Alexandros, 550-650. Seal (Lead, 19 mm, 10.00 g, 12 h). Nike advancing left, holding wreath in her right hand and palm frond over her left shoulder; in left field, christogram. Rev. Cruciform monogram of AΛEΞANΔPOV. Zacos/Veglery 1373. Very fine.


On their examples, Zacos/Veglery see Nike cradling a stylis, as she does on the gold staters of Alexander the Great. This leads them to speculate that this seal's owner picked the imagery in an allusion to his famous historical namesake. In any case, apart from some common imperial types, Nike is only very rarely depicted on Byzantine seals.