CONSTANS II & CONSTANTINE IV 654AD Syracuse Sicily Follis Byzantine Coin i53597

Item: i53597

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

 Bronze Follis 22mm (3.49 grams)

Syracuse in

Sicily mint

 Reference: Sear 1109; DOC 180
No legend. Constans (on left), with long beard, and Constantine IV (on right),
beardless, standing facing, each wearing crown; Constans wears military attire,
and holds long staff; his son wears chlamys and holds globe cross.
Large M; above, monogram 35; beneath, SCL.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

Constantine IV, (c. 652 – September 685), sometimes incorrectly
called Pogonatos, “the Bearded”, by confusion with his father;
was
Byzantine Emperor
from 668 to 685. His reign
saw the first serious check to nearly 50 years of uninterrupted
Islamic
expansion, while his calling of the
Sixth Ecumenical Council
saw the end of the
monothelitism
controversy in the
Byzantine Empire
.

Early career

The eldest son of
Constans II
, Constantine IV had been named a
co-emperor with his father in 654.
 He had been given the responsibility of managing the
affairs at
Constantinople
during his father’s extended
absence in Italy and became senior Emperor when Constans was assassinated in
668. His mother was
Fausta
, daughter of patrician
Valentinus
.
The first task before the new Emperor was the suppression of
the military revolt in
Sicily
under
Mezezius
which had led to his father’s death.
Within 7 months of his accession, Constantine IV had dealt with
the insurgency with the support of
Pope Vitalian
.
But this success was overshadowed by troubles in the east.

As early as 668 the
Caliph

Muawiyah I
, after receiving an invitation from
Saborios
, the commander of the troops in
Armenia
to help him overthrow the Emperor at
Constantinople,
sent an army under his son
Yazid
against the
Eastern Roman Empire
. Yazid reached as far as
Chalcedon
and took the important Byzantine
center Amorion
. Although the city was quickly
recovered, the
Arabs
next attacked
Carthage
and Sicily in 669.
In 670 the Arabs captured
Cyzicus
and set up a base from which to launch
further attacks into the heart of the Empire.
Their fleet captured
Smyrna
and other coastal cities in 672.
Finally, in 672, the Arabs sent a large fleet to attack
Constantinople
by sea.
While Constantine was distracted by this, the
Slavs
unsuccessfully attacked
Thessalonika
.

The
Siege of Constantinople: 674-678

Then, commencing in 674, the Arabs launched the long awaited siege of
Constantinople. The great fleet that had been assembled set sail under the
command of
Abdu’l-Rahman ibn Abu Bakr

before the end of the year; and during the winter months some of the ships
anchored at Smyrna
, the rest off the coast of
Cilicia
.
Additional squadrons reinforced the forces of Abd ar-Rahman before they
proceeded to the
Hellespont
, into which they sailed in about
April 674.
From April to September 674 the fleet lay moored from the promontory of Hebdomon,
on the
Propontis
, as far as the promontory of
Kyklobion
, near the
Golden Gate
, and throughout those months
continued to engage with the Byzantine fleet which defended the harbour
continued from morning to evening.

Knowing that it was only a matter of time before Constantinople was under
siege, Constantine had ensured that the city was well provisioned.
He also constructed a large number of fireships and fast-sailing boats provided
with tubes or siphons for squirting fire. This is the first known use of
Greek fire
in combat,
which was one of the key advantages that the Byzantines possessed. In September,
the Arabs having failed in their attempts to take the city, sailed to Cyzicus,
which they made their winter quarters.
Over the following five years, the Arabs would return each spring to continue
the siege of Constantinople, but with the same results.
The city survived and finally in 678, the Arabs were forced to raise the siege.
The Arabs withdrew, and were almost simultaneously defeated on land in
Lycia
in
Anatolia
.
This unexpected reverse forced Muawiyah I to seek a truce with Constantine. The
terms of the concluded truce required the Arabs to evacuating those islands in
the Aegean
they had seized, as well as an annual
tribute to the Emperor consisting of fifty slaves, fifty horses and 3,000 pounds
of gold.
The raising of the siege allowed Constantine to go to the relief of Thessalonika,
still under siege from the Slavs.

