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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 4695317, member: 99554&quot;]At that time they say that the Emperor Honorius in Ravenna received the message from one of the eunuchs, evidently a keeper of the poultry, that Rome had perished. And he cried out and said, <i>&#039;And yet it has just eaten from my hands!</i>&#039; For he had a very large cock, Rome by name; and the eunuch comprehending his words said that it was the city of Rome which had perished at the hands of Alaric, and the emperor with a sigh of relief answered quickly: <i>&#039;But I, my good fellow, thought that my fowl Rome had perished.</i>&#039; So great, they say, was the folly with which this emperor was possessed.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Procopius, <i>The Vandalic War (III.2.25-26)</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>[ATTACH=full]1154130[/ATTACH] </i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>After a very interesting thread by [USER=56653]@seth77[/USER] about Theodosius I, why not talking about another Emperor in the category &quot;low profile&quot; : <b>Honorius. </b>He was in fact the younger son of Theodosius and Aelia Flaccilla. Born in 384 AD, he was named Augustus in 393 at the age of 8 years old. On the death of his father, 2 years later, he inherited the West with Stilicho as regent. The beginning of the 5th century saw an unprecedented wave of invasions.&nbsp; When the Visigoths invaded Italy in AD 401, <b>Honorius</b> fled Milan and moved the imperial court to the more defensible city of Ravenna. There, surrounded by protective marshes, he abandoned Italy to the barbarians, the <i>limes</i> finally gave in under the pressure. In 410, Rome was even taken. The Western Empire is in full decomposition. Many usurpations took place in Brittany with Constantinus III, in Gaul with Constans, Jovinus and Sébastianus, in Spain with Maximus and in Italy with Attalus. <b>Honorius</b> died in Ravenna in 423 after thirty years of reign, leaving a disintegrated empire.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Consular_diptych_Probus_406.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>Consular diptych of Probus Anicius, consul in 406, depicting emperor <b>Honorius</b></p><p><br /></p><p>I only have one specimen of <b>Honorius&#039; </b>coinage, but i discovered some interesting details about it :</p><p><b>Honorius</b> Ae2 Costantinople</p><p>22mm. 4.30g</p><p>DN HONORI<b>-</b>VS PF AVG</p><p>GLORIA ROMANORVM</p><p>CONS <img src="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/Smileys/ancient%20alphabets/Greek_Delta.gif" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />&nbsp;&nbsp; 392-395&nbsp; RIC 88d</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1154131[/ATTACH] </p><p>Honorius coins minted between 393, the date of his appointment, and 395 are rare. After this date, the Constantinople mint hardly minted large modulus bronze coins any more and became part of the domain of Arcadius. The workshop operates with four officinaes. What&#039;s special with this coin is the broken obverse legend. RIC volume IX says about it :</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1154133[/ATTACH] </p><p>So that&#039;s the reason why it is a R5 coin ! </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1154132[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>What&#039;s funny about this coin is that I found it in an uncleaned lot bought a few years ago. It soaked for month in my &quot;potion magique&quot; before I could identify it with precision: not too bad for a bunch of pieces I paid 50$. Now knowing its rarity, maybe I could get 20$ for it, a good return on my investment ! <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie47" alt=":greedy:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Please show us your coin of this low profile emperor, HONORIUS.</b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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