Byzantine Empire. Heraclius (AD 610-641). Solidus Constantinopolis

Solidus of Heraclius, 610-641 with Heraclius Constantine and Heraclonas. AV solidus, 638/639, Constantinople, 8th officina; 4.38 g. Three emperors standing side by side // Cross on steps. DOC 41 h; Sear 767.

Emperor Heraclius ruled from 613 together with his son from the first marriage, Heraclius Constantine (Constantine III). Heraclonas, his son from the second marriage with Martina, was from 632 as Caesar and from 638 also as Augustus also a member of the imperial college. After Heraclius' death on February 11, 641, his sons were to rule the Byzantine Empire as co-equals. According to ancient tradition, the empress-mother Martina allegedly tried to enforce the claim to rule of her son Heraclonas against his half-brother. Short after the death of Constantine III on May 25, 641, Heraclonas made his son Flavius Heraclius (Constans II) co-regent due to public pressure. Rumors of an alleged poison murder of Constantine III and the re-emergent Monotheletism, a Christian doctrine that ascribed two natures to Jesus but only one will, led to unrest. Martina and Heraclonas were subsequently mutilated and banished to Rhodes in the course of a palace coup. Constans II then took sole rule of the Empire.

The dynastic portraits of Heraclius with all three rulers show them in the protocol representation scheme that corresponded to the appearance of the imperial family at important public ceremonies. The position of the main emperor in the center, his older co-regent to the right, and his markedly smaller co-emperor to the left is underscored by the relative sizes. Coins of our type already show the younger Heraclonas likewise with a cross diadem and thus crowned as Augustus on the same level of rule as his brother. The complete omission of the ruler’s name in the obverse legend further underscores the dynastic idea.