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JAMES IV OF SCOTLAND
James IV was the King of Scotland from June 1488 until his death in battle at the age of 40 on the 9th September, 1513.
James IV's mother, Margaret of Denmark, was more popular than his father, James III, and though somewhat estranged from her husband she raised their sons at Stirling Castle until she died in 1486. Two years later, a rebellion broke out, where the rebels set up the 15-year-old Prince James as their nominal leader. The rebels fought James III at the Battle of Sauchieburn where, on 11th June 1488, the king was killed. Prince James assumed the throne as James IV and was crowned at Scone on 24th of June. However he continued to bear an intense guilt for the indirect role which he had played in the death of his father.
James maintained Scotland's traditional good relations with France, and this occasionally created diplomatic problems with England, but James recognised nonetheless that peace between Scotland and England was in the interest of both countries, and established good diplomatic relations with England as well. First he ratified the Treaty of Ayton in 1497, then, in 1502 James signed the Treaty of Perpetual Peace with Henry VII which was sealed by his marriage to Henry's daughter Margaret Tudor the next year. Anglo-Scottish relations generally remained stable until the death of Henry VII in 1509.
James saw the importance of building a fleet that could provide Scotland with a strong maritime presence, he founded two new dockyards and acquired a total of 38 ships for the Royal Scots Navy. These including the "Great Michael" which, built at great expense, was launched in 1511 and was at that time the largest ship in the world.
When war broke out between England and France, James found himself in a difficult position as an ally by treaty to both countries. But relations with England had worsened since the accession of Henry VIII, and when Henry invaded France, James reacted by declaring war on England.
James sent the Scottish navy, including the "Great Michael", to join the ships of Louis XII of France and, hoping to take advantage of Henry's absence at the siege of Thérouanne, he himself led an invading army southward into Northumberland. However, on 9th September 1513 at the disastrous Battle of Flodden James IV was killed, he was the last monarch in Great Britain to be killed in battle. His death, along with many of his nobles including his son the archbishop of St Andrews, was one of the worst military defeats in Scotland's history and the loss of such a large portion of the political community was a major blow to the realm. James IV's corpse was identified after the battle and taken to Berwick, where it was embalmed and placed in a lead coffin before being transported to London. Catherine of Aragon, wife of Henry VIII, sent the dead king's slashed, blood-stained surcoat to Henry, who was fighting in France, with the recommendation that he use it as a war banner.
James IV's son, James V, was crowned three weeks after the disaster at Flodden, but he was not yet two years old, and his minority was to be fraught with political upheaval.*Alex
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CARDINAL WOLSEY
When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509 he appointed Thomas Wolsey to the post of Almoner, a position that gave him a seat on the Privy Council and an opportunity for establishing a personal rapport with the King to such an extent that by 1514 Wolsey had become the controlling figure in virtually all matters of state. In 1515, he was awarded the title Archbishop of York and this, followed by his appointment that same year as Cardinal by Pope Leo X, gave him precedence over all other English clerics. His ecclesiastical power advanced even further in 1523 when the Bishop of Durham, a post with wide political powers, was added to his titles.
After Wolsey attained the position of Lord Chancellor, the King's chief adviser, he had achieved more power than any other Crown servant in English history and during his fourteen years of chancellorship Wolsey, who was often alluded to as an alter rex (other king), used his power to neutralise the influence of anyone who might threaten his position..
In spite of having made many enemies, Cardinal Wolsey retained Henry VIII's confidence until, in 1527, the King decided to seek an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. Henry asked Wolsey to negotiate the annulment with the Pope and in 1528 the Pope decided to allow two papal legates, Wolsey himself and Cardinal Campeggio, to decide the outcome in England. Wolsey was confident of the outcome, but Campeggio took a long time to arrive, and then he delayed proceedings so much, that the case had to be suspended and the Pope decided that the official decision should therefore be made in Rome and not in England.
After his failure to negotiate the annulment, Wolsey fell out of favour with Henry and in 1529 he was stripped of his government office and property, including the magnificent Palace of Hampton Court, which Henry took as his own main London residence.
Wolsey was however permitted to retain the title of Archbishop of York and so he travelled to Yorkshire, for the first time in his career, to carry out those duties.
Now that he was no longer protected by Henry, Wolsey's enemies, including it is rumoured, Ann Boleyn, conspired against him and Henry had him arrested and recalled to London to answer to charges of treason, one of those being that with 'pompous and preposterous mind, he had enterprised to join and imprint the Cardinal's hat under the King's arms on the King's coin of groats made in the city of York'. But Wolsey, now in great distress, fell ill on the journey back to the capital and at Leicester, on 29 November 1530, aged about 57, he died from natural causes before he could be beheaded.*Alex
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THOMAS ROTHERHAM, ARCHBISHOP OF YORK
Thomas Rotherham, also known as Thomas (Scot) de Rotherham, was an English cleric and statesman. He served as bishop of several dioceses, most notably as Archbishop of York and, on two occasions as Lord Chancellor. Rotherham was educated at King's College, Cambridge, he graduated as a Bachelor of Divinity and became a Fellow of his college where he lectured on Grammar, Theology, and Philosophy. After his ordination as a priest, he became a prebendary of Lincoln in 1462 and then of Salisbury in 1465. He moved on to powerful positions in the Church, being appointed as Bishop of Rochester in 1468, Bishop of Lincoln in 1472, and then Archbishop of York in 1480, a position he held until his death in 1500.
In 1467, King Edward IV appointed Rotherham as Keeper of the Privy Seal. He was sent as ambassador to France in 1468 and as joint ambassador to Burgundy in 1471, and in 1475 was entrusted with the office of Lord Chancellor. When Edward IV died in April 1483, Rotherham was one of the celebrants of the funeral mass on 20th April 1483 and immediately after Edward's death he sided with the dowager queen, Elizabeth Woodville, in her attempt to deprive Richard, Duke of Gloucester of his role as Lord Protector of her son, the new King Edward V. When Elizabeth sought sanctuary after Richard had taken charge of the king, Rotherham released the Great Seal to her (though he later recovered it and handed it over to Thomas Bourchier, the Archbishop of Canterbury).
Rotherham's mishandling of the seal was perceived as indicative of questionable loyalty and led to his dismissal as Lord Chancellor. He was replaced by John Russell, who earlier had also been his successor as Bishop of Lincoln. On 13th June 1483, Rotherham was charged with being involved in a conspiracy between Lord Hastings and the Woodvilles against Richard and imprisoned in the Tower of London, but he was released a few weeks later, around the middle of July, after Richard's coronation as King Richard III. Rotherham was re-instated as Chancellor in 1485, however he was dismissed shortly afterwards by Henry VII and retired from public work.
Rotherham died of the plague in Cawood near York on 29th May 1500. His remains were transferred to a magnificent marble tomb in York Minster in 1506.*Alex
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Louis XIV (1643 – 1715), AE Jeton struck c.1650Obverse: LVD•XIIII•D•G•FR•ET•NAV•REX. Laureate and draped youthful bust of Louis XIV facing right.
Reverse: IVSTIS•SPES•PACIS•IN ARMIS. Pax, helmeted, seated on a pile of arms, holding an olive branch in her outstretched right hand and a narrow cornucopia in her left.
Dimensions: 27.94mm | Weight: 6.8gms | Die Axis: 12
Ref. Feuardent: 12482 var.
Struck at unverified mint, probably Monnaie de Louvre, Paris, France
Die engraver: Jean Varin
Jean Varin (6 February 1604 Liège – 26 August 1672 Paris) was a French sculptor and engraver who made important innovations in the process of minting coins. He moved to Paris in 1625 or 1626 where, after demonstrating his talent as an engraver, he obtained the support of Cardinal Richelieu and in 1629 he was assigned as a “Conducteur de la Monnaie du Moulin”. In 1647 he was appointed head of the French mint, and became “engraver of the king's seal” and a member of the Academy of painting and sculpture. Varin brought back the use of the screw press in the mint, initially using it to produce a gold coin, the Louis d'or, which featured his youthful portrait of the King which is similar to that on this jeton.
This jeton, likely struck between 1650 and 1653, commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Münster between France and the Holy Roman Empire on 15 May 1648 which ended the Thirty Years War. France, to the detriment of the Holy Roman Empire, retained control of the bishoprics of Metz, Toul and Verdun near Lorraine as well as receiving the city of Pignerol near the Spanish Duchy of Milan and the cities of the Décapole in Alsace, excluding Strasbourg.
*Alex
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305 - 306, SEVERUS II as Caesar, AE Follis struck 305 - 306 at Londinium (London), EnglandObverse: SEVERVS NOBILISSIMVS CAES. Laureate and cuirassed bust of Severus II facing right.
