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This coin was struck in Constantinople to commemorate the marriage between the daughter of Theodosius II, Licinia Eudoxia, to the Western Emperor Valentinian III on 29 October 437. As first cousins the marriage represented an attempt to maintain the stability of imperial succession by re-unifying both halves of the Theodosian family and consolidate dynastic power over both halves of the empire.
The marriage of the eighteen-year old Valentinian to the fifteen-year old Eudoxia is depicted on this reverse with the senior emperor Theodosius II between the newlyweds, indicating the ultimate source of Valentinian’s power. Indeed, Valentinian had been placed on the throne at the age of six by Theodosius himself, following a period of instability over succession.
Whilst the long reigns of Valentinian III and Theodosius II were indicative of periods of relative stability in both the East and West, the Western Empire would merely survive two decades after Valentinian’s death in 454. Though the Theodosian Dynasty would end in the East with the death of Marcian in 457, the Eastern Empire itself would survive another millennium. FELICITER NUBTIIS:Happily Married.
The marriage of the eighteen-year old Valentinian to the fifteen-year old Eudoxia is depicted on this reverse with the senior emperor Theodosius II between the newlyweds, indicating the ultimate source of Valentinian’s power. Indeed, Valentinian had been placed on the throne at the age of six by Theodosius himself, following a period of instability over succession.
Whilst the long reigns of Valentinian III and Theodosius II were indicative of periods of relative stability in both the East and West, the Western Empire would merely survive two decades after Valentinian’s death in 454. Though the Theodosian Dynasty would end in the East with the death of Marcian in 457, the Eastern Empire itself would survive another millennium. FELICITER NUBTIIS:Happily Married.