Philommates patrikios, imperial protospatharios and strategos of the Armeniakoi (ninth/tenth century)
Obverse
Bust of the Mother of God holding a medallion before her. Circular inscription within concentric circles of dots:
θκεRοηθτσδ/
Θ(εοτό)κε βοήθ(ει) τῷ σῷ δ(ούλῳ)
Obverse
Bust of the Mother of God holding a medallion before her. Circular inscription within concentric circles of dots:
θκεRοηθτσδ/
Θ(εοτό)κε βοήθ(ει) τῷ σῷ δ(ούλῳ)
Reverse
Inscription of six lines. Border of dots.
+φιλο
.τ,πτ
ρ,R,,σπ
θ,Sστρτι
γ,τ,ρμΕ
Ν̣Ι̣̣Κ̣
Φιλο[μ]άτ(ῃ) πατρ(ικίῳ), β(ασιλικῷ) (πρωτο)σπαθ(αρίῳ) (καὶ) στρατιγ(ῷ) τ(ῶν) Ἀρμενιακ(ῶν)
Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.570 |
---|---|
Diameter | 28.0 mm; field: 21.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 4, no. 22.48. |
Credit Line | Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Φιλομάτῃ πατρικίῳ, βασιλικῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατιγῷ τῶν Ἀρμενιακῶν.
Mother of God, help your servant Philommates patrikios, imperial protospatharios and strategos of the Armeniakoi.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
- Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, Propylaeum ad AASS Novembris (Open in Zotero)
- The Armeniac Theme and the Fate of Its Leaders (Open in Zotero)
- Les sceaux byzantins de la Collection Henri Seyrig (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- De Thematibus (Open in Zotero)
- Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (Open in Zotero)
- Η Μικρά Ασία των θεμάτων. Ἐρευνες πάνω στην γεωγραφική φυσιογνωμία και προσωπογραφία των βυζαντινών θεμάτων της Μικράς Ασίας (Open in Zotero)
- Istoriceskoe znacenie italo-greceskoj ikonopisi: Izobra zenija Bogomatera v prozvedenijah italo-greceskih ikonopiscev i ih vlijanie na kompozicii nekotoryh proslavlennyh russkih ikon (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The owner's name could also be Φιλο[π]άτης or, less probably for the period, Φιλόπατρις. The name Φιλομμάτης is attested in the late ninth century: he was the hikanatos who found the relic of St. Menas (see Syn. Eccl. CP, 470).