Arab/Byzantine Imitation Follis Justin II

I am reminded of a History class back from away back in 1980
The Late Roman Empire
The professor (whose name I have thankfully forgotten) put forth the question as "How did the cities of the west fall under the sway of Ostrogoths Visigoths Franks etc. ?"
As good little boys and girls we repeated (one after another) everything we had learned in High School.

Those "nasty" barbarians, helped out of course by all the "nasty" German immigrants to the empire, had forced themselves on the "good" Christians of Western Europe and killed off all the noble Romans to set up Kingdoms on the ashes of the empire. A post apocalyptic world ..... sort of a Mad Max meets Conan the Barbarian thing.
Well it was 1980 and going to the movies was still a really big deal.

Our good professor proceeded to explain to us just exactly how an empire operated and how they generally declined over time.
First and foremost an empire is a glorified "protection racket". No matter whom we look at (Roman Byzantine Ottoman British or Russian) the general idea is this
We have a huge military and know how to use it
You have a really beautiful city ...... shame if something were to happen to it !
As is natural in human affairs, accommodations and understandings are reached (usually after a taste of the alternatives) and agreements undertaken.
You pay all your taxes, refrain from nationalist rhetoric, provide troops for the Imperial Army and we will give you protection from attack and make sure the roads are safe and the rich folks well taken care of.
If not ....... we burn the whole place down to the ground.

The Roman, Byzantine and every other empire since has operated in this way.
Despite what we learned in High School.

By the 5th century the Roman bargain had seriously frayed
Cities were routinely sacked by marauding barbarians out on the make and the Imperial authorities usually showed up around 3 months later and accompanied by rapacious imperial tax collectors.
The tax collectors knew that like all "smart" provincials the cities had gold and siver which had been hidden and buried away and the barbarians had carted away around half the wealth. Now they wanted the other half to help cover expenses ! The primary interest of the Roman governors was annually creaming off around half the wealth. If the barbarians had already taken half they gave you their condolences and then demanded the other half. If you refused they had special methods of getting your cooperation.
So the answer to his original question was rather simple !
The organised tribes of barbarians offered a better deal
In return for perhaps a quarter of your annual revenues the barbarian kings (like Theodoric) would show up when needed and give you the protection you craved at a bargain price and ....... they actually delivered ! Showing up within days off the first alarm.
No need of any puny Roman provincials enlisting either
Just pay your taxes (in gold of course) and we will take care of all the heavy lifting.
When Justinian made his great campaign to "restore" the West to the empire he did so because the kings of the west were more than happy to acknowledge him as emperor but when he asked for tax money all he ever got was a nice postcard in return saying "Weather is here wish you were beautiful !"

By the time of the Muslim conquests the people of North Africa and the Middle East were ready for a better deal too.
Pay our "modest" taxes and behave yourselves and the new "barbarian" princes offered protection in the form of lightening fast cavalry that showed up literally within hours of distress and often out of the vast desert behind the guys besieging your city. These guys were not only fast but they wielded blades that could cut a man in half faster than you can say "pass the Syrian bread"
Oh and you can keep all your local language, law courts, churches, customs, coinage etc but ......
FYI Converts to the faith pay a lower tax rate.
Not hard to see where that often leads too after a few hundred years pass by does it
The good citizens of Carthage were quite happy to see the Byzantine tax collectors sail off into the early morning sunrise.
"Bye ..... give my regards to the emperor !"
Tell him we love him ...... bye

So here we have an interesting bronze coin
A very early "Islamic" issue from the Emesa aka Homs
(according to the sellers attribution)
The Emperor Heraclius had hightailed it out of town after getting his butt kicked by a much smaller army of Rashidun Muslims under the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab during the Battle of Yarmouk in southern Syria.
The people of Emesa knowing which side of the Syrian bread their hummus was on, promptly cut a better deal with the new regime.
They even gave the emperor his due respect (as long as he stayed put in Constaninople !)
So ...... basically just an ordinary follis of Justin II with a few minor "improvements" of course


Æ Follis Byzantine Emperor image of Constans II
3.54 grams 18-21mm
AD 641-68
Emesa (Homs) mint

Obv. NOΛAK
Emperor Constans II wearing crown and chlamys facing holding cross and cross on globe

Rv Large M
EMI to left
dot star dot above
CHC to right
tayyib (arabic) in exergue


4.52 grams 20-1mm
Sica 542





I apologize for being long winded
Sometimes I just don't know when to stop