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<p>[QUOTE="Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 4519614, member: 99554"]<b>May 22nd 337 AD </b>was the day of the death of Constantine the Great. But was he really that "Great" ? Hard to tell ; he always had a controversial reputation. Bruno Bleckmann wrote in his <i>Sources of the history of Constantine : "</i>ancient sources for his reign are abundant and detailed, but they have been strongly influenced by the official propaganda of the period and are often one-sided; no contemporaneous histories or biographies dealing with his life and rule have survived". Many stories had been told about him, but were they the truth, only the truth and nothing but the truth ? Not sure at all. Here is an example : Some of the ancient sources detail plots that Galerius made on Constantine's life in the months following Diocletian's abdication. They assert that Galerius assigned Constantine to lead an advance unit in a cavalry charge through a swamp on the middle Danube, made him enter into single combat with a lion, and attempted to kill him in hunts and wars. Constantine always emerged victorious: the lion emerged from the contest in a poorer condition than Constantine; Constantine returned to Nicomedia from the Danube with a Sarmatian captive to drop at Galerius' feet. It is uncertain how much these tales can be trusted.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/2009-04-13_ConstantineTheGreat_York.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>A recent statue of Constantine (1998), York UK.</p><p><br /></p><p>Such was Constantine, a character very mixed from a political and moral point of view: excellent son, murderer of his stepfather, his son and his wife, founder of a new Rome, after having abandoned the old one, reorganizer of the Empire without having reformed it, clever enough to abandon paganism early, not believing enough to embrace Christianity as quickly, master of others in religious affairs as in civilians, not always master of himself. He lived on the border of two worlds: in him ended the crimes of paganism and began the Christian virtues.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Rome-Capitole-StatueConstantin.jpg/1440px-Rome-Capitole-StatueConstantin.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>Colossus of Constantine ( at the origin 40 feet high ).</p><p><br /></p><p>What can we say about the coinage in his time ? Constantine stopped minting the Diocletian's silver argenteus soon after 305 AD, while the billon currency continued to be used until around year 360. He reduced the size of the nummus from 1/32 to 1/40 of a pound at the beginning of the year 307 in the workshops of London, Treves and Lyon. Another reduction took place at 1/48 of a pound in summer 307 AD (also applied by Maxentius in Italy and North Africa). Constantine will continue in this way by reducing the nummus to 1/72 of a pound in 310.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1119652[/ATTACH] </p><p>Constantine Follis, Trier 4.20g 310 AD</p><p><br /></p><p> In the spring of 313 AD, after the elimination of Maximinus Daia and while the empire was ruled only by Constantine and Licinius, the size of the nummus goes to 1/96 of a pound across the empire. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1119650[/ATTACH] </p><p>Constantine Ae3, Lyons 3.5g 314-315 AD</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>In the space of 6 years, the weight of the nummus was thus divided by three while its silver content decreased from approximately 5 to 1%. After Licinius' death in 324, the monetary system was harmonized. Constantine made 2 new reductions of the nummus, in 330 (1/132 of a pound, 2.48g) then in 336 (1/192 of a pound, 1.70g). The proportion of silver, which has been declining steadily since the reform, then barely reached 1%. As for gold, it is always struck in limited quantities, even if the reduction of the weight of the unit in gold from 1/60 to 1/72 of a pound (4.54g) by Constantine around 310 probably gave a little breath into production. The gold currency lightened by Constantine is commonly called solidus, which will gradually impose itself on the entire empire and which will experience an exceptional longevity, even surviving the fall of the empire.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now let's stop babbling and please show us your favorite coin of this "Great" Emperor and also tell us why it is special for you. Here is mine, first coin I ever bought from another CoinTalk member ([USER=44132]@Bing[/USER] ).</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1119659[/ATTACH] </p><p>Constantine Follis, London 2.82g. 319-320 AD[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 4519614, member: 99554"][B]May 22nd 337 AD [/B]was the day of the death of Constantine the Great. But was he really that "Great" ? Hard to tell ; he always had a controversial reputation. Bruno Bleckmann wrote in his [I]Sources of the history of Constantine : "[/I]ancient sources for his reign are abundant and detailed, but they have been strongly influenced by the official propaganda of the period and are often one-sided; no contemporaneous histories or biographies dealing with his life and rule have survived". Many stories had been told about him, but were they the truth, only the truth and nothing but the truth ? Not sure at all. Here is an example : Some of the ancient sources detail plots that Galerius made on Constantine's life in the months following Diocletian's abdication. They assert that Galerius assigned Constantine to lead an advance unit in a cavalry charge through a swamp on the middle Danube, made him enter into single combat with a lion, and attempted to kill him in hunts and wars. Constantine always emerged victorious: the lion emerged from the contest in a poorer condition than Constantine; Constantine returned to Nicomedia from the Danube with a Sarmatian captive to drop at Galerius' feet. It is uncertain how much these tales can be trusted. [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/2009-04-13_ConstantineTheGreat_York.jpg[/IMG] A recent statue of Constantine (1998), York UK. Such was Constantine, a character very mixed from a political and moral point of view: excellent son, murderer of his stepfather, his son and his wife, founder of a new Rome, after having abandoned the old one, reorganizer of the Empire without having reformed it, clever enough to abandon paganism early, not believing enough to embrace Christianity as quickly, master of others in religious affairs as in civilians, not always master of himself. He lived on the border of two worlds: in him ended the crimes of paganism and began the Christian virtues. [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Rome-Capitole-StatueConstantin.jpg/1440px-Rome-Capitole-StatueConstantin.jpg[/IMG] Colossus of Constantine ( at the origin 40 feet high ). What can we say about the coinage in his time ? Constantine stopped minting the Diocletian's silver argenteus soon after 305 AD, while the billon currency continued to be used until around year 360. He reduced the size of the nummus from 1/32 to 1/40 of a pound at the beginning of the year 307 in the workshops of London, Treves and Lyon. Another reduction took place at 1/48 of a pound in summer 307 AD (also applied by Maxentius in Italy and North Africa). Constantine will continue in this way by reducing the nummus to 1/72 of a pound in 310. [ATTACH=full]1119652[/ATTACH] Constantine Follis, Trier 4.20g 310 AD In the spring of 313 AD, after the elimination of Maximinus Daia and while the empire was ruled only by Constantine and Licinius, the size of the nummus goes to 1/96 of a pound across the empire. [ATTACH=full]1119650[/ATTACH] Constantine Ae3, Lyons 3.5g 314-315 AD In the space of 6 years, the weight of the nummus was thus divided by three while its silver content decreased from approximately 5 to 1%. After Licinius' death in 324, the monetary system was harmonized. Constantine made 2 new reductions of the nummus, in 330 (1/132 of a pound, 2.48g) then in 336 (1/192 of a pound, 1.70g). The proportion of silver, which has been declining steadily since the reform, then barely reached 1%. As for gold, it is always struck in limited quantities, even if the reduction of the weight of the unit in gold from 1/60 to 1/72 of a pound (4.54g) by Constantine around 310 probably gave a little breath into production. The gold currency lightened by Constantine is commonly called solidus, which will gradually impose itself on the entire empire and which will experience an exceptional longevity, even surviving the fall of the empire. Now let's stop babbling and please show us your favorite coin of this "Great" Emperor and also tell us why it is special for you. Here is mine, first coin I ever bought from another CoinTalk member ([USER=44132]@Bing[/USER] ). [ATTACH=full]1119659[/ATTACH] Constantine Follis, London 2.82g. 319-320 AD[/QUOTE]
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