Leo (?) imperial spatharios and strategos of the Stromon (ninth century)
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (of indeterminate type); in the lower quarters: ΔΛ. Wreath border.
Κύριε or Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (of indeterminate type); in the lower quarters: ΔΛ. Wreath border.
Κύριε or Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription. No visible border.
....
ΤΙΒ/ΣΠ.
ΣΤΡ/Τ
ΣΤΡΟΜ
Λέοντι βασιλικῷ σπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατηγῷ τοῦ Στρομόνος
Accession number | BZS.1958.106.1018 |
---|---|
Diameter | 21.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 37.3. |
Translation
Κύριε or Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Λέοντι βασιλικῷ σπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατηγῷ τοῦ Στρομόνος.
Lord or Theotokos, help your servant Leo imperial spatharios and strategos of the Stromon.
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)
- De Thematibus (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The owner's name should be restored as Λέοντι rather than the less frequent and too long Κλήμεντι. The presence of a beta with two loops at the base of the monogram on the obverse and another in line 2 of the reverse, as well as the use of a wreath border, leads us to conclude that this seal was struck before the mid-ninth century.