Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="ValiantKnight, post: 3829113, member: 44210"]Marked another white whale off my list, a Rome-mint Justinian follis. I love anything Italian Byzantine (and western Byzantine in general), and getting an example of this type was a must for me, especially to complement the Justinian Rome half-follis I already have. Folles and half-folles from Rome during the Byzantine era are rare and so do not come up for sale often. By some strange twist of fate, three different Rome folles were put up for sale this past September; two were in a CNG auction, while mine popped up on VCoins shortly after. I was hoping to snag the lesser-condition of the two from CNG, but it proved to be a popular one and the price went past what I was able to shell out for it. Fortunately, a few days later after the auction ended, I found out a new Rome/Ravenna Byzantine coin had been listed on VCoins. It turned out to be a Rome-mint follis! So I wasted no time in jumping on it! Justinian I, Byzantine EmpireAE follisObv: D N IVSTINI-ANVS P P AVG, pearl-diademed, draped, bust rightRev: Large M, cross above, cross to left, star to right, all within wreathMint: RomeMintmark: ROMA (in exergue)Date: 537-542 ADRef: SB 293 [ATTACH=full]1018139[/ATTACH] Even after the dissolution of the Western Roman Empire in 476, coins continued to be struck at Rome, first with large bronze coins depicting Zeno struck by Odoacer as a symbol of the latter's subordinate status, then with coins struck under the rule of the Ostrogoths. After the start of the Byzantine invasion of Ostrogothic Italy and the restoration of Rome to the (Eastern) Roman Empire, coins continued to be minted, this time under direct Byzantine rule. The bulk of Italian minting went to the provincial capital of Ravenna, but Rome continued to pump out coins even toward the end of Byzantine rule in peninsular Italy (the Exarchate of Ravenna) in the mid-8th century AD. Some minting was continued under Carolingian and papal supervision; of course, these coins are very rare. Rome had a tumultuous history during this time, having been first taken by the Byzantines in 537 AD, lost to the Ostrogoths in 546, reoccupied by the Byzantines shortly after, and lost again to the Ostrogoths in 549. It was not until 552 that the Byzantines were able to recapture and hold onto Rome for good (at least for the next two centuries). From Wikipedia's article of the history of Rome, descriptions of the state of Rome during the early-mid 6th century AD (the beginning of the so-called "Dark Ages"): Despite the switch to Germanic rule, and later, Byzantine rule from Constantinople, the Roman Senate continued to function during this time, although with reduced powers, importance, and prestige. It's last recorded act was in 603 with the approval of statues of Byzantine emperor Phocas and his wife Leontia, and is no longer mentioned after this date; by 630, the Curia Julia had become re-purposed as a church. For anyone that might be interested in reading more about this important period in Rome's history, I wholeheartedly recommend The Gothic War: Justinian's Campaign to Reclaim Italy by Torsten Cumberland Jacobsen.  [ATTACH=full]1017962[/ATTACH] Gothic War, 535-554 AD (in German but pretty easy to follow IMO, except it might be helpful to know Ostromisches Reich=Eastern Roman Empire) [ATTACH=full]1018136[/ATTACH] Feel free to post anything relevant: anything Justinian, Italian/Western Byzantine (incl. Syracuse, Sicily), or Ostrogothic![/QUOTE]

Log in or Sign up

Reply to Thread

Useful Searches