Reverse: GENIO POPVLI ROMANI. Genius, kalathos on head, standing facing left, holding patera in right hand and cornucopia in left; no mint-mark in exergue.
Diameter: 29mm | Weight: 10.399gms | Die Axis: 6h
RIC VI: 59a | Cohen VII: 24 | SPINK: 712
Rare
Ex. Errett Bishop Collection | Ex. FORVM (USA)
SEVERUS II
Flavius Valerius Severus Augustus was a Western Roman Emperor from 306 to 307. He was born in Northern Illyria (now Albania) and rose to become a senior officer in the Roman army. As an old friend of Galerius, that emperor appointed Severus as Caesar on 1 May 305 and he thus served as junior emperor under Constantius I in the Western Roman Empire.
When Constantius I died in the summer of 306, Severus was promoted to Augustus by Galerius under the rules of succession established under the Tetrarchy. However Constantius I had died on campaign in York and his army in Britain had acclaimed his son, Constantine I, as his successor. Although furious at this elevation, Galerius wanted to avoid any threat of a civil war so he compromised by allowing Constantine to bear the title of Caesar.
When this news reached Maxentius, the son of Maximianus, he revolted and declared himself emperor at Rome,
Galerius sent Severus, at the head of an army which had previously been commanded by Maximianus, to suppress the rebellion. Maxentius asked his father to re-assume the purple and rule the empire with him and Maximianus, who had been reluctant to abdicate, readily accepted. When Severus arrived under the walls of Rome to besiege it his men deserted to their old commander forcing Severus to flee to Ravenna. Maximianus offered to spare his life and treat him humanely if he surrendered peaceably. Severus complied but, despite Maximianus' assurance, he was displayed as a captive, imprisoned and later put to death.
*Alex
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796 – c.835, EANBALD II, Archbishop of York, Northumbria, AE Styca, struck c.830 - 835 at York, EnglandObverse: + EANBALD AR around small Greek cross. Greek cross in legend.
Reverse: + EDILVARD around cross pommée. Cross pommée in legend. Moneyer: Aethelweard
Phase 1b issue
Diameter: 13mm | Weight: 1.0gms | Die Axis: 6h
SPINK: 861 | British Numismatic Journal (1916) – (H A Parsons, The coins of Archbishop Eanbald II of York): 60
Initially a base silver coin, after the devastating Viking attack on Lindisfarne in 793, with its subsequent commercial impact on the kingdom of Northumberland, the second issue of stycas under King Eanred were debased by having their silver content replaced by zinc. There was a further debasement of the coinage in 829 after Eanred's submission to Ecgberht of Wessex, such that the styca became basically a copper alloy coin.
Eanbald II was, prior to his elevation to the archiepiscopate, a priest of the Church of York. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records his consecration as Archbishop on 14th August, 796, immediately after the death of the first prelate of the same name.
In the year 797, Eanbald II is recorded as having assisted in the recovery of the rights of the see of Canterbury, which had been much impaired during the reign of King Offa of Mercia in order that his new primacy at Lichfield might be promoted. In this work of restitution, Eanbald collaborated with Æthelhard, Archbishop of Canterbury, who had appealed to Rome over the matter. The case was also presented to Coenwulf, the successor of Offa, and he was persuaded by the two prelates to refer the question to the Pope which resulted in Offa's new archiepiscopal see of Lichfield being abolished.
In 798 Eanbald convened a great synod at Finchale, near Durham. There, he enacted a number of regulations relating to the ecclesiastical courts and the observance of Easter.
Early on Eanbald became estranged from Eardwulf, King of Northumbria, after denouncing Eardwulf's adulteries and sheltering Eardwulf's enemies by giving them church sanctuary. But Eardwulf seems to have been deposed in around 806 and was eventually succeeded by Eanred around 810.
No record of Eanbald II's death survives and the time of his death has been variously estimated to range from as early as 808 to as late as 835, the latter date based on numismatic evidence.
The Kingdom of Northumbria was a medieval Anglian kingdom in what is now Northern England and South-east Scotland. The name derives from the Old English Norþan-hymbre meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", Northumbria started to consolidate into one kingdom in the early seventh century when the two earlier territories of Deira and Bernicia united. At its height, the kingdom extended from the Humber Estuary in the south to the Firth of Forth (now in Scotland) in the north.
Northumbria ceased to be an independent kingdom in the mid-tenth century.
*Alex
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837 - 854, WIGMUND, Anglo-Saxon Archbishop of York, Northumbria, AE Styca, Struck at York, EnglandObverse: + VIGMVND I R around group of seven pellets. Cross pattée in legend.
Reverse: + HVNLAF around cross pommée. Cross pattée in legend. Moneyer: Hunlaf.
Issue: Phase II, Group Ci
Diameter: 13mm | Weight: 0.9gms | Die Axis: Uncertain
SPINK: 870
The first appearance of the styca, a new style of small coin which replaced the earlier sceat, was at the beginning of the ninth century. The first stycas were of low silver content but later coins became effectively brass. Produced in York, several moneyers are named on the surviving coins, suggesting that they were minted in significant quantities. Stycas were minted under the kings, Aethelred I, Eardwulf, Aelfwald II, Eanred, Aethelred II, Redwulf, and Osberht, as well as for the Archbishops of York, Eanbald I, Eanbald II, Wigmund, and Wulfhere.
Wigmund was consecrated as Archbishop of York in 837 and died in 854.
The Kingdom of Northumbria was a medieval Anglian kingdom in what is now Northern England and South-east Scotland. The name derives from the Old English Norþan-hymbre meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", Northumbria started to consolidate into one kingdom in the early seventh century when the two earlier territories of Deira and Bernicia united. At its height, the kingdom extended from the Humber Estuary in the south to the Firth of Forth (now in Scotland) in the north.
Northumbria ceased to be an independent kingdom in the mid-tenth century.
*Alex
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843 - 855, IRREGULAR ISSUE, AE Styca, struck at York, EnglandObverse: + FGMVND (Wigmund) retrograde around group of five pellets in the form found on a dice. Cross pattée in legend.
Reverse: + EARDVVL retrograde around small cross with pellet in each of it's four angles. Cross pommée in legend. Moneyer: Eardwulf.
Diameter: 13mm | Weight: 1.16gms | Die Axis: Uncertain
SPINK: 872
This coin is an irregular issue which imitates an issue of Wigmund, who was Archbishop of York from around 837 to c.850, and the moneyer Eardwulf. Eardwulf was not a moneyer of regular coins for Wigmund so this coin is a bit of a concoction, something that is not uncommon with these irregular issues. Irregular stycas appear in a wide variety of types and a wide variety of imitative legends which are often blundered and sometimes completely unintelligible. The first appearance of the styca, a new style of small coin which replaced the earlier sceat, was at the beginning of the ninth century. Minted in York, several moneyers are named on the surviving coins, suggesting that they were struck in significant quantities. The written sources for late Northumbria are few, however the archaeological evidence from coinage is independent of the surviving annals and the evidence of Northumbrian coinage is particularly valuable when, in the ninth century, contemporary written evidence all but disappears.
These irregular issue coins were struck at a period of great instability in Northumbria. The last king to mint official stycas in any great quantity was Æthelred II who came to the throne around 841. Æthelred was assassinated around 848 and was succeeded by Osberht who was apparently killed in a battle with the Vikings around 867. The "Great Heathen Army" of Danish Vikings had marched on Northumbria in 866, they captured and sacked York towards the end of that year. Osberht was reputedly replaced as king by Ælla who is described in most sources as a tyrant, and not a rightful king, though one source states that he was Osberht's brother and fought and died alongside him. Evidence about Northumbrian royal chronology is unreliable prior to 867 and, though the beginning of Ælla's reign is traditionally dated to 862 or 863, his reign may not have begun until as late as 866. Ælla was apparently captured and killed by the Vikings, and after that the Vikings appointed one Ecgberht to rule Northumbria.
Official styca production ceased at some time during Osberht's reign although stycas remained in circulation until the Viking conquest of Northumbria in 867.
The Kingdom of Northumbria was a medieval Anglian kingdom in what is now Northern England and South-east Scotland. The name derives from the Old English Norþan-hymbre meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", Northumbria started to consolidate into one kingdom in the early seventh century when the two earlier territories of Deira and Bernicia united. At its height, the kingdom extended from the Humber Estuary in the south to the Firth of Forth (now in Scotland) in the north.
Northumbria ceased to be an independent kingdom in the mid-tenth century.*Alex
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Henry VII (1485- 1509 A.D.)AR Half Groat
O: ҺЄnRIC’ × VII’ × DI’ × GRΛ × RЄX × ΛGL’, crowned bust right.
