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N. and N. (genikoi?) kommerkiarioi of the apotheke of Koloneia and of all the provinces of the Christ-loving Armeniakon (717/8)

 
 

Obverse

The emperor (Leo III) standing frontally, wearing a chlamys, holding a globus cruciger in his right hand and an akakia in his left hand. Indiction signs on either side: –α̅. Traces of a circular inscription at left. No visible border.

Reverse

Inscription of eight lines. No visible border.

.....
..κοερ.
...ιωναποθ
..ησκολονι.
..παντωντ..
.παρχιωντ.
..λοχριστα
..ενιακ.

[.... γενικῶν] κομμερ[κιαρ[ίων ἀποθ[ήκ]ης Κολονί[ας (καὶ)] πάντων τ[ῶν ἐ]παρχιῶν τ[οῦ φι]λοχρίστου Ἀ[ρμ]ενιακ[οῦ]

Obverse

The emperor (Leo III) standing frontally, wearing a chlamys, holding a globus cruciger in his right hand and an akakia in his left hand. Indiction signs on either side: –α̅. Traces of a circular inscription at left. No visible border.

Reverse

Inscription of eight lines. No visible border.

.....
..κοερ.
...ιωναποθ
..ησκολονι.
..παντωντ..
.παρχιωντ.
..λοχριστα
..ενιακ.

[.... γενικῶν] κομμερ[κιαρ[ίων ἀποθ[ήκ]ης Κολονί[ας (καὶ)] πάντων τ[ῶν ἐ]παρχιῶν τ[οῦ φι]λοχρίστου Ἀ[ρμ]ενιακ[οῦ]

Accession number BZS.1958.106.688
Diameter 30.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 4, no. 22.27.

Zacos-Veglery, no. 222a. Zacos and Veglery published a second specimen of the same seal (no. 222b), but this is unfortunately of no help in establishing a secure reading of the inscription on the obverse and in the first line of the reverse.

Translation

Ἰνδικτιὼν α'.     .... γενικῶν κομμερ[κιαρίων ἀποθήκης Κολονίας καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐπαρχιῶν τοῦ φιλοχρίστου Ἀρμενιακοῦ.

Indiction 1.      .... genikoi kommerkiarioi of the apotheke of Koloneia and of all the provinces of the Christ-loving Armeniakon.

Commentary

The present specimen was rightly attributed by Zacos-Veglery to the early reign of Leo III, on the basis of the iconography and because in the previous first indiction [702/3] the revenues of the apotheke of Koloneia were farmed out to a certain Kyriakos who acted alone (Zacos-Veglery, no. 203). This mention of Koloneia (together with Kamachos) as a separate apotheke shows the importance that this city must have acquired in the early eighth century and explains why it is mentioned separately from the other provinces of the Armeniakon theme.

The present seal provides the earliest known mention of kommerkiarioi with authority over the provinces of a theme; it demonstrates that before 717/718 the themes had a geographical meaning (cf. W. Seibt, in ByzSl 36 [1975] 209).

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
  • The Armeniac Theme and the Fate of Its Leaders (Open in Zotero)
  • Les sceaux byzantins de la Collection Henri Seyrig (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • De Thematibus (Open in Zotero)
  • Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (Open in Zotero)
  • Η Μικρά Ασία των θεμάτων. Ἐρευνες πάνω στην γεωγραφική φυσιογνωμία και προσωπογραφία των βυζαντινών θεμάτων της Μικράς Ασίας (Open in Zotero)
  • Istoriceskoe znacenie italo-greceskoj ikonopisi: Izobra zenija Bogomatera v prozvedenijah italo-greceskih ikonopiscev i ih vlijanie na kompozicii nekotoryh proslavlennyh russkih ikon (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)