1. A few comments were made some months ago about the dating of the rebellion of Julianus of
Pannonia arguing for a date in autumn 283 A.D. This date is based on both the text of
Aurelius Victor and of some numismatic elements: a serie of coins of
Carinus, Numerianus and
Magnia Urbica minted at the begining of the issue at
Siscia marked SMSXXIA-I¨ and with the
reverse legends
VOTA PVBLICA and
SALVS PVBLICA, which has
obverse portraits looking very closely to those of Julianus of
Pannonia. Consequently this issue must have been minted after the fall of Julianus and, as Numerianus has a full share of the coinage, it must have been minted before November 284 A.D. To be in line with
Aurelius Victor’s text (Cari morte cognita) the rebellion should have taken place once the death of
Carus was known (August-September 283 A.D.).
2. Taking autumn 283 A.D as the date of Julianus’ rebellion into consideration and without reviewing the whole coinage of
Carus et sui, some preliminary conclusions can be drawn about the coinage of the
mint city of Lyons. A tentative new sequence for its final issues (namely the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th according to P.
Bastien) can be proposed.
3. Usually the
consecration issue ‘
Divo Caro
Pio’ is considered as the final one of the
mint of Lyons under
Carus et sui and is in consequence dated end 284 A.D. Thus, it is to take place about one year after the death of
Carus (first
anniversary ?), and is to be linked to the
consecration gold issues at
Rome for Divus Numerianus and Divus Nigrinianus. It is also seen as being a propaganda coinage of the legitimate emperor going to war against the usurper Julianus of
Pannonia in 284 A.D. Such a delay in minting
consecration coins for a deified emperor within the same dynasty is very strange. Moreover such a delay did not occured in the others working mint-cities across the Empire at that time:
Alexandria, Tripoli,
Antioch,
Siscia and
Rome which minted coins for the Divus
Carus without delay. So, why such a different situation at Lyons.
4. In fact, if it is considered that this issue has been minted in August-September 283 A.D, just after the death of
Carus, a different scheme can be suggested. The order of issues at Lyons could be the following:
a. Mid-summer and autumn 283 A.D: two linked issues (10th and 9th according to P.
Bastien) one for Divus
Carus Pius and one for the new dynasty (
Carinus - taking over
Carus’coinage after
his death (
officina and
reverse legends)-, Numerianus,
Urbica) are minted. As they followed closely the various events of the period: wedding with
Magnia Urbica, death and
consecration of
Carus, rebellion of Julianus, the two issues may have been minted partly at the same time and in an intricated manner (
aurei, aureliani, changing of
reverse legends amongst rulers resulting in uneven output of the various workshops).This being due to the sequence of the events occuring in summer and autumn 283 A.D.
b. Begining-spring 284 A.D: one issue in two phases is minted (7th and 8th according to P.
Bastien).The first phase is marked A-D/LVG (
LVG being an honour granted to Lyons for its support against Julianus) and the second phase is marked A-D. Both phases have the same
reverse legends (
VIRTVS,
FELICITAS,
PIETAS,
SALVS) corresponding to a more stable situation established after the crisis of the autumn 283 A.D.
c. After
spring 284 A.D the
mint of Lyons ceased its activity.
5. One may regret that a special issue for a deified ruler did not closed this coinage period...