Eudocia and Romanus IV, Gold nomisma, Byzantine

Historical Context

Following the death of Emperor Constantine X Doukas on May 22, 1067, the Byzantine Empire faced dual crises: severe military vulnerability along the Anatolian frontier due to accelerating Seljuq Turkish incursions, and domestic dynastic instability. Constantine X had entrusted the regency to his wife, Empress Eudocia Makrembolitissa, alongside their young sons Michael VII, Constantius, and Andronicus. Before his death, the emperor required Eudocia to take a binding written oath before the Senate and Patriarch John VIII Xiphilinos pledging that she would never remarry, thereby attempting to safeguard the purple exclusively for the Doukas lineage (Michael Psellos, Chronographia, Book VII).

The sack of Caesarea in Cappadocia and mounting military disasters rapidly demonstrated the inadequacy of a civilian regency. With the support of senior military factions and a patriarchal dispensation absolving her of the oath, Eudocia chose as her consort Romanus Diogenes, an accomplished Cappadocian general who had previously been pardoned for an alleged conspiracy. On January 1, 1068, Romanus married Eudocia and was crowned senior co-emperor as Romanus IV.

The political arrangement underpinning the new regime was a delicate dynastic compromise. The Doukas family, guided by Constantine X's brother, Caesar John Doukas, insisted that the rights of Constantine's three sons remain intact. Romanus IV wielded supreme military leadership and executive control, but the imperial title was shared among five individuals: Romanus IV, Eudocia, and the three Doukas princes (Michael VII, Constantius, and Andronicus).

This intricate distribution of sovereignty was directly manifested on the empire's gold coinage. Between 1068 and 1071, the Constantinople mint issued a monumental gold nomisma histamenon featuring all five imperial figures across its two faces. Romanus IV campaigned vigorously against the Seljuqs between 1068 and 1070, but his reign came to an abrupt end following the catastrophic Battle of Manzikert on August 26, 1071. Betrayed by factions loyal to the Doukai, Romanus was captured by Sultan Alp Arslan. A palace coup in Constantinople swiftly deposed Romanus, forced Eudocia into a convent, and elevated Michael VII Doukas to sole senior rule. When Romanus was released following a peace treaty, he was defeated in civil war, blinded in June 1072, and died of his injuries in August 1072.

Obverse: Iconographic Composition

In scyphate (concave/convex) Byzantine numismatics, cataloguing taxonomy codified by Philip Grierson and David R. Sear designates the convex face as the obverse. Mechanically, this face was struck from the stationary anvil (lower) die. Symbolically, it features the hereditary heirs of the Doukas dynasty, emphasizing constitutional legitimacy:

• Central Figure: Michael VII Doukas stands frontal and beardless, occupying the elevated central position. He wears a jeweled imperial crown (stemma) with lateral pendilia and an ornate imperial loros. In his right hand, he holds a vertical labarum; in his left hand, he holds an akakia (a cylindrical silk roll containing dust, symbolic of human mortality and humility).
• Flanking Figures:
  • To the viewer's left stands his younger brother, Constantius Doukas, facing frontal, beardless, crowned and robed in a loros, holding a globus cruciger in his left (outer) hand and an akakia in his right (inner) hand.
  • To the viewer's right stands Andronicus Doukas, similarly attired, holding an akakia in his left (inner) hand and a globus cruciger in his right (outer) hand.
• Groundline / Platforms: In the standard typology of the series, each brother stands upon an individual beaded footstool (suppedion), or in later variants, directly upon a shared dotted groundline. The entire composition is circumscribed by a double beaded border.

Institutional Note: The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogue entry 1964.425.b designates this convex side as the "reverse".

Obverse: Epigraphy and Inscriptions

• Script: Medieval Byzantine Greek uncial.
• Language: Greek.
• Series Inscription:
  • Left field (vertical): KѠN
  • Center field (flanking or above Michael's head): MX
  • Right field (vertical): ANΔ
• Transliteration: Kōn[stantios] / M[i]ch[aēl] / And[ronikos]
• Translation: "Constantius, Michael, Andronicus"
• Specimen Epigraphy: The Cleveland Museum of Art record 1964.425 lists no recorded inscription text in its published metadata. Any wear or weak die strike on individual specimens must be evaluated through direct physical inspection.

Reverse: Iconographic Composition

The concave face, struck from the upper punch die, portrays the divine sanction and marital legitimacy of the ruling senior couple:

• Jesus Christ: In the center, Christ stands frontal and elevated upon a beaded rectangular footstool (suppedion). He is depicted nimbate with a cross within the halo (nimbus cruciger), clad in a tunic (colobium) and mantle (pallium). With both arms extended outward, Christ places his right hand on the crown of Romanus IV and his left hand on the crown of Empress Eudocia.
• Romanus IV Diogenes: Standing to the viewer's left (heraldic right), Romanus is depicted with a beard and mustache. He wears an imperial crown with pendilia and a jeweled loros, holding a globus cruciger in his right hand. Occupying the place of honor at Christ's right hand signifies Romanus's supreme executive and military preeminence.
• Empress Eudocia Makrembolitissa: Standing to the viewer's right (heraldic left), Eudocia wears a crown with triangular peaks and pendilia, a heavy jewel-encrusted collar, and a loros draped over a saccos. She holds a globus cruciger in her left hand.
• Border: Enclosed within a double linear or beaded concentric border.

