Translation of Latin/Greek in Latin alphabet inscriptions on Byzantine coins?

JeanDukeofAlecon · Jul 19, 2016

I was looking at some middle byzantine coins, and I noticed that, surprisingly, I could actually read the inscriptions on some of them. I got curious as to what these inscriptions said, but, as is often the case with byzantine artifacts, I could not find any substantial info on them. I tried appealing to google translate, but, as I feared, it gave me nothing. Roman coins (and latin/greek inscriptions trying to save space in general) almost always shorten most words to 3-4 letters. Since I have little knowledge of latin or greek, if there is someone in the community who does, a rough translation would be wonderful.

Coin one:

Side one reads:

basileus *
☩ basilios

"emperor, empire" I think, but for some reason google translate gives me nothing

Side two reads:

☩ Basil
iosentheo
basileus
romeon

Most of it is fairly easy to understand "basil, roman emperor" but I don't know what "Iosentheo" means. A quick google search tells me it's supposed to be partitioned as "ios en theo", "? and pious" maybe?

Coin two:

basil-i-on-right-enthroned-jesus-on-left-dumbarton-oaks-coin-collection.jpg

This one is much harder to make out, but it's the best example I could find.

Side one reads:

resna(m?)tium *
☩ I(h,n?)sxpsrex

For the first line I have no idea, but I'm fairly certain the second is something about jesus christ as king (XP stands for "christ pantaucrator" if I'm not mistaken)

Side two reads:

eu basil (c?)usb *
☩ basilios eco

Again, not sure except for "basil".

Something interesting about the coins is that both the alphabet and the words are a combination of greek and latin.

skapeti · Jul 19, 2016

In the first coin says: Basilios the king

And in the back: Basilios the God blessed king of the Romans

The funny thing is that the new generation writing this way again

Edit:

JeanDukeofAlecon said:
Side two reads:

☩ Basil
iosentheo
basileus
romeon

Most of it is fairly easy to understand "basil, roman emperor" but I don't know what "Iosentheo" means. A quick google search tells me it's supposed to be partitioned as "ios en theo", "? and pious" maybe?

It's like this:

☩ Basilios
en theo
basileus
romaion

Basilios is a name derived from the word ''king'' and in this sentence have the sense of a name.
Basileus is the word king..

JeanDukeofAlecon · Jul 19, 2016

skapeti said:
In the first coin says: Basilios the king

And in the back: Basilios the God blessed king of the Romans

The funny thing is that the new generation writing this way again

Thanks for the translation, though "basileus" meant "emperor" in a byzantine context, not king. Calling the emperor a king was an insult, and I've seen it used that way in primary sources (one example was nikephorus phocas calling the holy "roman" emperor "rex" as to not acknowledge his status).

Edit in response to your edit: from what I've seen basileus meant "ruler/commander" in a general sense, comparable to "imperator". It was used to refer to kings, but it became somewhat exclusive to the roman emperor as time went on.

skapeti · Jul 19, 2016

JeanDukeofAlecon said:
Thanks for the translation, though "basileus" meant "emperor" in a byzantine context, not king. Calling the emperor a king was an insult, and I've seen it used that way in primary sources (one example was nikephorus phocas calling the holy "roman" emperor "rex" as to not acknowledge his status).

Edit in response to your edit: from what I've seen basileus meant "ruler/commander" in a general sense, comparable to "imperator". It was used to refer to kings, but it became somewhat exclusive to the roman emperor as time went on.

I didn't knew that but there is another word for emperor ''αυτοκρατορ''... i guess this has to do with the century, in the early Byzantium perhaps they use the word ''king'' and later as they deepen in the greek language they replaced it with ''αυτοκρατορ''

a guess

JeanDukeofAlecon · Jul 19, 2016

skapeti said:
I didn't knew that but there is another word for emperor ''αυτοκρατορ''... i guess this has to do with the century, in the early Byzantium perhaps they use the word ''king'' and later as they deepen in the greek language they replaced it with ''αυτοκρατορ''

a guess

Both "basileus" and "autokrator" were used by greek speakers to refer to the roman emperor long before the empire split. "autokrator" means "sole ruler". The title implies superiority over all other leaders, which is why it was used for the roman emperor.

