Kos. The material culture and the ecclesiastical productions, in I. Baldini, M. Livadiotti (eds.),...

95La città di Kos e il ruolo dell'istituzione episcopale

By the transition from the 3rd to the 4th centuries AD, the city of Kos had reached a large size, with extensive public spaces, holy places and luxurious dwellings;560 its city walls had been abandoned long before, in the 2nd century AD.561 Excavation has brought to light large sectors of the residential blocks of the city and the old Hippodameian road lay-out, which continued in use to the 7th century AD, without any major changes in its circulation system.562 The houses in the area of the Harbour (Συνοικία Λιμένος) also carry on being occupied, with rebuildings, into the early Byzantine period. At the east end of the enclosed harbour was re-erected a large basilica at the 6th century AD,563 which dominated the neighbourhood. A main thoroughfare, running E-W, cuts through the space, leading to a small mole to the east of the harbour.564 Excavation in plots near the docks, at the middle of the harbour, have uncovered facilities datable to the 7th century AD.565 On the Seragia Hill, the region of the old acropolis of the town, excavation has shown occupation from Prehistoric to early Byzantine times. Here were revealed important structures of the late Roman period, such as a public building in use from the Roman period, close to the plateia south of the Agora.566 Unbroken occupation down to the 7th century AD is confirmed by the finds (from glass or ceramic vessels through various artifacts to coins) of the rescue excavations, at just about any spot inside the ancient city walls.567

As is known, the new religion of Christianity is reckoned to have begun on Kos with the arrival of St. Paul the Apostle (Acts 21.1), but it seems that the strong Graeco-Roman tradition on the island, in particular the significant reverence shown to Asclepius, was maintained for several centuries more.568 Despite evidence for the existence of a bishopric on the island in the 4th century AD,569 a belief and credence in magic remained strong at the same time. An illustrated lead curse, dating to the start of the 4th century AD,570 bears witness to the survival of this belief in magic and on chthonic divinities (Fig. I.1.7.1a,b): it carries on both of its faces a curse against Hermias, son of Pythias (εὐχὴ κατακλιτικὴ κατὰ Ἑρμὶα). According to the study made on it by Ch. Kantzia, it was composed to seek revenge in a love-affair: it invokes a triple invocation to Seth, the Egyptian deity of violence, who is asked to bring down on Hermias a series of illnesses and finally a brutal death. The find is associable with the worship

I.1.7. The material culture and the ecclesiastical productionsSophia Didioumi

560 Brouskari 2006; Ι. Baldini, in Baldini, Livadiotti 2011; see also §§ I.1.1; I.1.2; I.1.3.561 G. Rocco, in Livadiotti, Rocco 1996, pp. 96-102.562 On the general topography of the city in Roman times, see Rocco, Livadiotti 2011, p. 385, fig. 1. For the cir-

culation pattern, see the articles of G. Rocco and M. Livadiotti in the present volume. 563 I. Baldini, G. Contò, G. Marsili, in Baldini, Livadiotti 2011, p. 122, fig. II.3.8; see also § I.1.4.564 Rocco, Livadiotti 2011, p. 385, fig. 1; see also § I.1.1. The mole is still in use today, for small ferries serving the

nearby islands.565 Brouskari 2004, pp. 63-67, fig. 4, with bibliography. 566 It is located in the Giousemoglou plot. For the late Roman and early Byzantine phases of the building, see Kant-

zia, Skerlou 1997, pp. 649-650; Brouskari, Didioumi 2006, pp. 301-302, pl. 2, no. 2. For the plateia south of the agora, see §.I.1.1.

567 It should be emphasized that although the excavations of Archaeological Service have brought to light in recent decades a large part of the ancient city, within and without the walls, no systematic study of the material has yet occurred: therefore the presentation of finds will be limited to those already published or in the course of study.

568 See §§ I.1.2 , I.2.1.569 See, § I.2.1.570 Kantzia 1997, pp. 170-192; Bosnakis 1998, p. 59; Skerlou 2002, no. 753, pp. 550-552; Kantzia-Vratsali

2009, pp. 178-179. Lead plaques inscribed with curses appear in the 5th century BC and continue into Roman times. They are found in tombs, sanctuaries of chthonic divinities and baths.

