★ A beautiful Histamenon of Romanus III Argyrus ★

Romanus III Argyrus, 1028-1034. Histamenon (Gold, 23 mm, 4.37 g, 6 h), Constantinopolis. +IҺS XIS RЄX RЄςNANTIҺm Christ, nimbate, seated facing on square-backed throne, wearing tunic and pallium, raising his right hand in benediction and holding book of Gospels in his left. Rev. ΘЄC bOHΘ' RⲰmAҺⲰ On the left, Romanus III standing facing, wearing crown with pendilia and loros, holding globus cruciger in his left hand; on the right, the Virgin, nimbate, wearing robes and maphorion, crowning the emperor with her right hand; above, MΘ. DOC 1c var. (differing reverse legend). Füeg 1.D.5.z var. (differing reverse legend). SB 1819. Well struck and clear. Very light doubling on the obverse, otherwise, extremely fine.

From a Swiss collection, formed before 2005. Coming from an illustrious aristocratic family, Romanus III was anything but competent as emperor. His predecessor, Constantine VIII - who had no children - had initially chosen Constantine Dalassenos, the duke of Antioch, as his successor. However, the emperor’s advisors viewed Dalassenos as too strong a candidate; he was a successful general and deeply loyal to the house of Constantine VIII. They preferred someone more pliable and thus persuaded Constantine to favor Romanus instead. The result was a disaster for the Byzantine state. Romanus prioritized the interests of the aristocracy over those of the peasantry, leading to a significant decline in state revenues, which in turn had a devastating effect on the Byzantine army. Fortunately, Romanus was already elderly when he took the throne and reigned for only six years before his death in 1034