Byzantine: Leontius (695-698) and Tiberius III (698-705), the usurpers of Justinian's throne

The temper and frequent cruelty of Justinian led to his overthrow in 695. Leontius, a general stationed in the capital raised a revolt and captured Justinian without much resistance. To prevent Justinian's restoration, his nose and tongue was slit and he was exiled to Cherson. Not much is known of Leontius, but he is somewhat credited with the partial restoration of Carthage in 697, but by the winter of 698, it had to be abandoned due to large gathering of Arab forces. On the way back, the troops revolted and resulted in a brief siege of Constantinople.

The troops placed Apsimar, who later becomes Tiberius III, on the throne and he had Leontius' nose slit and placed him in a monastery. But, the final fate of Leontius and Tiberius will become gruesome as Justinian is waiting to reclaim his throne.

By 705, Justinian readies an army that besieges Constantinople and breaks into the city. He captures both Tiberius III and Leontius. With the crown on his head and his feet on their necks, he utters the 13th verse from the ninety-first Psalms:

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder

Clearly a play on the two adversary's names. Both Leontius and Tiberius III are beheaded...

Leontius' coins are either rare or scarce and hardly come up in auction.

Byzantine Empire: Leontius (695-698) Æ Follis, Syracuse (Sear-1344; DOC-18; Anastasi-295)

Obv: Leontius standing facing, wearing crown and loros, and holding akakia and globus cruciger
Rev: Large M; monogram above; SCL below



Tiberius III coins hardly come up in auction as well. Haven't seen other coins other than the 40 nummi:

Byzantine Empire: Tiberius III (698-705) AE 40 Nummi (Sear-1395, DOC II-32)

Obv: No inscription; Bust facing, wearing crown with cross. In right hand, spear held before body. On left shoulder, shield with horseman device. In left field, star
Rev: Large M between two palm branches, above monogram; SCL in exergue




Byzantine Empire: Justinian II with Tiberius, Second Reign (705-711) Æ Follis, Syracuse (Sear-1438; MIB-52; Anastasi-360)

Obv: Justinian and Tiberius standing facing, each wearing crown and chlamys, and holding between them a long cross
Rev: Large M; monogram above, stars flanking; SCL

 

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All great coins and with just as colorful history as the Romans. Really like the Tiberius III.

 

Quant, that's a very nice group of coins of rare emperors. There is a book entitled "Justinian II of Byzantium" by Constance Head (1972, U. Wisconsin Press, hardcover, 181 pages, a few coin photos) that tells the story. Anyone who reads it will certainly want a coin of Justinian II.

 

Thats Valentinian! I was not aware of this book. Will definitely check it out. Most of the information that I posted above came from the Dumbarton Oaks books which has a nice write-up of each emperor before going into the catalog of coins in their collection...

 

My personal favorite is Leontius

 

some great unusual byzantine coins and a great story.

game of thrones doesn't have anything on these byzantine guys does it?

 

Those are very cool Byzantine examples, QG ... sadly, I have examples that sandwich both sides of your OP-examples, but I don't have any examples from that exact time period ...

=> your examples are very cool (congrats)

 

Thanks stevex6. These coins are from the thirty year anarchy period in Byzantine history. The troubles continue after Justinian II as he is eventually killed by Philippicus in 711. It is not until 717, with the accession of Leo III the Isaurian, that stability reaches the empire. The coins after Justinian II and prior to Leo III are extremely rare. As for Leo III, that is for another day and another topic

 

Picked up this coin as an Arab-Byzantine "Constans II"-type coin in a recent auction. There are still some bargains for the well-informed, but a bit surprised by this one. It is one of the best looking representative of this coin that I have seen...

Byzantine Empire: Tiberius III Apsimar (698-705) Æ Follis, Constantinople (Sear 1367; DOC 11)

Obv: Emperor standing, wearing military garb, paludamentum, and crown with cross; In right hand, globus cruciger and in left, long cross
Rev: Large M; cross above, to left, A/N/N/O; B below; CON in exergue
Dim: 29 mm, 3.30g

Overstruck as usual, on an indeterminate host coin

 

Whoah, eagle eyes! Nicely done, that's a fantastic example.

Here's my Tiberius III (SB 1366) overstruck on Leontius (SB 1334), one of my favourite Byzantine coins: