Gold Tremissis Issues of Arcadius

Historical Context

The introduction of the gold tremissis represents the final major structural reform of late Roman fractional gold currency. Prior to the early 380s, fractional gold was struck primarily as the semissis, valued at half a solidus or twelve silver siliquae, and the one-and-a-half scripula piece, tariffed at nine siliquae. Around 383 CE, the financial administration of Theodosius I introduced the tremissis at one-third of a solidus, or eight silver siliquae. Weighed at 1/216 of a Roman pound (approximately 1.51 to 1.52 grams), the denomination meshed cleanly with the base-24 accounting standard of the imperial solidus, steadily supplanting the older nine-siliqua denomination.

Flavius Arcadius was elevated to the rank of Augustus by his father Theodosius I in January 383 CE at Constantinople. Following the defeat of the Western usurper Eugenius at the Battle of the Frigidus in September 394 CE, Theodosius briefly held undivided imperial authority at Mediolanum (modern Milan). His sudden death there in January 395 CE cemented the administrative partition of the Roman state: Arcadius governed the East from Constantinople, while his younger brother Honorius assumed the Western purple under the guardianship of Flavius Stilicho.

Although relations between the courts of Constantinople and Mediolanum (later relocated to Ravenna) grew strained, the constitutional doctrine of imperial collegiality (concordia Augustorum) endured in coinage production. As senior Augustus, Arcadius appeared regularly on gold solidi, tremisses, and silver denominations struck at Western mints operating under the control of Honorius and Stilicho, demonstrating mutual recognition of imperial legitimacy across jurisdictional borders.

Obverse Iconographic Composition

The obverse displays a right-facing, profile bust of Emperor Arcadius truncated at the shoulders. He is depicted clean-shaven in accordance with standard late fourth-century imperial portrait conventions, characterized by stylized, large almond-shaped eyes and smooth facial contours.

The emperor wears a pearl diadem (diadema gemmatum) consisting of two parallel bands of matched pearls joined at the back of the head by two fabric ribbons that drape over the nape of the neck. The imperial bust is clothed in a paludamentum (military cloak) gathered over the right shoulder and fastened with an elaborate circular jewel fibula, worn above a fitted metal breastplate visible across the chest line.

Obverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The obverse inscription is executed in formal late Roman capital script and runs clockwise along the circumference of the coin, broken across the top of the emperor's diadem.

• Script: Latin
• Language: Latin
• Lettering: D N ARCADI-VS P F AVG
• Transliteration: Dominus Noster Arcadius Pius Felix Augustus
• English Translation: "Our Lord Arcadius, Pious and Blessed Augustus"

The title Dominus Noster reflects late imperial autocracy, while Pius Felix Augustus preserves the traditional imperial epithets standard on fourth-century coinage. On regular Western issues, the division of the name across the diadem remains consistent, isolating the imperial name between the breaks.

Reverse Iconographic Composition

The standard Western reverse depicts winged Victory (Nike) advancing in dynamic profile to the right. Her weight rests on her forward left leg, while the folds of her draped chiton trail backward to suggest motion. In her raised right hand, Victory holds a laurel victory wreath aloft. Balanced in her outstretched left hand is a globus cruciger, a terrestrial orb surmounted by an equal-armed Christian cross, symbolizing imperial and cosmic sovereignty.

In Western issues struck at Mediolanum, the mint signature is divided across the lower field on either side of the advancing figure, with the administrative treasury mark located in the exergue beneath a solid ground line. In contemporary Eastern issues, Victory is commonly depicted facing forward with her head turned back to the left, accompanied by a celestial star in the field.

Reverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The reverse inscription encircles the figure in a continuous or slightly divided Latin capital legend.

• Script: Latin
• Language: Latin
• Lettering: VICTORIA AVGVSTORVM
• Transliteration: Victoria Augustorum
• English Translation: "Victory of the Augusti"

The genitive plural form Augustorum (frequently contracted in parallel silver issues or solidus legends as AVGGG, but spelled out here in full) denotes the shared triumph and collegial harmony of the joint rulers. On the primary Western series struck at Mediolanum, the field letters read M to the left and D to the right (M - D), signifying the Mediolanum mint workshop, with the letters COM in the exergue.

