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Romanus III was the great-grandson of
Byzantine Emperor Romanus I. After serving as
a judge and later as the urban prefect of
Constantinople, he attracted the attention of
Emperor Constantine VIII. Romanus was forced
to divorce his wife and marry the Emperor’s
daughter Zoe. Three day after their wedding,
Constantine VIII passed away, leaving his new
son-in-law to inherit the throne. Despite noble
ambitions, Romanus III struggled as a ruler. He
modeled himself after Roman emperor Marcus
Aurelius and sought to become a new
“philosopher king.” The military might of
Emperor Trajan also served as a model, although
Romanus’ retaliations against Muslim incursions
on the eastern borders were largely
unsuccessful. These military defeats
dramatically reduced his popularity at home.
After surviving multiple failed attempts on the
throne, Romanus III eventually died in 1034,
although the circumstances of the death remain
unknown, some sources allege he was poisoned
by his wife, others claim he was drown in the
bath on his wife’s orders. Either way, both these
theories reveal a strained domestic relationship
that surely contributed to his demise.
How many hands have touched a coin in your
pocket or purse? What eras and lands have the
coin traversed on its journey into our
possession? As we reach into our pockets to pull
out some change, we rarely hesitate to think of
who might have touched the coin before us, or
where the coin will venture to after it leaves our
hands. More than money, coins are a symbol of
the state that struck them, of a specific time and
location, whether contemporary currencies or
artifacts of a long forgotten empire. This
stunning hand-struck coin reveals an expertise
of craftsmanship and intricate sculptural detail
that is often lacking in contemporary machine-
made currencies. This magnificent coin is a
memorial to the ancient glories of the Byzantine
Empire passed down from the hands of
civilization to civilization, from generation to
generation.
- (C.7458)
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