Gregory imperial spatharios and archon of Herakleia (ninth/tenth century)
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V); in the quarters: .Σ|.Λ. No visible border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. No visible border.
ΓΡΙΓ
ΡΙΣΠ
ΑΡΧΟΝ
ΗΡΑΚ
Γριγορίῳ βασιλικῷ σπαθαρίῳ καὶ ἄρχοντι Ἡρακλείας
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V); in the quarters: .Σ|.Λ. No visible border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. No visible border.
ΓΡΙΓ
ΡΙΣΠ
ΑΡΧΟΝ
ΗΡΑΚ
Γριγορίῳ βασιλικῷ σπαθαρίῳ καὶ ἄρχοντι Ἡρακλείας
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.933 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 20.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 53.1. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Γριγορίῳ βασιλικῷ σπαθαρίῳ καὶ ἄρχοντι Ἡρακλείας.
Theotokos, help your servant Gregory imperial spatharios and archon of Herakleia.
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)
- Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- La Thrace Orientale et La Mer Noire: Géographie Ecclésiastique et Prosopographie (VIIIe-XIIe Siècles) (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
No other archon of Herakleia is known. The attribution of this seal to the metropolis of Thrace is by no means certain, because we know of several other Herakleiai (Lakymon, Makedonias, Pontou, Salbakes), to which one should add the city Ἡρακλέους; all were important enough to have their own bishops. Herakleia of Thrace is the most likely candidate because of its importance.
Herakleia (modern Eregli), located on the European coastline of the Sea of Marmara, was an important outlet for the products of its agricultural hinterland: hence the seals of horreiarioi.
Herakleia had a Christian community by A.D. 300, the approximate date when the city was first organized as an ecclesiastic metropolis. In the seventh century the see had five suffragan bishoprics (see Darrouzès, Notitiae, 207, lines 117-22), a number that subsequently increased to fifteen in the middle Byzantine period (see ibid., 275, lines 117-22), a number that subsequently increased to fifteen in the middle Byzantine period (see ibid., 275, lines 154-69, and Laurent, Corpus V/1, 212). Cf. Asdracha, Thrace orientale, 267-74.