Description

Dumbarton Oaks houses the largest collection of Byzantine lead seals in the world, with approximately 17,000 specimens. Volume 8 of the Catalogue of Byzantine Seals represents the first in an ambitious series of studies focused on family names. It opens with an essay on the history and use of family names throughout the Byzantine world, which ranged from the ordinary--Antiochites, "of Antioch"--to the suggestive--Alopos, "the Fox"--to the humorous--Barymichael, "Big Mike." Following this introductory study, the volume discusses ninety Byzantine families, starting with Aaron and ending with Auzentiotes, that can be traced through almost 350 seals. We encounter interesting lineages like the Angelos ("Angel") family, several of whom became emperors, and the Akapnes ("Smokeless") family, whose members mostly served in the lower rungs of the bureaucracy. Through these seals, we gain a better understanding of the civil and military administration of the Byzantine Empire and how it related to Byzantium's more prominent and more modest families.