El Cid · Jul 19, 2016

The gold coin is a solidus, highest denomination, typical 4.5 grams.

Byzantine(just like Roman) coins tend to have many abbreviations.

On observe side it is definitely Latin and says something like “IhS XPS REX REGNANTIUM”. I think it means “Jesus Christ, King of the Kings”.

I don’t have access to Greek alphabets and signs so excuse my approach. But the legends on the reverse side are in Greek where it says something like “bASILIOS EC OEY b” which means something like “Basil” or “Emperor” and “In god”.

I will suggest the first few pages of David Sear’s “Byzantine Coins and their Values” in his second edition. In the first 20-30 pages he gives a solid intro into Byzatine coins and how to read them, and as well explained the various legends and abbreviations.

EDIT:
Now when I think of what Skapeti said, I think the last word "b" is an abbreviation for "Basileus".

“bASILIOS EC OEY b.”

I think it says "Basil, In God, Basileus"

Generally it would be understood as: "Basil, with the grace of God, Basileus of the Romans"

But don't take my word for sure.

JeanDukeofAlecon · Jul 19, 2016

El Cid said:
The gold coin is a solidus, highest denomination, typical 4.5 grams.

Byzantine(just like Roman) coins tend to have many abbreviations.

On observe side it is definitely Latin and says something like “IhS XPS REX REGNANTIUM”. I think it means “Jesus Christ, King of the Kings”.

I don’t have access to Greek alphabets and signs so excuse my approach. But the legends on the reverse side are in Greek where it says something like “bASILIOS EC OEY b” which means something like “Basil” or “Emperor” and “In god”.

I will suggest the first few pages of David Sear’s “Byzantine Coins and their Values” in his second edition. In the first 20-30 pages he gives a solid intro into Byzatine coins and how to read them, and as well explained the various legends and abbreviations.

EDIT:
Now when I think of what Skapeti said, I think the last word "b" is an abbreviation for "Basileus".

“bASILIOS EC OEY b.”

I think it says "Basil, In God, Basileus"

Generally it would be understood as: "Basil, with the grace of God, Basileus of the Romans"

But don't take my word for sure.

Thanks for the translation. It seems my theory about the first side was correct. Is the second phrase “bASILIOS EC OEY b.” in latin or in greek? It uses the greek "basileus", but the other side of the coin uses latin.

Kentarchos · Jul 20, 2016

El Cid said:
The gold coin is a solidus, highest denomination, typical 4.5 grams.

Byzantine(just like Roman) coins tend to have many abbreviations.

On observe side it is definitely Latin and says something like “IhS XPS REX REGNANTIUM”. I think it means “Jesus Christ, King of the Kings”.

I don’t have access to Greek alphabets and signs so excuse my approach. But the legends on the reverse side are in Greek where it says something like “bASILIOS EC OEY b” which means something like “Basil” or “Emperor” and “In god”.

I will suggest the first few pages of David Sear’s “Byzantine Coins and their Values” in his second edition. In the first 20-30 pages he gives a solid intro into Byzatine coins and how to read them, and as well explained the various legends and abbreviations.

EDIT:
Now when I think of what Skapeti said, I think the last word "b" is an abbreviation for "Basileus".

“bASILIOS EC OEY b.”

I think it says "Basil, In God, Basileus"

Generally it would be understood as: "Basil, with the grace of God, Basileus of the Romans"

But don't take my word for sure.

Ihs = Ιησούς/Jesus
Xrs = Χριστός/Christ
Regnatium= I think it means king or ruller

Jesus Christ King

Basilios=Βασίλειος/Basil
Ec=Εκ
Θεu=Θεού
Basileus=Βασιλεύς

Βασίλειος εκ Θεού Βασιλεύς
Basil from God King/Emperor

El Cid · Jul 20, 2016

You forgot a ”Rex” before ”Regnantium”.

