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Byzantine Empire, Andronicus II Palaeologus, 1272 - 24 May 1328 A.D.
St. Demetrius, the son of a Roman proconsul in Thessalonica, was captured preaching and imprisoned. His fellow Christian prisoner, Nestoras, a small man condemned to die in the arena, killed the emperor's favored gladiator. Nestoras was beheaded on the spot. Learning that Nestoras had been inspired by Demetrius' blessing, Maximian had Demetrius executed by spears on 26 Oct 306 A.D. After the growth of his veneration as saint, Thessalonica suffered repeated attacks and sieges from the Slavic peoples who moved into the Balkans. Demetrius was credited with many miraculous interventions to defend the city. Hence later traditions Demetrius regard him as a soldier in the Roman army, and he came to be regarded as an important military martyr. Unsurprisingly, he was extremely popular in the Middle Ages, and along with Saint George, was the patron of the Crusades.BZ92193. Bronze trachy, DOC V 811 ff.; B-D LPC p. 212, 14; Bendall PCPC 246; Sommer 79.21; SBCV 2373, Fair/VF, scyphate, irregular flan, edge splits and crack, porosity, Thessalonica (Salonika, Greece) mint, weight 1.006g, maximum diameter 23.8mm, die axis 180o, 1272 - 24 May 1328 A.D.; obverse O / AΓIOC - Δ/HM/TP/IO/C (or similar, in flanking columnar groups), St. Demetrius standing facing, spear vertical in right hand, shield on left arm; reverse Andronicus standing facing, cross-scepter in right hand, globus cruciger in left hand, hand of God upper right, two stars left; scarce; SOLD
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