Catalog
1/4 Siliqua In the name of Anastasius I, Ravenna
| Issuer | Ostrogothic Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 493-518 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | MEC I#118, BMC Vandal#23, MIB I#39, Metlich#45, Ranieri#249 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | D N ANASTASIVS AVC (Translation: Our Lord, Anastasius, (perpetual) August) |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Theoderic the Great struck silver fractional coinage in the name of the reigning Eastern emperor — here Anastasius I — as a deliberate constitutional fiction. The Ostrogothic kingdom held Italy as a legal delegation from Constantinople, and maintaining imperial nomenclature on the coinage was not mere flattery but a calculated assertion that Theoderic governed with legitimate Roman authority rather than as a barbarian conqueror. The arrangement suited both parties for most of his reign.
Ravenna's mint had been the administrative capital of the Western empire since Honorius relocated his court there in 402, and it continued under Ostrogothic control as the primary silver-issuing facility in Italy.