the edict of424 quoted above also impliesthat not all minerswereslaves:
"If it should be claimed that any personhas purchasedthe propertyof miners
that is obligatedto the aforesaidcompulsoryservice,he shall undoubtedlybecome subject to the compulsorypublic serviceswhich the author of his right
was accounted to fulfill."4

Here we see minerswhocan disposeoftheirpropertyand evenleave the profes-

TheodosianiLibri XVI cum Constitutionibus

Sirmondianis,ed. T. Mommsen,i (Berlin, 1905)
(hereafterCod. Theod.), x.19.15. The Theodosian Code, tr. C. Pharr (Princeton,1952) (hereafter
Pharr),p. 285. See also Codexlustianianus,xi.7.7.
3 Pharr,pp. 283-284. Cod. Theod.,x.19.3.
I Pharr,P. 285. Cod. Theod.,x.19.15. This is repeatedin Cod. Iust., xi.7.7.
2

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The QuestionoftheByzantineMines

sion,provided,of course,that theirservicesare taken over by the purchasersof

the property.But in the middle Byzantineperiod the fixingof urban and industrialsocietyto its professionsand tradeswas relaxed,as impliedin the Book
ofthe Eparch. So it is quite possiblethat it was relaxedin the sphereofnon-slave
miners.The Byzantinegovernmentcontinuedto permitprivateindividualsto
engagein miningalongsidethe state miningenterprises.
Thus the privateownership of minesis describedin the Basilica and in certainscholia on the Basilica:
"If he foundclay or silver,or othersubstance,or metal ore, it is reckonedas
'fruit'."5- "It is also possible fora private individualto have mines of clay,
silver,and the like."6On the otherhand, the grimmeraspect of mininglifewas
retained,and the ancient practiceof sendingthe condemnedto the mines remainedin force.7
Thus, fromthisbriefsurvey,it does not seemto be stretching
the pointto say
that miningheld the same positionin Byzantinesocietythat it did in the society
ofthelate Roman Empire.The questionhas been raisedby certainscholars,however,whetherthe Byzantines,afterthe greatlosses to the Arabs in Africaand
Asia, werenot in fact cut offfromthe mineswhichhad suppliedthemwiththe
variousmetals. To phrase the questiondifferently,
did the Byzantinesactually
deriveany of theirmineralsupply fromthe Balkans and Asia Minor afterthe
Slavic invasionsin the Balkans and the Arab conquestsin the East, or werethey
simplyleftwithoutany minesand miningindustry?The discussionof minesand
miningis no mereacademic exercise,forit must be obvious that theywereimportantsourcesof raw materialand wealth forancientand mediaeval society.
In fact the importanceof minesand the miningindustryhave been givengreat
emphasis for the actual or comparativeprosperityof ancient and mediaeval
states. This has been assertedforthe Hetite state of Asia Minor. One historian
maintainsthat the failureof the minesin the westernhalfof the Roman Empire
and theircontinuityin the easternhalfhelp to explainthe collapseof the empire
in the West and its survivalin the East.8 Anotherhistorianposits the developmentof the miningindustryin the Balkans as one of the bases forBosnian and
Serbian strengthand prosperityin the fourteenthcentury.9But in discussing
Byzantine mines one meets with an obstacle which plagues the historianof
Byzantiumall too frequently.Unlike the Muslim authorsthe Byzantines,because of theirindifference
or sophistication,do not botherto discuss such matBasilica, ed. G. Heimbach,vol. III (Leipzig, 1843), xxviii.8.30. "el 6&KplTaplOV ij &p-y'pov,
j ehepas
ErTaXXov
eupEV, ELS Kap7 -v Xoyilrat." A scholium,y. 376 (Dorotheus), on this passage
'
reads' "El 6' KaL KpLTapwovifrocXeuK6-ye&ov Etcpvgcv eKri
T 7UpoLKl/.salOU Aypoi, &p-y6povcpe .aXXa, i XpuoLov,
i5Xijs, i 4'a'u,ou

/ aXXas ola.OoUVVSX-, rawTa

6

Scholium, y. 376;

yin
vra

"Avvar6v

ev

Kaprols roU4'-ypoi4-q{lteTr."

-yap KaL l&&crjv pEraXXa

KptrapLOu

KaL

&p-ybpOU, KaL

rCv -7rapa7rX-qo-1wv

gxeLv."
7

AsteriusofAmaseia,lIomilia VIII in SS. PetrumetPaulun, in PatrologiaGraeca,XL (1863), 276,

remarks'
glV-

"Asropot bO zraPrEXCS Kac olT r6v Xpvoop avop&rrovres, rTOv ao-Xla rTOU -XobroU. Mma
6 rijs -yS)v SPv Xpuvo-v&7rOKpPWPV.'
MtvlOsvaP,

yap

abrols

aVPep'yel.

0. Davies, Roman Mines in Europe (Oxford,1935) (hereafterDavies, Roman Mines), p. 2.

9 C. Jirecek,Die Handelsstrassenund Bergwerke
vonSerbienund Bosnienwahrenddes Mittelalters
(Prague, 1879) (hereafterJirecek,Bergwerke),
p. 41.
8

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The QuestionoftheByzantineMines

ters.9aThe littleinformation
to be gleanedon thissubjectis scatteredamongsta
small number of Byzantine, Armenian,Arab, Persian, Turkish, and Latin
sources. Though this informationis not plentiful,when one combinesit with
what is knownabout pre-Byzantineand early Ottomanminingin Asia Minor
and the Balkans, it is possibleto get a generalanswerto the problemof Byzantium'ssourceofmetalsafterthe Arab conquest.
ASIA MINOR
The mostinformative
of the classical authorson the subject ofmiining,
forour
purposes,is the geographerStrabo.An inhabitantofnorthernAsia Minorwriting
in the firstcenturyA.D., Strabo took particularcare to recordthe presenceof
severalminingdistrictsin Asia Minor,the seat of the Hetite Empire,whoseprimaryeconomicbasis was the miningindustry,and the homeof the Chalybys,to
whom Homer attributesthe inventionof the art of mining.'0Strabo speaks of
gold minesat Syspiritisnear Kaballa, a considerabledistanceto the southeast
of Trebizond."1He gives the most information
concerningthe Pontic coast with
whichhe was so familiar,as thiswas the place ofhis origin.He says ofthe northeasternPontic coast: "Generallyin these lands the coast is extremelynarrow,
and the mountainslie immediatelybeyond, being full of mines and thickets.
Thereis littleagriculture,
and theminersmaketheirlivelihoodfromthemines."'2
Strabo mentionsspecifically
the presenceofironminesat Pharnaci (Byzantine
Cerasus) to the west of Trebizond,'3minesat Cabira (ByzantineNeocaesareia)
to the southwestof Trebizond,14 and mines in Mt Sandaracurgiumsouth of
Sinope.15Finally he mentionsthe presenceof coppermineson Cyprus."6Thus in
thefirstcenturyA.D., accordingto Strabo,therewerein Asia Minor and Cyprus
minesprovidinggold, copper,and iron; and the easternPontic regionseems to
have been the most importantminingarea.'7
The gold minersof the area of Asia Minor come up forspecificmentionin the
9a See forinstanceD. M. Dunlop, "Sources of Gold and Silverin Islam accordingto al-Hamddn?,"
Studia I8lamica, vIi (1957), 929-50.
10 Homer,Iliad it. 857.
11Strabo,Geography,
ed. H. L. Jones,vol. v (1928) (hereafter
Strabo,withvol. and page numbers),
p. 328' MkraXXa 6'e'v uE'v
TX Ivartp1L6i io-rtXpVaoiD Kama rTa K(ajaXXa.
12 Strabo,v, 402.

