Watch List notes:

Synetos and Niketas, apo eparchontes and genikoi kommerkiarioi of the warehouses of Hellespontos and Lydia, 710/711. Seal (Lead, 33 mm, 20.05 g, 12 h). [C]VNЄT૪ NIKH/TA AΠO ЄΠAP/[XⲰ]N S ΠOT Two half-length busts of Justinian II on the left and Tiberius III on the right, both crowned and wearing chlamys, holding between them a cross on two steps. In the upper fields, indiction-symbol and Θ. Rev. ΓЄNIK[Ⲱ]/N KOMMЄP/KIAPIⲰN AΠ/OΘHKHC Є[ΛΛ]/HCΠONTOV / S ΛVΔI[AC] in six lines. Unpublished in the standard references. Somewhat rough, otherwise, very fine.


The known seals of the genikoi kommerkiarioi Synetos and Niketas date from the joint reign of Justinian II and Tiberius III (as our seal) into the reign of Anastasius II. As kommerkiarioi, the duo was in charge of collecting taxes in the so-called "apothekai" of Hellespontos and Lydia, places where taxes in kind were collected and stored and which served as centers for trade and exchange of goods. Apart from the emperor himself, only kommerkiarioi had the right to use the imperial image on their seals.