Studi di archivistica, bibliografia, paleografia

Da Afrodite alla croce

Un episodio della cristianizzazione dei tipi monetali a Costantinopoli nel VI secolo

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Abstract

This paper examines the connection between the change in Byzantine gold coinage upon the accession of Tiberius II and an account from the historian John of Ephesus. The historian reports that this innovation was in direct opposition to the coins of Tiberius’s predecessor, Justin II, whose solidi featured an image that many perceived as the goddess Aphrodite. It is suggested that the identification with Aphrodite was unlikely at a popular level and may instead reflect a religious and political polemic targeting Justin II.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: May 12, 2025 | Accepted: July 21, 2025 | Language: it

Keywords John of Ephesus • Byzantine amulets • Tiberius II • Byzantine coinage • Justin II • Tyche

Copyright © 2025 Tomaso Maria Lucchelli. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


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