R: POSVI × DЄV’ × Λ DIVTO Є’ × mЄV’ ×, coat-of-arms over long cross fourchée; two keys below.
York Mint; under Archbishop Christopher Bainbridge Struck 1504-1509. IM: Rose
19mm
1.46g
SCBI 23 (Ashmolean), 964; North 1751/1; SCBC 2262Mat
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William of Hinault, Bishop of Cambrai, Cambrai mint, Mayhew 87-90mauseus
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HAITI, Premier République. Jean Pierre Boyer. President, 1825-1843
Brass 50 Centimes (25.5mm, 4.26 g, 12h)
Contemporary counterfeit. Dated L'An 25 of the Republic (AD 1828/9)
J * BOYER * PRESIDENTE *, AN 25
Bust left
REPUBLIQUE D'HAITI */ 50 * C
Palm tree flanked by cannon and banners
KM 20a; cf. Arroyo 105 (for official issue); Lissade 96; iNumis 25, lot 1352
On 1 June 1835, local officials arrested engraver Joseph Gardner of Belleville on charges of counterfeiting. When searching his house, officials discovered dies for Spanish 8 reales in various states of completion, coining implements, a bag of gold dust, and several bags of "spurious Haytien coppers." Yet Gardner was not the only individual striking illicit Haitian coins. James Bishop of neighboring Bloomfield, New Jersey had been arrested several months before, and a third person was responsible for the issue brought to Haiti by Jeremiah Hamilton.
Today, two distinct issues of counterfeits can be identified: a group of 25 and 50 Centimes, clearly related in fabric, and two different dates of 100 Centimes. The smaller denominations are most often found lacking a silver plating, while the plating year 26 100 Centimes is fine enough to deceive the likes of NGC and Heritage. Additionally, there are a handful year 27 100 centimes overstruck on US large cents. While I have not yet found a regular strike from these dies, they are the most likely candidate for Belleville's production. Ardatirion
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BRITISH TOKENS, Tudor. temp. Mary–Edward VI.1553-1558.
PB Token (27mm, 5.29 g). St. Nicholas (‘Boy Bishop’) type. Cast in East Anglia (Bury St. Edmund’s?)
Mitre, croizer to right; all within border
Long cross pattée with trefoils in angles; scrollwork border
Rigold, Tokens class X.B, 1; Mitchiner & Skinner group Ra, 1
Ex Classical Numismatic Review XXXIX.1 (Spring 2014), no. 973330
Britain in the late middle ages played host to a popular regional variant of the ‘Feast of Fools’ festival. Every year on the feast of St. Nicholas, a boy was elected from among the local choristers to serve as ‘bishop.’ Dressed in mitre and bearing the croizer of his office, the young boy paraded through the city accompanied by his equally youthful ‘priest’ attendants. The ‘bishop’ performed all the ceremonies and offices of the real bishop, save for the actual conducting of mass. Though this practice was extinguished with the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, it was briefly revived under Queen Mary, who took particular interest in the festival, when the lucky boy was referred to as ‘Queen Mary’s Child.’ The celebration of the boy bishop died out completely early in the reign of Elizabeth.
Evidence of this custom is particularly prevalent in East Anglia, specifically at Bury St. Edmunds. Beginning in the late 15th century, the region produced numerous lead tokens bearing the likeness of a bishop, often bearing legends relating to the festival of St. Nicholas. Issued in sizes roughly corresponding to groats, half groats, and pennies, these pieces were undoubtedly distributed by the boy bishop himself, and were likely redeemable at the local abbey or guild for treats and sweetmeats. Considering the endemic paucity of small change in Britain at the time, it is likely that, at least in parts of East Anglia, these tokens entered circulation along with the other private lead issues that were becoming common.Ardatirion
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Dy.001 Hugh Capet: denier (Beauvais)Hugh Capet, king of the Franks (987-996) and Hervé, Bishop of Beauvais (987-998)
Denier (Beauvais)
Silver, 1.19 g, diameter 21 mm, die axis 9h
O: [HERV]EVS HVGO RE[X] ; cross pattée with 2 pellets
R: BE[LVΛC]VS CIVITΛS ; carolingian monogram KRLS
Although Hugh Capet was the founder of the capetian dynasty, his coinage contains a carolingian monogram. It may have been a way to show the continuity of the royal authority. The presence of the bishop Hervé is not really understood on this nearly only coinage of Hugh Capet as king of the Franks (obols of the same type are also known, as well as a unique denier of Laon).
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Dy.184 Philip II (Augustus): denier (Laon)Philip II, king of France(1180-1223) and Roger de Rosoi, bishop of Laon (1174-1201)
Denier (1180-1201, Laon)
Billon, 1.18 g, diameter 18 mm, die axis 3h
O: +PHILIPVS REX; facing crowned head of the king
R: +R[OG]ERVS εPE; facing head of the bishop with miter
The denier was minted by both the king and the bishop of Laon (north of France, out of the royal domain at this time).
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Vienne archibishopric : denier (Vienne)Vienne archibishopric, anonymous (1200-1250)
Silver, 0.66 g, diameter 16 mm, die axis 5h
O/ +•S•M•VIENNA•; left bearded and bare head of Saint Maurice
R/ MAXIMA.GALL (dashed L); cross pattée with 4 pellets
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S.2233 Henry VII Tudor (sovereign type penny, Durham)Henry VII Tudor, king of England (1485-1509) and Bishop Richard Fox
Sovereign type penny (mint: Durham)
A/ [hENRIC] DI [GRA RE]X A[NG]; king seated on throne with one pilar, holding scepter and orb
R/ [CIVI-TA]S-DIR-hAm; royal shield on cross, mitre above, D and R on the sides
silver, 0.55 g, diameter 15 mm, die axis 8h
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(0138) ANTONINUS PIUS138 - 161 A.D.
Bronze obol, 18.8mm 4.645g
Struck Aug 144 - 28 Aug 145 A.D.;
O: AYT K T AIΛ A∆P - ANTWNINOC, laureate head right;
R: Griffin seated right, wings raised, left forepaw on wheel, L H (year 8) in exergue;
Alexandria mint; Dattari 3119, Geissen 1472, Kampmann 35.294, Milne 1843, Emmett 1772/8 (R3), BMC Alexandria -, SNG Cop -
ex FORUM (from the Errett Bishop Collection); scarcelaney
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006a2. NeroAlexandria. Billon tetradrachm. Obv: NEPΩ KΛAY KAIΣ ΣEB ΓEP, radiate head right. Rev: AYTOKPA, draped bust of Serapis right, wearing taenia and polos ornamented with lotus, date LI (year 10) right. 24.6mm, 11.46 g. RPC Online I 5274 (12 spec.); Dattari 251; Geissen 160; Milne 222; BMC Alexandria p. 19, 156; Kampmann 14.77; Emmett 133 (R1). From the Errett Bishop Collection.
A FORUM coin.lawrence c
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008a1. GalbaBillon tetradrachm. Alexandria. 9 Jun - 28 Aug 68 A.D.
Obv: ΛOYK ΛIB ΣOYΛΠ ΓAΛBA KAIΣ ΣEB AY, laureate head right, LA ( year 1 ) lower right. Rev: EIPHNH (peace), draped and veiled bust of Eirene right, crowned with wreath of olive, caduceus behind shoulder.
24.7mm, 11.88 g. RPC Online I 5328 (7 spec.); Dattari 302; Milne 308; Geissen 219; BMC Alexandria p. 23, 190; Kampmann 17.3; Emmett 171/1 (R1). from the Errett Bishop Collection. A FORUM coin.lawrence c
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011 HarthacnutPenny of Harthacnut, king of Denmark 1035-1042 and England 1040-1042
English issue in the name of Cnut
Moneyer: Leofwine
Mint: Thetford
Arm-and-scepter type
S. 1169
O: +CNVT RECX A
R: +LEFPINE ON ÐEOTVO
The arm-and-scepter type in the name of "Cnut" was produced during the reign of Harthacnut
Ex- Mark Rasmussen, Morton & Eden Auction 91 (lot 43), Archbishop John SharpSt. George's Collection
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031 Valdemar the GreatPenny of Valdemar I, king of Denmark 1154-1182
Mint: Roskilde
Hbg. 15
This coin depicts the king on the obverse, and a clergyman on the reverse. The bishop is presumed to be Absalon, Valdemar's close advisor and the founder of the city of Copenhagen.
Ex- Bruun Rasmussen 2331 (lot 5231)St. George's Collection
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032a09. Maximinus ThraxDenarius. Rome mint, March 235 – Jan 236 AD. 21.7mm, 3.388 g.
