Divine Investiture and Imperial Legitimation: The Gold Histamenon of Romanus III Argyrus

Historical Context

Romanus III Argyrus was an elderly member of the Anatolian military aristocracy serving as urban prefect (eparchos) of Constantinople when the dying emperor Constantine VIII selected him to preserve dynastic continuity in November 1028. Constantine VIII, who had ruled alongside his brother Basil II from 976 to 1025 and as sole ruler from 1025 to 1028, had produced three daughters but no male heir. Compelled to divorce his wife Helena under threat of blinding, the sixty-year-old Romanus wed Constantine's fifty-year-old daughter, Zoe Porphyrogenita, on 12 November 1028. Following Constantine VIII's death, Romanus was crowned senior Augustus on 15 November 1028. Although some institutional catalog records inadvertently name Constantine VII as Zoe's father, she was in fact the daughter of Constantine VIII.

Lacking military prestige and blood ties to the Macedonian dynasty, Romanus turned to architecture, patronage, and numismatic iconography to reinforce his authority. An ardent devotee of the Virgin Mary, he founded and lavishly endowed the Monastery of the Theotokos Peribleptos in Constantinople. On the imperial coinage, Romanus discarded the long-standing Macedonian dynastic convention of depicting joint emperors, introducing instead a dramatic scene of divine investiture wherein the Virgin Mary personally crowns the standing emperor.

Romanus III's foreign policy met with severe setbacks, notably his personal defeat by the Mirdasids of Aleppo at the Battle of Azaz in 1030. Although General George Maniakes subsequently salvaged imperial prestige by taking Edessa in 1031, Romanus faced growing domestic intrigue. After restricting Empress Zoe's expenditure, the emperor was gradually sidelined as Zoe formed an attachment with Michael the Paphlagonian. On 11 April 1034, Romanus III died mysteriously in the imperial bathhouse - widely reported by the contemporary chronicler Michael Psellus to have been murdered by poison or drowning at Zoe's instigation. Zoe married Michael that same evening, elevating him to the imperial throne as Michael IV.

Obverse Iconographic Composition

The obverse displays a monumental depiction of Christ Pantokrator seated facing upon an elaborate square-backed or straight-backed throne. Christ is depicted with a close beard and long hair parted in the middle. His head is enclosed within a nimbus cruciger, with each visible arm of the cross containing a single pellet. He wears the traditional classical garments of antiquity adapted into Christian imperial art: a tunic (chiton) beneath an enveloping mantle (himation or pallium), with folds rendered in sharp linear drapery.

Christ's right hand is raised before his chest in the gesture of benediction, while his left hand supports a codex of the Gospels upon his lap, its jeweled binding detailed with pellets. The throne features two straight upright posts decorated with pellets and crowned by prominent globose finials. A long horizontal bolster cushion is positioned behind Christ, and his feet rest on an ornamental footstool (suppedion). The entire composition is encircled by a double concentric linear border punctuated by fine pellets.

Obverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The obverse legend runs circumferentially clockwise along the outer margin, beginning at the lower left. The inscription represents the traditional middle Byzantine formula introduced during the reign of Basil I in the ninth century, celebrating the celestial sovereignty of Christ.

• Legend: + IhS XIS RЄX RЄςNANTIhM (with stylistic variants including REX REGNANTIhM)
• Script: Byzantine Latin majuscule employing uncial forms
• Transliteration: Iesus Christus Rex Regnantium
• Translation: "Jesus Christ, King of Kings" or "Jesus Christ, King of those who rule"

The epigraphy demonstrates the transitional orthography of eleventh-century Byzantine mint practice. Although the language is Latin, Greek letterforms and abbreviations are freely incorporated, including the Greek nomina sacra abbreviations IhS and XIS, lunate epsilon (Є), Greek stigma (ς) or uncial G in regnantium, and uncial h alongside standard Latin capitals.

Reverse Iconographic Composition

The reverse features a two-figure composition representing the divine coronation of Emperor Romanus III. Romanus stands facing on the left, depicted with a rounded beard and crowned with the imperial stemma surmounted by a cross, complete with pearl pendilia falling on either side of his face. He is attired in an ankle-length tunic (saccos) over which is draped the ceremonial jeweled loros, a broad scarf studded with precious stones whose lower end loops over his left forearm and hangs downward. In his left hand, Romanus holds a globus cruciger; his right hand is held flat against his chest in an attitude of reverent submission.

To the right stands the Virgin Mary (Theotokos), turned slightly towards the emperor. She is draped in a stola (chiton) and a long hooded mantle (maphorion) covering her head and shoulders. On standard substantive issues, the Virgin's head is framed by a clear circular halo (nimbus). With her raised right hand, she reaches forward to touch or place the imperial crown atop Romanus's head, visibly conveying heavenly sanction and legitimacy. Her left hand is held close to her waist, enveloped in the folds of her drapery. As with the obverse, the design is enclosed within a double concentric circular border.

Reverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The reverse incorporates two separate epigraphic elements: an inner field monogram identifying the Virgin Mary, and a peripheral marginal invocation.

