Skip to Content

Theodore Proteuon, protospatharios and judge of the Armeniakoi (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of the Virgin holding the Christ child on her left arm. Sigla: ̅–θ̅υ : Μή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of seven lines. Border of dots.

θ̅κ̅εRθ
τσ̅δ̅θε
δρ.σπθ
Sκριτ,τν
ρμενικ,
τΠρευ
οντ,

Θ(εοτό)κε β(οή)θ(ει) τῷ σ(ῷ) δ(ούλῳ) Θε[ο]δώρ(ῳ) (πρωτο)σπαθ(αρίῳ) (καὶ) κριτ(ῇ) τῶν Ἀρμενιακ(ῶν) τῷ Πρ(ω)τεύοντ(ι)

Obverse

Bust of the Virgin holding the Christ child on her left arm. Sigla: ̅–θ̅υ : Μή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of seven lines. Border of dots.

θ̅κ̅εRθ
τσ̅δ̅θε
δρ.σπθ
Sκριτ,τν
ρμενικ,
τΠρευ
οντ,

Θ(εοτό)κε β(οή)θ(ει) τῷ σ(ῷ) δ(ούλῳ) Θε[ο]δώρ(ῳ) (πρωτο)σπαθ(αρίῳ) (καὶ) κριτ(ῇ) τῶν Ἀρμενιακ(ῶν) τῷ Πρ(ω)τεύοντ(ι)

Accession number BZS.1955.1.3276
Diameter 22.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 4, no. 22.23a.

V. Laurent, "Mélanges d'épigraphie grecque et de sigillographie byzantine," EO 31 (1932) 442-43.

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

Translation

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Θεοδώρῳ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ κριτῇ τῶν Ἀρμενιακῶν τῷ Πρωτεύοντι.

Mother of God, help your servant Theodore Proteuon, protospatharios and judge of the Armeniakoi.

Commentary

This seal, BZS.1958.106.2514, and BZS.1951.31.5.495 all come from the same boulloterion and so their readings have been combined.

Theodore Proteuon was a well known judge of the Constantinopolitan tribunal, who also exercised authority for a limited time in the theme of the Kibyrraiotai. See DO Seals 2, no. 59.13 (BZS.1951.31.5.699 and BZS.1951.31.5.1533).

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
  • Mélanges d’épigraphie grecque et de sigillographie byzantine (Open in Zotero)
  • The Armeniac Theme and the Fate of Its Leaders (Open in Zotero)
  • Les sceaux byzantins de la Collection Henri Seyrig (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and Whittemore Collection, Vol. 2, Phocas to Theodosius III (602-717) (Open in Zotero)
  • De Thematibus (Open in Zotero)
  • Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (Open in Zotero)
  • Η Μικρά Ασία των θεμάτων. Ἐρευνες πάνω στην γεωγραφική φυσιογνωμία και προσωπογραφία των βυζαντινών θεμάτων της Μικράς Ασίας (Open in Zotero)
  • Istoriceskoe znacenie italo-greceskoj ikonopisi: Izobra zenija Bogomatera v prozvedenijah italo-greceskih ikonopiscev i ih vlijanie na kompozicii nekotoryh proslavlennyh russkih ikon (Open in Zotero)