Obv: MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG GERM, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, from behind. Rev: SALVS AVGVSTI (to the health of the Emperor), Salus seated left, snake coiled around and rising up from altar at her feet, feeding snake from patera in right hand, left elbow resting on back of throne, right leg drawn back; from the Errett Bishop Collection. RSC III 85a, BMCRE VI 99, RIC IV 14. A FORUM coin.
lawrence c
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04 Attica, Athenian TriobolAthenian Pi-Style Triobol
Obv: head of Athena facing r., crested Attic helmet ornamented with olive leaves and a pi-style palmette, eye in profile.
Rev: owl standing facing; an olive branch coming down from above to the l. and r. with five or more leaves, [A☉Ǝ, with A above and ☉ lower l. and Ǝ lower r.].
Denomination: silver triobol (or hemidrachm); Mint: Athens; Date: c. 353 - 294 BC1; Weight: 2.015g; Diameter: 12.5mm; Die axis: 270º; References, for example: BMC vol. 11, 169; SNG Cop vol. 14, 68; Svoronos Athens pl. 21, 48; Kroll 19d; HGC 4, 1642.
Notes:
1This is the date range given in HGC 4.
Provenance: Ex. Forum Ancient Coins March 26, 2021, from the Errett Bishop collection (assembled from about 1960 - 1982).
Photo Credits: Forum Ancient Coins
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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070a05. NumerianBillon antoninianus. 3.156g, 22.1mm, 0o, 2nd officina, Rome mint, c. Feb/Mar - end 283; obverse IMP NVMERIANVS AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind; reverse IOVI VICTORI (Jove the victorious), Jupiter standing left, Victory in right hand, long scepter vertical in left hand, eagle at feet left, KAB in exergue; from the Errett Bishop Collection. Hunter IV 18; RIC V-2 410; SRCV III 12246. A FORUM coin.lawrence c
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1066 - 1087, William I (the Conqueror), AR Penny, Struck 1083 - 1086 at Wallingford, EnglandObverse: + PILLELM REX. Crowned, moustached, facing bust of William I, his right arm across chest holding short sceptre topped with cross over his left shoulder.
Reverse: + IEGLPINE ON PALI. ( Æthelwine on Wallingford) Large cross pattée within circle, each angle within cross holding an annulet, each annulet containing a letter which spells out the word PAXS, all within outer circle.
PAXS type (crown 1)
Diameter: 20mm | Weight: 1.1gms | Die Axis: 6h
Spink: 1257 | North 848 | BMC 8
Dark, almost black, tone
Scarce
This coin, part of William's last coinage issue, was struck during the period that his famous Domesday book was being compiled. The issue may have continued to be struck for a short time into the reign of William I's successor, his son William Rufus, who reigned as William II.
William I, known as 'the Conqueror', was born at Falaise in 1027, son of Robert, Duke of Normandy and a girl called Herleve. Following the death, in 1066, of Edward the Confessor, who was childless, the English throne was seized by the powerful Earl Harold Godwinson who claimed, without corroboration, that Edward had named him as his successor on his deathbed. William, Duke of Normandy, a distant relative of Edward, also claimed that Edward had named him as successor to the throne during a period when Harold was in exile.
William invaded England, landing at Pevensey, meeting Harold who, after defeating an invading Norwegian force in the north, had had to make a forced march south from Stamford Bridge. Harold was defeated at the battle of Hastings on 14th October 1066. This battle is commemorated by the famous Bayeux Tapestry.
After his victory at Hastings William marched to London and was crowned in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066, according to the ancient English rite. Aldred, archbishop of York performed the ceremony.
William moved quickly to exert control over England, he introduced measures which included the imposition of the Forest Law, setting aside large tracts of land for hunting by the aristocracy.
William constructed numerous castles, including the Tower of London, to maintain order but, despite this, the years following his conquest saw a number of rebellions, all of which were brutally repressed. The social impact of these reprisals was huge because by the time of the Domesday survey in 1085-6 the vast majority of land not directly owned by William was controlled by Norman tenants.
After 1072 William spent the majority of his time in France, where he died. William I's death was the result of him being flung from his horse during fighting at the seige of Mantes. He died of his injuries, around a week later, at St. Gervais priory outside Rouen on the 8th or the 9th of September, 1087. William was buried at St Stephen's church in Caen, though even his funeral was not without its problems because, when his body was being interred, the tomb was found to be too small and William's embalmed remains were damaged when attendants were forced to squeeze them into the space.*Alex
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107a01. ArcadiusAE2. Heraclea (Marmara Ereglisi, Turkey) mint. 5.173g. 22.0mm. Obverse D N ARCADIVS P F AVG, pearl diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right, spear in right hand, shield on left arm, hand of God above offering diadem; reverse GLORIA ROMANORVM (glory of the Romans), emperor standing facing, head left, labarum in right hand, resting left hand on grounded shield at side, captive kneeling right on left, SMHA in exergue. RIC IX Heraclea 12, LRBC II 1955. From the Errett Bishop Collection. A FORUM coin.lawrence c
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1154 - 1189, HENRY II, AR 'Tealby' Penny, Struck 1158 - 1163 at Canterbury, EnglandObverse: HENRI • REX • A -. Crowned facing bust of Henry II, his head turned slightly to the left, holding sceptre tipped with a cross potent in his right hand. Crown has three vertical uprights each topped by a fleur-de-lis.
Reverse: + ROGIER : ON : CANT surrounding short cross potent within beaded circle, small cross potents in each quarter. Moneyer: Rogier, cognate with the modern English name of Roger. Mintmark: Cross potent.
Class A bust
Diameter: 20mm | Weight: 1.3gms | Die Axis: 4h
Flan chipped and cracked, legends largely illegible
SPINK: 1337
The attribution to mint and moneyer is not 100% certain, but is the best fit I have been able to make from the remaining visible letters in the inscription
For the first few years of Henry II's reign the coins of King Stephen continued to be produced, but in 1158, a new 'cross and crosslet' coinage was introduced in England. While this coinage was acceptable in terms of weight and silver quality, it is notorious for its ugly appearance, bad craftsmanship and careless execution. It is a fact that this coinage is among the worst struck of any issue of English regal coinage. The cross and crosslet type coinage of King Henry II is more often called 'Tealby' because of the enormous hoard of these coins which was found in late 1807 at Bayons Manor farm near Tealby in Lincolnshire. This hoard, which originally amounted to over 5,700 pieces, was first reported in the Stamford Mercury of the 6th November 1807, but unfortunately the majority of the coins, more than 5,000 of them, were sent to be melted down at the Tower of London and only some 600 pieces were saved for national and important private collections.
Henry II became King of England in 1154 and reigned until his death in 1189. He was the first king of the House of Plantagenet. Henry became Count of Anjou and Maine upon the death of his father, Count Geoffrey V, in 1151, his marriage in 1152 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Louis VII had recently been annulled, made him Duke of Aquitaine. He became Count of Nantes by treaty in 1185.
By the age of 14, Henry became actively involved in the efforts of his mother Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, to claim the English throne, then occupied by Stephen of Blois. Stephen agreed to a peace treaty after Henry's military expedition to England in 1153, and Henry inherited the kingdom on Stephen's death a year later. Henry was an energetic and sometimes ruthless ruler, driven by a desire to restore the lands and privileges of his grandfather Henry I. During the early years of his reign Henry re-established hegemony over Wales and gained full control over his lands in Anjou, Maine and Touraine. Henry's desire to reform the relationship with the Church led to conflict with his former friend Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This culminated in the murder of Becket by the high altar in his own church in 1170. This horrified Christians and, although Beckett was apparently disliked by the monks in life, in death he became a martyr, was canonised, and a religious cult grew up around his sainthood.
Henry II soon came into conflict with Louis VII, and the two rulers fought what has been termed a "cold war" over several decades. Henry expanded his empire at Louis's expense, taking Brittany and pushing east into central France and south into Toulouse, but despite numerous conferences and treaties, no lasting peace agreement was reached.
Henry and Eleanor had eight children—three daughters and five sons. As the sons grew up, tensions over the future inheritance of the kingdom began to emerge, encouraged by Louis and his son King Philip II. In 1173 Henry's heir apparent, "Young Henry", rebelled in protest; he was joined by his brothers Richard (later king) and Geoffrey and by their mother, Eleanor. France, Scotland, Brittany, Flanders, and Boulogne all allied themselves with the rebels. This “Great Revolt” was only defeated by Henry's vigorous military action and talented local commanders. Young Henry and Geoffrey revolted again in 1183, resulting in Young Henry's death. Henry II's invasion of Ireland provided lands for his youngest son John, but Henry struggled to find ways to satisfy all his sons' desires for land and immediate power. By 1189, Young Henry and Geoffrey were dead, and Philip successfully played on Richard's fears that Henry II would make John king, which led to a final rebellion. Henry II was decisively defeated by Philip and Richard and, suffering from a bleeding ulcer, he retreated to Chinon Castle in Anjou. Henry died soon afterwards and was succeeded by his son Richard I (the lionheart).
