Bardas protospatharios epi tou Chrysotriklinou and (basilikos?) of Cyprus (tenth/eleventh century)
Obverse
Bust of the Mother of God with her hands open in front of her. Sigla preserved at right: ΘΥ : [Μ(ήτη)ρ] Θ(εο)ῦ. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. No visible border.
αρδα
αˊ σπαθ.
.ιτ,χρυσ
..κλιν
κυπρ
Βάρδ(ᾳ) [β(ασιλικῷ)] (πρωτο)σπαθ(αρίῳ) [ἐπ]ὶ τ(οῦ) Χρυσ[ο(τρι)]κλίν(ου) (καὶ) [β(ασιλικῷ)] (?) Κύπρου
Obverse
Bust of the Mother of God with her hands open in front of her. Sigla preserved at right: ΘΥ : [Μ(ήτη)ρ] Θ(εο)ῦ. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. No visible border.
αρδα
αˊ σπαθ.
.ιτ,χρυσ
..κλιν
κυπρ
Βάρδ(ᾳ) [β(ασιλικῷ)] (πρωτο)σπαθ(αρίῳ) [ἐπ]ὶ τ(οῦ) Χρυσ[ο(τρι)]κλίν(ου) (καὶ) [β(ασιλικῷ)] (?) Κύπρου
| Accession number | BZS.1947.2.67 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 19.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 38.3. |
Translation
Βάρδᾳ βασιλικῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ ἐπὶ τοῦ Χρυσοτρικλίνου καὶ βασιλικῷ (?) Κύπρου.
Bardas, imperial protospatharios epi tou Chrysotriklinou and basilikos (?) of Cyprus.
Bibliography
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Le Synodikon de l’orthodoxie: Édition et commentaire (Open in Zotero)
- Die byzantinische Armee im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert: Studien zur Organisation der Tagmata (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
At the end of line 4, after the abbreviation of καί, there is space for one more letter, which must express the office held by the protospatharios Bardas in Cyprus. The only reasonable possibility to be envisaged would be , βασιλικῷ, a financial official of the provinces who is sometimes related to imperial kouratoreiai (Ahrweiler, Recherches, 72-74; cf. Listes, 356: basilikos in the kouratoreia of Melitene). Another possibility would be to restore Α (πρώτῳ), but this would not make any sense: protos is a title for monks, while our Bardas was a protospatharios.