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Leo I – 457-474 AD

LEO I

457-474 AD

Emperor of the East


Leo I was a Thracian and a man of considerable military experience. Despite his lack of formal education, it was his professional experience as a soldier that perhaps qualified him to be proclaimed Emperor soon after the death of Marcian, early in 457 AD. During his reign, Leo was consul five times, in 458, 462, 466, 471 and 473 AD and his reign is best known for both his successes as well as his failures.

At the time of Leo’s accession, the army of the East had been composed almost entirely of Germans (Goths) and other foreigners. One of his great achievements that perhaps enabled the Eastern provinces to continue beyond those of the West, was the destruction of the then immense power of the German military faction. It was this vast contingency of foreign troops that was threatening the security of the Eastern Empire. This Leo managed to accomplish by recruiting large numbers of Isaurians who, though native subjects of the Empire, were just as fierce and formidable as the German barbarians.

Unfortunately, Leo’s greatest failure was the final collapse of the West into the hands of the barbarians. It was during his reign that Roman authority in the West came to an end, despite his best efforts at installing Anthemius and Julius Nepos on the throne.

In 473, Leo suffered a serious illness and he thereupon raised his infant grandson, Leo II, to the rank of Augustus in order to settle the question of succession. Leo I died shortly thereafter on February 3rd, 474 AD at the age of 63.


Monetary System

Note: Except for a unique miliarense, the Thessalonica coinage of Leo is limited to solidi. Of the consular types there are two distinct varieties; the first with an unbroken obverse legend and one star on the reverse, and the second with the broken obverse legend and two stars on the reverse. It is not known exactly when the change took place, but it is believed that the two star variety was struck after the one star variety. Those with one star are relatively common, but the two star variety is very rare.

Mints: Milan; Rome; Ravenna; Thessalonica; Heraclea; Constantinople; Nicomedia; Cyzicus; Antioch; Alexandria.

Obverse Legends:

D N LEO PERPET AVG
D N LEO bronze only


DENOMINATIONS

AU Solidus (4.50 grams)
AU Semissis (2.25 grams)
AU Tremissis (1.45 grams)
AR Miliarense (4.50 grams)
AR Siliqua (3.25 grams)
AR ½ Siliqua (1.12 grams)
AE2
AE4

Avitus – 455-456 AD

Avitus

455-456 AD

Gothic Usurper in the West


Marcus Maecilius Flavius Eparchius Avitus was descended from a noble family in Gaul. Avitus was a popular career man in Gaul who had risen to the position of Praetorian Prefect in the Province. He was a close friend of the Visogothic King Theodoric I.

In 437 AD, Avitus had actually fought against the Goths. He personally persuaded Theodoric I to accept a peace treaty. Apparently, his friendship began at that point in time. In 451 AD, this friendship paid-off when Avitus again persuaded King Theodoric I to join with the Romans againstAttila the Hun. While Attila was defeated, aided by the Goths, Theodoric I was killed in the battle. He was succeeded by his son Theodoric II, who was a very close friend of Avitus.

Following the murder of Petronius Maximus on his attempted flight from Rome in front of the pending invasion of the Vandals in 455 AD, Theodoric II approached Avitus with the idea that he, as Prefect, could legally claim the throne of the West given the absence of a blood heir. Avitus agreed and he was proclaimed Emperor by the Goths on July 9th or 10th, 455 AD and invested several weeks later at Arles.

Avitus set out for Italy and upon reaching Rome he took the consulship in 456 AD. The Emperor of the East, Marcian accepted Avitus as the legal ruler of the West, but the Senate of Rome was far from agreeable. Avitus then relied upon the Goth Ricimer to defend Italy and drive off the Vandals from North Africa. For his victory, the Senate voted a triumph but restricted it personally to Ricimer making its disapproval of Avitus quite blatant.

Avitus’ position in Rome was becoming questionable. The bad will felt by the people continued to stem from Avitus’ reliance upon Gaulish and Gothic troops to hold his power. Avitus tried to win the approval of the Senate and the people of Rome by dismissing his foreign troops. However, in order to do so, Avitus began stripping Rome of its copper statues in order to pay off the troops. This final outrage led to an open public revolt from which Avitus fled. In the vacuum, the people welcomed the Goth Ricimer and his imperial puppet Majorian.

Avitus finally abdicated in September of 456 AD. He reportedly sought to become a bishop perhaps hoping to save his life. Despite being consecrated a bishop in late October, the Senate still hated Avitus and sentenced him to death. While on his way back to Gaul, Avitus died rather suspiciously.


