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1501s, Valentinian I, 25 February 364 - 17 November 375 A.D. (Siscia)Valentinian I, 25 February 364 - 17 November 375 A.D., Bronze AE 3, S 4103, VF, Siscia mint, 2.012g, 18.7mm, 180o, 24 Aug 367 - 17 Nov 375 A.D.obverse D N VALENTINI-ANVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; reverse SECVRITAS - REIPVBLICAE, Victory advancing left, wreath in right and palm in left, symbols in fields, mintmark in exergue.
De Imperatoribus Romanis, An Online Encyclopedia of the Roman Emperors and their Families
Valentinian I (364-375 AD.)
Walter E. Roberts, Emory University
Valentinian was one of Rome's last great warrior emperors. Flavius Valentinianus, was born in A.D. 321 at Cibalis (modern Vinkovci) in southern Pannonia. His father Gratian was a soldier renowned for his strength and wrestling skills. Gratian had an illustrious career in the army, rising from staff officer to tribune, to comes Africae, and finally [i/comes Britanniae.
The emperor Jovian died on 17 February 364, apparently of natural causes, on the border between Bithynia and Galatia. The army marched on to Nicaea, the nearest city of any consequence, and a meeting of civil and military officials was convened to choose a new emperor. The assembly finally agreed upon Valentinian.
On 26 February 364, Valentinian accepted the office offered to him. As he prepared to make his accession speech, the soldiers threatened to riot, apparently uncertain as to where his loyalties lay. Valentinian reassured them that the army was his greatest priority. Furthermore, to prevent a crisis of succession if he should die prematurely, he agreed to pick a co-Augustus. According to Ammianus, the soldiers were astounded by Valentinian’s bold demeanor and his willingness to assume the imperial authority. His decision to elect a fellow-emperor could also be construed as a move to appease any opposition among the civilian officials in the eastern portion of the empire. By agreeing to appoint a co-ruler, he assured the eastern officials that someone with imperial authority would remain in the east to protect their interests. After promoting his brother Valens to the rank of tribune and putting him in charge of the royal stables on March 1, Valentinian selected Valens as co-Augustus at Constantinople on 28 March 364, though this was done over the objections of Dagalaifus. Ammianus makes it clear, however, that Valens was clearly subordinate to his brother.
Ammianus and Zosimus as well as modern scholars praise Valentinian for his military accomplishments. He is generally credited with keeping the Roman empire from crumbling away by “. . . reversing the generally waning confidence in the army and imperial defense . . ..” Several other aspects of Valentinian's reign also set the course of Roman history for the next century.
Valentinian deliberately polarized Roman society, subordinating the civilian population to the military. The military order took over the old prestige of the senatorial nobility. The imperial court, which was becoming more and more of a military court, became a vehicle for social mobility. There were new ideas of nobility, which was increasingly provincial in character. By this it is meant that the imperial court, not the Senate, was the seat of nobility, and most of these new nobles came from the provinces. With the erosion of the old nobility, the stage was set for the ascendancy of Christianity. Ammianus makes it clear that actions such as these were part of a systematic plan by Valentinian to erode the power and prestige of the senatorial aristocracy. Several pieces of extant legislation seem to confirm Ammianus’ allegations that Valentinian was eroding senatorial prestige.
Valentinian's reign affords valuable insights into late Roman society, civilian as well as military. First, there was a growing fracture between the eastern and western portions of the empire. Valentinian was the last emperor to really concentrate his resources on the west. Valens was clearly in an inferior position in the partnership. Second, there was a growing polarization of society, both Christian versus pagan, and civil versus military. Finally there was a growing regionalism in the west, driven by heavy taxation and the inability of Valentinian to fully exercise military authority in all areas of the west. All of these trends would continue over the next century, profoundly reshaping the Roman empire and western Europe.
By Walter E. Roberts, Emory University
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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1501s, Valentinian I, 25 February 364 - 17 November 375 A.D. (Siscia)Valentinian I, 25 February 364 - 17 November 375 A.D. Bronze AE 3, RIC 5(a) ii, VF, Siscia, 1.905g, 19.3mm, 0o, 25 Feb 364 - 24 Aug 367 A.D. Obverse: D N VALENTINI-ANVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; Reverse: GLORIA RO-MANORVM, Emperor dragging captive with right, labarum (chi-rho standard) in left, •GSISC in exergue.
