| Image search results - "Byzantium" |
020 Vespasian (69-79 A.D.), RIC² 1416, Ephesus (Byzantium), AR-Denarius, CONCORDIA AVG, Ceres, #1020 Vespasian (69-79 A.D.), RIC² 1416, Ephesus (Byzantium), AR-Denarius, CONCORDIA AVG, Ceres, #1
avers: IMP CAESAR VESPAS AVG COS II TR P P P, Laureate head right.
reverse: CONCORDIA AVG, Ceres, enthroned left, holding grain ears and a cornucopiae, BY (monogram) mintmark for Byzantium in the exergue.
exergue: -/-//BY(monogram, mintmark for Byzantium), diameter: 17,5-19,0mm, weight: 3,60 g, axis: 6h,
mint: Ephesus (Byzantium), date: A.D., ref: RIC² 1416, RPC II 824, Sear/RCV 2266var., RSC 66a,
Q-001quadrans
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1085 THRACE. Byzantium. Hadrian, Demetrius, magistrate WickerReference. Rare
RPC III, 1085; Varbanov 1656;
http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/1085/
Obv: AVTO KAI TPAI AΔPIANOC AVΓ.
Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right.
Rev: EΠI ΔHMHTPOC BYZANTIΩN / TO B.
Conical wicker basket.
16.10 gr
30 mm
6hokidoki
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1086 THRACE, Byzantium Hadrian AE 27 117-138 AD Corinthian helmetReference.
RPC III, 1086; Varbanov 3657v (rev. legend with TO B after magistrete).
Obv. AVT KAI TPAI AΔPIANOC AVΓ
Laureate, draped, cuirassed bust right, seen from front.
Rev. BYZANTIΩN EΠI ΔHMHTPOC TO B
crested Corinthian helmet right, with cheek-pieces
11.60 gr
27 mm
6hokidoki
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1308b, Licinius I, 308 - 324 A.D. (Siscia)Licinius I, 11 November 308 - 18 September 324 A.D. Bronze follis, RIC 4, F, Siscia, 3.257g, 21.6mm, 0o, 313 - 315 A.D. Obverse: IMP LIC LICINIVS P F AVG, laureate head right; Reverse IOVI CONSERVATORI AVGG NN, Jupiter standing left holding Victory on globe and scepter, eagle with wreath in beak left, E right, SIS in exergue.
De Imperatoribus Romanis : An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
Licinius (308-324 A.D.)
Michael DiMaio, Jr.
Salve Regina University
Licinius' Heritage
Valerius Licinianus Licinius, more commonly known as Licinius, may have been born ca. 265. Of peasant origin, his family was from Dacia. A close friend and comrade of arms of the Emperor Galerius, he accompanied him on his Persian expedition in 297. When campaigns by Severus and Galerius in late 306 or early 307 and in the summer of 307, respectively, failed to dislodge Maxentius who, with the luke warm support of his father Maximianus Herculius, was acclaimed princeps on 28 October 306, he was sent by the eastern emperor to Maxentius as an ambassador; the diplomatic mission, however, failed because the usurper refused to submit to the authority of his father-in-law Galerius. At the Conference of Carnuntum which was held in October or November of 308, Licinius was made an Augustus on 11 November 308; his realm included Thrace, Illyricum, and Pannonia.
Licinius' Early Reign
Although Licinius was initially appointed by Galerius to replace Severus to end the revolt of Maxentius , Licinius (perhaps wisely) made no effort to move against the usurper. In fact, his first attested victory was against the Sarmatians probably in the late spring, but no later than the end of June in 310. When the Emperor Galerius died in 311, Licinius met Maximinus Daia at the Bosporus during the early summer of that year; they concluded a treaty and divided Galerius' realm between them. It was little more than a year later that the Emperor Constantine defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge on 28 October 312. After the defeat of the usurper, Constantine and Licinius met at Mediolanum (Milan) where Licinius married the former's sister Constantia; one child was born of this union: Valerius Licinianus Licinius. Licinius had another son, born of a slave woman, whose name is unknown. It appears that both emperors promulgated the so-called Edict of Milan, in which Constantine and Licinius granted Christians the freedom to practice their faith without any interference from the state.
As soon as he seems to have learned about the marital alliance between Licinius and Constantine and the death of Maxentius, who had been his ally, Daia traversed Asia Minor and, in April 313, he crossed the Bosporus and went to Byzantium, which he took from Licinius after an eleven day siege. On 30 April 313 the armies of both emperors clashed on the Campus Ergenus; in the ensuing battle Daia's forces were routed. A last ditch stand by Daia at the Cilician Gates failed; the eastern emperor subsequently died in the area of Tarsus probably in July or August 313. As soon as he arrived in Nicomedeia, Licinius promulgated the Edict of Milan. As soon as he had matters in Nicomedeia straightened out, Licinius campaigned against the Persians in the remaining part of 313 and the opening months of 314.
The First Civil War Between Licinius and Constantine
Once Licinius had defeated Maximinus Daia, the sole rulers of the Roman world were he and Constantine. It is obvious that the marriage of Licinius to Constantia was simply a union of convenience. In any case, there is evidence in the sources that both emperors were looking for an excuse to attack the other. The affair involving Bassianus (the husband of Constantius I's daughter Anastasia ), mentioned in the text of Anonymus Valesianus (5.14ff), may have sparked the falling out between the two emperors. In any case, Constantine' s forces joined battle with those of Licinius at Cibalae in Pannonia on 8 October 314. When the battle was over, Constantine prevailed; his victory, however, was Pyrrhic. Both emperors had been involved in exhausting military campaigns in the previous year and the months leading up to Cibalae and each of their realms had expanded so fast that their manpower reserves must have been stretched to the limit. Both men retreated to their own territory to lick their wounds. It may well be that the two emperors made an agreement, which has left no direct trace in the historical record, which would effectively restore the status quo.
Both emperors were variously engaged in different activities between 315 and 316. In addition to campaigning against the Germans while residing in Augusta Treverorum (Trier) in 315, Constantine dealt with aspects of the Donatist controversy; he also traveled to Rome where he celebrated his Decennalia. Licinius, possibly residing at Sirmium, was probably waging war against the Goths. Although not much else is known about Licinius' activities during this period, it is probable that he spent much of his time preparing for his impending war against Constantine; the latter,who spent the spring and summer of 316 in Augusta Treverorum, was probably doing much the same thing. In any case, by December 316, the western emperor was in Sardica with his army. Sometime between 1 December and 28 February 317, both emperors' armies joined battle on the Campus Ardiensis; as was the case in the previous engagement, Constantine' s forces were victorious. On 1 March 317, both sides agreed to a cessation of hostilities; possibly because of the intervention of his wife Constantia, Licinius was able to keep his throne, although he had to agree to the execution of his colleague Valens, who the eastern emperor had appointed as his colleague before the battle, as well as to cede some of his territory to his brother-in-law.
Licinius and the Christians
Although the historical record is not completely clear, Licinius seems to have campaigned against the Sarmatians in 318. He also appears to have been in Byzantium in the summer of 318 and later in June 323. Beyond these few facts, not much else is known about his residences until mid summer of 324. Although he and Constantine had issued the Edict of Milan in early 313, Licinius turned on the Christians in his realm seemingly in 320. The first law that Licinius issued prevented bishops from communicating with each other and from holding synods to discuss matters of interest to them. The second law prohibited men and women from attending services together and young girls from receiving instruction from their bishop or schools. When this law was issued, he also gave orders that Christians could hold services only outside of city walls. Additionally, he deprived officers in the army of their commissions if they did not sacrifice to the gods. Licinius may have been trying to incite Constantine to attack him. In any case, the growing tension between the two rulers is reflected in the consular Fasti of the period.
The Second Civil War Between Licinius and Constantine and Licinius' Death
War actually broke out in 321 when Constantine pursued some Sarmatians, who had been ravaging some territory in his realm, across the Danube. When he checked a similar invasion of the Goths, who were devastating Thrace, Licinius complained that Constantine had broken the treaty between them. Having assembled a fleet and army at Thessalonica, Constantine advanced toward Adrianople. Licinius engaged the forces of his brother-in-law near the banks of the Hebrus River on 3 July 324 where he was routed; with as many men as he could gather, he headed for his fleet which was in the Hellespont. Those of his soldiers who were not killed or put to flight, surrendered to the enemy. Licinius fled to Byzantium, where he was besieged by Constantine. Licinius' fleet, under the command of the admiral Abantus, was overcome by bad weather and by Constantine' s fleet which was under the command of his son Crispus. Hard pressed in Byzantium, Licinius abandoned the city to his rival and fled to Chalcedon in Bithynia. Leaving Martinianus, his former magister officiorum and now his co-ruler, to impede Constantine' s progress, Licinius regrouped his forces and engaged his enemy at Chrysopolis where he was again routed on 18 September 324. He fled to Nicomedeia which Constantine began to besiege. On the next day Licinius abdicated and was sent to Thessalonica, where he was kept under house arrest. Both Licinius and his associate were put to death by Constantine. Martinianus may have been put to death before the end of 324, whereas Licinius was not put to death until the spring of 325. Rumors circulated that Licinius had been put to death because he attempted another rebellion against Constantine.
Copyright (C) 1996, Michael DiMaio, Jr.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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1308c, Licinius I, 308-324 A.D. (Alexandria)Licinius I, 308-324 A.D. AE Follis, 3.60g, VF, 315 A.D., Alexandria. Obverse: IMP C VAL LICIN LICINIVS P F AVG - Laureate head right; Reverse: IOVI CONS-ERVATORI AVGG - Jupiter standing left, holding Victory on a globe and scepter; exergue: ALE / (wreath) over "B" over "N." Ref: RIC VII, 10 (B = r2) Rare, page 705 - Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, Scotland.
De Imperatoribus Romanis : An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
Licinius (308-324 A.D.)
Michael DiMaio, Jr.
Salve Regina University
Licinius' Heritage
Valerius Licinianus Licinius, more commonly known as Licinius, may have been born ca. 265. Of peasant origin, his family was from Dacia. A close friend and comrade of arms of the Emperor Galerius, he accompanied him on his Persian expedition in 297. When campaigns by Severus and Galerius in late 306 or early 307 and in the summer of 307, respectively, failed to dislodge Maxentius who, with the luke warm support of his father Maximianus Herculius, was acclaimed princeps on 28 October 306, he was sent by the eastern emperor to Maxentius as an ambassador; the diplomatic mission, however, failed because the usurper refused to submit to the authority of his father-in-law Galerius. At the Conference of Carnuntum which was held in October or November of 308, Licinius was made an Augustus on 11 November 308; his realm included Thrace, Illyricum, and Pannonia.
Licinius' Early Reign
Although Licinius was initially appointed by Galerius to replace Severus to end the revolt of Maxentius , Licinius (perhaps wisely) made no effort to move against the usurper. In fact, his first attested victory was against the Sarmatians probably in the late spring, but no later than the end of June in 310. When the Emperor Galerius died in 311, Licinius met Maximinus Daia at the Bosporus during the early summer of that year; they concluded a treaty and divided Galerius' realm between them. It was little more than a year later that the Emperor Constantine defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge on 28 October 312. After the defeat of the usurper, Constantine and Licinius met at Mediolanum (Milan) where Licinius married the former's sister Constantia; one child was born of this union: Valerius Licinianus Licinius. Licinius had another son, born of a slave woman, whose name is unknown. It appears that both emperors promulgated the so-called Edict of Milan, in which Constantine and Licinius granted Christians the freedom to practice their faith without any interference from the state.
As soon as he seems to have learned about the marital alliance between Licinius and Constantine and the death of Maxentius, who had been his ally, Daia traversed Asia Minor and, in April 313, he crossed the Bosporus and went to Byzantium, which he took from Licinius after an eleven day siege. On 30 April 313 the armies of both emperors clashed on the Campus Ergenus; in the ensuing battle Daia's forces were routed. A last ditch stand by Daia at the Cilician Gates failed; the eastern emperor subsequently died in the area of Tarsus probably in July or August 313. As soon as he arrived in Nicomedeia, Licinius promulgated the Edict of Milan. As soon as he had matters in Nicomedeia straightened out, Licinius campaigned against the Persians in the remaining part of 313 and the opening months of 314.
The First Civil War Between Licinius and Constantine
Once Licinius had defeated Maximinus Daia, the sole rulers of the Roman world were he and Constantine. It is obvious that the marriage of Licinius to Constantia was simply a union of convenience. In any case, there is evidence in the sources that both emperors were looking for an excuse to attack the other. The affair involving Bassianus (the husband of Constantius I's daughter Anastasia ), mentioned in the text of Anonymus Valesianus (5.14ff), may have sparked the falling out between the two emperors. In any case, Constantine' s forces joined battle with those of Licinius at Cibalae in Pannonia on 8 October 314. When the battle was over, Constantine prevailed; his victory, however, was Pyrrhic. Both emperors had been involved in exhausting military campaigns in the previous year and the months leading up to Cibalae and each of their realms had expanded so fast that their manpower reserves must have been stretched to the limit. Both men retreated to their own territory to lick their wounds. It may well be that the two emperors made an agreement, which has left no direct trace in the historical record, which would effectively restore the status quo.
Both emperors were variously engaged in different activities between 315 and 316. In addition to campaigning against the Germans while residing in Augusta Treverorum (Trier) in 315, Constantine dealt with aspects of the Donatist controversy; he also traveled to Rome where he celebrated his Decennalia. Licinius, possibly residing at Sirmium, was probably waging war against the Goths. Although not much else is known about Licinius' activities during this period, it is probable that he spent much of his time preparing for his impending war against Constantine; the latter,who spent the spring and summer of 316 in Augusta Treverorum, was probably doing much the same thing. In any case, by December 316, the western emperor was in Sardica with his army. Sometime between 1 December and 28 February 317, both emperors' armies joined battle on the Campus Ardiensis; as was the case in the previous engagement, Constantine' s forces were victorious. On 1 March 317, both sides agreed to a cessation of hostilities; possibly because of the intervention of his wife Constantia, Licinius was able to keep his throne, although he had to agree to the execution of his colleague Valens, who the eastern emperor had appointed as his colleague before the battle, as well as to cede some of his territory to his brother-in-law.
Licinius and the Christians
Although the historical record is not completely clear, Licinius seems to have campaigned against the Sarmatians in 318. He also appears to have been in Byzantium in the summer of 318 and later in June 323. Beyond these few facts, not much else is known about his residences until mid summer of 324. Although he and Constantine had issued the Edict of Milan in early 313, Licinius turned on the Christians in his realm seemingly in 320. The first law that Licinius issued prevented bishops from communicating with each other and from holding synods to discuss matters of interest to them. The second law prohibited men and women from attending services together and young girls from receiving instruction from their bishop or schools. When this law was issued, he also gave orders that Christians could hold services only outside of city walls. Additionally, he deprived officers in the army of their commissions if they did not sacrifice to the gods. Licinius may have been trying to incite Constantine to attack him. In any case, the growing tension between the two rulers is reflected in the consular Fasti of the period.
