Ares Numismatics
Web Auction 3 20 Oct 2019
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An excellent lead seal of Theodoros Monomachos, krites of the Armeniakoi (11th cent.)
Obverse: The bust of Saint George, facial, nimbate, in military garments, holding a cross in his right hand, columnar inscription: Ο Α(ΓΙΟC)/ΓΕ-ΩΡΓ(ΙΟC) = Ὁ ἅγιος Γεώργιος (Saint George), all within dotted border, partly existing.
Reverse: Inscription in 6 lines, all within dotted border: [Θ]Ε[Ο]/[Δ]ΟΡΩ ΚΡ(ΙΤΗ)/ΤΩΝ ΑΡΜΕ/ΝΙΑΚΩΝ ΤΩ/ΜΟΝΟΜΑ/ΧΩ= Θεοδώρῳ κριτῇ τῶν Ἀρμενιακῶν τῷ Μονομάχῳ (Of Theodoros krites of the theme of Armeniakon the Monomachos).
Theodoros, who was governor of Armeniakoi, belonged to the famous byzantine family of functionaries Monomachoi (Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991), Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, p. 1398). Concerning the themes of Asia Minor, one of which was the Armeniakon, what is clear is that at some point in the mid-7th century, probably in the late 630s and 640s, the Empire's field armies were withdrawn to Anatolia, the last major contiguous territory remaining to the Empire, and assigned to the districts that became known as the themes. Territorially, each of the new themes encompassed several of the older provinces, and with a few exceptions, seems to have followed the old provincial boundaries. The first four themes were those of the Armeniacs, Anatolics and Thracesians, and the Opsician theme. The Armeniac Theme (Θέμα Aρμενιακών, Thema Armeniakōn), first mentioned in 667, was the successor of the Army of Armenia. It occupied the old areas of the Pontus, Armenia Minor and northern Cappadocia, with its capital at Amasea. Bibliography: Haldon, John F. (1990), Byzantium in the Seventh Century: The Transformation of a Culture, Cambridge University Press; Haldon, John F. (1999), Warfare, state and society in the Byzantine world, 565–1204, Routledge; Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991), Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, pp. 89-90.
Condition: Very Fine, nice reddish patina. Slightly off-center sealing nevertheless completely legible inscription.
Weight: 9.78 gr
Diameter: 25 mm
Obverse: The bust of Saint George, facial, nimbate, in military garments, holding a cross in his right hand, columnar inscription: Ο Α(ΓΙΟC)/ΓΕ-ΩΡΓ(ΙΟC) = Ὁ ἅγιος Γεώργιος (Saint George), all within dotted border, partly existing.
Reverse: Inscription in 6 lines, all within dotted border: [Θ]Ε[Ο]/[Δ]ΟΡΩ ΚΡ(ΙΤΗ)/ΤΩΝ ΑΡΜΕ/ΝΙΑΚΩΝ ΤΩ/ΜΟΝΟΜΑ/ΧΩ= Θεοδώρῳ κριτῇ τῶν Ἀρμενιακῶν τῷ Μονομάχῳ (Of Theodoros krites of the theme of Armeniakon the Monomachos).
Theodoros, who was governor of Armeniakoi, belonged to the famous byzantine family of functionaries Monomachoi (Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991), Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, p. 1398). Concerning the themes of Asia Minor, one of which was the Armeniakon, what is clear is that at some point in the mid-7th century, probably in the late 630s and 640s, the Empire's field armies were withdrawn to Anatolia, the last major contiguous territory remaining to the Empire, and assigned to the districts that became known as the themes. Territorially, each of the new themes encompassed several of the older provinces, and with a few exceptions, seems to have followed the old provincial boundaries. The first four themes were those of the Armeniacs, Anatolics and Thracesians, and the Opsician theme. The Armeniac Theme (Θέμα Aρμενιακών, Thema Armeniakōn), first mentioned in 667, was the successor of the Army of Armenia. It occupied the old areas of the Pontus, Armenia Minor and northern Cappadocia, with its capital at Amasea. Bibliography: Haldon, John F. (1990), Byzantium in the Seventh Century: The Transformation of a Culture, Cambridge University Press; Haldon, John F. (1999), Warfare, state and society in the Byzantine world, 565–1204, Routledge; Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991), Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, pp. 89-90.
Condition: Very Fine, nice reddish patina. Slightly off-center sealing nevertheless completely legible inscription.
Weight: 9.78 gr
Diameter: 25 mm