Oral History Interview with Barbara W. Fash, undertaken by Elizabeth Gettinger and Anne Steptoe at the Peabody Museum at Harvard University on July 22, 2009. At Dumbarton Oaks, Barbara Fash worked on various projects for the Pre-Columbian Studies program and the Museum.

For over a thousand years the Byzantine Emperor ruled as God's regent of earth. The decisions of the individuals who sat on the throne had repercussions throughout the Byzantine world and far beyond. Decrees, letters, judgments, and commands left Constantinople every day signed by the emperor in red ink and secured with the imperial seal. The designs of the imperial seals provide an insight into the minds and policies of the rulers whose image they bore; they tell us not only how they wished to be viewed by the recipients of their letters, but also how they viewed themselves.