Empresses on Early Byzantine Coins (Sixth to Seventh Centuries): Evidence of Power?

Chapter 8 focuses on the observation that only some imperial consorts were depicted on coins in the 6th and 7th c. The aim of the analysis is to highlight what the empresses’ representations indicate about their power and position at the imperial court and what function they served in imperial propaganda. The chapter compares their iconography and historical context with coins struck in the 4th-5th c. Whereas in the 5th c., female members of the imperial house appeared on the obverses of solidi in their own right, imperial women in the 6th and 7th c. appeared exclusively on the reverses of bronze coins. Furthermore, their names were not included in the coins’ legends and they were never depicted alone, but always in presence of their male counterpart. The chapter argues that women were represented on coins in the 6th and 7th centuries mainly in moments when emperors needed to strengthen their position and to emphasise their legitimacy. Therefore, the images on the coins do not necessarily indicate anything about the status of the empresses and the power they held. The female empress on early Byzantine coins was, in essence, perceived as guaranteeing legitimacy and dynastic continuity of the ruling family.