I feel like I've definitely found another niche for me: Byzantine coins of Italy, namely from the 6th-7th centuries AD (right after the destruction of the Ostrogothic Kingdom). I was searching for some when I found this one, with the reverse-within-wreath that characterizes most small-denom Italian-Byzantine issues. Did the whole Helvetica spreadsheet thing and sure enough, it turns out it is indeed from Italy, a decanummium of Tiberius II Constantine (emperor from 574-582 AD), struck in Ravenna. Naturally I got excited and seeing it at a good price, I hit the Buy button as fast as I could
Looks like it will clean up nice too.
Quote:
Tiberius II Constantine (Latin: Flavius Tiberius Constantinus Augustus) (520 â€" August 14, 582) was Byzantine Emperor from 574 to 582.
-Wikipedia
Quote:
Tiberius was born in a Latin speaking region of Thrace sometime during the middle of the 6th century AD. As a close friend to Justin II, he was appointed as Count of the Excubitors and his support was instrumental in allowing Justin II to seize the throne upon Justinian's death. When Justin II suffered a mental breakdown in 573 after learning of the Persian army's invasion of Syria and subsequent capture of
Dara, Justin II's wife Sophia and Tiberius assumed control of the government. Their first step was to obtain a one year truce with the Persians (excluding Armenia) in exchange for 45,000 solidi . In December of 574, Sophia was able to influence Justin II to appoint Tiberius as Caesar and he was renamed Tiberius Constantine.
-from luc.edu (more here:
http://www.luc.edu/roman-emperors/ticonii.htm)Tiberius II Constantine, Byzantine emperor (574-582 AD)
AE Decanuumium (10 nummi)
Obv: DM TIb CONSTANT PP AVG, crowned, cuirassed bust facing
Rev: Large I, crosses to left and right, all within wreath
Ravenna mint, struck 578-582 AD
Ref: SB 472
Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire in 600 AD:
As you can see the Italian peninsula was not fully under Eastern Roman control. Almost 20 years after taking the region from the Ostrogoths in the 550s, the peninsula was fully in Byzantine hands but was still recovering from decades of war and plague. This allowed the Germanic Lombard tribe to move in from the north almost unopposed, taking many cities and towns in the north and farther south. The Byzantines fought back however, and managed to retain parts of Italy, most importantly its capital (and center of Byzantine power in the region) Ravenna and the city of Rome. Italy would not be unified again for another 1300 years.
Posted 01/14/2014 7:15 pm
