George imperial spatharios and archon of Dermatia (early ninth century)
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V); in the quarters: ΤΣ|ΔΛ. Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.
ΓΕΟΡ
ΓΙΒ/ΣΠΘ
Ρ/ρχ/δ
ερμτ
Γεοργίῳ βασιλικῷ σπαθαρίῳ καὶ ἄρχοντι Δερματίας
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V); in the quarters: ΤΣ|ΔΛ. Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.
ΓΕΟΡ
ΓΙΒ/ΣΠΘ
Ρ/ρχ/δ
ερμτ
Γεοργίῳ βασιλικῷ σπαθαρίῳ καὶ ἄρχοντι Δερματίας
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.887 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 28.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 14.1. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Γεοργίῳ βασιλικῷ σπαθαρίῳ καὶ ἄρχοντι Δερματίας.
Theotokos, help your servant George imperial spatharios and archon of Dermatia.
Bibliography
- 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)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Corinth, Vol. 12, The Minor Objects (Open in Zotero)
- De Thematibus (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantium on the Balkans: studies on the Byzantine administration and the Southern Slavs from the VIIth to the XIIth centuries (Open in Zotero)
- L’amministrazione bizantina in Dalmazia (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung (Open in Zotero)
- Sigillographie de l’Empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Zacos-Veglery read the place name as [Δ?]Ε.ΡΜΑ[Τ?]. Both delta and tau are certain; in addition, it is unlikely that a letter is missing between epsilon and rho.
A Byzantine archon of Dalmatia is mentioned in the Uspenskij Taktikon (842-43: Listes, 57, line 12) and on several seals including perhaps Pančenko, no. 389. The toponym appears with the variants Δαλματία, Δελματία (cf. also Corinth XII, no. 2697), even Δερματία (DO Seals 1, no. 14.1). The territory encompassed by this designation was largely restricted to the Adriatic coast, a situation that continued into the eleventh century. Among the more prominent towns of Dalmatia were Kotor, Dubrovnik, Split, Trogir, and Zadar. Ferluga suggested that the "archon" of Dalmatia was the "prior" of Zadar, the leading official of the most important town in the region in the ninth century (ibid., 143).