Constantine the Great – The Sun God Coin Album
This album features an authentic bronze coin of Constantine I “the Great” (AD 306–337), Rome’s first Christian emperor, who nonetheless continued to invoke the imagery of the Sun God, Sol Invictus, on his coinage.
Historical Significance:
Constantine’s reign marked the turning point of Roman history—the legalization of Christianity, the founding of Constantinople, and the transformation of Rome into a Christian empire. Yet even as he supported the Christian faith, Constantine maintained traditional symbols of divine authority on his coins.
The reverse of this type often depicts Sol, the Unconquered Sun, radiate and standing with outstretched hand or globe, representing eternal victory, cosmic order, and the emperor’s divine protection. To Constantine’s subjects, Sol was a familiar figure, bridging the pagan traditions of the empire with the new Christian vision of divine light—a symbolism that would soon be reinterpreted as the halo of Christ.
This coin captures Constantine at the crossroads of two worlds: the enduring heritage of Rome’s pagan gods and the dawning age of Christianity. It is both a relic of the last great pagan imagery in Roman coinage and a precursor to the Christian iconography that would define the empire for centuries to come.
Constantine the Great – The Sun God Coin Album
This album features an authentic bronze coin of Constantine I “the Great” (AD 306–337), Rome’s first Christian emperor, who nonetheless continued to invoke the imagery of the Sun God, Sol Invictus, on his coinage.
Historical Significance:
Constantine’s reign marked the turning point of Roman history—the legalization of Christianity, the founding of Constantinople, and the transformation of Rome into a Christian empire. Yet even as he supported the Christian faith, Constantine maintained traditional symbols of divine authority on his coins.
The reverse of this type often depicts Sol, the Unconquered Sun, radiate and standing with outstretched hand or globe, representing eternal victory, cosmic order, and the emperor’s divine protection. To Constantine’s subjects, Sol was a familiar figure, bridging the pagan traditions of the empire with the new Christian vision of divine light—a symbolism that would soon be reinterpreted as the halo of Christ.
This coin captures Constantine at the crossroads of two worlds: the enduring heritage of Rome’s pagan gods and the dawning age of Christianity. It is both a relic of the last great pagan imagery in Roman coinage and a precursor to the Christian iconography that would define the empire for centuries to come.
