Siliqua - Aelia Eudocia Cross within wreath, Constantinopolis

Aelia Eudocia — born Athenais, daughter of an Athenian pagan philosopher — converted to Christianity upon her marriage to Theodosius II in 421 and was elevated to Augusta in 423. This siliqua was struck during that window of imperial favor, before her permanent exile to Jerusalem in 443 following a bitter falling-out with the empress Pulcheria and, reportedly, accusations of adultery. Coins issued in her name from Constantinople are confined to this narrow span, making the type historically pinned to a court defined by theological controversy and fierce rivalry between the two most powerful women in the eastern empire.