Gisulf I ruled Benevento during one of the more precarious stretches of Lombard power in southern Italy, when the duchy operated in an uneasy space between Byzantine administrative reach and Lombard political reality. Issuing coinage in the name of Tiberius III — himself a usurper who seized Constantinople in 698 — reflects less genuine loyalty than opportunistic mimicry of imperial legitimacy. The electrum content of Beneventan tremisses from this period is notably debased compared to contemporary Byzantine issues, a practical response to limited access to refined gold in the south.
Gisulf I ruled Benevento during one of the more precarious stretches of Lombard power in southern Italy, when the duchy operated in an uneasy space between Byzantine administrative reach and Lombard political reality. Issuing coinage in the name of Tiberius III — himself a usurper who seized Constantinople in 698 — reflects less genuine loyalty than opportunistic mimicry of imperial legitimacy. The electrum content of Beneventan tremisses from this period is notably debased compared to contemporary Byzantine issues, a practical response to limited access to refined gold in the south.