Description:
This early 11th century Byzantine bronze coin, features Jesus Christ Pantokrator “Christ in Majesty”, with a cruciform nimbus crown, pallium and colobium, while he is holding the Book of Gospels. The reverse shows a Cross Potent set on three steps with the inscription IS-XS, BAS-ILE, BAS-ILE, which translates to "Jesus Christ King of Kings." This coin was minted during the reign of Emperor Romanus III, who ruled for just six years until his untimely death in 1034. He showed great eagerness to make his mark as a ruler and spent large sums on new buildings, including the foundation of the Monastery of the Peribleptos.
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople and ruled by Emperors in direct succession to the ancient Roman Emperors. Although Greek was the main language spoken here, the Byzantine citizens still referred to themselves as Romans.
In the 6th century, Justinian I created the authority of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which firmly established Christianity throughout the empire. As a cradle of Christianity, the empire helped to shield Europe from Muslim expansion. They also preserved much of the literary works and scientific knowledge of ancient Greece, Rome and many other cultures. As this coin shows, art of the Byzantine Empire was mainly devoted to the Christian faith, which flourished for over a thousand years under their protection.
