Andreas, koubikoularios, 659-668. Seal (Lead, 19 mm, 15.19 g, 12 h). Andreas on horseback riding right, head facing, holding a roll in cylindrical recepticle in his right hand, extended to the left. Rev. Cruciform monogram ANΔPEOV with in the quadrants, CЧ-bI-CЧL/a/rS. Stepanova, Latinskie, 143. Seibt/Zarnitz 4.3.11. Hecht 6. A rare variety of an interesting and important seal type. Minor roughness, otherwise, good very fine.


Andreas the koubikoularios is well-known from written sources: he was a powerful eunuch and courtier of the emperor Constantine IV (cf. PmbZ 353) and had some legendary stories attached to his name. Theophanes (cf. 348-351), for example, tells the story of Andreas travelling as an imperial emissary to the court of the Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I, where he met a stratelates named Sergios, who was the emissary of the usurper Saborios. While both agents advocated for the legitimacy of their master's causes in an attempt to win the caliph’s support, Sergios publicly scorned Andreas for being a eunuch. Shortly after the meeting, Andreas succeeded in capturing the sneerer and took ferocious revenge by tying him to a pole and having his genitals cut off. On the other hand, Andreas was also a successful general, as he is known to have captured the important fortress of Amorion from the Arabs in the winter of 668-69, killing a defense force of 5000 men.

Several identifications have been offered for the obverse figure and the object he is holding, with the interpretation offered by the editors of the Hecht catalogue perhaps being the most persuasive: they identify the rider as Andreas himself, in the guise of imperial mandator or messenger, holding in his hand the imperial message in the form of a roll inside a cylindrical receptacle.