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Roman, VALENTINIAN I
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From an AE1 of Heraclea, struck between A.D.364 and 367.
RIC IX : 2
Extremely Rare
The Colossus of Barletta is a large bronze statue of a Roman Emperor, nearly three times life size currently located in the coastal town of Barletta, Italy. The legs and hands were replaced in the 15th Century, but the 5-metre-high statue is still a powerful reminder of the later days of the Roman Empire.
There are many different versions of the story of this statue, the most popular being that the statue washed up on the shore after a Venetian ship sank returning from the sack of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, but if that was indeed the case it is not impossible that the statue had been sent to Constantinople much earlier. The identity of the Emperor is uncertain, the most likely subjects appear to be Valentinian I (A.D.364–375), Honorius (A.D.393–423), Theodosius II (A.D.408–450), Marcian (A.D.450–457), Leo I (A.D.457–474) and Justinian I (A.D.527–565). The facial features on my coin seem to me to closely resemble those on the statue, so Valentinian I would be my own personal choice as to the identity of the emperor.
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