CONSTANTINE V Leo III & IV 751AD Ancient Syracuse Byzantine Coin i18781

Description

Item:
i18781
Authentic Ancient Coin of:
Constantine V, Copronymus - Byzantine Emperor: June 18, 741 - September 14, 775 A.D.
with Associate Ruler:
Leo IV the Khazar
, Augustus from June 6, 751 &
Leo III the Isaurian
- Father of Constantine V
Bronze Follis 16mm (1.75 grams) Syracuse mint: 751-775 A.D.
Reference: Sear 1569; Berk 864; Spahr 335; Anastasi 437; DO III 19
Constantine V, bearded (on left) and Leo IV, beardless (on right) standing facing, each wearing crown and chlamys, and holding akakia; between their heads, cross; to left, K; to right,
Λ / Є / W / N.
Leo III, bearded, standing facing, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding cross potent; to left,
Λ / Є / O / N; to right, Δ / Є / C / Π.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
Constantine V
(718 – September 14, 775) was
Byzantine emperor
from 741 to 775;
Greek
:
Κωνσταντίνος Ε΄,
Kōnstantinos V
); (he was denigrated by his enemies as
Kopronymos
or
Copronymus
).
Early life
Constantine was born in
Constantinople
, the son and successor of Emperor
Leo III
and
Maria
. In August 720 he was associated on the throne by his father, who had him marry
Tzitzak
, daughter of the
Khazar
khagan
Bihar
. His new bride was baptized as Irene (
Eirēnē
, "peace") in 732. Constantine V succeeded his father as sole emperor on April 19, 741.
Civil war against Artabasdos and first battles against veneration of images
Constantine was crossing
Asia Minor
to campaign against the
Umayyad
Caliphate
under
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik
on the eastern frontier in June 741 or 742. But during this course Constantine was attacked by the forces of his brother-in-law
Artabasdos
, the
stratēgos
of the Armeniac
theme
. Artabasdos was the husband of
Anna
, an older sister of Constantine.
Defeated, Constantine sought refuge in
Amorion
, while the victor advanced on
Constantinople
and was accepted as emperor. While Constantine now received the support of the
Anatolic
and
Thracesian
themes, Artabasdos secured that of the themes of
Thrace
and
Opsikion
, in addition to his own Armeniac soldiers.
After the rival emperors had bided their time in military preparations, Artabasdos marched against Constantine, but was defeated in May 743. Three months later Constantine defeated Artabasdos' son Niketas and headed for Constantinople. In early November Constantine was admitted into the capital and immediately turned on his opponents, having them blinded or executed. Perhaps because Artabasdos' usurpation was interconnected with the restoration of veneration of images, Constantine now became perhaps an even more fervent
iconoclast
than his father.
Constantine's derogatory epithet
Kopronymos
("Dung-named", from
kopros
("
feces
" or "animal
dung
") and
onoma
, "
name
"), was applied to him by his avowed enemies over this extremely emotional issue, the
iconodules
. Using the obscene name they spread the rumour that, as an infant, he had defecated in his baptismal font, or the imperial purple cloth with which he was swaddled.
Iconoclasm
Constantine's position about iconoclasm was clear:
"....He cannot be depicted. For what is depicted in one person, and he who circumscribes that person has plainly circumscribed the divine nature which is incapable of being circumscribed."
In February 754 Constantine convened a synod at Hieria, which was attended entirely by Iconoclast bishops. The council approved of Constantine's religious policy and secured the election of a new Iconoclast patriarch, but refused to follow in all of Constantine's views. The council confirmed the status of Mary as Theotokos, or Mother of God, reinforced the use of the terms "saint" and "holy" as meet, and condemned the desecration, burning, or looting of churches in the quest to quench Iconophiles. It was followed by a campaign to remove images from the walls of churches and to purge the court and bureaucracy of
Iconodules
. Since monasteries tended to be strongholds of
Iconophile
sentiment, Constantine specifically targeted the monks, pairing them off and forcing them to marry nuns in the
Hippodrome
and expropriating monastic property for the benefit of the state or the army. The repressions against the monks (culminating in 766) were largely led by the emperor's general
Michael Lachanodrakon
, who threatened resistant monks with blinding and exile.
An iconodule abbot,
Stephen Neos
, was brutally lynched by a mob at the behest of the authorities. As a result many monks fled to
Southern Italy
and
Sicily
. By the end of Constantine's reign, Iconoclasm had gone as far as to brand
relics
and prayers to the
saints
as
heretical
.
Ultimately, iconophiles considered his death a divine punishment. (In the 9th century he was disinterred and his remains were thrown into the sea.)
Campaigns against the Arabs and Bulgaria
Constantine was also an able general and administrator. He reorganized the
themes
, the military districts of the empire, and created new field army divisions called
tagmata
. This organization was intended to minimize the threat of conspiracies and to enhance the defensive capabilities of the Empire. With this reorganized army he embarked on campaigns on the three major frontiers.
In 746, profiting by the unstable conditions in the Umayyad Caliphate which was falling apart under
Marwan II
, Constantine invaded Syria and captured Germanikeia (modern
Maraş
, his father's birthplace). He organized the resettlement of a part the local Christian population into imperial territory in
Thrace
. In 747 his fleet destroyed the Arab fleet off
Cyprus
. In 752 Constantine led an invasion into the new
Abbasid
Caliphate under
As-Saffah
. Constantine captured Theodosioupolis and Melitene (
Malatya
), and again resettled some of the population in the
Balkans
. These campaigns failed to secure any concrete gains (apart from additional population employed to strengthen another frontier), but it is important to note that under Constantine V the Empire had gone on the offensive.
These successes made it possible to pursue an aggressive policy in the Balkans. With the resettlement of Christian populations from the East into Thrace, Constantine V aimed to enhance the prosperity and defense of this area which caused concern to the Empire's northern neighbor,
Bulgaria
, and the two states clashed in 755.
Kormisosh of Bulgaria
raided as far as the
Anastasian Wall
, but was defeated in battle by Constantine V, who inaugurated a long series of nine successful campaigns against the Bulgarians in the next year, scoring a victory over Kormisosh's successor
Vinekh
at
Marcelae
. However, three year later he was defeated in the
battle of the Rishki Pass
but the Bulgarians did not exploit their success. In 763, he sailed to Anchialus with 800 ships carrying 9,600 cavalry and some infantry. Constantine's victories, including that at
Anchialus
in 763 caused considerable instability in Bulgaria, where six monarchs lost their crowns on account of their failures.
In 775, Constantine was persuaded to reveal to the Bulgarian ruler
Telerig
the identities of his agents in Bulgaria. These were promptly eliminated; thus, Constantine began preparations for a new campaign against the Bulgarians – during which he died on September 14, 775.
Constantine's campaigns were costly; during his reign the Byzantine Empire's annual revenues were reduced to about 1,800,000
nomismata
due to his various wars and the Arab conquests.
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