The Second Civil War Between Licinius and Constantine and Licinius' Death
War actually broke out in 321 when Constantine pursued some Sarmatians, who had been ravaging some territory in his realm, across the Danube. When he checked a similar invasion of the Goths, who were devastating Thrace, Licinius complained that Constantine had broken the treaty between them. Having assembled a fleet and army at Thessalonica, Constantine advanced toward Adrianople. Licinius engaged the forces of his brother-in-law near the banks of the Hebrus River on 3 July 324 where he was routed; with as many men as he could gather, he headed for his fleet which was in the Hellespont. Those of his soldiers who were not killed or put to flight, surrendered to the enemy. Licinius fled to Byzantium, where he was besieged by Constantine. Licinius' fleet, under the command of the admiral Abantus, was overcome by bad weather and by Constantine' s fleet which was under the command of his son Crispus. Hard pressed in Byzantium, Licinius abandoned the city to his rival and fled to Chalcedon in Bithynia. Leaving Martinianus, his former magister officiorum and now his co-ruler, to impede Constantine' s progress, Licinius regrouped his forces and engaged his enemy at Chrysopolis where he was again routed on 18 September 324. He fled to Nicomedeia which Constantine began to besiege. On the next day Licinius abdicated and was sent to Thessalonica, where he was kept under house arrest. Both Licinius and his associate were put to death by Constantine. Martinianus may have been put to death before the end of 324, whereas Licinius was not put to death until the spring of 325. Rumors circulated that Licinius had been put to death because he attempted another rebellion against Constantine.
Copyright (C) 1996, Michael DiMaio, Jr.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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1505b, Theodosius I, 19 January 379 - 17 January 395 A.D. (Antioch)Theodosius I, 19 January 379 - 17 January 395 A.D. Bronze AE 3, RIC 44(b), VF, Antioch, 2.17g, 18.1mm, 180o, 9 Aug 378 - 25 Aug 383 A.D. Obverse: D N THEODOSIVS P F AVG, rosette-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; Reverse: CONCORDIA AVGGG, Constantinopolis enthroned facing, r. foot on prow, globe in l., scepter in r., Q and F at sides, ANTG in ex; scarce.
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
THEODOSIUS I (379-395 A.D.)
David Woods
University College of Cork
Origin and Early Career
Flavius Theodosius was born at Cauca in Spain in about 346 to Thermantia and Theodosius the Elder (so-called to distinguish him from his son). Theodosius the Elder was a senior military officer serving in the Western empire and rose to become the magister equitum praesentalis under the emperor Valentinian I from late 368 until his execution in early 375. As the son of a soldier, Theodosius was legally obliged to enter upon a military career. He seems to have served under his father during his expedition to Britain in 367/8, and was the dux Moesiae Primae by late 374. Unfortunately, great controversy surrounds the rest of his career until Gratian had him hailed as his imperial colleague in succession to the emperor Valens at Sirmium on 19 January 379. It is clear that he was forced to retire home to Spain only to be recalled to active service shortly thereafter, but the circumstances of his forced retirement are shrouded in mystery. His father was executed at roughly the same time, and much speculation has centred on the relationship between these events.
[For a very detailed and interesting discussion of the Foreign Policy of Theodosius and the Civil Wars that plagued his reign, please see http://www.roman-emperors.org/theo1.htm]
Family and Succession
Theodosius married twice. His first wife was the Spanish Aelia Flavia Flaccilla. She bore him Arcadius ca. 377, Honorius on 9 September 384, and Pulcheria ca. 385. Theodosius honoured her with the title of Augusta shortly after his accession, but she died in 386. In late 387 he married Galla, daughter of Valentinian I and full-sister of Valentinian II. She bore him Gratian ca. 388, Galla Placidia ca. 388/390, and died in childbirth in 394, together with her new-born son John. Of his two sons who survived infancy, he appointed Arcadius as Augustus on 19 January 383 and Honorius as Augustus on 23 January 393. His promotion of Arcadius as a full Augustus at an unusually young age points to his determination right from the start that one of his own sons should succeed him. He sought to strengthen Arcadius' position in particular by means of a series of strategic marriages whose purpose was to tie his leading "generals" irrevocably to his dynasty. Hence he married his niece and adoptive daughter Serena to his magister militum per Orientem Stilicho in 387, her elder sister Thermantia to a "general" whose name has not been preserved, and ca. 387 his nephew-in-law Nebridius to Salvina, daughter of the comes Africae Gildo. By the time of his death by illness on 17 January 395, Theodosius had promoted Stilicho from his position as one of the two comites domesticorum under his own eastern administration to that of magister peditum praesentalis in a western administration, in an entirely traditional manner, under his younger son Honorius. Although Stilicho managed to increase the power of the magister peditum praesentalis to the disadvantage of his colleague the magister equitum praesentalis and claimed that Theodosius had appointed him as guardian for both his sons, this tells us more about his cunning and ambition than it does about Theodosius' constitutional arrangements.
Theodosius' importance rests on the fact that he founded a dynasty which continued in power until the death of his grandson Theodosius II in 450. This ensured a continuity of policy which saw the emergence of Nicene Christianity as the orthodox belief of the vast majority of Christians throughout the middle ages. It also ensured the essential destruction of paganism and the emergence of Christianity as the religion of the state, even if the individual steps in this process can be difficult to identify. On the negative side, however, he allowed his dynastic interests and ambitions to lead him into two unnecessary and bloody civil wars which severely weakened the empire's ability to defend itself in the face of continued barbarian pressure upon its frontiers. In this manner, he put the interests of his family before those of the wider Roman population and was responsible, in many ways, for the phenomenon to which we now refer as the fall of the western Roman empire.
Copyright (C) 1998, David Woods.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
There is a nice segue here, as we pick-up John Julius Norwich's summation of the reign of Theodosius, "Readers of this brief account of his career may well find themselves wondering, not so much whether he deserved the title of 'the Great' as how he ever came to acquire it in the first place. If so, however, they may also like to ask themselves another question: what would have been the fate of the Empire if, at that critical moment in its history after the battle of Adrianople, young Gratian had not called him from his Spanish estates and put the future of the East into his hands? . . . the probability is that the whole Empire of the East would have been lost, swallowed up in a revived Gothic kingdom, with effects on world history that defy speculation.
In his civil legislation he showed, again and again, a consideration for the humblest of his subjects that was rare indeed among rulers of the fourth century. What other prince would have decreed that any criminal, sentenced to execution, imprisonment or exile, must first be allowed thirty days' grace to put his affairs in order? Or that a specified part of his worldly goods must go to his children, upon whom their father's crimes must on no account be visited? Or that no farmer should be obliged to sell his produce to the State at a price lower than he would receive on the open market?
Had he earned his title? Not, perhaps, in the way that Constantine had done or as Justinian was to do. But, if not ultimately great himself, he had surely come very close to greatness; and had he reigned as long as they did his achievements might well have equalled theirs. He might even have saved the Western Empire. One thing only is certain: it would be nearly a century and a half before the Romans would look upon his like again" (Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium, the Early Centuries. London: Penguin Group, 1990. 116-7;118).
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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1505c, Theodosius I, 379 - 395 A.D. (Constantinople)Theodosius I (379 - 395 AD) AE3. 388-394 AD, RIC IX 27(a)3, Third Officina. Seventh Period. 20.27 mm. 4.8gm. Near VF with black and earthen patina. Constantinople. Obverse: DN THEODO-SIANVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped, & cuirassed bust right; Reverse: GLORIA-ROMANORVM, Theodosius I standing, facing, holding labarum and globe, CONSB in exergue (scarcer reverse). A Spanish find.
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
THEODOSIUS I (379-395 A.D.)
David Woods
University College of Cork
Origin and Early Career
Flavius Theodosius was born at Cauca in Spain in about 346 to Thermantia and Theodosius the Elder (so-called to distinguish him from his son). Theodosius the Elder was a senior military officer serving in the Western empire and rose to become the magister equitum praesentalis under the emperor Valentinian I from late 368 until his execution in early 375. As the son of a soldier, Theodosius was legally obliged to enter upon a military career. He seems to have served under his father during his expedition to Britain in 367/8, and was the dux Moesiae Primae by late 374. Unfortunately, great controversy surrounds the rest of his career until Gratian had him hailed as his imperial colleague in succession to the emperor Valens at Sirmium on 19 January 379. It is clear that he was forced to retire home to Spain only to be recalled to active service shortly thereafter, but the circumstances of his forced retirement are shrouded in mystery. His father was executed at roughly the same time, and much speculation has centred on the relationship between these events.
[For a very detailed and interesting discussion of the Foreign Policy of Theodosius and the Civil Wars that plagued his reign, please see http://www.roman-emperors.org/theo1.htm]
Family and Succession
Theodosius married twice. His first wife was the Spanish Aelia Flavia Flaccilla. She bore him Arcadius ca. 377, Honorius on 9 September 384, and Pulcheria ca. 385. Theodosius honoured her with the title of Augusta shortly after his accession, but she died in 386. In late 387 he married Galla, daughter of Valentinian I and full-sister of Valentinian II. She bore him Gratian ca. 388, Galla Placidia ca. 388/390, and died in childbirth in 394, together with her new-born son John. Of his two sons who survived infancy, he appointed Arcadius as Augustus on 19 January 383 and Honorius as Augustus on 23 January 393. His promotion of Arcadius as a full Augustus at an unusually young age points to his determination right from the start that one of his own sons should succeed him. He sought to strengthen Arcadius' position in particular by means of a series of strategic marriages whose purpose was to tie his leading "generals" irrevocably to his dynasty. Hence he married his niece and adoptive daughter Serena to his magister militum per Orientem Stilicho in 387, her elder sister Thermantia to a "general" whose name has not been preserved, and ca. 387 his nephew-in-law Nebridius to Salvina, daughter of the comes Africae Gildo. By the time of his death by illness on 17 January 395, Theodosius had promoted Stilicho from his position as one of the two comites domesticorum under his own eastern administration to that of magister peditum praesentalis in a western administration, in an entirely traditional manner, under his younger son Honorius. Although Stilicho managed to increase the power of the magister peditum praesentalis to the disadvantage of his colleague the magister equitum praesentalis and claimed that Theodosius had appointed him as guardian for both his sons, this tells us more about his cunning and ambition than it does about Theodosius' constitutional arrangements.
Theodosius' importance rests on the fact that he founded a dynasty which continued in power until the death of his grandson Theodosius II in 450. This ensured a continuity of policy which saw the emergence of Nicene Christianity as the orthodox belief of the vast majority of Christians throughout the middle ages. It also ensured the essential destruction of paganism and the emergence of Christianity as the religion of the state, even if the individual steps in this process can be difficult to identify. On the negative side, however, he allowed his dynastic interests and ambitions to lead him into two unnecessary and bloody civil wars which severely weakened the empire's ability to defend itself in the face of continued barbarian pressure upon its frontiers. In this manner, he put the interests of his family before those of the wider Roman population and was responsible, in many ways, for the phenomenon to which we now refer as the fall of the western Roman empire.
Copyright (C) 1998, David Woods.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
There is a nice segue here, as we pick-up John Julius Norwich's summation of the reign of Theodosius, "Readers of this brief account of his career may well find themselves wondering, not so much whether he deserved the title of 'the Great' as how he ever came to acquire it in the first place. If so, however, they may also like to ask themselves another question: what would have been the fate of the Empire if, at that critical moment in its history after the battle of Adrianople, young Gratian had not called him from his Spanish estates and put the future of the East into his hands? . . . the probability is that the whole Empire of the East would have been lost, swallowed up in a revived Gothic kingdom, with effects on world history that defy speculation.
In his civil legislation he showed, again and again, a consideration for the humblest of his subjects that was rare indeed among rulers of the fourth century. What other prince would have decreed that any criminal, sentenced to execution, imprisonment or exile, must first be allowed thirty days' grace to put his affairs in order? Or that a specified part of his worldly goods must go to his children, upon whom their father's crimes must on no account be visited? Or that no farmer should be obliged to sell his produce to the State at a price lower than he would receive on the open market?
Had he earned his title? Not, perhaps, in the way that Constantine had done or as Justinian was to do. But, if not ultimately great himself, he had surely come very close to greatness; and had he reigned as long as they did his achievements might well have equalled theirs. He might even have saved the Western Empire. One thing only is certain: it would be nearly a century and a half before the Romans would look upon his like again" (Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium, the Early Centuries. London: Penguin Group, 1990. 116-7;118).
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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1cx Valerian253-260
Antoninianus
Radiate draped and cuirassed bust, right, IMP C P LIC VALERIANVS AVG
Victory standing left, holding wreath and palm, VICTORIA AVGG
RIC 125
Persians surrounded Valerian's army in the East in 260 and took the emperor prisoner. He died on an unknown date in captivity.
Zosimus noted: The nations subject to the Romans being unable to endure [Maximinus'] monstrous cruelty, and greatly distressed by the ravages he committed, the Africans proclaimed Gordianus and his son, of the same name, emperors, and sent ambassadors to Rome, one of whom was Valerianus, a man of consular rank, who afterwards himself became emperor. . . .
Aemilianus advanced with great speed into Italy, and the armies were very near to each other, when the soldiers of Gallus, reflecting that his force was much inferior to the enemy both in number and strength, and likewise that he was a negligent indolent man, put him and his son to death, and going over to the party of Aemilianus, appeared to establish his authority. But Valerianus brought into Italy from beyond the Alps a vast army, with which he deemed himself secure of conquering Aemilianus. The soldiers of Aemilianus, who saw that his conduct was more like that of a private sentinel than of an emperor, now put him to death as a person unfit for so weighty a charge.
By these means Valerianus became emperor with universal consent, and employed himself in the regulation of affairs. But the excursions of the Scythians, and of the Marcomanni, who made an inroad into all the countries adjacent to the empire, reduced Thessalonica to extreme danger; and though they were with muct difficulty compelled to raise the siege by the brave defence of those within, yet all Greece was in alarm. The Athenians repaired their walls, which they had never thought worth their care since Sylla threw them down. The Peloponnesians likewise fortified the Isthmus, and all Greece put itself upon its guard for the general security.
Valerianus, perceiving the empire in danger on every side, associated his son Gallienus with himself in the government! and went himself into the east to oppose the Persians. He entrusted to his son the care of the forces in Europe, thus leaving him to resist the Barbarians who poured in upon him in every direction. . . .
Valerianus had by this time heard of the disturbances in Bithynia, but his district would not allow him to confide the defence of it to any of his generals. He therefore sent Felix to Byzantium, and went in person from Antioch into Cappadocia, and after he had done some injury to every city by which he passed, he returned homeward. But the plague then attacked his troops, and destroyed most of them, at the time when Sapor made an attempt upon the east, and reduced most of it into subjection. In the mean time, Valerianus became so effeminate and indolent, that he dispaired of ever recovering from the present ill state of affairs, and would have concluded the war by a present of money; had not Sapor sent back the ambasadors who were sent to him with that proposal, without their errand, desiring the emperor to come and speak with him in person concerning the affairs he wished to adjust; To which he most imprudently consented, and going without consideration to Sapor with a small retinue, to treat for a peace, was presently laid hold of by the enemy, and so ended his days in the capacity of a slave among the Persians, to the disgrace of the Roman name in all future times.Blindado
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1en Julian II "Apostate"360-363
AE3
Pearl-diademed, helmeted, cuirassed bust left, holding shield & spear, D N FL CL IVLIANVS P F AVG
VOT X MVLT XX in four lines within wreath, palm branch-BSIS-palm branch in ex [?].