31Strabo,
v, 400.

14 Strabo,v, 428.
15 Strabo,
&Avpawr6bots.

v, 450.

Strabo,

6bir

raSa p.TraXXa, viv pAvaotbpov,7rp6-repov

bceacp-yvipov."
-yis

"elp-ya'.orro

7rpo's yap rCo frLrT6vy

&&a riv (ap&rTqra

16

"(,K

vi,

6e

OqAjsoo-W,vac,

ro4 Ep-yOV
Kauc

peT-aXevralts Xp'x,pevotrols Aro' KaKovpytas A-yopaDoi'vots

Kaic bbovotorov edvat rv &apa q'aao rov ev rolsgeraxxots

OavaoaLuoV

Is rCv (3cAwv 63piis, Wao-re

W'Kbuopae' vaL Ta olaua7a.
383.

17
On ancient mines see also the articles "Gold," "Silber," "Kupfer," "Bergbau," in PaulyWissowa. On the mines of Anatolia and theirworkinga certainamount of materialhas been collected in Tenney Frank, An EconomicSurveyof AncientRome,iv (1959), 620-623,693-695,and in
D. Magie, RomanRule in Asia Minor,i-It (1950), 7, 43-44, 179,375. There is a shortnote on Byzan-

tine mining in P. Koukoules, Bvravrtvo, f3l'OSKaF 7roXvrto-6s6,ii 1 (Athens, 1948), 203-204. On mediaeval

miningthereis the usefulstudy of J. U. Nef, "Mining and Metallurgyin Medieval Civilization,"

Cambridge
EconomicHistory,ii-(1952),430-492.

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The QuestionoftheByzantineMines

TheodosianCode, firstin the year370 and thena fewyearslaterin 392. The first
of these two decreeswas issued jointlyby EmperorsValentinian,Valens, and
Gratianto Probus the PraetorianPrefect."Justas our Lord Valens commanded
throughoutall the Orientthat ifthe minerswithvagrantwanderingshouldthere
seek out the mineralgold, they should be kept away fromthe propertyof all
landholders."18

The second decree was issued by Emperors Valentinian,Theodosius, and

Arcadiusto Romulus,Count ofthe Sacred ImperialLargesses.This is ofinterest
in that it seems to be indicativeof active miningoperationsin westernAsia
Minor. "Each year seven scruplesper man shall be paid to the largessesby the
goldminers,not onlyin the Diocese of Pontus but also in the Diocese of Asia."19
to a century-long
disputebetweenthe
references
Thereare also a fewinteresting
Sassanids and Byzantinesover what must have been comparativelyrich gold
minesin the borderregionsof Armenia.Disputes over the rightsto thesemines
figuredas principalcauses in at least fourwars betweenPersia and Byzantium,
givingthem somewhatthe appearance of economicwars. These disputestook
place firstin 421-42, thenunderAnastasius(491-518), again in 530, and finally
in 534. On hisaccessionVahramV begana persecutionofthe Christiansin Persia,
and EmperorTheodosiusII used this persecution,along withthe refusalof the
Persiansto hand back certaingoldmines,as a caususbelliin 421. "It happenedat
thistimethat theRhomaioiwerevexedwiththePersiansbecause ofanotherreason; because the Persians,havingthose gold mineswhichtheyhad leased from
the Rhomaioi,did not wishto give themback."20Apparentlythe Persianswere
leasingthe minesfromthe Byzantinesat thistime.
Malalas recordsthe factthat in the reignofAnastasius(491-518) certaingold
mines in Armeniawere taken over by the Byzantines at the expense of the
Persians.
He tookas a pretext
ofthegold-streaming
whichwerefound
the[matter]
[mountains]
in thepossessionof the Rhomaioi.
in the timeof Anastasiusthe emperor,
previously,
mountains
are
thesemountains
wereunderPersianrule.The gold-streaming
Formerly
as
Rhomaioi,and Persarmenians,
locatedbetweenthe boundariesof the Armenians,
thosewhoknowsay. Thesemountains
bringforthmuchgold.Whenrainsand storms
is brought
down,and nuggetsofgoldgushup. Foroccur,theearthofthesemountains
bothfromtheRhomaioiand Persiansfor
merlycertainpersonsleasedthesemountains
thesesamemountains
wereseizedby themost
twohundred
poundsofgold.Afterwards
Andas a result
thedecreedrevenue.
andtheRhomaioialonereceived
sacredAnastasius,
ofthisthetreatywas violated.2'
The minesin thesemountainswereveryrich,and the gold was so near to the
surfacethat afterheavy rains nuggetsof gold could be foundon top of the soil.
Hence extractionof the metal presentedno problemat all. Malalas seems to
thesemineswereleased out by bothPersiansand Byzantines
implythatformerly
Pharr,p. 284. Cod. Theod.,x.19.7.
19Pharr,p. 285. Cod. Theod.,x.19.12. This is repeatedin Cod. Iust., xi.7.5, and in Armenopoulos,
Hexabiblos,ed. G. Heimbach (Leipzig, 1851), p. 310.
20 Socrates,Historia Ecclesiastica,ed. W. Bright (Oxford,1893), pp. 298-299.
21 loannes Malalas, Chronographia,
ed. B. Niehbuhr(Bonn, 1831), pp. 455-456.
18

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The QuestionoftheByzantineMines

to certainindividualsfortwo hundredpounds of gold,presumablyper year. No

doubt the yieldofthe mineswas thensold to one or otheror both ofthe governments.
Accordingto Malalas, the disputedownershipof theseminesbecame the pretextforwar betweenJustinianI and Kavades in 530. In thiswar the Byzantines
took possessionof certainotherminesheld by the Persians at Pharangiumand
Kavades had leased the workingof one of the minesto a
Bolum in Armenia.22
local businessman,Symeonby name.
and hereis thegold-mine
which,
ofPersarmenia;
But fromtherebeginstheterritory
of Kavades,was workedby one ofthenatives,Symeonby name.
withthepermission
WhenthisSymeonsaw thatbothnationswereactivelyengagedin thewar,he decided
he gaveoverbothhimself
andPharangium
Therefore
to depriveKavadesoftherevenue.
to deliveroverto eitheronethegoldofthemine.23
to theRhomaioi,
buthe refused
Symeonwas veryshrewdlyplayingoffone sideagainstthe otherand attempting
to retainthegoldtakenfromthemine,insteadofturningit overeitherto Persians
or Byzantines.The new mines at Pharangiumand Bolum, firstmentionedby
Procopius,would seem to be minesotherthan those seized by Anastasiusas reported by Malalas.24For at the outbreakof hostilitiesbetweenJustinianand
Kavades, Pharangiumand Bolum wereheldby thePersians,and the othermines
werein the hands of the Byzantines.The peace concludingthis war in 532-533,
however,providedthatPharangiumwithits goldmineshouldbe returnedto the
Persians.25
But, evidently,eitherthetermsofthistreatywerenot kept,or a violation of some earlierminingagreementwas alleged, forthe Persians once more
This shortsurveymakes
declaredwar on Byzantiumin 534 overthe goldmines.26
it clear that the gold minesofthe borderareas werea primefactorof contention
betweenthe Sassanids and Byzantinesforover a century.Evidentlythe output
ofthe mineswas considerable.
Armenian,Arab, Persian, and Turkishsourcesalso mentionthe presenceof
mines in northernand easternAnatolia. Lazarus of Pharbe (about 500 A.D.)
says that gold, copper,and iron were to be foundin the provinceof Ararat,27
whileGhevond(about 778-785) mentionsthe discoveryofa new vein ofsilverin
Armenia.28
Howeverin theeighthcenturythiswas utilizedbytheMuslimgovernor
of Armeniaforhis mint,and the silvercould not have been available to Byzantiumuntila laterdate, whenthe Armenianprovinceswereincorporatedintothe
22Procopius,HistoryoftheWars,ed. H. B. Dewing (London, 1954) (hereafterProcopiis), I.xv.18.
"T&Te

ical HepaVoo Xcopla

Hepaaappcviols 'PWpaZol ATfXov,q'pobpt6v Te Tr BioXov Kal T)6T?apAy-yL'ov KaXokpevov,

q'pOVal."

