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N. protospatharios, moderator, judge of the Velum and of the Anatolikoi (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of St. George holding spear and shield. Vertical inscription: : [Ὁ ἅγιος Γε]ώρ(γιος). Along the border of dots, circular inscription.

Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription followed by an ornament. Border of dots.

.
σπˊ
μοερ.
τκριτ,τ
ηλ,τον
ντολ

..... πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ μοδεράτωρι, κριτ, τοῦ βήλου καὶ τον Ἀνατολικῶν

Obverse

Bust of St. George holding spear and shield. Vertical inscription: : [Ὁ ἅγιος Γε]ώρ(γιος). Along the border of dots, circular inscription.

Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription followed by an ornament. Border of dots.

.
σπˊ
μοερ.
τκριτ,τ
ηλ,τον
ντολ

..... πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ μοδεράτωρι, κριτ, τοῦ βήλου καὶ τον Ἀνατολικῶν

Accession number BZS.1958.106.2810
Diameter 26.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 3, no. 86.36a.

Translation

Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ .... πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ μοδεράτωρι, κριτῇ, τοῦ βήλου καὶ τον Ἀνατολικῶν.

Lord, help your servant N. protospatharios, moderator, judge of the Velum and of the Anatolikoi.

Commentary

The reading of this seal is in part based on the edition of its counterpart from the same boulloterion: BZS 1951.31.5.1900.

The archaic title moderator rarely appears. See Sig., 266 (two specimens, the second of which would have been preserved in the Athens Numismatic Museum but does not appear in Konstantopoulos) and Zacos, Seals II, no. 974: Constantine protospatharios, grand chartoularios and judge of the Velum and of the Anatolikoi. As Zacos noted, in the time of Justinian, the moderator was a provincial governor also called praitor. As the title does not appear in the intervening centuries, we assume that it is an eleventh-century revival akin to the reappearance of illoustrios, or kensor, etc. It is interesting that in the limited documentation at our disposal (two seals), the eleventh-century moderator seems to be related to provincial administration and particularly that of the theme of the Anatolikoi. At the same time we have the revival of the title of praitor indicating the provincial judge (Ahrweiler, Recherches, 75 ff).

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)
  • Sigillographie de l’Empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Documents de sigillographie byzantine: La collection C. Orghidan (Open in Zotero)
  • Sceaux byzantins du Musée National de Varsovie (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung (Open in Zotero)