Solidus of Honorius - witness of the fall of Rome

Dear readers. We present you another wonderful lot of the numismatics section of the gold solid of the Western Roman Empire  minted during the reign of Emperor Honorius (395-423 AD) at the mint of the city of Rome. On the obverse of the coin there is a bust of the emperor, on the reverse - the emperor in the pose of a winner, pressing down the captive with his foot and holding the personification of victory in his hands. Imperial propaganda expressed through the minting of coins presents a picture of the greatness of Roman rule and the military power of the empire. In reality, the picture was somewhat different. At the time of the minting of the coin, the Roman Empire after the death of Emperor Theodosius was divided between his sons into Western and Eastern. The position of the Western Roman Empire, ruled by Emperor Honorius, was very precarious. On the territory of the empire, various Germanic peoples were in charge, the army of the empire consisted mainly of German mercenaries. The troops of the empire were commanded by Stilicho, who came from a tribe of Vandals, to whose two daughters Emperor Honorius was successively married. After the quarrel between Honorius and Stilicho and the murder of the latter, the empire was defenseless. The emperor sat out in the impregnable Ravenna surrounded by swamps, and the entire territory of the empire became the arena of the struggle of the Germanic tribes. Rome fell in 410 after the 3rd siege. It was captured by an enemy army (Visigoths) for the first time in 800 years. To pay the ransom, a golden statue had to be melted - the personification of Roman valor. An extremely symbolic event. The history of the Roman Empire was coming to an end.