I have been doing some research and there appears to be an important individual with the name Basil Maleses during the appropriate period and who was associated with the Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes . Maybe my seal is of this
Byzantine.
Wikipedia notes that
In 1075 the official in charge of the Aqueduct of Valens' (
Roman aqueduct system built in the late 4th century AD, to supply
Constantinople) maintenance was Basil Maleses, the protovestes and former judge recorded by the Greek historian Michael Attaleiates as having been captured by Alp Arslan's Seljuks at the Battle of Manzikert.[1] Basil's office, known in
Byzantine Greek as: λογοθέτης τω̑ν ὑδάτων, romanized: logothétēs tōn hydátōn, lit. 'logothete of the waters' and attested only from Attaleiates's
history, was descended from the official in charge of aqueducts (Latin: curator aquarum) mentioned by Frontinus one millennium earlier in the
Roman imperial period.
A scholarly article entitled Ruling the waters: managing the water supply
of
Constantinople, AD 330–1204 states:
In 1071, the emperor Romanos IV Diogenes led an army across
Asia Minor to confront frontier problems in
Armenia and provide a show of
military strength against the
sultan Alp Aslan. In the event, the
Byzantine army was defeated close to the
Armenian fortress of Manzikert and the emperor was captured. For many historians this is a key moment in the decline of
Byzantine control of its eastern territories and the increasing penetration and occupation of
Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks and Turkmen tribes (Vryonis 1971). However, the historian Michael Attaliates, who was an eyewitness to these events, also provides an important, if enigmatic, insight into the urban
history of
Constantinople. Amongst those captured with the emperor was the protovestes Basil Maleses, a close advisor and an experienced administrator (Attaliates,
History 167.15–16).1 It is known from other sources that Maleses
had served as kritis (judge) in
Greece and the northern Anatolian theme (
military province) of Armeniakon (Duye´ 1972). However, Attaliates ignores these or other titles and prefers to call him the protovestes Basil Maleses, logothetes
ton hydaton—the logothete of the waters.
Basileios Maleses, ‘the emperor’s closest associate’, held the office of logothetes
ton hydaton. This is the only instance of this office, which may be equated with the komes hydaton attested a century before. Whether the office was fiscal as suggested for the komes or
had a wider remit is not known and there is always some uncertainty how far the function of offices exactly matched the titles (Oikonomede`s 1972). The logothetes tou dromou was the successor of the rationalis
cursus publicus, with overall responsibility for the imperial road network
Another source says Basil Maleses was a judge of the
Armeniac Theme and the Theme of Hellas and son in law of Michael Psellos or Psellus (Greek: Μιχαὴλ Ψελλός, translit. Michaḗl Psellós
Byzantine Greek: [mi.xaˈil p͡s̠e̞lˈlo̞s̠]) was a
Byzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, politician and historian
