Kosmas imperial vestitor and dioiketes of Nikomedeia (ninth/tenth century)
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V). In the quarters: ΤΣ|..Λ. Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.
+ΚΟΣΜΑ
.ΕΣΤΙΤ.Ρ,
.ΔΙΟΚΗ.Η
ΝΙΚ /Μ.
Κοσμᾷ βασιλικῷ βεστίτωρι (καὶ) διοικητῇ Νικομηδείας
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V). In the quarters: ΤΣ|..Λ. Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.
+ΚΟΣΜΑ
.ΕΣΤΙΤ.Ρ,
.ΔΙΟΚΗ.Η
ΝΙΚ /Μ.
Κοσμᾷ βασιλικῷ βεστίτωρι (καὶ) διοικητῇ Νικομηδείας
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.874 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 26.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 83.1. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Κοσμᾷ βασιλικῷ βεστίτωρι καὶ διοικητῇ Νικομηδείας.
Mother of God, help your servant Kosmas, imperial vestitor and dioiketes of Nikomedeia.
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)
- Le livre du préfet; ou, L’édit de l’empereur Léon le Sage sur les corporations de Constantinople (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Nikomedeia (modern Izmit) was the traditional capital of Bithynia and of the "theme" of Optimatoi, a center of fiscal administration, agricultural produce, and trade. Situated on the shores of the gulf of Astakenos, in the immediate vicinity of Constantinople, the city received many foreigners and merchants (including the ones importing sheep for provisioning Constantinople; Book of the Prefect XV, 3); hence it had several private hospices and an imperial one (no. 83.4).
Nikomedeia was an ecclesiastical metropolis and always occupied the seventh hierarchical position even though the number of its suffragans fluctuated.
See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 268-69; Brandes, Städte, 123-33; ODB III, 1483-84.