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John protokentarchos of the judge of the Thrakesioi (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of St. Nicholas; details effaced. Inscription in two columns: |ν|ι-κ|ο|λ : Ὁ ἅ(γιος) Νικόλ(αος). Circular inscription along a border of dots:

κεR.-τωσω

Κ(ύρι)ε β(οή)[θ(ει)] τῷ σῷ [δ(ούλῳ)]

Reverse

Inscription of five lines, the final letter between two bars. Border of dots.

+ι̅ωα̅
κενταρ
χκριτ,
τονθρα
.ησυο
ν

Ἰω(άννῃ) (πρωτο)κεντάρχ(ῳ) τοῦ κριτ(οῦ) τον Θρᾳ[κ]ησύον

Obverse

Bust of St. Nicholas; details effaced. Inscription in two columns: |ν|ι-κ|ο|λ : Ὁ ἅ(γιος) Νικόλ(αος). Circular inscription along a border of dots:

κεR.-τωσω

Κ(ύρι)ε β(οή)[θ(ει)] τῷ σῷ [δ(ούλῳ)]

Reverse

Inscription of five lines, the final letter between two bars. Border of dots.

+ι̅ωα̅
κενταρ
χκριτ,
τονθρα
.ησυο
ν

Ἰω(άννῃ) (πρωτο)κεντάρχ(ῳ) τοῦ κριτ(οῦ) τον Θρᾳ[κ]ησύον

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.2301
Diameter 24.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 3, no. 2.33.

Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore.

Translation

Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Ἰωάννῃ πρωτοκεντάρχῳ τοῦ κριτοῦ τον Θρᾳκησύον.

Lord, help your servant John, protokentarchos of the judge of the Thrakesioi.

Commentary

The present specimen shows that the protokentarchos, an official who appears in the provincial administration during the tenth century, might best be defined as a sergeant-at-arms, subordinate not only to the strategos (Cer., 663), but also to the judge, no doubt heading their guards.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 3: West, Northwest, and Central Asia Minor and the Orient (Open in Zotero)
  • Constantini Porphyrogeniti De cerimoniis aulae byzantinae (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Praetorians: An Administrative, Institutional, and Social Survey of the Opsikion and Tagmata, c. 580-900 (Open in Zotero)
  • Theophanis Chronographia (Open in Zotero)
  • L’histoire et la géographie de la région de Smyrne entre les deux occupations turques (1081-1317), particulièrement au XIIIe siècle (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • “Thrakien” und “Thrakesion” (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung (Open in Zotero)