Many of the changes Henry II introduced during his long reign had long-term consequences, his legal changes are generally considered to have laid the basis for the English Common Law, while his intervention in Brittany, Wales, and Scotland shaped the development of their societies and governmental systems.
*Alex
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1154 - 1189, HENRY II, AR Short-cross Penny, Struck 1180 - 1189 at Winchester, EnglandObverse: HENRICVS • REX around central circle enclosing a crowned, draped and bearded facing bust of Henry II holding a sceptre tipped with a cross pommee in his right hand.
Reverse: + GOCELM • ON • WIN. Voided short cross dividing legend into quarters, crosslets in each quarter of inner circle. Cross pattée in legend. Moneyer: Gocelm, which is a name of Germanic Frankish origin.
Issue type Class 1b
Diameter: 19mm | Weight: 1.3gms | Die Axis: 6h
SPINK: 1344
On the night of 14th/15th July 1180 the Winchester mint burnt down, and the fire spread to "the greater and better part" of the city. The production of the new Short Cross coinage had just started earlier in 1180, and Winchester evidently only had one centralized mint building from the beginning of the new coinage. At the time of the fire the mint appears to have had four moneyers (Clement, Gocelm, Henri, and Rodbert), and Short Cross Class Ia2 was in production. After the fire some of the mint's obverse dies of Classes Ia1 and Ia2 were used at the Wilton mint, apparently as an emergency measure. The coinage of the moneyer Henri ends abruptly at this time and he seems to have been replaced by Adam, whose known issues start in Class Ia2, and at Wilton in Class 1a2 it looks like Osbert replaced Iohan. Osbert continued to issue coins in Winchester after the fire, but he seems to have been regarded as a Wilton moneyer allowed to use the facilities of the Winchester mint. The Winchester coinage of Osbert and three other moneyers (Clement, Reinier, and Rodbert) whose issues end in Class Ib1 was probably restricted to the recoinage of 1180 to 1182. After that only two moneyers remained striking Class Ib2 at Winchester (Adam and Gocelm) and, from 1183 to 1184, it is recorded that these moneyers were responsible for a rent of 2 marks each per annum for the use of the mint building.
Henry II became King of England in 1154 and reigned until his death in 1189. He was the first king of the House of Plantagenet. Henry became Count of Anjou and Maine upon the death of his father, Count Geoffrey V, in 1151, his marriage in 1152 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Louis VII had recently been annulled, made him Duke of Aquitaine. He became Count of Nantes by treaty in 1185.
By the age of 14, Henry became actively involved in the efforts of his mother Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, to claim the English throne, then occupied by Stephen of Blois. Stephen agreed to a peace treaty after Henry's military expedition to England in 1153, and Henry inherited the kingdom on Stephen's death a year later. Henry was an energetic and sometimes ruthless ruler, driven by a desire to restore the lands and privileges of his grandfather Henry I. During the early years of his reign Henry re-established hegemony over Wales and gained full control over his lands in Anjou, Maine and Touraine. Henry's desire to reform the relationship with the Church led to conflict with his former friend Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This culminated in the murder of Becket by the high altar in his own church in 1170. This horrified Christians and, although Beckett was apparently disliked by the monks in life, in death he became a martyr, was canonised, and a religious cult grew up around his sainthood.
Henry II soon came into conflict with Louis VII, and the two rulers fought what has been termed a "cold war" over several decades. Henry expanded his empire at Louis's expense, taking Brittany and pushing east into central France and south into Toulouse, but despite numerous conferences and treaties, no lasting peace agreement was reached.
Henry and Eleanor had eight children—three daughters and five sons. As the sons grew up, tensions over the future inheritance of the kingdom began to emerge, encouraged by Louis and his son King Philip II. In 1173 Henry's heir apparent, "Young Henry", rebelled in protest; he was joined by his brothers Richard (later king) and Geoffrey and by their mother, Eleanor. France, Scotland, Brittany, Flanders, and Boulogne all allied themselves with the rebels. This “Great Revolt” was only defeated by Henry's vigorous military action and talented local commanders. Young Henry and Geoffrey revolted again in 1183, resulting in Young Henry's death. Henry II's invasion of Ireland provided lands for his youngest son John, but Henry struggled to find ways to satisfy all his sons' desires for land and immediate power. By 1189, Young Henry and Geoffrey were dead, and Philip successfully played on Richard's fears that Henry II would make John king, which led to a final rebellion. Henry II was decisively defeated by Philip and Richard and, suffering from a bleeding ulcer, he retreated to Chinon Castle in Anjou. Henry died soon afterwards and was succeeded by his son Richard I (the lionheart).
Many of the changes Henry II introduced during his long reign had long-term consequences, his legal changes are generally considered to have laid the basis for the English Common Law, while his intervention in Brittany, Wales, and Scotland shaped the development of their societies and governmental systems.*Alex
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1216 - 1272, Henry III, AR Penny, Struck 1248 - 1250 at London, England (Long Cross Issue)Obverse: HENRICVS REX : III. Crowned bust of Henry III facing within circle of pellets. Mintmark: Six pointed star.
Reverse: NICOLE ON LVND. Voided long cross dividing legend into quarters, trefoil in each quarter of inner circle. Moneyer: Nicole, cognate with the modern English name of Nicholas. The surname Nicole originates in the Netherlands where it was notable for its various branches, and associated status or influence. The modern given name Nicole is a French feminine derivative of the masculine given name Nicolas.
Diameter: 19mm | Weight: 1.3gms | Die Axis: 6h
SPINK: 1363
HENRY III OF ENGLAND
The First Barons' War (1215 - 1217) was a civil war in England in which a group of rebellious barons led by Robert Fitzwalter and supported by a French army under the future Louis VIII of France, waged war against King John of England. The war resulted from King John's refusal to accept and abide by the Magna Carta, which he had been forced to put his seal to on 15th June 1215, as well as from Louis' own ambitions regarding the English throne.
It was in the middle of this war that King John died leaving his son, the nine year old Henry III (who had been moved to safety at Corfe Castle in Dorset along with his mother, Queen Isabella) as his heir.
On his deathbed John appointed a council of thirteen executors to help Henry reclaim the kingdom, requesting that his son be placed into the guardianship of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke. The loyalists decided to crown Henry immediately to reinforce his claim to the throne. William knighted the boy, and Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, the papal legate to England, then oversaw his coronation at Gloucester Cathedral on 28th October 1216. In the absence of the archbishops of either Canterbury or York, Henry was anointed by the bishops of Worcester and Exeter, and crowned by Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester. During the civil war the royal crown had been lost, so instead, the ceremony used a simple gold corolla belonging to Queen Isabella. In 1217, Henry's forces, led by William Marshal, finally defeated the rebels at the battles of Lincoln and Sandwich.
Henry's early rule was dominated first by Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent and Justiciar of England and Ireland, then by Peter des Roches, and they re-established royal authority after the war. In 1225 Henry promised to abide by the final and definitative version of the Magna Carta, freely authenticated by the great seal of Henry III himself, which protected the rights of the major barons and placed a limit on royal power. It is the clauses of this, the 1225 Magna Carta signed by Henry III, not the King John Magna Carta of 1215, which are on the Statute Books of the United Kingdom today.*Alex
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1307 - 1327, EDWARD II, AR Penny, Struck 1311 - 1316 at Durham, EnglandObverse: + EDWAR ANGL DNS hYB. Crowned and draped bust of Edward II facing within circle of pellets. Cross pattee in legend.
Reverse: CIVITAS DVNELM. Long cross, the upper limb of which is in the form of a bishop's crozier, dividing legend into quarters, trefoil in each quarter of inner circle.
Diameter: 18mm | Weight: 1.2gms | Die Axis: 7h
Rare
SPINK: 1469
Undated Penny, Class 11a, struck under Bishop Kellawe. Bishop Kellawe was enthroned as Bishop of Durham in 1311 but he died in 1316 so this coin was struck during the five years between those two dates. These coins were sometimes called "poker pennies" because the shape of the crozier on the reverse is reminiscent of an old iron fireside poker. It's an unfortunate nickname considering the reputed manner of the King's death.
