Dea Moneta
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Banner Artemide eLive Auktion 30
Lot # 741
Aelia Pulcheria (414-453). AV Solidus, Constantinople mint, 420-422. Obv. AEL PVLCHERIA AVG. Diademed and draped bust right, hand of God placing crown on head. Rev. VOT XX MVLT XXX Γ. Victory standing left, holding long cross; in exergue, CONOB. RIC X 220. AV. 3.26 g. 18.50 mm. RR. Very rare. Bent, weavy flan. Good F. Saint Aelia Pulcheria the second (and oldest surviving) child of Eastern Roman Emperor Arcadius and Empress Aelia Eudoxia. In 414, the fifteen-year old Pulcheria took over the reins of government as the guardian of her younger brother Theodosius II and was also proclaimed 'Augusta'. Pulcheria had significant, though changing, political power during her brother's reign. When Theodosius II died on 26 July 450, Pulcheria initially ruled in her own right before providing a successor by marrying Marcian on 25 November 450, while simultaneously not violating her vow of virginity. She died three years later, in July 453.