Symeon imperial kandidatos and paraphylax of Nicaea (tenth century)
Obverse
Patriarchal cross on four steps. Fleurons up to first arm. Along the circumference, between two borders of dots, inscription:
ΚΕΟΗΘΕΙΤΣΔ.ΥΛ,
Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δ[ο]ύλ(ῳ)
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.
+ΣΥ
ΜΕΝ,
ΚΝΔΗΔ,
SΠΡΦ
ΝΗΚΕ
Συμεὼν β(ασιλικῷ) κανδηδ(άτῳ) (καὶ) παραφ(ύλακι) Νηκέα(ς)
Obverse
Patriarchal cross on four steps. Fleurons up to first arm. Along the circumference, between two borders of dots, inscription:
ΚΕΟΗΘΕΙΤΣΔ.ΥΛ,
Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δ[ο]ύλ(ῳ)
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.
+ΣΥ
ΜΕΝ,
ΚΝΔΗΔ,
SΠΡΦ
ΝΗΚΕ
Συμεὼν β(ασιλικῷ) κανδηδ(άτῳ) (καὶ) παραφ(ύλακι) Νηκέα(ς)
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.1056 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 24.0 mm; field: 18.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 59.5. |
Translation
Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Συμεὼν βασιλικῷ κανδηδάτῳ καὶ παραφύλακι Νηκέας.
Lord, help your servant Symeon, imperial kandidatos and paraphylax of Nicaea.
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)
- De Thematibus (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- La géographie ecclésiastique de l’empire byzantin, vol. 2, Les églises et les monastères des grands centres byzantins (Open in Zotero)
- Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Nicaea (modern Iznik), located to the east of Lake Askania in BIthynia, was an important fortified city and a center for trade with a xenodocheion (cf. BZS.1947.2.115). It seems to have been the capital of the theme of Opsikion (De Them., 129), and for a time it was administrated by an eparchos, like Constantinople or Thessalonica (Zacos-Veglery, no. 3156). This official will be later replaced (?) by an archon (e.g. BZS.1951.31.5.2634). The local administration must have been quite intricate because we learn rom our seals about the existence of pious associations and of an asylum for elderly people (Zacos, Seals II, no. 263), but also of military governors (paraphylax) and of a protokentarchos (BZS.1958.106.1575). Nicaea is listed as a metropolis in 8th position in all notitiae from the seventh to the fifteenth century. It became famous for having hosted two oecumenical councils (325, 787) and for becoming, after 1204, the first capital of the so-called empire of Nicaea. See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 282; Janin, Grands centres, 105ff; Brandes, Städte, 124-26; ODB II, 1463-64. Concerning the creation of new suffragans in the ninth century, see J. Darrouzès, "Remarques sur la création d'évêchés," REB 47 (1989) 221-26.