Edward II was born on 25 April 1284, the fourth son of Edward I of England and when Edward I died in July 1307 Edward II became king because his three elder brothers were already dead. Edward II was the first English prince to hold the title prince of Wales, which was bestowed on him by his father in 1301.
Unfortunately Edward II had few of the qualities that made a successful medieval king. He surrounded himself with favourites, the best known being Piers Gaveston who he recalled from exile, Edward I having banished him to France due to his bad influence on his son. Furthermore, Edward II gave Gaveston the earldom of Cornwall, a title which had previously only been conferred on royalty.
Opposition to the king and his favourite began almost immediately, and in 1311 the nobles issued the 'Ordinances', in an attempt to limit royal control of finance and appointments. Gaveston was twice exiled at the demand of the barons, only for him to return to England shortly afterwards. However, in 1312, he was captured by the barons and executed.
In 1314, Edward invaded Scotland where he was decisively defeated by Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn. So bad was this for Edward's rule that by the following year parts of England had fallen into anarchy and power was in the hands of the barons headed by Edward's cousin Thomas of Lancaster, who had virtually made himself the real ruler of England.
By 1318, Edward and Lancaster had been partly reconciled, but the king now had two new favourites, Hugh le Despenser and his son. When Edward supported the two Despensers' ambitions in Wales the barons banished both father and son. This prompted Edward to fight back and he defeated Lancaster at Boroughbridge in March 1322, Lancaster was executed him and the Despensers were called back to Edward's court.
But now, Edward's wife, Isabella of France, emerged as a focus of opposition. In 1325, she was sent on a diplomatic mission to France where she met and became the mistress of Roger Mortimer, an exiled opponent of Edward. In September 1326, Isabella and Mortimer invaded England. There was virtually no resistance and the Despensers were captured and executed. Defeated, Edward was made to renounce the throne in favour of his son Edward who was crowned Edward III in January 1327.
Edward II was imprisoned at Berkeley Castle and later murdered there.
*Alex
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1308b, Licinius I, 308 - 324 A.D. (Siscia)Licinius I, 11 November 308 - 18 September 324 A.D. Bronze follis, RIC 4, F, Siscia, 3.257g, 21.6mm, 0o, 313 - 315 A.D. Obverse: IMP LIC LICINIVS P F AVG, laureate head right; Reverse IOVI CONSERVATORI AVGG NN, Jupiter standing left holding Victory on globe and scepter, eagle with wreath in beak left, E right, SIS in exergue.
De Imperatoribus Romanis : An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
Licinius (308-324 A.D.)
Michael DiMaio, Jr.
Salve Regina University
Licinius' Heritage
Valerius Licinianus Licinius, more commonly known as Licinius, may have been born ca. 265. Of peasant origin, his family was from Dacia. A close friend and comrade of arms of the Emperor Galerius, he accompanied him on his Persian expedition in 297. When campaigns by Severus and Galerius in late 306 or early 307 and in the summer of 307, respectively, failed to dislodge Maxentius who, with the luke warm support of his father Maximianus Herculius, was acclaimed princeps on 28 October 306, he was sent by the eastern emperor to Maxentius as an ambassador; the diplomatic mission, however, failed because the usurper refused to submit to the authority of his father-in-law Galerius. At the Conference of Carnuntum which was held in October or November of 308, Licinius was made an Augustus on 11 November 308; his realm included Thrace, Illyricum, and Pannonia.
Licinius' Early Reign
Although Licinius was initially appointed by Galerius to replace Severus to end the revolt of Maxentius , Licinius (perhaps wisely) made no effort to move against the usurper. In fact, his first attested victory was against the Sarmatians probably in the late spring, but no later than the end of June in 310. When the Emperor Galerius died in 311, Licinius met Maximinus Daia at the Bosporus during the early summer of that year; they concluded a treaty and divided Galerius' realm between them. It was little more than a year later that the Emperor Constantine defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge on 28 October 312. After the defeat of the usurper, Constantine and Licinius met at Mediolanum (Milan) where Licinius married the former's sister Constantia; one child was born of this union: Valerius Licinianus Licinius. Licinius had another son, born of a slave woman, whose name is unknown. It appears that both emperors promulgated the so-called Edict of Milan, in which Constantine and Licinius granted Christians the freedom to practice their faith without any interference from the state.
As soon as he seems to have learned about the marital alliance between Licinius and Constantine and the death of Maxentius, who had been his ally, Daia traversed Asia Minor and, in April 313, he crossed the Bosporus and went to Byzantium, which he took from Licinius after an eleven day siege. On 30 April 313 the armies of both emperors clashed on the Campus Ergenus; in the ensuing battle Daia's forces were routed. A last ditch stand by Daia at the Cilician Gates failed; the eastern emperor subsequently died in the area of Tarsus probably in July or August 313. As soon as he arrived in Nicomedeia, Licinius promulgated the Edict of Milan. As soon as he had matters in Nicomedeia straightened out, Licinius campaigned against the Persians in the remaining part of 313 and the opening months of 314.
The First Civil War Between Licinius and Constantine
Once Licinius had defeated Maximinus Daia, the sole rulers of the Roman world were he and Constantine. It is obvious that the marriage of Licinius to Constantia was simply a union of convenience. In any case, there is evidence in the sources that both emperors were looking for an excuse to attack the other. The affair involving Bassianus (the husband of Constantius I's daughter Anastasia ), mentioned in the text of Anonymus Valesianus (5.14ff), may have sparked the falling out between the two emperors. In any case, Constantine' s forces joined battle with those of Licinius at Cibalae in Pannonia on 8 October 314. When the battle was over, Constantine prevailed; his victory, however, was Pyrrhic. Both emperors had been involved in exhausting military campaigns in the previous year and the months leading up to Cibalae and each of their realms had expanded so fast that their manpower reserves must have been stretched to the limit. Both men retreated to their own territory to lick their wounds. It may well be that the two emperors made an agreement, which has left no direct trace in the historical record, which would effectively restore the status quo.
Both emperors were variously engaged in different activities between 315 and 316. In addition to campaigning against the Germans while residing in Augusta Treverorum (Trier) in 315, Constantine dealt with aspects of the Donatist controversy; he also traveled to Rome where he celebrated his Decennalia. Licinius, possibly residing at Sirmium, was probably waging war against the Goths. Although not much else is known about Licinius' activities during this period, it is probable that he spent much of his time preparing for his impending war against Constantine; the latter,who spent the spring and summer of 316 in Augusta Treverorum, was probably doing much the same thing. In any case, by December 316, the western emperor was in Sardica with his army. Sometime between 1 December and 28 February 317, both emperors' armies joined battle on the Campus Ardiensis; as was the case in the previous engagement, Constantine' s forces were victorious. On 1 March 317, both sides agreed to a cessation of hostilities; possibly because of the intervention of his wife Constantia, Licinius was able to keep his throne, although he had to agree to the execution of his colleague Valens, who the eastern emperor had appointed as his colleague before the battle, as well as to cede some of his territory to his brother-in-law.
Licinius and the Christians
Although the historical record is not completely clear, Licinius seems to have campaigned against the Sarmatians in 318. He also appears to have been in Byzantium in the summer of 318 and later in June 323. Beyond these few facts, not much else is known about his residences until mid summer of 324. Although he and Constantine had issued the Edict of Milan in early 313, Licinius turned on the Christians in his realm seemingly in 320. The first law that Licinius issued prevented bishops from communicating with each other and from holding synods to discuss matters of interest to them. The second law prohibited men and women from attending services together and young girls from receiving instruction from their bishop or schools. When this law was issued, he also gave orders that Christians could hold services only outside of city walls. Additionally, he deprived officers in the army of their commissions if they did not sacrifice to the gods. Licinius may have been trying to incite Constantine to attack him. In any case, the growing tension between the two rulers is reflected in the consular Fasti of the period.
The Second Civil War Between Licinius and Constantine and Licinius' Death
War actually broke out in 321 when Constantine pursued some Sarmatians, who had been ravaging some territory in his realm, across the Danube. When he checked a similar invasion of the Goths, who were devastating Thrace, Licinius complained that Constantine had broken the treaty between them. Having assembled a fleet and army at Thessalonica, Constantine advanced toward Adrianople. Licinius engaged the forces of his brother-in-law near the banks of the Hebrus River on 3 July 324 where he was routed; with as many men as he could gather, he headed for his fleet which was in the Hellespont. Those of his soldiers who were not killed or put to flight, surrendered to the enemy. Licinius fled to Byzantium, where he was besieged by Constantine. Licinius' fleet, under the command of the admiral Abantus, was overcome by bad weather and by Constantine' s fleet which was under the command of his son Crispus. Hard pressed in Byzantium, Licinius abandoned the city to his rival and fled to Chalcedon in Bithynia. Leaving Martinianus, his former magister officiorum and now his co-ruler, to impede Constantine' s progress, Licinius regrouped his forces and engaged his enemy at Chrysopolis where he was again routed on 18 September 324. He fled to Nicomedeia which Constantine began to besiege. On the next day Licinius abdicated and was sent to Thessalonica, where he was kept under house arrest. Both Licinius and his associate were put to death by Constantine. Martinianus may have been put to death before the end of 324, whereas Licinius was not put to death until the spring of 325. Rumors circulated that Licinius had been put to death because he attempted another rebellion against Constantine.
