|
Theodosius II. AD 402-450. AV Solidus (21mm, 4.47 g, 6h). Constantinople mint, 8th officina. Struck AD 408-420. Pearl-diademed, helmeted, and cuirassed bust facing slightly right, holding spear over shoulder and shield decorated with horseman motif on shoulder / Constantinopolis seated facing, head right, foot on prow, holding scepter and Victory on globe left; * to left; H//CONOB. RIC X 202; Depeyrot 73/2. Toned, minor graffito, minor die rust on obverse. Good VF.
From the G. Savonarola Collection. Ex Harlan J. Berk inventory cc13619 (June 1999).
Reigning longer than any other Roman Emperor, Theodosius II was a quiet, scholarly ruler for most of his 48 years on the throne. But he was frequently confronted with tough decisions during this tumultuous era and usually took the correct one. Born at Constantinople in AD 401, his father Arcadius proclaimed him co-Augustus nine months later. Thus when Arcadius died of a sudden illness in AD 408, the East Roman Empire was left in the care of a seven-year-old boy. Fortunately, Theodosius was ably served by subordinates and relatives, first his praetorian prefect Anthemius, then, after AD 414, by his elder sister Pulcheria, who, like many Theodosian women, was strong-willed and far more action-oriented than most of the men in her family. The East Roman Army was also well led in the early years of his reign, keeping the barbarians at bay and defeating the Persians in AD 421. As he came of age, Theodosius began to assume more control over imperial affairs. In AD 423, the Western emperor Honorius died at Ravenna and the usurper Johannes gained control of the dwindling West Roman Empire. Theodosius refused to tolerate this and sent a military task force to depose Johannes and install his young cousin, Valentinian III, under the regency of his powerful aunt Galla Placidia. This was accomplished in AD 425, and for many years the East and West Roman Empires enjoyed good relations.
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.
Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.
We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.
|
