2-723-398 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Balance Weight formed as the Bust of an Empress, c. 390-400. Among the most striking Byzantine weights to have survived are the imperial weights issued in the late 4th and 5th centuries. Typically they depict the same royal figures seen on coins to promote the legitimacy and stability of the state and to guarantee their validity as "honest weights." Used on balance scales, the weights were sometimes filled with lead to make them heavier.