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Solidus - Constantine IV, Tiberius and Heraclius
| Issuer | Byzantine Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 668-685 |
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| Currency | First Solidus Nomisma (498-720) |
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| Obverse description | Helmeted and cuirassed bust of Constantine IV facing three-quarters right, unbearded, holding a spear over the right shoulder in the military tradition. The emperor is depicted in full imperial military regalia, the helmet lending an austere martial character to the portrait. The legend encircles the bust in Latin characters within the coin's field. The die style is typical of the Constantinople mint workshops of the late seventh century, with a bold if somewhat schematic rendering of the imperial features. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Constantine IV's reign opened with a defining military crisis: the first Arab siege of Constantinople, which lasted intermittently from 674 to 678. The Byzantine fleet's deployment of Greek fire against the Umayyad navy during those campaigns effectively ended the immediate threat and bought the empire another eight centuries. The triple-portrait coinage issued during his reign reflects a co-emperorship arrangement inherited from his father Constans II, who had insisted on the elevation of his younger sons Tiberius and Heraclius as junior emperors.
Constantine later had both brothers mutilated and removed from succession — a detail that gives the shared portraiture on this solidus an uncomfortable retrospective quality.