Diptych of Constantius III

Constantius III was a powerful Roman general under Emperor Honorius who briefly served as co-emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 421 AD. His consular diptych, dated to 417 AD, commemorated his tenure as consul, a prestigious office he held that year.

It is a consular ivory diptych, carved from ivory panels that were originally hinged together. Such diptychs were luxury objects distributed by newly appointed consuls in late antiquity to announce games and celebrate their office.

The diptych dates to 417 AD, the year Constantius III assumed the consulship of the Western Roman Empire. This places it firmly in the early fifth century, during the final decades of effective Western Roman imperial power.

The diptych documents the career of one of the last effective power-brokers of the Western Roman Empire, a man who briefly became co-emperor before dying the same year. It also exemplifies the survival and function of late-antique ivory carving as a political medium.