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Myron (?) spatharokandidatos, judge of the Hippodrome of Melitene and grand kourator (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of St. Athenogenes, lightly bearded, holding a martyr's cross in front of him. Vertical inscription on either side: |.|θ|ι-ν|ο|γε : Ὁ (ἅγιος) [Ἀ]θινογέ(νης). Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of five lines, a decoration below. Border of dots.

μιρι
σπαθ,ρ,κ,
κριτ,τιπ
ποδρ,μελι
τ,Sκρ

Μίρ[ω]νι σπαθ(α)ρ(ο)κ(αν)δ(ι)δ(άτῳ), κριτ(ῇ) τοῦ Ἱπποδρ(όμου) Μελιτ(ηνῆς) (καὶ) μ(ε)γ(άλῳ) κουρ(άτορι)

Obverse

Bust of St. Athenogenes, lightly bearded, holding a martyr's cross in front of him. Vertical inscription on either side: |.|θ|ι-ν|ο|γε : Ὁ (ἅγιος) [Ἀ]θινογέ(νης). Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of five lines, a decoration below. Border of dots.

μιρι
σπαθ,ρ,κ,
κριτ,τιπ
ποδρ,μελι
τ,Sκρ

Μίρ[ω]νι σπαθ(α)ρ(ο)κ(αν)δ(ι)δ(άτῳ), κριτ(ῇ) τοῦ Ἱπποδρ(όμου) Μελιτ(ηνῆς) (καὶ) μ(ε)γ(άλῳ) κουρ(άτορι)

Accession number BZS.1958.106.4365
Diameter 25.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 4, no. 68.2.

Translation

Μίρωνι σπαθαροκανδιδάτῳ, κριτῇ τοῦ Ἱπποδρόμου Μελιτηνῆς καὶ μεγάλῳ κουράτορι.

Myron, spatharokandidatos, judge of the Hippodrome, and grand kourator.

Commentary

Now Eski Malatya, on the right bank of the Euphrates, Melitene was conquered by John Kourkouas in 934, whereupon its Muslim inhabitants were forced to choose between converting to Christianity or leaving the town. The properties of the many who left were transformed into an imperial kouratoreia, while the city remained an important administrative and military center. This explains the many seals belonging to imperial financial officials as well as to military commanders. See Oikonomides, “Organisation,” 290 and note 31; Listes, 356; Kappadokien, 233-37; Sinclair III, 3 ff.

Melitene became a bishopric in the IIIrd century and is attested as the metropolis of Armenia I from the Vth century onwards; during the Xth century its suffragans increased from five to nine. The last metropolitan of Melitene is listed in the XIVth century. See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 314; list of prelates in Fedalto, HEO I, 39-40.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
  • L’organisation de la frontière orientale de Byzance aux Xe-XIe siècles et Le Taktikon de l’Escorial (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Kappadokien (Kappadokia, Charsianon, Sebasteia und Lykandos) (Open in Zotero)
  • Eastern Turkey: An Architectural and Archaeological Survey (Open in Zotero)
  • Crown Lands and the Defence of Imperial Authority in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)