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John (?) spatharokandidatos and tourmarches of Strobilos (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of a bishop-saint holding book. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of at least four lines. Border of dots.

..ΣΠΑ,
.ΑΝˊ
.ΡΜΑΡ.
ΣΤΡΟΙ,

Ἰωάννῃ? σπαθαροκανδιδάτῳ καὶ τρουμάρχ Στροβίλου

Obverse

Bust of a bishop-saint holding book. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of at least four lines. Border of dots.

..ΣΠΑ,
.ΑΝˊ
.ΡΜΑΡ.
ΣΤΡΟΙ,

Ἰωάννῃ? σπαθαροκανδιδάτῳ καὶ τρουμάρχ Στροβίλου

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.1971
Diameter 23.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 2, no. 80.2.

Translation

Ἰωάννῃ σπαθαροκανδιδάτῳ καὶ τρουμάρχῃ Στροβίλου.

John spatharokandidatos and tourmarches of Strobilos.

Commentary

We can guess the name of the owner only because the space available at the beginning of line 1 cannot hold more than two letters, but this rests on the assumption that there was not another line at the beginning of the reverse. This is not certain. The seal of Leo spatharokandidatos and tourmarches of Strobilos is published in Corinth XII, no. 2780.

Strobilos (today Aspat or Çufut kalesi) is a port and fortress on a conical hill overlooking the straits between the Karian coast and Kos; it is attested from the 8th century onward. It was the seat of an archon; in the 11th century at least, it became the seat of a tourmarches (DO Seals 2, no. 80.2 and 80.3). See Zakythinos, Meletai 25, 148-49; C. Foss, "Strobilos and Related Sites," Anatolian Studies 38 (1988) 147-74; ODB III, 1667-68.

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)
  • Corinth, Vol. 12, The Minor Objects (Open in Zotero)
  • Μελέται περὶ τῆς διοικητικῆς διαιρέσεως καὶ τῆς ἐπαρχιακῆς διοικήσεως ἐν τῷ βυζαντινῷ κράτει (Open in Zotero)
  • Strobilos and Related Sites (Open in Zotero)