Byzantine Empire13 records
Imperial portraiture, Christian imagery, mint systems and dynastic authority in Byzantine gold.
Latest Anastasius I: A Solidus between Rome and ByzantiumExplore context ⟶The Ancient Gold Journal
Stories Struck in Gold
Essays on coinage, rulers, sacred imagery and the responsibility of collecting objects that have survived history.
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Follow themes across the Journal, from imperial imagery and mint practice to provenance and responsible collecting.
Coin Histories8 records
Object-led studies of legends, denominations, iconography and the evidence carried by individual coins.
Latest Athena, Nike and Macedonian Continuity after AlexanderExplore context ⟶Roman Empire5 records
Power, ceremony and visual language across the gold coinage of imperial Rome.
Latest Theodosius II: The Armed Emperor and the Eternal CapitalExplore context ⟶Collecting3 records
Practical scholarship on provenance, condition, grading and responsible stewardship.
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Featured Essay
Constantine’s Solidus: An Imperial First
How a stable gold denomination became an enduring language of imperial authority.
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From the Collection
Latest Essays
Byzantine Empire
Anastasius I: A Solidus between Rome and Byzantium
An armoured emperor and a cross-bearing Victory reveal how Constantinople renewed an inherited Roman gold language rather than abandoning it.
7 min readRead
Coin Histories
Athena, Nike and Macedonian Continuity after Alexander
A gold stater of Philip III Arrhidaios shows how a familiar type could promise political continuity while Alexander’s empire was already being contested.
8 min readRead
Byzantine Empire
Heraclius and the Cross on Steps
Across four related solidi, a monumental cross answers changing portraits of emperor, son and dynasty during one of Byzantium’s most turbulent reigns.
9 min readRead
Byzantine Empire
Justinian I: The Frontal Portrait and an Empire Restored
A facing gold portrait and a cross-bearing angel condense Justinian’s programme of law, sacred monarchy and Roman restoration.
8 min readRead
Roman Empire
Theodosius II: The Armed Emperor and the Eternal Capital
Two solidi pair the same frontal military ruler with different answers—ceremonial victory and Constantinopolis enthroned.
8 min readRead
Byzantine Empire
Theophilus: Dynasty without a Sacred Portrait
A capital solidus and a Syracuse semissis show how an iconoclast emperor made ancestry and the ruler’s body carry the burden of legitimacy.
8 min readRead
Coin Histories
Alexander’s Image after Alexander: Mithradates VI in Gold
Mithradates VI revived the heroic portrait and enthroned Athena of Hellenistic royal coinage to present Pontos as heir to Alexander’s political world.
8 min readRead
Coin Histories
Apollo, Prophecy and Royal Power at Syracuse
Agathokles placed Apollo and the Delphic tripod on a compact electrum coin, joining sacred authority to the ambitions of a soldier who became king.
7 min readRead
Coin Histories
Electrum at the Beginning of Coinage
A tiny Ionian fraction shows how standardized weight and an official punch turned precious metal into one of the earliest forms of struck money.
7 min readRead