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96 Archeologia protobizantina a Kos

of eastern deities on the island, known already from the Hellenistic period and chiefly of a personal character.571

For the same time period, excavations outside the city-walls in the large cemeteries have revealed a rich society with pagan customs:572 offerings go on being made down to the 4th century AD. Roman and Late Roman tombs often have grave-goods such as lamps and glass unguentaria,573 clay vessels,574

clay lamps,575 as well as gold jewellery576 and toiletry items in women’s graves. Of the finds mentioned, the free-blown unguentaria from the 3rd century AD belong to the candlestick type, with a bell-shaped lower body, and are transparent.577 No Christian burial has been identified to date.578 It is likely that the Christian burials were not located at the same spot as the older cemeteries that lie chiefly to the west and south-west of the city, where a processional route led to the important pagan shrine of As-clepius.579

By the 6th century, the city of Kos is largely a Christian town: great basilicas have been built.580 According to the ancient sources, officials and other important personages made gifts of buildings, religious or of communal use.581 However – and despite the considerable extent of excavation – no finds are able to be linked with any religious structure.

Fig. I.1.7.1a, b. An illustrated lead curse, 4th century AD (Skerlou 2002, no. 753).

571 Bosnakis 1998, pp. 66-67, 69-72.572 For the topography of the excavations in Hellenistic and Roman cemeteries, see Bosnakis 2008, p. 14, fig. 20.573 Grigoriadou 1995, p. 806, pl. 249 γ. 574 To date they have published finds of the Hellenistic period, Grigoriadou, Skerlou 2004, pp. 311-326, pl.

113-126.575 A great amount of Knidian lamps dated from the 3rd to the 4th century has been revealed (unpublished).576 Grigoriadou 2001, pp. 471-472.577 They are perhaps of local production, Triantafyllidis 2002, pp. 35-36, fig. 11.578 So far Christian burials are found outside the city walls, in the basilica of St. Gabriel, certified by inscriptions of the

9th-10th centuries, see S. Cosentino, in Baldini, Livadiotti 2011, pp. 55-56, fig. I.3.8. 579 Brouskari, Didioumi 2006, pp. 310-311. On this matter, see also in the present volume § I.2.1.580 I. Baldini, G. Contò, G. Marsili, in Baldini, Livadiotti 2011, pp. 117-124.581 See the relevant articles of I. Baldini and S. Cosentino in the present volume (§§ I.1.2, I.2).



Yet individual items do bear witness to the Christian community of the 6th century AD. A water-jug with an incised cross was found in an excavation in Seragia Hill on the Krekoukia Road on the floor of a house (Fig. I.1.7.2).582 The small size of the exploratory trench does not allow us to identify the building in which was found the vase. The jug has a flat base, a spherical body with parallel horizontal grooves: a type commonly encountered in Kos in the late Roman and early Byzantine periods. The cross’ arms are of unequal length, with the vertical component larger than the horizontal; it rests on a small incised and rectangular base or tenon. The arms (with slightly expanded extremities) have straight ends to them; an incised wavy line runs down their centre. This type of cross recalls the liturgical bejewelled ones: a favourite motif from the 5th to the 7th century,583 it is seen on a variety of items, such as jewellery, ecclesiastical furnishings, glass and clay vessels and the bread stamps.584

The recovery of two clay pilgrim flasks (ampullae), made for the transportation of sacred contents, shows the contacts Kos had with the major pilgrimage centres of the day. According to the researches of A. Katsioti585, such objects date to the 6th century and are of an Asia Minor origin. They are to be associ-ated with the great pilgrimage to St John’s at Ephesus. They probably contain dust from the Saint’s tomb. It is known that these pilgrim flasks were valued religious memorabilia with prophylactic properties. They are found mostly in the houses of important people or in churches; far more rarely as grave-goods.586 In the case of Kos, one such (Fig. I.1.7.3)587 came from a magazine context in one of the most-important

Fig. I.1.7. 3. Pilgrim flask. Casa Romana. Second half of the 6th century (Museum of Kos, Katsioti 2009, Fig. 8β).

Fig. I.1.7. 2. Water jug. Second half of the 6th early 7th century (Museum of Kos).

