Alexius III ruled the Byzantine empire from 1195 to 1203. The result of his rule was the fall of Constantinople to the Latins. During his brief reign he basically destroyed the empire. He was the grandson of Alexius I. His brother Isaac II went hunting one day and while out of the city Alexius III declared himself the emperor. In doing this he had to pay off many people including the leaders of the military. He had his brother, the former emperor blinded, a common punishment for ex-emperors. His spending was so vast he actually put the government out of business. The 4th crusade came and did attempt to defend the city but ended up running away insted. Of course he took all the money he could find with him basically leaving nothing for the pupet government that followed. The succesor to Alexius III was put on the throne by the Latin invaders, his blinded brother Isaac II came back with his son Alexius IV. They in turn had promised to pay a tribute to the Latins for the ability to take back the throne but it was a bill they could not pay .They only ruled very briefly. As for Alexius III his run from the capital took him across the empire, he ended up in Nicea where he attempted to unthrone Theodore , it did not work and he was sent to a monastary . He died in 1211. Even though Constantinople would be recaptured in 1261 it never again gained its glory of the past. The city of Constantinople would fall again but in 1453 to the ottomans under the rule of Constantine XI. Here are three examples of Alexius III Thessalonica issued tetartera, the coins are considered rare, not often seen in the market but they were found in large amounts by archeologists in Eipiros Greece, primarly because this was the first place he ran to with the Byzantine treasury after escaping the Capital in 2013. Through the years I have managed to find 5 examples, and these are the best three. I have had a very hard time in deciding which one was the best example. ALEXIUS III ANGELUS-COMNENUS AE TETARTERON S-2015 DOC 5 CLBC 8.4.3 OBV Bust of St. George , beardless and nimbate , wearing tunic, breastplate wearing tunic, breastplate, and sagion; holds spear in r. hand resting on l. shoulder and in l. scroll or hilt of sword. REV Full length figure of emperor wearing stemma, divitision, and chlamys; holds in r. hand labarum on long shaft and in l. Globus cruciger. DOC lists 22 examples with weights from 1.91gm to 4.55gm and sizes from 17mm to 22mm
Alexius III (1195 - 1203 A.D.) Billon Trachy O: IC-XC, + KE HQEI Bust of Christ facing, beardless, wearing nimbus cross, holding scroll & raising hand in benediction. R: [ALEZIW ECP TW KWCTANTI] Alexius & St. Constantine standing facing, holding labara, globe cross between. Constantinople mint 3.29g 30mm Sear 2013
Nice write-up and interesting coins. I have a couple of trachys - here is one of them. It came from an uncleaned hoard of mostly late roman bronze and so far I have not been able to attribute it other than the fact that it is a trachy. If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them.
Nice, this legend means it was minted after 1197 when he adopted the Comnenus name for prestige purposes.
Need some more detail to attribute, it very well could be an Alexius III trachy but we need to see at least their attire to confirm that.
