Nicholas Rhadenos, imperial protospatharios and judge of Lykandos (eleventh century)
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.539 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 25 mm |
| Condition | Struck off center. |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 4, no. 53.3b. |
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin holding the Christ child on her left arm. Sigla: ̅-θ̅υ : Μή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. Border of tight dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines, decorations above and below. Border of tight dots.
– –
+νικο
λο̅⸣ σπ
θρ,Sκριτ,
τολεικν
δορδιν
– –
Νικόλαο(ς) β(ασιλικὸς) (πρωτο)σπαθάρ(ιος) (καὶ) κριτ(ὴς) τοῦ Λεικανδ(οῦ) ὁ Ραδιν(ός)
Translation
Νικόλαος βασιλικὸς πρωτοσπαθάριος καὶ κριτὴς τοῦ Λεικανδοῦ ὁ ῾Ραδινός.
Nicholas Rhadenos, imperial protospatharios and judge of Lykandos.
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.539 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 25 mm |
| Condition | Struck off center. |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 4, no. 53.3b. |
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, volume 4: The East
- De Administrando Imperio
- Histoire de la dynastie des H' amdanides de Jazîra et de Syrie
- Byzantine Lead Seals, vol. 2
- Michaelis Attaliotae Historia
- Sigillographie de l’Empire byzantin
- Katalog molivdovulov
- Sfragistika
- Kappadokien (Kappadokia, Charsianon, Sebasteia und Lykandos)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles
- Mleh le Grand
- Η Μικρά Ασία των θεμάτων. Ἐρευνες πάνω στην γεωγραφική φυσιογνωμία και προσωπογραφία των Βυζαντινών θεμάτων της Μικράς Ασίας
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.539 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 25 mm |
| Condition | Struck off center. |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 4, no. 53.3b. |
Commentary
This seal and BZS.1947.2.655 come from the same boulloterion.
Lykandos or Likandos or Likandon (formerly Lapara), mentioned as a feminine name but sometimes also as a masculine, was situated in the region east of Caesarea; it was first a kleisoura created by the Armenian Melias. From 916 until the 11th c. it was the seat first of a strategos (whose authority extended also over neighboring Tzamandos, cf. De Adm. Imp. ch. 50, l. 157 and Canard, Hamdanides, 780 [954, mention of a “patrice de Lykandos et de Tzamandos"]) and later of a katepano. The seal of a katepano τῶν Λυκανδνῶν (Zacos, Seals II, no. 437) shows that this official was at the head of a military contingent. The theme is attested until the reign of Romanos IV Diogenes (Attaleiates, 105). It had a normal administration including protonotarioi (two seals in Sig., 282, 283, another one in Pancenko, Katalog, no. 471 and Sandrovskaja, Sfragistika, no. 818). See Hild-Restle, Kappadokien, 224-226; Oikonomides, Listes, 350; G. Dédéyan, Mleh le Grand, Revue des Etudes Arméniennes 15 (1981) 73-102; Mikra Asia them., 307-313, 475-478 (T. Lounghis).