Monetary System

 Coinage of this Emperor is quite rare given his very short reign between July and September of 456 AD.

Mints: Arelate, Milan, Rome

Obverse Legends:

D N AVITVS PERP F AVG
D N AVITVS PERP AG
D N AVITVS P F AVG


 DENOMINATIONS

AU Solidus (4.50 grams)
AU Tremissis (1.45 grams)
AR Siliqua (3.25 grams)

 

Petronius Maximus – 455 AD

Petronius Maximus

March-May 455 AD
Emperor in the West


Flavius Anicius Petronius Maximus became on of the most prominent Senators in Rome under the reign of Honorius. Petronius was of noble birth coming from one of the great senatorial families in Rome – the Anicii. Petronius was a very ambitious man and he made his bid for supreme power in 455 AD. Already in his sixtieth year (born 395 AD), Petronius headed a conspiracy which led to the assassination of Valentinian III in Rome on March 16, 455 AD. Petronius was proclaimed Emperor the following day.

Petronius felt vulnerable in the aftermath of his plot. In order to help legitimize his position, he forced Valentinian’s widow, Licinia Eudoxia to marry him. Thus Licinia was forced to marry her husband’s murderer. This political move outraged many. Licinia wrote to Gaiseric, the Vandal King in Carthage, North Africa, to plead for him to overthrow Petronius. Gaiseric was happy to help and in the process, he planned to sack Rome. With an attack from North Africa on the horizon, Petronius tried to flee Rome. As he was on his way out of the city, he was attacked by a mob of citizens and killed on May 31st, 455 AD after a reign of scarcely more than two months.


Monetary System

Coinage of this Emperor is quite rare given his short reign. The only denomination known to date is that of the gold solidus. No silver, bronze or less gold denominations have been discovered.

Mints: Ravenna, Rome

Obverse Legend:

D N PETRONIVS MAXIMVS P F AVG


DENOMINATIONS

AU Solidus (4.47 grams)

Marcian – 450-457 AD

Marcian

450-457 AD

Emperor in the East


Marcian was an accomplished soldier of humble origin who fought against the Persians. His father was also a soldier from the Balkans. Marcian became a widely respected tribune under Theodosius II. There are two versions of his eventual rise to the throne. One version claims that Theodosius had a vision in which he saw Marcian as his successor. The other version claims that following the death of the Emperor Theodosius II, the right to select his successor fell to his wife, the Empress Pulcheria who selected Marcian to be raised to the rank of Augustus. In any event, Pulcheria may have carried out the wishes of her dead husband rather than rely upon her own choice. Whatever the case, Marcian and Pulcheria were married and Marcian succeeded to the throne of the Eastern division of the Roman Empire at Hebdomon on August 25th, 450 AD. The union between the two was purely political and Pulcheria took a vow of chastity.

Pulcheria’s influence was clear. One of the first acts of Marcian was to execute Chrysaphius Zstommas, a longtime rival of Pulcheria. This proved to be one of the few bloody acts performed by Marcian during if reign. Marcian did prove to be a wise choice on the part of the Empress. He proved to be generous, wise and noble and his reign ushered in a brief age of peace for the Eastern Roman Empire. Marcian ended the tribute that had been paid to Attila the Hun for not invading the Eastern regions of the Empire. Instead, Marcian said that he had no more gold for Attila – only iron.

Marcian became a fiscal reformer which proved to be very successful. By ending the gold payments to Attila the Hun, the savings to the treasury were significant. Marcian then combined this added revenue with a government reform process in which expenditures were reviewed and reduced. The net results of these economic reforms sparked a new age of growth and prosperity as the treasury of the Empire began to increase for the first time in decades. Back taxes were collected, relief and repairs instituted due to numerous natural disasters. Stability and economic sanity had at last been restored.

In 455 AD, Marcian refused to support Rome against the attack of the Vandal King Geiseric. This decision was very unpopular in the East. However, Marcian’s decision proved to be the correct one holding onto and rebuilding the resources of Constantinople.

In 451 AD, Marcian called the Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon within the Church. It was this meeting where the political struggles for power within the Church also began to reflect what had taken place within government. The patriarch of Constantinople pushed for more power and in effect was afforded virtual equal status with that of the Pope who still resided in Rome. This began the split of the Church between East and West.

Marcian died peacefully of natural causes in 457 AD at the age of 67. His wife Pulcheria died four years prior in 453 AD. With the death of Marcian, the house of Theodosius came to an end.