6iev 62 T(d Xpva6v HflEpaat6pbaaOVTes ja0Xel

Procopius,I.xv.27-29.
On this point see E. Stein, listoiredu Bas-Empire,iI (Paris, 1949), 291-292.
25 Malalas, p. 477; Stein, ii, 294.
1 Theophanes, Cronographica,
ed. C. de Boor, I (Leipzig, 1883), 179. "&opoppIuv
Si X,aXevirepiTanp
23

24

XpvaTOpVXhVTrCV TOls 6peat 'Apievtas,

6i 'Pcwp,atotsg6vots TeXobvrWv.'

d)s 7rpcj-JV avd T&Xavrov TreXobvTwVTPwpalotsTe Kal HfzpTaLs, VYVP

27 Lazare de Pharbe, in Collection

de l'Armenie,ed. V. Langlois,
des historiens
anciens et modernes
ia (Paris, 1869), 263.
28 Ghevond,Histoiredes guerres
et des conquetesdes Arabesen Armenie,tr. G. V. Chachnazarian
(Paris, 1869), p. 149.

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The QuestionoftheByzantineMines

ByzantineEmpire.Coppermineswerealso locatedat Varajnounik(northwestof

Most of the later referencesto
Van), Gougark,and Mananaghi in Armenia.29
minesin Byzantineand easternAsia Minor come fromMuslim geographersand
travellers.Istahri,writingin 951, speaks of gold, silver,copper,and ironin the
vicinityof Taron,30and his contemporary
al-Maqdisi mentionscopperminesin
easternAnatolia.31
The anonymousPersian work,Hudud al-Alam,whichwas writtenin 982-983,
givesa numberofreferences
to minesin thearea. It mentionsthepresenceofgold
in the mountainsbetweenRum and Armenia,gold and lead in the mountainsof
the Alans,silverand copperin the mountainsof the Georgianborder,silverand
copperin Cyprus.32
Though the referencesin this authorare ratherhazy, they
point to the generalarea of northeastAsia Minor and Cyprus as regionswith
mines in operation.Finally the placename XaXKoVp'yia in the epic of Digenis
In an inAcritesindicatesthe presenceof copperminesnear the Syria border.33
terestingarticlepublishedih 1937 R. P. Blake attemptedto show that fromthe
tenthto the thirteenthcenturiesexportsand mintingof silver in the Muslim
east declinedsharply.He maintainedthat one of the reasons forthis was the
fact that duringthis timethe Muslims had lost controlof certainargentiferous
lands,amorgstthempartsofAsia Minor and Armenia.It was at thistime,then,
that many of the miinesin Armeniamust have passed into Byzaintinehands.34
There is also mentionof the minesof Anatolia in later Islamic authorsafter
Asia Minor had been overrunand settledby the Seljuks and had thus become
moreaccessibleto the Muslim travellers.Yacut, a Greekslave fromAsia Minor
who turnedMuslim,reportsthe presenceof copperm:nesin easternAsia Minor
aroundChliat,34a
whileAbul Feda speaks ofsilverminesat Amasya.3sMarco Polo
29 J. Laurent,L'Armenieentre
Byzanceetl'Islam (Paris, 1919), pp. 37, 41, 98. Accordingto Laurent,
the Ashotfamilyhad as a basis of its wealthand powerprivatesilvermines.On silverin mediaeval
unavailable to me.
Armeniathereis an articleby Ritterin Erdkunde,x, whichwas, unfortunately,
tr.
For mediaeval Armenianlegislationon minessee, SempadscherKodex aus dem13. Jahrhundert,
J. Karst, i (Strassburg,1905), 25.
30 Al-Istahri,Viae Regnorum,
ed. M. J. de Goeje, in BibliothecaGeographicorum
Arabicorum,i

(Leiden), 1927), 190-191.

31

A;Js

-$.

Lx
L J

J;

Geograpfiicorum
Al-Mokaddasi,DescriptioImperioMoslemici,ed. M. J. de Goeje, in BiMliotheca

'",
Arabicorum,
II (Leiden, 1877), p. 148M.

LiJ

Ur

E.dJj5,

...." E

Honig-

mann, "Un itinerairea traversle Pont,"'Annuairede l'institutde philologieet d'histoireorienialeset

slaves,iv (1936), 263. Ile seems to implythat Muslim prisonersofwar wereworkingthesemines.
32 Hudud al-Alam,tr. V. Minorsky(London, 1937), pp. 59, 67-68.
" DigenesAkrites,ed. J. Mavrogordato(Oxford,1956), p. 156. "acat' rTs bo3o i7rrT6sea msrpo's rTiv
XaXKoVpy1av (r67ros yap oVJroS7rvx

7r\nrlov Ts

Xvplas."

R. P. Blake, "Thc Circulationof Silverin the MloslemEast Down to the Mongol Epoch," Har,,
vardJournalofAsiaticStudies,TI (1937), 291, 301-310.
34aYacut, Jacut'sgeographisches
ed. F. Wustenfeld,Iy (Leipzig, 1869), 92-93. J4
W6rterbuch,
3'

,J'

4Wi 4"

J1

^~?

24

@1

I R Yb J
lSeealso I.
veAkkoyunlu,
Beyliklfri
KarakoyunluDevletleri(Ankara,1937), p.

(1994), 455.

H. UzungarSilioglu, Anadolu

111.

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The QuestionoftheByzantineMines

saw therichsilverminesofPaipurtand Argyropolis-Giimush

Hane whenhe went
Ibn Battuta,
throughAsia Minoron his way to China in the thirteenth
century.36
in his travelsthroughAsia Minor, visitedthe silverminesof GiimushHane in
easternAnatolia and remarksthat a numberof merchantsfromSyria and Iraq
come to thiscity,no doubt to buy thesilver.37
His travelsalso carriedhimto the
area ofTaganrogin southernRussia. This area, formerly
eitherunderByzantine
controlor in close contactwithByzantium,in Ibn Battuta's timestillhad a good
numberof Greeks. Perhaps the productof the mines in this regionhad been
available to the Byzantinesat the timewhenByzantineinfluencehad stillbeen
paramountthere.
A day'smarchfrom
thistownarethemountains
oftheRussians.TheseareChristians,
and blue eyed,withuglyfacesand treacherous.
red-haired
In theircountryare silver
minesand thencearebrought
theingotsofsilverwithwhichsellingandbuyingaredone
in thisland(Crimea).The weight
oftheseingotsis fiveounces.38
The mostdetailedand best informed
source as regardstheminesofAsia MIinor
in thisIslamic periodof Asia Mlin-or
priorto the Ottomanconquest is the Arab
geographeral-Umari,who seems to have got much of his informationfroma
Genoese renegadeto Islam. He,mentionsthe presenceof one ironand foursilver
mines.
In thepart(ofAsiaMinor)occupiedby thelieutenants
oftheprincesdescended
from
JingizKhan,thereare threesilvermines:oneis in thevicinity
ofthecityofLuluh;the
secondis nearGumush;and thethirdnearBadhert. . . in theyear733 thesemineswere
stillinfullDroduction
andproducing
a veryDuresilver.3"
Abul Feda, Geographied'Aboulfeda,ed. M. Reinaud and M. de Slane (Paris, 1840), p. 383.
" These are also mentioned
l , C,I I,
t~ r
>is I
c v.
by the fourteenth-century
biographerof the MIevlevi dervishes,Eflaki, Les saints des derviches
tourneurs,
tr. C. Huart, nI (1922), 380.
36Marco Polo, The Descriptionof theWorld,ed. A. C. Moule and Paul Pelliot, I (London, 1938),
96-97. It is interesting
that Marco Polo still refersto GUmUshHane by its earlierByzantinename,
Argiron."The othersare Argironwhichis great,and a verygreatquantityofsilveris dug there..
and in a certainvillagewhichis called Paperththereis a verylargesilvermine."
3t Ibn Battuta, Voyaged'Ibn Batoutah,
ed. C. Defremeryand B. Sanguinetti,II (Paris, 1877), 293.
3S

