Le Chrisme et le Phénix. Images monétaires et mutations idéologiques au IVe siècle

The major mutations that affected the Roman Empire in the fourth century are at the heart of many questions about Late Antiquity. First Christianity turning from a persecuted sect to a state religion, but also the domination of an increasingly barbarised army, which controlled the Emperors much more than it served them. The development of a suffocating bureaucratic administration is also worth mentioning. The sovereign himself ceased to be the Princeps, that is to say "First" of the magistrates, to become a manifestation of the divine sphere, supposed to provide perpetual victories to the Roman world. The period is also marked by the increasing pressure on Rome from the barbarian populations on the move and the recurring confrontation with the Eastern rival – the Sassanids’ Persian Empire. 

Now, coins tell us about all this. Monetary iconography, carefully elaborated by the administration, is responsible for disseminating an ideological discourse that legitimises the power of sovereigns and the state. These images, often massively reproduced, are contemporary to the upheavals they comment on. They are an authentic and major historical source, albeit under-exploited, for the understanding of the issues at stake in the Late Empire. The studies gathered in this book shed light on some of the most salient aspects of numismatic imagery between the advent of Constantine (306) and the death of Theodosius (395). They especially reveal the dynamics of two competing symbols, sometimes complementary but often incompatible: The Phoenix, a fabulous solar bird with multiple rebirths, and the Chrism, first a luminous token of victory that appeared to Constantine, then a dynastic emblem and Christian sign. These case studies are intended to encourage a broader examination of imagery that is often wrongly judged to be dull and repetitive, to fully reinstate late imperial numismatics at the centre of historical research.