Later Reign

With the temporary passing of the Arab threat, Constantine had to turn his
attention to the Church, torn between
Monothelitism
and Orthodoxy.
In November 680 Constantine convened the
Sixth Ecumenical Council
(also known as the
Third Council of Constantinople).
Constantine presided in person during the formal aspects of the proceedings (the
first eleven sittings and then the eighteenth), surrounded by his court
officials, but took no active role in the theological discussions.
The Council reaffirmed the Orthodox doctrines of the
Council of Chalcedon
in 451.
This solved the controversy over
monothelitism
; conveniently for the Empire,
most monothelites were now under the control of the
Umayyad

Caliphate
.
The council closed in September 681.

Due to the ongoing concerns with the Arabs during the 670s, in the west,
Constantine had been forced to conclude treaties with the
Lombards
, who had captured
Brindisi
and
Taranto
.
As well, in 670 the
Bulgars
under
Asparukh
crossed the
Danube
into nominally Imperial territory and
began to subject the local communities and Slavic tribes.
In 680, Constantine IV led a combined land and sea operation against the
invaders and besieged their fortified camp in
Dobruja
.
Suffering from bad health, the Emperor had to leave the army, which allowed
itself to panic and
be defeated
by the Bulgars.
In 681, Constantine was forced to acknowledge the
Bulgar state
in
Moesia
and to pay protection money to avoid
further inroads into Byzantine
Thrace
.
Consequently, Constantine created the
Theme of Thrace
.

His brothers
Heraclius
and
Tiberius
had been crowned with him as
Augusti
during the reign of their father,
and this was confirmed by the demand of the populace,
but in 681 Constantine had them
mutilated
so they would be ineligible to rule.
At the same time he associated on the throne his own young son
Justinian II
. Constantine died of
dysentery
in September 685.

Family

By his wife
Anastasia
, Constantine IV had at least two
sons:

• Justinian II
  , who succeeded as emperor
• Heraclius

Constans II (Greek:

Κώνστας Β’, Kōnstas II), also called

“Constantine the Bearded” (Kōnstantinos Pogonatos), (November

7, 630
–September

15, 668
)

was

Byzantine emperor

from 641 to 668. He also was the last emperor to become

consul in 642,

becoming the last

Roman

consul
in history.

Constans is a diminutive nickname given to the emperor, who

had been baptized Herakleios and reigned officially as Constantine. The nickname

established itself in Byzantine texts, and has become standard in modern

historiography.

//

 Biography

Constans was the son of

Constantine III

and

Gregoria
.

Due to the rumours that

Heraklonas

and Martina

had poisoned Constantine III he was named co-emperor in 641. Later that same

year his uncle was deposed and Constans II was left as sole emperor.

Constans owed his throne to a popular reaction against his

uncle and to the protection of the soldiers led by the general Valentinus.

Although the precocious emperor addressed the senate with a speech blaming

Heraklonas and Martina for eliminating his father, he reigned under a regency of

senators led by

Patriarch Paul II of Constantinople

. In 644 Valentinus attempted to seize

power for himself but failed.

Under Constans, the Byzantines completely withdrew from

Egypt

in 642, and

Caliph Uthman

launched numerous attacks on the islands of the

Mediterranean Sea

and

Aegean Sea
.

A Byzantine fleet under the admiral Manuel occupied

Alexandria

again in 645, but after a Muslim victory the following year this had to be

abandoned. The situation was complicated by the violent opposition to

Monothelitism

by the clergy in the west, and the related rebellion of the

Exarch of Carthage

, Gregory. The latter fell in battle against the army of Caliph

Uthman and the region remained a vassal state under

Caliphate
,

until the civil war broke out and the imperial rule was again restored.

Constans attempted to steer a middle line in the church

dispute between Orthodoxy and Monothelitism, by refusing to persecute either and

prohibiting further discussion of the natures of

Jesus

Christ
by

decree in 648. Naturally, this live-and-let-live compromise satisfied few

passionate participants in the dispute.