Lb

0JLA
YJcir,b|414. 91
33 Ibn Battuta,
.=
rb

-j4jj

@11 <~~ 4<*

4w>;1s;49

CoL;J
L,JI
DJ

1<4

til

au

JR.;-

S La
sj~~~~~'

J9

t
tit'!

JLWI .4 Lb

Byzantiumwas one of Kievan Russia's main sources ofgold, silver, and copper. G. Vernadsky,
Kievan Russia (New Haven, 1951), pp. 46, 112.
39 Al-Urneri,
Al-Umari's BerichtuberAnatolzenin seinemWerke3fasaliWc
al-absarfi mamalik alamsar,ed. F. Taeschner(Leipzig,1929)(hereafter
al-Umari),p. 20.e

u4j

.AI
bNe

t;+

CA

L -C

'
L IU
Also p. 31. The productive nature of the Anatolian mines is
JI
confirmedby the fourteenthcentury author, Hayton, La tor estcriresde la ierre d'orientin

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The QuestionoftheByzantineMines

This passage refersto the city of Luluh in southernAnatolia near the modern
Ulukishla,to GtimiishIlane in northernAnatolia (mentionedby Ibn Battuta),
and to Paipurt (mentionedby MlarcoPolo). Then al-Umariin his (lescriptionof
that part of Anatolia, in the west,whichwas not directlyun(lerthe rule of the
Mongols, describesaii importantsilver mine in the principalityor beylik of
Germian(the regionsabout Cotyeion-Kutahya).
that
a citynamedGumusli-Sar,
He (thebeyof Gcrmian)has underhis depcn(dence
is in
thatoftllcsamenamewhichl
is thecityofsilver,whichonemustnotconfusewitlh
a prosperous
mine,ofa richproduct
ofJingiz
Khan.Oncseestlherc
thelandsofthefamily
thedoinination
to thatof tllclan(isun(der
whichis farsuperior
and grcatimportance,
to themetal'squality,theacecssible
naturcoftheland,andthe
oftheMongolsinrespect
case of exploitation.40
This latter notice is particularlyinterestingin that it refersto westerniAsia
Minor,an area whichproducedmetals in Hellenisticand Roman times.Finally,
he says that therewas an importantironminein the southernAnatoliandistrict
of Ermenak:"In theirland (the Karaman dynasty) is an iron minewhichhas
greatlycontributedto theirsuccess and assures them considerableprofits."''
The Byzantine jurist Armenopoulos,writingin 1345, recordsthat each gold
minerofPontus and Asiane (westernAsia Minor) had to pay a sum ofseventeen
to tell,however,whetherthis
It is difficult
keratia,annually,to thegovernment.42
morethan an anachronismand a carryover fromthe earlierlegislais anythinig
tionon the subject.
ofthe fifteenth
centuryrecordmorepertiThe Greekand Ottomanhistoriains
whichindicatesthat they
on the minesof Pontus,information
nentinformation
centuries.These mines,which
in the fourteenthand fifteenth
were flourishing
yieldedcopperforthe most part,werelocated at sites near Castamon,Samsun,
rl'zanik,Osmanjik, an(I Sinope. Bayazid I broughtthe rich copper mines of
Castamon, Samsun, Tzanik, and Osmanjik under Ottoman controlduringhis
centuryMehmed I forcedIsmael of
reign.43In the beginningof the fifteenth
Sinope to turnover to him the richrevenuesof the copper minesof his city,"
ii (Paris, 1906), 132. "Le roiaumede
Recueildes historiensdes Croisades:Documentsarmeniennes,
Turquie est moltgrante riche.Miniersy a d'argent,d'araim,de fer,e de lumeasses e bones."

40Al-Umari,p.35.

41 Al-Umari, pp.

23-24.

J1

Aa

A, 5
X-

.J

L!

7rapexrw
XPVLaOX'KT?7s
kaaTryivtavT(b'KcaKEpaTLals EKUaTosaVOpW7rOs
repetian archaistic
Possiblythiswasmerely
XXaKal Tris 'Aotaoass,"
tion of the provisionsof the Theodosian and JustinianicCodes.
43J. von Hammer-Purgstall,
des osmanischenReiches,I (Pest, 1827), 227, 607. These
Geschzichte
mineswereleased out annuallyfora sum of 10,000 vatinan of copper.The minesat Castamon are
also mentionedby lacol)o de Promontoriowlho visitedthe OttomanEmpire in 1475. F. Babinger,
um 1475,
Campis iiberden Osmanen.staat
des Genuesen.Iocopode Pronmontorio-de
Die Aufzeichnungen
(1956), p. 67.
Phil.-Hist.Klasse, Sitzungsberichte,
BayerischeAkademieder Wissensehaften,
42 Armenopoulos,
p. 310."'Ev

OiVf/VOV TriS OJPTIKiS &oLK'aOeWS,

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The QuestionoftheByzantineMines

10

and in 1425Murad II retooktheminesofCastamonf44a

At thetimeoftheconquest
ofSinopeby MehmedII in the middleofthe fifteenth
centurythe minesbrought
in annually50,000gold pieces in taxes alone.45
With thesereferences
to the minesof Asia Minor in the Byzantineand Ottoman historiansof the fifteenth
centurywe come to the Ottomanperiodproper.
For thisperiodtheOttomanarchivesand sourcesthrowa greatdeal morelighton
the problemof miningin Asia Minor and in the Balkans as well. Thanks to the
publicationsof Anhegger,Gordlevsky,Refik,and others,qulitea bit is known
about miningin the OttomanEmpire,and it is now obviousthat the minesconIn additionto the aforementinuedto be active throughoutthis later period.46
tionedminesin Anatolia,therewere depositsof gold at Artvini,and of copper,
lead, and ironin the valleys of the Chorokhand Oltis-Tsgali.Alongthe Debeda
valleyto the east ofKars werealso depositsof gold,copper,lead, and at Akhtala
An interesting
goldand silver.47
sidelightis thepersistenceoftheminingskillsand
traditionsamongstthe Greeksof Pontus (the descendentsof the Byzantineinhabitantsofthearea) down to the beginningof the twentiethcentury.The core
of theseGreek minerslived to the southof Trebizondat GuimushHane (Argryopolis),and fromtimeto timethroughout
the centuriesofOttomanruletheysent
out miningcoloniesto thesouthas faras the Taurus at BulgarMaden. They also
sent nmining
coloniesto the regionof the Pyramisriver,to the lead and silver
minesof Keban Maden on the Euphrates,and to the copperminesofArghana
Maden in the vilayet of Diyarbekir.48In the eighteenthcenturythe Georgian
king Irakli broughtin many of these Greek minersto work the gold and silver mines at Akhtala.49
41

ed. E. Darko, r (Budapest, 1922-23), 173-174.