Monetary System

Mints: Antioch, Constantinople, Cyzicus, Heraclea, Milan, Nicomedia, Ravenna, Rome, Thessalonica

Obverse Legend:

D N MARCIANVS P F AVG


DENOMINATIONS

AU Solidus (4.50 grams)
AU Semissis (2.25 grams)
AU 1½ Scripulum (1.65 grams)
AU Tremissis (1.45 grams)
AR Miliarense (4.50 grams)
AR Siliqua (3.25 grams)
AE4

Honoria – Sister

Honoria

Sister of Valentinian III

Born 417 AD – Died 454 AD


Justa Grata Honoria was the daughter of Constantius III and Galla Placidia, which made her the granddaughter of Theodosius I. Honoria was given the rank of Augusta by her brother Valentinian III in the Western Roman Empire. She died shortly before the murder of her brother byPetronius Maximus in 455 AD.


Monetary System

The only coinage known of Honoria is that of the traditional gold denominations of the later Roman period. No silver or bronze denominations have been discovered to date.

Mints: Ravenna, Rome

Obverse Legend:

D N IVST GRAT HONORIA P F AVG


 DENOMINATIONS

AU Solidus (4.50 grams)
AU Semissis (2.25 grams)
AU Tremissis (1.45 grams)

Licinia Eudoxia – Wife

Licinia Eudoxia

Wife of Valentinian III

Daughter of Theodosius II
Mother-in-law Emperor Olybrius


Licinia Eudoxia was the daughter of the Eastern Emperor Theodosius II born in 422 AD. Licinia married Valentinian III in 437 AD when she was only fifteen years old. She bore him two daughters, one of whom, Placidia, was later the wife of the Western Emperor Olybrius. Licinia was originally accorded the title of Augusta about 439 AD.

In 455 AD, her husband was assassinated by the ambitious Petronius Maximus. Petronius, seeking to legitimize his position, forced Licinia to marry him. Thus Licinia married not merely her husband’s successor, but also his murderer. This outrage led her to contact Gaiseric, the Vandalking in North Africa, requesting him to attack Rome to avenge the murder of her late husband. Gaiseric was happy to oblige, and sacked Rome during the summer of 455 AD, carrying Licinia and her two daughters back to Carthage along with him. Some years later (462 AD), Licinia was allowed to return to Constantinople with her daughters, and spent the remainder of her years in the city of her birth.


Monetary System

 The coinage of this Empress is quite rare. It is only known stuck in gold in the single denomination of the solidus. No other denominations in any metal are known.

Mints: Ravenna, Rome, Constantinople

Obverse Legends:

LICINIA EVDOXIA P F AVG
AEL EVDOXIA AVG


DENOMINATIONS

AU Solidus (4.50 grams)

Valentinian III – 425-455 AD

Valentinian III

425-455 AD


Placidius Valentinian III was born in 419 AD the son of Constantius III and Galla Placidia. Placidia fled from the court of Honorus at Ravenna in 423 AD when her half-brother began to take an interest in her. She took her children to the court of Arcadius, her other half-brother in Constantinople. Eventually, her son Valentinian III was married to the daughter of Theodosius II, Licinia Eudoxia which thus marked him as the heir to the Western throne.

Following the death of Honorus and the defeat of the usurper Johannes, Placidia took her son back to Italy where he was proclaimed emperor with the scantion of Constantinople on October 23rd, 425 AD. For the first 12 years of Valantinian III’s reign, his mother Placidia ruled the Western division of the Empire as regent. Thereafter, the control of government passed from her hands to that of the general Aetius who maintained control until his assassination in 454 AD.

Valantinian III’s primary interests in life were sports, religion and seducing other men’s wives, and if he had perhaps restricted himself to those simple pastimes his reign might have been more successful.

Under Valentinian’s reign, the Western Empire continued to decay. His greatest disaster was the loss of Africa to the Vandals. In 451 AD, Attila the Hun invaded Gaul, but his competant general Aetius and his Visigothic allies proved victories over the Huns at the famous battle of Mauriacus.

Perhaps Valentinian’s greatest political mistake was the murder of his most successful general, Aetius in 454 AD. This was the crowning stupidity of the Theodosian dynasty, and resulted in his own assassination six months later by the ambitious senator Petronius Maximus.