• Field Inscription: M Θ (rendered with horizontal titloi or suspension bars above: M̄ Θ̄)

  • Placement: Centered in the upper field between the heads of Romanus III and the Virgin
  • Language / Script: Byzantine Greek majuscule
  • Transliteration: Meter Theou
  • Translation: "Mother of God"

• Marginal Legend: ΘCЄ bOHΘ RωMAhω (variants include a punctuation mark or apostrophe: bOHΘ')

  • Placement: Circumferential, beginning along the left perimeter and continuing down the right
  • Language / Script: Byzantine Greek majuscule using uncial letterforms (b for beta, h for eta, and ω for omega)
  • Transliteration: Theotoke boethei Romano
  • Translation: "Mother of God, help Romanus"

The marginal text is structured as a direct personal prayer in the vocative case (ΘCЄ, vocative abbreviation for Theotoke), followed by the imperative verb (bOHΘ, boethei), and terminating with the emperor's name in the dative case (RωMAhω, Romano).

Typology and Documented Variants

The gold histamena of Romanus III Argyrus are catalogued under two primary typological divisions based on the presence or absence of the Virgin's nimbus, with further classification based on ornamentation of the imperial vestments:

• Class 1a (Sear 1820; DOC III.2, Class 1a; Füeg Type 1.B):

  • Distinguishing Characteristics: The Virgin stands beside the emperor placing the crown upon his head, but her head entirely lacks a nimbus (halo).
  • Interpretation: Extremely scarce in hoards and modern collections. Philip Grierson proposed that this variety represents a brief inaugural or coronation issue struck immediately following Romanus's accession in November 1028, before the design was revised to include the nimbus.

• Class 1b–1d (Sear 1819; DOC III.2, Classes 1b–1d; Füeg Type 1.D):

  • Distinguishing Characteristics: The Virgin's head is encircled by a prominent nimbus. This constitutes the substantive regular coinage struck at the mint of Constantinople throughout Romanus III's six-year reign.
  • Loros Pellet Varieties: Philip Grierson differentiated three distinct sub-varieties within Class 1 based on the number of decorative pellets engraved upon the apron or lower fold of the emperor's loros:
    • Class 1b: Six pellets on the loros fold; often features a pellet on the titlos bar above M Θ.
    • Class 1c: Five pellets on the loros fold.
    • Class 1d: Four pellets on the loros fold.

Institutional data for the specimen in the Cleveland Museum of Art (accession no. 2011.213) records a diameter of 2.4 cm (24.0 mm) and a mass of 4.35 g (0.15 oz.), while the die axis is unrecorded. Because the Virgin's head clearly displays a halo, the specimen belongs to Sear 1819 / DOC Class 1. However, because the pellets on the lower loros fold cannot be definitively resolved without direct microscopic examination, specific assignment to sub-class 1b, 1c, or 1d remains withheld.

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

Identity of the Accompanying Figure

Early modern and nineteenth-century cataloguers occasionally identified the female figure on the reverse as Romanus III's wife, Empress Zoe. This hypothesis has been entirely discarded. The field inscription M Θ (Μήτηρ Θεοῦ), the vocative marginal prayer ΘCЄ (Theotoke), and the monastic maphorion conclusively establish the figure as the Virgin Mary. Unlike Romanus IV Diogenes (1068–1071), who struck gold histamena depicting himself alongside Empress Eudocia Makrembolitissa, Romanus III completely excluded Zoe from imperial coin portraiture, choosing celestial legitimation over marital association.

Chronological Meaning of Loros Pellets

In his catalogue of the Dumbarton Oaks collection, Philip Grierson considered whether the progressive reduction of pellets on the loros (from six in Class 1b down to four in Class 1d) reflected a sequential chronological progression across Romanus III's reign or an internal system of annual mint control marks. However, die studies by Franz Füeg identified die link anomalies and irregular pellet patterns, suggesting that variation in pellet counts may simply represent the idiosyncrasies of individual die engravers working concurrently rather than a deliberate, sequential administrative code.

Metallurgical Standards and Initial Debasement

The eleventh-century decline in the fineness of Byzantine gold is an important context for Romanus III's coinage. Series-level metallurgical findings must not be assigned to an untested individual coin. The Cleveland catalogue identifies gold but provides no assay for accession 2011.213. Neither an exact carat value nor a deliberate fiscal motive for its alloy is certified here.

References

1. Histamenon of Romanus III. Accession no. 2011.213, Gift of Dr. Norman Zaworski
2. Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, Volume 3, Part 2: Basil I to Nicephorus III, 867–1081. pp. 711–717, Plate LVI, Class 1a–1d
3. Byzantine Coins and Their Values. Nos. 1819–1820
4. Corpus of the Nomismata from Basil II to Eudocia 976–1067 with Addenda from Anastasius II to John I from 713 to 976. Types 1.B and 1.D
5. La dévaluation de la monnaie byzantine au XIe siècle: essai d'interprétation. Travaux et Mémoires 6 (1976), pp. 3–48