The imperial kommerkia of Bithynia, [Phyrgia] Salutaria, [Phrygia] Pakatiane and Lydia (733/734)
Obverse
Busts of two emperors, Leo III (717-741) and Constantine V (720-775), holding a staff cross between them. No inscription or border visible.
Reverse
Inscription of eight lines, top line missing. Border of dots.
...
βασιλικων
κομμερκι
ωνβιθυνιασ
σαλ.αριασ
.ακα.ιανησ
λυδιασ
β
[τῶν] βασιλικῶν κομμερκίων Βιθυνίας, Σαλου[τ]αρίας, [Π]ακα[τ]ιανῆς (καὶ) Λυδίας. Ἰ(νδικτιὼν) β'
Obverse
Busts of two emperors, Leo III (717-741) and Constantine V (720-775), holding a staff cross between them. No inscription or border visible.
Reverse
Inscription of eight lines, top line missing. Border of dots.
...
βασιλικων
κομμερκι
ωνβιθυνιασ
σαλ.αριασ
.ακα.ιανησ
λυδιασ
β
[τῶν] βασιλικῶν κομμερκίων Βιθυνίας, Σαλου[τ]αρίας, [Π]ακα[τ]ιανῆς (καὶ) Λυδίας. Ἰ(νδικτιὼν) β'
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.1738 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 44.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 24.4. See also Zacos-Veglery, no. 248(a). Note that Zacos-Veglery published a second, very similar, specimen (same indiction, iconography, and inscriptions) imprinted by a different boulloterion. |
| Credit Line | Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore. |
Translation
τῶν βασιλικῶν κομμερκίων Βιθυνίας, Σαλουταρίας, Πακατιανῆς καὶ Λυδίας. Ἰνδικτιὼν β'.
(Seal of) the imperial kommerkia of Bithynia, [Phrygia] Salutaria, [Phrygia] Pakatiane and Lydia. Indiction 2.
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)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The Roman province of Lydia kept its name and its administrative prerogative until the ninth century even though by then the theme of the Thrakesion had long been in existence.