De Imperatoribus Romanis, An Online Encyclopedia of the Roman Emperors and their Families
Valentinian I (364-375 AD.)
Walter E. Roberts, Emory University
Valentinian was one of Rome's last great warrior emperors. Flavius Valentinianus, was born in A.D. 321 at Cibalis (modern Vinkovci) in southern Pannonia. His father Gratian was a soldier renowned for his strength and wrestling skills. Gratian had an illustrious career in the army, rising from staff officer to tribune, to comes Africae, and finally [i/comes Britanniae.
The emperor Jovian died on 17 February 364, apparently of natural causes, on the border between Bithynia and Galatia. The army marched on to Nicaea, the nearest city of any consequence, and a meeting of civil and military officials was convened to choose a new emperor. The assembly finally agreed upon Valentinian.
On 26 February 364, Valentinian accepted the office offered to him. As he prepared to make his accession speech, the soldiers threatened to riot, apparently uncertain as to where his loyalties lay. Valentinian reassured them that the army was his greatest priority. Furthermore, to prevent a crisis of succession if he should die prematurely, he agreed to pick a co-Augustus. According to Ammianus, the soldiers were astounded by Valentinian’s bold demeanor and his willingness to assume the imperial authority. His decision to elect a fellow-emperor could also be construed as a move to appease any opposition among the civilian officials in the eastern portion of the empire. By agreeing to appoint a co-ruler, he assured the eastern officials that someone with imperial authority would remain in the east to protect their interests. After promoting his brother Valens to the rank of tribune and putting him in charge of the royal stables on March 1, Valentinian selected Valens as co-Augustus at Constantinople on 28 March 364, though this was done over the objections of Dagalaifus. Ammianus makes it clear, however, that Valens was clearly subordinate to his brother.
Ammianus and Zosimus as well as modern scholars praise Valentinian for his military accomplishments. He is generally credited with keeping the Roman empire from crumbling away by “. . . reversing the generally waning confidence in the army and imperial defense . . ..” Several other aspects of Valentinian's reign also set the course of Roman history for the next century.
Valentinian deliberately polarized Roman society, subordinating the civilian population to the military. The military order took over the old prestige of the senatorial nobility. The imperial court, which was becoming more and more of a military court, became a vehicle for social mobility. There were new ideas of nobility, which was increasingly provincial in character. By this it is meant that the imperial court, not the Senate, was the seat of nobility, and most of these new nobles came from the provinces. With the erosion of the old nobility, the stage was set for the ascendancy of Christianity. Ammianus makes it clear that actions such as these were part of a systematic plan by Valentinian to erode the power and prestige of the senatorial aristocracy. Several pieces of extant legislation seem to confirm Ammianus’ allegations that Valentinian was eroding senatorial prestige.
Valentinian's reign affords valuable insights into late Roman society, civilian as well as military. First, there was a growing fracture between the eastern and western portions of the empire. Valentinian was the last emperor to really concentrate his resources on the west. Valens was clearly in an inferior position in the partnership. Second, there was a growing polarization of society, both Christian versus pagan, and civil versus military. Finally there was a growing regionalism in the west, driven by heavy taxation and the inability of Valentinian to fully exercise military authority in all areas of the west. All of these trends would continue over the next century, profoundly reshaping the Roman empire and western Europe.
By Walter E. Roberts, Emory University
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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1505b, Theodosius I, 19 January 379 - 17 January 395 A.D. (Antioch)Theodosius I, 19 January 379 - 17 January 395 A.D. Bronze AE 3, RIC 44(b), VF, Antioch, 2.17g, 18.1mm, 180o, 9 Aug 378 - 25 Aug 383 A.D. Obverse: D N THEODOSIVS P F AVG, rosette-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; Reverse: CONCORDIA AVGGG, Constantinopolis enthroned facing, r. foot on prow, globe in l., scepter in r., Q and F at sides, ANTG in ex; scarce.
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
THEODOSIUS I (379-395 A.D.)
