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Updated: 15 July 2022 (two coins added)
Justinian I “The Great” (527 – 565 CE) AE Follis (23.8g, 39mm). Constantinople, 1 Aug 540 – 31 Jul 541 CE (regnal year 14).
Obv: D N IVSTINIANVS P P AVI. Diademed, helmeted & cuirassed bust facing, holding globus cruciger in r. hand & shield over l. shoulder decorated w/ equestrian motif; in field to r., cross.
Rev: Large M, ANNO – X/II/II to either side. Cross above. A below. CON in exergue.
Ref: SB 163; DOC 39a.
Provenance: Ex-Ancient & Medieval Coins Canada Auction 2 (9 Nov 2019), Lot 274; Ex-“TheRed” Collection; Ex-FORVM Ancient Coins (n.d. Item SH36361), with tag.
Historical Notes: Justinian’s 14th and 15th years of rule (540-2 CE) were not only the most difficult of his reign. They represented a sharp turning point in Western history.
Justinian AV Tremissis. Unlike many bronze issues, Justinian’s gold coinage was undated. This one may have been struck anytime during his reign (527-565).
Ex-CNG; Jack A Frazer collection; Harlan J Berk sale #27 (13 Sep 1983)
In Spring or Summer of 541, Year 14 of Justinian, the devastating Bubonic Plague – known to history as the “Justinian Plague” – first reached Byzantine North Africa. From the ports at Alexandria and Pelusium, it spread outward across Mediterranean Europe and the Near East.
Early in Year 15 (Fall 541 or Spring 542), it struck the shores of Constantinople. Thus, coins dated to Years 14 and 15, in particular, constitute the “Justinian Plague Coinage.”
An extra large 45mm Follis of Justinian (Constantinople, Year 12). Forum’s Joe Sermarini notes:
“Coins of years 12-14, such as this coin, are highly valued because they are larger and of better style than most later examples. These massive coins must have given their users a solid assurance of value.”
One wonders if plague was responsible for reduced quality after Year 15.
Ex-Kölner Münzkabinett 112
The Emperor himself was famously infected, miraculously survived, and bore the scars prominently on his face for life. The city was decimated in short order, with incalculable consequences for the Empire and for Western History.
In the years preceding, Justinian had made tremendous progress toward the dream of a restored Roman Empire, returning both Rome and Egypt to the Empire. In parallel, he had made dramatic improvements to the coinage, most notably the bronze Follis. Its size was greatly increased and it was given a front-facing portrait borrowed from the gold Solidus, both changes intended to increase confidence in the bronze coinage.
With the arrival of the “Justinian Plague,” though, history would turn in the opposite direction for Justinian. The Year 541 would also turn out to be that of the last Roman Consul, Basilius.
Justinian, a scarce tiny 11mm AE Nummus of RY 14 (540-1), struck in Carthage at the outbreak of plague.
The Great commander and “Last of the Romans” Belisarius, who had conquered the Vandals in North Africa and defeated the Goths in Italy, was called back to the East to defend against the Persians, leaving a weakened Rome open to the Goths, once and for all. And the vast North of Africa and Egypt – the “Breadbasket of the Empire” – were struck particularly hard by the plague. The histories record that Africa would take centuries to recover, if at all.
Like the Emperor himself, a visibly scarred and weakened Empire would limp forth.
Left: Ex-CNG e-351 (20 May 2015), George Spradling Collection, Holding History Coins. Right: Ex-Agora Auction 32 (12 May 2015)
Further Reading. In addition to the spectacular single-volume overview of the Empire, A Short History of Byzantium (1997, Vintage Books) by John Julius Norwich, the following sources on Justinian and his eponymous plague are recommended:
Bury, John Bagnell. 1889. A History of the Later Roman Empire: From Arcadius to Irene (395 A.D. to 800 A.D). London: MacMillan.
Free eBook on Google Books
Little, Lester K., ed. 2007. Plague and the End of Antiquity: The Pandemic of 541-750. Cambridge University Press.
Preview on Google Books
Procopius of Caesarea. Translated by H. B. Dewing, 1914. History of the Wars, Volume I: Books 1-2. (Persian War). Loeb Classical Library 48. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Online at Project Gutenberg