N., imperial protospatharios and strategos of the Thrakesioi (eighth century)
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (indeterminate type); discernible in the lower quarters: δ-λ. No visible border.
Κύριε or θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. No visible border.
.λ...
βˊαˊσπα
στρατˊτ.
νθρα
.λ.... β(ασιλικῷ) (πρωτο)σπα(θαρίῳ) [(καὶ)] στρατ(ηγῷ) τ[ῶ]ν Θρᾳ[κ(ησίων)]
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (indeterminate type); discernible in the lower quarters: δ-λ. No visible border.
Κύριε or θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. No visible border.
.λ...
βˊαˊσπα
στρατˊτ.
νθρα
.λ.... β(ασιλικῷ) (πρωτο)σπα(θαρίῳ) [(καὶ)] στρατ(ηγῷ) τ[ῶ]ν Θρᾳ[κ(ησίων)]
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.1314 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 22.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 2.57. Zacos-Veglery, no. 2634(b). |
Translation
Κύριε or θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ .λ.... βασιλικῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατηγῷ τῶν Θρᾳκησίων.
Lord or Mother of God, help your servant .l...., imperial protospatharios and strategos of the Thrakesioi.
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)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Zacos-Veglery published the present specimen along with another from the Zacos Collection that could possibly have come from the same boulloterion. This specimen shows a τ at the beginning of the second line of the reverse, but the owner's name cannot be deciphered because there seems to have been one more line at the beginning, now lost.