| The imperial portrait did not need to bear a close physical resemblance to the emperor because it referred to his "eternal body," not to his actual features. This helps to explain the stereotyped hieratic image on most Byzantine coins. Nonetheless, an important function of coin imagery was to familiarize the public with the emperor's intentions regarding succession. For example, Anastasius' accession to power occurred through his marriage to Ariadne, the widow of Emperor Zeno, an event depicted on his earliest coinage (see Case III, No. 11).
The tradition of dynastic legitimation is clearly illustrated on the coins of Heraclius (610–41). His earlier coins show him with his eldest son, Heraclius Constantine (see Case II, No. 14), while on his later coins, his second son, Heraclonas, was added. In the 8th century, emperors such as Leo IV, intent on stressing dynastic succession, depicted their first-born sons as soon as possible after they were born, and also included portraits of their deceased forebears (photos right). Coins also reflect the changes of power during a long reign like that of Constantine VII (913–59) (photos below).
  
Coins of Constantine VII (913-959). Reverses
The difficulties of the 46 year reign of the scholarly
emperor Constantine VII are reflected on his
coinage. During his minority, he was shown with his
mother Zoe, acting as regent (far left). After the
usurper Romanus Lecapenus was crowned in 920, he
tried to remove Constantine from the throne and to
create his own dynasty. Constantine's portrait was
removed from the coinage from 921-31; in its place,
Romanus is shown with his son Christopher (photo
center). Finally, in 944, Constantine was restored to
the throne as sole emperor (photo right).
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