582 Bosnakis 1996, p. 685.583 For the various types of crosses, see Kalopissi-Verti 1999, pp. 245–252, fig. 3, with bibliography.584 Galavaris 1970, pp. 112-124.585 Katsioti 2009, pp. 277-280, fig. 8 β, γ. 586 Anderson 2004, pp. 88-89. On the issue of the production of ampullae in Asia Minor, their imagery and con-

tents, see Katsioti 2009, pp. 277-281, with bibliography.587 Katsioti 2009, pp. 277-280, fig. 8 β; Giannikouri 2001-2004, p. 362, pl. 118 γ, 119 α.



houses in the town, the so-called Casa Romana. This is located in the luxurious quarter of the 3rd century AD, built along the central Decumanus road.588 Small-scale excavation in 2004 in the south-west part of the Casa Romana revealed a section of a roofed area, covered with a de-struction layer of roofing tiles and fallen wall-stones.589 It is identified as a possible storage area because parts of two pithoi were found in it. The second example (Fig. I.1.7.4)590 came from an excavation on a property on the Strati-gou Makriyianni and Metropoliti Nathanail road in a room which is probably part of a shop, or storeroom of a shop, to judge from the finds made.591

More finds recovered between the Harbour Baths and the dockside of Kos harbour may similarly be linked with a storage area and two water-cisterns.592 Nearby, excavation593 turned up a bronze lamp

Fig. I.1.7. 4. Pilgrim flask from an excavation on the Stratigou Makriyianni and Metropoliti Nathanail road. Second half of the 6th – early 7th century (photo S. Di-dioumi).

Fig. I.1.7. 5. Bronze lamp (photo S. Didioumi).

Fig. I.1.7. 6. Sea shell (photo S. Didioumi).

Fig. I.1.7. 7. A cube of bone (a dice). 7th century AD (photo S. Didioumi).

588 The house has successive phases from the Hellenistic to early Byzantine period. For the Casa Romana, see M. Al-bertocchi, in Livadiotti, Rocco 1996, pp. 125-130.

589 Giannikouri 2001-2004, p. 362, pl. 118γ, 119α. 590 Katsioti 2009, pp. 277-280, fig. 8γ; Didioumi 2010, p. 799, fig. 3, no. Π4443. 591 Didioumi 2010, p. 810. 592 Brouskari 2004a, pp. 65-66, notes 29-3. Also in excavations near the Harbour dockyards was found a bronze ring

with a cross incised onto the bezel and 7th century amphorae (Brouskari 2004a, 69).593 For excavation on Hirodotou road, see Skerlou 1996, pp. 686-687, pl. 223 α, β.



Fig. I.1.7. 8. ARS plate, 7th century AD (drawing S. Di-dioumi).

Fig. I.1.7. 9. A pair of gold earrings, a gold sphere, a pearl (second half of the 6th - early 7th century). A gold ring (photo S. Didioumi).

with an ovoid body, a ring-base, a long spout and a handle in the shape of a cross with flaring ends to the arms (Fig. I.1.7.5). On the reverse-side of the cross is the handle-grip by which the lamp was car-ried; the cover for the filling-aperture secured is missing. A hole on the bottom of the base shows that the lamp sat on a stand. The lamp is of the sort which can be dated typologically between the 5th and 7th centuries AD.594 Metal lamps were valuable items, employed usually in public or religious settings, also in funerary surroundings; they turn up too in important peoples’ dwellings.595

Apart from the objects connected with Christian worship, excavations have produced items of dai-ly use – especially from the 6th to early 7th centuries AD: clay and glass vessels for the table and serving, common pottery, and iron and bronze vases. Also retrieved are other groups of material: bone pins, clothing accessories, sea shells (Fig. I.1.7.6)596 gaming pieces, such as a cube of bone (a dice: Fig. I.1.7.7).597 This last carries on each side spots from 1 to 6 in number. They are composed of a pair of incised concentric circles with a central dot.598

The wealth and prosperity enjoyed in the city at this period is shown by a series of jewellery piec-es found in a store, inside an African plate (Fig. I.1.7.8):599 a pair of gold earrings (Fig. I.1.7.9), a gold sphere with a shank to mount a pearl from a second pair, a gold ring (Fig. I.1.7.10), and a

594 Xanthopoulou 2010, type LA3, pp. 6-7, and pp. 249-250, no. CD6.36 (resting on a lamp stand); Bailey 1996, pp. 70-73, nos. Q3800MLA - Q3804MLA, pl. 81; for similar lamp see Sande 1996, p. 85, no. 53.

