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Andronikos protoproedros and strategos of the Thrakesioi, son of the caesar [John] Doukas (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Inscription of five lines preceded by decoration. Border of dots.

– + –
κεRοηθ
τσδλ,
ανδρονικ,
πρτοπρο
εδρS

Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθ(ει) τῷ σῷ δούλ(ῳ) Ἀνδρονίκ(ῳ) πρωτοπροέδρῳ

Reverse

Inscription of six lines preceded by decoration. Border of dots.

·
στρατι
γτνθρα
κησ.ντ
υι.Sσα
ρο.τδ
κα -

(καὶ) στρατιγῷ τῶν Θρᾳκησ[ί]ων [τ]ῷ υἱῳ [τ]οῦ (καὶ)σαρο[ς] τοῦ Δούκα

Obverse

Inscription of five lines preceded by decoration. Border of dots.

– + –
κεRοηθ
τσδλ,
ανδρονικ,
πρτοπρο
εδρS

Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθ(ει) τῷ σῷ δούλ(ῳ) Ἀνδρονίκ(ῳ) πρωτοπροέδρῳ

Reverse

Inscription of six lines preceded by decoration. Border of dots.

·
στρατι
γτνθρα
κησ.ντ
υι.Sσα
ρο.τδ
κα -

(καὶ) στρατιγῷ τῶν Θρᾳκησ[ί]ων [τ]ῷ υἱῳ [τ]οῦ (καὶ)σαρο[ς] τοῦ Δούκα

Accession number BZS.1958.106.1111
Diameter 24.0 mm; field: 18.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 3, no. 2.39.

Translation

Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Ἀνδρονίκῳ πρωτοπροέδρῳ καὶ στρατιγῷ τῶν Θρᾳκησίων τῷ υἱῳ τοῦ καὶσαρος τοῦ Δούκα.

Lord, help your servant Andronikos, protoproedros and strategos of Thrakesioi, son of the caesar Doukas.

Commentary

Caesar is an axia dia brabeiou and cannot by any means indicate the emperor. And so the Doukas mentioned at the end of the inscription must be the caesar John Doukas, the power behind the throne during the reigns of Constantine X and of Michael VII, who after his failed coup in 1074 became a monk under the name of Ignatios but kept the title of caesar all the same. Cf. Zacos-Veglery, no. 2683, 2685. We assume that the present seal, on which it is specified that the caesar was called Doukas, must have been issued at a time when another caesar existed in the empire with a different family name. This is the case after 1081, when Nikephoros Melissenos was appointed caesar by Alexios I Komnenos, followed later by Nikephoros Bryennios and Isaakios Komnenos, the son of Alexios I (Guilland, Recherches II, 31). Consequently the present seal must have been struck sometime between 1081 and ca. 1088, when John Doukas died. It is an interesting illustration of the power and prestige that John Doukas had during the early reign of Alexios I, although he had become a monk: a high official of the provincial administration felt it necessary to stress that he was the "man" of the caesar John. This in fact meant that he was connected to him by liege; see Oikonomides, "Οἱ αὐθένται τῶν Κρητικῶν τὸ 1118," Πεπραγμένα τοῦ B´ Διεθνοῦς Κρητολογικοῦ Συνεδρίου (Athens, 1981) II, 308-317. We think that the owner of the present seal has nothing to do with Andronikos Doukas despite the coincidence of names and titles.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 3: West, Northwest, and Central Asia Minor and the Orient (Open in Zotero)
  • Constantini Porphyrogeniti De cerimoniis aulae byzantinae (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Praetorians: An Administrative, Institutional, and Social Survey of the Opsikion and Tagmata, c. 580-900 (Open in Zotero)
  • Theophanis Chronographia (Open in Zotero)
  • L’histoire et la géographie de la région de Smyrne entre les deux occupations turques (1081-1317), particulièrement au XIIIe siècle (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • “Thrakien” und “Thrakesion” (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung (Open in Zotero)
  • Οἱ αὐθένται τῶν Κρητικῶν τὸ 1118 (Open in Zotero)