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Paul protospatharios, judge of the Hippodrome and of the Thrakesioi (tenth/eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Inscription of five lines, decoration below. Border of dots.

.ηθ.
.υλαˋ
σπαθα
ρι

[Κ(ύρι)ε βο]ήθ(ει) [Πα]ύλῳ (πρωτο)σπαθαρίῳ

Reverse

Inscription of five lines, decoration below. Border of dots.

....
επιτ
πορο
.ονθρα
ησιν

[κριτ(ῇ)] ἐπὶ τοῦ [Ἱπ]ποδρό[μ(ου) (καὶ) τ]ον Θρᾳκησίων

Obverse

Inscription of five lines, decoration below. Border of dots.

.ηθ.
.υλαˋ
σπαθα
ρι

[Κ(ύρι)ε βο]ήθ(ει) [Πα]ύλῳ (πρωτο)σπαθαρίῳ

Reverse

Inscription of five lines, decoration below. Border of dots.

....
επιτ
πορο
.ονθρα
ησιν

[κριτ(ῇ)] ἐπὶ τοῦ [Ἱπ]ποδρό[μ(ου) (καὶ) τ]ον Θρᾳκησίων

Accession number BZS.1958.106.4166
Diameter 24.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 3, no. 2.24.

Translation

Κύριε βοήθει Παύλῳ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ, κριτῇ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἱπποδρόμου καὶ τον Θρᾳκησίων.

Lord, help Paul, protospatharios, judge of the Hippodrome and of the Thrakesioi.

Commentary

Zacos (Seals II, no. 1032) published another seal of the same type and roughly contemporary to this seal that belonged to a certain Paul. It recorded the same titles and offices as on the present specimen, with the difference being that on the Zacos seal he is mentioned as protospatharios epi tou Chrysotriklinou. He could therefore be identical to the owner of the present specimen, but at a later stage of his career.

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)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)