Artavasdus

Intro ...

(742-743)

CONSTANTINOPLE

Artavasdus (742-743). AV Solidus. Constantinople mint. Sear 1541.

Obv: ɢ. ᴀᴘτᴀчᴀꜱᴅᴏꜱ ᴍчʟτ. Bust facing, with slight beard, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding patriarchal cross before him;

Rev: ıhsчs xʀısτчs nıcᴀ. Cross potent on 3 steps, cᴏnᴏʙ beneath.

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Artavasdus (742-743). AV Solidus. Constantinople mint. Sear 1542.

Obv: ɢ. ᴀᴘτᴀчᴀꜱᴅᴏꜱ ᴍчʟτ. Bust facing, with slight beard, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding patriarchal cross before him;

Rev: ɢ. ɴıchȽoʀчs ᴍчʟτч. ᴀ. (sometimes followed by ⲑ). Facing bust of Nicephorus, beardless, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding patriarchal cross before him.

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Artavasdus (742-743). AV Solidus. Constantinople mint. Sear 1543.

Obv: ɢ. ɴ. ᴀʀτᴀчᴀꜱᴅчꜱ ᴍч. Bust facing, with slight beard, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding globus cruciger and akakia;

Rev: ɢ. ɴıchꜰoʀчs ᴍчʟτч. (followed by ᴀ or ь or ⲑ). Facing bust of Nicephorus, beardless, wearing crown and loros, and holding globus cruciger and akakia.

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Artavasdus (742-743). AV Solidus. Constantinople mint. Sear 1543ᴀ.

Obv: ɢ. ɴ. ᴀʀτᴀчᴀꜱᴅчꜱ ᴍч. Bust facing, with slight beard, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding globus cruciger and akakia;

Rev: ɢ. ɴıchꜰoʀчs ᴍчʟτ. ⲑҁ. (followed by ᴀ or ь or ⲑ). Facing bust of Nicephorus, beardless, wearing crown and loros, and holding globus cruciger and akakia.

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Artavasdus (742-743). AV Semissis. Constantinople mint. Sear 1544.

Obv: ɢ. ᴀᴘτᴀчᴀꜱᴅᴏꜱ ᴍчʟτ. Bust facing, with slight beard, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding patriarchal cross before him;

Rev: ıhsчs xʀısτчs nıcᴀ. Cross potent above small globus, cᴏnᴏʙ beneath.

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Artavasdus (742-743). AV Solidus. Constantinople mint. Sear 1544ᴀ.

Obv: ɢ. ɴ. ᴀʀτᴀчᴀꜱᴅчꜱ ᴍч. Bust facing, with slight beard, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding globus cruciger and akakia;

Rev: ɴıchꜰoʀчs ᴍ. Facing bust of Nicephorus, beardless, wearing crown and loros, and holding cross potent on globe and akakia.

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Artavasdus (742-743). AR Miliaresion. Constantinople mint. Sear 1545.

Obv: ıhsчs xʀısτчs nıcᴀ. Cross potent on 3 steps; triple border;

Rev: ᴀʀτ / ᴀчᴀꜱᴅo / ꜱ ꜱ nıchꜰ / oʀos єᴄ / ⲑєч ьᴀꜱ / ıⳑıꜱ + in 6 lines; triple border.

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ROME

Artavasdus (742-743). AV Solidus (debased metal). Rome mint. Sear 1546.

Obv: ᴅɴo ᴀʀτᴀчᴀꜱ∂o. Bust facing, bearded, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding globus cruciger and akakia;

Rev: ᴅɴo cᴏɴᴛᴀɴᴛıɴч. Facing bust of Constantine V, beardless, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding globus cruciger and akakia; in field to left and to right, star.

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Artavasdus (742-743). AV Solidus (debased metal). Rome mint. Sear 1547.

Obv: ᴅɴo ᴀʀτᴀчᴀꜱ∂o. Bust facing, bearded, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding globus cruciger and akakia;

Rev: ᴅɴo ɴıcıꜰoʀo. Facing bust of Nicephorus, beardless, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding globus cruciger and akakia; in field to left and to right, star.

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Artavasdus (742-743). AV Tremissis (debased metal). Rome mint. Sear 1548.

Obv: ᴅɴo ᴀʀτᴀчᴀꜱ∂o. Bust facing, bearded, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding globus cruciger and akakia;

Rev: ᴅɴo ɴıcıꜰoʀo. Facing bust of Nicephorus, beardless, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding globus cruciger and akakia; in field to left and to right, star.

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Artavasdus (742-743). AV Tremissis (debased metal). Rome mint. Sear 1549.

Obv: ᴅɴo ᴀʀτᴀчᴀꜱ∂o. Bust facing, bearded, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding globus cruciger and akakia;

Rev: ᴅɴo ɴıcıꜰoʀo. Facing bust of Nicephorus, beardless, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding globus cruciger and akakia; in field to left and to right, ı—ʙ.

