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Herakleios and Herakleios Constantine (613–ca. 616)

 
 

Obverse

The Mother of God standing, wearing a chiton and maphorion, and holding Christ before her. A small cross potent at left and right. Border of dots.

Reverse

Bust of Herakleios at left, with a short beard, and a tiny bust of Herakleios Constantine at right. Each wears a crown with cross and a chlamys. Herakleios’s hair curls inward. A small cross appears in the upper field. Circular inscription. Border of dots.

....ERAC....EERAC.........

[D(omini) n(ostri)] Herac[lius] et Hera(clius) C[onst(antinus) p(er)p(etui) aug(usti)].

Obverse

The Mother of God standing, wearing a chiton and maphorion, and holding Christ before her. A small cross potent at left and right. Border of dots.

Reverse

Bust of Herakleios at left, with a short beard, and a tiny bust of Herakleios Constantine at right. Each wears a crown with cross and a chlamys. Herakleios’s hair curls inward. A small cross appears in the upper field. Circular inscription. Border of dots.

....ERAC....EERAC.........

[D(omini) n(ostri)] Herac[lius] et Hera(clius) C[onst(antinus) p(er)p(etui) aug(usti)].

Accession number BZS.1958.106.495 (formerly DO 58.106.495)
Diameter 24.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 6, no. 13.4.

Translation

Domini nostri Heraclius et Heraclius Constantinus perpetui augusti.

Our lords Herakleios and Herakleios Constantine, eternal augusti.

Commentary

The seals below bear depictions of Herakleios with a short beard and of his son Herakleios Constantine in diminutive bust. The latter was born in May of 612 to Herakleios’s first wife, Eudokia. On coins (see DOC 2.1:8j2; MIB 3: Prägetabelle 1, nos. 8–10) from the first three years after his son’s crowning Herakleios is represented with a short beard and is accompanied by a diminutive bust of Herakleios Constantine.

Seibt (Bleisiegel, 69) has employed the following criteria for classifying and dating seals, from 613–616, with representations of Herakleios and Herakleios Constantine. (1) 613–ca. 614: Herakleios Constantine (small); style of hair: inward curl. (2) 613–16: imperial representations remain the same; reverse blank. (3) 614–16: the Virgin’s right leg is bent. As possible examples of the latter he cites Zacos–Veglery, nos. 12a and c.

For a discussion of the emperor’s hair, particularly asymmetrical sidelocks, which also occur on coins, see DOC 2.1: p. 93.

The cross flanking the Mother of God at right is set higher than the one at left, and has a thick, triangular base. The crown seems to be a simple one.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 6, Emperors, Patriarchs of Constantinople, Addenda (Open in Zotero)
  • Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, Vol. 2, Phocas to Theodosius III (602–717) (Open in Zotero)
  • Moneta Imperii Byzantini: Rekonstruktion des Prägeaufbaues auf synoptisch-tabellarischer Grundlage (Open in Zotero)
  • Die byzantinischen Bleisiegel in Österreich, Vol. 1, Kaiserhof (Open in Zotero)