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Solidus - Theodosius II CONCORDIA AVGG, Constantinopolis
| Issuer | Eastern Roman Empire |
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| Year | 397-402 |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Frontal facing bust of the young emperor Theodosius II, helmeted and pearl-diademed, depicted in imperial military attire with cuirass and paludamentum. The emperor holds a spear diagonally in his raised right hand behind his head, while his left arm bears a shield decorated with a horseman motif. The portrait conveys a highly stylised late antique treatment, with rigid frontality replacing the naturalistic modelling of earlier Roman coinage. The obverse legend D N THEODO-SIVS P F AVG, meaning 'Our Lord Theodosius, Pious, Fortunate, Augustus,' is inscribed in Latin around the bust. |
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| Reverse description | Seated frontal figure of Constantinopolis, the personification of the imperial capital, helmeted and draped, enthroned with head turned to the right. She holds a sceptre upright in her right hand and a Victory standing on a globe in her left hand, with her right foot resting upon a ship's prow, symbolising naval dominance. The composition is characteristic of the late Roman solidus tradition, combining regal authority with allegory. The mintmark CONOB appears in the exergue, identifying the Constantinople mint and confirming the coin's full-weight fine gold standard. The reverse legend CONCORDI-A AVGG encircles the design, invoking the harmony of the Augusti. |
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Theodosius II was barely an infant when this solidus was struck — born in 401, he was elevated to co-emperor by his father Arcadius in January 402, making the youngest emissions of this RIC X #9 type among the first official coinage to carry his name. The CONCORDIA AVGG reverse type was a deliberate political statement about the relationship between the eastern and western courts following the definitive partition of 395, projecting unity that was, in practice, increasingly fictional.
Constantinople's mint had been reorganized under Theodosius I, and gold output was tightly controlled through the comes sacrarum largitionum.