Theophilos imperial spatharios and protonotarios of the theme of Hellas (tenth century)
Obverse
A griffin rampant holding a branch in his beak. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.
ΘΕΟΦ.
Λ ΣΠΑΘ
Α ΝΟΤ Τ
ΘΕΜ Ε
ΛΑΔ
Θεόφιλος βασιλικὸς σπαθάριος καὶ πρωτονοτάριος τοῦ θέματος Ἑλλάδος
Accession number | BZS.1958.106.1333 |
---|---|
Diameter | 18.0 mm; field: 15.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 8.38. |
Translation
Θεόφιλος βασιλικὸς σπαθάριος καὶ πρωτονοτάριος τοῦ θέματος Ἑλλάδος.
Theophilos, imperial spatharios and protonotarios of the theme 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)
- Plombs byzantins de la Grèce et du Péleponnèse (Open in Zotero)
- 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. 2 (Open in Zotero)
- The Griffin through the Ages (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Du stratège de thème au duc: chronologie de l’évolution au cours du XIe siècle (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)
Commentary
The same legend appears on a seal published by Mordtmann (RA 1877/1, 293, no. 4 [cf. Sig., 166 footnote, 169-70]), but the obverse carries a cross on steps and an invocation. The motif of the griffin with the raised paw and the branch in the beak also appears on other seals (e.g. DOSeals 1.18.36; Zacos, Seals II, no. 931). It is a very old motif, attested also in other media in the mid-Byzantine period (cf. Laskarina Bouras, The Griffin through the Ages [Athens, 1983], esp. 50-51).