Nicholas notarios of Ephesos (ninth century)
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V?). In the quarters: .-σ|-.. Wreath border.
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. No visible border:
+νικο
λνοτ
ριεφ
.σου
Νικολάῳ νοταρίῳ Ἐφ[έ]σου.
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V?). In the quarters: .-σ|-.. Wreath border.
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. No visible border:
+νικο
λνοτ
ριεφ
.σου
Νικολάῳ νοταρίῳ Ἐφ[έ]σου.
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.1115 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 22.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 14.3. Zacos-Veglery, no. 2218. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Νικολάῳ νοταρίῳ Ἐφέσου.
Mother of God, help your servant Nicholas, notarios of Ephesos.
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)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- De Thematibus (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Les évêchés suffragants d’Ephèse aux 5e-13e siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Drei byzantinische Bleisiegel aus Ephesos (Open in Zotero)
- Ephesos in byzantinischer Zeit (Open in Zotero)
- Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
We do not understand the meaning of this seal. The notarios was an official of the state administration attached to one of the financial sekreta (Listes, 310), but seals of notarioi attached to provincial cities are very uncommon. The only way to understand this seal is to suppose that Nicholas was a notarios of the genikon, attached to the attested provincial dioikesis (arkla) of Ephesos (cf. Listes, 153, line 24; cf. Zacos-Veglery, no. 2078), who for some reason decided to make his own seal.
The ancient city of Ephesos was abandoned in the seventh century in favor of the security of the inland fortress of Theologos, where the famous basilica (and major pilgrimage center) of St. John the Evangelist stood (near modern Selçuk). The name (Ἅγιος) Θεολόγος, Theologo, Ayasoluk was currently used when speaking of the medieval town and its administrators, such as the commander of the fortress, the paraphylax, or the archon (eighth/ninth century: Zacos-Veglery, no. 2282A) and the (undoubtedly naval) droungarios (ninth century: ibid., 2561A; Konstantopoulos, no. 135). But the old name, Ephesos, also survived in civil administration: Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos informs us that the theme of Samos, which is first attested at the very end of the ninth century, had control over the tourma of Ephesos (Ἐφέσιον: De Them., chap. XVI, line 14), while we have mentions of tax collectors (dioiketes) of Ephesos (ActaSS November III, 540; Zacos-Veglery, no. 2487). We have the impression that Theologos was the local usage, while Ephesos came from the learned circles of Constantinople and was the name that prevailed alone in the ecclesiastic administration.
Ephesos was a major metropolis, with no less than 39 suffragans attached to it at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, claiming to preserve the remains of the Apostle John (whose representation appears on the obverse on some seals of metropolitans). It is mentioned in all notitiae.
See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 178; Culerrier, Suffragants d'Ephèse; ODB I, 706; W. Seibt, "Drei byzantinische Bleisiegel aus Ephesos," Litterae numismaticae vindobonenses Roberto Goebl dedicatae (Vienna, 1979), 145-54; W. Brandes, "Ephesos in byzantinischer Zeit," Klio 64 (1982) 611-22; Brandes, Städte, 83-85.