Sev. Alex. under Gaetulicus at Marcianopolis

[curtislclay]

About five years ago I began collecting images of coins of Sev. Alex. struck at Marcianopolis, portraying the emperor either alone or in double portraits with Julia Maesa or Julia Mamaea, in order to determine the correct order of the four governors named on the coins, Philopappus, Tereventinus, Festus, and Gaetulicus.

By now I have gathered a substantial amount of material, two or three times as many specimens as were known to Pick from all the museums and private collections of Europe 110 years ago.  Sometimes I think my knowledge of the coinage is nearing completion, since most new material is merely additional specimens of dies and die combinations already represented in my file.  However the following coin which I acquired for my own collection, of Sev. Alex. alone under Gaetulicus, presents some interesting novelties.

Not only a new obv. die, but a new bust type, laureate, draped, seen from front, for Sev. Alex. alone under Gaetulicus.  Previously in my file: six obv. dies with bust laureate, draped, seen from back, represented by 26, 8, 3, 3, 2, and 6 spec. respectively; three obv. dies with head laureate, represented by 10, 6, and 3 spec.

An ordinary rev. type, Fortuna standing l. holding rudder and cornucopia, but new for Sev. Alex. under Gaetulicus.  Moreover the rev. legend, by engraver's error, is retrograde, beginning at the lower right with VP IOVLI GETOVL.  I only know one other retrograde legend in this coinage, also of Gaetulicus, with a different rev. type and coupled with a different obv. die.

Both of the dies show signs of being about to break up from use:  note the massive break developing before the emperor's nose on the obv., and the large break from the edge of the rev. die at 3:30-5 o'clock.  Maybe the dies were made of a poor alloy which rapidly crumbled during use, explaining the rarity of the coins struck from them today.

Gaetulicus, by the way, was the last of the four governors, which explains why he alone of the four struck no coins for Sev. Alex. with Julia Maesa.   Evidently Maesa had died by the time coins began to be issued with his name.

[Arminius]

Is there a chance to assign ca. - dates for these four governors?

[Jochen]

Hristova/Jekov have in their monography about Markianopolis dates for each legate. But I think it was Curtis Clay who suggests that these dates are without any evidence!

Best regards

[curtislclay]

The only solid information we have is that Philopappus, Tereventinus, and Festus served as governors in that order BEFORE the death of Julia Maesa, since Maesa still appears on coins bearing each of their names, but that Gaetulicus evidently served after Maesa's death, since her portrait no longer appears on his coins.

Unfortunately no ancient auther tells us when Maesa died, so we have to deduce this fact from her presence or absence in dated inscriptions naming the imperial family.  I would have to review the details, but I believe it is clear that she had died by late 224.  By that date, then, the governorships of Philopappus and Tereventinus were over and Festus had at least entered office.  Gaetulicus' term of office fell sometime between c. late 224 and the end of Alexander's reign in 235.

Sometimes surviving inscriptions name a governor and are dated to a specific year or even month and day, but this is not the case with these four governors, who are known to us ONLY from the coins of Marcianopolis.