Philippicus was Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 711 to 713. His brief reign was marked by his quarrels with the papacy and his ineffectiveness in defending the empire from Bulgar and Arab invaders.

He was the son of the patrician Nicephorus, who was of Armenian extraction. His proper name, which indicates his Armenian origin, was Bardanes. In 711 he leads a rebellion that manages to take Constantinople and crowns himself Emperor with the name Philippicus. Justinian is deposed, and eventually executed.

In foreign policy, Philippicus’s reign was disastrous. The Bulgars invade the empire all the way to the city walls of Constantinople and in 712-713 the Arab captured several cities.

He rejects the bust of Christ that Justinian II had introduced to Byzantine coinage and to revert to the portrait of the emperor on the obverse on his coins and the cross on the steps on the reverse.

Image Source: Heritage Auctions