RIC 415
According to Zosimus: Constantius, having so well succeeded in his design against Vetranio, marched against Magnentius, having first conferred the title of Caesar on Gallus, the son of his uncle, and brother to Julian who was afterwards emperor, and given him in marriage his sister Constantia. . . . CONSTANTIUS, after having acted towards Gallus Caesar in the manner I have related, left Pannonia to proceed into Italy. . . . He scarcely thought himself capable of managing affairs at this critical period. He was unwilling, however, to associate any one with himself in the government, because he so much desired to rule alone, and could esteem no man his friend. Under these circumstances he was at a loss how to act. It happened, however, that when the empire was in the greatest danger, Eusebia, the wife of Constantius, who was a woman of extraordinary learning, and of greater wisdom than her sex is usually endowed with, advised him to confer the government of the nations beyond the Alps on Julianus Caesar, who was brother to Gallus, and grandson to Constantius. As she knew that the emperor was suspicious of all his kindred, she thus circumvented him. She observed to him, that Julian was a young man unacquainted with the intrigues of state, having devoted himself totally to his studies; and that he was wholly inexperienced in worldly business. That on this account he would be more fit for his purpose than any other person. That either he would be fortunate, and his success would be attributed to the emperor's conduct, or that he would fail and perish; and that thus Constantius would have none of the imperial family to succeed to him.
Constantius, having approved her advice, sent for Julian from Athens, where he lived among the philosophers, and excelled all his masters in every kind of learning. Accordingly, Julian returning from Greece into Italy, Constantius declared him Caesar, gave him in marriage his sister Helena, and sent him beyond the Alps. . . .
Constantius, having thus disposed of Julian, marched himself into Pannonia and Moesia, and having there suppressed the Quadi and the Sarmatians, proceeded to the east, and was provoked to war by the inroads of the Persians. Julian by this time had arrived beyond the Alps into the Gallic nations which he was to rule. Perceiving that the Barbarians continued committing the same violence, Eusebia, for the same reasons as before, persuaded Constantius to place the entire management of those countries into the hands of Julian. . . . Julian finding the military affairs of Gallia Celtica in a very ruinous state, and that the Barbarians pased the Rhine without any resistance, even almost as far as the sea-port towns, he took a survey of the remaining parts of the enemy. And understanding that the people of those parts were terrified at the very name of the Barbarians, while those whom Constantius had sent along with him, who were not more than three hundred and sixty, knew nothing more, as he used to say, than how to say their prayers, he enlisted as many more as he could and took in a great number of volunteers. He also provided arms, and finding a quantity of old weapons in some town he fitted them up, and distributed them among the soldiers. The scouts bringing him intelligence, that an immense number of Barbarians had crossed the river near the city of Argentoratum (Strasburg) which stands on the Rhine, he no sooner heard of it, than he led forth his army with the greatest speed, and engaging with the enemy gained such a victory as exceeds all description.
After these events he raised a great army to make war on the whole German nation; He was opposed however by the Barbarians in vast numbers. Caesar therefore would not wait while they came up to him, but crossed the Rhine, preferring that their country should be the seat of war, and not that of the Romans, as by that means the cities would escape being again pillaged by the Barbarians. A most furious battle therefore took place; a great number of the Barbarians being slain on the field of battle, while the rest fled, and were pursued by Caesar into the Hercynian forest, and many of them killed. . . .
But while Julian was at Parisium, a small town in Germany, the soldiers, being ready to march, continued at supper till midnight in a place near the palace, which they so called there. They were as yet ignorant of any design against Caesar [by Constantius], when some tribunes, who began to suspect the contrivance against him, privately distributed a number of anonymous billets among the soldiers, in which they represented to them, that Caesar, by his judicious conduct had so managed affairs, that almost all of them had erected trophies over the Barbarians ; that he had always fought like a private soldier, and was now in extreme danger from the emperor, who would shortly deprive him of his whole army, unless they prevented it. Some of the soldiers having read these billets, and published the intrigue to the whole army, all were highly enraged. They suddenly rose from their seats in great commotion, and with the cups yet in their hands went to the palace. Breaking open the doors without ceremony, they brought out Caesar, and lifting him on a shield declared him emperor and Augustus. They then, without attending to his reluctance, placed a diadem upon his head. . . .
Arriving at Naisus, he consulted the soothsayers what measures to pursue. As the entrails signified that he must stay there for some time, he obeyed, observing likewise the time that was mentioned in his dream. When this, according to the motion of the planets, was arrived, a party of horsemen arrived from Constantinople at Naisus, with intelligence that Constantius was dead, and that the armies desired Julian to be emperor. Upon this he accepted what the gods had bestowed upon him, and proceeded on his journey. On his arrival at. Byzantium, he was received with joyful acclamations. . . .
[After slashing through Persia and crossing the Tigris,] they perceived the Persian army, with which they engaged, and having considerably the advantage, they killed a great number of Persians. Upon the following day, about noon, the Persians drew up in a large body, and once more attacked the rear of the Roman army. The Romans, being at that time out of their ranks, were surprised and alarmed at the suddenness of the attack, yet made a stout and spirited defence. The emperor, according to his custom, went round the army, encouraging them to fight with ardour. When by this means all were engaged, the emperor, who sometimes rode to the commanders and tribunes, and was at other times among the private soldiers, received a wound in the heat of the engagement, and was borne on a shield to his tent. He survived only till midnight. He then expired, after having nearly subverted the Persian empire.
Note: Julian favored the pagan faith over Christianity and was tarred by the church as "the apostate." Blindado
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201c. Pescennius NigerGaius Pescennius Niger was governor of Syria in the year 193 when he learned of the emperor Pertinax's murder. Niger's subsequent attempt to claim the empire for himself ended in failure in Syria after roughly one year. His life before becoming governor of Syria is not well known. He was born in Italy to an equestrian family. He seems to have been older than his eventual rival Septimius Severus, so his birth should perhaps be placed ca. AD 135-40. Niger may have held an important position in the administration of Egypt. He won renown, along with Clodius Albinus, for participation in a military campaign in Dacia early in Commodus' reign. Although Niger could have been adlected into the senate before the Dacian campaign, he was by now pursuing a senatorial career and must have been held in high esteem by Commodus. Niger was made a suffect consul, probably in the late 180s, and he was sent as governor to the important province of Syria in 191.
Niger was a well-known and well-liked figure to the Roman populace. After Pertinax became emperor at the beginning of 193, many in Rome may have hoped that the elderly Pertinax would adopt Niger as his Caesar and heir, but Pertinax was murdered without having made succession plans. When Didius Julianus arrived at the senate house on 29 March 193, his first full day as emperor, a riot broke out among the Roman crowd. The rioters took over the Circus Maximus, from which they shouted for Niger to seize the throne. The rioters dispersed the following day, but a report of their demonstration may well have arrived in the Syrian capital, Antioch, with the news that Pertinax had been murdered and replaced by Julianus.
Spurred into action by the news, Niger had himself proclaimed emperor in Antioch. The governors of the other eastern provinces quickly joined his cause. Niger's most important ally was the respected proconsul of Asia, Asellius Aemilianus, and support began to spread across the Propontis into Europe. Byzantium welcomed Niger, who now was preparing further advances. Niger took the additional cognomen Justus, "the Just." Justice was promoted as the theme of his intended reign, and personifications of Justice appeared on his coins.
Other provincial governors, however, also set their sights on replacing Julianus. Albinus in Britain and Septimius Severus in Upper Pannonia (western Hungary) had each aspired to the purple, and Severus was marching an army on Rome. Severus was still 50 miles from the city when the last of Julianus' dwindling authority disappeared. Julianus was killed in Rome 1 June 193.
Niger sent messengers to Rome to announce his acclamation, but those messengers were intercepted by Severus. A deal was struck between Severus and Albinus that kept Albinus in Britain with the title of Caesar. The larger armies of the western provinces were now united in their support for Severus. Niger's support was confined to the east. Severus had Niger's children captured and held as hostages, and a legion was sent to confront Niger's army in Thrace.
The first conflict between the rival armies took place near Perinthus. Although Niger's forces may have inflicted greater casualties on the Severan troops, Niger was unable to secure his advance; he returned to Byzantium. By the autumn of 193, Severus had left Rome and arrived in the region, though his armies there continued to be commanded by supporters. Niger was offered the chance of a safe exile by Severus, but Niger refused.
Severan troops crossed into Asia at the Hellespont and near Cyzicus engaged forces supporting Niger under the command of Aemilianus. Niger's troops were defeated. Aemilianus attempted to flee but was captured and killed. Not long after, in late December 193 or early January 194, Niger was defeated in a battle near Nicaea and fled south to Antioch. Eastern provincial governors now switched their loyalty to Severus, and Niger faced revolts even in Syria. By late spring 194, the Severan armies were in Cilicia preparing to enter Syria. Niger and his army met the Severan troops near Issus. The battle was a decisive defeat for Niger, who fled back to Antioch. The Syrian capital that only one year earlier had cheered as Niger was proclaimed emperor now waited in fear for the approach of its new master. Niger prepared to flee once more, but outside Antioch he was captured and killed.
Despite his popularity with the Roman mob, Pescennius Niger lacked both the strong loyalty of other senatorial commanders and the number of soldiers that his rival Severus enjoyed. Niger was ultimately unable to make himself the true avenger of Pertinax, and his roughly one-year control of the eastern provinces never qualified him to be reckoned a legitimate emperor.
BITHYNIA, Caesarea. Pescennius Niger. AD 193-194. Æ 22mm (6.35 g). Laureate head right / KAICAREIAC GERMANIKHC, coiled serpent left. RG p. 282, 9, pl. XLIV, 8 (same dies); SNG Copenhagen -; SNG von Aulock -. Near VF, brown patina, rough surfaces. Very rare. Ex-CNGecoli
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409. Maximinus II DazaCaius Valerius Galerius Maximinus, more commonly known as Maximinus Daia or Daza, was from Illyricum and was of peasant origin. He was born 20 November perhaps in the year 270. Daia was the son of Galerius' sister and had served in the army as a scutarius, Protector, and tribunus. He had been adopted by Galerius ; his name had been Daia even before that time. He had a wife and daughter, whose names are unknown, while his son's name was Maximus. When Diocletian and Maximianus Herculius resigned their posts of emperor on 1 May 305, they were succeeded by Constantius I Chlorus and Galerius as Augusti; their new Caesars were Severus and Maximinus Daia respectively. Constantius and Severus ruled in the West, whereas Galerius and Daia served in the East. Specifically, Daia's realm included the Middle East and the southern part of Asia Minor.[[1]]
Immediately after his appointment to the rank of Caesar, he went east and spent his first several years at Caesarea in Palestine. Events of the last quarter of 306 had a profound effect on the Emperor Galerius and his Caesar Daia. When Constantius I Chlorus died in July 306, the eastern emperor was forced by the course of events to accept Constantius' son Constantine as Caesar in the West; on 28 October of the same year, Maxentius , with the apparent backing of his father Maximianus Herculius, was acclaimed princeps. Both the attempt to dislodge Maxentius by Severus, who had been appointed Augustus of the West by Galerius after the death of Constantius in late 306 or early 307, and the subsequent campaign of Galerius himself in the summer of 307 failed. Because of the escalating nature of this chain of events, a Conference was called at Carnuntum in October and November 308; Licinius was appointed Augustus in Severus's place and Daia and Constantine were denoted filii Augustorum. Daia, however, unsatisfied with this sop tossed to him by Galerius, started calling himself Augustus in the spring of 310 when he seems to have campaigned against the Persians.[[2]] Although, as Caesar, he proved to be a trusted servant of Galerius until the latter died in 311, he subsequently seized the late emperor's domains. During the early summer of that year, he met with Licinius at the Bosporus; they concluded a treaty and divided Galerius' realm between them. Several yea rs later, after the death of Daia, Licinius obtained control of his domain. Like his mentor the late emperor, Daia had engaged in persecution of the Christians in his realm.[[3]]
In the autumn of 312, while Constantine was engaged against Maxentius, Daia appears to have been campaigning against the Armenians. In any case, he was back in Syria by February 313 when he seems to have learned about the marital alliance which had been forged by Constantine and Licinius. Disturbed by this course of events and the death of Maxentius, who had been his ally, Daia left Syria and reached Bythinia, although the harsh weather had seriously weakened his army. In April 313, he crossed the Bosporus and went to Byzantium, garrisoned by Licinius' troops; when the city refused to surrender, he took it after an eleven day siege. He moved to Heraclea, which he captured after a short siege; he then moved his forces to the first posting station. With only a small contingent of men, Licinius arrived at Adrianople while Daia was besieging Heraclea. On 30 April 313 the two armies clashed on the Campus Ergenus; in the ensuing battle Daia's forces were routed. Divesting himself of the purple and dressing like a slave, Daia fled to Nicomdeia. Subsequently, Daia attempted to stop the advance of Licinius at the Cilician Gates by establishing fortifications there; Licinius' army succeeded in breaking through, and Daia fled to Tarsus where he was hard pressed on land and sea. Daia died, probably in July or August 313, and was buried near Tarsus. Subsequently, the victorious emperor put Daia's wife and children to death.
Maximinus II Daza. 309-313 AD. ? Follis. Laureate head right / Genius standing left holding cornucopiae. ecoli
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410. Licinius IFlavius Galerius Valerius Licinianus Licinius (c. 250 - 325) was Roman emperor from 308 to 324.
Of Dacian peasant origin, born in Moesia Superior, Licinius accompanied his close friend the Emperor Galerius on the Persian expedition in 297. After the death of Flavius Valerius Severus, Galerius elevated Licinius to the rank of Augustus in the West on November 11, 308. He received as his immediate command the provinces of Illyricum, Thrace and Pannonia.
On the death of Galerius, in May 311, Licinius shared the entire empire with Maximinus Daia, the Hellespont and the Bosporus being the dividing line.
In March 313 he married Flavia Julia Constantia, half-sister of Constantine, at Mediolanum (now Milan), the occasion for the jointly-issued "Edict of Milan" that restored confiscated properties to Christian congregations though it did not "Christianize" the Empire as is often assumed, although it did give Christians a better name in Rome. In the following month (April 30), Licinius inflicted a decisive defeat on Maximinus at Battle of Tzirallum, after Maximinus had tried attacking him. He then established himself master of the East, while his brother-in-law, Constantine, was supreme in the West.
In 314 his jealousy led him to encourage a treasonable enterprise in favor of Bassianus against Constantine. When his actions became known, a civil war ensued, in which he was first defeated at the battle of Cibalae in Pannonia (October 8, 314), and next some 2 years later (after naming Valerius Valens co-emperor) in the plain of Mardia (also known as Campus Ardiensis) in Thrace. The outward reconciliation left Licinius in possession of Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt, but he later added numerous provinces to Constantine's control.
In 324 Constantine, tempted by the "advanced age and unpopular vices" of his colleague, again declared war against him, and, having defeated his army at the battle of Adrianople (July 3, 324), succeeded in shutting him up within the walls of Byzantium. The defeat of the superior fleet of Licinius by Flavius Julius Crispus, Constantine’s eldest son, compelled his withdrawal to Bithynia, where a last stand was made; the battle of Chrysopolis, near Chalcedon (September 18), resulted in his final submission. He was interned at Thessalonica under a kind of house arrest, but when he attempted to raise troops among the barbarians Constantine had him and his former co-emperor Martinianus assassinated.
O: IMP LICINIVS AVG; Emperor, facing left, wearing imperial mantle, holding mappa and globe.
R: IOVI CONSERVATORI AVGG; Jupiter standing left holding Victory; palm to left, epsilon in right field, SMN in exergue. Sear 3804, RIC Nicomedia 24 (Scarce), Failmezger #278. Remarkable detail on this nicely silvered Late Roman bronze, ex Crisp Collection.
ecoli
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81-96 AD - DOMITIAN AE19 Byzantion - struck 81-96 ADobv: DOMITIANOY KAICAPOC (laureate head left)
rev: [BYZ]ANTIWN (crescent moon and star)
ref: Moushmov3274
mint: Byzantion (Thrace)
3.16gms, 19mm
Very rare
The crescent and star is one of the oldest symbol, it appears on petroglyphs and steles of the first civilization in Sumer. This symbol was adopted by the Greeks and was associated with many of their gods. Nevertheless, Byzantium was the first governing state to use the crescent moon as its national symbol. According to some reports, they chose it in honor of the goddess Diana.berserker
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Aurelian- Concordia MilitumAurelian, August or September 270 - October or November 275 A.D.
