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John spatharokandidatos, asekretis, and judge of Boleron, Strymon, and Thessalonike (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Inscription of four lines followed by decoration. Border of dots.

ΚΕ,
ΤΣΔ
Ι̅̅ΣΠΑΘ.
.ΚΑΝΔ.

Κ(ύρι)ε β(οή)[θ(ει)] τῷ σῷ δ[ού(λῳ)] Ἰω(άννῃ) σπαθ[αρ(ο)]κανδ(ι)[δ(άτῳ)]

Reverse

Inscription of five lines followed by decoration. Border of dots.

ΗΚΡΗ
ΚΡΙΤΗ
ΟΛΕΡΣΤΡ,
.Ν,ΘΕ
ΑΛΟΝΙ.

[ἀσ]ηκρῆ[τ(ις)], κριτῇ [Β]ολεροῦ, Στρ(υ)[μ]ῶν(ος) (καὶ) Θε[σ]αλονί[κ(ης)]

Obverse

Inscription of four lines followed by decoration. Border of dots.

ΚΕ,
ΤΣΔ
Ι̅̅ΣΠΑΘ.
.ΚΑΝΔ.

Κ(ύρι)ε β(οή)[θ(ει)] τῷ σῷ δ[ού(λῳ)] Ἰω(άννῃ) σπαθ[αρ(ο)]κανδ(ι)[δ(άτῳ)]

Reverse

Inscription of five lines followed by decoration. Border of dots.

ΗΚΡΗ
ΚΡΙΤΗ
ΟΛΕΡΣΤΡ,
.Ν,ΘΕ
ΑΛΟΝΙ.

[ἀσ]ηκρῆ[τ(ις)], κριτῇ [Β]ολεροῦ, Στρ(υ)[μ]ῶν(ος) (καὶ) Θε[σ]αλονί[κ(ης)]

Accession number BZS.1947.2.168
Diameter 21.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 1, no. 18.24a.

Translation

Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Ἰωάννῃ σπαθαροκανδιδάτῳ, ἀσηκρῆτις, κριτῇ Βολεροῦ, Στρυμῶνος καὶ Θεσαλονίκης.

Lord, help your servant John spatharokandidatos, asekretis, (and) judge of Boleron, Strymon, and Thessalonike.

Commentary

In Athonite documents of the middle of the eleventh century, which is the date of this seal, we find:

(1) John spatharokandidatos and judge of Boleron, Strymon, and Thessalonica, firmly dated to June 1042: Iviron I, no. 27. We know this official's seal (Oikonomides, Dated Seals, no. 85), which is completely different from the present one (it is decorated with a bust of St. John the Baptist).

(2) John asekretis and anagrapheus of Boleron, Strymon, and Thessalonica, before August 1047: Iviron I, no. 29, lines 1-2.

(3) John asekretis, judge, and anagrapheus of Boleron, Strymon, and Thessalonica, before 1047: Lavra I, no. 39, line 2.

(4) John asekretis, imperial notarios, and anagrapheus of Boleron, Strymon, and Thessalonica, ὁ τοῦ ἀπὸ εἰδικῶν, August 1044 (?): Actes de Saint-Pantéléèmôn, ed. P. Lemerle, G. Dagron, S. Ćirković (Paris, 1982), no. 3.

All these, and the individual attested by the present seal, could have been the same person (as has been assumed up to now) or possibly two different persons who held office at proximate dates.

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)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (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)
  • 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)
  • A Collection of Dated Byzantine Lead Seals (Open in Zotero)
  • Actes de Lavra, Vol. 1, Des origines à 1204 (Open in Zotero)