Corinthian capital carved in different styles on either side, with an openwork basket above a monogram of the emperor Justinian,

527–565

Byzantine society rested on the twin pillars of church and emperor. Real power resided with the emperor in Constantinople, who controlled the army and was considered by the faithful as God’s viceroy on earth. In the early fourth century, Constantine’s endorsement of Christianity as the state religion wedded church and empire in a powerful but, at times, tumultuous union. As a unifying symbol, the emperor’s image was reproduced in many media. In the case at the left, a marble relief is carved with the frontal face of an emperor, very likely Constantine. The bronze statuette of a seated ruler probably also represents the first Christian emperor; filled with lead, it functioned as a steelyard weight. The five gold coins in the case exhibit different approaches to imperial imagery. The solidus of Constantius II (d. 361), a son of Constantine, shows the emperor wearing the jeweled diadem of his rank. On the coin of Valens, the emperor stands holding the Labarum, the fi rst letters of Christ’s name; the armor he wears did not save him at the Battle of Adrianople (378), where he was killed by the Goths. On the coin of Philippicus (d. 713), the emperor faces us in the imperial loros, a densely jeweled robe. Another coin shows two emperors, the brothers Basil II and Constantine VIII. Although co-rulers from 976, Basil, known as Bulgaroktonos (“Slayer of the Bulgars”), controlled the state, while his brother devoted himself to pleasure.
A fifth coin is of the emperor Justinian (d. 565), who reclaimed for the empire parts of Italy and north Africa, and erected in Constantinople the great church of Hagia Sophia. His initials are carved on the underside of the rare, two-sided marble column capital displayed above.