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Theophanes and Nicephorus are virtually our sole authorities for the usurpation of Artavasdus. Constantine V succeeded his father without hindrance, having already been co-emperor for many years. But he was only twenty years of age, and the throne was coveted by his much older brother-in-law Artavasdus on his own behalf and on that of his son Nicephorus. Artavasdus had been one of Leo III's chief supporters in 717, had been awarded the hand of Leo's daughter Anna, and was an able and popular general who could count on the soldiers of the Opsikian theme and the favor of the iconodule element in the population. According to the accepted chronology, the revolt broke out in July 742, after Constantine had summoned Artavasdus to his camp (27 June) for a campaign against the Arabs. Though much of the army remained loyal, Artavasdus was able to occupy the capital, where he was crowned, and soon afterward associated his son Nicephorus as co-ruler. But Constantine retained his hold on Asia Minor, and after defeating his rival's forces in a series of engagements during the summer of 743 he was able in September to lay siege to Constantinople. The city surrendered on 2 November, and Artavasdus, who had fled to Nicaea, was captured shortly afterward and exposed with his two sons to public insult in the Hippodrome. Later they were blinded, possibly after the discovery of a conspiracy in which they were implicated and in any case to prevent any further movement in their favor.

Though Constantine V occupied the throne for at least a year before the revolt of Artavasdus and must certainly have begun to mint, it is convenient to deal with Artavasdus’ coins first, since their early date relates them more closely to those of Leo III than to the issues of the later years of Constantine V or of Leo IV. All of his coins are extremely rare, though there were several types during his short reign. They can be divided into two main groups, those of Artavasdus alone and those struck after the association of Nicephorus as co-emperor.

The solidus of Artavasdus alone, represented by a unique specimen in the Museum of the American Numismatic Society, shows the emperor facing, holding in his right hand a short patriarchal cross. The choice of symbol was probably deliberate, since this two-barred cross was conceived of as representing the actual cross of Christ in a particularly intimate fashion. The reverse type represents a throwback to the traditional seventh- century type of a cross potent on steps, but the actual pattern of the cross is modelled on that of the miliaresion. The miliaresion also supplied the inscription, IhSЧS XRISTЧS NICA replacing the old VICTORIA AVςЧ, but CONOB (in the form CONOB) was retained, though in tiny letters and used for the last time in Byzantine coinage, below the steps of the cross. There is a corresponding semissis, with the same reverse inscription and the same type but for the substitution of a globus for the steps of the cross. The only known specimen of this coin is catalogued below.

Two types of solidus were struck after the coronation of Nicephorus. The first has on the reverse a bust of Nicephorus, beardless, wearing a chlamys like his father and also holding a patriarchal cross. The reverse inscription ends MЧLTЧ A(nnos). On one recorded specimen a small Θ, evidently added to the die as an afterthought and intended to serve as an officina letter, has been fitted into the space between the A and Nicephorus’ shoulder. This type of solidus was succeeded by another of more traditional design, in which the patriarchal cross disappears, each emperor holds a globus cruciger and an akakia, and Nicephorus wears a loros instead of a chlamys. The recorded endings to the reverse inscription are MЧLTЧA (T.1), MЧLTЧΘ: (T.2), and MЧLTb (below, No.3), the Θ and b being presumably officina letters and the status of the A being uncertain. There is a unique semissis of the second of these classes at Turin.

The miliaresia, as one would expect, are all of Artavasdus and Nicephorus. Nearly half the known specimens are in the National Museum at Warsaw, a small hoard of them having been acquired by a Polish doctor at Thessalonica in 1891.

No copper coins of Artavasdus have been identified up to the present. It is possible that some of those ascribed to Constantine V are realy the usurper's, e.g. the anomalous half folles and pentanummia with bearded bust (Class 2), for the [S]TA which is all that is legible on the pentanummium (p.305, No. 10) might be [AR]TA and not [CONS]TA, but any attribution must await the discovery of legible inscriptions. At one time I believed that the follis and half follis of Class 3 of Leo III, which have no inscription, might belong to Artavasdus and Nicephorus, but the evidence of overstriking is against this.

The Italian gold coins of Artavasdus are limited to Rome, none being known of either Sicily or Ravenna, and one specimen is linked in a highly anomalous fashion with a die bearing the name of Constantine V. Some scholars would explain this by uncertainty at Rome as to who was legitimate emperor, and whether or not Constantine and Artavasdus were co-rulers, but the dating of papal letters and related documents shows that the Roman chancery was quite clear regarding the sequence of rulers, and it is simpler to assume carelessness or indifference on the part of the mint.

The coins, as at present known, form three classes:
I. Obv. of Artavasdus, rev. of Constantine V (two stars in field). Only the solidus is recorded. This presumably belongs to the brief reign of Artavasdus alone. The mint was at a loss for a suitable reverse type, and simply used one dating from the end of Leo III's reign, with the juvenile bust of Constantine V. There are some crude forgeries of this type, struck in lead or potin and very variable in weight, which date from the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century.

II. Obv. of Artavasdus, rev. of Nicephorus, with two stars in field. The solidus and tremissis are both known.

III. Obv. of Artavasdus, rev. Of Nicephorus, with IB (i.e. Indiction 12 = 743/4) infield. Only the tremissis is known.

(from DOC vol. lll)

Coinage