Byzantine Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, with Romanus I. 913-959. AV Solidus (18.5mm, 4.39 g, 6h). Constantinople mint. Struck 920-921. +IҺS XPS RЄX RЄςNANτIЧM *, Christ Pantokrator enthroned facing on suppedion, draped and nimbate, raising right hand in benediction and holding Gospels in left / COҺSτAҺτ´ CЄ ROMAҺ´ AЧϥϥ´ Ь´, crowned facing busts of Constantine and Romanus, both wearing loros and together holding patriarchal cross between them with right and left hand respectively. DOC 3; Füeg 3; SB 1741. Toned, trace deposits, a few minor die breaks on obverse. Good VF. Rare. Constantine VII’s time as emperor had a very complex path to his eventual sole reign. Following the death of his uncle Alexander, Constantine began his reign under the regency of the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nicolas Mystikos. However, Nicolas’ regency was short-lived. After the Tsar of Bulgaria, Symeon, appeared outside Constantinople with a massive army, Nicolas capitulated to the Bulgarians’ demands and granted them numerous concessions. This lack of strength by Nicolas led to a palace revolt in which Nicolas’ regency was removed and replaced with that of Constantine’s mother, Zoe Karbonopsina. This change in government led Symeon to invade the Byzantine empire and lay waste to numerous provinces. His destructive campaign was eventually stymied by the capable general Romanus Lecapenus. Upon Romanus’ initial victories, he assumed the regency from Zoe, whom he forced into a convent. Romanus additionally married his daughter Helena to Constantine. In December of 920, Romanus assumed the title of co-Augustus and, though he did not depose Constantine, he kept all the power for himself. Romanus and Symeon continued to war against each other until Symeon’s death in 927. Symeon’s death seriously diminished the Bulgarians’ power and Romanus was free to turn his attention towards matters of state.Between 921 and 945, Romanus elevated three of his sons as co-Augustus: Christopher, Stephen, and Constantine. All the while, the former senior Augustus Constantine VII was completely sidelined for over thirty years (Romanus officially displaced Constantine as senior Augustus around 921). However, matters eventually changed when Stephen and Constantine turned on their father and deposed him in December 944. This was precipitated by Romanus drafting a will in which he intended to leave Constantine VII as sole Augusutus following his death. Constantine VII seized his chance and in turn successfully deposed Stephen and Constantine that following January. Finally, in the thirty-first year of his reign, Constantine VII was free of his domineering associates and became sole Augustus. Later that year, he added his own son Romanus II as co-Augustus. Constantine reigned for an additional fourteen years after he finally deposed the Lecapeni before dying in 959 after reigning for a total of forty-six years. This issue was struck during the brief one-year period in which Romanus I had assumed the title of Augustus but before he began elevating his own sons which accounts for the rarity of this difficult issue. !--Gold--
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