I had intended to highlight a coin/s, with a writeup geared toward non-ancients collectors, as an occasional, once-in-a-blue moon type of article, as not to bore people. HOwever, I happened to be off today, and rather than sit around and worry about impending minor snow, I wrote this up. It could be a lot worse. The sun was blotted out for a YEAR during the time of Justinian I (527-565). Where do I begin? If I explained the late Roman/Byzantine monetary system, we'd be here all day. Let's just say that by 400 AD, the economy had completely collapsed and the only good money were gold and silver coins, with tiny (10mm.), increasingly rare copper coins being the coins for regular people. Said coppers were only used in the cities. It took around 7,200 of these miserable little coins to equal a gold coin. The magnificent treasury official/emperor, Anastasius I, reformed the copper coinage in498, making a larger, 40 nummia (the big M is a 40). His wise management left the Treasury with 320,000 pounds of gold. Gold which Justinian I used for his reconquests/building projects. I don't greatly collect the pre-reform 40 nummia, so I don't have many great photographs of these. This isn't the coin which I'm highlighting. I'm just showing what the coins looked like after Anastasius' reform. Justin I AE31 Follis. Nikomedia. SB 83. 518-527 AD. 17.72g. Here's one from Justinian's father, Justin I. We'd also be here all day if I expounded fully upon Justinian I's life. He was a true Renaissance man, who rewrote Rome's law code (and modern law borrows heavily from this code) and built the magnificent church of Hagia Sophia. As is the case with most geniuses, he was also a flawed man. While not overly cruel by the standard of emperors, he was the type who was goal-driven and was going to do something,no matter what, even if most of his own people had to suffer in the process. Justinian had almost been deposed during the Nika riots, and things got out of control. Justinian was about to flee, but his wife rallied him and Justinian called upon his brilliant general, Belisarius, to put down the rioters. The solution was straight out of Game of Thrones, but it was genius. He tricked the rioters into attending a rally at the Hippodrome, Constantinople's stadium. Soldiers blocked the exits, and no more rioters by morning. The early 530's were prosperous, and Justinian embarked upon what was considered to be an impossible dream, the reconquest of the Western Roman empire, which had broken off into different Germanic kingdoms, many of whom technically expressed fealty to the emperor. Without getting off into too much of a tangent, in the case of Italy, things had markedly improved for the population of Italy after Odoacer sent the last Western Roman emperor off to an honorable retirement. While he was a de facto ruler, Odoacer ruled at the behest of the Eastern Roman emperor. Theoderic the Great murdered Odoacer, and under his wise rule, things really, really improved. There was no fall of Rome, not in the terms we think of. Since 395, Germanic generals had been the de-facto power behind the throne. Odoacer declared himself an agent of the Emperor. The populace certainly wouldn't have considered the Empire to have fallen. The city of Rome still was a magnificent place and had a population of around 500,000 during the time of Theoderic, who died in 526. Justinian, in his quest for greatness, managed to totally wreck Rome and make it a Walking Dead city. For centuries, the population was between 10 and 30,000, huddling in a small quarter of the city. And now to our featured coin: Justinian I (527-565). Æ 40 Nummi (37mm, 20.77g, 6h). Theoupolis (Antioch), year 20 (546/7). Facing helmed and cuirassed bust, holding globus cruiciger. R/ Large M; cross above, date across field; A/9HЧΠ. MIBE 145a; DOC 217; Sear 220. If you've ever seen a year 12-14 coin, they're really impressive. Antioch, Syria was a major city during ancient times. It hovered between being Rome's second and third largest city, respectively. The M equals 40 in Greek. XX is year 20, workshop #1 (A). After being wrecked by earthquakes, the city was renamed Theopolis (The City of God). Soon after, King Khrusru I of Persia sacked the city and deported the population to create a city of his own, an event which Antioch never recovered from. Now let's get to the sun being blotted out a year part. Volcanic activity in 539 caused the sun to be blotted out for a year in all of the Empire/Persia. In year 12 (539/40), Justinian I rolled out these huge (37-42mm.), facing-bust coins. They're a lot larger than the fairly large coins which preceded them. I don't think it's ever been addressed, but I don't think the reform was a coincidence. I think Justinian was making a statement that the Empire could still be magnificent. Following the sun disaster, there was a horrible plague, and 30-40% of the population