Copyright (C) 1996, Michael DiMaio, Jr.
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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1308c, Licinius I, 308-324 A.D. (Alexandria)Licinius I, 308-324 A.D. AE Follis, 3.60g, VF, 315 A.D., Alexandria. Obverse: IMP C VAL LICIN LICINIVS P F AVG - Laureate head right; Reverse: IOVI CONS-ERVATORI AVGG - Jupiter standing left, holding Victory on a globe and scepter; exergue: ALE / (wreath) over "B" over "N." Ref: RIC VII, 10 (B = r2) Rare, page 705 - Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, Scotland.
De Imperatoribus Romanis : An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
Licinius (308-324 A.D.)
Michael DiMaio, Jr.
Salve Regina University
Licinius' Heritage
Valerius Licinianus Licinius, more commonly known as Licinius, may have been born ca. 265. Of peasant origin, his family was from Dacia. A close friend and comrade of arms of the Emperor Galerius, he accompanied him on his Persian expedition in 297. When campaigns by Severus and Galerius in late 306 or early 307 and in the summer of 307, respectively, failed to dislodge Maxentius who, with the luke warm support of his father Maximianus Herculius, was acclaimed princeps on 28 October 306, he was sent by the eastern emperor to Maxentius as an ambassador; the diplomatic mission, however, failed because the usurper refused to submit to the authority of his father-in-law Galerius. At the Conference of Carnuntum which was held in October or November of 308, Licinius was made an Augustus on 11 November 308; his realm included Thrace, Illyricum, and Pannonia.
Licinius' Early Reign
Although Licinius was initially appointed by Galerius to replace Severus to end the revolt of Maxentius , Licinius (perhaps wisely) made no effort to move against the usurper. In fact, his first attested victory was against the Sarmatians probably in the late spring, but no later than the end of June in 310. When the Emperor Galerius died in 311, Licinius met Maximinus Daia at the Bosporus during the early summer of that year; they concluded a treaty and divided Galerius' realm between them. It was little more than a year later that the Emperor Constantine defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge on 28 October 312. After the defeat of the usurper, Constantine and Licinius met at Mediolanum (Milan) where Licinius married the former's sister Constantia; one child was born of this union: Valerius Licinianus Licinius. Licinius had another son, born of a slave woman, whose name is unknown. It appears that both emperors promulgated the so-called Edict of Milan, in which Constantine and Licinius granted Christians the freedom to practice their faith without any interference from the state.
As soon as he seems to have learned about the marital alliance between Licinius and Constantine and the death of Maxentius, who had been his ally, Daia traversed Asia Minor and, in April 313, he crossed the Bosporus and went to Byzantium, which he took from Licinius after an eleven day siege. On 30 April 313 the armies of both emperors clashed on the Campus Ergenus; in the ensuing battle Daia's forces were routed. A last ditch stand by Daia at the Cilician Gates failed; the eastern emperor subsequently died in the area of Tarsus probably in July or August 313. As soon as he arrived in Nicomedeia, Licinius promulgated the Edict of Milan. As soon as he had matters in Nicomedeia straightened out, Licinius campaigned against the Persians in the remaining part of 313 and the opening months of 314.
The First Civil War Between Licinius and Constantine
Once Licinius had defeated Maximinus Daia, the sole rulers of the Roman world were he and Constantine. It is obvious that the marriage of Licinius to Constantia was simply a union of convenience. In any case, there is evidence in the sources that both emperors were looking for an excuse to attack the other. The affair involving Bassianus (the husband of Constantius I's daughter Anastasia ), mentioned in the text of Anonymus Valesianus (5.14ff), may have sparked the falling out between the two emperors. In any case, Constantine' s forces joined battle with those of Licinius at Cibalae in Pannonia on 8 October 314. When the battle was over, Constantine prevailed; his victory, however, was Pyrrhic. Both emperors had been involved in exhausting military campaigns in the previous year and the months leading up to Cibalae and each of their realms had expanded so fast that their manpower reserves must have been stretched to the limit. Both men retreated to their own territory to lick their wounds. It may well be that the two emperors made an agreement, which has left no direct trace in the historical record, which would effectively restore the status quo.
Both emperors were variously engaged in different activities between 315 and 316. In addition to campaigning against the Germans while residing in Augusta Treverorum (Trier) in 315, Constantine dealt with aspects of the Donatist controversy; he also traveled to Rome where he celebrated his Decennalia. Licinius, possibly residing at Sirmium, was probably waging war against the Goths. Although not much else is known about Licinius' activities during this period, it is probable that he spent much of his time preparing for his impending war against Constantine; the latter,who spent the spring and summer of 316 in Augusta Treverorum, was probably doing much the same thing. In any case, by December 316, the western emperor was in Sardica with his army. Sometime between 1 December and 28 February 317, both emperors' armies joined battle on the Campus Ardiensis; as was the case in the previous engagement, Constantine' s forces were victorious. On 1 March 317, both sides agreed to a cessation of hostilities; possibly because of the intervention of his wife Constantia, Licinius was able to keep his throne, although he had to agree to the execution of his colleague Valens, who the eastern emperor had appointed as his colleague before the battle, as well as to cede some of his territory to his brother-in-law.
Licinius and the Christians
Although the historical record is not completely clear, Licinius seems to have campaigned against the Sarmatians in 318. He also appears to have been in Byzantium in the summer of 318 and later in June 323. Beyond these few facts, not much else is known about his residences until mid summer of 324. Although he and Constantine had issued the Edict of Milan in early 313, Licinius turned on the Christians in his realm seemingly in 320. The first law that Licinius issued prevented bishops from communicating with each other and from holding synods to discuss matters of interest to them. The second law prohibited men and women from attending services together and young girls from receiving instruction from their bishop or schools. When this law was issued, he also gave orders that Christians could hold services only outside of city walls. Additionally, he deprived officers in the army of their commissions if they did not sacrifice to the gods. Licinius may have been trying to incite Constantine to attack him. In any case, the growing tension between the two rulers is reflected in the consular Fasti of the period.
The Second Civil War Between Licinius and Constantine and Licinius' Death
War actually broke out in 321 when Constantine pursued some Sarmatians, who had been ravaging some territory in his realm, across the Danube. When he checked a similar invasion of the Goths, who were devastating Thrace, Licinius complained that Constantine had broken the treaty between them. Having assembled a fleet and army at Thessalonica, Constantine advanced toward Adrianople. Licinius engaged the forces of his brother-in-law near the banks of the Hebrus River on 3 July 324 where he was routed; with as many men as he could gather, he headed for his fleet which was in the Hellespont. Those of his soldiers who were not killed or put to flight, surrendered to the enemy. Licinius fled to Byzantium, where he was besieged by Constantine. Licinius' fleet, under the command of the admiral Abantus, was overcome by bad weather and by Constantine' s fleet which was under the command of his son Crispus. Hard pressed in Byzantium, Licinius abandoned the city to his rival and fled to Chalcedon in Bithynia. Leaving Martinianus, his former magister officiorum and now his co-ruler, to impede Constantine' s progress, Licinius regrouped his forces and engaged his enemy at Chrysopolis where he was again routed on 18 September 324. He fled to Nicomedeia which Constantine began to besiege. On the next day Licinius abdicated and was sent to Thessalonica, where he was kept under house arrest. Both Licinius and his associate were put to death by Constantine. Martinianus may have been put to death before the end of 324, whereas Licinius was not put to death until the spring of 325. Rumors circulated that Licinius had been put to death because he attempted another rebellion against Constantine.
Copyright (C) 1996, Michael DiMaio, Jr.
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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1403a,1, Constantine I (the Great), 307-337 A.D.Constantine I (the Great), 307-337 A.D. Bronze AE 3, RIC 16, C -, VF, 2.854g, 19.1mm, 180o, Constantinople mint, 327 A.D. Obverse: CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG, rosette diademed head right; Reverse: GLORIA EXERCITVS, Soldier standing left, head right, resting left hand on shield and holding inverted spear in right, G in left field, CONS in exergue; very rare (R3).
