Arichis II ruled Benevento as duke under Lombard overlordship until Charlemagne's destruction of the Lombard kingdom in 774, after which he elevated himself to the title of prince and began issuing coinage with explicitly Byzantine-influenced imagery — a deliberate political signal toward Constantinople as a counterweight to Frankish pressure. This tremissis belongs to the earlier ducal phase, before that calculated reinvention.
The electrum content of Beneventan tremisses from this period is notoriously inconsistent, reflecting the principality's limited access to refined gold rather than any standardized alloy policy.
Arichis II ruled Benevento as duke under Lombard overlordship until Charlemagne's destruction of the Lombard kingdom in 774, after which he elevated himself to the title of prince and began issuing coinage with explicitly Byzantine-influenced imagery — a deliberate political signal toward Constantinople as a counterweight to Frankish pressure. This tremissis belongs to the earlier ducal phase, before that calculated reinvention.
The electrum content of Beneventan tremisses from this period is notoriously inconsistent, reflecting the principality's limited access to refined gold rather than any standardized alloy policy.