Institutional Note: The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogue entry 1964.425.a designates this concave side as the "obverse".

Reverse: Epigraphy and Inscriptions

• Script: Medieval Byzantine Greek uncial.
• Language: Greek.
• Sacred Monograms: Flanking Christ's head in the upper fields:
  • Left field: IC (with titlos/macron: ĪC)
  • Right field: XC (with titlos/macron: X̄C)
  • Transliteration: I[ēsou]s Ch[risto]s
  • Translation: "Jesus Christ"
• Series Circumscription:
  • Legend: + PѠMAN S ЄVΔOKIA (variations include omitting the conjunction S [kai] or spelling ЄVΔVKIA).
  • Transliteration: + Rōman[os] [kai] Eudokia
  • Translation: "+ Romanus [and] Eudocia"

Typology and Documented Variants

During the reign of Romanus IV, the gold coinage struck at the capital mint of Constantinople consisted of two distinct denominations: the broad, scyphate nomisma histamenon (retaining the traditional diameter of ca. 27–28 mm and a nominal weight of ca. 4.30–4.45 g) and the smaller, flat nomisma tetarteron (typically 20–22 mm, ca. 4.00–4.05 g).

The histamenon series is catalogued across three recognized variations based on the groundline and footstool arrangements on the convex face:

1. Class 1 (DOC III.2, no. 1; Sear 1859):
   • Diagnostic Features: On the convex face, Michael VII, Constantius, and Andronicus each stand on three separate beaded footstools (suppedia). There is no continuous exergual groundline below them.
2. Class 1 Variant (Sear 1860):
   • Diagnostic Features: The three princes stand on three separate footstools, but a continuous dotted horizontal exergual band runs directly beneath the cushions across the lower rim.
3. Class 2 (DOC III.2, no. 2; Sear 1861):
   • Diagnostic Features: The three princes do not stand on separate footstools; instead, all three stand directly upon a single straight or curved dotted groundline / dais.
4. Tetarteron Nomisma (DOC III.2, no. 3; Sear 1862):
   • Diagnostic Features: Smaller, thick, flat flan. Obverse depicts the nimbate bust of the Virgin Mary (Theotokos) holding a medallion of the infant Christ (legend: + ΘKЄ-ROHΘ). Reverse depicts facing half-length busts of Romanus IV and Eudocia jointly supporting a globus cruciger between them (legend: + PѠMAN S ЄVΔOKIA). The three Doukas princes are completely omitted from this denomination.

Catalogue Status of CMA 1964.425: The Cleveland Museum of Art accession 1964.425 represents this joint-reign histamenon series. Because the museum publishes the specimen under the general denomination label "Nomisma with Eudocia and Romanus IV Diogenes" without designating a Sear or DOC subtype, formal assignment to Sear 1859, 1860, or 1861 requires direct institutional cataloguing and physical inspection.

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

• The Obverse/Reverse Classification Dispute: Nineteenth-century numismatists (such as J. Sabatier) customarily classified the concave face showing Christ as the obverse, adhering to a theological hierarchy that placed the divine figure first. This legacy system is reflected in the Cleveland Museum of Art's institutional catalogue, which numbers the concave face 1964.425.a ("obverse") and the convex face 1964.425.b ("reverse"). In contrast, modern numismatic methodology established by Philip Grierson classifies the convex face as the obverse on both technical grounds (the convex die was the lower anvil die in production) and constitutional grounds (the hereditary Doukas princes represented primary dynastic legitimacy).
• Alloy Purity and Monetary Debasement: The reign of Romanus IV falls within a period of rapid debasement of the Byzantine gold currency. Broader numismatic assays indicate that histamena of Romanus IV typically drop to between 16 and 18 carats (approximately 65% to 75% gold, alloyed with silver and copper). While debased flans often display an electrum or pale-yellow appearance, precise fineness cannot be determined visually. The metallurgical purity of CMA 1964.425 has not been tested by laboratory methods (such as specific gravity or XRF) in the published record.
• Institutional Attribution Limitations: The Cleveland Museum of Art records an institutional diameter of 2.7 cm (1 1/16 in.) for 1964.425 (gift of Mrs. R. Henry Norweb), but its exact mass, die orientation, and specific gravity remain unrecorded in institutional data.

References

1. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Nomisma with Eudocia and Romanus IV Diogenes (Accession 1964.425). Accession record 1964.425; face records 1964.425.a and 1964.425.b
2. Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, Volume Three: Leo III to Nicephorus III, 717–1081. Part 2: Basil I to Nicephorus III (867–1081). pp. 784–791 (Romanus IV), p. 785 (typology), p. 788 (Class 1, nos. 1.1–1.5), p. 789 (Class 2, nos. 2.1–2.9), p. 790 (tetarteron, no. 3)
3. Byzantine Coins and Their Values (2nd ed.). pp. 378–379, nos. 1859, 1860, 1861, 1862
4. Michael Psellos: Chronographia, Book VII. Book VII: Constantine X, Eudocia, Romanus IV
5. Catalogue des monnaies byzantines de la Bibliothèque nationale. Tome II: De Philippicus à Alexis III (711–1204). Further reading: pp. 650–652 (fineness assays of 11th-century histamena)
6. Studies in the Byzantine Monetary Economy c. 300–1450. Further reading: pp. 512–516 (11th-century gold debasement)