Chalcocondyles,Historiarumn
Demonstrationies,

r XcwptovrZV
T7V roiTOV
lrpe8oflLav b6 rill,aS Kactrata evos&ra&y6vyc6pov
XaXKoV 7rp6ooov, (boKel y&p TOVTro

J.vyels <L r6ev,

'AoLacyLpe /Aovov,
In thislastparticular
TOV XaXK6V)."
is cerChalcocondyles
tainlymistaken.Critobulus,Ilistoriae,ed. C. MUllerin FragmentaIIistoricorum
v (Paris,
Graecorum,
1870), 138, addsS'"Kat 7roXXoZos eO67Vovjufv71Tols &yaOols, Sona yEpOvoL Ipat Kal oyiiKat O&Xao-oa (ic (j.syurov

KaTc& T79lv

S XaXK6sO7Tt, So a5pOovos&vapcvrT6Tevos
K'I bLaTALfevos),
44a

45

au

yTo

pytelat,

Kat &aLo6op8vos

racTaXoO Tis 'Ao1as Te Kat Ebp6nr,s

7rpoo65oc,s AEwy&Xas XPovo-i Kal &pyvpoy orapX1 rOl (v arj."

ed. F. R. Unat, M. A. Kbymen,II (Ankara1957), 576.

Ne?ri,Kitab-iCihan-niim&,
Chalcocdndyles, II, 242.

XaWySV

6
65 s'&,

oOt Aot roi X&yov, fcp'et J Xa

XaXKSv dl Ka&XXCO-TOv/ACT4 'ye TSV 'IIlptas Xc Ax6v,&p o0SV

puptabes o-raTqpcjV.

adrt Pv7 rTCvbv7ji 'Aa9z,

7Tprpoo-'etjL
J ao5tNo
X rELTCwos (po6 Xpvolov 7efivTe

46 A numberof documentsdealingspecifically
in the OttomanEmpire werepublished
withmnines
by Ahmet Refik,Osmanli Devyrinde
TiirkiyeMadenleri,967-1200 (Istanbul, 1931). An article on
Turkishminingbased to a greatdegreeon these documentsbut also based on a widerselectionof
sourceswas publishedby V. Gordlevsky,"3icnnnoaTanipH
8eMJIii B Typrinrr," ConeTcsKoe
HeCp)
BOCTOROBegeHice.,III (1945), 109-145. The firstvolumeofwhat promisesto be the last word on
the subject has appeared, R. Anhegger,Beitr&gezur Geschichte
des Bergbausim osmanischen
Reich,
I: EuropdischeTurkcei,
I (Istanbul, 1943). This workis cited hereafter
merelyby the author'sname.
47 W. E. D. Allen,A HistoryoftheGeorgianPeople (London, 1932), pp. 57, 59, 201.
48 R. M. Dawkins, ModernGreek
in Asia Minor (Cambridge,England, 1916), pp. 6-8. There are
some very interestingcommentson the descendantsof these minersand communitiesin the early
nineteenthcenturyin Kyrillos, 'IOrTOPcK' 7reptypaWp2
roD ev B$Evp7rpoK8xoO&VTos
xcpo'ypaictKoV iritvacos
'IKOvtov (Constantinople,1815), pp. 14-15, 23, 55. He recordsthat some
'risuey&X1s&pXioarpalrtas
of theseminingcommunitieshad immigratedfromthe minesofthe Pontic region.
49 W. E. D. Allen,p. 201.

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The QuestionoftheByzantineMines

11

THE BALKANS
The references
to miningin theBalkans duringthe Byzantineperiodare even
fewerthan in the case ofAsia Minor.Strabo mentionsthe presenceof goldmines
at Datum on the StrymonGulf50and extensivegold miningat Crenae near Mt
Pangaeus,as wellas on Mt Pangaeus and in the land ofthePaeonians.51ConcerningthefamoussilverminesofLaurion,he says thatin his timethesewerealready
exhausted.-2
However,in the late Roman periodthe Balkans werea veryimportant sourceof metals. A certainamount,althoughnot enough,is knownabout
addressedto the mining
theseminingactivitiesfromthe decreesand inscriptions
officials
and organizations.For example,the "comes metallorumperIllyricum"is
mentionedin the fourthcentury,and an inscriptionmentionsthe "procurator
argentariarumper provincias Pannoniam et Dalmatiam," and a "collegium
auriarium."53
Two edicts in the Theodosian Code for the years 370 and 386 reflectcertain
difficultieswhich the state was having with the mining industry. The first of
these, addressed to Probus the praetorian prefect by the emperors Valentinian,
Valens, and Gratian reads:
Justas our Lord Valens commandedthroughoutall the Orientthat if the minerswith
vagrantwanderingshouldthereseek out the mineralgold,theyshouldbe keptaway from
the propertyof all landholders,so Your Sincereityby edict should notifyall provincials
throughoutIllyricumand the Diocese of Macedonia that no personshall suppose that
on his own landholdingany Thracians may be harbouredany further,but that each
and everyone ofthemshall be compelledratherto returnto the land ofhis birth,whence
theyare knownto have come. Otherwisea grievouspunishmentshall be inflictedon that
personwho furnisheshidingplaces to such men afterthe issuanceof this interdict.54
There is no doubt that the invasions and attacks of the Goths increased the confusion in the Balkans and cut down the output of the mines. Ammianus Marcellinus reports that the Thracian miners, because of the excessive taxation, joined
the Gothic army.
Besides thesetherewerenot a fewwho wereexpertin followingout veins of gold,and
who could no longerendure the heavy burden of taxes; these were welcome. . . and
renderedgreat services. . . as they wanderedthroughstrangeplaces, by pointingout
hiddenstoresof grain,and the secretrefugesofthe inhabitants.Withsuch guidesnothing
that was not inaccessibleand out ofthe way remaineduntouched.55
The edict of 386 which Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius addressed
to Eusignius, the praetorian prefect,furtherreflectsthe troubles and disruption
which the invasions had brought.
Since the procuratorsof the mineswithinMacedonia, Midland Dacia, Moesia, and
50 Strabo,iII,

354.

51 Strabo,iII, 354. "'Or

ov vv ot tXorrot7r6ts'Spural,
fV ras Kppavw,
wXclo-rag&LaXX6 k-TpxpvooDv
oI) lalyyalov opovs itai abrobSi ro layyalov 6posXpvo-4aicatApyvpeia Xet/ raXaxxa,cac i7rp'av Kcal
7rkXfloTov
k
&VTrS ToV 2Xrpvg6vos7rora,loD pXpt llatovtas q'aow- 5& Kda
lrobs TrVv ItLovtav oyiv Apodvras EVplOfKtVxpVOfOU
,rtva Abpta."

52 Strabo,v, 12-13. But

thisdoes not seemto have been true,at least forthe laterperiod.

5 Davies, RomanMine8,pp. 2, 7, 9.
" Pharr,p. 284, Cod. Theod.,x.19.7.
65AmmianusMarcellinus,ed. and tr. J. C. Rolfe (Cambridge,England, 1942), xxxi.6.6-7.

