A similar coin was issued by Theodosius I., surnamed the Great; the
last of the Emperors of Rome whose rule extended throughout the whole
of the Roman world.

The instances named are, it will be understood, the exceptions to the
general rule during a considerable period. And upon many of the coins
of the Emperors mentioned, as well as upon those of the intervening
Emperors, the round object held by those rulers is surmounted by either
a Victory or a Phoenix; usually by the former, but in several instances
by the latter.

The first ruler who caused _himself_ to be represented as holding a
round object surmounted by an ordinary cross, was Theodosius II.,
Emperor of the East.

The fact that for a long time the Victory, the Phoenix, and the Cross,
were made use of as symbols which might be substituted one for another,
is worthy of special note. For the facts that the round object held by
Theodosius II. is as often surmounted by a Victory as by a Cross, and
that a Victory instead of a Cross was often used by succeeding
Christian Emperors, tend to show that the Victory, the Phoenix, and the
Cross were allied in signification, and equally connected with the
round object the nature and meaning of which we are about to enquire
into.

The reader may possibly object that no case has been made out for such
enquiry, inasmuch as not only did the cross in course of time entirely
supplant the Victory, but the round object from first to last, and
whether unsurmounted by anything or surmounted by a Victory or a
Phoenix or a Cross, signified the world upon which we dwell, the round