David Woods
University College of Cork
Origin and Early Career
Flavius Theodosius was born at Cauca in Spain in about 346 to Thermantia and Theodosius the Elder (so-called to distinguish him from his son). Theodosius the Elder was a senior military officer serving in the Western empire and rose to become the magister equitum praesentalis under the emperor Valentinian I from late 368 until his execution in early 375. As the son of a soldier, Theodosius was legally obliged to enter upon a military career. He seems to have served under his father during his expedition to Britain in 367/8, and was the dux Moesiae Primae by late 374. Unfortunately, great controversy surrounds the rest of his career until Gratian had him hailed as his imperial colleague in succession to the emperor Valens at Sirmium on 19 January 379. It is clear that he was forced to retire home to Spain only to be recalled to active service shortly thereafter, but the circumstances of his forced retirement are shrouded in mystery. His father was executed at roughly the same time, and much speculation has centred on the relationship between these events.
[For a very detailed and interesting discussion of the Foreign Policy of Theodosius and the Civil Wars that plagued his reign, please see http://www.roman-emperors.org/theo1.htm]
Family and Succession
Theodosius married twice. His first wife was the Spanish Aelia Flavia Flaccilla. She bore him Arcadius ca. 377, Honorius on 9 September 384, and Pulcheria ca. 385. Theodosius honoured her with the title of Augusta shortly after his accession, but she died in 386. In late 387 he married Galla, daughter of Valentinian I and full-sister of Valentinian II. She bore him Gratian ca. 388, Galla Placidia ca. 388/390, and died in childbirth in 394, together with her new-born son John. Of his two sons who survived infancy, he appointed Arcadius as Augustus on 19 January 383 and Honorius as Augustus on 23 January 393. His promotion of Arcadius as a full Augustus at an unusually young age points to his determination right from the start that one of his own sons should succeed him. He sought to strengthen Arcadius' position in particular by means of a series of strategic marriages whose purpose was to tie his leading "generals" irrevocably to his dynasty. Hence he married his niece and adoptive daughter Serena to his magister militum per Orientem Stilicho in 387, her elder sister Thermantia to a "general" whose name has not been preserved, and ca. 387 his nephew-in-law Nebridius to Salvina, daughter of the comes Africae Gildo. By the time of his death by illness on 17 January 395, Theodosius had promoted Stilicho from his position as one of the two comites domesticorum under his own eastern administration to that of magister peditum praesentalis in a western administration, in an entirely traditional manner, under his younger son Honorius. Although Stilicho managed to increase the power of the magister peditum praesentalis to the disadvantage of his colleague the magister equitum praesentalis and claimed that Theodosius had appointed him as guardian for both his sons, this tells us more about his cunning and ambition than it does about Theodosius' constitutional arrangements.
Theodosius' importance rests on the fact that he founded a dynasty which continued in power until the death of his grandson Theodosius II in 450. This ensured a continuity of policy which saw the emergence of Nicene Christianity as the orthodox belief of the vast majority of Christians throughout the middle ages. It also ensured the essential destruction of paganism and the emergence of Christianity as the religion of the state, even if the individual steps in this process can be difficult to identify. On the negative side, however, he allowed his dynastic interests and ambitions to lead him into two unnecessary and bloody civil wars which severely weakened the empire's ability to defend itself in the face of continued barbarian pressure upon its frontiers. In this manner, he put the interests of his family before those of the wider Roman population and was responsible, in many ways, for the phenomenon to which we now refer as the fall of the western Roman empire.
Copyright (C) 1998, David Woods.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
There is a nice segue here, as we pick-up John Julius Norwich's summation of the reign of Theodosius, "Readers of this brief account of his career may well find themselves wondering, not so much whether he deserved the title of 'the Great' as how he ever came to acquire it in the first place. If so, however, they may also like to ask themselves another question: what would have been the fate of the Empire if, at that critical moment in its history after the battle of Adrianople, young Gratian had not called him from his Spanish estates and put the future of the East into his hands? . . . the probability is that the whole Empire of the East would have been lost, swallowed up in a revived Gothic kingdom, with effects on world history that defy speculation.
In his civil legislation he showed, again and again, a consideration for the humblest of his subjects that was rare indeed among rulers of the fourth century. What other prince would have decreed that any criminal, sentenced to execution, imprisonment or exile, must first be allowed thirty days' grace to put his affairs in order? Or that a specified part of his worldly goods must go to his children, upon whom their father's crimes must on no account be visited? Or that no farmer should be obliged to sell his produce to the State at a price lower than he would receive on the open market?
