Constantine vestarches, judge of the Velum and strategos of the Stenon (eleventh century)
Obverse
Inscription of five lines. Indeterminate border.
+ΚΕ̅,Θ,
ΤΣΔ.
Κ̅̅Ν̅Ε.
ΤΑΡΧ,Κ.
Τ,
Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Κωνσταντίνῳ βεστάρχῃ κριτῇ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines, decoration below. Border of dots.
.ΟΥΗ
..ΣΤΡΑ
..ΓΤ
.ΤΕΝ
τοῦ βήλου καὶ στρατηγῷ τοῦ Στενοῦ
Obverse
Inscription of five lines. Indeterminate border.
+ΚΕ̅,Θ,
ΤΣΔ.
Κ̅̅Ν̅Ε.
ΤΑΡΧ,Κ.
Τ,
Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Κωνσταντίνῳ βεστάρχῃ κριτῇ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines, decoration below. Border of dots.
.ΟΥΗ
..ΣΤΡΑ
..ΓΤ
.ΤΕΝ
τοῦ βήλου καὶ στρατηγῷ τοῦ Στενοῦ
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.3014 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 32.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 73.1b. |
Translation
Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Κωνσταντίνῳ βεστάρχῃ κριτῇ τοῦ βήλου καὶ στρατηγῷ τοῦ Στενοῦ.
Lord, help your servant Constantine vestarches, judge of the Velum, and strategos of Stenon.
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)
- Syntagma tōn theiōn kai hierōn kanonōn tōn te hagiōn kai paneuphēmōn apostolōn (Open in Zotero)
- Byzance et la mer: La marine de guerre, la politique et les institutions maritimes de Byzance aux VIIe–VXe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Documents de sigillographie byzantine: La collection C. Orghidan (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Another twelfth-century strategos of the Stenon, also a vestarches by the name of Constantine but with the (Georgian?) surname Chapse, is known from his seal of a different type (Laurent, Orghidan, no. 234).
Stenon is another name for the Bosporus. The region provided sailors for the imperial navy; some ten galleys of the ploimon were permanently stationed there. The strategos of the Stenon had also the exclusive right to judge all affairs of the Jews of Constantinople up until the very late twelfth century (Rhallès-Potlès I, 41). But other trials were held at the Stenon (Peira 51, 10). This explains why the owner of this seal, although a strategos, was also a judge attached to the surpreme tribunal of Constantinople. On the Stenon, see Ahrweiler, Mer, 102, 122, 403.