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Arcadius. AD 383-408. AV Solidus (20.5mm, 4.44 g, 12h). Constantinople mint, 8th officina. Struck AD 388-392. Rosette-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Constantinopolis seated facing, head right, foot on prow, holding scepter and shield inscribed VOT/ V/ MVL/ X in four lines; H//CONOB. RIC IX 70c.4; Depeyrot 47/3. Toned. Superb EF.
From the G. Savonarola Collection. Ex Willamette Valley Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 121, 7 October 2022), lot 1023; Classical Numismatic Group inventory 520878 (September 2019).
Born in AD 377 to the able Theodosius I (AD 379-395), Arcadius was proclaimed co-emperor with his father on January 19, AD 383. His education was entrusted to the foremost scholars of the day, but Arcadius proved slow-witted and uninterested in academic or military affairs. In AD 393, his equally dull younger brother Honorius was raised to the rank of co-Augustus. When Theodosius left in AD 394 to put down the usurper Eugenius in Italy, he took Honorius with him and left Arcadius in titular charge of Constantinople. Theodosius never returned, dying in Milan on January 17, AD 395, and suddenly both halves of the Roman Empire were under the nominal rule of two untried youths. Although the fiction of imperial unity was maintained, Arcadius and Honorius were both dominated by powerful military men, Rufinus in the East and Stilicho in the West, whose personal enmity created a cold war atmosphere between the two courts. The conflict only deepened after Stilicho arranged for Rufinus’ murder late in AD 395; his replacement, Eutropius, was even more hostile toward the West. While the two regimes squabbled, the Visigoths, who had settled in Thrace, rebelled under their charismatic king Alaric and began ravaging Greece. Arcadius was forced to name Alaric as Master of Soldiers for the Balkans to keep him in check. In AD 399, Arcadius’ energetic wife, Aelia Eudoxia, asserted control over his government and enticed Alaric to attack the poorly defended West, a move that ultimately caused the sack of Rome. Eudoxia gave Arcadius a son in AD 401, but died of a miscarriage in AD 404, placing the regime in the hands of the capable Anthemius. Arcadius’ death in AD 408 due to an unknown illness caused barely a ripple at Constantinople, and the Byzantine bureaucracy that had taken root during his listless rule continued to manage affairs under his son, Theodosius II.
The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 129 lots will be determined during the live online sale that will be held on 13-14 May 2025. This lot is in Session Two, which will begin 13 May at 2 PM ET.
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