Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 106 9-10 May 2018
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Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of Theodosius II and wife of Valentinian III. Solidus circa 444-445, AV 4.46 g. LICINIA EVDO – XIA P F AVG Draped bust facing, wearing pearl necklace and a radiate crown. Rev. SALVS RE – I – PVBLICAE Empress, nimbate, enthroned facing, holding cross on globe in r. hand and long cruciform sceptre in l.; in field, R – M. In exergue, COMOB. RIC 2016, pl. 49 (this reverse die). Depeyrot 43/2. Biaggi 2357 (this coin).
Very rare, apparently the third specimen known. A wonderful and interesting
portrait perfectly centred on a full flan. Extremely fine
Ex NGSA 6, 2010, 216; Künker 168, 2010, 7954; Gemini VIII, 2011, 500; Ira & Larry Goldberg 70, 2012, 3450 and Gemini X, 2013, 589 sales. From the Biaggi collection.
No woman in the Roman Empire could compare with the nobility of Licinia Eudoxia. As an Augusta who was the daughter of the eastern emperor Theodosius II and the wife of the western emperor Valentinian III, she was among the most influential people of late antiquity.
Though Licinia Eudoxia had coins struck for her with the usual profile portrait, we have here a remarkable solidus with a full-facing bust, adorned with strings of pearls and a radiate crown, the rays of which flank a cross. The powerful imagery of this portrait, though impressive on our coin, must have been even more imposing in the flesh with the radiant colors of her richly woven garments and an overpowering display of pearls, precious stones and her golden crown.
Frontal portraits on Roman coins were a rarity before the reign of Constantius II (337-361), at which point emperors came to be routinely shown full-facing, holding a shield and spear. But beyond this standard type, facing portraits were still uncommon even in the 5th Century, and this one of Eudoxia is of great iconographic value.
The date of this solidus is a matter of speculation. There are two main issues of solidi bearing frontal portraits of Eudoxia: the first, struck at Ravenna and Rome, bears the obverse and reverse type of this piece (RIC 2016 and 2023); the second issue, from Rome (RIC 2046), bears a reverse celebrating the tricennalia of her husband Valentianian III and has a portrait of a different character, for Eudoxia wears consular garb and her crown has two large triangular projections rather than six radiate spikes.
The second issue is dateable to late 454 through early 455, for Valentian III entered his eighth and final consulship on January 1, 455 and he was then celebrating his tricennalia, the period of which would have been October 23, 454 through March 16, 455 (when he was murdered in a palace coup organized by his successor, Petronius Maximus).
The relation of that consular solidus of Rome to the present coin (and its sister-issue of Rome) is a matter of speculation; except for the fact that they all bear a facing portrait of Eudoxia, there are few similarities in style, and, as already noted, the details of the busts vary.
Very rare, apparently the third specimen known. A wonderful and interesting
portrait perfectly centred on a full flan. Extremely fine
Ex NGSA 6, 2010, 216; Künker 168, 2010, 7954; Gemini VIII, 2011, 500; Ira & Larry Goldberg 70, 2012, 3450 and Gemini X, 2013, 589 sales. From the Biaggi collection.
No woman in the Roman Empire could compare with the nobility of Licinia Eudoxia. As an Augusta who was the daughter of the eastern emperor Theodosius II and the wife of the western emperor Valentinian III, she was among the most influential people of late antiquity.
Though Licinia Eudoxia had coins struck for her with the usual profile portrait, we have here a remarkable solidus with a full-facing bust, adorned with strings of pearls and a radiate crown, the rays of which flank a cross. The powerful imagery of this portrait, though impressive on our coin, must have been even more imposing in the flesh with the radiant colors of her richly woven garments and an overpowering display of pearls, precious stones and her golden crown.
Frontal portraits on Roman coins were a rarity before the reign of Constantius II (337-361), at which point emperors came to be routinely shown full-facing, holding a shield and spear. But beyond this standard type, facing portraits were still uncommon even in the 5th Century, and this one of Eudoxia is of great iconographic value.
The date of this solidus is a matter of speculation. There are two main issues of solidi bearing frontal portraits of Eudoxia: the first, struck at Ravenna and Rome, bears the obverse and reverse type of this piece (RIC 2016 and 2023); the second issue, from Rome (RIC 2046), bears a reverse celebrating the tricennalia of her husband Valentianian III and has a portrait of a different character, for Eudoxia wears consular garb and her crown has two large triangular projections rather than six radiate spikes.
The second issue is dateable to late 454 through early 455, for Valentian III entered his eighth and final consulship on January 1, 455 and he was then celebrating his tricennalia, the period of which would have been October 23, 454 through March 16, 455 (when he was murdered in a palace coup organized by his successor, Petronius Maximus).
The relation of that consular solidus of Rome to the present coin (and its sister-issue of Rome) is a matter of speculation; except for the fact that they all bear a facing portrait of Eudoxia, there are few similarities in style, and, as already noted, the details of the busts vary.