Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVIII 29 Sep 2019
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Theodosius II AV Solidus. Constantinople, AD 409-415. D N THEODOSIVS P F AVG, rosette-diademed, beardless consular bust left, draped in imperial mantle and holding mappa and sceptre tipped with cross on orb / SECVRITAS REIPVBLICAE, Theodosius in consular robes, nimbate and enthroned facing, holding mappa and cruciform sceptre; star in right field; CONOB in exergue. Apparently unique and unpublished, but cf. RIC 208 and Depeyrot 68/1 for type; for similar beardless (facing) consular bust of Theodosius II cf. NGSA 8, 195. 4.47g, 21mm, 6h.
Near Mint State. Apparently unique and unpublished; of great numismatic interest.
We may infer from the beardless portrait present on this coin that it pre-dates the other similar and also extremely rare consular types of Theodosius II, which are assigned to his VII and XVII consulships.
Presently unpublished and thought to be unique, we may infer from the beardless portrait present on this coin that it pre-dates the other similar and also extremely rare consular types of Theodosius II, which are assigned to his VII (dating based on the absence of a beard on the effigy of the emperor which would have been shown from the time of his marriage, 7 June 421) and XVII consulships. Intricately ornate and deeply luxurious, this coin conveys an invaluable insight into the ceremonial trappings of the fourth century court and the image of imperial power veiled by a divine Christian aura.
'Born in purple' (Edward Gibbon 1781, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p.317) in AD 401, Theodosius II was proclaimed co-emperor by his father Arcadius at the tender age of nine months and by the age of seven he was sole emperor of the entire Eastern Roman Empire. While matters of state were organised by the imperial court, the young Theodosius II took on the ceremonial role of Emperor, as seen on the reverse of this coin where he is presented enthroned despite being, at most, fourteen years old. Crowned with a nimbus which 'we pretend surrounds the heads of gods and emperors like a bright cloud' (Servius, ad Aeneidem 3.587); that this young ruler was intended to be perceived as 'divine' is incontestable.
The effigy of Theodosius II on the obverse furthers the idea of emperor as an opulent icon: dressed in a highly embellished mantle, crowned by a rosette-diadem and in possession of a mappa and sceptre tipped with a cross above an orb, even his luscious curls are jewel-like in appearance. The effigy is schematic with exaggerated features, but, lacking in realistic detail it is rendered detached from the world, conveying instead a divine quality. That the treatment of the emperor might come objectionably close to what was appropriate only to God, was later acknowledged by Theodosius II himself in a law of AD 425 (CTh 15.4.1). Contemporary writings further betray something of the elevation of the late antique emperor – of the divine aura that surrounded him and the importance of images as an analogy for complex ideas (like the relationship between God the Father and the Son). Ammianus Marcellinus describing Constantius II's entry into Rome offers just one example of the confusion around the emperor both as a living entity and as an image, when he likens him to a statue: "he looked so stiffly ahead as if he had an iron band about his neck, and he turned his face neither to the right nor to the left; he was as much an image as a man" (Amm. Marc.16.10).
Near Mint State. Apparently unique and unpublished; of great numismatic interest.
We may infer from the beardless portrait present on this coin that it pre-dates the other similar and also extremely rare consular types of Theodosius II, which are assigned to his VII and XVII consulships.
Presently unpublished and thought to be unique, we may infer from the beardless portrait present on this coin that it pre-dates the other similar and also extremely rare consular types of Theodosius II, which are assigned to his VII (dating based on the absence of a beard on the effigy of the emperor which would have been shown from the time of his marriage, 7 June 421) and XVII consulships. Intricately ornate and deeply luxurious, this coin conveys an invaluable insight into the ceremonial trappings of the fourth century court and the image of imperial power veiled by a divine Christian aura.
'Born in purple' (Edward Gibbon 1781, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p.317) in AD 401, Theodosius II was proclaimed co-emperor by his father Arcadius at the tender age of nine months and by the age of seven he was sole emperor of the entire Eastern Roman Empire. While matters of state were organised by the imperial court, the young Theodosius II took on the ceremonial role of Emperor, as seen on the reverse of this coin where he is presented enthroned despite being, at most, fourteen years old. Crowned with a nimbus which 'we pretend surrounds the heads of gods and emperors like a bright cloud' (Servius, ad Aeneidem 3.587); that this young ruler was intended to be perceived as 'divine' is incontestable.
The effigy of Theodosius II on the obverse furthers the idea of emperor as an opulent icon: dressed in a highly embellished mantle, crowned by a rosette-diadem and in possession of a mappa and sceptre tipped with a cross above an orb, even his luscious curls are jewel-like in appearance. The effigy is schematic with exaggerated features, but, lacking in realistic detail it is rendered detached from the world, conveying instead a divine quality. That the treatment of the emperor might come objectionably close to what was appropriate only to God, was later acknowledged by Theodosius II himself in a law of AD 425 (CTh 15.4.1). Contemporary writings further betray something of the elevation of the late antique emperor – of the divine aura that surrounded him and the importance of images as an analogy for complex ideas (like the relationship between God the Father and the Son). Ammianus Marcellinus describing Constantius II's entry into Rome offers just one example of the confusion around the emperor both as a living entity and as an image, when he likens him to a statue: "he looked so stiffly ahead as if he had an iron band about his neck, and he turned his face neither to the right nor to the left; he was as much an image as a man" (Amm. Marc.16.10).