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Follis - Honorius VIRTVS EXERCITI, Antioch
| Issuer | Eastern Roman Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 395-401 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Right-facing bust of Emperor Honorius, pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed, rendered in the late Roman imperial portrait style. The effigy displays a beaded diadem across the brow, paludamentum over the cuirass, and visible drapery at the shoulder. The Latin obverse legend DN HONORIVS PF AVG (Dominus Noster Honorius Pius Felix Augustus) runs around the periphery. The flan is irregular and the surface shows typical late Roman striking characteristics with some weakness in the outer legend. |
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| Obverse lettering | DN HONORIVS PF AVG |
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| Additional information |
Honorius became Western emperor at ten years old upon Theodosius I's death in 395, leaving the actual business of military administration to the generalissimo Stilicho. The VIRTVS EXERCITI type — "the valor of the army" — was issued from the Antioch mint precisely during the years when that valor was most in question: Gothic federates were fracturing along loyalty lines, and Alaric's forces were already moving through the Balkans.
Antioch's mint operated under the Eastern court of Arcadius, making this a western emperor's coin struck on eastern soil — a jurisdictional oddity that reflects the still-unsettled division of 395.