Obverse:
Radiate and cuirassed bust right
IMP AVRELIANVS AVG
IMP: Imperator, leader of the army
AVRELIANVS: Aurelian
AVG: Augustus, emperor
Reverse
CONCORD • MILIT, Accordance with the army
CONCORD • : Accordance
MILIT: Army
The dot in legend appears on the specimen illustrated by Göbl. Göbl 276a3 (2). He says "Moneta Comitatentis (later in Byzantium), 2nd. Emission"
He dates that to middle of 272. Göbl's concordance is -> Göbl (MiR 47) 276 = RIC 391 = Rohde 119, 120
Aurelian standing right, holding sceptre and clasping hand of Concordia standing left.
Domination: Bronze, size 23 mm
Mint: Cyzicus Γ (3.rd Officina), scarce or RIC V/1, 391; unattributed mint. It is Cohen 25. It could be RIC V/1, 342. I can't tell the difference! The description in RIC is the same for both types. Moneta Comitatensis, but it may be obsolete in any case.
Comment: In Estiot, Monnaies de l'Empire romain, vol.II, it is #987, pl.31; atelier Balkanique. The portrait on the obverse looks very strange. It is strange in the sense that there are very odd pictorial trends in the portraiture of Aurelian, but within the context it's not that unusual.
Peter Wissing
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BithyniaAs a Roman province, the boundaries of Bithynia frequently varied, and it was commonly united for administrative purposes with the province of Pontus. This was the state of things in the time of Trajan, when Pliny the Younger was appointed governor of the combined provinces, a circumstance to which we are indebted for valuable information concerning the Roman provincial administration. Under the Byzantine Empire Bithynia was again divided into two provinces, separated by the Sangarius, to the west of which the name of Bithynia was restricted.
The most important cities were Nicomedia and Nicaea. The two had a long rivalry with one another over which city held the rank of capital. Both of these were founded after Alexander the Great; but at a much earlier period the Greeks had established on the coast the colonies of Cius (modern Gemlik); Chalcedon (modern Kadıköy), at the entrance of the Bosporus, nearly opposite Byzantium (modern Istanbul; and Heraclea Pontica (modern Karadeniz EreÄŸli), on the Euxine, about 120 miles (190 km) east of the Bosporus.ancientone
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Buckles - ByzantineSucidava type buckles associated with the Byzantine military circa AD 550 - 600.
They are named after a Byzantine fort site on the Danube river.
They are sometimes found in early Avar and Slav contexts but were imported by them from Byzantium or were booty taken from the Byzantine legions.
Type 1 is the "cross and crescent type" at the top which shows a Christian context.
Known as Uenze Cv; Teodor C; Madgearu Id.
Byzantine military, circa 550-600 AD.
Type 2 is the anthropomorphic face type" at the middle and bottom.
Known as Uenze E; Teodor F; Madgearu IIc.
Byzantine military, circa 575-600 AD.
SC
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BYZ▪ΔUncertain mint. Æ 26. 1st-2nd Century A.D. (?). Obv: Outline of early imperial bust; countermark before. Reverse worn smooth. Weight: 8.80 g. Found in Spain according to seller’s notes. CM: BYZ▪Δ in rectangular punch, 4.5 x 11 mm (actually the "Z" is mirrored). Howgego 520 var. (2 pcs). Note: Likely applied in Byzantium (Thrace). This specimen is quite clear, and it would seem that the countermark is made up of a combination of a city reference (BYZ) and a denomination (Δ). Collection Automan.Automan
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Byzantine Lead Seal, #03,Byzantine Lead Seal, #03,quadrans
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Byzantine Lead Seal, #09,Byzantine Lead Seal, #09,
diameter: 13,5-14,5mm,
weight: 3,19g,
Q-001quadrans
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Byzantine Lead Seal, #10,Byzantine Lead Seal, #10,
Georgios. Byzantine lead tessera 7th century AD
Monogram ΘEOTOKE BOHΘEI
Cruciform monogram ΓEOPΓIOV (by Gert, thank you Gert).
diameter: 15-16mm,
weight: 2,99g,
Q-001quadrans
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Byzantine Lead Seal, #11,Byzantine Lead Seal, #11,
diameter: 15,5-17,5mm,
weight: 5,60g,
Q-001quadrans
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Byzantine Lead Seal, #21,Byzantine Lead Seal, #21,quadrans
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Byzantine Lead Seal, #22,Byzantine Lead Seal, #22,quadrans
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Byzantine Lead Seal, #24,Byzantine Lead Seal, #24,
"That's an anonymous seal depicting two warrior saints. Obv. shows Saint George [O GE]-WPGIO' (The accent is an abbreviation mark, peculiarly only for the letter 'C'!). The rev. shows Demetrios [O D]H/[M]H - TPIOC (can't see these last letters clearly from the photo though). He is holding a spear in r. hand and his l. on hilt of sword set on the ground. I'd date this one 12th century." by Gert thank you Gert.quadrans
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Byzantine Lead Seal, #25, ---,Byzantine Lead Seal, #25, ---,
avers:Draped bust faceing with imperial mantle.
revers:--- ???.
size : 15,5x18,5mm,
weight: 6,675g,
Q-001quadrans
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Byzantine Lead Seal, #29,ΓENA/ΔIC,Byzantine Lead Seal, #29,ΓENA/ΔIC,
avers:Helmetad head right, border of dots.
revers:ΓENA/ΔIC, border of dots.
size : 15,5x13mm,
weight: 3,46g,
Q-001quadrans
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Byzantine Lead Seal, #31, --OVTO-PAKO-TOC-,Byzantine Lead Seal, #31, --OVTO-PAKO-TOC-,
"This is a Byzantine seal, about 11th/12th century. The obv. has an image of - probably - saint George, who is by far the most common beardless military saint to be found on seals. As you can see from the obv., the flan is much too small to incorporate all of the design of the boulloterion, which on the reverse leads to a very fragmentary inscription." by Gert thank you Gert.
avers:Cuirassed bust faceing with small round shield and sceptre.
revers:--OVTO-PAKO-TOC- ???.
size : 13x14,5mm,
weight: 3,85g,
Q-001quadrans
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Byzantine Lead Seal, #35,Byzantine Lead Seal, #35,
avers:
revers: +/ΛOΓVC/ΦVLATTω/ΦVΛAKOC/KωN in five row.
diameter: 19mm,
weight: 7,60g,
Q-001
"+/ΛOΓVC/ΦVLATTω/ΦVΛAKOC/KωN "
"I guard the words of Konstantinos Phylax" - Your seal is published by Laurent, in his Corpus, vol. II, no 671, dated mid 12th century. Alexandra Wassiliou-Seibt dates it last third 11th century in her Corpus of Byzantine metric seals (no 1333). by Gert , thank you Gert.quadrans
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Byzantine Lead Seal, IVSTINIANVS-I, (527-565 A.D.), Pb Imperial Seal (Zacos–Veglery 3a, BZS.1958.106.563), #01Byzantine Lead Seal, IVSTINIANVS-I, (527-565 A.D.), Pb Imperial Seal (Zacos–Veglery 3a, BZS.1958.106.563), #01
avers: - D N IVSTINI ANVS PP AVG - (Dominus noster Iustinianus perpetuus augustus (Our lord Justinian, eternal augustus)), Nimbate, beardless bust of Justinian I, facing forward, wearing both a helmet with diadem, trefoil ornament, and pendilia, and a chlamys. A circular inscription beginning at left. Border of dots.
revers:- Winged Victory advancing, wearing a long chiton and holding a victory wreath in each hand. A small byzatian cross visible at left and right. No epigraphy. Border of dots.
diameter: 17-19,5 mm,
weight: 5,49 g,
mint:
date:
ref:Zacos–Veglery 3a, BZS.1958.106.563
Q-001
quadrans
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Byzantine Lead Seal, IVSTINIANVS-I, (527-565 A.D.), Pb Imperial Seal (Zacos–Veglery 3a, BZS.1958.106.563), #02,Byzantine Lead Seal, IVSTINIANVS-I, (527-565 A.D.), Pb Imperial Seal (Zacos–Veglery 3a, BZS.1958.106.563), #02,
avers: - D N IVSTINI ANVS PP AVG - (Dominus noster Iustinianus perpetuus augustus (Our lord Justinian, eternal augustus)), Nimbate, beardless bust of Justinian I, facing forward, wearing both a helmet with diadem, trefoil ornament, and pendilia, and a chlamys. A circular inscription beginning at left. Border of dots.
revers:- Winged Victory advancing, wearing a long chiton and holding a victory wreath in each hand. A small byzatian cross visible at left and right. No epigraphy. Border of dots.
diameter: 19-22 mm,
weight: 6,48 g,
mint:
date:
ref:Zacos–Veglery 3a, BZS.1958.106.563
Q-002quadrans
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BYZANTINE, Basil II the Bulgarslayer, AV Histamenon, Constantinopolis548. Basile II le Bulgarochtone (976-1025), AV histamenon, 1001-1005 (?), Constantinople.
Obv : B. du Christ nimbé de face, bénissant et tenant les Evangiles. Trois groupes de sept globules dans les bras de la croix.
Rev : B. de Basile et de Constantin de face, tenant entre eux une croix patriarcale. Manus Dei au-dessus de la tête de Basile.
Ref.: S., 1798; R., 1941; B.N. 13; D.O. 4a.
4,23gm, Rare.
Under Basil, the empire expanded in all directions. He conquered Bulgaria, as his name suggests, and recovered Antioch from the Arabs.
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Byzantion - AR tetradrachmin the name of Lysimachos
circa 125-75 BC
Head of the deified Alexander with Ammon's horns right
Athena Nikephoros seated left
BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ΛYΣIMAXOY
monogram (ΠΩΛYB) to left; BY below throne
trident in exergue
Dewing 1361, Müller 204. Marinescu 508 (O. 211 R. 483) issue 149; Gorny & Mosch: Auction 160 lot 1182, Künker Auction 174 lot 174
16,9g 34mmJ. B.
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Byzantion Cross Like a pendant, AE #02Byzantion Cross Like a pendant, AE #02
type:Cross
size: 28,5x39,5mm,
weight: 3,68g,
date: ??? A.D.,
ref: ???
distribution: Byzantium,
Q-002quadrans
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Byzantion Cross, AE #01Byzantion Cross, AE #01
type:Cross
size: 37x25mm,
weight: 8,64g,
date: ??? A.D.,
ref: ???
distribution: Byzantium,
Q-001quadrans
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Byzantion, Thrace357 - 340 B.C.
Silver Tetrobol
2.51 gm, 14 mm
Obverse: Cow standing left on dolphin foreleg raised, ΠΥ above (the first letter is an archaic form of "B" used at Byzantium)
Reverse: Incuse square of mill-sail pattern, punched surfaces textured with dots
Sear 1582; BMC Thrace pg. 94, 15/16Jaimelai
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Byzantium lead-seal, Virgin and eagle, #031Byzantium lead-seal, Virgin and eagle, #031
type: lead-seal, Virgin and eagle.
avers: The Virgin standing faceing, holding Christ in her hands and the Byzantion cross both side.
revers: Open-winged eagle, above his head a cruciform monogramm, name as "John".
size: 21,4x20,5mm,
weight: 9,51g,
date: cc. 6th. or 7th. century A.D.,
ref: ???
distribution: Byzantium,
Q-031quadrans
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Byzantium, Thrace; HemidrachmByzantium, Thrace
386 - 340 B C
Forepart of bull on dolphin l.
Trident
1.93 gram
10.9 mm
Klein 23, 88.
Philoromaos
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City of Constantinople Commemorative, 330 - 333 A.D.Bronze AE 3, RIC 63, VF, Constantinople, 2.524g, 18.5mm, 0o, 330 - 333 A.D.; Obverse: CONSTAN-TINOPOLI, Constantinopolis' helmeted bust left in imperial cloak and holding scepter across left shoulder; Reverse: Victory standing left, right foot on prow, scepter in right, resting left on grounded shield, CONSZ in exergue; nice style. Ex FORVM.
Constantinople Commemoratives minted by the actual city of Constantinople mint are much scarcer than those minted by other Eastern mints.
The village that was to become the site of Byzantium/Constantinople/Istambul was founded c. 658 B. C. by a Greek colony from Megara; the site was then occupied by the Thracian village of Lygos. The chief of the Megarian expedition was Byzas, after whom the city was naturally called Byzantion (Lat. Byzantium). Despite its perfect situation, the colony did not prosper at first; it suffered much during the Medic wars, chiefly from the satraps of Darius and Xerxes. Later on, its control was disputed by Lacedæmonians and Athenians; for two years (341-339 B. C.) it held out against Philip of Macedon. It succeeded in maintaining its independence even against victorious Rome, was granted the title and rights of an allied city, and its ambassadors were accorded at Rome the same honours as those given to allied kings; it enjoyed, moreover, all transit duties on the Bosporus. Cicero defended it in the Roman Senate, and put an end to the exactions of Piso.
The city continued prosperous to the reign of Septimius Severus, when it sided with his rival, Pescennius Niger. After a siege of three years (193-196) Severus razed to the ground its walls and public monuments, and made it subject to Perinthus or Heraclea in Thrace. But he soon forgave this resistance, restored its former privileges, built there the baths of Zeuxippus, and began the hippodrome. It was devastated again by the soldiers of Gallienus in 262, but was rebuilt almost at once. In the long war between Constantine and Licinius (314-323) it embraced the fortunes of the latter, but, after his defeat at Chrysopolis (Scutari), submitted to the victor.
Constantine had chosen this city as the new capital of the Roman Empire, but owing to his wars and the needs of the State, he rarely resided there.
(The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IV; Copyright © 1908 by Robert Appleton Company;Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight).
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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City of Constantinopolis Commemorative, 330-346 A.D. (Cyzikus)Constantinopolis City Commemorative, issued by CONSTANTINE THE GREAT AND HIS SONS, of the period AD 330-346, commemorating the transfer of the Seat of the Empire from Rome to Constantinople, AE3/4, aVF, Cyzikus. Obverse: CONSTAN-TINOPOLI, Constantinopolis wearing imperial mantle, holding inverted spear, laureate helmet, bust L.; Reverse: No legend; Victory stg. L., right foot on prow, holding scepter and leaning on shield; star?pellet?SMK pellet? in exergue.
The village that was to become the site of Byzantium/Constantinople/Istambul was founded c. 658 B. C. by a Greek colony from Megara; the site was then occupied by the Thracian village of Lygos. The chief of the Megarian expedition was Byzas, after whom the city was naturally called Byzantion (Lat. Byzantium). Despite its perfect situation, the colony did not prosper at first; it suffered much during the Medic wars, chiefly from the satraps of Darius and Xerxes. Later on, its control was disputed by Lacedæmonians and Athenians; for two years (341-339 B. C.) it held out against Philip of Macedon. It succeeded in maintaining its independence even against victorious Rome, was granted the title and rights of an allied city, and its ambassadors were accorded at Rome the same honours as those given to allied kings; it enjoyed, moreover, all transit duties on the Bosporus. Cicero defended it in the Roman Senate, and put an end to the exactions of Piso.