595 Xanthopoulou 2010, pp. 63-70.596 Found in the excavation on the Stratigou Makriyianni and Metropoliti Nathanail road. Didioumi 2010, p. 98.597 Found in the excavation on the Gialousi plot (Agiou Nikolaou road), Grigoriadou 1998.598 Similar dice have turned up at various places, and Rhodes: Nika 2002, p. 211, no. 241.599 Didioumi 2010, pp. 812-813, pl. 3, no. Π4401, type Hayes ARS 99C. The plates of type 99 are one of the basic

forms of the North African thin ARS fine-wares. According to Bonifay production of type 99C starts at the end of the 6th century and continues until the 7th century (Bonifay 2004, p. 181).

Fig. I.1.7. 10. A gold ring. Late Roman period (photo S. Didioumi).



bronze weight-beam with a pair of scale-pans (Fig. I.1.7.11). The earrings600 comprise a circular hoop, open-ended, with one bulbous and one plain terminal. At the bottom of the hoop are soldered three loops from each of which depends a chain; this ends in a small ring to which is attached a pearl (drilled through) by a wire. Such were a very popular item from the 3rd to the 7th centuries AD, distributed all around the Mediterranean –Chios, Samos, Kalymnos, Priene, Kioutacheia, Cyprus, the region of Black Sea and Egypt – from well-known hoards.601 The Chiot example, from the Stathatos Collection, was accompanied by a medallion.602 It is postulated that the part of a second earring pair was retrieved (see above and Fig. I.1.7.7), or it might be from a necklace with inlaid decoration.603

The ring (Fig. I.1.7.10) has an elliptical plain rim, gripping an agate with an engraved a winged Eros playing a double-flute, whilst sitting on a pillar. Representations of Eros in different attitudes are very popular on rings of the Roman and Late Antique periods,604 as well as on a wealth of other objects of differing materials, such as clay lamps (4th century AD), where he is shown with his double-flute.605

Together with these were recovered a bronze weight-beam with two scale-pans (Fig. I.1.7.11).606 The slender and cylindrical beam has a ring fixed at each end, a vertical suspension-grip and parts of the chain-links by which the discs were attached. The beam is 5 cm long, the grip 5.5 cm, and its hook 2.5 cm. One disc is incomplete and rather worn (with a diameter of 2.4 cm), it preserves two holes for the chains; the second example (2 cm across) is complete, with 3 holes at the rim. The centres of the pans are enlivened by three incised concentric lines.607 Similar items are dated from the 4th to the 10th

centuries; one was found in the episcopal complex in Louloudies Kitrous (Pieria) dated by the excava-tors in the 4th century AD.608 Another such of uncertain origin was dated to the 6th–7th centuries AD; with yet another of larger dimensions in the 10th century AD.609 These devises were capable of exact

Fig. I.1.7.11. A bronze weight-beam with two scale-pans. Second half of the 6th - early 7th century (Archive of 22nd Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Copyright © ΥΠΠΟΑ/ΤΑΠΑ).

Fig. I.1.7.12. A bronze steelyard with a sliding counterweight in the form of an Athena-bust. First half of the 5th century (Brouskari 2004, pl. 47a).

600 S. Didioumi, in Baldini, Livadiotti 2011, pp. 93-94, note 39, fig. II.2.8. 601 Spier 2012, pp. 97-99, with bibliography; Gonosová, Kondoleon 1994, pp. 90-91, no. 26, pl. 11. For earrings

with similar chains to the Koan one, see Baldini Lippolis 1999, cat. no. II.4e.4, pp. 76, 95. 602 Spier 2012, p. 98, fig. 14b-c.1.603 For earrings, see Geroulanou 1999, pp. 263-267, and, for necklaces with inlaid decoration, see Geroulanou

1999, pp. 207-208 and passim.604 Richter 2006, pp. 23-76. 605 Bailey 1988, pp. 11-16; Perlzweig 1961, nos. 707-724, pp. 114-115, pl. 16. 606 One more weight-beam with two pans was found together with counterweights in the excavation on the Gialousi

plot (unpublished). For the excavation, see Grigoriadou 1999.607 On the pans were preserved some indecipherable letters.608 Marki 2002, no. 78, p. 78. 609 Schilbach 2004, nos. 785, 786, pp. 359. Schilbach 2001, nos. III.28, III29, pp. 250-251.



and precise measurements: thus they had been used to weigh coins and precious metals from 325 AD (CTh XII, 71), if not before; their small dimensions allowed them to be carried in a little wooden box together with the counterweights.610 The finding of the Koan example together with jewellery (see above) argues strongly that the owner was a merchant.

