Equal rights, equal power, the same message

So what can we, as present day scholars, conclude about this particular coin in the broader theme of empresses and power on Romano-Byzantine coins? The whole image of Irene on these coins screams power: her name, title, her dress and attributes, everything tells us of how she as empress was the embodiment of absolute imperial power in the Byzantine empire.

There is also something very striking, which Maurizio might not have recognized from this particular coin, but which Theophylactos certainly would have: Irene is depicted as any Byzantine emperor would have been. The only difference would be that they are male, and she is not.She is depicted, of course, without a beard, while many of the previous and later Byzantine emperors were depicted with one. This is the one striking but pretty obvious difference. What does this tell us about the political context of this depiction? Perhaps she wanted everyone who holds this coin to know that her power as an empress is as absolute as the power any Byzantine emperor would have. She is not just the wife of the emperor, or his mother, or a regent: she is the emperor. She has absolute imperial power and nobody can say otherwise.The question still remains on how much influence she had on her image on the coin; did she tell the artist explicitly to depict her in this manner or did the artist just stick to the traditional manner of depicting Byzantine emperors? We really cannot say for sure, but in the end the depiction is still the same and the message is as clear as ever: Irene is the Byzantine emperor

This is also the message that we have tried to convey to you, the audience, using the dialogue between Maurizio and Theophylactos in thirteenth century Constantinople.