The city continued prosperous to the reign of Septimius Severus, when it sided with his rival, Pescennius Niger. After a siege of three years (193-196) Severus razed to the ground its walls and public monuments, and made it subject to Perinthus or Heraclea in Thrace. But he soon forgave this resistance, restored its former privileges, built there the baths of Zeuxippus, and began the hippodrome. It was devastated again by the soldiers of Gallienus in 262, but was rebuilt almost at once. In the long war between Constantine and Licinius (314-323) it embraced the fortunes of the latter, but, after his defeat at Chrysopolis (Scutari), submitted to the victor.
Constantine had chosen this city as the new capital of the Roman Empire, but owing to his wars and the needs of the State, he rarely resided there.
(The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IV; Copyright © 1908 by Robert Appleton Company;Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight).
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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City of Rome Commemorative AE18 Treveri 330-331 ADBillon reduced centenionalis, RIC VII Trier 529, LRBC I 58, SRCV IV 16487, Cohen VII 17, Hunter V -, gVF, well centered, ragged flan, a few light scratches, 2nd officina, Treveri (Trier, Germany) mint, 2.249 grams, 17.5 mm, die axis 0o, 330 - 331 A.D.; obverse VRBS ROMA, helmeted bust of Roma left wearing imperial mantle; reverse she-wolf standing left, head turned back right, suckling the infant twins Romulus and Remus, two stars above, TRS⚫ in exergue.
FORVM Ancient Coins. / From The Sam Mansourati Collection.
On 11 May 330, Constantine I refounded Byzantium, renamed it Constantinopolis after himself, and moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to his new city. The new capital was Christian, old gods and traditions were either replaced or assimilated into a framework of Christian symbolism. Constantine built the new Church of the Holy Apostles on the site of a temple to Aphrodite. Generations later there was the story that a divine vision led Constantine to this spot. The capital would often be compared to the `old` Rome as Nova Roma Constantinopolitana, the "New Rome of Constantinople." Special commemorative coins were issued with types for both Rome and Constantinople to advertise the importance of the new capital.Sam
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Constantine the Great, early 307 - 22 May 337 A.D.AE 3: RIC VI 282, 312-313 AD, 3.3 g, 22 mm; London, EF; Obverse: IMP CONSTANTINVS P AVG, Laureate draped cuirassed bust right; Reverse: SOLI INV-IC-TO COMITI, Sol standing facing, right hand raised, globe in left hand, PLN in ex., star in left field; an attractive bronze with great detail. Ex Ancient Imports.
As I have noted elsewhere, I have chosen the date 395 AD, with the emperor Arcadius, to mark the beginning of the Byzantine Empire in my collection.
That said, it seems appropriate to display a couple of coins struck for the man whose decision made Byzantium possible. As historian John Julius Norwich has writen, “The Byzantine Empire, from its foundation by Constantine the Great on Monday, 11 May 330 to its conquest by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II on Tuesday, 29 May 1453, lasted for a total of 1,123 years and 18 days – a period of time comfortably longer than that which separates us from the Norman conquest of England in 1066. For everyone except astronomers and geologists, such a period must be considered a long time . . ." (Norwich, John Julius. A Short History of Byzantium. New York: Vintage Books, 1999. xxxvii).
Flavius Valerius Constantinus, Constantine the Great, is as controversial as he is "great."
From John Julius Norwich:
"The first thing to be said is that no ruler in all history--not Alexander nor Alfred, not Charles nor Catherine, not Fredrick nor even Gregory--has ever more fully merited his title of "the Great . . . [he has] a serious claim to be considered--excepting only Jesus Christ, the Prophet Mohammed and the Buddha--the most influential man who ever lived" (Norwich, John Julius. The Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean. New York: Doubleday, 2006. 50-1).
From Michael Grant:
". . . But he was also murderous, and the many whom he murdered, or executed, included not only his rival Licinius (to whom he had promised survival) but also his own eldest son and his own second wife Fausta. There is no excusing those deaths, at any time or in any society . . . There are, and remain, certain absolute standards, and by his death-dealing Constantine offended signally against them. . . It is a mocking travesty of justice to call such a murderer Constantine the Great . . . (Grant, Michael. The Emperor Constantine. London: Phoenix Press, 1998. 226).
J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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Constantinople CONSSConstantine had altogether more ambitious plans. Having restored the unity of the empire, now overseeing the progress of major governmental reforms and sponsoring the consolidation of the Christian church, Constantine was well aware that Rome had become an unsatisfactory capital for several reasons. Located in central Italy, Rome lay too far from the eastern imperial frontiers, and hence also from the legions and the Imperial courts. Moreover, Rome offered an undesirable playground for disaffected politicians; it also suffered regularly from flooding and from malaria.
It seemed impossible to many that the capital could be moved. Nevertheless, Constantine identified the site of Byzantium as the correct place: a city where an emperor could sit, readily defended, with easy access to the Danube or the Euphrates frontiers, his court supplied from the rich gardens and sophisticated workshops of Roman Asia, his treasuries filled by the wealthiest provinces of the empire.
Constantine laid out the expanded city, dividing it into 14 regions, and ornamenting it with great public works worthy of a great imperial city. Yet initially Constantinople did not have all the dignities of Rome, possessing a proconsul, rather than a prefect of the city. Furthermore, it had no praetors, tribunes or quaestors. Although Constantinople did have senators, they held the title clarus, not clarissimus, like those of Rome. Constantinople also lacked the panoply of other administrative offices regulating the food supply, police, statues, temples, sewers, aqueducts or other public works. The new program of building was carried out in great haste: columns, marbles, doors and tiles were taken wholesale from the temples of the empire and moved to the new city. Similarly, many of the greatest works of Greek and Roman art were soon to be seen in its squares and streets. The emperor stimulated private building by promising householders gifts of land from the imperial estates in Asiana and Pontica, and on 18 May 332 he announced that, as in Rome, free distributions of food would be made to citizens. At the time the amount is said to have been 80,000 rations a day, doled out from 117 distribution points around the city.
Constantinople was a Greek Orthodox Christian city, lying in the most Christianised part of the Empire. Justinian ordered the pagan temples of Byzantium to be deconstructed, and erected the splendid Church of the Holy Wisdom, Sancta Sophia (also known as Hagia Sophia in Greek), as the centrepiece of his Christian capital. He oversaw also the building of the Church of the Holy Apostles, and that of Hagia Irene.
Constantine laid out anew the square at the middle of old Byzantium, naming it the Augusteum. Sancta Sophia lay on the north side of the Augusteum. The new senate-house (or Curia) was housed in a basilica on the east side. On the south side of the great square was erected the Great Palace of the emperor with its imposing entrance, the Chalke, and its ceremonial suite known as the Palace of Daphne. Located immediately nearby was the vast Hippodrome for chariot-races, seating over 80,000 spectators, and the Baths of Zeuxippus (both originally built in the time of Septimius Severus). At the entrance at the western end of the Augusteum was the Milion, a vaulted monument from which distances were measured across the Eastern Empire.
From the Augusteum a great street, the Mese, led, lined with colonnades. As it descended the First Hill of the city and climbed the Second Hill, it passed on the left the Praetorium or law-court. Then it passed through the oval Forum of Constantine where there was a second senate-house, then on and through the Forum of Taurus and then the Forum of Bous, and finally up the Sixth Hill and through to the Golden Gate on the Propontis. The Mese would be seven Roman miles long to the Golden Gate of the Walls of Theodosius.
Constantine erected a high column in the middle of the Forum, on the Second Hill, with a statue of himself at the top, crowned with a halo of seven rays and looking towards the rising sun.
RIC VII Constantinople 61 C1
ecoli
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Crusaders .Principality of Antioch . Tancred (1104-1112). AE-Follis Crusaders. Principality of Antioch. Tancred (1104-1112). AE-Follis 4th type overstruck on 3rd type
Obverse: Bust of Christ, nimbate, between IC-XC
Reverse: Cross, in the quarters TA/NK/P/H.
weight 3.72g – diameter 22.9mm
Ref.: Schlumberger Pl. II, 8; Malloy et al. 6; Metcalf 81
Ex BYZANTIUM COINS Vladislav D
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Crusaders, Tripoli, Sidon or Other Uncertain Syrian City, 1250 - 1268 . AE - Pougeoise .Crusaders, Tripoli, Sidon or Other Uncertain Syrian City, 1250 - 1268 .
AE - Pougeoise . 0.63 g
Obverse : Uncertain blundered Arabic legend, cross pommeté, pellets in upper left and lower right quarters.
Reverse : uncertain blundered Arabic legend, six-rayed chrismon
CCS 35 .
Ex Byzantium Coins, Wolfgang Leimenstoll, Gundelfingen, April 2011.
Ex Erich Wäckerlin collection
Ex Münzen & Medaillen GmbH
Auction 47 lot 67Vladislav D
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Crusaders. Lordship of Beirut. Raymond of Tripoli (1184-1186). AE-PougeoiseCrusaders. Lordship of Beirut. Raymond of Tripoli (1184-1186). AE-Pougeoise
Obverse: T.V.R.R.I.S.; tower of David, annulet each side of the tower
Reverse: + D.A.V.I.T.; eight pointed star
weight 0.99g – diameter 16.0mm
Ref.: Schlumberger Pl. III, 26 (attributed to the kingdom of Jerusalem, Guy de Lusignan); Malloy et al. 2; Metcalf 206 f.
Ex BYZANTIUM COINS (Wolfgang Leimenstoll)Vladislav D
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Dynastia Antoninów 96- 192 ADTHRACE, Byzantium. Trajan. 98-117 AD. Ć 22mm (6.33 gm).
AYT NEP TPAIANOC KAICAR GERM DAKI,
radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust left.
EPI NEIKHC TO D BYZANTIWN,
crescent moon and star.
refence Byzantion 1356; Varbanov 1638Waldemar S
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EB0018 Bull / TridentByzantium, Thrace, hemidrachm, circa 386-340 BC.
Obverse: Forepart of Bull walking left on dolphin, monogram before, Î Y above.
Reverse: Ornamented Trident in circular depression.
References: Cf. SNG BM Black Sea-17; Klein-88; Schönert-Geiss-778.
Diameter: 12mm, Weight: 1.969g.
EB
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EB0019 Cow, Dolphin / Incuse SquareByzantion, Thrace, Silver Tetrobol, 357 - 340 BC.
Obverse: Cow standing left on dolphin foreleg raised, ΠΥ above (the first letter is an archaic form of "B" used at Byzantium).
Reverse: Granulated mill-sail incuse square.
References: Sear 1582; BMC Thrace pg. 94, 15/16.
Diameter: 13.5mm, Weight: 2.002g.
Ex: Harold F. Donald.EB
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GREEK, Pontic Kingdom, Mithradates VI, c. 120 - 63 B.C., Lysimachos Type, Gold staterSH12093. Gold stater, SNG Cop 1089 var. (monogram), Choice EF, weight 8.232 g, maximum diameter 23.0 mm, die axis 0o, Byzantium (Istanbul, Turkey) mint, c. 100 - 85 B.C; obverse diademed head of Alexander the Great (with the features of Mithradates VI), wearing the horn of Ammon; reverse BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΛYΣIMAXOY, Athena enthroned left, holding Nike and resting left arm on shield, transverse spear against her side, BY on throne, AP monogram under right arm, trident and two dolphins in exergue; fantastic style with superb portrait of Mithradates as Alexander the Great!Joe Sermarini
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Greek, Thrace, Byzantion387 - 340 BC
AR Hemidrachm, 11.6 mm, 1.967 grams 270 degrees
Byzantion (Istanbul) mint
O: Forepart of cow standing left on dolphin left, right foreleg raised, “BU” above (the first letter is an archaic form of "B" used at Byzantium), monogram under foreleg.
R: Ornamented trident head
Ref: cf. Schönert-Geiss Byzantion 773 ff.; SNG BM 17; SNG Cop 484; BMC Thrace p. 94, 22.
Notes: F, toned, tight flan, edge split, perhaps overstruck.
Ex-Forum Ancient Coins, ex-Errett Bishop CollectionVirgil H
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Hemidrachm. c. 386-340 B.C. Forepart of bull on dolphin/ TridentThrace, Byzantium, Hemidrachm. c. 386-340 B.C. 1.90g. Obv: Forepart of bull on dolphin l., monogram before. Rev: Trident. Fine. SNG BM Black Sea-17; Klein-88; Schönert-Geiss-778. Ex H.J.BerkPodiceps
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IONIA, Phokaia.The ancient Greek geographer Pausanias says that Phocaea was founded by Phocians under Athenian leadership, on land given to them by the Aeolian Cymaeans, and that they were admitted into the Ionian League after accepting as kings the line of Codrus. Pottery remains indicate Aeolian presence as late as the 9th century BC, and Ionian presence as early as the end of the 9th century BC. From this an approximate date of settlement for Phocaea can be inferred.
According to Herodotus the Phocaeans were the first Greeks to make long sea-voyages, having discovered the coasts of the Adriatic, Tyrrhenia and Spain. Herodotus relates that they so impressed Arganthonios, king of Tartessus in Spain, that he invited them to settle there, and, when they declined, gave them a great sum of money to build a wall around their city.
Their sea travel was extensive. To the south they probably conducted trade with the Greek colony of Naucratis in Egypt, which was the colony of their fellow Ionian city Miletus. To the north, they probably helped settle Amisos (Samsun) on the Black Sea, and Lampsacus at the north end of the Hellespont (now the Dardanelles). However Phocaea's major colonies were to the west. These included Alalia in Corsica, Emporiae and Rhoda in Spain, and especially Massalia (Marseille) in France.
Phocaea remained independent until the reign of the Lydian king Croesus (circa 560–545 BC), when they, along with the rest of mainland Ionia, first, fell under Lydian control[8] and then, along with Lydia (who had allied itself with Sparta) were conquered by Cyrus the Great of Persia in 546 BC, in one of the opening skirmishes of the great Greco-Persian conflict.
Rather than submit to Persian rule, the Phocaeans abandoned their city. Some may have fled to Chios, others to their colonies on Corsica and elsewhere in the Mediterranean, with some eventually returning to Phocaea. Many however became the founders of Elea, around 540 BC.
In 500 BC, Phocaea joined the Ionian Revolt against Persia. Indicative of its naval prowess, Dionysius, a Phocaean was chosen to command the Ionian fleet at the decisive Battle of Lade, in 494 BC. However, indicative of its declining fortunes, Phocaea was only able to contribute three ships, out of a total of "three hundred and fifty three". The Ionian fleet was defeated and the revolt ended shortly thereafter.
After the defeat of Xerxes I by the Greeks in 480 BC and the subsequent rise of Athenian power, Phocaea joined the Delian League, paying tribute to Athens of two talents. In 412 BC, during the Peloponnesian War, with the help of Sparta, Phocaea rebelled along with the rest of Ionia. The Peace of Antalcidas, which ended the Corinthian War, returned nominal control to Persia in 387 BC.
In 343 BC, the Phocaeans unsuccessfully laid siege to Kydonia on the island of Crete.
During the Hellenistic period it fell under Seleucid, then Attalid rule. In the Roman period, the town was a manufacturing center for ceramic vessels, including the late Roman Phocaean red slip.
It was later under the control of Benedetto Zaccaria, the Genoan ambassador to Byzantium, who received the town as a hereditary lordship; Zaccaria and his descendants amassed a considerable fortune from his properties there, especially the rich alum mines. It remained a Genoese colony until it was taken by the Turks in 1455. It is a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.
