Theodora, sole reign (AD 1055-1056). AV histamenon nomisma (25mm, 4.42 gm, 6h). NGC AU 4/5 - 5/5. Constantinople. + IhS XIS RЄX-RЄΣNANTIhm, Christ standing facing on dais, wearing nimbus cruciger with single pellet in each arm, pallium, and colobium, right hand raised in benediction, book of Gospels cradled in left arm; double border / + ΘЄOΔΩPA-AVΓOVCTA, Theodora (on left) standing facing, right hand on breast, wearing crown with pendilia, divitision and loros, and the Virgin (on right) standing facing, nimbate, wearing maphorium, left hand raised in benediction, jointly holding labarum between them, with square and four pellets on banner, pellet on shaft, and terminating in globe; M-Θ in fields around Virgin, double border. Sear 1837. DOC III, Part 2, 1a. Ex Leu Numismatik, Auction 5 (27 October 2019), lot 578. Theodora was one of two daughters born to the Emperor Constantine VIII (AD 1025-1028). Unlike her sister Zoe, whom she detested, Theodora was bookish and solitary, preferring the life of the convent to the company of men. She was not above involving herself in the imperial family's intrigues, however, and in AD 1042, she briefly reigned as co-Empress with Zoe. However, the sisters could not agree on anything and Zoe was hastily married off to the aristocrat Constantine Monomachus, who accepted the throne as Constantine IX. Having outlasted all other members of the Macedonian dynasty, Theodora accepted the purple as sole ruler after the death of Constantine IX, in January AD 1055. On the whole she ruled with frugality, caution, and competence, but her micro-management of affairs earned criticism. After 18 months on the throne, she fell seriously ill and chose for her successor the highly unsuitable civil servant Michael VI Bringas. Her death, in August AD 1056, brought the 187-year run of the Macedonian dynasty to a close. HID09801242017 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

To the auctioneer's website