Symbolizing Reverence and Imperial Identity: The Elephant on the epi ton barbaron Seal

Abstract

Abstract: Recent scholarship on Byzantine seals has broadened our understanding of both the practical and symbolic functions of these objects, as it primarily concerns their material, iconographic, and epigraphic content. This article focuses on one of only two known Byzantine seals featuring an image of an elephant. This eleventh-century seal belonged to an individual bearing the title “ἐπὶ τῶν βαρβάρων” ( epi ton barbaron ). Receiving little scholarly attention, this object is generally discussed in the context of other seals of the Byzantine period. I offer a new reading of this object and its image, arguing that the elephant on this seal served two primary functions: it represented its owner’s claim to imperial identity, and it also symbolized its owner’s reverence for the emperor. Through close iconographic and social art historical analysis, I examine the elephant’s use during the Roman and Byzantine periods in three distinct categories: as a motif, as material, and as a living animal. I draw upon primary texts, seals, and ivory objects of the Byzantine period to emphasize the elephant’s imperial associations. I also analyze this seal’s image in conjunction with the administrative titles present in this object’s inscription— epi ton barbaron , in particular. This article expands the ways in which both the iconographic and epigraphic content of Byzantine seals can be used to interpret the symbolic identities their owner’s often project.