Krinites imperial protospatharios and strategos of the Peloponnesos (tenth century)
Obverse
Patriarchal cross on three steps with fleurons arising from base (up to first cross bar). A six-pointed star is visible in each upper quarter. Circular inscription along a border of dots.
ΚΕΟΗΘΕΙΤΣΔΟΥΛ,
Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλ(ῳ)
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.
ΚΡΗΝ
ΙΤΗΑΣΠΑ
ΘˊΣΤΡΑΤΗΓ
ΠΕΛΠ
ΝΙΣΟΥ
Κρηνίτῃ β(ασιλικῷ) (πρωτο)σπαθ(αρίῳ) (καὶ) στρατηγῷ Πελωπωνίσου
Obverse
Patriarchal cross on three steps with fleurons arising from base (up to first cross bar). A six-pointed star is visible in each upper quarter. Circular inscription along a border of dots.
ΚΕΟΗΘΕΙΤΣΔΟΥΛ,
Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλ(ῳ)
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.
ΚΡΗΝ
ΙΤΗΑΣΠΑ
ΘˊΣΤΡΑΤΗΓ
ΠΕΛΠ
ΝΙΣΟΥ
Κρηνίτῃ β(ασιλικῷ) (πρωτο)σπαθ(αρίῳ) (καὶ) στρατηγῷ Πελωπωνίσου
| Accession number | BZS.1947.2.133 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 30.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 22.29. Cf. similar seal with same lettering and quite possibly from the same boulloterion pubished by A. Mordtmann, "Μολυβδόβουλλα Βυζαντινὰ ἐπαρχιῶν Εὐρώπης," Ἑλλ. Φιλολ. Σύλλ. 17 (1886), Suppl., 150, no. 22. |
Translation
Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Κρηνίτῃ βασιλικῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατηγῷ Πελωπωνίσου.
Lord, help your servant Krinites, imperial protospatharios and strategos of the Peloponnesos.
Bibliography
- De Administrando Imperio (Open in Zotero)
- Die Skleroi: Eine prosopographisch-sigillographische Studie (Open in Zotero)
- Theophanis Chronographia (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Die byzantinische Armee im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert: Studien zur Organisation der Tagmata (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The owner of the seal may well have been Krinites Arotras who, according to DAI, chap. 50, line 34 ff, succeeded the strategos John Proteuon and suppressed the Slav revolt in the Peloponnesos in 921. Cf. Bon, Péloponnèse, 189, no. 17 (not necessarily identical to the strategos of Hellas Krinites, mentioned in the Life of St. Luke; cf. Commentary, 186).