Michael patrikios, imperial protospatharios, and strategos of Thessalonica (tenth century)
Obverse
Bust of St. Nicholas blessing and holding book. Inscription in two columns: Ο|Α|Γ,Ν|Ι|Κ,: Ὁ ἅγιος Νικόλαος. Circular inscription along border of dots.
ΑΓΙΕΝΙΚ.ΛΑΕΟΗΘΙ
Ἅγιε Νικόλαε βοήθι
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Indeterminate border.
ΜΙΧΑΗΛ
ΠΑΤΡΙΚΙ
ΑΣΠΑΘΑΡ,
ΣΤΡΑΤΙΓ,
ΘΕΣΑΛ,
Μιχαὴλ πατρικίῳ, βασιλικῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατιγῷ Θεσαλονίκης
Obverse
Bust of St. Nicholas blessing and holding book. Inscription in two columns: Ο|Α|Γ,Ν|Ι|Κ,: Ὁ ἅγιος Νικόλαος. Circular inscription along border of dots.
ΑΓΙΕΝΙΚ.ΛΑΕΟΗΘΙ
Ἅγιε Νικόλαε βοήθι
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Indeterminate border.
ΜΙΧΑΗΛ
ΠΑΤΡΙΚΙ
ΑΣΠΑΘΑΡ,
ΣΤΡΑΤΙΓ,
ΘΕΣΑΛ,
Μιχαὴλ πατρικίῳ, βασιλικῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατιγῷ Θεσαλονίκης
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.4900 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 25.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 18.72. |
Translation
Ἅγιε Νικόλαε βοήθι Μιχαὴλ πατρικίῳ, βασιλικῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατιγῷ Θεσαλονίκης.
Saint Nicholas, help Michael patrikios, imperial protospatharios and strategos of Thessalonica.
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. 2 (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Silk Trade and Production in Byzantium from the Sixth to the Ninth Century: The Seals of Kommerkiarioi (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantinische Bleisiegel in Berlin (West) (Open in Zotero)
- Le kommerkion d’Abydos, Thessalonique et le commerce bulgare du 9e siècle (Open in Zotero)
- Recherches sur les douanes à Byzance: L’octava, le "kommerkion" et les commerciares (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Les plus anciens recueils des miracles de Saint Démétrius et la pénétration des Slaves dans les Balkans (Open in Zotero)
- L’éparque de Thessalonique: les origines d'une institution administrative (VIIIe-IXe siècles) (Open in Zotero)
- Nicholas I, Patriarch of Constantinople: Letters (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
This seal appears to date from the end of the ninth or the beginning of the tenth century and may have belonged to a Michael strategos of Thessalonica who was a correspondent of Patriarch Nicholas I Mystikos (901-907 or 912-925); see Nicholas I, Letters, 450.