Leo Gabalas, Kaisar in Rhodes, circa 1232/3-1240/8. Follis (Bronze, 17 mm, 1.00 g, 1 h). ✠O ΔOY/ΛOC TOΥ/ BACIΛЄΩC in three lines. Rev. KAIC/CAP O ΓA/BAΛAC in three lines. DOC 1. Schl. pl VIII, 18. Very rare. Cleaning scratches and with light deposits, otherwise, very fine.

Leo Gabalas was a scion of an old Byzantine aristocratic family that appears to have claimed Rhodes as an independent domain even before the fragmentation of the Byzantine state after the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Although the Nicaean Emperor, John III Ducas Vatatzes, launched an expedition against Rhodes in 1232/3, Gabalas was not driven off, and his coins imply that some sort of accord was reached, as he styles himself as the ‘Servant of the Emperor’ and employs the title of Caesar. Despite this outward display of loyalty to the Lascarids, Gabalas quickly allied himself with the Venetians to safeguard Rhodes from further Nicaean incursions. He was eventually succeeded by his brother, John, who was defeated by the Genoese in 1248, but in 1250, the Italians were expelled in turn by Vatatzes