Meanwhile, the

Caliphate

advance continued unabated. In 647 they had entered into

Armenia
and

Cappadocia
,

and sacked

Caesarea Mazaca

. In 648 the Arabs raided into

Phrygia
and

in 649 launched their first maritime expedition against

Crete
. A major

Arab offensive into

Cilicia
and

Isauria
in

650–651 forced the emperor to enter into negotiations with

Caliph Uthman
‘s

governor of Syria
,

Muawiyah
.

The truce that followed allowed a short respite, and made it possible for

Constans to hold on to the western portions of Armenia.

In 654, however,

Muawiyah

renewed his raids by sea, and plundered

Rhodes
.

Constans led a fleet to attack the

Muslims

at Phoinike (off

Lycia
) in 655 at

the

Battle of the Masts

, but he was defeated: 500 Byzantine ships were destroyed

in the battle, and the emperor himself risked to be killed. Before the battle,

chronicler

Theophanes the Confessor

says, the emperor dreamt to be at Thessalonika,

this dream predicted his defeat against the Arabs because the word

Thessalonika

is similar to the sentence “thes allo niken”, that means “gave

victory to another (the enemy)”.^[3]

Caliph Uthman

was preparing to attack

Constantinople

, but did not carry out the plan when civil war between the

future

Sunni

and

Shi’a

factions broke out among them in 656.

With the eastern frontier under less pressure, in 658

Constans defeated the

Slavs

in the Balkans

, temporarily reasserting some notion of Byzantine rule over them. In

659 he campaigned far to the east, taking advantage of a rebellion against the

Caliphate in Media
.

The same year he concluded peace with the Arabs.

Now Constans could turn to church matters once again.

Pope

Martin I
had condemned both Monothelitism and Constans’ attempt to halt

debates over it (the

Type of Constans

) in the

Lateran Council of 649

. Now the emperor ordered his Exarch of

Ravenna
to

arrest the Pope. One Exarch excused himself from this task, but his successor

carried it out in 653. The Pope was brought to Constantinople and condemned as a

criminal, ultimately being exiled to

Cherson

, where he died in 655.

Constans grew increasingly fearful that his younger brother,

Theodosius, could oust him from the throne: he therefore obliged him first to

take holy orders, and later had Theodosius killed in 660. Constans’ sons

Constantine, Heraclius, and Tiberius had been associated on the throne since the

650s. However, having attracted the hatred of citizens of Constantinople,

Constans decided to leave the capital and to move to

Syracuse

in Sicily

.

From here, in 661, he launched an assault against the

Lombard

Duchy of Benevento

, which then occupied most of

Southern Italy

. Taking advantage of the fact that Lombard king

Grimoald I of Benevento

was engaged against Frankish forces from

Neustria
,

Constans II disembarked at

Taranto
and

besieged Lucera

and Benevento
.

However, the latter resisted and Constans withdrew to

Naples
. During

the travel from Benevento to Naples, Constans II was defeated by Mitolas, Count

of Capua, near Pugna. Constans ordered Saburrus, the commander of his army, to

attack again the Lombards but he was defeated by the Beneventani at

Forino
, between

Avellino

and Salerno
.

In 663 Constans visited

Rome for 12 days—no

emperor having set foot in Rome for two centuries—and was received with great

honor by

Pope

Vitalian
(657–672). Although on friendly terms with Vitalian, he stripped

buildings, including the

Pantheon

, of their ornaments and bronze to be carried back to

Constantinople, and declared the

Pope of Rome

to have no jurisdiction over the Archbishop of Ravenna, since

that city was the seat of the

exarch

, his immediate representative.

His subsequent moves in

Calabria

and Sardinia

were marked by further strippings and request of tributes that enraged his

Italian subjects. Rumours that he was going to move the capital of the empire to

Syracuse were probably fatal for Constans. On

September 15

, 668

he was assassinated in his bath by his

chamberlain

. His son Constantine succeeded him as

Constantine IV

, a brief usurpation in Sicily by

Mezezius

being quickly suppressed by the new emperor.

 Family

By his wife

Fausta

, a daughter of the patrician Valentinus, Constans II had three sons:

• Constantine IV

  , who succeeded as emperor

• Heraclius, co-emperor from 659 to 681

• Tiberius, co-emperor from 659 to 681