Commercial activities are evidenced by one more find of customary sort. Namely a bronze steelyard with a sliding counterweight in the form of an Athena-bust (Fig. I.1.7.12): this dates, according to the typologies and parallels given by E. Brouskari to the first half of the 5th century AD.611 The steelyard has closer ties to a group where the ends of the steelyard are shaped like animals, and the counterweight is a bust.612

Fig. I.1.7.13. LRA 2B amphora (Di-dioumi 2010, pl. 5, no. P4408).

Fig. I.1.7. 14. Imported LRA 3B4 amphora. Second half of the 6th century (photo S. Didioumi).

610 Schilbach 2001, p. 250, with bibliograhy.611 Brouskari 2002a, p. 75, no. 23; Brouskari 2004b, 401-416, figs. 1-2, pl. 147-148. 612 Brouskari 2004b, 408-409, note 27, 28, with bibliography. Generally, see Franken 1994 and Stutzinger

1991, pp. 304-328.

Fig. I.1.7.15a,b. Asia Minor lamp. 7th century (photo S. Didioumi).



Evidence of trade contacts come from the imported ceramics, found in the early Byzantine layers of the city: that is to say trade amphorae and plates. Two of the most widespread types of amphorae have been found in levels of the second half of the 6th to the early 7th centuries AD: LRA 2B come from a ware-house in the east end of the city (Fig. I.1.7.13),613 and surely carried imported substances.614 Also found were amphorae of the LRA 1B type, which turn up at various production centres.615 An LRA 3B4 example finds parallels in Asia Minor, perhaps they hale from the workshops in the area near Ephesus (Fig. I.1.7.14).616 Asia Minor lamps come from the later layers (first half of the 7th cent. or later) (Fig. I.1.7.15a,b).617 Interesting finds are amphorae of the Spatheia type, from North Africa and dating to the second half of the 7th century (Fig. I.1.7.16).618 Contacts with North Africa after the mid 6th cent. and throughout the whole 7th were confirmed also by the imports of plates (see above Fig. I.1.7.8).619

Locally produced ceramics, known from the countryside sites, are not identified in the city:620 they are recognized macroscopically by their fabrics and shapes.621 Examples include an amphora (Fig. I.1.7.17), perhaps originating at a pottery workshop in the region of Koastaina (at Mastich-ari).622 Amphorae of this sort are manufactured too in the Ephesus area.623 Common pottery for daily usage and table-wares are a common find in layers of the second half of the 6th into the 7th

centuries AD: water jugs, cups, cooking pots, basins.624 Finally, the production of glass can be confirmed: a glass workshop was uncovered close to the

central part of the old Agora, where a deluxe house has mosaics depicting the Tyche of Kos (early 5th

century AD).625 Two small glass-ovens were unearthed, along with pieces of raw glass and wasters of vessels.626 The workshop was in operation from the second half of the 5th to the second half of the 6th centuries AD (Fig. I.1.7.18): it possibly extends west into the next-door plot, where was discovered a third glass-oven, close to the City-Archive.627

613 Cat. no. 4408. See also, Didioumi 2010, pp. 802-804, pl. 5.614 Though macroscopic evidence exists for the local production of LRA2 amphorae, this has yet to be scientifically

confirmed (Poulou-Papadimitriou, Nodarou 2007, p. 757, fig. 3d).615 Cat. no. Π4410 (Didioumi 2010, pp. 804-806, pl. 6).616 Pieri 2005, p. 98, fig. 61. Bezeczky type 55, Bezeczky 2013, pp. 164-167. Recovered in the east sector of the

city, on the Tsimisiri plot excavation, Skerlou 1994. Imitations of this sort are produced in the Kostaina region (at Mastichari), Didioumi 2014, pp. 170-172, figs. 5-6, 13 a, b.

617 Bailey 1988, p. 392, no. Q3204, pl. 114 (Yassi Ada type L1-2). See also Didioumi 2010, p. 799, Cat. no. Λ1142, pl. 3.

618 “Spatheia miniatures”, Bonifay type 33 C, Bonifay 2004, pp. 127-129, fig. 69. C1. Found on the Gialousi plot just south of the agora (Grigoriadou 1998) and on the Kardoulia plot, west of the Harbour Baths (Skerlou 1996, pp. 686-687, pl. 223α).

