Solidus of Theodosius II as a witness to the turbulent events of the era of the great migration of peoples

A solid of the Eastern Roman Empire  minted in Constantinople during the reign of Emperor Theodosius II was sold at Violity. On the obverse of the solid there is a bust of the emperor with a full title. 

On the reverse is the personification of the capital of the empire, Constantinople, with attributes of power over the civilized world. 

But was this power really that strong during the reign of Emperor Theodosius II?

Theodosius II was born on April 10, 401, the only son of Emperor Arcadius and his Frankish wife Aelia Eudoxia. Theodosius II, like Valentinian III, to whom he helped regain the throne, is the grandson of Emperor Theodosius I the Great, who, before his death, divided the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern in which Honorius and Arcadius became emperors, respectively. Theodosius II was proclaimed Augustus in infancy and after the death of his father Arcadius in 408, he became sole emperor under the regency of the prefect Anthemius, then sister Pulcheria. Subsequently, his wife Evdokia had a huge influence on the management of the empire. Theodosius II was a very educated man and cared about the education of his subjects; by his order, the University of Constantinople was opened in 425.

Nevertheless, by order of Theodosius, the ancient Greek sanctuary of Olympia was burned. During the reign of the emperor, religious contradictions between various movements of Christianity sharply intensified, threatening the integrity of the empire. The empire waged a war against Sassanian Iran, which resulted in Iran recognizing the rights of Christians to freedom of religion, and the Roman Zoroastrians living in Roman territories. The most difficult test was the invasion of the Huns. The first invasion of the Huns was in 422 during the war with Iran. The first campaign of Attila and Bleda against the Danube provinces of the empire began in 441, when the armies of Rome were diverted to fight the Persians and Vandals in Sicily. According to the message of the Roman diplomat Priscus, the Huns captured a vast territory in the area of ​​​​modern Serbia, five days' journey south of the Danube. In 447, being the sole ruler of the Huns, Attila attacked again. Marcellinus Comite in his chronicle under the year 447 left the following entry: “In a terrible war, much more difficult than the first (441-442), Attila wiped out almost all of Europe into dust.” Advance detachments of the Huns appeared at the walls of Constantinople

and the Thermopylae Pass in Greece, completely destroying the Danube provinces of the empire. According to the terms of the agreement concluded by the diplomat Priscus,

hand over defectors and six thousand liters of gold to the Huns (approx. 2 tons), in salary for the past time; pay annually a certain tribute of two thousand one hundred liters of gold; for each Roman prisoner of war who escaped from the Huns and returned to his own land without ransom, pay twelve gold coins; If those who accept him do not pay this price, they are obliged to hand over the fugitive to the Huns. 

The payment of tribute to the Huns was one of the most important budget items; it completely undermined the economy of the empire and the well-being of its citizens. The main area of ​​settlement of the Huns at that time was the plains of modern Hungary and Ukraine, and gold coins from this tribute also arrived in these territories.

Only the next emperor Marcian dared to stop paying tribute after the defeat of the Huns in the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields and the death of their ruler Atilla. And you can replenish your collection of antique gold coins in the corresponding section of Violity.