Isaakios Komnenos, protoproedros and grand domestikos of the eastern regiments, 1073-1074. Seal (Lead, 31 mm, 27.27 g, 12 h). O / A/ΓI/OC - Θ/Є/OΔ/ⲰP, Nimbate facing bust of Saint Theodore, holding a spear over his right shoulder, and resting a shield on his left arm. Rev. +KЄ [R,Θ,] / TⲰ CⲰ Δ૪Λ, / ICAAKIⲰ AΠPO/ЄΔPⲰ S MΓΛⲰ ΔO/MЄCTIKⲰ TⲰN / CXOΛⲰN THC / ANATOΛ, TⲰ / KOMNHN, in eight lines. Hecht collection 10 (sold in Classical Numismatcs Group, Triton XI [2008], 1172), otherwise unpublished. An extremely rare and interesting seal of the elder brother of emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Somewhat rough, otherwise, good very fine.


Isaac Komnenos was the elder brother of the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos (1081–1118). As the son of John Komnenos and Anna Dalassene, he was born into the highest Byzantine aristocracy and received an excellent education. He pursued a stellar military career, and in 1073, shortly after the battle of Manzikert, he held supreme command of the Byzantine army in its subsequent encounters with the Seljuk Turks as domestikos of the eastern regiments. Our seal dates to this stage of Isaac’s career.

A few years later, after he had joined Alexios in the capital in 1078, the brothers began plotting their coup d’état and found their opportunity in 1081. At first, it seemed that Isaac, as the elder brother, would be crowned emperor, but the Doukas family and the bulk of the army rallied behind Alexios instead. Isaac stepped aside and received the title of sebastokrator, becoming an 'emperor without the purple', in the words of his niece Anna Komnene, the famous Byzantine historian. The two brothers were almost equal in power, with Isaac serving primarily in the capital while his brother was away on military campaigns. Isaac spent the final years of his life in a monastery under the name John and died sometime between 1102 and 1104.