Constantine (?) spatharokandidatos, asekretis and judge of the Cycladic Islands (tenth/eleventh century)
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin (perhaps with hands open in front of her); scarcely visible sigla. ΜΡ..: Μήτηρ Θεοῦ, and circular inscription. Indeterminate border.
..Ε.Ο...Τ
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of seven lines. Indeterminate border.
Κ.
ΣΠΑΘΑ.
..Ν.
..ΚΡΗΤ.
ΚΡΙΤ,Τ.
.ΥΚΛΑΔ
ΝΗΣ,
Κωνσταντίνῳ σπαθαροκανδιδάτῳ, ἀσηκρῆτις (καὶ) κριτῇ τῶν Κυκλάδων νήσων
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin (perhaps with hands open in front of her); scarcely visible sigla. ΜΡ..: Μήτηρ Θεοῦ, and circular inscription. Indeterminate border.
..Ε.Ο...Τ
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of seven lines. Indeterminate border.
Κ.
ΣΠΑΘΑ.
..Ν.
..ΚΡΗΤ.
ΚΡΙΤ,Τ.
.ΥΚΛΑΔ
ΝΗΣ,
Κωνσταντίνῳ σπαθαροκανδιδάτῳ, ἀσηκρῆτις (καὶ) κριτῇ τῶν Κυκλάδων νήσων
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.2428 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 27.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 42.2. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Κωνσταντίνῳ σπαθαροκανδιδάτῳ, ἀσηκρῆτις καὶ κριτῇ τῶν Κυκλάδων νήσων.
Theotokos, help your servant Constantine spatharokandidatos, asekretis and judge of the Cycladic Islands.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 2: South of the Balkans, the Islands, South of Asia Minor (Open in Zotero)
- Les îles de l’empire byzantin: VIIIe-XIIe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
- Molivdovuly grečeskogo Vostoka (Open in Zotero)
- Corinth, Vol. 12, The Minor Objects (Open in Zotero)
- Patmiakē Vivliothēkē: ētoi neos katalogos tōn cheirographōn kōdikōn tēs Hieras Monēs Hagiou Iōannou tou Theologou Patmou (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The reading of the first name is based on the bottom remains of two letters: the first can be read as a Κ, the second is certainly an Ω. But as there was certainly one more letter in this line, after Ω, the reading Ἰωάννῃ has to be discarded, while Κωνσταντίνῳ seems most likely.
The Cyclades appear as a geographic/administrative entity in the late 7th century with two seals of kommerkiarioi (687/89, 696/97: Zacos-Veglery, nos. 163 [= our no. 42.5], 196); later the name will be replaced by ton Neson, which appears on seals of kommerkiarioi of the early 8th century. The fiscal entity of the Cyclades (subordinate to Samos?) is still attested in the 9th century (DO Seals 2, no. 42.6), and the maritime theme of the Cyclades was formed after 949 and before the taktikon of the Escorial (971-975; Listes, 361). We have some seals of strategoi and judges (Zacos, Seals II, nos. 287, 799, 992; Lihačev, Molivdovuly, 111; Corinth, no. 2752; on the contrary, Corinth, no. 2704, belongs to a strategos of Hellas; information kindly provided by A. Dunn). Other 11th century officials of this theme are mentioned in the documents of Patmos. Then the administrative unit of the Cyclades disappears in the 12th century. Before that, in all cases where the term is used in an administrative context, Cyclades seem to mean grosso modo the ancient province of Nesoi, centered in today's Dodecanese and all the way to Lesbos (AnalBoll 18 [1899] 212).
See Listes, 361; Patmos I and II, index; Malamut, Iles, 302, 306, 311-12, 316, 318-19, 327.