619 Didioumi 2010, pp. 799-780, pl. 3. 620 Workshop facilities excavated or found in the city, dating back to the Hellenistic period, are mainly producing am-

phorae for marketing the famous Koan «τεθαλασσωμένου οἴνου» (see Sherwin-White 1978, pp. 236-241). In the eastern area of the ancient city of Kos were excavated two refuse sites for Hellenistic amphora (Kantzia 1994. Grigoriadou 2001-2004a, p. 302). A workshop with two pottery kilns of the Hellenistic period, again mostly making amphorae, has been discovered outside the walls of the ancient city (Grigoriadou 2001-2004b, pp. 307-308, pl. 97ε, 98α). One more kiln of Prehistoric date was located at Seragia (Kantzia 1981, p. 409, fig. 309α). For rural workshops, see Didioumi 2014.

621 Didioumi 2010, p. 810.622 Didioumi 2014, p. 171, figs. 14, 16a,b,c.623 This is the type Bezeczky Ephesus 56 (Bezeczky 2013, pp. 167-170). The distinguishing of Koan from Ephesian

products, as Bezeczky observes, can be done macroscopically: the Koan amphorae can be told apart by the generally soft pink fabric, with abundant gold and silver mica.

624 Didioumi 2010, passim, pls. 6, 7, 8, 10.625 Brouskari 1997, pp. 65-77.626 Brouskari 2002, pp. 135-141.627 Skerlou 2005, p. 1154.



Fig. I.1.7.16. African amphora (Spatheion miniature type). Second half of the 7th century (photo S. Di-dioumi).

Fig. I.1.7.17. Locally produced am-phora. Second half of the 6th - early 7th century (photo S. Didioumi).

.Fig. I.1.7.18. Glass vessels. Second half of the 5th - first half of the 6th century (Brouskari 2002, pl. 7).



We will close with a comment on the information given by the numismatic finds. According to the inventory kept up to 2005, coin circulation was active in the 4th century (56% of the corpus dating to this time), which percentage declines dramatically in subsequent centuries: to 18% by the beginning of the 5th century, dropping to a mere 6% within the 5th century, before recovering slightly to 10% in the 6th and 7th centuries.628 The coins recovered from the excavations stop at the reign of Heraclius. Most were issues of before the Persian wars, though folles from the last year of his reign (640/1) are known.

Compared to other finds made in the city of the same period, however, the quantity of early 5th century AD coins is impressive. The important mosaic depicting Tyche Kos apart, we have little else of this date. Rather, the pottery and other finds indicate the floruit of the city occurred around the middle of the 6th century and during the 7th century. It seems that the earthquake of 554 AD (attested to by Agathias)629 may have caused damage, but not the utter devastation of the city.

Further we know little about the extent and form of the city after the Arab invasions and the estab-lishment of Arab garrison in the middle of the 7th century.630 Earlier surveys placed the abandonment of the city in this period, with a contraction into a smaller walled settlement around the area of the present Castle of the Knights.631 However the ceramic finds of the second half of the 7th century, re-covered from various locations throughout the city, show continuous occupation until at least the end of the 7th century. We can assume that the city of Kos continued to be the most important city of the island with its closed commercial harbor. We can argue that the finds, especially the pottery,632 demon-strate the positive impact on the growth and viability of the island of Kos633 made first by the presence of troops during the Persian campaigns of Heraclius, second by the transference by Constans II of the fleet and troops from the western provinces into the southeastern Aegean.634

628 Brouskari, Didioumi 2006, pp. 303-304, fig. Ι.629 See § I.2.1.630 Beghelli, Di Branco, in Baldini, Livadiotti 2011, pp. 59-63. Imbert 2013. For the Arab raids against Kos, see

§ I.2, with bibliography.631 For the medieval city of Kos and the Castle, see Kollias 2006, p. 252, with bibliography.632 For the testimony of Heraclius and Constans II coins found in Rhodes and Kos, see Kasdagli 2006, p. 259. 633 The mass production of the commercial amphorae in the rural settlements proves that the island participated in

the system providing raw material to the army and the capital (7th to early 9th centuries), especially after losing the east provinces. Didioumi 2014, p. 172.

634 For the byzantine army in the West see, Lampakis, Leontsini, Lounghis, Vlyssidou 2008, with bibliography.

Acknowledgments: I would like to thank prof. I. Baldini and M. Livadiotti and the director of the Ephorate of Antiquities in Dodecanese, Dr. M. Michailidou. A great thank also to D. Grigo-riadou, E. Skerlou, V. Christopoulou, D. Bosnakis, R.Georgiadou and O. Markomastamos.


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