Saturday was the Feast of St. John Chrysostom in Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican churches. He was bishop or archbishop of Constantinople (the title Patriarch was a few years later) and lived at the end of the fourth century and died in 407. Here is a seal with his picture. Seals are an adjunct of Byzantine coins inasmuch as the skills for deciphering one are closely related to deciphering the other. Also, here is a coin of Eudoxia, his nemesis in Constantinople and the one who caused him to be exiled. You can see by the presence of the manus dei or Hand of God on both the obverse and reverse, she wore her piety somewhat heavily. John called her Jezebel and Herodias, neither term particularly conciliatory. He was a defender of the poor and despised th ose in power who lived lavishly, a saint for our times if ever there was one.
The seal is awesome, what a great piece of history!! Here's my Eudoxia, such as it is (sorry for the poor photo):
Eudoxia, AD 395-404 Roman Æ 4 reduced centenionalis; 1.41 g, 12.9 mm Antioch, AD 402-404 Obv: AEL EVDOXIA AVG, diademed and draped bust, right Rev: SALVS REIPVBLICAE, Victory seated r., inscribing Christogram on shield set on cippus. ANTΓ in exergue Refs: RIC 104; LRBC II 2800; RCV 20895 Eudoxia, AD 395-404 Roman billon Æ 4 reduced centenionalis; 1.94 g, 14.9 mm Cyzicus, AD 402-404 Obv: AEL EVDOXIA AVG, diademed and draped bust, right Rev: SALVS REIPVBLICAE, Victory seated r., inscribing Christogram on shield set on cippus. SMKA in exergue Refs: RIC 103; LRBC 2589; RCV 20894
That seal is very cool! It doesn't look like I expected where that cavity is, it looks like cake! mmmmmmmmm.........cake.
Here's a somewhat less common Eudoxia: AE3 Nicomedia mint, A.D. 395-401 Obv: AEL EVDO-XIA AVG Rev: GLORIA RO-MANORVM - Empress on throne, crowned by hand of God SMNB in exergue; cross (very faint) in right field RIC (Arcadius) 80 17mm, 2.3g
I only have this Eudoxia to toss in: RI Aelia Eudoxia wife of Arcadius 395-401 CE AE3 2.83g 17mm crowned by hand of God Enthroned Constan mint RIC 79
I believe he received his sobriquet, Chrysostom, (Golden Mouth) from his fine speaking and preaching skills. That took courage as well as talent. Eastern Romans rioted and killed one another over matters like "does the Holy Ghost proceed from the Father alone or the father and the Son (filioque) or is Jesus Christ consubstantial with the Father or is Mary really the mother of God (Theotokos) or just Jesus. While such matters might seem inconsequential to us any public preacher like the John Chrysostom mentioned here knew full well he could wind up torn to pieces by an irate, incensed mob.
