Michael Rodios, exisotes of Athens (eleventh/twelfth century)
Obverse
Inscription followed by an unclear ornament. No border visible.
ΜΙΧΑΗ
ΡΟΔΙΟ.
ΣΤΕ
ΛΑΤΡ
Ν
[σὸν] Μιχαὴ[λ] Ῥόδιο[ν], ὦ Σῶτε[ρ], λάτρ[ι]ν
Reverse
Inscription followed by an ornament. No border visible.
...
ΞΙΣ
ΗΝΤΝ
ΘΗΝΝ
.ΞΙΣ
[τὸν ἐ]ξισωτὴν τῶν [Ἀ]θηνῶν [ἐ]ξίσου
Obverse
Inscription followed by an unclear ornament. No border visible.
ΜΙΧΑΗ
ΡΟΔΙΟ.
ΣΤΕ
ΛΑΤΡ
Ν
[σὸν] Μιχαὴ[λ] Ῥόδιο[ν], ὦ Σῶτε[ρ], λάτρ[ι]ν
Reverse
Inscription followed by an ornament. No border visible.
...
ΞΙΣ
ΗΝΤΝ
ΘΗΝΝ
.ΞΙΣ
[τὸν ἐ]ξισωτὴν τῶν [Ἀ]θηνῶν [ἐ]ξίσου
| Accession number | BZS.1947.2.1534 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 16.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 9.2. See also Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden II, no. 2229. |
Translation
σὸν Μιχαὴλ Ῥόδιον, ὦ Σῶτερ, λάτριν τὸν ἐξισωτὴν τῶν Ἀθηνῶν ἐξίσου.
Saviour, make high your assessment of your servant Michael Rodios, assessor of Athens.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 2: South of the Balkans, the Islands, South of Asia Minor (Open in Zotero)
- Beiträge zur Geschichte der byzantinischen Finanzverwaltung besonders des 10. und 11. Jahrhunderts (Open in Zotero)
- Actes de Lavra, Vol. 1, Des origines à 1204 (Open in Zotero)
- Documents de sigillographie byzantine: La collection C. Orghidan (Open in Zotero)
- Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
- Die Tarchaneiotai: Eine prosopographisch-sigillographische Studie (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Hellas und Thessalia (Open in Zotero)
- Realities of Byzantine Provincial Government: Hellas and Peloponnesos, 1180-1205 (Open in Zotero)
- La géographie ecclésiastique de l’empire byzantin, vol. 2, Les églises et les monastères des grands centres byzantins (Open in Zotero)
- Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)
- Athen in Byzanz: Traum und Realität (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Two correct twelve-syllable verses. They cleverly play on the title exisotes (the official in charge of assessing tribute and ensuring that taxpayers did not hold more land then corresponded to the taxes that they were paying: Dölger, Finanzverwaltung, 79) and the verb ἐξισόω (make equal, bring to the level, assess) which is often used by the Church fathers in a theological context (cf. Lampe, s.v.). A Michael Rodios protoanthypatos and judge of the Hippodrome is attested in August 1084 (Lavra I, no. 4, line 37, cf. p. 291).