Staurakios, imperial protospatharios and strategos of Cyprus, later 10th century. Seal (Lead, 23 mm, 7.92 g, 12 h). ...TW CW... Saint Michael standing facing, nimbate, wearing loros and holding labarum in his right hand. Rev. +CTA/VPAKIW / R'A'CΠA[Θ] / S CTPAT / KVΠΡ in five lines in five lines. Unpublished in the standard references. A seal of great military historical interest. Some flatness, otherwise, very fine.


In a recent sale (Leu Web Auction 15 (2021), 2699, we offered a seal of Staurakios, strategos of Hellasm, with the same rare imagery of a standing Michael holding a labarum and wearing a loros. It is very likely that this important official and the Staurakios mentioned on the present seal are one and the same person. To these two, another seal found in Preslav and published by Jordanov (Corpus III, no. 1266) may be added. It has a similar standing Michael on the obverse and mentions Staurakios in yet another military command, this time as strategos of Thrace and Ioannopolis. These toponyms allow a somewhat more precise date in the 70s and 80s of the 10th century. Taken together, the series of three seal types reflect the brilliant military career of Staurakios Kourtikos in different key areas of the Byzantine Empire.