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Leo Barenos (?), imperial protospatharios and judge of Cephalonia and Nikopolis (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.

+ΚΕ,Θ,
ΤΣΔ,
ΛΕΟΝΤ,.
ΑΣΠΑΘ
..

Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Λέοντι βασιλικῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ

Reverse

Inscription of five lines preceded by an ornament. Border of dots.


ΚΡΙΤ,
.ΕΦΑΛΗ
..ΝΙΚΟΠ,
.ΑΡΗ
Ν

(καὶ) κριτ Κεφαληνίας καὶ Νικοπόλεως τ Βαρηνῷ

Obverse

Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.

+ΚΕ,Θ,
ΤΣΔ,
ΛΕΟΝΤ,.
ΑΣΠΑΘ
..

Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Λέοντι βασιλικῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ

Reverse

Inscription of five lines preceded by an ornament. Border of dots.


ΚΡΙΤ,
.ΕΦΑΛΗ
..ΝΙΚΟΠ,
.ΑΡΗ
Ν

(καὶ) κριτ Κεφαληνίας καὶ Νικοπόλεως τ Βαρηνῷ

Accession number BZS.1958.106.3670
Diameter 34.0 mm; field: 26.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 2, no. 2.2.
Seibt, Nikopolis, no. 13.

Translation

Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Λέοντι βασιλικῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ κριτῇ Κεφαληνίας καὶ Νικοπόλεως τῷ Βαρηνῷ.

Lord, help your servant Leo Barenos, imperial protospatharios and judge of Cephalonia and Nikopolis.

Commentary

Seibt has read (with reservations) Leo's patronym as Καρήνῳ. The last four letters of his family name can be read with certainty: ρηνω. The initial letter is weakly imprinted and may be a kappa or a beta. The next letter is unclear; it may be an alpha, but as it appears to be an oval, it could as well be an epsilon. The name may thus be Καρήνῳ, Βαρηνῷ, or Βερήνῳ. But Barenos also carries a meaning: someone who comes from Bari. Cf. A. Guillou and W. Holtzmann, "Zwei Katepansurkunden aus Tricarico," Quellen und Forschungen aus italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken 41 (1961) 18; R. Förster, De antiquitatibus et libris manuscriptis Constantinopolitanis (Rostock, 1877), 16.

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)
  • Die sphragistischen Quellen zum byzantinischen Thema Nikopolis (Open in Zotero)
  • De Administrando Imperio (Open in Zotero)
  • Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Administrando Imperio (Open in Zotero)
  • Nikopolis und Kephallenia (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
  • Nikopolis I: Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Nicopolis (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)