Basil Xeros, vestarches and judge of the Peloponnesos and Hellas (eleventh century)
Obverse
St. Mark and St. Theodore (right) standing frontally, dressed in long robes and offering a blessing. St. Mark holds a book, St. Theodore a cross. Vertical inscriptions: |Μ|ΑΡ|ΚΟ|Σ; at right.: |ΘΕ|Ο|ΔΩ|Ρ,: Ὁ ἅγιος Μᾶρκος, Ὁ ἅγιος Θεόδωρος. Border of dots.
Obverse
St. Mark and St. Theodore (right) standing frontally, dressed in long robes and offering a blessing. St. Mark holds a book, St. Theodore a cross. Vertical inscriptions: |Μ|ΑΡ|ΚΟ|Σ; at right.: |ΘΕ|Ο|ΔΩ|Ρ,: Ὁ ἅγιος Μᾶρκος, Ὁ ἅγιος Θεόδωρος. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of six lines preceded and followed by decoration. Border of dots.
ΘΚΕ,Θ,
ΑΣΙΛΕΙ
ΕΣΤΑΡΧ,
ΚΡΙΤ,ΠΕΛΟΠ
ΝΗΣΕΛΑ
Δ,ΤΞΗΡ,
Θεοτόκε βοήθει Βασιλείῳ βεστάρχῃ καὶ κριτῇ Πελοποννήσου καὶ Ἑλάδος τῷ Ξερῷ
Accession number | BZS.1955.1.3408 |
---|---|
Diameter | 33.0 mm; field: 28.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 8.19b. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει Βασιλείῳ βεστάρχῃ καὶ κριτῇ Πελοποννήσου καὶ Ἑλάδος τῷ Ξερῷ.
Mother of God, help Basil Xeros, vestarches and judge of the Peloponnesos and Hellas.
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
- Plombs byzantins de la Grèce et du Péleponnèse
- Sigillographie de l’Empire byzantin
- Byzantine Lead Seals, vol. 1
- Le Peloponnese Byzantin Jusqu'en 1204
- Du stratège de thème au duc : chronologie de l'évolution au cours du XIe siècle
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles
- Hellas und Thessalia
- Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung
- Die byzantinische Armee im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert: Studien zur Organisation der Tagmata
Commentary
The reading of this seal is based on the edition of its better preserved counterpart from the same boulloterion: BZS 1955.1.3407.
On Basil's cursus honorum, see DO Seals 2, no. 8.16 (BZS.1947.2.135).