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12

The QuestionoftheByzantineMines

and whoexacttheusual
Dardania,whoare customarily
appointedfromthe decurions
fromthiscompulsory
have removedthemselves
tax collection,
publicserviceby prebackto thefulfillment
fearoftheenemy,
oftheirduties.56
tending
theyshallbe dragged
It is obviousthat the miningindustryof certainareas in the Balkans was partiallydisrupted.But it would be incorrectto claim that it was permanentlydiscontinued.Firstofall, theGothsleftthearea, and secondly,we have thedecreeof
424 (quoted above) which attemptsto preventthe minersfromleaving their
homesto go elsewhere.It wouldseemthat scarcityofmanpowerand the difficult
natureofthe workweremoreimportantobstaclesto a successfulminingindustry
at thistimethan werethe Gothicinvasions.
Wherewerethe Balkan mineslocated? The sourceshere are relativelyabundant forthe periodof the late Roman Empire,and forthe thirteenth
to the sixteenthcenturiesformediaevalBosnia, Serbia,and the OttomanEmpire.But the
periodbetweenthe two is almostblank as faras recordsof minesor miningare
concerned.
The miningcenterof Illyricumin the Roman periodseemsto have been the
city of Vrbas in modernBosnia. Accordingto Pliny, the area producedfifty
pounds of gold daily.57Silver was mined at the sightof modernSrebrenicain
Bosnia, while iron and lead were also foundin the area. An inscriptionof the
second centurymentionsa procuratorof the silverminesof Pannonia and Dalmatia who was stationedat Srebrenica.These depositscontinuedto be exploited
systematicallyin the fourthcenturyas is indicatedby the appointmentof a
in Illyricum.58
comesmetallorum
Dacia, afterit was opened up by Trajan's conquest,became a richsource of
metals forthe empire.Evidentlythe miningcenteredin centraland southern
Transylvania.Immediatelyupon the conquestTrajan settledthe Pirustae,who
had practicedminingin northernAlbania,in the area ofmodernRosia Montana
(Verespatak)wheretherewereimportantgold mines.59Gold was also mined at
Zalatna, Ruda, and Boicza. JohnLydus informsus that Trajan reconstituted
Roman financeswith gold fromthe provinceof Dacia to the tune of 5,000,000
The figuresare withouta doubt
poundsofgold and 10,000,000poundsofsilver.60
exaggerated,but neverthelessare symbolicof the comparativewealth and importanceoftheDacian mines.Copperand iron,and probablysilverand tin,were
also minedin the area. It has been maintainedthat as a resultof the barbaric
invasionsthe miningindustryhere broke down betweenthe second and fourth
centuries,and that miningwas renewedonlyin the fourteenth
and fifteenth
centurieswiththeappearanceoftheSaxon minersin theBalkans.61 This is an importantpointand willbe dealt within a latersection.
Pharr,p. 35. Cod. Theod.,i.32.5.
Rackham (Cambridge,England,1942), xxxiii.21.67. For a general
surveyoftheBalkan minessee Davies, RomanMines,pp. 182-267.
58 Davies, RomanMines, pp. 182-187.
59 Davies, RomanMines, p. 201, feelsthat theseminesweredesertedas a resultofthe Marcomanni
Wars. However,G. Teglas, "Zur Verwaltungsgeschichte
der r8mischenEisenbergwerke
in Dakien,"
Klio, ix (1909), 376, showsthat miningdid not cease afterthesewars and invasions.
60 loannes Lydys,De
magistratibus
populi romanilibritres,ed. R. Wuensch(Leipzig, 1903), ii.28.
61 Davies, RomanMIines,p. 206.
56

57 Pliny,NaturalHistory,
ed. H.

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The QuestionoftheByzantineMines

13

Moesia was also productive

fromthe pointof viewof the miningindustry,
though
weknowfewer
ofthedetailshere.TheTheodosian
codementions
procuratoresmetallorum
of thisdistrictalongwiththe otherBalkan districts.2
It has
also beenassertedforthisarea thatwiththebarbaricinvasionsall mining
activityceaseduntilthe appearanceof the Saxons in the thirteenth
and four-

teenthcenturies.63

MetalswereminedinMacedonia,Thrace,andGreeceas wellduring
theperiod
ofantiquity.
The sitesofKratovoand Osogovproducedlead,gold,silver,and
copper,and Bozicaproduced
iron.64
Abovewe notedtheitinerant
Thraciangold
washers
intheTheodosianCodeinA.D. 373.Mostofthestreams
oftheRhodope
regionwereprobably
auriferous
at thattime.In thepeninsulaofChalcidice,
the
laterareaoftheMademochoria,
themetalswereminedextensively,
as alsoat the
richfieldsofMt Pangaeus.A smalleramountoftheprecious
metalswasalsoextractedfromtheminesofeasternThraceand theislands.In Greecetherewere
the minesof Atticaproducing
silver,lead, and iron,the copperminesof the
Othrys
range,silverinthevicinity
ofLakeOchrid,
andcopperinEuboea.65
Fromthisrapidsurveyit is highlyprobablethatthelaterRomanand early
Byzantine
Empiresdrewa considerable
revenue
andmetalsupplyfrom
themines
oftheBalkanarea.Let us nowexaminethe sourcesforthenextthousandyears
and see whatis mentioned
aboutthisratherextensive
miningindustry.
It has
beenimplied,
byDaviesin particular,
thatmining
ceasedin theBalkansas a resultofthevariousinvasions.
Andtherelativesilenceofthesourceswouldseemto
favorthisview.Literary
references
to thesourcesofByzantium's
metalsareexrare.Onesuchreference
tremely
is in thesixth-century
description
ofthechurch
ofSt Sophia,inwhichPaul Silentiarius
mentions
silverfromPangaeusand SouA certain
nion.66
ofplacenamesfrom
number
thisperiodrefer
tomines,
itis
though
notpossibleto say whether
themineswerebeingworkedat thetimethatthe
namesarementioned.
Suchare Aletallus,
Argentares,
Ferarria,67
SideraChora,68
andSiderocausa.69
Metallushasbeenidentified
withBoizica,whichinlatertimes
iron.Siderocausa
produced
is inthepeninsula
oftheChalcidice;
itis thearealater
calledMlademochoria
whichflourished
as a miningcenterin Ottomantimes.
Davies has rejectedSiderocausaas a genuineByzantineplace name on the
groundsthat it is a combination
of Greekand Turkishwords,atl63posand
62 Cod. Theod.,i.32.5.
63 Davies,
6l Davies,

RomanMines, pp. 209-210.

Roman Mines, pp. 227-229. He assertsthat they did so only under the Romans and

Saxons.
65 Davies, RomanMines, pp. 267, 239-251. Again,he maintainsthat theywereworkedin Roman
and Turkishtimes,but not, generally,by the Byzantines.
16 Paulus Silentiarius,DescriptioS. Sophiae et Ambonis,ed. I. Bekker (Bonn, 1837), p. 88.
"&OaBefla-y-yalto,
'PaXLs Kat lovvLas aKpPf
cp-ype'as WNtav
6OXas
(pXk3as."
67 Procopius,Buildings,ed. H. B. Dewing and G. Downey (Cambridge,
Massachusetts,1954),
iv.4; iv.11.
68 Zonaras,Annales,ed. B. Niebuhr,iII (Bonn, 1897), 389.
69 G. Smyrnakis,
T 6 "A-ywv
"Opos(Athens,1903), p. 25. By the timeofLeo VI, Chalcidicewas called
Siderocausa because of its mines.

