Leo metropolitan of Herakleia (eighth century)
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V); in the quarters: ΤΩΣΩ|ΔΛΩ. Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
inscription of five lines preceded and followed by decoration. Wreath border.
λεωντι
μητροπ
ολιτηηρ
ακληασ
Λέωντι μητροπολίτῃ Ἡρακλήας
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V); in the quarters: ΤΩΣΩ|ΔΛΩ. Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
inscription of five lines preceded and followed by decoration. Wreath border.
λεωντι
μητροπ
ολιτηηρ
ακληασ
Λέωντι μητροπολίτῃ Ἡρακλήας
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.5680 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 34.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 53.6. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Λέωντι μητροπολίτῃ Ἡρακλήας.
Theotokos, help your servant Leo metropolitan of Herakleia.
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. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Sceaux byzantins du musée de Constantinople (Open in Zotero)
- Sigillographie de l’Empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio (Open in Zotero)
- La Thrace Orientale et La Mer Noire: Géographie Ecclésiastique et Prosopographie (VIIIe-XIIe Siècles) (Open in Zotero)
- Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The see of Herakleia was represented by a Leo at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 (Mansi XIII, 380, 731), and Laurent's attribution of the present specimen to this prelate is convincing. See Asdracha, Thrace orientale, 267.
Herakleia (modern Eregli), located on the European coastline of the Sea of Marmara, was an important outlet for the products of its agricultural hinterland: hence the seals of horreiarioi.
Herakleia had a Christian community by A.D. 300, the approximate date when the city was first organized as an ecclesiastic metropolis. In the seventh century the see had five suffragan bishoprics (see Darrouzès, Notitiae, 207, lines 117-22), a number that subsequently increased to fifteen in the middle Byzantine period (see ibid., 275, lines 117-22), a number that subsequently increased to fifteen in the middle Byzantine period (see ibid., 275, lines 154-69, and Laurent, Corpus V/1, 212). Cf. Asdracha, Thrace orientale, 267-74.