Typology and Documented Variants

Gold tremisses struck in the name of Arcadius encompass several distinct regional workshop traditions and subtypes:

1. Mediolanum (Milan) Western Type (c. 394-402 CE)

• Diagnostic Features: Pearl-diademed bust right; reverse with Victory advancing right holding wreath and globus cruciger; field mark M - D; exergue COM.
• Typological Concordance: Pearce, RIC IX Mediolanum 37(b); Kent, RIC X Mediolanum 1214; Depeyrot 18/1.

2. Ravenna Western Advancing Type (c. 402-408 CE)

• Diagnostic Features: Obverse bust right; reverse with Victory advancing right holding wreath and globus cruciger, identical in composition to the Mediolanum type but with field letters R - V; exergue COM.
• Typological Concordance: Kent, RIC X Ravenna 1290; Depeyrot 10.

3. Ravenna Western Votive Type (c. 402-408 CE)

• Diagnostic Features: Obverse bust right; reverse depicting Victory seated right on a cuirass, inscribing a votive inscription (VOT / X / MVLT / XX) upon a shield supported by a small winged genius; field mark R - V; exergue COM.
• Typological Concordance: Kent, RIC X Ravenna 1288.

4. Constantinople Eastern Types (c. 395-408 CE)

• Diagnostic Features: Obverse bust right; reverse depicting Victory advancing frontally with head turned back toward the left, holding a wreath and globus cruciger, with an eight-pointed or six-pointed star in the right field; exergue CONOB.
• Typological Concordance: Kent, RIC X Constantinople 19 (c. 395-402 CE) and RIC X Constantinople 34 (c. 403-408 CE); Depeyrot 50/3.

Earlier numismatic compilations occasionally conflated solidus issues of Rome with fractional gold, but confirmed tremisses from the Rome mint during this timeframe are catalogued solely in the name of Honorius, leaving no verified Rome tremissis issues for Arcadius in standard corpuses.

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

The classification of the Mediolanum tremissis bearing M - D // COM highlights an important boundary between volumes IX and X of The Roman Imperial Coinage. Volume IX concluded its scope with the death of Theodosius I in January 395 CE, attributing the Mediolanum issue to 394-395 CE as part of Theodosius's reorganization of Italian gold minting after the Battle of the Frigidus. However, volume X demonstrated that identical dies and typological styles continued in production at Mediolanum under Honorius and Stilicho until 402 CE, when the Western court moved to Ravenna. Consequently, isolated specimens cannot be assigned definitively to either the late 394 or 395-402 CE phase without contextual hoard evidence or comprehensive die linkage studies.

A secondary subject of scholarly discussion concerns the exergual mark COM on Western fractional gold. While full solidi carry the mark COMOB, certifying refined gold (obryzum) under comitatensian authority, tremisses and semisses consistently omit the OB suffix, presenting simply COM. Although early commentators hypothesized that the abbreviation indicated a slightly reduced metal fineness, modern metallurgical analyses confirm that Western tremisses maintained the fine gold standard of approximately 98 percent purity characteristic of contemporary solidi. The consensus among numismatists attributes the omission of the OB suffix to the physical constraints of striking an intricate mark on a flan measuring only 12 to 14 millimeters in diameter.

Scholars have also noted the deliberate iconographic divide between Eastern and Western mints. While Western dies consistently portray Victory in dynamic profile striding right, Constantinople adopted a distinctive stance showing Victory facing frontally with her head turned backwards, accompanied by a celestial star. This consistent regional variance illustrates the operational autonomy maintained by the separate branches of the imperial treasuries (sacrae largitiones) despite shared titular collegiality.

References

1. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IX: Valentinian I - Theodosius I. pp. xxvi-xxviii, 84, no. 37(b)
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. X: The Divided Empire and the Fall of the Western Parts AD 395-491. pp. 8, 45-48, 240, 244, 318-320, 328
3. Les monnaies d'or de Constantin II à Zénon (337-491). p. 172, type 18/1; p. 248, type 50/3
4. Catalogue of Late Roman Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection. pp. 8-10, 35
5. Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE). Records ric.9.med.37B, ric.10.arc_e.19, ric.10.hon_w.1214, ric.10.hon_w.1288, ric.10.hon_w.1290