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14

The QuestionoftheByzantineMines

kapusu, an imperfecttranslationof Demir kapusu 'iron gate.' Therefore,since

thisplace name is a late one,it does not indicatethe presenceofminesin the area
in Byzantinetimes. However,thereis no reason to doubt that Siderocausa is
and thereforeprobablyrefersto a
trulya Byzantineplace name,2;L6?poKaVuOa,70
and place names,
Byzantineminingcenter.70a
In additionto thesefewreferences
a small amountof archaeologicalevidenceindicatesthat in some areas the older
Roman minescontinuedto functionin Byzantinetimes.Davies has himselfconcluded on the basis of thislattertypeofevidencethat the Byzantinescontinued
to the north.7'He also refersto
to mineat Siderocausa(!), Pangaeum,and further
the factthatgold was minedat Baia-Mara in Transylvaniain 1086.72In Bulgaria
coin findsin the area of the mines and in one case inside the mines,at Stara
Planina and Etropolje,fromthe periodofAnastasiusI to Isaac II AngelusindiJirecekhas maincate that possiblythe mineswerenot completelyabandoned.73
tained that the miningactivitiesin the Balkans, thoughtheymay have diminishedafterthe downfallofthe Roman Empirein the West,nevercompletelydisappeared, and that therewas a certaincontinuityin Balkan miningfromlate
antiquityto the end ofthe Middle Ages.74
Referencesto Balkan miningreappear with increasingregularityfromthe
thirteenthcenturyonwards,exactlythe periodin whichnon-Byzantinesources
beginto becomemoreplentiful.These sourcesare in part local, such as Ragusan
archivalmaterialand Bosnian documents,and partlywestern,such as Venetian
reports.This reappearanceofminingactivitiesin the sourcesis probablyto a certain extent connected with the establishmentand expansion of the various
Balkan statesand withtheefforts
ofthelocal rulersto exploittheold and familiar
mines.From the end of the thirteenth
centuries
and beginningof the fourteenth
thisflowering
ofthe miningindustryin the Balkans is accompaniedby an extensive colonizationmovement,a diaspora of Saxons, whichplaced themin all the
miningcentersofthe northernand centralBalkans, in Bosnia, Serbia,and Transylvania.They werefollowedby Ragusan capitalistsand metalcraftsmen.
Two Bosnian documentsof 1339 and 1426 statethat goldand silverwerebeing
exportedby Bosnia, and thegoldofVrbasis onceagain mentionedin thefifteenth
In SerbiathepresenceofSaxon minersis firstmentionedunderStephen
century.75
70 Davies, Roman Mines, p. 238, n. 5. Even the Turkish spellingin the Ottoman documents
publishedby Ahmet Refik testifiesto this. Here the name appears as Sidre Kapsi, not as Sidre
Kapusu.
70a See the Athonitedocumentsin F. Dolger, Am den Schatzkammern
des heiligenBerges(Munich,
1948), p. 338, wherethe name appears duringthe Byzantineperiod.
71 Davies, RomanMines, p. 234.
72 Davies, RomanMines,p. 198. He listshis sourceas Maclaren,Gold,a workwhich,unfortunately,
was not available to me.
73 Davies, Roman Mines, p. 244. C. Jire6ek,
"Archkologische
Fragmenteaus Bulgarien,"Archdologisch-epigraphische
x (1886), 75-85.
Mitteilungen
aus Oisterreich-Ungarn,
74 As pointedout above, Teglas confirms
that the MarcomanniWars did not put an end to Dacian
mining.The Theodosian Code impliesthat in the years386 and 424 miningwas beingcarriedon in
spite of invasions.It is too easy to attributeto the invasionseverythingthat is convenientforthe
historian.
75C. Jire&k,Bergwerke,
p. 42. For a detailed analysisof the Ragusan archiveson the subject of
miningsee pp. 48-58 ofthiswork.

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The QuestionoftheByzantineMines

15

UroshII Miliutin(1282-13920).It seemsthat the Serbs wereactivelyengagedin

miningat Kopaonik in the twelfthcentury.Kopaonik and Novo Brdo came to be
the chiefcentersof Serbian miningactivity (they producedmostlysilver and
iron).The FrenchmonkBrocardreported,perhapswithsome exaggeration,that
in 1332 the Serbian king had fivegold mines,fivesilvermines,and one mine
which produced both silver and gold.76Exports of gold to the coastal city of
Ragusa are mentionedas earlyas 1253.77Novo Brdo by the fourteenth
century
was producingboth silverand gold in appreciablequantities,and afterthe battle
ofKossovo in 1389 the sourcesreportthat Bayazid I acquiredconsiderablerevenue fromthe Serbianmines.78
The FrenchmanBertrandonde la Brocquierementionsthat the incomeof theseminesin 1433 amountedto 200,000ducats annually.79WhenMehmedII tookthecityin themiddleofthefifteenth
centuryit was
stillan importantsourceofrevenue,and thoughhe enslavedmuchofthe populationand led it away,he allowedtheminersto remainso thatthemineswouldcontinue to produce.80
As has been indicatedabove, a greatdeal of the metal fromthe Balkan mines
in Bosnia and Serbia made its way to theDalmatian portofRagusa.8 In addition
to gold, quantitiesof lead, copper,and ironfromOlovo, Srbrnica,and Rudnik
made theirway to Ragusa. AftertheOttomanconquest,ofcourse,theflowofthe
metalswas divertedto thecapital cityon theGoldenHorn.
With the establishmentof Ottomancontrolin the Balkan area, references
to
the miningindustrybecome even morenumerousin the fifteenth
century.The
Genoeselacopo de Promontorio,who visitedthe OttomanEmpire in 1475, only
twenty-two
yearsafterthe fallof Constantinople,
mentionsa numberofminesin
the Balkans: "Caue, id est minered'arientoexistentein Ceruia,Novo Brodo, in
Boxino, Zelebrinaza, Cratauo, Pristina, Ceres, Salonichi, Sophia."82Thus the
Ottoman conquest broughtno disruptionto the major Balkan miningcenters.
The appearanceofThessalonikein thislistofthe Genoesemerchantno doubtrein the nearbyvicinity,which,as
fersto the minesof Siderocausa-Mademochoria
76 Jirecek,
Bergwerke,
p.

43. He impliesthat the ancientminingtraditionhad not died out.

47. Most of it probablycame fromNovo Brdo and Bosnia.
78 Jirecek,Bergwerke,
p. 47. Critobulus,110. "&LKPKveirat &s 7r6Xtv
FxVpdvKaL edSalpovaNoj36irpoSov
77 Jirecek,
Bergewerke,
p.

o6rco KaXovU/vqv

...

o6 Si

KaL 7rXelZoros

&p'YpOS

KaL

Xpvacs yecopyerat &vapvrr6yevos." Ducas,

Historia

&K TCoVperAT&XXv2epft'as,"
Byzantina,ed. I. Bekker(Bonn, 1834), p. 17. " . . . Kal &p-yvpoi &rXAavTabKav&
Ducas, p. 208, recordsa conversationin whichthe ministerofMurad II is supposed to have advised
him to take the city of Novo Brdo forthe followingreason. "apcopev&7r'abroi Trs 7r-y,&srT&s&tl?OVs

rd&s
,3pvobaas bs vScop&fvvaovrTv a&pyvpovKcal
'ITraMas vp0aooev,

iroV

Xpvuov,

Kat a-DvafTc'S (sic) Kep5haO/Ev Ohyryp1avKat 17reKeLva

7r1Trewos."

