On the back Constantine is characterised as a conqueror. The orb represents Constantine's sovereignty over the whole of the globe. A sceptre with an orb can be seen to the right of his head. On it the she-wolf is depicted with the twins Romulus and Remus, effectively as a type of emblem of the city of Rome. The Christogram on his helmet refers to the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, when it was used for the first time.Ĭonstantine leads his horse in his right hand. And for his self-portrait he harked back to this greatest victory.Ĭonstantine is depicted as a warrior on the coin. In 315 Constantine celebrated his jubilee. In the same year he began to build the Basilica Constantiniana which we know today as Laterano. So Constantine moved to Rome and showed his gratitude to the new god. 'And his severed head was carried into the city on a pole,' as sources tell us. The body of the dead ruler was only found the next day. His opponent, Emperor Maxentius, drowned. Lactantius tells us that he was summoned, in his sleep, to 'place the heavenly sign of God on the shields and go to battle like this'. And, indeed, Constantine produced a dream. So Constantine needed something new to give courage to his army. Two emperors before him had already tried to take out Maxentius. He wanted to conquer Italy, where Maxentius was the ruler at the time.

In the spring of 312, Constantin crossed the Alps with 30,000 soldiers. Sources tell us that the first time Constantine used the Christogram was during the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. The emperor was shown with the sign of a religion which was declared legal four years ago: the Christogram is attached to his helmet. Constantine, whom posterity was supposed to call 'the Great'. It was unbelievable what was to be seen on Constantine's new coins. This podcast is dedicated to the first use of the Chi-Rho on a coin.Ĭome along with us on our journey through the world of money. The christogram is wedded to this event.Constantine made it the symbol of his victory. The Battle of the Milvian Bridge changed our world.

Constantine the great coinage