Epiphanios metropolitan of Rhodes (eighth century)
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V); in the quarters: ΕΠΙΦΑ|ΝΙ. Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει Ἐπιφανίῳ
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V); in the quarters: ΕΠΙΦΑ|ΝΙ. Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει Ἐπιφανίῳ
Reverse
Inscription of three lines, decorations above and below. Wreath border.
ΜΙΤΡΟ
ΠΟΛΙΤΗ
..ΔΟΥ
μιτροπολίτῃ Ῥόδου
Accession number | BZS.1958.106.5567 |
---|---|
Diameter | 28.0 mm; field: 22.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 54.2. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει Ἐπιφανίῳ μιτροπολίτῃ Ῥόδου.
Theotokos, help Epiphanios, metropolitan of Rhodes.
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)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Zur Metrik byzantinischer Siegellegenden (Open in Zotero)
- Mélanges d’archéologie byzantine (Open in Zotero)
- Le Synodikon de l’orthodoxie: Édition et commentaire (Open in Zotero)
- Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)
- Les îles de l’empire byzantin: VIIIe-XIIe siècles (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
If one ignores the invocation at the beginning, the rest of the inscription forms a twelve-syllable verse. Cf. H. Hunger, "Zur Metrik byzantinischer Siegellegenden," SBS 2 (1990) 31, and DO Seals 2, nos. 44.2 and 51.9.
The island of Rhodes was always wealthy. It belonged at first to the province of the Nesoi, but then became part of the theme of the Kibyrraiotai throughout the tenth and eleventh centuries. It had its own archon (Schumberger, Mélanges, 207; SBS 2 [1990] 258) and basilikos (DO Seals 2, no. 54.1). A doux of Rhodes will appear in the twelfth century.
The metropolis of Rhodes kept its rank throughout the centuries, but the number of its suffragans varied. We have the list of the metropolitans of this see, the Synodikon. See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 528; Fedalto, 203-5; Malamut, Iles, passim, esp. 242-44, 281-83, 300, 323, 325, 359, 365, 506; Gouillard, Synodikon, 113, 278-79; ODB III, 1791-92.