Romanus I Lekapenos and Christopher: Byzantine Gold Solidus

Historical Context

The reign of Romanus I Lekapenos represents one of the most calculated dynastic maneuvers in tenth-century Byzantine history. Following the death of Emperor Leo VI in 912 and Alexander in 913, the Macedonian dynasty rested on the young Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. Taking advantage of continuous military crises against the Bulgarian empire under Tsar Simeon I, Romanus Lekapenos, commander of the imperial fleet, orchestrated a steady rise through the court hierarchy. In 919 he married his daughter Helena to the young Constantine VII, assuming the rank of basileopator. By late 920, Romanus had attained the title of Caesar, followed by his coronation as senior co-emperor on 17 December 920.

Romanus immediately sought to entrench his own family line ahead of the legitimate Macedonian branch. In May 921, he crowned his eldest son, Christopher Lekapenos, as co-emperor. Further coronations followed in December 924 for his younger sons, Stephen and Constantine. Christopher was systematically advanced, and by 927 - following the peace treaty with Bulgaria sealed by the marriage of Christopher's daughter Maria to Tsar Peter I - Christopher was formally elevated above Constantine VII in imperial protocol.

The gold solidus depicting Romanus I and Christopher stands as the primary monetary manifestation of this dynastic displacement. Rather than acknowledging Constantine VII, the legitimate Macedonian heir was excluded entirely from the empire's premier international coinage. The type circulated as an unambiguous statement that the Lekapenoi were the active, sovereign protectors of the Roman state, an arrangement that terminated abruptly with Christopher's premature death in August 931.

Obverse Iconographic Composition

The obverse of the solidus presents a monumental portrayal of Christ Pantokrator, continuing the theological imagery established on imperial coinage since the Macedonian restoration. Christ is depicted facing, seated upon an elaborate high-backed throne. The throne features curved, lyre-shaped uprights capped with rounded finials, a style of imperial and divine seating seen across tenth-century Constantinopolitan ivory carvings and monumental church mosaics, including the narthex lunette of Hagia Sophia.

Christ is shown with a full beard and long hair parted in the center, clad in the classical drapery of a tunic (chiton) and mantle (himation). His right hand is raised in front of His chest in the gesture of blessing, while His left hand supports a jeweled Book of Gospels resting upright upon His lap. The head is framed by a cruciform halo (nimbus cruciger), which typically incorporates small pellets within the cross arms. Christ's feet rest upon an exergual footstool (suppedion) embellished with beading, set above horizontal base lines that frame the lower exergue.

Obverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The obverse inscription is executed in formal Byzantine Latin majuscule, reading clockwise around the perimeter of the coin:

• Inscription: + IhS XPS REX REGNANTIЧM *
• Transliteration: [Iesus Christus Rex Regnantium]
• Translation: "Jesus Christ, King of those who reign"

The formula begins at the upper left or lower left quadrant and concludes near the lower right with an auxiliary punctuation mark, commonly rendered as a star, rosette, or pellet. The survival of this Latin formula on tenth-century Byzantine gold coinage reflects a deliberate adherence to numismatic tradition initiated under Justinian II. While vernacular Greek served as the daily administrative language of the empire, the Latin acclamation maintained international prestige and recognized theological authority throughout Mediterranean commerce, affirming that earthly rulers governed strictly under divine investiture.

Reverse Iconographic Composition

The reverse composition functions as a direct visualization of collegiate rule and dynastic partnership between father and son. Two half-length busts are positioned facing the viewer, framed within a beaded circular border.

On the viewer's left (the heraldic right, the senior position of honor) stands Romanus I. He is depicted as a mature ruler with a delineated short square beard, wearing the imperial crown (stemma) surmounted by a cross and adorned with pendilia flanking his face. He is robed in the ceremonial loros, the ancient consular scarf embellished with square embroidered and jeweled compartments.

On the viewer's right stands his son Christopher, occupying the junior position. Christopher is depicted beardless, emphasizing his youth relative to his father, and wears a matching jeweled crown with pendilia. In contrast to his father's loros, Christopher wears the chlamys, the imperial military and ceremonial cloak fastened at the right shoulder by a round fibula.

Between them, the two emperors jointly hold an upright patriarchal cross (crux gemina), featuring two distinct horizontal crossbars. Romanus grasps the upper shaft of the cross while Christopher supports it lower down, symbolizing shared imperial duty under divine protection alongside clear internal hierarchy.

Reverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The reverse inscription is executed in mixed Byzantine Greek-Latin epigraphy, reflecting the transitional orthography characteristic of tenth-century Constantinopolitan engraving:

• Inscription: ROMAh' ET XPISTOFO' AVGG [officina]
• Transliteration: Roman[os] et Christofo[ros] Augg[oustoi] + Officina numeral
• Translation: "Romanus and Christopher, Augusti [Emperors]" + [Workshop numeral]

The lettering intermingles Latin characters with Greek phonetic substitutions, such as the Latin 'h' rendering the Greek Eta or Nu, and the Greek abbreviation 'XPISTOFO' for Christopher. The abbreviation 'AVGG' utilizes the traditional doubled consonant to designate multiple co-reigning emperors.

In standard production at the Constantinople mint, this legend terminates with an officina letter denoting one of the active workshops numbered from 1 to 10 (Alpha through Iota). While numismatic catalogues classify specimens according to these terminal workshop letters, museum records that do not record specific epigraphic readings cannot have an individual officina mark definitively assigned without direct curatorial confirmation.

Typology and Documented Variants

The solidus pairing Romanus I and Christopher forms part of an intricate sequence of gold issues struck between 920 and 944 CE, catalogued principally as Dumbarton Oaks Collection Class 7, Sear 1745, and Füeg Class 7.

Related gold types from the reign illustrate the changing political balance at court:

• The Seated Christ Joint Solidus (DOC Class 7 / Sear 1745): Features Christ enthroned on the obverse and facing busts of Romanus I (in loros) and Christopher (in chlamys) on the reverse holding a patriarchal cross. This represents the primary type under study.
• The Coronation Presentation Solidus (DOC Class 5 / Sear 1744): Struck c. 921–923 CE, depicting Romanus standing in loros crowned by Christ on the obverse, while the reverse shows busts of Christopher (in loros) and Constantine VII (in chlamys) holding a patriarchal cross.
• The Subordinated Constantine Solidus (DOC Class 6 / Sear 1743): Struck c. 921 CE, depicting Romanus crowned by Christ on the obverse, with Constantine VII (in loros) and Christopher (in chlamys) on the reverse.
• The Three-Figure Dynastic Solidus (DOC Class 8 / Sear 1742): Struck c. 930–931 CE, featuring Christ enthroned on the obverse, and Romanus standing full-length in the center of the reverse flanked by smaller busts of Constantine VII and Christopher.

Within DOC Class 7, documented variants are characterized by the officina numeral following the reverse legend (Alpha through Iota) and small variations in the obverse terminal stop, such as a star, rosette, or pellet.

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

The primary scholarly debate surrounding DOC Class 7 concerns its exact date of introduction. Philip Grierson placed the inception of the type around 924 CE, reasoning that Romanus only felt secure enough to entirely eliminate the legitimate Macedonian heir, Constantine VII, from the gold currency after the coronation of his younger sons, Stephen and Constantine, in late 924. Conversely, Franz Füeg and Alfred Bellinger proposed that production may have begun earlier, potentially as early as 922 or 923 CE, soon after Christopher's imperial coronation in May 921.

Despite this debate over the starting date, Christopher's death in August 931 provides an absolute terminus ante quem. Following his death, Romanus was compelled to reconstitute the reverse design, eventually returning Constantine VII to the gold coinage alongside himself. Institutional catalogue dates, such as the 920–944 CE range provided in museum databases, represent the total reign of Romanus I rather than the narrow numismatic production window of this joint issue.

Physical parameters also contextualize individual museum objects. For example, the specimen held by The Cleveland Museum of Art (accession 1964.422) is recorded with a diameter of 2.1 cm and a mass of 4.17 g. As the theoretical standard for the full-weight Byzantine solidus was struck at 72 to the Roman pound (approximately 4.48–4.55 g), a mass of 4.17 g reflects expected circulation wear, minor clipping, or mint tolerance rather than a distinct fraction or reform denomination.

References

1. The Cleveland Museum of Art Accession Record 1964.422. Accession 1964.422; gold solidus of Romanus I and Christopher, Norweb Collection.
2. Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, Vol. 3, Part 2. pp. 526–527, 542–544, pl. XXXVI, Class 7.
3. Byzantine Coins and Their Values. p. 343, no. 1745.
4. Corpus of the Nomismata from Anastasius II to John I in Constantinople 713–976. pp. 61–63, Class 7.
5. History of the Byzantine State. pp. 268–279.