Presian Inscription

Presian inscription, first plate, Archeology Museum, Philippi, Greece.
Presian inscription, sixth plate, Archeology Museum, Philippi, Greece.

The Presian Inscription or Philippi Inscription is a medieval Greek text inscribed upon a stone in Philippi during the reign of the Bulgarian ruler Presian I (r. 836–852).

Background history

In 837, soon after Presian's accession, the Slavs in the vicinity of Thessalonica rebelled against the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Theophilos sought Bulgarian support in putting down the rebellion, but simultaneously arranged for his fleet to sail through the Danube delta and undertake a clandestine evacuation of some of the Byzantine captives settled in trans-Danubian Bulgaria by the Bulgarian rulers Krum and Omurtag. In retaliation the kavhan Isbul campaigned along the Aegean coasts of Thrace and Macedonia and captured the city of Philippi, where he set up a surviving memorial inscription in a local church. Isbul's campaign may also have resulted in the establishment of Bulgarian suzerainty over the local Slavic tribe of the Smolyani.

Content

Original

“ Το]ν πολων Βου(λ)γα-

ρον [ο] εκ θεου αρχον ο Π-
ερσιανος απεστιλεν
Ι[σ]βουλον τον καυχανον δοσας αθτον φοσα-
τα κ(ε) τοω ητξιργου βοιλ-
αν κ(ε) τον κανα βοιλα κολοβρον κ(ε) ο καυχανοσ
επι τουσ Σμολεανους ο-
ν......Η [τησ] την αληθηναν γ-
υρευη, ο θ(εος) θεορι.κ(ε), η τησ ψ-
ευδετε, ο θ(εος) θεορι. Τουσ
Χριστηανους οι βουλγαρι-
σ πολα αγαθα επυισα[ν]
κ(ε) οι Χριστηανοι ελησμον-
ησαν, αλλα ο θ(εο)ς θεορι.

 ”

Translation

“ Of the many Bulgarians [the] by God lord Presian (Persianos) sent Isbul the kavkhan having given him military forces (fossata, "camps", metaphorically for "army") and the ichirgu-boil and the khan boil kolobron and the kavkhan against the Smolyani......If someone seeks the truth, God watches. And if one lies, God watches. The Bulgarians did many good things to the Christians and the Christians forgot, but God watches. ”

References