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<p>[QUOTE="hotwheelsearl, post: 7567749, member: 75143"]Constantius I, also called Constantius Chlorus after his death, is well known for being both the father of Constantine the Great and also being green?</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1304927[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Well, probably not, as we have a pretty convincing color reconstruction of the man:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1304929[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>He sort of looks like Claudius I, which was probably the intention with that haircut. Boy am I glad we've evolved past those ancient hairdos.</p><p><br /></p><p>Something neat that I found while doing some minor research was that, in the capital of Byzantium, there was, at the entrance, apparently two colossal seated bronze statues of the man and his son. These statues were either so large or so fragile that they were unable to be removed to Venice, like pretty much all the other good stuff in Byzantium. So, they were left behind and inevitably melted down for scrap. Very sad.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1304928[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>In terms of numismatics, Constantius I is known as being probably the most expensive of the large-module follis coins; they're usually at least 2-3x as expensive as a large follis of, say, Diocletian. However, they're still very affordable in high grades. I bought this one for around $45, which I think was a banging deal.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1304930[/ATTACH] </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1304931[/ATTACH] </p><p>My camera has a hard time capturing both the in-hand color and the full coin with no coronal fall-off, so above is the in-hand look (pic 1) and the full-coin (pic 2).</p><p><br /></p><p>It's a large, attractive coin with the standard tetrarchical block-head look for the portrait. However, it's still distinct enough to be identified by appearance alone. He's got a very Nervine hooked-nose which is kinda nice.</p><p><br /></p><p>The reverse figure of Fides with two standards is rahter much more stylized and impressionistic, which sort of reminds me of the Gallic emperors who tended to have incredibly naturalistic portraits but reverses which were exercises in abstraction.</p><p><br /></p><p>A notable story is that his first wife, Helena, actually found the True Cross, or at least the fragments thereof!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1304934[/ATTACH](Saint) Helena demolished the temple to Venus that was built over the Holy Sepulchre and found three crosses along with the True Nails. Since nobody knew which one was the actual Jesus cross, they had a great trick. The found a deathly ill woman and had her touch each of the three crosses. When she recovered miraculously upon touching one of the crosses, that one was determined to be the True Cross.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1304943[/ATTACH] </p><p>These days, there are said to be so many "fragments of the True Cross" that, actually, several complete crosses could be constructed from all of the fragments. LOL</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>There is a famous quote attributed to Chlorus that I can't for the life of me find, but it goes something along the lines of: "My sons, alone you will break like a fragile stick. But if you bundle four sticks together you will be stronger and unbreakable." (Something like that).</p><p>The idea was the the Tetrarchy was the best and most effective way to keep the empire strong and from fragmenting. We all know how well that turned out.</p><p><br /></p><p>Please show your coins of The Green Man![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="hotwheelsearl, post: 7567749, member: 75143"]Constantius I, also called Constantius Chlorus after his death, is well known for being both the father of Constantine the Great and also being green? [ATTACH=full]1304927[/ATTACH] Well, probably not, as we have a pretty convincing color reconstruction of the man: [ATTACH=full]1304929[/ATTACH] He sort of looks like Claudius I, which was probably the intention with that haircut. Boy am I glad we've evolved past those ancient hairdos. Something neat that I found while doing some minor research was that, in the capital of Byzantium, there was, at the entrance, apparently two colossal seated bronze statues of the man and his son. These statues were either so large or so fragile that they were unable to be removed to Venice, like pretty much all the other good stuff in Byzantium. So, they were left behind and inevitably melted down for scrap. Very sad. [ATTACH=full]1304928[/ATTACH] In terms of numismatics, Constantius I is known as being probably the most expensive of the large-module follis coins; they're usually at least 2-3x as expensive as a large follis of, say, Diocletian. However, they're still very affordable in high grades. I bought this one for around $45, which I think was a banging deal. [ATTACH=full]1304930[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1304931[/ATTACH] My camera has a hard time capturing both the in-hand color and the full coin with no coronal fall-off, so above is the in-hand look (pic 1) and the full-coin (pic 2). It's a large, attractive coin with the standard tetrarchical block-head look for the portrait. However, it's still distinct enough to be identified by appearance alone. He's got a very Nervine hooked-nose which is kinda nice. The reverse figure of Fides with two standards is rahter much more stylized and impressionistic, which sort of reminds me of the Gallic emperors who tended to have incredibly naturalistic portraits but reverses which were exercises in abstraction. A notable story is that his first wife, Helena, actually found the True Cross, or at least the fragments thereof! [ATTACH=full]1304934[/ATTACH](Saint) Helena demolished the temple to Venus that was built over the Holy Sepulchre and found three crosses along with the True Nails. Since nobody knew which one was the actual Jesus cross, they had a great trick. The found a deathly ill woman and had her touch each of the three crosses. When she recovered miraculously upon touching one of the crosses, that one was determined to be the True Cross. [ATTACH=full]1304943[/ATTACH] These days, there are said to be so many "fragments of the True Cross" that, actually, several complete crosses could be constructed from all of the fragments. LOL There is a famous quote attributed to Chlorus that I can't for the life of me find, but it goes something along the lines of: "My sons, alone you will break like a fragile stick. But if you bundle four sticks together you will be stronger and unbreakable." (Something like that). The idea was the the Tetrarchy was the best and most effective way to keep the empire strong and from fragmenting. We all know how well that turned out. Please show your coins of The Green Man![/QUOTE]
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