In any case, page 33 and 44 in David Sear’s ”Byzantine Coins and their values” where i took picture from my phone:

EDIT: Nope, i can't make historum to make the pixels of the image higher. Forget it.

Kentarchos · Jul 21, 2016

El Cid said:
You forgot a ”Rex” before ”Regnantium”.

In any case, page 33 and 44 in David Sear’s ”Byzantine Coins and their values” where i took picture from my phone:

EDIT: Nope, i can't make historum to make the pixels of the image higher. Forget it.

Yes you are right, I forgot the word rex, my mistake, I just focused more on the Greek translation.

Cornelis · Jul 21, 2016

Rex regnantium = Kings of Kings (literally, "King of the Rulers"). Latin, but probably an equivalent of Basileus Basileon.

Psellos · Jul 21, 2016

skapeti said:
I didn't knew that but there is another word for emperor ''αυτοκρατορ''... i guess this has to do with the century, in the early Byzantium perhaps they use the word ''king'' and later as they deepen in the greek language they replaced it with ''αυτοκρατορ''

a guess

αυτοκράτωρ...basics...orthography 101

skapeti · Jul 21, 2016

Psellos said:
αυτοκράτωρ...basics...orthography 101

No it's not basic, who uses this word the last 500 years or any word sufixed =ωρ, anyway i'm a misspeller both in greek and english, usually I use autocorrect program, but I didn't for that one... I guessed the spelling and it was wrong unsurprisingly

i'm sorry (not really)

Psellos · Jul 23, 2016

skapeti said:
No it's not basic, who uses this word the last 500 years or any word sufixed =ωρ, anyway i'm a misspeller both in greek and english, usually I use autocorrect program, but I didn't for that one... I guessed the spelling and it was wrong unsurprisingly i'm sorry (not really)

Orthography is usually a good indication of one's education...you cannot have read some texts 5-6 times with the word autokrator in it...and you can know how it is written....

Are you misspeller in albanian too?

skapeti · Jul 23, 2016

Psellos said:
Orthography is usually a good indication of one's education...you cannot have read some texts 5-6 times with the word autokrator in it...and you can know how it is written....

Are you misspeller in albanian too?

Misspelling has nothing to do with education or intelligence of a person, and since we talking about modern greek spelling, it's all memorization, the cheapest ability of the human mind... instead, people who have adhesion with correcting others spelling are usually weak minded with inferiority complex. In any case I'm writing my language there, and since you are from the ''city'' as you say, you writing my language too... so even when I'm wrong I'm still right for you.

Psellos · Jul 23, 2016

skapeti said:
Misspelling has nothing to do with education or intelligence of a person, and since we talking about modern greek spelling, it's all memorization, the cheapest ability of the human mind... instead, people who have adhesion with correcting others spelling are usually weak minded with inferiority complex. In any case I'm writing my language there, and since you are from the ''city'' as you say, you writing my language too... so even when I'm wrong I'm still right for you.

At least while writing in an english language forum a greek word you can be more careful...or just google it before you post it.

You like it or not we use historical orthography in Greek...and we are not the only ones...like the language we are taepeng naw....

Its not about inferiority complex...its about being correct when you want to help someone asking help in Greek, like it this thread...

(skapeti...your albanian style is obvious...)

skapeti · Jul 23, 2016

Psellos said:
(skapeti...your albanian style is obvious...)

you obviously have wrong perception of what greek style is... perhaps you judging from yourself

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Translation of Latin/Greek in Latin alphabet inscriptions on Byzantine coins?

JeanDukeofAlecon

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JeanDukeofAlecon

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JeanDukeofAlecon

El Cid

JeanDukeofAlecon

Kentarchos

El Cid

Kentarchos

Cornelis

Psellos

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