Theodore dioiketes of Hellas (seventh/eighth century)
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V). Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει
Reverse
Inscription of three lines followed by a cross. Wreath border.
ΘΕΔ
ΟΡΟΔΙΥΚ
ΕΛΑΔΟΣ
Θεωδορο διυκητῇ Ἑλάδος
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V). Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει
Reverse
Inscription of three lines followed by a cross. Wreath border.
ΘΕΔ
ΟΡΟΔΙΥΚ
ΕΛΑΔΟΣ
Θεωδορο διυκητῇ Ἑλάδος
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.573 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 28.0 mm; field: 19.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 8.8b. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει Θεωδορο διυκητῇ Ἑλάδος.
Theotokos, help Theodore dioiketes of Hellas.
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)
- Sigillographie de l’Empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Βυζαντιακὰ μολυβδόβουλλα τοῦ ἐν ἈΘήναις Ἐθνικοῦ Νομισματικοῦ Μουσείου (Open in Zotero)
- Du stratège de thème au duc: chronologie de l’évolution au cours du XIe siècle (Open in Zotero)
- Le Peloponnese byzantin jusqu’en 1204 (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Hellas und Thessalia (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung (Open in Zotero)
- Die byzantinische Armee im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert: Studien zur Organisation der Tagmata (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
A strategos of Hellas, a patrikios, is first mentioned in 695 (Theophanes I, 368); the position was created in the late 7th century, probably by Justinian II (687-695). A tourmarches ton Helladikon is mentioned in 727 at the head of the fleet (Theophanes I, 405). The officials of Hellas are well attested throughout the centuries, those belonging to the "regular" thematic administration (strategoi, ek prosopou, merarchai, tourmarchai, dioiketai, protonotarioi, anagrapheis, epoptai, chartoularioi, judges, and the droungarioi who possibly commanded naval forces, see DO Seals 2, no. 810) as well as those attesting special jurisdisctions insied the thematic framework such as the archontes of Slavic settlements or of Byzantine cities or the imperial administration from a very early date. In the 8th century Hellas was called a strategia, a term als used for the oriental theme of Thrakesion (Zacos-Veglery, no. 254, cf. no. 261), but later the expression θέμα Ἑλλάδος will appear on the seals (cf. DO Seals 2, no. 8.5). Initially this Hellas included, we suppose, whatever remained under imperial control of the former province of Achaia (which was also called Hellas in the Synekdomos), the capital of which was Corinth (cf. DO Seals 2, § 25). Later (ca. 800) the Peloponnesos (DO Seals 2, § 22) constituted a separate theme and Hellas was limited to the north of the Isthmus. The strategos resided possibly in Athens (9th century), certainly in Thebes (first half of the 10th century) and Larissa (second half of the 10th century).
Hellas remained an independent theme adjacent to Peloponnesos, and its strategoi are attested until the last decades of the 11th century (no. 8.54), after what had been Hellas was divided into smaller administrations. But, on the other hand, there was a tendency to combine the financial and fiscal authorities of the two themes, especially the protonotarioi and judges (praitores): this change dates from the late 10th/early 11th century. In the late 11th century the praitores appear on the seals (including a protopraitor: see DO Seals 2, no. 8.39) as well as the doukes of the two themes (see DO Seals 2, no. 8.32; Bon, Péloponnèse, 200-201 and J.-Cl. Cheynet, "Du stratège du thème au duc: chronologie de l'évolution au cours du XIe siècle," TM 9 [1985] 192), and later, the megas doux, the admiral in chief of the Komnenian navy, like Eumathios Philokales (see DO Seals 2, no. 22.15).
For the theme of Hellas, see Listes, 351, n. 360 (biblio.); Koder-Hild, Hellas, 54-67; Herrin; Winkelmann, Ämterstruktur, 92-95, 123-25; and Kühn, Armee, 240-41.