Had he earned his title? Not, perhaps, in the way that Constantine had done or as Justinian was to do. But, if not ultimately great himself, he had surely come very close to greatness; and had he reigned as long as they did his achievements might well have equalled theirs. He might even have saved the Western Empire. One thing only is certain: it would be nearly a century and a half before the Romans would look upon his like again" (Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium, the Early Centuries. London: Penguin Group, 1990. 116-7;118).
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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1505c, Theodosius I, 379 - 395 A.D. (Constantinople)Theodosius I (379 - 395 AD) AE3. 388-394 AD, RIC IX 27(a)3, Third Officina. Seventh Period. 20.27 mm. 4.8gm. Near VF with black and earthen patina. Constantinople. Obverse: DN THEODO-SIANVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped, & cuirassed bust right; Reverse: GLORIA-ROMANORVM, Theodosius I standing, facing, holding labarum and globe, CONSB in exergue (scarcer reverse). A Spanish find.
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
THEODOSIUS I (379-395 A.D.)
David Woods
University College of Cork
Origin and Early Career
Flavius Theodosius was born at Cauca in Spain in about 346 to Thermantia and Theodosius the Elder (so-called to distinguish him from his son). Theodosius the Elder was a senior military officer serving in the Western empire and rose to become the magister equitum praesentalis under the emperor Valentinian I from late 368 until his execution in early 375. As the son of a soldier, Theodosius was legally obliged to enter upon a military career. He seems to have served under his father during his expedition to Britain in 367/8, and was the dux Moesiae Primae by late 374. Unfortunately, great controversy surrounds the rest of his career until Gratian had him hailed as his imperial colleague in succession to the emperor Valens at Sirmium on 19 January 379. It is clear that he was forced to retire home to Spain only to be recalled to active service shortly thereafter, but the circumstances of his forced retirement are shrouded in mystery. His father was executed at roughly the same time, and much speculation has centred on the relationship between these events.
[For a very detailed and interesting discussion of the Foreign Policy of Theodosius and the Civil Wars that plagued his reign, please see http://www.roman-emperors.org/theo1.htm]
Family and Succession
Theodosius married twice. His first wife was the Spanish Aelia Flavia Flaccilla. She bore him Arcadius ca. 377, Honorius on 9 September 384, and Pulcheria ca. 385. Theodosius honoured her with the title of Augusta shortly after his accession, but she died in 386. In late 387 he married Galla, daughter of Valentinian I and full-sister of Valentinian II. She bore him Gratian ca. 388, Galla Placidia ca. 388/390, and died in childbirth in 394, together with her new-born son John. Of his two sons who survived infancy, he appointed Arcadius as Augustus on 19 January 383 and Honorius as Augustus on 23 January 393. His promotion of Arcadius as a full Augustus at an unusually young age points to his determination right from the start that one of his own sons should succeed him. He sought to strengthen Arcadius' position in particular by means of a series of strategic marriages whose purpose was to tie his leading "generals" irrevocably to his dynasty. Hence he married his niece and adoptive daughter Serena to his magister militum per Orientem Stilicho in 387, her elder sister Thermantia to a "general" whose name has not been preserved, and ca. 387 his nephew-in-law Nebridius to Salvina, daughter of the comes Africae Gildo. By the time of his death by illness on 17 January 395, Theodosius had promoted Stilicho from his position as one of the two comites domesticorum under his own eastern administration to that of magister peditum praesentalis in a western administration, in an entirely traditional manner, under his younger son Honorius. Although Stilicho managed to increase the power of the magister peditum praesentalis to the disadvantage of his colleague the magister equitum praesentalis and claimed that Theodosius had appointed him as guardian for both his sons, this tells us more about his cunning and ambition than it does about Theodosius' constitutional arrangements.
Theodosius' importance rests on the fact that he founded a dynasty which continued in power until the death of his grandson Theodosius II in 450. This ensured a continuity of policy which saw the emergence of Nicene Christianity as the orthodox belief of the vast majority of Christians throughout the middle ages. It also ensured the essential destruction of paganism and the emergence of Christianity as the religion of the state, even if the individual steps in this process can be difficult to identify. On the negative side, however, he allowed his dynastic interests and ambitions to lead him into two unnecessary and bloody civil wars which severely weakened the empire's ability to defend itself in the face of continued barbarian pressure upon its frontiers. In this manner, he put the interests of his family before those of the wider Roman population and was responsible, in many ways, for the phenomenon to which we now refer as the fall of the western Roman empire.
