The obverse of this coin depicts Constantine the Great, who was emperor from 306 CE to 337 CE. He came to power at the end of what is known as the Tetrarchy, a period of time when the empire was ruled by four men simultaneously. He was the last man standing after the civil wars of the Tetrarchy and used that position to propel the Roman empire into the future. The Tetrarchy was often brutal and launched large persecutions against Christians. Additionally it had become embroiled in almost constant civil war, causing instability across the empire. Constantine managed to prevail and thrive by appealing to the growing Christian population and showed, usually through art, that the constant wars were finally over. In the Tetrarchy, in order to display authority, portraits were domineering, with harsh, deep-set eyes and military-style beards. However, the portrait of this coin’s obverse is very different. His eyes are soft and looking straight forward, as if to a higher ideal. He also removes the beard from his portraits, something that every emperor had worn for two hundred years. Thus he is distancing himself from the Tetrarchy and harkening back to a time when the emperors were considered better and the empire a more stable place.
The reverse has an image of the personification of Victory, or VICTORIA. The trophy and palm branch are also symbolic of victory. Constantine used the symbol of Victoria extensively to continually remind the people of his triumph over the Tetrarchy. In fact he used it so much that it became permanently associated with him, and she was later transformed into an angel in Christian iconography, largely thanks to his toleration of Christianity and eventual conversion to the religion.
--McKinley Breen, LU `21
Bibliography: C. Foss, Roman Historical Coins (London 1990), 271, 274-275; C.H.V. Sutherland and R.A.G. Carson, The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. VII (London 1984), 491, 522; H. Cohen, Latin Epigraphy II: The Coin Inscriptions and Epigraphical Abbreviations of Imperial Rome (Chicago 1978), XL; L. Breglia, Roman Imperial Coins: Art and Technique. (New York 1968), 216-218; J.P.C. Kent, Roman Coins (New York 1978), 48-52.
