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Staurakios imperial spatharios and archon of Strobilos (ninth century)

 
 

Obverse

Patriarchal cross on steps; in each quarter, crosslet of dots; one dot to the right and left of the first arm. Circular inscription between two borders of dots.

ΚΕΟΗΘΗΤΟΣΩΔΟΥΛΩ

Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθη το σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of five lines followed by a crosslet of dots. No visible border.

ΣΤΑ
ΡΑΚΗΟΒΑ
ΣΠΑΘΑΡΗΩ
ΑΡΧΩΣΤΡΟ
ΒΗΛΟΥ

Σταβρακήο βα(σιλικῷ) (καὶ) ἄρχω(ντι) Στροβήλου

Obverse

Patriarchal cross on steps; in each quarter, crosslet of dots; one dot to the right and left of the first arm. Circular inscription between two borders of dots.

ΚΕΟΗΘΗΤΟΣΩΔΟΥΛΩ

Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθη το σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of five lines followed by a crosslet of dots. No visible border.

ΣΤΑ
ΡΑΚΗΟΒΑ
ΣΠΑΘΑΡΗΩ
ΑΡΧΩΣΤΡΟ
ΒΗΛΟΥ

Σταβρακήο βα(σιλικῷ) (καὶ) ἄρχω(ντι) Στροβήλου

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.291
Diameter 24.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 2, no. 80.1.

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

Translation

Κύριε βοήθη το σῷ δούλῳ Σταβρακήο βασιλικῷ καὶ ἄρχωντι Στροβήλου.

Lord, help your servant Staurakios imperial spatharios and archon of Strobilos.

Commentary

Alternatively, lines 2 and 3 may read: β(ασιλικῷ) (πρωτο)σπαθαρήῳ. Another seal of a John archon Στροβύλης has been published in Corinth XII, no. 2727.

Strobilos (today Aspat or Çufut kalesi) is a port and fortress on a conical hill overlooking the straits between the Karian coast and Kos; it is attested from the 8th century onward. It was the seat of an archon; in the 11th century at least, it became the seat of a tourmarches (DO Seals 2, no. 80.2 and 80.3). See Zakythinos, Meletai 25, 148-49; C. Foss, "Strobilos and Related Sites," Anatolian Studies 38 (1988) 147-74; ODB III, 1667-68.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 2: South of the Balkans, the Islands, South of Asia Minor (Open in Zotero)
  • Corinth, Vol. 12, The Minor Objects (Open in Zotero)
  • Μελέται περὶ τῆς διοικητικῆς διαιρέσεως καὶ τῆς ἐπαρχιακῆς διοικήσεως ἐν τῷ βυζαντινῷ κράτει (Open in Zotero)
  • Strobilos and Related Sites (Open in Zotero)