Copyright (C) 1998, David Woods.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
There is a nice segue here, as we pick-up John Julius Norwich's summation of the reign of Theodosius, "Readers of this brief account of his career may well find themselves wondering, not so much whether he deserved the title of 'the Great' as how he ever came to acquire it in the first place. If so, however, they may also like to ask themselves another question: what would have been the fate of the Empire if, at that critical moment in its history after the battle of Adrianople, young Gratian had not called him from his Spanish estates and put the future of the East into his hands? . . . the probability is that the whole Empire of the East would have been lost, swallowed up in a revived Gothic kingdom, with effects on world history that defy speculation.
In his civil legislation he showed, again and again, a consideration for the humblest of his subjects that was rare indeed among rulers of the fourth century. What other prince would have decreed that any criminal, sentenced to execution, imprisonment or exile, must first be allowed thirty days' grace to put his affairs in order? Or that a specified part of his worldly goods must go to his children, upon whom their father's crimes must on no account be visited? Or that no farmer should be obliged to sell his produce to the State at a price lower than he would receive on the open market?
Had he earned his title? Not, perhaps, in the way that Constantine had done or as Justinian was to do. But, if not ultimately great himself, he had surely come very close to greatness; and had he reigned as long as they did his achievements might well have equalled theirs. He might even have saved the Western Empire. One thing only is certain: it would be nearly a century and a half before the Romans would look upon his like again" (Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium, the Early Centuries. London: Penguin Group, 1990. 116-7;118).
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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1569 Hadrian Denarius Roma 130-38 AD AfricaReference.
RIC II 322; C. 1223; BMC 871; RIC III, 1569; Strack 318
Bust A1
Obv. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P
Laureate head right
Rev. RESTITVTORI AFRICAE
Hadrian standing left, holding scroll and raising up Africa who wears elephant-scalp and holds bunch of corn-ears; on the ground between the figures grow ears of corn
3.40 gr
17 mm
6hokidoki
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1569 Hadrian Denarius Roma 130-38 AD AfricaReference.
RIC II, 322e; C. 1223; BMC 871; RIC III, 1569
Bust A2
Obv. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P
Laureate head with drapery
Rev. RESTITVTORI AFRICAE
Hadrian standing left, holding scroll and raising up Africa who wears elephant-scalp and holds bunch of corn-ears; on the ground between the figures grow ears of corn
3.13
17 mm
6hokidoki
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1815 Hadrian Sestertius Roma 130-38 AD AfricaReference.
Strack 769; RIC II, 941f; BMCRE 1789; C.1228; RIC III 1815
Bust C2
Obv. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P
Laureate, draped bust viewed from side
Rev. RESTITVTORI AFRICAE, in Ex.SC,
Hadrian standing left, holding scroll and raising up kneeling Africa who wears elephant-scalp and holds bunch of corn-ears; more corn grows on the ground between figures
24.65 gr
34 mm
6hokidoki
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515b. Magnus MaximusA Spaniard, Maximus was proclaimed emperor by his troops in 383, while serving with the army in Britain. Later legend made him King of the Britons; he handed the throne over to Caradocus when he went to Gaul to pursue his imperial ambitions.
Following his destruction of Gaul, Maximus went out to meet his main opponent, Gratian, who he defeated near Paris. Gratian, after fleeing, was killed at Lyon on August 25, 383. Soon after, Maximus managed to force Valentinian II out of Rome after which he fled to Theodosius I, the Eastern Roman Emperor. Maximus made his capital at Augusta Treverorum (Treves, Trier) in Gaul. He became a popular emperor, although also a stern persecutor of heretics.
Theodosius I and Valentinian II campaigned against Magnus Maximus in July-August 388. Maximus was defeated in the Battle of the Save, near Emona, and retreated to Aquileia. Andragathius, magister equitum of Maximus and killer of Gratian, was defeated near Siscia, his brother Marcellinus again at Poetovio. Maximus surrendered in Aquileia and although pleaded for mercy was executed. However, his wife and two daughters were spared. Maximus' son, Flavius Victor, was defeated and executed by Valentinian's magister peditum Arbogast in the fall of the same year.
