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Basil imperial strator and archon of Thessalonica (ninth/tenth century)

 
 

Obverse

Cross on one step with fleurons rising from base (almost to transverse bar). Beginning at 12 o'clock, a circular inscription along the circumference between concentric borders of dots.

ΚΕΟΗΘΗΤΣΔΟΥΛ

Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθη τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines, the first line flanked by pellets. Border of dots.

ΑΣΙ
ΛΗ/ΣΤΡΑ
ΤΟΡ/ΑΡΧ/Τ
ΘΕΣΑΛ/Ν

Βασιλήῳ β(ασιλικῷ) στράτορ(ι) (καὶ) ἄρχ(ον)τ(ι) Θεσαλ(ο)ν(ίκης)

Obverse

Cross on one step with fleurons rising from base (almost to transverse bar). Beginning at 12 o'clock, a circular inscription along the circumference between concentric borders of dots.

ΚΕΟΗΘΗΤΣΔΟΥΛ

Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθη τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines, the first line flanked by pellets. Border of dots.

ΑΣΙ
ΛΗ/ΣΤΡΑ
ΤΟΡ/ΑΡΧ/Τ
ΘΕΣΑΛ/Ν

Βασιλήῳ β(ασιλικῷ) στράτορ(ι) (καὶ) ἄρχ(ον)τ(ι) Θεσαλ(ο)ν(ίκης)

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.245
Diameter 24.0 mm; field: 23.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 1, no. 18.12.

Translation

Κύριε βοήθη τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Βασιλήῳ βασιλικῷ στράτορι καὶ ἄρχοντι Θεσαλονίκης.

Lord, help your servant Basil imperial strator and archon of Thessalonica.

Commentary

The theme of Thessalonica was surrounded by and contained Slavic settlements (Σκλαβηνίαι), attested already in 824 (Mansi XIV, 418: "circumjacentibus Sclaviniis") and again in the Book of Ceremonies, where, with reference to the reign of Emperor Michael III (842-867), there is a question of the ἀρχοντία of Thessalonica which was inhabited by Slavs (Cer., 635). A Thessalonian archontia of Stephaniana appears in the typikon of Gregory Pakourianos (ed. Petit, 11; ed. Kauchtschischvili, 28). The archontes mentioned on seals could be the chieftains of this ethnic minority. But the term ἄρχων may have several other meanings as well, none of which should be excluded here; see Listes, 342-43.

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)
  • Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Silk Trade and Production in Byzantium from the Sixth to the Ninth Century: The Seals of Kommerkiarioi (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantinische Bleisiegel in Berlin (West) (Open in Zotero)
  • Le kommerkion d’Abydos, Thessalonique et le commerce bulgare du 9e siècle (Open in Zotero)
  • Recherches sur les douanes à Byzance: L’octava, le "kommerkion" et les commerciares (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
  • Les plus anciens recueils des miracles de Saint Démétrius et la pénétration des Slaves dans les Balkans (Open in Zotero)
  • L’éparque de Thessalonique: les origines d'une institution administrative (VIIIe-IXe siècles) (Open in Zotero)