Surprisingly I didn't have a coin of any kind from the 10th century AD, and I had been wanting for a good while to add a Byzantine follis from that century to my collection. Picked up this Constantine VII follis from a fellow forum member. I hope they don't mind me sharing it.
Constantine VII, Byzantine EmpireAE follis
Obv: CONST bASIL ROM, bust facing, crowned, with short beard and wearing vertical loros, holding akakia and cross on globe
Rev: +CONST-EN QEO bA-SILEVS R-OMEON, legend in four lines
Mint: Constantinople (struck 913-959; overstuck on another coin)
Ref: SB 1761
The son of Byzantine Emperor Leo VI, Constantine VII was born on May 17/18 of the year 905, in Constantinople. Since Constantine wasn't exactly legitimate, his mother, Zoe Karbonopsina, gave birth to him in the imperial palace's Purple Room in an effort to confer legitimacy on the child. This gave Constantine the nickname Porphyrogennetos ("born in the purple" in Greek). The Purple Room was where children of reigning emperors were born in. In 908 he was made junior co-emperor alongside his father.
After the deaths of his father and uncle, Constantine became sole emperor at the age of eight, and ruled with the help of a group of trusted advisors. The regency during this time was first held by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nicholas, then Constantine's mother Zoe after Nicholas was deposed when he was forced to recognize the leader of the Bulgarians, Simeon, as the Bulgarian emperor. She herself was replaced in 919 by the admiral Romanos Lekapenos, who seized power and later became senior co-ruler, and to cement his new position also married his daughter Helena off to Constantine. Constantine was close to the age of maturity where he would have been able to rule alone, and so would have became sole emperor had Romanos not taken the throne alongside him. To add insult to injury he was bumped to third in the line of succession, after Romano's eldest son.
It was not until the deposition of Romano by his own sons 25 years later that Constantine, after defeating his brother-in-laws, was finally able to take his rightful place on the throne and rule in his own right. However, he mostly left the running of the state to officials and to his wife Helena. During his reign, Constantine's forces fought against the Arabs in Crete, Anatolia, and the Middle East, managing to conquer some territory from them. He also helped improve the empire's relations with the Rus and the Bulgarians.
During his years under the shadow of Romanos, Constantine devoted himself to the scholarly life and to writing, and this continued during his later sole reign. His most famous books include De administrando imperio, a work that mainly describes the history of and diplomatic relations with the various peoples known to the empire, and the De ceremoniis aulae Byzantinae, which goes into great detail the ceremonies and processions of the Byzantine state.
Constantine VII died in 959 and was succeeded by his son, Romanos II.
Byzantine Empire (and the Bulgarian Empire) around 950 AD:
Well done!
Posted 03/07/2015 06:57 am