What happened to his family is not related, although it is clear that they survived and that his descendants continued to occupy influential posts. We encounter a possible daughter of Magnus Maximus, Sevira, on the Pillar of Eliseg, an early medieval inscribed stone in Wales which claims her marriage to Vortigern, king of the Britons. Another daughter was possibly married to Ennodius, proconsul Africae (395). Their grandson was Petronius Maximus, who was another ill-fated emperor, ruling in Rome for but 77 days before he was stoned to death while fleeing from the Vandals on May 24, 455. Other descendants included Anicius Olybrius, emperor in 472, but also several consuls and bishops such as St. Magnus Felix Ennodius (Bishop of Pavia c. 514-21).
Magnus Maximus AE-4
Obv: MM right, DN MAG MAXIMVS PF AVG; Reverse: SPES ROMANORVM, campgate with two turrets and star above. Coin is nice VF for this small issue. ecoli
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Battle of Thapsus - P. Licinius Crassus (47-46 BC)Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio and P. Licinius Crassus, 47-46 BC. AR Denarius. North Africa.
Obv: Q·METEL· PIVS – SCIPIO·IMP Lion-headed Genius Terrae Africae standing facing, holding ankh in her right hand; to left and right of her head, G.T. - A.
Rev: P·CRASSVS·IVN – LEG PRO·PR Victory standing to left, holding caduceus and shield.
This coin has aroused great interest among numismatists, especially the lioness-headed goddess depicted on the obverse, numismatists have two different views about her identiy, one of which believes that she is Sekhmet, the lioness goddess of war in ancient Egyptian mythology, and that in her right hand is 'ankh', the symbol of life in Egyptian culture; while the other view, which arouses in recent years, believes that she was the Carthaginian goddess Tanit, with 'symbol of Tanit' in her right hand. Considering the coin was minted near Thapsus in North Africa, which was the formal land of Carthage Republic, the second view makes more sense. In fact Tanit was still venerated in North Africa after the destruction of Carthage, and was sometimes depicted with a lion's head to express her warrior quality.
Either way, the coinage shows a dramatic break with Roman Republican tradition, no local or city goddess had previously been portrayed on the obverse of Roman coinage other than Roma herself, and certainly never a foreign one, not to mention an enemy one. In this case it was made all the more objectionable by either being or holding the symbol of Tanit - a god whose people had slain hundreds of thousands of Roman soldiers and nearly vanquished Rome entirely. Scipio’s coinage might have been designed to curry favour with the populace of North Africa, Caesar must not have been able to believe his luck, as nothing could better demonstrate to the rank and file the justness of his military actions than the thoroughly un-Roman depths to which Scipio had lowered himself.YuenTsin C
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Carthago - Constantinus I - FollisAE Follis. Carthago.
Obv.: FL VAL CONSTANTINVS NOB CAES
Rev.: CONSERVATO - R - AFRICAE SVAE, SE in l. field, F in r. field, Delta in ex.
Africa stg. facing, head l., in long drapery with elephant-skin head-dress, r. holding standard, l. tusk; at feet to l., lion with captured bull.
RIC VI, Carthago 58; struck c. early 307; scarceTanit
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Carthago - Constantinus I - FollisAE Follis. Early 307 AD.
Obv: FL VAL CONSTANTINVS NOB CAES
Rev: CONSERVATOR AFRICAESVAE / SE F in field / delta in exergue ;Africa standing facing, head left, in long drapery with elephant-skin head-dress, right holding standard, left tusk; at feet to left, lion with captured bull.
RIC VI Carthage 58
Scarce
Tanit
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Constantine I CONSERVATOR AFRICAE SVAE from CarthageConstantine I
A.D. 307
Ӕ follis 28mm 8.7g
FL VAL CONSTANTINVS NOB CAES; laureate head right.
CONSERVATOR AFRICAE SVAE; Africa standing facing, head left, in long drapery with elephant- skin head-dress, right holding standard, left tusk, at feet to left lion with captured bull, in right field I.; SE in left field, F in right.
