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Theophylaktos (imperial?) kommerkiarios of the Peloponnesos (eighth/ninth century)

 
 

Obverse

Remnants of a cruciform invocative monogram. In the quarters: .|ΔΛ. Wreath border.

Κύριε or Θεοτόκε βοήθει τσῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of five lines, top line missing. Wreath border.

ΛΑΚΤ/.
ΚΟΜΕΡΚ
ΙΑΡΙΠΟ
ΛΛΟΠΟΝΙ

Θεοφυλάκτ βασιλικῷ κομερκιαρίῳ Πολλοπονίσου

Obverse

Remnants of a cruciform invocative monogram. In the quarters: .|ΔΛ. Wreath border.

Κύριε or Θεοτόκε βοήθει τσῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of five lines, top line missing. Wreath border.

ΛΑΚΤ/.
ΚΟΜΕΡΚ
ΙΑΡΙΠΟ
ΛΛΟΠΟΝΙ

Θεοφυλάκτ βασιλικῷ κομερκιαρίῳ Πολλοπονίσου

Accession number BZS.1958.106.5055
Diameter 30.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 2, no. 22.14.
Zacos-Veglery, no. 2528 (slightly different reading).

Translation

Κύριε or Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Θεοφυλάκτῳ βασιλικῷ κομερκιαρίῳ Πολλοπονίσου.

Lord or Mother of God, help your servant Theophylaktos, imperial (?) kommerkiarios of the Peloponnesos.

Commentary

At the end of line 1, Zacos-Veglery read a "secure" omega that we do not see. Instead, we see an unclear abbreviation sign, then a blank space enough for one letter. This leads to a tentative restoration of βασιλικῷ, a qualification in use for the kommerkiarioi in the early 9th century, when our seal most probably dates (cf. DO Seals 2, no. 22.11 and Oikonomides, Kommerkiarioi, 48). The spelling Πολοπόννησος has parallels on other seals.

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)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Silk Trade and Production in Byzantium from the Sixth to the Ninth Century: The Seals of Kommerkiarioi (Open in Zotero)
  • La Morée franque: Recherches historiques, topographiques et archéologiques sur la principauté d’Achaïe (1205-1430) (Open in Zotero)
  • Die Skleroi: Eine prosopographisch-sigillographische Studie (Open in Zotero)
  • Theophanis Chronographia (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Realities of Byzantine Provincial Government: Hellas and Peloponnesos, 1180-1205 (Open in Zotero)
  • Die byzantinische Armee im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert: Studien zur Organisation der Tagmata (Open in Zotero)