EMPRESS IMAGE IN BYZANTIUM ACCORDING TO COINS (780-1204)

Natural noble, beautiful, religious, fertile, virtuous and compassionate empresses were always significant and privileged in Byzantine society where woman was perceived as a second class citizen in ideology.. These women had important tasks in the empire and were ensured to attend in parades, feasts and state ceremonies as an imperial official in addition to their fundamental duties in the palace. The empress image symbolized the feminine side of the empire as a power image and completed the empire ideology. In this context, empress depictions were the result of empire power and official duty of the empress in Byzantine society. These depictions reinforced the authority, prestige and status of the empire while aiming to spread the power and domination throughout the empire. Empress depictions on official art of the state like coins had a key role in understating their authority. While the empress took place as agusta beside the emperor, as regent mother empress of her little son or alone on the coin depictions, it was objected to give significant messages to the society. In this article Byzantine coins dating between 491 and 1453 have been examined and determined the ones with empress depictions, the connection of these depiction types with political and social events, and the role and importance of coins in the meaning of empress image in Byzantium. As a result, it has been determined that empress depictions on coins were used as a power image.