Roman Empire

Honorius, Co-Emperor AD 393-423

RIC 1206; Depeyrot 16/2, Mint State

Mediolanum, ca. AD 395-402. D N HONOR-IVS P F AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Honorius right. Reverse: VICTORI-A AVGGG, emperor standing right, spurning bound captive with foot, holding labarum and Victory on globe; M-D//COMOB.

In AD 393, at the age of eight, Honorius was elevated to the position of Augustus by his father Theodosius I. After the death of Theodosius I, the Empire was divided between Honorius and his brother Arcadius, with the former taking power in the Western Empire. Too young to be an effective ruler, Honorius was dominated by his advisors, most notably the Vandal general Stilicho and the later magister militum Constantius III. His reign was plagued by the usurpations of Priscus Attalus and Constantine III and the increasing menace of the Visigoths under Alaric, who besieged Rome three times in the period AD 408-410, at the end of which they captured and sacked the city. Honorius died childless in AD 423, leaving it to Theodosius II and the Visigothic kingmaker Ricimer to decide who would become Emperor in the West.