IONIA, Phokaia. Circa 521-478 BC. AR Hemidrachm (9mm, 1.54 g). Head of griffin left / Quadripartite incuse square. SNG Copenhagen –; SNG von Aulock 2116; SNG Kayhan 512-6. VF, dark toning. ecoli
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L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP [VIIII?] / P M TR P V COS II P P / Septimius Severus Fortuna denarius (197 AD) L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP [VIIII?], laureate head right / P M TR P V COS II P P, Fortuna standing left, holding rudder on globe in right hand, cornucopiae in left.
AR (post 196 mint, so probably 54% purity), 17 mm, 3.48g, die axis 12h.
Both small flan and image style (bust, wreath, shape of the rudder etc.) point towards the mint of Rome rather than the Eastern one. A bit heavier than expected (the standard supposed to be 3.41g), but WildWinds reports a 3.63g denarius of this type. Unfortunately it is impossible to read the number after IMP (it can be either VIIII or X for TR P V), but based on the spacing and, perhaps, a hint of V I think it is VIIII. So this must be RIC IV 104, BMCRE 229, RSC 442 type. Two other, less probable ID possibilities: RIC 115A (Rome, IMP X) and RIC 493 (Eastern mint, Laodicea ad Mare(?) IMP VIIII).
Lucius SEPTimius SEVeverus PERTinax AVGustus IMPerator (in this case not just an imperial title, but a military one, "invested with the Nth imperial acclaim", a victorious general, the number refers to important victories when the title was renewed); Pontifex Maximus (the high priest, starting with Augustus the emperor was always the head of state religion) TRibunitia Potestas (Tribunal power, the function of the tribune of the people, originally an important republican official, was "hijacked" by Augustus when he was building the imperial structure of power and subsequently became another emperor's title, renewed every year and thus very useful for dating coins) V (5th year means 193+4=197, give or take the actual date of renewing the title), COnSul (under the Empire, the office of Consul remained of some importance and was held by the Emperor with some frequency) II (during or after the consulship of 194 and before next one in 202), Pater Patriae (Father of his Country, the title was held by most Augusti but was usually not assumed at the very beginning of the reign). Denarius was the staple of Roman monetary system from 211 BC to mid 3d century AD.
SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, *11 Apr 145 in Leptis Magna (Khoms, Libya) † 4 Feb 211 (aged 65) Eboracum (York, England) ‡ 14 April 193 – 4 February 211
Septimius Severus was born in the Roman province of Africa. He came from a wealthy and distinguished family of equestrian rank, had Roman ancestry on his mother's side (gens Fulvia was one of the most famous plebeian clans in Rome) and descended from Punic, and perhaps also Libyan, forebears on his father's side. Several members of his family held important imperial offices (although, strangely, not his father who seemed to have no career to speak about). He was trilingual, speaking Punic, Latin and Greek, and got some classical education, but probably less than he wanted to. At 17 he was helped by his influential relatives to relocate to Rome, to be presented to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, and start his political career. With some difficulty he started to advance through the cursus honorum, holding a variety of offices. His career was helped by the Antonine Plague of 166, Septimius avoided it by returning to Leptis Magna for a while, and when he was back in Rome he found his competition conveniently thinned out. Despite him going through an impressive number of offices in a very short time there is very little record of his actual accomplishments in 170s and 180s.
In 191 Severus was appointed governor of Pannonia Superior (one of the provinces on Danube frontier) by Emperor Commodus (on advice from one of Septimius' friends). When the hell was unleashed by the assassination of Commodus on 31 December 192 and 193, , the infamous Year of the Five Emperors started, as a general in charge of significant army Severus was able to fight for the highest office. While he moved on Rome, Pertinax, the first Emperor of 193, was killed by the Praetorian Guard, and the next one, Didius Julianus, who famously bought the emperorship at an auction, was condemned by the Senate and executed, so Septimius entered Rome virtually unopposed. He then wisely appeased the powerful governor of Britannia, Clodius Albinus, who was also proclaimed the Emperor, by offering him the title of Caesar, which implied some degree of co-ruling and a chance to succession (Albinus did not give up that easy, reasserting his claim in three years, but then he was easily dealt with at the Battle of Lugdunum in Gaul). Afterwards he had to fight off the final pretender, Pescennius Niger, the former governor of Syria, who was proclaimed the Emperor by the eastern legions. Losing no time, Severus sent a considerable vanguard force to the East and, later, joined in with additional armies. In a series of battles in 193-195 Niger and his supporters were defeated. The last to surrender was Byzantium, which held even after the head of Niger was sent there. It is interesting to note that during this campaign Septimius visited the tomb of his famous fellow countryman, Hannibal Barca in Libyssa (Gebze, Turkey) and ordered to cover it with fine marble. Severus also took an opportunity to wage a short punitive campaign beyond the eastern frontier, annexing the Kingdom of Osroene as a new province.
After consolidating his rule over the western provinces, Severus waged another brief, more successful war in the east against the Parthian Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 197 and expanding the eastern frontier to the Tigris. He then enlarged and fortified the Limes Arabicus in Arabia Petraea. In 202 he campaigned in Africa and Mauretania against the Garamantes; capturing their capital Garama and expanding the Limes Tripolitanus along the southern desert frontier of the empire. In 208 he travelled to Britain, strengthening Hadrian's Wall and reoccupying the Antonine Wall. In the same year he invaded Caledonia (modern Scotland), but his ambitions were cut short when he fell fatally ill in late 210, dying in early 211 at Eboracum (York, England), and was succeeded by his sons Caracalla and Geta, thus founding the Severan dynasty. It was the last dynasty of the Roman empire before the Crisis of the Third Century.
In the context of this coin it is interesting to note, that, due to huge military expenses, upon his accession Severus decreased the silver purity of the denarius from 81.5% to 78.5%, although the silver weight actually increased, rising from 2.40 grams to 2.46 grams. Nevertheless, the following year he debased the denarius again because of rising military expenditures. The silver purity decreased from 78.5% to 64.5% – the silver weight dropping from 2.46 grams to 1.98 grams. In 196 he reduced the purity and silver weight of the denarius again, to 54% and 1.82 grams respectively [corresponds to this issue]. Severus' currency debasement was the largest since the reign of Nero.Yurii P
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LysimachosLysimachos 323-281 b.c
Tetradrachm
Restoration Lysimachos Type,Byzantium 2nd - 1st Cent b.c
Obverse:Head of Alexander the Great wearing the horn of Ammon,
Reverse:Athena enthroned rests arm on shield,transverse spear against her right side, holding Nike,ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΟΥ,trident down
34.56mm 15.02gm
MULLER 192
Ex forummaik
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Lysimachos, Kingdom of Thrace, AR tetradrachm, Posthumous Issue, circa 2nd Century B.C.Obv:– Diademed head of the deified Alexander right, with horn of Ammon.
Rev:– Athena enthroned l., holding Nike on extended r. hand and spear, and resting l. elbow on shield propped against throne; LUSIMACOU in l. field; KP monogram in inner field; BY on throne, BASILEWS in r. field; ornamented trident in exergue
Minted in Byzantium, circa 2nd Century B.C. (Posthumous Issue)
Weight 16.97g. Size 37.11 mmmaridvnvm
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Macedonian Kingdom, Philip II, 359 - 336 B.C., Lifetime IssueSilver tetradrachm, Le Rider 233 (D130/R188); SNG ANS 385 ff., VF, Pella, 14.163g, 25.4mm, 225o, 342 - 336 B.C.; obverse laureate head of Zeus right; reverse "FILIPPOU", naked youth on horse pacing right on horseback holding palm, thunderbolt below; ex CNG 214, 82; very high relief sculptural portrait, nice style, lifetime issue. Ex FORVM.
Philip II expanded the size and influence of the Macedonian Kingdom, but is perhaps best known as the father of Alexander the Great. He personally selected the design of his coins.
Philip II of Macedon (382 BC–336 BC; in Greek Φίλιππος = φίλος (friend) + ίππος (horse), transliterated Philippos) was the King of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination. He was the father of Alexander the Great, Phillip III Arrhidaeus, and possibly Ptolemy I Soter, founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty.
Born in Pella, Philip was the youngest son of King Amyntas III and Eurydice. In his youth, (ca. 368 BC–365 BC) Philip was a hostage in Thebes, which was the leading city of Greece during the Theban hegemony. While a captive there, Philip received a military and diplomatic education from Epaminondas, was involved in a pederastic relationship with Pelopidas and lived with Pammenes, who was an enthusiastic advocate of the Sacred Band of Thebes. In 364 BC, Philip returned to Macedonia. The deaths of Philip's elder brothers, King Alexander II and Perdiccas III, allowed him to take the throne in 359 BC. Originally appointed regent for his infant nephew Amyntas IV, who was the son of Perdiccas III, Philip managed to take the kingdom for himself that same year.
Philip's military skills and expansionist vision of Macedonian greatness brought him early success. The hill tribes were broken by a single battle in 358 BC, and Philip established his authority inland as far as Lake Ohrid. He used the Social War as an opportunity for expansion. In 357 BC, he took the Athenian colony of Amphipolis, which commanded the gold mines of Mount Pangaion. That same year Philip married the Epirote princess Olympias, who was the daughter of the king of the Molossians. In 356 BC, Philip conquered the town of Crenides and changed its name to Philippi. Philip also attacked Abdera and Maronea, on the Thracian sea-board. Also in 356 Alexander was born and his race horse won in the Olympics in He took Methone in 354 BC, a town which had belonged to Athens. During the siege of Methone, Philip lost an eye.
Not until his armies were opposed by Athens at Thermopylae in 352 BC did Philip face any serious resistance. Philip did not attempt to advance into central Greece because the Athenians had occupied Thermopylae. Also in 352 BC, the Macedonian army won a complete victory over the Phocians at the Battle of Crocus Field. This battle made Philip tagus of Thessaly, and he claimed as his own Magnesia, with the important harbour of Pagasae.
Hostilities with Athens did not yet take place, but Athens was threatened by the Macedonian party which Philip's gold created in Euboea. From 352 to 346 BC, Philip did not again come south. He was active in completing the subjugation of the Balkan hill-country to the west and north, and in reducing the Greek cities of the coast as far as the Hebrus (Maritza). For the chief of these coastal cities, Olynthus, Philip continued to profess friendship until its neighboring cities were in his hands.
In 349 BC, Philip started the siege of Olynthus. Olynthus at first allied itself with Philip, but later shifted its allegiance to Athens. The Athenians did nothing to help Olynthus. Philip finally took Olynthus in 348 BC and razed the city to the ground. In 346 BC, he intervened effectively in the war between Thebes and the Phocians, but his wars with Athens continued intermittently.
Macedonia and the regions adjoining it having now been securely consolidated, Philip celebrated his Olympic games at Dium. In 347 BC, Philip advanced to the conquest of the eastern districts about the Hebrus, and compelled the submission of the Thracian prince Cersobleptes. Meanwhile, Athens had made overtures for peace, and when Philip, in 346 BC, again moved south, peace was sworn in Thessaly. With key Greek city-states in submission, Philip turned to Sparta; he sent them a message, "You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people, and raze your city." Their reply was "If." Philip and Alexander would both leave them alone. Later, the Macedonian arms were carried across Epirus to the Adriatic Sea. In 342 BC, Philip led a great military expedition north against the Scythians, conquering the Thracian fortified settlement Eumolpia to give it his name, Philippoupolis (modern Plovdiv).
In 340 BC, Philip started the siege of Perinthus. Philip began another siege in 339 BC of the city of Byzantium. After unsuccessful sieges of both cities, Philip's influence all over Greece was compromised. However, Philip successfully reasserted his authority in the Aegean by defeating an alliance of Thebans and Athenians at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC. He erected a memorial of a marble lion to the Sacred Band of Thebes for their bravery that still stands today. Philip created and led the League of Corinth in 337 BC. Members of the League agreed never to wage war against each other, unless it was to suppress revolution. Philip was elected as leader (hegemon) of the army of invasion against the Persian Empire. In 336 BC, when the invasion of Persia was in its very early stage, Philip was assassinated, and was succeeded on the throne of Macedon by his son Alexander the Great.
Philip’s Assassination
The murder happened in October of 336 BC, at Aegae, the ancient capital of the kingdom of Macedon. The court had gathered there for the celebration of the marriage between Alexander of Epirus and Philip's daughter. While the king was entering unprotected into the town's theatre (highlighting his approachability to the Greek diplomats present), he was killed by Pausanias of Orestis, one of Philip's seven bodyguards. The assassin immediately tried to escape and reach his associates who were waiting for him with horses at the entrance of Aegae. He was pursued by three of Philip's bodyguards and died by their hands.
The reasons for Pausanias' assassination of Phillip are difficult to fully expound, since there was controversy already among ancient historians. The only contemporary account in our possession is that of Aristotle, who states rather tersely that Philip was killed because Pausanias had been offended by the followers of Attalus, the king's father-in-law.
Whatever else that may be written about Philip II it must be recognized that he was responsible for making Macedon the ascendant Greek power. He reorganized the Macedonian army. It was this army that Alexander the Great inherited. Phillip II trained some of Alexander’s best generals: Antigonus Cyclops, Antipater, Nearchus, Parmenion, and Perdiccas.
According to the Greek historian Theopompus of Chios, Europe had never seen a man like king Philip of Macedonia, and he called his history of the mid-fourth century BCE the Philippic History. Theopompus had a point. Not even his better known son Alexander has done so much to change the course of Greek history. Philip reorganized his kingdom, gave it access to the sea, expanded its power so that it could defeat the Achaemenid Empire, and subdued the Greek city-states, which never regained their independence again. To achieve this, he modernized the Macedonian economy, improved the army, and concluded several marital alliances. The result was a superpower with one weakness: it was as strong as its king. When Philip's son Alexander died, the institutions were too weak, and Macedonia never recovered.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Macedon
http://www.livius.org/phi-php/philip/philip_ii.htm
Ed. by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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Pisidia, Antioch. Septimius Severus. 198-217 AD. Pisidia, Antioch. Septimius Severus. 198-217 AD. AE 22mm (5.21 gm). Obverse: Laureate, head left. Reverse: Mên standing facing, head right, foot on bucranium, holding sceptre and Nike on globe; cock at feet left. SNG France 3, 1118. Cleaning scratches, very fine. Ex Tom Vossen.
De Imperatoribus Romanis
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors
Septimius Severus (193-211 A.D.)
Michael L. Meckler
Ohio State University
Introduction
Lucius Septimius Severus restored stability to the Roman empire after the tumultuous reign of the emperor Commodus and the civil wars that erupted in the wake of Commodus' murder. However, by giving greater pay and benefits to soldiers and annexing the troublesome lands of northern Mesopotamia into the Roman empire, Septimius Severus brought increasing financial and military burdens to Rome's government. His prudent administration allowed these burdens to be met during his eighteen years on the throne, but his reign was not entirely sunny. The bloodiness with which Severus gained and maintained control of the empire tarnished his generally positive reputation.
Severus' Early Life and Acclamation
Severus was born 11 April 145 in the African city of Lepcis Magna, whose magnificent ruins are located in modern Libya, 130 miles east of Tripoli. Septimius Severus came from a distinguished local family with cousins who received suffect consulships in Rome under Antoninus Pius. The future emperor's father seems not to have held any major offices, but the grandfather may have been the wealthy equestrian Septimius Severus commemorated by the Flavian-era poet Statius.
The future emperor was helped in his early career by one of his consular cousins, who arranged entry into the senate and the favor of the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Life as a senator meant a life of travel from one government posting to another. Moorish attacks on his intended post of Baetica (southern Spain) forced Severus to serve his quaestorship in Sardinia. He then traveled to Africa as a legate and returned to Rome to be a tribune of the plebs. Around the year 175 he married Paccia Marciana, who seems also to have been of African origin. The childless marriage lasted a decade or so until her death.
