Roman Imperial Coinage, Ælia Eudocia, Double Solidus or Medallion, Constantinople, c. 430-40, draped bust right, wearing ornate jewelled diadem and necklace, ael evdo cia avg, rev. salvs reipvblicae, Eudocia enthroned facing, nimbate, star in left field, conob in exergue, 8.93g/6h (RIC –; Depeyrot –). Slightly weak in centres, otherwise extremely fine; unpublished and extremely rare, one of possibly three known £80,000-100,000

Provenance: Gemini Auction (New York), January 11-12, 2005, lot 483.

Aelia Eudocia was born c. 401, as Athenaïs, the daughter of Leontius, a sophist professor of rhetoric and philosophy at the Academy in Athens. When her father died in 420, he left the bulk of his considerable estate to his two sons, Gessius and Valerius. To his daughter he left only 100 coins. Affronted by this injustice, Athenais went to Constantinople to plead her case before the Emperor and was selected by the Emperor’s sister, Pulcheria, for her beauty and intellect, to be the bride of Theodosius II. Baptized as Eudocia, the new Christian convert married the emperor on 7 June 421 and was elevated to the rank of Augusta on 2 January 423. For the next two decades she exercised considerable influence at court, including the protection of pagans and Jews in a predominantly Christian state. In 438 went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, also visiting Antioch where she addressed the city’s Senate. Around 440, two of her closest allies fell into disgrace and Eudocia herself was repudiated in 443 on suspicion of adultery. Banished from the Court, the empress spent the rest of her life in retirement in Jerusalem, writing poetry which eloquently combined her Classical education with her Christian beliefs. Even there, however, she was subject to the hostile scrutiny of her household by the jealous and suspicious emperor. Eudocia died on 20 October 460, still protesting her fidelity to Theodosius