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HOME :
Coin Jewelry :
Roman Coin Rings : Bronze Coin of Empress Helena Mother of Emperor Constantine the Great
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Bronze Coin of Empress Helena Mother of Emperor Constantine the Great - FJ.3354
Origin: Jerusalem
Circa: 307
AD
to 337
AD
Collection: Coin Jewelry
Medium: Bronze, Gold
£3,500.00
Location: UAE
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| Description |
A remarkable woman, Helena was a
persuasive influence at the court of her son
Constantine. She made a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem in search of the true cross, and is
revered as a saint by the Christian Church.
Flavia Iulia Helena, also known as Saint
Helena, Saint Helen, Helena Augusta, and
Helena of Constantinople, (c.248 – c.329)
was consort of (though may have been
married to) Constantius Chlorus, and the
mother of Emperor Constantine I. She is
traditionally credited with finding the relics of
the True Cross.
Many legends surround her. She was
allegedly the daughter of an innkeeper. Her
son Constantine renamed the city of
Drepanum on the Gulf of Nicomedia as
'Helenopolis' in her honour, which led to later
interpretations that Drepanum was her
birthplace.
Constantius Chlorus divorced her (c.292) to
marry the step-daughter of Maximian, Flavia
Maximiana Theodora. Helena's son,
Constantine, became emperor of the Roman
Empire, and following his elevation she
became a presence at the imperial court,
and received the title Augusta.
[edit] Sainthood
She is considered by the Orthodox and
Catholic churches as a saint, famed for her
piety. Her feast day as a saint of the
Orthodox Christian Church is celebrated with
her son on May 21, the Feast of the Holy
Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen,
Equal to the Apostles[1]. Her feast day in the
Roman Catholic Church falls on August 18.
Eusebius records the details of her
pilgrimage to Palestine and other eastern
provinces (though not her discovery of the
True Cross)). She is the patron saint of
archaeologists.
At the age of 80, Helena was said by some
accounts to have been placed in charge of a
mission to gather Christian relics, by her son
Emperor Constantine I, who had recently
declared Rome as a Christian city. Helena
travelled the 1400-plus miles from Rome to
Jerusalem. The city was still rebuilding from
the destruction of Hadrian, a previous
emperor, who had built a Temple to Venus at
the site of the Crucifixion. According to
legend, Helena entered the temple with
Bishop Macarius, and chose a site to begin
excavating, which led to the recovery of
three different crosses and the nails of the
crucifixion. To use their miraculous power to
aid her son, Helena allegedly had one placed
in Constantine's helmet, and another in the
bridle of his horse. Helena left Jerusalem in
327 to return to Rome, and shortly after her
journey to the East Helena died in the
presence of her son Constantine (Euseb.,
VC, 3.46). Some of the relics which she had
located were then stored in her palace in
Rome, which was later converted into the
Abbey of Santa Croce.
- (FJ.3354)
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