The imperial kommerkia of Thrace (730-741)
Obverse
Half-length representations of Leo III, bearded, and Constantine V (on right, only partially visible, but seemingly a smaller figure), holding a cross between them; each wears chlamys and crown with a cross (discernible only on figure at left). No visible border.
Reverse
Inscription. Indeterminate border.
....
ΑΣΙΛΙΚ
ΩΝΚΟΜΜ
ΡΚΙΩΝΤΗ
ΑΚΗΣ
Τῶν βασιλικῶν κομμερκίων τῆς Θρᾴκης
Obverse
Half-length representations of Leo III, bearded, and Constantine V (on right, only partially visible, but seemingly a smaller figure), holding a cross between them; each wears chlamys and crown with a cross (discernible only on figure at left). No visible border.
Reverse
Inscription. Indeterminate border.
....
ΑΣΙΛΙΚ
ΩΝΚΟΜΜ
ΡΚΙΩΝΤΗ
ΑΚΗΣ
Τῶν βασιλικῶν κομμερκίων τῆς Θρᾴκης
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.4401 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 31.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 71.15. |
Translation
Τῶν βασιλικῶν κομμερκίων τῆς Θρᾴκης.
(Seal of) the imperial kommerkia of Thrace.
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)
Commentary
The theme of Thrace appears around 680 as the Byzantine response to the crossing of the Danube by the Bulgars. It encompassed the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula and seems to have had a considerable silk production. Important exchanges with the new neighbors took place there, as shown by the numerous seals of imperial kommerkia (list in Zacos-Veglery, I, 188-89); these exchanges were largely centered in the city of Mesembria. Around the year 800, its western part was rescinded and became the theme of Macedonia, while in the eastern part, geopraphically reduced because of the Bulgarian expansion, the strategos of Thrace resided in Arkadioupolis; he had uner his command at least three tourmarchai, one called "of Thrace" (i.e., of Arkadioupolis?), one at Bizye, and one at Sozopolis (DO Seals 1, nos. 71.39, 74.1, 79.1). In the tenth century, four tagmata of scholarioi were stationed in Thrace (Cer., 652, 655, 660, 666, 668); and in the eleventh we find several judges with authority over the united themes of Thrace and Macedonia. See De Them., 156-60; Zakythinos, Mélétai 18 (1948) 80; R.-J. Lilie, "Thrakien und Thrakesion. Zur byzantinischen Provinzorganisation am Ende des 7. Jh.," JÖB 26 (1977) 27-47; idem, "Die zweihundertjährige Reform," ByzSl 45 (1984) 36-39. See also Th. Papazotos, 'Ανίχνευση τοπογραφικὴ τῆς Ἀνατολικῆς Θρᾴκης, Byzantinische Forschungen 14/1 (1985) 543-56; Winkelmann, Ämterstruktur, 90-92; and, for the ecclesiastical organization, Asdracha, Thrace orientale.