v FXOpOS T S j/ETipas
Tc7rELvCbaavaSV
ToS

79Anhegger,p. 156. Bertrandonde la Brocquiere,Voyaged'outremer

de Bertrandonde la Brocquiere,ed. C. Shefer(Paris, 1892), p. 214. "Et en cestevillea mined'or et d'argenttoutensemble,et en
tire tous les ans plus de II mille ducatz, et se n'estoitcela, je tiens qu'ils fustores chacie hors de
son pays de Rascie."
Chalcocondyles, ii, 177. "poppaV TLva A7rayaycv es AvSpa7roStquv, -rods &iXXovs 4OKLaeV
&L& T)V peTa&XXOV kpyaa1av,v iv IAc&Xtara Si T&V rarp
XCOpLwv brTTaJMPvoL
WryXavov.
TaiT ."
AeT,&XXOV
rTis7r6Xecos
ac'rrq OtiKkXaX&' T7Oro Paortws abrbT&3v&v=aa
80

XlrCv

aTnoi

KaTa-

7rp6ToOS

Si

81 Jirecek,Bergwerke,
p. 48. Mining on a smallerscale seems to have been carried on by the
Venetiansand othersin Seriphos,Crete,and the Morea. Davies, RomanMines,p. 254.
82 F. Babinger,p. 64.

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16

The QuestionoftheByzantineMines

we noticedabove, continuedto functionin Byzantinetimes.It is of interestto

note that theseminesat Siderocausawereof considerableextentin the sixteenth
century,the earliestdate at whichwe have a detailed descriptionof them.Accordingto the French travellerPierreBelon, who visitedthe minesin the sixteenthcentury,theyemployed6,000 men,possessed500-600 furnaces,and the
monthlyrevenuesoftheminesrangedfrom18,000-30,000ducats.83In thisperiod
the ancientmines of Pravion on Mt Pangaeum continuedto yield silver,lead,
and gold,whileevenat Souniona smallquantityofsilverwas beingproduced.84
CONCLUSIONS

1. The methodwhichhas been pursuedin thisshortnote is the following.The

to mineswithinthe area ofAsia Minor,the Balkans, and Cyprushave
references
been gatheredand grouped in three separate chronologicalgroups. The first
chronologicalgroupbeginswithStraboin thefirstcenturyA.D. and comesdown
to the fourthcentury,the periodof the foundingof the ByzantineEmpire. The
second chronologicalgroup begins here and comes down roughlyto the thirThe thirdchronological
centuries.
teenth-fourteenth
group,overlappingthesecond
somewhat,beginswiththeexpansionof theBalkan states and appearance of the
MuslimTurksin Asia Minor.
2. The sourcesofthe firstgroup,i.e., ofthe late Roman Empire,indicatethat
the minesofthe Balkans, Asia Minor,and Cypruswereveryimportantand produced considerablegold,silver,copper,iron,and lead.
3. The sourcesof the second group,i.e., the Byzantinegroupproper,produce
farsmallernumbersof references
to miningactivity.In factone is struckby the
paucityofthe references.
Yet theydo indicatethat gold,silver,copper,iron,and
lead werebeingproducedin Asia Minor and that miningcontinuedin the Balkans.
4. The thirdgroup,coveringthe thirteenth
to the sixteenthcenturies,is more
rewardingthan eitherof the firsttwo groups.We see herea greatdeal ofmining
activityboth in the Balkans and Asia Minor. Whereassilver,copper,and iron
seem to have been the principalmetalsminedin Asia Minor,all these and lead
and goldas wellwerebeingminedin the Balkans.
5. Now the problemremains of explainingthe comparativesilence of the
second groupof sources,thosewhichwe may roughlyequate withthe most importantperiodofByzantinehistory.One explanationofthe sources'comparative
silenceis that the Arab invasionscut Byzantiumofffromthoselands in the east
which produced the metals, while the Germanic and Slavic invasions in the
83 Anhegger,
i, 182,197, 204. D. Zacynthinos,
"'La communegrecque," L'Hellenismecontemporain,
II (1948), 307. P. Belon, Les observations
de plusieurssingularitezmemorables
(Paris, 1538), p. 102:
"Les minieresde Siderocapsarendentune moult grandesommed'or & d'argenta l'Empereur."See
also pp. 116-117. On pp. 125-126 he notesthat silveris beingminedon Mt. Pangaeus and that silver,
lead, and a littlegoldare beingminedin the vicinityofPhilippi.In reference
to thegreatproductivity
ofSiderocapsehe states that the minersare forcedto workseven days a week withoutpause.
84 Anhegger,
i, 204-205.

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The QuestionoftheByzantineMines

17

the same functionin that area. As a resultByzantiumhad no

Balkans performed
theydo not appear in the sources.85
access to minesand therefore
A second explanation,which seems more plausible, is that the Byzantine
sourcessimplydo not mentionthistype of ordinaryor commonmatter.Most of
and, in contrast
thehistoricalsourcesand narrativesare Constantinople-centered,
to the Muslimsources,we have verylittlein the way ofhistoriesand geographies
of the provinces.Fortunatelythe eastern sources,in contrastto the contemforAsia Minor to show
information
poraryByzantinesources,give us sufficient
that the Byzantinesdid in fact have access to metals and mines. And those
centurieswho
and fourteenth
and historiansofthethirteenth
Muslimgeographers
devotedspecial sectionsof theirworksto Anatolia did in factobservethat there
was active miningin the area. It would indeedbe strangethat the conservative
Byzantineswithall theirinheritedtechnicalskills- the Muslimsprofessedsuch
an admirationforthe technicalskillsof the Rum that theycould onlycompare
themwiththe technicalskillsof the Chinese- shouldhave permittedthe practice and scienceofminingto fallinto disuse.The generalizationabove holdstrue
also fortheBalkan area. What scantarchaeologicaland sourcematerialsexistfor
the Byzantineperiodseem to indicatethat some of the mineswerefunctioning.
In addition,the Byzantines continuedto exercisepolitical authorityfor considerablelengthsoftimein certainareas ofthe Balkans wherea numberofthese
mineswerelocated. And whenthe non-Byzantinesourcesof the thirteenthand
centuriesbecomerelativelyplentiful,the miningindustryappears to
fourteenth
logicalargumentthat the rise of the local
be an active one. Now it is a perfectly
kingdomsand the appearance of the Saxon minersgave impetusto a greaterdevelopmentoftheminingindustry,but it does notmean thatminingdid notexist
in the area beforetheirappearance.Even thisphenomenonofthe greatermining
centurieswould make more sense if, as
activity of the thirteenth-fourteenth
brokethe continuitywithlate Roman
never
completely
the
Slavs
Jirecekstates,
miningtraditionsand practices.In addition,the miningsites of the thirteenth
to the sixteenthcenturiesboth in Asia Minor and the Balkans weremoreor less
the same as thosein late antiquity.
It is obvious,then,that gold,silver,copper,iron,and lead wereavailable to the
lands, in mineswhichprobByzantineson theirown soil and in the neighboring
ably continuedto functionfromantiquitydown into Ottomantimes.Thus the
Byzantineswere not altogetherdependenton trade or a favorablebalance of
tradeforthesemetals.Given the sparsenatureof the sources,it is impossibleto
say much about the quantityin whichthe metalswereproduced.But theycertainlymusthave beenimportantforByzantium'scoinageand manufactures.
UNIVERSITY

Los

OF CALIFORNIA

ANGELES

85 F. Heichelheim,Wirtschaftsgeschichte
I (London, 1938), 833, is of the opinion
des Altertums,
that the invasionsneverbrokethe-continuityofminingactivityin the Balkans.

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