Monetary System

Mints: Constantinople, Cyzicus, Ravenna,Rome, Treveri

Obverse Legends:

D N PLA VALENTINIANVS P F AVG


DENOMINATIONS

AU Solidus (4.50 grms)
AU Semissis (2.25 grms)
AU Tremissis (1.45 grms)
AR Miliarense (4.5 grms)
AR Reduced Siliqua (2.25 grms)
AR 1/2 Siliqua (1.12 grms)
AE4

 

Pulcheria – Sister

Aelia Pulcheria

Empress 414-450 AD

Sister of Theodosius II
Daughter of Arcadius & Eudoxia


Aelia Pulcheria was born in 399 AD the daughter of Arcadius and Eudoxia. On July 4th, 414 she was raised to the rank of Augusta and assumed the regency when she was only 15 years old on behalf of her younger brother Theodosius II. Aelia Pulcheria was the true power behind the throne. Theodosius II had no ability to speak of and Pulcheria became the effective ruler of the Eastern division of the Empire. Virtually all the reforms and building projects were her design leaving her brother not much more than a figure-head. Pulcheria exercised her control in all matters even selecting her brother’s wife. She maintained her control of the state until her brother died in 450 AD and even then she decided who would be his successor. Pulcheria died in July, 453 AD leaving all her worldly possessions to the poor.


Monetary System

All of Pulcheria’s coins were struck in Constantinople, and for the most part parallel the issues of Theodosius II. The obverse of her precious metal coins all carry the same legend and all depict the hand of God. The prominent cross on this reverse type was introduced by Pulcheria and the Vota on her coins are those of Theodosius II.

Mints: Constantinople

Obverse Legends:

AEL PVLCHERIA AVG


 DENOMINATIONS

AU Solidus (4.50 grams)
AU Semissis (2.25 grams)
AU Tremissis (1.45 grams)
AR Reduced Siliqua (2.25 grams)
AR 1/2 Siliqua (1.12 grams)
AE4

Eudocia – Wife

Aelia Eudocia

421-460 AD

Wife of Theodosius II


Aelia Eudocia was the baptismal name given to Athenias, daughter of the Athenian sophist Leontius and reputedly one of the most beautiful and brilliant women of the age. Eudocia had been picked by Pulcheria to become the wife of her brother Theodosius II whom she married in 421 AD. Her relationship with her sister-in-law ultimately was a stormy one, and in 440 AD she retired to Jerusalem to a life of piety and church building. Eudocia died on October 20th, 460 AD.


Monetary System

Mints: Constantinople

Obverse Legends:

AEL EVDOCIA AVG


 DENOMINATIONS

AU Solidus (4.50 grams)
AU Semissis (2.25 grams)
AU Tremissis (1.45 grams)
AR Reduced Siliqua (2.25 grams)
AE4

 

Theodosius II – 402-450 AD

Theodosius II

402-450 AD

Son of Arcadius
Emperor of the East


Theodosius II was born in 401 AD the son of Arcadius and Eudoxia. At the time of his father’s death, Theodosius II was only 7 years old. At first, the regency was held by the Praetorian Prefect Anthemius who was replaced in 414 AD by the Emperor’s sister Aelia Pulcheria who continued to be the defacto ruler of the Eastern Empire. Pulcheria even hand-picked the wife for her brother – Aelia Eudocia.

Theodosius II’s reign was the longest in Roman history, and perhaps because Theodosius himself did virtually nothing on his own, was notably successful. His advisors were almost uniformly good, and for most of his life he was dominated by his extremely capable, albeit somewhat fanatically religious, sister Pulcheria, who precluded him from making any real mistakes. In fact, one of the hallmarks of the Theodosian Dynasty was the great ability of its female members, especially when compared to the notable incompetence displayed by Honorius and Valentinian III.

Among the lasting legacies of Theodosius II’s reign were the stable governmental foundations it set up for the Byzantine state to come, the Theodosian Code of Laws, and the great land walls which kept out all enemies until they were breached by the Turks in 1453 (the Crusaders took the city from the harbor side).

During the later part of his reign, the Balkan Peninsula was repeatedly ravaged by the Huns. Theodosius II entered into a treaty with Attila the Hun. The terms were very humiliating and demanded a tribute be paid to the Huns. This would continue through his remaining reign. Theodosius II finally died in Constantinople during July, 450 AD after being injured in a hunting accident.


Monetary System

Mints: Alexandria, Antioch, Aquileia, Constantinople, Cyzicus, Heraclea, Nicomedia, Ravenna, Rome, Thessalonica, Treveri

Obverse Legends:

D N THEODOSIVS P F AVG


DENOMINATIONS

AU Solidus (4.50 grams)
AU Semissis (2.25 grams)
AU Tremissis (1.45 grams)
AR Miliarense (4.50 grams)
AR Reduced Siliqua (2.25 grams)
AE3
AE4