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Barsakios imperial protospatharios and strategos of Sicily (ninth/tenth century)

 
 

Obverse

Patriarchal cross on three steps. Circular inscription between two borders of dots.

ΚΕΟΗΘΗΤΟΣΟΔΟΥΛ

Κύριε βοήθει το σο δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. Double border of dots.

ΑΡΣ
ΚΙΣΠ
ΘΡ,ΣΤ
ΡΑΤΙΓ,ΣΗ
ΚΕΛΙ

Βασρσακίῳ βασιλικῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατηγ Σικελίας

Obverse

Patriarchal cross on three steps. Circular inscription between two borders of dots.

ΚΕΟΗΘΗΤΟΣΟΔΟΥΛ

Κύριε βοήθει το σο δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. Double border of dots.

ΑΡΣ
ΚΙΣΠ
ΘΡ,ΣΤ
ΡΑΤΙΓ,ΣΗ
ΚΕΛΙ

Βασρσακίῳ βασιλικῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατηγ Σικελίας

Accession number BZS.1958.106.2120
Diameter 26.0 mm; field: 20.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 1, no. 5.9b.

Translation

Κύριε βοήθει το σο δούλῳ Βασρσακίῳ βασιλικῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατηγῷ Σικελήας.

Lord, help your servant Barsakios imperial protospatharios and strategos of Sicily.

Commentary

The parallels to the seal come from the same boulloterion, except BZS.1958.106.1802. The owner of this seal may be the Barsakios who fought at Taormina in 880/1 and may have become strategos of Longobardia in 894. See Falkenhausen, Dominazione, 100, no. 62.

Bibliography

  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • La dominazione bizantina nell’Italia meridionale dal IX al XI secolo (Open in Zotero)
  • Storia della Sicilia, Vol. 3, La Sicilia fra Roma e Bisanzio (Open in Zotero)
  • L’amministrazione del tema de Sicilia (Open in Zotero)
  • La Sicile byzantine: État de recherches (Open in Zotero)
  • Une liste arabe des stratèges du thème de Sicile (Open in Zotero)
  • Une source peu étudiée de l’histoire de la Sicile au haut Moyen-Age: La sigillographie byzantine (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung (Open in Zotero)
  • Theophanes Continuatus, Ioannes Cameniata, Symeon Magister, Georgius Monachus (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)