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Solidus - Theodosius II GLOR ORVIS TERRAR, Thessalonica
| Issuer | Eastern Roman Empire |
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| Year | 424-425 |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Frontal helmeted and cuirassed bust of Emperor Theodosius II, facing forward with a slight three-quarter turn, wearing an elaborate diadem adorned with pendilia and a crested helmet decorated with a jewelled circlet. The emperor is clad in richly detailed military dress with paludamentum fastened at the right shoulder, and holds a spear over his right shoulder while a shield is visible at the left. The effigy reflects the late antique imperial iconographic tradition of combining martial and divine authority. The circular Latin legend D N THEODO-SIVS P F AVG runs along the border of the coin. |
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| Mint | TESOB Thessalonica, Macedonia, modern-day Thessaloniki, Greece |
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| Additional information |
The GLOR ORVIS TERRAR ("Glory of the World's Lands") reverse type was struck at Thessalonica during an unusually tense moment in Western succession politics. In 424, the usurper Johannes had seized power in Ravenna following the death of Honorius, and Theodosius II was marshaling both military and propaganda resources to reassert eastern authority over the West. This solidus belongs directly to that campaign — Thessalonica served as the principal staging point for the eastern expedition that ultimately crushed Johannes in 425 and installed the child-emperor Valentinian III.
RIC X 365 is among the scarcer Thessalonican issues of Theodosius II's long reign, the mint having played a subordinate role to Constantinople in routine gold production.