The imperial kommerkia of Mesembria (736/7?)
Obverse
Two emperors represented half-length holding a cross set on globus between them; only the figure on the right, wearing chlamys, is visible. No epigraphy or border visible.
Obverse
Two emperors represented half-length holding a cross set on globus between them; only the figure on the right, wearing chlamys, is visible. No epigraphy or border visible.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Wreath border.
ΑΣΙΛΙ
ΚΟΜΜ
ΚΙΩΝΜ
ΗΜΒΡΙΑ
Ε
Τῶν βασιλικῶν κομμερκίων Μεσημβρίας. Ἰνδικτιὼν εˊ
Accession number | BZS.1958.106.690 |
---|---|
Diameter | 31.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 77.7. |
Translation
Τῶν βασιλικῶν κομμερκίων Μεσημβρίας. Ἰνδικτιὼν εˊ.
(Seal of) the imperial kommerkia of Mesembria. Indiction 5.
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)
- Recherches sur les douanes à Byzance: L’octava, le "kommerkion" et les commerciares (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
- Tribute or Trade?: The Byzantine-Bulgarian Treaty of 716 (Open in Zotero)
- Mesembria in the Ninth Century: Epigraphical Evidence (Open in Zotero)
- Sceaux byzantins du musée de Constantinople (Open in Zotero)
- Ἡ συνέχεια τῆς Χρονογραφίας τοῦ Ἰωάννου Σκυλίτση (Open in Zotero)
- La Thrace Orientale et La Mer Noire: Géographie Ecclésiastique et Prosopographie (VIIIe-XIIe Siècles) (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
For this seal, we follow the classification of Zacos-Veglery, the principles of which are explained ibid., I, 301-3. Leo III and Constantine V are typically shown on dated seals of 729-739 holding a cross set on a globus between them; after 741 the cross seems to be set on a rectangular base. In addition, the figure at r. seems to be beardless. Thus the seal should date to 736/7, four years before Constantine became sole emperor. The year 751/2 may be securely excluded, since in those years dated seals typically carry representations of three emperors.