perished. Justinian himself contracted the bubonic plague, and allthough he survived, was scarred both physically and mentally. Year 15 coins from Constantinople even show him with a fat, plague face. The reconquests had started before the disaster of 539. Africa/Carthage, which was occupied by the Vandals, who had been Rome's most impactful enemy during the 400's,far more harmful than the Huns, was quickly defeated and annexed. So far, so good. Next was Italy. Justinian sent out Belisarius with a tiny army, 9,000 strong, to reconquer Italy. I've read that the Ostrogoths offered to cede Sicily to the Empire. Justinian would have been wiser to take the offer. Sicily was the breadbasket of Italy. Belisarius managed to retake Rome, but with the inadequate army and the Ostrogoth counteroffensive, the war dragged on for almost twenty years, leaving Italy in such a state of devastation that it took 1,000 years to recover. Belisarius' strategy gave Justinian cause to worry that he, Belisarius, intended to usurp and declare himself Western Roman emperor. Belisarius was quickly recalled. Belisarius' replacements kept getting older, but the 80-year old eunuch, Narses, managed to quickly finish off the Ostrogoths and end the war. The southern third of Spain was also reconquered. The reconquests were a magnificent feat, but left the Empire overextended and nearly bankrupt. While Africa and Sicily were prosperous and stable additions, the others were unable to defend themselves. The Mediterranean was once again a Roman lake, but it came at a great cost. Justinian had to pay off hostile nations on the border, not to invade. Very soon after Justinian's death, the Lombards invaded Italy and occupied 80% of the country. That division played a massive role in the history of Italy. Look at a map of 568 and 1815, respectively. You'll see a lot of similarity. The youtuber Maiorianus offers an interesting overview of the city of Rome, 400 through the Middle Ages.
That was great! Thanks for the detailed and interesting write up. I'll check out that video later when I get home also.
Thanks! Whoops, looks like I accidentally uploaded the Anastasius coin with a face cone-flaw, as well.
Not yet. Later tonight. At least I don't have to worry about getting home. The dew point is 5 degrees, so it's going to take a while for snow to kick in. I love dry air! I can't kick. The then-Patriarch of Constantinople wrote about icebergs floating around Constantinople, during the 700's. It wasn't a fun time to be around.
The White Death is outside, and it's not Nicephorus II (his nickname), although that'd be cooler. Snowwww. Maybe the phantom emperor could clear my streets. I don't see how people in Buffalo do it. It's only 3 inches and nobody (including me) is at work. I'm actually gonna try if the plows do my hill.
3 Inches is just a dusting here in New Hampshire We got about 8 inches the other night and I haven't even bothered to plow my driveway yet. LOL - I'll get to it this weekend.
The garbage truck slid down the hill earlier. I heard scraping outside and a private plow was doing the street. There's no snow on the radar, but some coming down. After I finish my oatmeal, I'll go back out and shovel. I hate snow. No point in shoveling until it stops. I have a snow blower,but it's pretty useless. It doesn't get to bare cement like shoveling does.
thanks for the write up. As far as snow goes I would have to suit up and be out there before 6AM to beat my next door neighbor John. He has cleared us out for more than 20 years and I don't have a problem with that. James
Justinian II is even more interesting than Justinian I. Perhaps he'll be a future piece. If you like Game of Thrones, he's the guy. A tiny fraction of his story involves the then-noseless Justinian II rowing across the Black Sea in a rowboat, with Stupid Paul. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/roman-emperors-totalus-rankium/id1111831730 Totalus Rankium is most recommended. Justinian II's story is well worth the hour plus of time.
Nope. John's other next door neighbor famously offered him a $100 about 15 years ago. An unwise move. On the other hand I have helped paint his house, clean his gutters and just this December caught a woman stealing packages off his front step.
My suburb does an excellent job of plowing the streets and I ended up going in for half a day. Everyone almost fainted that I showed up during a snow day. There wasn't any falling snow and the roads were treated by then. Going in, everyone wanted to be Speed Racer, which is the opposite of what normally happens. That would normally delight me, but it was inappropriate for those conditions. There were still some slick spots. Even the trucks were driving like the 'Duel' truck (which never happens). I was going 70-75 and people were blowing past me. Going home, when the roads were dry, the slowpokes came out. Go figure.
