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About This Work
This small gold coin shows the front-facing bust of a bearded emperor wearing a jeweled crown and military garb. The reverse depicts a standing, winged figure of Victory holding a long staff topped with a cross, symbolizing the Christianization of classical iconography. The piece reflects the refined metalwork and imperial propaganda of the 6th-century Byzantine Empire.
The coin illustrates the synthesis of Roman imperial power with Christian symbolism, marking a pivotal transition in Mediterranean religious and political thought. It serves as a historical marker for the period of the Justinianic legal and theological reforms.
Inscriptions(Latin)
D N IVSTINIANVS P P AVG VICTORIA AVCCC CONOB
Translation
Dominus Noster Iustinianus Perpetuus Augustus (Our Lord Justinian, Perpetual Augustus) Victoria Augustorum (Victory of the Augusti) Constantinople Obryzum (Pure Gold of Constantinople)
Connected Texts
Justinian I
Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis and closure of the Neoplatonic Academy in Athens fundamentally altered the trajectory of Western classical philosophy.
Provenance & Source
Object
Bronze
religious
Digital Source
Unknown · Public domain
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview on April 14, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.