Severus' career continued to flourish as the empire passed from Marcus to Commodus. The young senator held a praetorship, then served in Spain, commanded a legion in Syria and held the governorships of Gallia Lugdunensis (central France), Sicily and Upper Pannonia (easternmost Austria and western Hungary). While in Gallia Lugdunensis in 187, the now-widowed future emperor married Julia Domna, a woman from a prominent family of the Syrian city of Emesa. Two sons quickly arrived, eleven months apart: Bassianus (known to history as Caracalla) in April of the year 188, and Geta in March 189.
News of Pertinax's assassination 28 March 193 in an uprising by the praetorian guard quickly reached Pannonia, and only twelve days later on 9 April 193, Severus was proclaimed emperor. Septimius Severus had the strong support of the armies along the Rhine and Danube, but the loyalty of the governor of Britain, Clodius Albinus, was in doubt. Severus' envoys from Pannonia offered Albinus the title of Caesar, which he accepted.
The Civil Wars with Albinus, Niger, and Didius Julianus
In the city of Rome, Didius Julianus gained the support of the praetorian troops and was promoted as the successor to Pertinax. Although Julianus' authority did not extend much beyond Italy, Severus understood that legitimacy for a Roman emperor meant having one's authority accepted in Rome. He and his army began a swift march to the city. They met practically no resistance on their advance from Pannonia into northern Italy, as Julianus' supporters defected. By the beginning of June when Severus reached Interamna, 50 miles north of Rome, even the praetorian guard stationed in the capital switched sides. Didius Julianus was declared a public enemy and killed. Septimius Severus entered Rome without a fight.
Civil war was not yet over. Another provincial governor also had his eyes on the throne. In Syria, Pescennius Niger had been proclaimed emperor on news of Pertinax's death, and the eastern provinces quickly went under his authority. Byzantium became Niger's base of operations as he prepared to fight the armies of the west loyal to Severus.
Niger was unable to maintain further advances into Europe. The fighting moved to the Asian shore of the Propontis, and in late December 193 or early January 194, Niger was defeated in a battle near Nicaea and fled south. Asia and Bithynia fell under Severus' control, and Egypt soon recognized Severus' authority. By late spring, Niger was defeated near Issus and the remainder of his support collapsed. Syria was pacified. Niger was killed fleeing Antioch. Byzantium, however, refused to surrender to Severan forces. Niger's head was sent to the city to persuade the besieged citizens to give up, but to no avail. The Byzantines held out for another year before surrender. As punishment for their stubbornness, the walls of their city were destroyed.
Severus' Eastern Campaigns
During the fighting, two of the peoples of upper Mesopotamia -- the Osrhoeni and the Adiabeni -- captured some Roman garrisons and made an unsuccessful attack on the Roman-allied city of Nisibis. After the defeat of Niger, these peoples offered to return Roman captives and what remained of the seized treasures if the remaining Roman garrisons were removed from the region. Severus refused the offer and prepared for war against the two peoples, as well as against an Arabian tribe that had aided Niger. In the spring of 195, Severus marched an army through the desert into upper Mesopotamia. The native peoples quickly surrendered, and Severus added to his name the victorious titles Arabicus and Adiabenicus. Much of the upper third of Mesopotamia was organized as a Roman province, though the king of Osrhoene was allowed to retain control of a diminished realm.
The tottering Parthian empire was less and less able to control those peoples living in the border regions with Rome. Rome's eastern frontier was entering a period of instability, and Severus responded with an interventionist policy of attack and annexation. Some senators feared that increased involvement in Mesopotamia would only embroil Rome in local squabbles at great expense. The emperor, however, would remain consistent in his active eastern policy.
Legitimization of the Severan Dynasty
Severus also took steps to cement his legitimacy as emperor by connecting himself to the Antonine dynasty. Severus now proclaimed himself the son of Marcus Aurelius, which allowed him to trace his authority, through adoption, back to the emperor Nerva. Julia Domna was awarded the title "Mother of the Camp" (mater castrorum), a title only previously given to the empress Faustina the Younger, Marcus' wife. Bassianus, the emperor's elder son, was renamed Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and given the title Caesar. It was this last step that marked a decisive break with Albinus.
Albinus had remained in Britain as governor during the struggles between Severus and Niger. Although Albinus had not attempted open revolt against the emperor, he seems to have been in communication with senators about future moves. By the end of 195, Albinus was declared a public enemy by Severus. The governor of Britain responded by proclaiming himself emperor and invading Gaul.
A weary Roman populace used the anonymity of the crowd at the chariot races to complain about renewed civil war, but it was Gaul that bore the brunt of the fighting. Albinus and his supporters were able to inflict losses on the occasion of the initial attacks, but disorder was so great that opportunistic soldiers could easily operate on their own within the lands under Albinus' nominal control.
The tide began to turn early in 197, and after a Severan victory at Tournus, Albinus found himself and his army trapped near Lyon. A battle broke out 19 February 197. In the initial fighting, Albinus' troops forced the Severans into retreat, during which Severus fell off his horse. When the Severan cavalry appeared, however, Albinus' army was routed. Lyon was sacked and Albinus, who was trapped in a house along the river Rhône, committed suicide. Severus ordered Albinus' head to be cut off and sent to Rome for display. Many of Albinus' supporters were killed, including a large number of Spanish and Gallic aristocrats. Albinus' wife and children were killed, as were many of the wives of his supporters. Tradition also told of the mutilation of bodies and denial of proper burial. The emperor revealed a penchant for cruelty that troubled even his fervent supporters. A purge of the senate soon followed. Included among the victims was Pertinax's father-in-law, Sulpicianus.
Severus and the Roman Military
Severus brought many changes to the Roman military. Soldiers' pay was increased by half, they were allowed to be married while in service, and greater opportunities were provided for promotion into officer ranks and the civil service. The entire praetorian guard, discredited by the murder of Pertinax and the auctioning of their support to Julianus, was dismissed. The emperor created a new, larger praetorian guard out of provincial soldiers from the legions. Increases were also made to the two other security forces based in Rome: the urban cohorts, who maintained order; and the night watch, who fought fires and dealt with overnight disturbances, break-ins and other petty crime. These military reforms proved expensive, but the measures may well have increased soldiers' performance and morale in an increasingly unsettled age.
One location that remained unsettled was the eastern frontier. In 197 Nisibis had again been under siege, and the emperor prepared for another eastern campaign. Three new legions were raised, though one was left behind in central Italy to maintain order. The Roman armies easily swept through upper Mesopotamia, traveling down the Euphrates to sack Seleucia, Babylon and Ctesiphon, which had been abandoned by the Parthian king Vologaeses V. On 28 January 198 -- the centenary of Trajan's accession -- Severus took the victorious title Parthicus Maximus and promoted both of his sons: Caracalla to the rank of Augustus and Geta to the rank of Caesar.
Before embarking on the eastern campaign, the emperor had named Gaius Fulvius Plautianus as a praetorian prefect. Plautianus came from the emperor's home town of Lepcis, and the prefect may even have been a relative of the emperor. The victories in Mesopotamia were followed by tours of eastern provinces, including Egypt. Plautianus accompanied Severus throughout the travels, and by the year 201 Plautianus was the emperor's closest confidant and advisor. Plautianus was also praetorian prefect without peer after having arranged the murder of his last colleague in the post.
Upon the return to Rome in 202, the influence of Plautianus was at its height. Comparisons were made with Sejanus, the powerful praetorian prefect under the emperor Tiberius. Plautianus, who earlier had been adlected into the senate, was now awarded consular rank, and his daughter Plautilla was married to Caracalla. The wealth Plautianus had acquired from his close connection with the emperor enabled him to provide a dowry said to have been worthy of fifty princesses. Celebrations and games also marked the decennalia, the beginning of the tenth year of Severus' reign. Later in the year the enlarged imperial family traveled to Lepcis, where native sons Severus and Plautianus could display their prestige and power.
The following year the imperial family returned to Rome, where an arch, still standing today, was dedicated to the emperor at the western end of the Forum. Preparations were also being made for the Secular Games, which were thought to have originated in earliest Rome and were to be held every 110 years. Augustus celebrated the Secular Games in 17 B.C., and Domitian in A.D. 88, six years too early. (Claudius used the excuse of Rome's 800th year to hold the games in A.D. 47.) In 204 Severus would preside over ten days of ceremonies and spectacles.
By the end of 204, Plautianus was finding his influence with the emperor on the wane. Caracalla was not happy to be the husband of Plautilla. Julia Domna resented Plautianus' criticisms and investigations against her. Severus was tiring of his praetorian prefect's ostentation, which at times seemed to surpass that of the emperor himself. The emperor's ailing brother, Geta, also denounced Plautianus, and after Geta's death the praetorian prefect found himself being bypassed by the emperor. In January 205 a soldier named Saturninus revealed to the emperor a plot by Plautianus to have Severus and Caracalla killed. Plautianus was summoned to the imperial palace and executed. His children were exiled, and Caracalla divorced Plautilla. Some observers suspected the story of a plot was merely a ruse to cover up long-term plans for Plautianus' removal.
Severus and Roman Law
Two new praetorian prefects were named to replace Plautianus, one of whom was the eminent jurist Papinian. The emperor's position as ultimate appeals judge had brought an ever-increasing legal workload to his office. During the second century, a career path for legal experts was established, and an emperor came to rely heavily upon his consilium, an advisory panel of experienced jurists, in rendering decisions. Severus brought these jurists to even greater prominence. A diligent administrator and conscientious judge, the emperor appreciated legal reasoning and nurtured its development. His reign ushered in the golden age of Roman jurisprudence, and his court employed the talents of the three greatest Roman lawyers: Papinian, Paul and Ulpian.
The order Severus was able to impose on the empire through both the force of arms and the force of law failed to extend to his own family. His now teenaged sons, Caracalla and Geta, displayed a reckless sibling rivalry that sometimes resulted in physical injury. The emperor believed the lack of responsibilities in Rome contributed to the ill-will between his sons and decided that the family would travel to Britain to oversee military operations there. Caracalla was involved in directing the army's campaigns, while Geta was given civilian authority and a promotion to joint emperor with his father and brother.
Severus was now into his 60s. Chronic gout limited his activities and sapped his strength. The emperor's health continued to deteriorate in Britain, and he became ever more intent on trying to improve the bitter relationship between his two sons. He is reported to have given his sons three pieces of advice: "Get along; pay off the soldiers; and disregard everyone else." The first piece of advice would not be heeded.
Severus died in York on 4 February 211 at the age of 65. His reign lasted nearly 18 years, a duration that would not be matched until Diocletian. Culturally and ideologically Septimius Severus connected his reign to the earlier Antonine era, but the reforms he enacted would eventually alter the very character of Roman government. By creating a larger and more expensive army and increasing the influence of lawyers in administration, Severus planted the seeds that would develop into the highly militaristic and bureaucratic government of the later empire.
Copyright (C) 1998, Michael L. Meckler. Published on De Imperatoribus Romanis, An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors; http://www.roman-emperors.org/sepsev.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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R., Thrace, Byzantium, Under the Roman rule, (??? ), BMC (Thrace, Byzantium) 48, AE-16, BYZANTIΩN, Bull advancing right, Rare!Thrace, Byzantium, Under the Roman rule, (??? ), BMC (Thrace, Byzantium) 48, AE-16, BYZANTIΩN, Bull advancing right, Rare!
avers: Young male bust right, with flowing hair, shoulder draped, border of dots.
reverse: BYZANTI ΩN, Bull advancing right, border of dots.
exergue: -/-//--, diameter: 16,0mm, weight: 3,87g, axes: 0h,
mint: Thrace, Byzantium, date: Under the Roman rule,
ref: BMC (Thrace, Byzantium) 48. p-97,
Q-001quadrans
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Religius Object, Byzantium ???,Religius Object, Byzantium ???,
avers:- Religius picture,
revers:- ,
exe:-/-//--, Size: 30x30mm, weight: 13,69g, axis: 0h,
mint: , date: A.D., ref: ,
Q-001quadrans
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RIC 1416 VespasianAR Denarius, 2.90g
Ephesus Mint, 70 AD
Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPAS AVG COS II TR P P P; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r.
Rev: CONCORDIA AVG; Ceres, Veiled, draped, seated l. holding two corn-ears and poppy in r. hand and cornucopiae in l.; in exergue, BY
RIC 1416 (R2). BMC p. 93. RSC 66a. RPC 823 (1 spec.). BNC -.
Ex Old Roman Coins, eBay, June 2004.
This denarius has a mint mark that the BMCRE attributes to Byzantium, however, modern scholarship is inclined to assign this mark and the other mint marked denarii of Asia Minor to the city of Ephesus.
The reverse type depicts Ceres seated on a throne holding the abundance of harvest. Issued soon after the Civil War, it may be a local expression of the 'fruits of harmony.' (BMCRE lxvi)
A coin which suffers from a touch of porosity due to it's state of preservation. Like many of the coins of Asian Minor, the artistic quality is very high.
David Atherton
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ROMAN EMPIRE - AurelianROMAN EMPIRE - Aurelian (270-275 A.D.) AE Antoninianus. IMP AVRELIANVS AVG, radiate bust right, cuirassed / RESTITVTORI GENTIS, Woman standing right, presenting wreath to Aurelian, standing left, holding sceptre. Mintmark: Dolphin left. References: RIC-410 - Unedited mintmark. RIC lists unattributed mint; Gobl #279-Byzantium mint. Rare.dpaul7
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Roman Provincial: Byzantium under Roman control, Anonymous, AE21 Pseudo-Autonomous Issue.Thrace, Byzantium 1st Century B.C. to 1st Century A.D. 3.26g - 21.3mm, Axis 12h.
Obv: Draped bust of Artemis right; quiver, bow behind.
Rev: ΒVΖΑΝΤΙΩΝ - Crescent surmounted by star and ● below.
Ref: RPC 3908 (temporary); Sch 1908-18; SNG Cop 498.
Rated: Scarce.
Provenance: Chris Scarlioli Collection.Christian Scarlioli
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Roman Provincial: Gordian III, AE30, Magistrate Marcus Aurelius Dionysius. Added onto the Wildwinds site in March 2015. Ivan Varbanov personally looked at the coin and rated it as very very rare, R8+ on the Varbanov scale. Added to RPC in November 2022.Thrace, Byzantium, 238-244 A.D. 15.68g - 30mm.
Obv: M ANT ΓOPΔIANOC AVГ - Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Rev: ЄΠ M AP ΔIONVIOV O B K П AΛЄNΔPAC around, B/VZ/AN-TI/Ω/N, Nike advancing left, holding wreath and palm.
Ref: Varbanov GIC II 1967 (var) unpublished variant with different obverse legend; Schönert-Geiss 1804.
Rated very rare R8+ on the Varbanov scale.
Provenance: Added onto the Wildwinds site in March 2015. Chris Scarlioli Collection. Added to RPC in November 2022.Christian Scarlioli
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Septimus Severus, Legionary DenariusObverse: IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG Laureate head right
Reverse: TR P COS LEG XI C-L, legionary aquila between two standards
Date : 193 AD
Reference : RIC IV12; RSC 268
Grade : VF
Weight : 3.56 g
Denom: Denarius
Metal : Silver
Comment: PERT on the obverse is for avenger of Pertinax. Legion XI Claudia was stationed on the lower Danube in Moesia. Reverse is without small Capricorns. When the governor of Pannonia Superior, Lucius Septimius Severus, was proclaimed emperor in April 193, the Eleventh immediately joined his cause. In a lightning campaign he marched on Rome, but XI did not take part, because Durostorum, Moesia Inferior where the legion was garrisoned was too far from Italy. However, it played a role in Severus' next campaign, against his eastern rival Pescennius Niger. The soldiers of I Italica and XI Claudia besieged Byzantium, forced the Cilician gate, and fought at Issus. It is likely that they also took part in Severus' campaigns against the Parthian.Peattie
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Shapur II (A.D. 310–379)Head of a king, probably Shapur II, Sasanian; A.D. 310–379
Iran
Silver, mercury gilding; H. 40 cm
Fletcher Fund, 1965 (65.126)
Description
The Sasanian dynasty of Iran ruled an area from the Euphrates River to Bactria from the third century A.D. until the Islamic conquest in the seventh century, controlling for much of that time the Silk Route from Byzantium to China.
