Constantine protospatharios and strategos of the Cephalonians (eighth/ninth century)
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram of indeterminate type; visible in the upper right: Σ; and in the lower left: Λ. Wreath border.
Κύριε or Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of six lines. Wreath border.
..ΙΤΝΤΙΝ.
ΣΠΘΡΙ
ΣΤΡΤΗ
ΝΚΕΦ
ΗΝΝ
Κωνσταντίνῳ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατηγῷ τῶν Κεφαλήνων
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram of indeterminate type; visible in the upper right: Σ; and in the lower left: Λ. Wreath border.
Κύριε or Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of six lines. Wreath border.
..ΙΤΝΤΙΝ.
ΣΠΘΡΙ
ΣΤΡΤΗ
ΝΚΕΦ
ΗΝΝ
Κωνσταντίνῳ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατηγῷ τῶν Κεφαλήνων
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.770 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 25.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 1.10. |
Translation
Κύριε or Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Κωνσταντίνῳ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατηγῷ τῶν Κεφαλήνων.
Lord or Mother of God, help your servant Constantine, protospatharios and strategos of the Cephalonians.
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)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- De Administrando Imperio (Open in Zotero)
- Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Administrando Imperio (Open in Zotero)
- De Thematibus (Open in Zotero)
- Les sceaux byzantins du Médaillier Vatican (Open in Zotero)
- Constantin VII et les thèmes de Céphalonie et de Longobardie (Open in Zotero)
- La dominazione bizantina nell’Italia meridionale dal IX al XI secolo (Open in Zotero)
- Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 1: Italy, North of the Balkans, North of the Black Sea (Open in Zotero)
- Die sphragistischen Quellen zum byzantinischen Thema Nikopolis (Open in Zotero)
- Les îles de l’empire byzantin: VIIIe-XIIe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- The Kommerkiarios, the Apotheke, the Dromos, the Vardarios and the West (Open in Zotero)
- Katalog molivdovulov (Open in Zotero)
- Le maître des requêtes: ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν δεήσεων (Open in Zotero)
- Titres et fonctions de l’Empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Hagiographical Notes (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Nikopolis und Kephallenia (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The reading of (proto)spatharios is conjectural but highly likely.
This seal may belong to the same owner as BZS.1955.1.770, which in any case dates from the same period. The form στρατηγὸς τῶν Κεφαλλήνων seems to reflect the initial identity of certain themes with the soldiers stationed within them (cf. Ἀνατολικῶν, Ἀρμενιακῶν, Βουκελλαρίων, Θρᾳκησίων, etc.), as opposed the themes which bear the name of a province (e.g., Ἑλλάς, Πελοπόννησος, Παφλαγονία, Κεφαλληνία, etc.).