Constantine's "Eyes to Heaven"... what's the big deal?

Seriously? Just take your Constantine coin...



and do this with it:



lol...Sorry... ending the day with a laugh...

 

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Presented without irony - a Domitian denarius that has an 'eyes to heaven' portrait.


Domitian
AR Denarius, 2.95g
Rome mint, 95-96 AD
RIC 788 (C2). BMC 231. RSC 293.
Obv: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P XV; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r.
Rev: IMP XXII COS XVII CENS P P P; Minerva stg. r. on capital of rostral column, with spear and shield; to r., owl (M2)
Acquired from Pegasi, May 2014. Ex Pegasi Auction 17, 6 November 2012, lot 467 (unsold).

During the last year of Domitian's reign a smattering of these 'eyes to heaven' portraits were struck on the denarii. I don't know if it was intentional or the whim of an individual engraver. Mattingly commented the upward gaze suggested Domitian had "lofty aspirations".

 

I think Domitian met a really tall dancing girl that year....

 

Either that or he is glancing at that tall wrestler that's about to strangle him in his bathtub.

 

For those who happen upon this post and wonder "what the heck??"

 

I think you're confusing Domitian with Commodus... Domitian got stabbed in the groin so maybe he should have been looking down

 

You are right. Commodus was the bathtub death. Domitian would have been looking up from his desk as he was stabbed in the groin. With so many assassinations of emperors, sometimes it's hard to keep straight who died what way.

 

Many of the "eyes to heaven" Constantine coins I see look more like a chin up, eyes straight ahead posture conveying arrogance. Are we sure it is meant to convey piety, or is the "eyes to heaven" designation just a modern pareidolia? Or perhaps I'm just seeing what I want to see or misinterpreting the meaning of the "eyes to heaven" designation? Or... maybe I'm just not rotating the coins correctly?

Here are some examples from CNG's archives, described as "eyes to heaven", which to me seem like his chin is up but he's not looking up.


Here's the same coin shown twice in their archives and with different rotation. Even in the more rotated version it still seems that he's looking ahead (down his nose) rather than up.


There are some though which seem to show eyes looking up regardless of the coin rotation:

(Constantius II is going to have a bad neck strain in the morning)


(Constantine I-- still looks more like arrogance to me)

 

Thanks for the thread @Clavdivs ! I've never given much thought to which direction the portraits on ancient coins are looking. Perhaps Artemis is gazing at a low flying pheasant coming within arrow range.

 

I enjoy those types. Maybe it represented his eyeing heaven during the in hoc signo vinces moment - "in this sign thou shalt conquer"

But ultimately who knows?

 

For me, this idea quite neatly explains the smug expression he wears on some of his "eyes to heaven" portraits .


CONSTANTINE I
AE3. 3.12g, 20mm. Constantinople mint, AD 328. RIC VII Constantinople 32. O: CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG, rosette-diademed head of Constantine right, looking up to the heavens. R: CONSTANTINI-ANA DAFNE, Victory seated left on cippus, palm branch in left hand and laurel branch in right hand, looking right, spurning a captive kneeling left with head turned right; a shield at her foot and a trophy before her; gamma in left field, CONS in exergue.

 

Not a fan of CI. I am not at all convinced of his "motives" in history, other than to ingratiate himself with power and the control over human minds within the Empire. Why would you wait until the last possible moment to profess your "faith"? Unfortunately, history casts him as "The Great"... I never bought the propaganda, and him as a person.


RI Constantine I CE 306-337 Æ Follis 19mm 3.2g Siscia CE 326-7 AVG Laureate R - PROVIDENTIAE AVGG Camp gate 2 turrets no door star RIC 200


RI Constantine I Folles 306-337 CE Captives VOTA Banner

 

Always nice to hear another sensible opinion on Constantine the Not So Great.

 

I agree the he was kind of a murderous jerk, his crimes against his own family members are almost too numerous to count.

 

I don't think it was all that uncommon for early Christians to be baptized on their deathbed. The reason seems to be that this early in history the issue of sins committed after baptism was not settled. This was made clear with the Donatist controversy during he early 300s that claimed that Christian's who had handed over their bibles and sacrificed to pagan gods during Diocletian's persecution (Latin: Tratatores (those who hand over) I.E. traitors) could not come back to the faith. Many Christian's decided not to take the chance and only became "officially" Christian on thier deathbed to avoid the unresolved issue of sins committed after baptism.

Plus why give up Sol Invictus and Apollo if you don't have to? They always had his back before

He was certainly ruthless and brutal, though so were Pompey, Alexander, Alfred and many other greats. Since I try not to judge ancients by my modern morals I would have to say that ruling the empire at this time for 31 years, 13 as sole ruler, is a pretty impressive achievement!

Having said that I still don't find Constantine nearly as interesting as most other emperors... especially his contemporary Diocletian

Here is an uninspiring Constantine I decidedly not looking to heaven


And here's a guy who would have my vote to be "the Great" if Constantine gets to be!

 

Well, I have to confess that the "eyes to heaven" obverse type has long been of interest to me. Hence the avvie from one in my collection.

 

At the time, baptism was not about "professing faith." Having it done did that, of course, but its purpose was more about cleansing from sin (ala St. Paul). When you are getting ready to meet the maker, you don't want to get too dirty after taking the great bath. So you wait.

 

Careful - "eyes to heaven" could be a sign of hypocrisy !!!