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The imperial kommerkia of Thrace (747/8?)

 
 

Obverse

Half-length figures of two emperors holding a cross between them. Only the emperor at right is visible; he is bearded and wears chlamys and crown with a cross. The indiction sign: Α. No discernible border.

νδικτιὼν αˊ

Reverse

Inscription. No visible border.

..
ΒΑΣΙ
ΩΝΚΟ
ΕΡΚΙΩ
Σ.ΡΑΚ
..

Τῶν βασιλικῶν κομμερκίων τῆς Θρᾴκης

Obverse

Half-length figures of two emperors holding a cross between them. Only the emperor at right is visible; he is bearded and wears chlamys and crown with a cross. The indiction sign: Α. No discernible border.

νδικτιὼν αˊ

Reverse

Inscription. No visible border.

..
ΒΑΣΙ
ΩΝΚΟ
ΕΡΚΙΩ
Σ.ΡΑΚ
..

Τῶν βασιλικῶν κομμερκίων τῆς Θρᾴκης

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.1742
Diameter 27.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 1, no. 71.16.

Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore.

Translation

Ἰνδικτιὼν αˊ.   Τῶν βασιλικῶν κομμερκίων τῆς Θρᾴκης.

Indiction 1.    (Seal of) the imperial kommerkia of Thrace.

Commentary

The two emperors are undoubtedly Leo III and Constantine V, but, as Constantine is bearded, the seal should date after Constantine became sole emperor in 741 and before the elevation of Leo IV to the throne (17 May 750). This date fits well with what we know of the seals of the imperial kommerkia (they appear in 730) but creates a problem as to the place where the indiction is inscribed: on the present specimen it is placed next to the emperor at l. (as this was done in the years 705-711 and 720-729) and not at the end of the reverse inscription, as should be expected after 730: Zacos-Veglery I/1, 137. A slight revision of the above classification may be in order.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 1: Italy, North of the Balkans, North of the Black Sea (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • De Thematibus (Open in Zotero)
  • “Thrakien” und “Thrakesion” (Open in Zotero)
  • Die zweihundertjährige Reform (Zu den Anfängen der Themenorganisation im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert) (Open in Zotero)
  • Ανίχνευση τοπογραφική της ανατολικής Θράκης (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung (Open in Zotero)
  • La Thrace Orientale et La Mer Noire: Géographie Ecclésiastique et Prosopographie (VIIIe-XIIe Siècles) (Open in Zotero)
  • Constantini Porphyrogeniti De cerimoniis aulae byzantinae (Open in Zotero)