Sophronios archbishop of Miletos (tenth/eleventh century)
Obverse
Indistinct bust of the Virgin holding the medallion of Christ before her. Sigla: μ.-θ : Μ[(ήτη)ρ] Θ[(εο)ῦ]. Border of dots.
Obverse
Indistinct bust of the Virgin holding the medallion of Christ before her. Sigla: μ.-θ : Μ[(ήτη)ρ] Θ[(εο)ῦ]. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. Border of dots.
σφρο
αρχηε
πισκ..
μηλιτ.
Σωφρό[ν(ιος)] ἀρχηεπίσκ[οπ(ος)] Μηλίτ(ου).
Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.2848 |
---|---|
Diameter | 22.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 26.3. Laurent, Corpus V/1, no. 828. |
Credit Line | Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore. |
Translation
Σωφρόνιος ἀρχηεπίσκοπος Μηλίτου.
Sophronios, archbishop of Miletos.
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)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
This famous ancient city kept its name into the ninth century when it still constituted the center of a fiscal perception unit (διοίκησις); but the city closed itself inside fortifications, mainly in the old theater, and took a new name, Palatia (modern Balat), due to its spectacular antiquities. It was a bishopric as early as the fourth century, had become archbishopric by 538, and became metropolis in the twelfth century. See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 543; Brandes, Städte, 89-92; ODB II, 1372-73.