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Herakleios and Herakleios Constantine (613–ca. 616)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of the emperor Herakleios at left, with a short beard, and a tiny bust of Herakleios Constantine at right. Each wears a crown and chlamys. Herakleios wears his hair long at the sides and curled inward. A small cross is visible on top of Herakleios Constantine’s crown. A small cross appears in the upper field. Remains of a circular inscription at right. Border of dots.

[D(omini) n(ostri) Heraclius] et Hera(clius) Con[s(tantinus) p(er)p(etui) aug(usti)].

Reverse

Blank.

...........EERACON.....

Obverse

Bust of the emperor Herakleios at left, with a short beard, and a tiny bust of Herakleios Constantine at right. Each wears a crown and chlamys. Herakleios wears his hair long at the sides and curled inward. A small cross is visible on top of Herakleios Constantine’s crown. A small cross appears in the upper field. Remains of a circular inscription at right. Border of dots.

[D(omini) n(ostri) Heraclius] et Hera(clius) Con[s(tantinus) p(er)p(etui) aug(usti)].

Reverse

Blank.

...........EERACON.....

Accession number BZS.1958.106.529 (formerly DO 58.106.529)
Diameter 22.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 6, no. 13.2; Zacos–Veglery, no. 11b (slightly different reading of the inscription).

Translation

Domini nostri Heraclius et Heraclius Constantinus perpetui augusti.

Our lords Herakleios and Herakleios Constantine, eternal augusti.

Commentary

The seals below bear depictions of Herakleios with a short beard and of his son Herakleios Constantine in diminutive bust. The latter was born in May of 612 to Herakleios’s first wife, Eudokia. On coins (see DOC 2.1:8j2; MIB 3: Prägetabelle 1, nos. 8–10) from the first three years after his son’s crowning Herakleios is represented with a short beard and is accompanied by a diminutive bust of Herakleios Constantine.

Seibt (Bleisiegel, 69) has employed the following criteria for classifying and dating seals, from 613–616, with representations of Herakleios and Herakleios Constantine. (1) 613–ca. 614: Herakleios Constantine (small); style of hair: inward curl. (2) 613–16: imperial representations remain the same; reverse blank. (3) 614–16: the Virgin’s right leg is bent. As possible examples of the latter he cites Zacos–Veglery, nos. 12a and c.

For a discussion of the emperor’s hair, particularly asymmetrical sidelocks, which also occur on coins, see DOC 2.1: p. 93.

Both emperors here seem to be wearing a flat crown.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 6, Emperors, Patriarchs of Constantinople, Addenda (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, Vol. 2, Phocas to Theodosius III (602–717) (Open in Zotero)
  • Moneta Imperii Byzantini: Rekonstruktion des Prägeaufbaues auf synoptisch-tabellarischer Grundlage (Open in Zotero)
  • Die byzantinischen Bleisiegel in Österreich, Vol. 1, Kaiserhof (Open in Zotero)