Bardas imperial spatharios and archon of the Strymon (ninth century)
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V); in the quarters: ΤΣ|ΔΛ. Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.
ΒΡ
ΒΣΠΡ
ΧΟΝΤΣΤΡ
ΟΜΟΝΟ
Βάρδᾳ βασιλικῷ σπαθαρίῳ καὶ ἄρχοντι Στρομόνος
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V); in the quarters: ΤΣ|ΔΛ. Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.
ΒΡ
ΒΣΠΡ
ΧΟΝΤΣΤΡ
ΟΜΟΝΟ
Βάρδᾳ βασιλικῷ σπαθαρίῳ καὶ ἄρχοντι Στρομόνος
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.714 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 28.0 mm; field: 24.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 37.1. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Βάρδᾳ βασιλικῷ σπαθαρίῳ καὶ ἄρχοντι Στρομόνος.
Theotokos, help your servant Bardas imperial spatharios and archon of the Strymon.
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)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Philippes et la Macédoine orientale à l’époque chrétienne et byzantine; recherches d’histoire et d’archéologie (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- De Thematibus (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Is this a Slavic archontia (cf. Lemerle, Philippes, 128 note 1)? But the name of the archon is not Slavic--it is Armenian. Would this have been a Byzantine archon who governed the province before the establishment of the theme? Or is this a different appellation for the archon of Christoupolis? The question remains open.
The earliest textual mention of a strategos of the Strymon (also spelled Στρομών, Στρωμών) occurs in the Treatise of Philotheos (899; see Listes, 101, line 25). But we note that DO Seals 1, 37.2-3 definitely date before the mid-ninth century, about the time when the theme of Thessalonica was established (836 or earlier, 824: DO Seals 1, § 18). The theme of Strymon may originate in the late 840s, for, as noted by Lemerle and others, there is no mention of this theme in the Uspenskij Taktikon (842-843; see the discussion in Pertusi, De Thematibus, 166-67). On the upper hand, Serres, which would have served along with Christoupolis as the capital of the theme, was elevated from a bishopric to an archbishopric in the first half of the ninth century, a circumstance that may not be coincidental. In the eighth century, the Strymon was a kleisoura of Macedonia (De Them., chap. 3, line 2), but there was also an archon of the Strymon (this specimen).