Basil Solomon, protospatharios and ek prosopou of Adrianoupolis (eleventh century)
Obverse
Bust of St. George, with spear and shield. Remnants of vertical inscription, preceded by ornament resembling a rough breathing sign: ..῾||Ρ|Γ,: Ὁ ἅγιος Γεώργιος. Along the upper border of dots, inscription.
......τωσωδ
Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription preceded and followed by an ornament. Border of dots.
ασιλ,
Ασπαθ,
εκπρ...
αδρια..
σολμ
Βασιλείῳ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ ἐκ προσώπου Ἀδριανουπόλεως τῷ Σολωμῶντι
Obverse
Bust of St. George, with spear and shield. Remnants of vertical inscription, preceded by ornament resembling a rough breathing sign: ..῾||Ρ|Γ,: Ὁ ἅγιος Γεώργιος. Along the upper border of dots, inscription.
......τωσωδ
Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription preceded and followed by an ornament. Border of dots.
ασιλ,
Ασπαθ,
εκπρ...
αδρια..
σολμ
Βασιλείῳ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ ἐκ προσώπου Ἀδριανουπόλεως τῷ Σολωμῶντι
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.3321 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 31.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 44.2. |
Translation
Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Βασιλείῳ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ ἐκ προσώπου Ἀδριανουπόλεως τῷ Σολωμῶντι.
Lord, help your servant Basil Solomon, protospatharios and ek prosopou of Adrianoupolis.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 1: Italy, North of the Balkans, North of the Black Sea (Open in Zotero)
- Die byzantinischen Bleisiegel in Österreich, Vol. 1, Kaiserhof (Open in Zotero)
- Jus graecoromanum (Open in Zotero)
- Sigillographie de l’Empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Documents de sigillographie byzantine: La collection C. Orghidan (Open in Zotero)
- Katalog molivdovulov (Open in Zotero)
- Le kommerkion d’Abydos, Thessalonique et le commerce bulgare du 9e siècle (Open in Zotero)
- Armenian Miniature Paintings of the Monastic Library at San Lazzaro (Open in Zotero)
- Ioannis Scylitzae Synopsis historiarum (Open in Zotero)
- Μελέται περὶ τῆς διοικητικῆς διαιρέσεως καὶ τῆς ἐπαρχιακῆς διοικήσεως ἐν τῷ βυζαντινῷ κράτει (Open in Zotero)
- Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
- Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- La Thrace Orientale et La Mer Noire: Géographie Ecclésiastique et Prosopographie (VIIIe-XIIe Siècles) (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The prosopography of the Solomon family is discussed in Seibt, Bleisiegel, no. 160. The first literary reference to it occurs in the Peira, involving an unnamed Solomon (d. before 1028, a Himerios Solomon and his father-in-law, Gregory Solomon (Peira, in Zepos, Jus, IV, 49, 4). Other members of the family are attested later. Apart from this seal, Basil Solomon is unknown.
This is the fourth known seal of an ek prosopou of Adrianoupolis. A Basil protospatharios and ek prosopou of Adrianoupolis (Sig., 114-115; no family name but seal decorated with the bust of St. George) could be identical to the owner of the present specimen. We also have a Nicholas ek prosopou of Adrianoupolis and Philippoupolis (Sig., 115; reading contested by Laurent, Orghidan, 130) and a John asekretis and ek prosopou of Adrianoupolis (Pančenko, Katalog, no. 340). All these seals date from the late tenth-early eleventh century. One may wonder whether the presence of several ek prosopou in a relatively short period is a manifestation of uncertainty concerning the city's administrative status (seat of a doux or of a strategos? see DO Seals 1, § 44). For the meaning of ek prosopou, see Listes, 342.