Magnentius's "
Chi-Rho"
type is believed to have been issued to garner orthodox support in the
west (which he gained after having killed
Constans) as he went against the Arian
Constantius II in the east. Given that the
Chi-Rho (whatever it may mean!) was a symbol of Constantine's who supported Athanasius's orthodoxy established at the council of Nicea in 325, it does seem reasonable to regard the
Chi-Rho as an orthodox symbol.
Whether
Magnentius himself was Christian/orthodox or was just using this symbol for strategic advantage is a matter of dispute... Athanasius says he was baptized, yet he (
Magnentius) also passed laws reenabling pagan sacrifices!
Here's my own example - a double maiorina (the only
type issued for this
denomination).
I keep on meaning to start a
thread on the meaning & origin of the (nominally) alpha-omega on this coin. The official explanation is that this refers to Revelations 22:13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.", which could also be taken as a statement of orthodoxy. I have to wonder though if there might not be a more prosaic explantation...
Magnentius was in the habit of putting a letter, often an "A" on
his reverses, and perhaps the "omega" was just a value mark for this unusual
denomination?!
It's also interesting that the alpha is upper case ("A"), while the omega is lower case ("w"), and also that what is supposedly meant to be an "A" is quite often actually an "N" or even
reverse "N" as on my example!
If it does refer to Revelations 22:13, then I'm curious how it got on this coin... was there any precedent for using alpha-omega as an abbreviation before then, and was there any precedent for using it together with the "
Chi-Rho"?
Ben