Heraclius came to power by sailing from Carthage to Constantinople and overthrowing Phocas in 610 — a usurpation that ended one of the more brutal reigns in Byzantine history. His thirty-year rule saw the empire nearly destroyed by simultaneous Sasanian and Avar pressure, with Persian forces at one point occupying Egypt, Syria, and Palestine and cutting off the grain supply that kept Constantinople fed. The follis coinage of his reign reflects the fiscal chaos: weights drop sharply across the period, and Constantinople mint output fluctuated dramatically with military fortunes.
The BCV 811 type belongs to a series that was repeatedly reformed as the empire's copper currency struggled to keep pace with wartime expenditure.
Heraclius came to power by sailing from Carthage to Constantinople and overthrowing Phocas in 610 — a usurpation that ended one of the more brutal reigns in Byzantine history. His thirty-year rule saw the empire nearly destroyed by simultaneous Sasanian and Avar pressure, with Persian forces at one point occupying Egypt, Syria, and Palestine and cutting off the grain supply that kept Constantinople fed. The follis coinage of his reign reflects the fiscal chaos: weights drop sharply across the period, and Constantinople mint output fluctuated dramatically with military fortunes.
The BCV 811 type belongs to a series that was repeatedly reformed as the empire's copper currency struggled to keep pace with wartime expenditure.