| Coined money played an ever increasing role in the daily life of the Mediterranean world from the time of its first appearance in the 5th century B.C. Over the next five hundred years, coins produced were of regional design and value. It was only during the Roman Empire that a unified currency was gradually established throughout its vast territories. This system of coinage continued even after the Empire was divided into Eastern and Western halves at the end of the 4th century A.D. The Greek-speaking Eastern part, today known as "Byzantine," regarded itself as the continuation of the Roman Empire and maintained the Roman monetary tradition. Though often subject to dramatic changes and constraints, this system endured until Constantinople, the capital, fell to the Turks in 1453, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire.
After the great currency inflation of the late 3rd century A.D., a new monetary system took shape during the reigns of Diocletian (284-305) and his successor, Constantine the Great (306-337). Constantine established the gold solidus as the standard of currency and this coin retained its status until the mid-14th century, when gold coins were no longer issued. In its most flourishing periods, the Byzantine state may have struck annually as many as several hundred thousand gold coins and a million or more copper coins. It is therefore no surprise that hundreds of thousands of coins have survived and are now in public or private collections.
Byzantine coins provide incomparable evidence about the economic history of the Empire. For example, study of the purity or debasement of gold and silver coins—in part through compositional analysis of the metals—reveals the prosperity or decline of the Empire and its often fluctuating economy. Of equal significance are the images placed on coins, which can be read as documents of political propaganda, and of dynastic intentions, as well as of religious ideology. No other medium could be counted on to disseminate such information to the farthest borders of the Empire. This monetary network is the subject of the present exhibition, using exclusively coins from the Dumbarton Oaks Collection.
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