Licinia Eudoxia. Augusta, circa AD 439-490. AV Solidus (20mm, 4.48 g, 5h). Commemorative issue. Ravenna mint. Struck circa AD 439 or 444-445.

Triton XXIII – Session Three – Roman Imperial Coinage Part II through World Coinage Part I
Lot: 906. Estimated: $ 100 000

Roman Imperial, Gold

Sold For $ 140 000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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Licinia Eudoxia. Augusta, circa AD 439-490. AV Solidus (20mm, 4.48 g, 5h). Commemorative issue. Ravenna mint. Struck circa AD 439 or 444-445. LICINIA EVDO XIA P F AVG, facing draped bust wearing radiate crown with central cross and elaborate pearl diadem, and pearl necklace of three strands / SALVS REI PVBLICAE, empress enthroned facing, holding globus cruciger in her right hand and long cruciform scepter with her left; R-V//COMOB. RIC X 2023; Depeyrot 16/2; Ranieri 117-8; Biaggi 2356; DOCLR 870. Lightly toned. Superb EF. One of the finest known.

From the Provence Collection. Ex Palombo 17 (20 October 2018), lot 117.

Licinia Eudoxia was the only surviving child of the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II, and in 424 AD, at the age of two, was betrothed to her four-year-old cousin, the future Emperor of the Western Roman Empire Valentinian III, in order to reunify the two halves of the Roman world. Their marriage produced two daughters, but was abruptly terminated when Valentinian was killed by two Scythians, Optelas and Thraustelas, at the behest of the usurper Petronius Maximus. After buying off the military and palace officials, Maximus cemented his claim to the throne by forcibly marrying Eudoxia only a few days after her husband’s murder. At least one historian theorized that Maximus’ marriage to Eudoxia was motivated by revenge against the late Valentinian in return for the Emperor’s rape of Maximus’ first wife. Maximus also married his son Palladius to Eudoxia and Valentinian’s daughter Eudocia, thereby severing her engagement to Huneric, the son of the Vandal king Gaiseric.

Deeply unhappy, Eudoxia somehow managed to contact Gaiseric to beseech him to depose Maximus. The Vandals successfully besieged Rome and carried Eudoxia off to Carthage, along with her daughters; Maximus was assassinated by members of the Imperial household during the siege and his body thrown into the Tiber. In 462 AD, after seven years in Carthage, Eudoxia and her daughter Placidia were ransomed by Leo I and moved to Constantinople, while Eudocia remained in Carthage and married Huneric as her parents had originally intended. The rest of Eudoxia’s life passed unrecorded; even her exact date of death is unknown.

The final winners of all Triton XXIII lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 14-15 January 2020. Triton XXIII – Session Three – Roman Imperial Coinage Part II through World Coinage Part II will be held Wednesday morning, 15 January 2020 beginning at 9:00 AM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 20% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and in person at the public auction, 22.50% for all others.