Basil Apokapes, (proto?)proedros and doux of Edessa (between 1077 and 1084)
Obverse
Bust of St. Basil; details unclear. Remains of a vertical inscription at left: -σι|λι|ο,. : [Ὁ ἅγιος Βα]σίλιο(ς). Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of six lines. Border of dots.
+
.εRοηθ
.ασιλει
.προεδρ
.δουκιεδε
σταπ
.κα.
[Κ(ύρι)]ε βοήθ(ει) [Β]ασιλείιω [(πρωτο?)]προέδρῳ [(καὶ)] δουκὶ Ἐδέ[σ]σ(ης) τῷ Ἀπ[ο]κά[π(ῃ)].
Obverse
Bust of St. Basil; details unclear. Remains of a vertical inscription at left: -σι|λι|ο,. : [Ὁ ἅγιος Βα]σίλιο(ς). Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of six lines. Border of dots.
+
.εRοηθ
.ασιλει
.προεδρ
.δουκιεδε
σταπ
.κα.
[Κ(ύρι)]ε βοήθ(ει) [Β]ασιλείιω [(πρωτο?)]προέδρῳ [(καὶ)] δουκὶ Ἐδέ[σ]σ(ης) τῷ Ἀπ[ο]κά[π(ῃ)].
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.4763 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 22.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 4, no. 73.1. M. Grünbart in SBS 5 (1998) 40, n. 35. A similar specimen from a different boulloterion was published by Konstantopoulos, no. 173. |
Translation
Κύριε βοήθει Βασιλείιω πρωτοπροέδρῳ καὶ δουκὶ Ἐδέσσης τῷ Ἀποκάπῃ.
Lord, help Basil Apokapes, protoproedros and doux of Edessa.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
- Vizantijskie praviteli Edessy v XI v. (Open in Zotero)
- Die Ostgrenze des byzantinischen Reiches: von 363 bis 1071 nach griechischen, arabischen, syrischen und armenischen Quellen (Open in Zotero)
- Des Grecs aux Croisés: Etude sur l’histoire d’Edesse entre 1071 et 1098 (Open in Zotero)
- Eastern Turkey: An Architectural and Archaeological Survey (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques (Open in Zotero)
- Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)
- Studies in Byzantine Sigillography (Open in Zotero)
- Βυζαντιακὰ μολυβδόβουλλα. Ἡ συλλογὴ Ἀναστασίου Κ. Π. Σταμούλη (Open in Zotero)
- Cinq études sur le XIe siècle byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Die Familie Apokapes im Lichte neuer Quellen (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
At the behest of Philaretos Brachamios, Basil Apokapes seized Edessa in 1077-78 and governed the city until his death in 1083-84. After the fall of Michael VII, he recognized the imperial authority and was recognized as the emperor’s subject, although all this was arranged through being a vassal of Philaretos, who was the vassal of the emperor. The most reliable discussion of Apokapes’ family and career is given by Lemerle, Cinq études, 49-53 and now by M. Grünbart, “Die Familie Apokapes im Lichte neuer Quellen,” SBS 5 (1998) 29-41.
The most important military and economic center in Mesopotamia, Edessa (modern Urfa) was besieged by the Byzantines several times in the tenth century, but resisted capture until 1032 when the city fell to George Maniakes. It was initially the seat of a strategos, later of a doux or katepano (see the list compiled by V. Arutjunova, “Vizantijskie praviteli Edessy v XI v.,” VizVrem 35 [1973] 137-153). After 1071 Byzantine control over Edessa weakened. The city was controlled by Philaretos Brachamios between 1083 and 1086, then passed briefly to the Turks before being taken by the Crusaders in 1098. Cf. Honigmann, Ostgrenze, 134-146; ODB I, 676; J. Laurent, “Des Grecs aux Croisés. Etude sur l’histoire d’Edesse entre 1071 et 1098,” Études d’histoire arménienne (Louvain, 1971), 61-128; Sinclair IV, 2 ff. Also the seat of a metropolitan, Edessa lay within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Antioch (Laurent, Corpus V/2, 374-5; DHGE 14, 1421-24. Episcopal list in Fedalto II, 805 ff).