Art Institute of Chicago

Solidus (Coin) Portraying Emperor Constantine I

Roman; minted in Antioch (in present-day Turkey)

Date

Late 324-early 325, issued by Constantine I

Medium

Gold

Culture

Antioch

Department

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

The portrait of Constantine on the front (obverse) of this coin is among the last in the history of Roman coinage, for increasingly the emphasis lay not on the individual person of the emperor but on the office. Constantine's luminous eyes in this coin portrait were said by his contemporaries to reflect his divine inspiration. On the back (reverse) of the coin, Constantine rides to the left on horseback, raising his right arm, and carrying a scepter in his left.

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