In ex. Δ
RIC VI Carthage 58
Victor C
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Hadrian (Africa)Denarius of Hadrian, emperor of Rome 117-138
"Travel series"
Africa
Restitutor type
RIC II.3 1569
O: HADRIANVS AVG COS III PP
R: RESTITVTORI AFRICAE
Ex- CGBSt. George's Collection
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Hadrian RESTITVTORI AFRICAEHadrian Denarius, Rome c. 132 AD
OBV. HADRIANVS AVG COS III OP
REV. RESTITVTORI AFRICAE
Hadrian standing r. raising kneeling Africae
BM-874, C-1229 (5 Fr.), RIC 323(d)
Ex Harlan J Berk
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HADRIAN RESTITVTORI AFRICAEHADRIAN. 117-138 AD. Æ As (26mm, 8.73 gm). Struck 134-138 AD. Laureate and draped bust right / RESTITVTORI AFRICAE, Hadrian standing left, holding roll, raising kneeling Africa, who wears an elephant's skin headdress and holds two grain ears; three grain ears growing between. RIC II 942; BMCRE 1793 var. (bare-headed and draped bust right); Cohen 1227. Near VF, dark green patina.
From the Rudolf Berk Collection. Peattie
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Hadrian SestertiusAE Sestertius
HADRIANVS AVG COS III PP
Laur. and Draped bust of Hadrian right
ADVENTI AVG AFRICAE SC
Hadrian standing right his right hand raised, facing Africa standing left sacrificing over altar between them and holding corn-ears in left, sacrificial bull beside altar
Rome 136 AD
Sear 3559
Ex-Arcade coin
Sold!Jay GT4
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Hadrian, Restoration AfricaObverse: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, laureate head of Hadrian right
Reverse: RESTITVTORI AFRICAE Hadrian standing r. raising kneeling Africa, who wears elephant-skin headdress and holds wheat ears, while two further wheat stalks spring from the ground before her
Mint : Rome
Date : AD 132
Reference : BM-874, C-1229 (5 Fr.), RIC-323
Grade : VF
Weight : 3.37g
Denom : Denarius
Metal : Silver
Acquired: 2/02/05
Comments : Hadrian is normally shown facing left on the reverse, this coin has him facing right.Peattie
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Hadrian, RIC 941, Sestertius of AD 135-138 (Restitutori Africae)Æ Sestertius (24.9g, Ø33mm, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 135-138.
Obv.: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P laureate draped bust of Hadrian facing left.
Rev.: RESTITVTORI AFRICAE (around) S C (in ex.), Hadrian, togate, standing left, holding roll in left hand and extending right hand to raise up kneeling Africa extending her right hand to him; Africa wears elephant trunk head-dress and holds corn ears in her left hand; in the centre, corn ears growing.
RIC 941(R); Cohen 1228; Strack 769; Foss (Roman Historical Coins) 117:80
ex Mike R. Vosper
This issue refers to Hadrian's visit to Africa in AD 128, where he passed laws to stimulate agriculture.Charles S
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III-HADRIANUS -a- Denar RIC II/322Av) HADRIANVS AVG COS III PP
Laureate head right
Rv) RESTITVTORI AFRICAE
Emperor dressed with toga standing to the left, raises kneeling Africa, who carries elephant cap, and carring corn-ears, between them corn-ears are growing, too
Weight: 3,4g; Ø: 19mm; Reference: RIC II/322, Rome mint, struck: 134 A.D. - 138 A.D.
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[1601a] Theodosius I, 19 January 379 - 17 January 395 A.D. Bronze AE 2, RIC 83(b), EF, Constantinople mint, 4.389g, 22.1mm, 180o, 25 Aug 383 - 28 Aug 388 A.D.; Obverse: D N THEODO-SIVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; Reverse: VIRTVS E-XERCITI, Emperor standing right holding standard and globe, foot on captive, cross in left field, CONSA in exergue. Ex FORVM.
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
THEODOSIUS I (379-395 A.D.)
David Woods
University College of Cork
Origin and Early Career
Flavius Theodosius was born at Cauca in Spain in about 346 to Thermantia and Theodosius the Elder (so-called to distinguish him from his son). Theodosius the Elder was a senior military officer serving in the Western empire and rose to become the magister equitum praesentalis under the emperor Valentinian I from late 368 until his execution in early 375. As the son of a soldier, Theodosius was legally obliged to enter upon a military career. He seems to have served under his father during his expedition to Britain in 367/8, and was the dux Moesiae Primae by late 374. Unfortunately, great controversy surrounds the rest of his career until Gratian had him hailed as his imperial colleague in succession to the emperor Valens at Sirmium on 19 January 379. It is clear that he was forced to retire home to Spain only to be recalled to active service shortly thereafter, but the circumstances of his forced retirement are shrouded in mystery. His father was executed at roughly the same time, and much speculation has centred on the relationship between these events.