Dating from the fourth century A.D., this silver head of a Sasanian king is an exquisite example of Sasanian metalwork. It is raised from a single piece of silver with chased and repoussé details. The king wears simple ovoid earrings and a beaded necklace of Sasanian fashion. His powerful stare and characteristic arched nose seem to suggest that the artist was attempting to convey a sense of majesty rather than an individual likeness. The identity of the subject of such representations, in relief or in the round, can often be determined by comparison of facial features and details of the crown with those of kings portrayed on Sasanian coins of the period. In this case, however, the crescent that decorates the crenellated crown and the striated orb that rises above it have no exact parallel. A combination of stylistic details suggests that it was made sometime in the fourth century, perhaps during the reign of Shapur II (A.D. 310–379). The lower section of this head has been cut away, so there is no way of knowing whether it was originally part of a larger sculpture composed of several pieces or a decorative bust intended to be seen alone.
Copyright © 2000–2007 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All rights reserved. www.metmuseum.org. Used by permission.Cleisthenes
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Sherd Subset: Greek #2c. 5th century BC
Calpe, Spain
Description:
Greek colonial blackware potsherds. With one exception, all sherds here were surface finds (by the previous owner) from 1966 at the Penyal d’lfac in Calpe, Spain. This coastal site was close to the speculated location of Alonis, a Greek settlement mentioned by ancient authors including Stephanus of Byzantium.Kamnaskires
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Struck A.D.330 - 333 under Constantine I. AE3 "CONSTANTINOPOLIS" COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE of ThessalonikaObverse: CONSTANTINOPOLIS. Laureate and helmeted bust of Constantinopolis wearing imperial mantle facing left and holding sceptre over left shoulder. Two dots in crest of helmet.
Reverse: No legend. Victory standing facing left, right foot on prow, holding sceptre and shield with ring in centre; in exergue, SMTSΔ (Δ = fourth officina).
Diameter: 18mm | Weight: 2.29gms
RIC VII : 188
The victory on a prow type alludes to the naval victory of Crispus and his subsequent capture of Byzantium (which Constantine I re-named Constantinople).*Alex
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Struck A.D.330 - 333 under Constantine I. AE3 "CONSTANTINOPOLIS" COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE of SisciaObverse: CONSTANTINOPOLIS. Laureate and helmeted bust of Constantinopolis wearing imperial mantle facing left and holding sceptre over left shoulder. Crescent in crest of helmet.
Reverse: No legend. Victory standing facing left, right foot on prow, holding sceptre and shield with dot in centre; in exergue, BSIS.
RIC VII : 224
The victory on a prow type alludes to the naval victory of Crispus and his subsequent capture of Byzantium (which Constantine I re-named Constantinople).*Alex
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Struck A.D.330 - 335 under Constantine I. AE3 "CONSTANTINOPOLIS" COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE of NicomediaObverse: CONSTANTINOPOLI. Laureate and helmeted bust of Constantinopolis wearing imperial mantle facing left and holding sceptre over left shoulder.
Reverse: No legend. Victory standing facing left, right foot on prow, holding sceptre and shield with dot in centre; in exergue, SMNA (A = First officina).
Weight: 2.31gms
RIC VII : 196
SCARCE
The victory on a prow type alludes to the naval victory of Crispus and his subsequent capture of Byzantium (which Constantine I re-named Constantinople).*Alex
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Struck A.D.332 - 333 under Constantine I. AE3 "CONSTANTINOPOLIS" COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE of TreveriObverse: CONSTANTINOPOLIS. Laureate and helmeted bust of Constantinopolis wearing imperial mantle facing left and holding sceptre over left shoulder.
Reverse: No legend. Victory standing facing left, right foot on prow, holding sceptre and plain shield; in exergue, TR•P.
RIC VII : 543
The victory on a prow type alludes to the naval victory of Crispus and his subsequent capture of Byzantium (which Constantine I re-named Constantinople).*Alex
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Struck A.D.333 - 335 under Constantine I. AE3 "CONSTANTINOPOLIS" COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE of AlexandriaObverse: CONSTANTINOPOLIS. Laureate and helmeted bust of Constantinopolis wearing imperial mantle facing left and holding sceptre over left shoulder. Dot in crest of helmet.
Reverse: No legend. Victory standing facing left, right foot on prow, holding sceptre and shield with dot in centre; in exergue, SMALA.
RIC VII : 64
The victory on a prow type alludes to the naval victory of Crispus and his subsequent capture of Byzantium (which Constantine I re-named Constantinople).*Alex
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Struck A.D.333 - 335 under Constantine I. AE3 "CONSTANTINOPOLIS" COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE of ConstantinopolisObverse: CONSTANTINOPOLI. Laureate and helmeted bust of Constantinopolis wearing imperial mantle facing left and holding sceptre over left shoulder.
Reverse: No legend. Victory standing facing left, right foot on prow, holding sceptre and shield with dot in centre; in exergue, •CONSZ•.
Diameter: 18mm | Weight: 2.5gms
RIC VII : 86
EXTREMELY RARE
The victory on a prow type alludes to the naval victory of Crispus and his subsequent capture of Byzantium (which Constantine I re-named Constantinople).*Alex
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Struck A.D.335 - 336 under Constantine I. AE3 "CONSTANTINOPOLIS" COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE of CyzicusObverse: CONSTANTINOPOLI. Laureate and helmeted bust of Constantinopolis wearing imperial mantle facing left and holding sceptre over left shoulder.
Reverse: No legend. Victory standing facing left, right foot on prow, holding sceptre and shield with circle in the centre; in exergue, •SMKE.
Diameter: 17mm
RIC VII : 107
EXTREMELY RARE
The victory on a prow type alludes to the naval victory of Crispus and his subsequent capture of Byzantium (which Constantine I re-named Constantinople).*Alex
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Struck A.D.335 under Constantine I. AE3 "CONSTANTINOPOLIS" COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE of LugdunumObverse: CONSTANTINOPOLIS. Laureate and helmeted bust of Constantinopolis wearing imperial mantle facing left and holding sceptre over left shoulder.
Reverse: No legend. Victory standing facing left, right foot on prow, holding sceptre and shield with circle in the centre; in exergue, PLG.
Weight: 2.4gms
RIC VII : 241
RARE
The victory on a prow type alludes to the naval victory of Crispus and his subsequent capture of Byzantium (which Constantine I re-named Constantinople).*Alex
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Struck A.D.336 under Constantine I. AE3 "CONSTANTINOPOLIS" COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE of RomeObverse: CONSTANTINOPOLIS. Laureate and helmeted bust of Constantinopolis wearing imperial mantle facing left and holding sceptre over left shoulder.
Reverse: No legend. Victory standing facing left, loop or circle at her waist, right foot on prow, holding sceptre and plain shield; in exergue, R wreath E.
Diameter: 16.58mm | Weight: 2.72gms
RIC VII : 387
The victory on a prow type alludes to the naval victory of Crispus and his subsequent capture of Byzantium (which Constantine I re-named Constantinople).*Alex
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Thrace, ByzantionMetal/Size: AR17; Weight: 5.2 grams; Denomination: Siglos; Mint: Byzantion, Thrace; Date: 340-320 BCE; Obverse: Bull or cow standing left on dolphin with right foreleg raised - ΠΥ (the first letter is an archaic form of ""B"" used at Byzantium). Reverse: Incuse mill-sail pattern. References: Sear #1579; SNG BMC Black Sea #21ff; SNG Cop. #475-477; HGC #1389, p. 80.museumguy
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Thrace, Byzantium, Caracalla; The origins of Byzantium are shrouded in legend. The traditional legend has it that Byzas from Megara (a town near Athens) founded Byzantium in 657 BC when he sailed northeast across the Aegean Sea. Byzas had consulted the Oracle at Delphi to ask where to make his new city. The Oracle told him to find it "opposite the blind". At the time, he did not know what this meant, but when he came upon the Bosporus he understood: on the opposite eastern shore was a Greek city, Chalcedon, whose founders were said to have overlooked the superior location only 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) away. Byzas founded his city there on the European coast and named it Byzantium after himself. It was mainly a trading city due to its location at the Black Sea's only entrance. Byzantion later conquered Chalcedon, across the Bosporus on the Asiatic side.
After siding with Pescennius Niger against the victorious Septimius Severus, the city was besieged by Roman forces and suffered extensive damage in 196 AD.[4] Byzantium was rebuilt by Septimius Severus, now emperor, and quickly regained its previous prosperity. It was bound to Perinthos during the period of Septimius Severus. The location of Byzantium attracted Roman Emperor Constantine I who, in 330 AD, refounded it as an imperial residence inspired by Rome itself. (See Nova Roma.) After his death the city was called Constantinople (Greek Κωνσταντινούπολις or Konstantinoupolis) ("city of Constantine"). It remained the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, which is called the Byzantine Empire by modern historians.ecoli
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Thrace, Byzantium. Geta AE14Obv: Laureate bust of Geta r., wearing paludamentum.
Rev: Winged caduceus.
14mm., 1.57gm.
BMC 88.ancientone
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Thrace, Byzantium. Julia Mamaea Ae18Obv: MAMAIA AYΓ / Draped bust right.
Rev: BYZANTIΩN / Star within crescent.ancientone
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Thrace, Byzantium. Pseudo-autonomous AE17. Hercules/Club of HerculesObv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin.
Rev: Club of Hercules. BYZANTIWN.
E. Schönert-Geiss. Griechisches Münzwerk: Die Münzprägung von Byzantion dates this coin to the second century AD.
Rare.ancientone
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Thrace, Byzantium; Caligula Caligula, 37-41 Thrace, Byzantion.
Æ Bronze .
Laureate head left, C/M Laureate head right / Two tunny fish.
RPC 1780; For countermark GIC 53: 2-5.20 mm., 3,90 g.
good fineecoli
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Thrace, Three portraits, Rhoemetalkes I, Queen Pythodoris, & Augustus. AE20 of Byzantium.Thrace. Rhoemetalkes I. 11 BC-12 AD. AE20 (9.48 gm, 19mm, 7h) of Byzantium. Jugate busts of Rhoemetalkes I and Queen Pythodoris, right. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΡΟΙΜΗΤΑΛΚΟΥ. / Bare head of Augustus, right. ΚΑΙΣΑΡΟΣ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΥ. VF. Bt. Y.Mishriki, 2002. SNG Cop (Thrace) 2 #1188; RPC I #1711; SNG Tübingen 972; Youroukova 206. cf Sear GIC 5396 (ewer).Anaximander
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THRACE. Byzantium. Ca. late 2nd-1st centuries BC. AR tetradrachm (35mm, 11h).THRACE. Byzantium. Ca. late 2nd-1st centuries BC. AR tetradrachm (35mm, 11h). NGC VF. Name and types of Lysimachus of Thrace. Diademed head of deified Alexander III right, wearing horn of Ammon / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΟΥ, Athena seated left, Nike in right hand crowning royal name, left arm leaning on large grounded shield, transverse spear in background; MT monogram in inner left field, BY under seat, filleted trident left below ground line. Müller 168.
Mark R1
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Thracia, Byzantium, Severus Alexander, Schönert-Geiss V218 (obv.), unpublishedSeverus Alexander, AD 222-235
AE 25, 7.68g
obv. AVT KM AVR CEV ALEZA[NDROC] AVG
Bust, draped and cuirassed, laureate, r.
rev. BYZAZ
Head of Byzas, bearded, helmeted, r
F+/about VF, dark-green patina
The bust of Byzas was previously known only as an obv. type on pseudo-autonomous coins of Byzantium, which fall into five issues datable to [..] AD dates [...], since the same magistrates are named on their reverses as on portrait coins of the emperors. On [this] coin [...] the head of Byzas appears for the first time as a rev. type, on a coin of Sev. Alex. The obv. die of Sev. Alex. in question is Schönert-Geiss' V 218, also attested with four rev. types naming the magistrate Fronto. (Curtis Clay)
Jochen
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Turkey, Istanbul, Boukoleon Palace9-6-2015
This section was built in the reign of Emperor Theophilus (829-42 AD).
The brick walls would have been clad in Marble.
The three doorways led to a balcony.
The Sea reached up to the walls in those days.
After being ransacked by the "4th Crusade" in 1204 AD, it remained abandoned, even after Michael VIII retook the city in 1261 AD.
The Ottomans never took this section over.
In 1873 AD it was partially destroyed to make way for the railway line that began at Sirkeci Station.Constantine IV
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Turkey, Istanbul, Column of Constantine9-6-2015
Known locally as "ÇemberlitaÅŸ" which translates as "hooped Stone" due to the Iron hoops added in 1779 AD after an earthquake and fire. The base was also reinforced at this date.
The column was inaugurated in 330 AD and originally had three more sections with a large Capital upon which was a gilded statue of Constantine in the guise of his favourite deity, Sol.
At the base of the column was said to have been a sanctuary with ancient relics stored.
A hurricane blew down the statue, Capital and upper three sections of column in 1106 AD.
In the reign of Manuel I (1143-1180 AD) a new Capital was installed with a dedicatory inscription around it which translates as "Faithful Manuel invigorated this holy work of art, which has been damaged by time."
A Cross was also placed on top of this, removed after the Ottoman conquest in 1453 AD. Bronze Wreaths are said to have covered the joints of the column, where the stone ones are today, said to have been looted by the Franks in 1204 AD.Constantine IV
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Turkey, Istanbul, Maiden's Tower2-6-2015
The first recorded structure on this islet dates from 1110 AD when Emperor Alexius had a tower constructed on it.
This tower was linked to another tower on the European side (the Mangana district) by an iron chain.
This tower was connected to the nearby Asian coast by a causeway upon which was built a wall.
A number of additions and uses have happened to the tower since then, the last of which were steel supports after the devastating earthquake of 17 August 1999.Constantine IV
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Turkey, Istanbul, Monastery of the Mother of God at the Spring7-6-2015
The full name of this ancient complex is "Monastery of the Mother of God at the Spring" but it is often known as "Zoödochos Pege" (Life-giving spring).
The Turkish name of it and the area is "Balıklı" which translates as "place where there are fishes" due to the presence of fish in this spring.
The era of the first Church complex around this spring is given either from the time of Emperor Leo I (457-74 AD) or Justinian I (527-65 AD).
Earthquakes and enemy invasions saw numerous rebuilding of this complex through the centuries.
The last was after the Pogroms of the 1950's.Constantine IV
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Turkey, Istanbul, Mosaic Museum9-6-2015
The south-western section of the Great Palace (dated to the reign of Emperor Justinian, 527-65 AD) was excavated in the years 1935-38 and 1951-54 by the University of St. Andrews.
This section comprised a Peristyle courtyard, decorated in Mosaics.
The Austrian Academy of Sciences undertook preservation work on the Mosaics in the years 1983-97.
In the photo above, you can also see the pipes inside the walls that would have water and heating.Constantine IV
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