Double eagle

When a legion pitched its camp, the eagle was placed in its centre; and if it happened that two legions encamped together, they erected upon the limits of the two camps a double eagle, with heads and wings opposed.

The black imperial double eagle is better known and still features on the Albanian national flag.

That the donors were members of the local Byzantine aristocracy is shown by the double eagle on one of the female donors' attire and demonstrates the continuation of artistic production by the Byzantine elite in Venetian Crete.