[For a very detailed and interesting discussion of the Foreign Policy of Theodosius and the Civil Wars that plagued his reign, please see http://www.roman-emperors.org/theo1.htm]
Family and Succession
Theodosius married twice. His first wife was the Spanish Aelia Flavia Flaccilla. She bore him Arcadius ca. 377, Honorius on 9 September 384, and Pulcheria ca. 385. Theodosius honoured her with the title of Augusta shortly after his accession, but she died in 386. In late 387 he married Galla, daughter of Valentinian I and full-sister of Valentinian II. She bore him Gratian ca. 388, Galla Placidia ca. 388/390, and died in childbirth in 394, together with her new-born son John. Of his two sons who survived infancy, he appointed Arcadius as Augustus on 19 January 383 and Honorius as Augustus on 23 January 393. His promotion of Arcadius as a full Augustus at an unusually young age points to his determination right from the start that one of his own sons should succeed him. He sought to strengthen Arcadius' position in particular by means of a series of strategic marriages whose purpose was to tie his leading "generals" irrevocably to his dynasty. Hence he married his niece and adoptive daughter Serena to his magister militum per Orientem Stilicho in 387, her elder sister Thermantia to a "general" whose name has not been preserved, and ca. 387 his nephew-in-law Nebridius to Salvina, daughter of the comes Africae Gildo. By the time of his death by illness on 17 January 395, Theodosius had promoted Stilicho from his position as one of the two comites domesticorum under his own eastern administration to that of magister peditum praesentalis in a western administration, in an entirely traditional manner, under his younger son Honorius. Although Stilicho managed to increase the power of the magister peditum praesentalis to the disadvantage of his colleague the magister equitum praesentalis and claimed that Theodosius had appointed him as guardian for both his sons, this tells us more about his cunning and ambition than it does about Theodosius' constitutional arrangements.
Theodosius' importance rests on the fact that he founded a dynasty which continued in power until the death of his grandson Theodosius II in 450. This ensured a continuity of policy which saw the emergence of Nicene Christianity as the orthodox belief of the vast majority of Christians throughout the middle ages. It also ensured the essential destruction of paganism and the emergence of Christianity as the religion of the state, even if the individual steps in this process can be difficult to identify. On the negative side, however, he allowed his dynastic interests and ambitions to lead him into two unnecessary and bloody civil wars which severely weakened the empire's ability to defend itself in the face of continued barbarian pressure upon its frontiers. In this manner, he put the interests of his family before those of the wider Roman population and was responsible, in many ways, for the phenomenon to which we now refer as the fall of the western Roman empire.
Copyright (C) 1998, David Woods.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
There is a nice segue here, as we pick-up John Julius Norwich's summation of the reign of Theodosius, "Readers of this brief account of his career may well find themselves wondering, not so much whether he deserved the title of 'the Great' as how he ever came to acquire it in the first place. If so, however, they may also like to ask themselves another question: what would have been the fate of the Empire if, at that critical moment in its history after the battle of Adrianople, young Gratian had not called him from his Spanish estates and put the future of the East into his hands? . . . the probability is that the whole Empire of the East would have been lost, swallowed up in a revived Gothic kingdom, with effects on world history that defy speculation.
In his civil legislation he showed, again and again, a consideration for the humblest of his subjects that was rare indeed among rulers of the fourth century. What other prince would have decreed that any criminal, sentenced to execution, imprisonment or exile, must first be allowed thirty days' grace to put his affairs in order? Or that a specified part of his worldly goods must go to his children, upon whom their father's crimes must on no account be visited? Or that no farmer should be obliged to sell his produce to the State at a price lower than he would receive on the open market?
Had he earned his title? Not, perhaps, in the way that Constantine had done or as Justinian was to do. But, if not ultimately great himself, he had surely come very close to greatness; and had he reigned as long as they did his achievements might well have equalled theirs. He might even have saved the Western Empire. One thing only is certain: it would be nearly a century and a half before the Romans would look upon his like again" (Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium, the Early Centuries. London: Penguin Group, 1990. 116-7;118).
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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