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Stephanos patrikios and general kommerkiarios of the apotheke of First and Second Cappadocia (659-668)

 
 

Obverse

In the upper field, two busts: of Constans II on the left, bearded, wearing a crown and chlamys and holding a globus cruciger in his right hand and of Constantine IV, beardless, wearing a crown and chlamys and holding a globus cruciger in his right hand. In the lower field, inscription of four lines. Linear border.

+στεφανπατ
ρικικαιγεν
ικκομμ
....α

Στεφάνου πατρικίου καὶ γενικοῦ κομμ[ερκι]α

Reverse

In the upper field, two busts: of Herakleios wearing a crown and chlamys and holding a globus cruciger in his right hand and of Tiberios wearing a crown and chlamys and holding a globus cruciger in his right hand. In the lower field, inscription of four lines. Linear border.

ριαποθηκ
ησκαππαδ
..ιασαˊκ
αιβˊ

ρίου ἀποθήκης Καππαδ[οκ]ίας αˊ καὶ βˊ

Obverse

In the upper field, two busts: of Constans II on the left, bearded, wearing a crown and chlamys and holding a globus cruciger in his right hand and of Constantine IV, beardless, wearing a crown and chlamys and holding a globus cruciger in his right hand. In the lower field, inscription of four lines. Linear border.

+στεφανπατ
ρικικαιγεν
ικκομμ
....α

Στεφάνου πατρικίου καὶ γενικοῦ κομμ[ερκι]α

Reverse

In the upper field, two busts: of Herakleios wearing a crown and chlamys and holding a globus cruciger in his right hand and of Tiberios wearing a crown and chlamys and holding a globus cruciger in his right hand. In the lower field, inscription of four lines. Linear border.

ριαποθηκ
ησκαππαδ
..ιασαˊκ
αιβˊ

ρίου ἀποθήκης Καππαδ[οκ]ίας αˊ καὶ βˊ

Accession number BZS.1955.1.4385
Diameter 29.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 4, no. 43.8b.

Zacos-Veglery, no. 142b.

Translation

Στεφάνου πατρικίου καὶ γενικοῦ κομμερκιαρίου ἀποθήκης Καππαδοκίας αˊ καὶ βˊ.

(Seal of) Stephanos patrikios and general kommerkiarios of the apotheke of First and Second Cappadocia.

Commentary

This seal and BZS.1955.1.4384 come from the same boulloterion.

The career of Stephanos, patrikios is outlined by Zacos-Veglery. He seems to have been active only under the reign of Constans II.

Cappadocia, encompassing the regions north of the Taurus mountain range, is first attested as a tourma of the Anatolikon (De Adm. Imp. 50, l. 90-91) then as a kleisoura, while the first strategos of the theme of Cappadocia is mentioned in 830. It received substantial numbers of Armenian immigrants, so much so that in the XIth century the famous Philaretos Brachamios was appointed τοποτηρητὴς Καππαδόκων (V. Sandrovskaja, “Ermitaznye pecati Filareta Vrahamija,” Akademija Nauk Armianskoj SSR 1975/3, 43). See Oikonomides, Listes, 348; Hild-Restle, Kappadokien, 62-111; Mikra Asia them., 259-274, 441-446 (St. Lampakes).

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • De Administrando Imperio (Open in Zotero)
  • Ermitažnye pečati Filareta Vrahamija (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Kappadokien (Kappadokia, Charsianon, Sebasteia und Lykandos) (Open in Zotero)
  • Η Μικρά Ασία των θεμάτων. Ἐρευνες πάνω στην γεωγραφική φυσιογνωμία και προσωπογραφία των βυζαντινών θεμάτων της Μικράς Ασίας (Open in Zotero)