Siliqua - Honorius VIRTVS EXERCITI, Nicomedia

Honorius received the Western Empire at age ten upon Theodosius I's death in January 395, with the general Stilicho exercising real power behind the throne. The VIRTVS EXERCITI type — invoking the courage of the army — was almost certainly a deliberate political statement, projecting military confidence at a moment when the court had none: Alaric's Visigoths were already moving through the Balkans within months of the succession.

Nicomedia's mint, operating in what was nominally Eastern territory under Arcadius, struck coinage for both brothers during this period before jurisdictional lines hardened. RIC X 63 places this issue firmly in the earliest phase of the divided reign.