The Emperor Constantine I was effectively the sole ruler of the Roman world between 324 and 337 A.D.; his reign was perhaps one of the most crucial of all the emperors in determining the future course of western civilization. By beginning the process of making Christianity the religious foundation of his realm, he set the religious course for the future of Europe which remains in place to this very day. Because he replaced Rome with Constantinople as the center of imperial power, he made it clear that the city of Rome was no longer the center of power and he also set the stage for the Middle Ages. His philosophical view of monarchy, largely spelled out in some of the works of Eusebius of Caesarea, became the foundation for the concept of the divine right of kings which prevailed in Europe.
Constantine was not a "Christian convert" in any traditional sense. He was not baptized until close to death, and while that was not an uncommon practice, the mention of Christ in his speeches and decrees is conspicuous by its absence. Eusebius, Church historian and Constantine biographer, is responsible for much of the valorization of Constantine as the Christian Emperor. The somnambulant "sign" in which Constantine was to become victor at the Milvian Bridge is, not so surprisingly, revealed to posterity long after the "fact." Throughout his reign, Constantine continues to portray himself on coins as a sun god (Freeman, Charles. Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean; Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 582). Above all, Constantine was a pragmatist. It would be cynical to egregiously disavow his commitment to Christianity, but it would be equally wrong to think that he would allow Christianity to meddle in the governance of his empire. As he reputedly told a group of bishops, "You are bishops of those within the church, but I am perhaps a bishop appointed by God of those outside." Whatever the motives for his decision to support Christianity, Christianity benefitted from the arrangement. So, too, did Constantine. It was a match made in heaven.
J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
For perhaps the best Constantine The Great site on the web, see Victor Clark's Constantine The Great Coins: http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/ Cleisthenes
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1403b, Constantine I (the Great), early 307 - 22 May 337 A.D.Constantine the Great, early 307 - 22 May 337 A.D., Bronze AE 3, RIC 137, VF, Constantinople mint, 1.476g, 16.4mm, 180o, 336 - 337 A.D. Obverse: CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG, laurel and rosette-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; Reverse: GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS, two soldiers, each holding spear and shield on ground, flanking standard, CONS[ ] in exergue. Ex FORVM.
The Emperor Constantine I was effectively the sole ruler of the Roman world between 324 and 337 A.D.; his reign was perhaps one of the most crucial of all the emperors in determining the future course of western civilization. By beginning the process of making Christianity the religious foundation of his realm, he set the religious course for the future of Europe which remains in place to this very day. Because he replaced Rome with Constantinople as the center of imperial power, he made it clear that the city of Rome was no longer the center of power and he also set the stage for the Middle Ages. His philosophical view of monarchy, largely spelled out in some of the works of Eusebius of Caesarea, became the foundation for the concept of the divine right of kings which prevailed in Europe.
Constantine was not a "Christian convert" in any traditional sense. He was not baptized until close to death, and while that was not an uncommon practice, the mention of Christ in his speeches and decrees is conspicuous by its absence. Eusebius, Church historian and Constantine biographer, is responsible for much of the valorization of Constantine as the Christian Emperor. The somnambulant "sign" in which Constantine was to become victor at the Milvian Bridge is, not so surprisingly, revealed to posterity long after the "fact." Throughout his reign, Constantine continues to portray himself on coins as a sun god (Freeman, Charles. Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean; Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 582). Above all, Constantine was a pragmatist. It would be cynical to egregiously disavow his commitment to Christianity, but it would be equally wrong to think that he would allow Christianity to meddle in the governance of his empire. As he reputedly told a group of bishops, "You are bishops of those within the church, but I am perhaps a bishop appointed by God of those outside." Whatever the motives for his decision to support Christianity, Christianity benefitted from the arrangement. So, too, did Constantine. It was a match made in heaven.
J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
For perhaps the best Constantine The Great site on the web, see Victor Clark's Constantine The Great Coins: http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/ Cleisthenes
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1403c, Constantine I (the Great), early 307 - 22 May 337 A.D.Bronze AE 3, RIC VII 35, choice aEF, Constantinople mint, 3.336g, 20.0mm, 180o, 328 A.D.; Obverse: CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG, laurel and rosette diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; Reverse: CONSTANTINI-ANA DAFNE, Victory seated left on cippus, head right, palm frond in each hand, trophy and captive before, CONS in exergue, B left; scarce. Ex FORVM.
"The information about Constantine's campaign across [the Danube] is obscure and untrustworthy. The question, therefore, of what he achieved by this enterprise was, and is, subject to contradictory interpretations. On the one hand, the Panegyrists claimed that he had repeated the triumphs of Trajan. On the other, his own nephew, Julian the Apostate, spoke for many when he expressed the view that this second 'conquest' of Dacia was incomplete and extremely brief . . . monetary commemoration was accorded to the building, at about the same time [AD 328], of the river frontier fortress of Constantiniana Dafne (Spantov, near Oltenita) . . ." (Grant, Michael. The Emperor Constantine. London: Phoenix, 1998. 58-9).
The Emperor Constantine I was effectively the sole ruler of the Roman world between 324 and 337 A.D.; his reign was perhaps one of the most crucial of all the emperors in determining the future course of western civilization. By beginning the process of making Christianity the religious foundation of his realm, he set the religious course for the future of Europe which remains in place to this very day. Because he replaced Rome with Constantinople as the center of imperial power, he made it clear that the city of Rome was no longer the center of power and he also set the stage for the Middle Ages. His philosophical view of monarchy, largely spelled out in some of the works of Eusebius of Caesarea, became the foundation for the concept of the divine right of kings which prevailed in Europe.
Constantine was not a "Christian convert" in any traditional sense. He was not baptized until close to death, and while that was not an uncommon practice, the mention of Christ in his speeches and decrees is conspicuous by its absence. Eusebius, Church historian and Constantine biographer, is responsible for much of the valorization of Constantine as the Christian Emperor. The somnambulant "sign" in which Constantine was to become victor at the Milvian Bridge is, not so surprisingly, revealed to posterity long after the "fact." Throughout his reign, Constantine continues to portray himself on coins as a sun god (Freeman, Charles. Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean; Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 582). Above all, Constantine was a pragmatist. It would be cynical to egregiously disavow his commitment to Christianity, but it would be equally wrong to think that he would allow Christianity to meddle in the governance of his empire. As he reputedly told a group of bishops, "You are bishops of those within the church, but I am perhaps a bishop appointed by God of those outside." Whatever the motives for his decision to support Christianity, Christianity benefitted from the arrangement. So, too, did Constantine. It was a match made in heaven.
J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
For perhaps the best Constantine The Great site on the web, see Victor Clark's Constantine The Great Coins: http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/Cleisthenes
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1403d, Constantine I (the Great), early 307 - 22 May 337 A.D. (Cyzicus)Constantine the Great, early 307 - 22 May 337 A.D. Bronze AE 3, RIC 199, gVF, corrosion, Cyzicus, 1.402g, 16.2mm, 0o, 336 - 337 A.D. Obverse: CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG, laurel and rosette-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; Reverse: GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS•, two soldiers, each holding spear and shield on ground, flanking standard, SMKA in exergue.
The Emperor Constantine I was effectively the sole ruler of the Roman world between 324 and 337 A.D.; his reign was perhaps one of the most crucial of all the emperors in determining the future course of western civilization. By beginning the process of making Christianity the religious foundation of his realm, he set the religious course for the future of Europe which remains in place to this very day. Because he replaced Rome with Constantinople as the center of imperial power, he made it clear that the city of Rome was no longer the center of power and he also set the stage for the Middle Ages. His philosophical view of monarchy, largely spelled out in some of the works of Eusebius of Caesarea, became the foundation for the concept of the divine right of kings which prevailed in Europe.
Constantine was not a "Christian convert" in any traditional sense. He was not baptized until close to death, and while that was not an uncommon practice, the mention of Christ in his speeches and decrees is conspicuous by its absence. Eusebius, Church historian and Constantine biographer, is responsible for much of the valorization of Constantine as the Christian Emperor. The somnambulant "sign" in which Constantine was to become victor at the Milvian Bridge is, not so surprisingly, revealed to posterity long after the "fact." Throughout his reign, Constantine continues to portray himself on coins as a sun god (Freeman, Charles. Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean; Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 582). Above all, Constantine was a pragmatist. It would be cynical to egregiously disavow his commitment to Christianity, but it would be equally wrong to think that he would allow Christianity to meddle in the governance of his empire. As he reputedly told a group of bishops, "You are bishops of those within the church, but I am perhaps a bishop appointed by God of those outside." Whatever the motives for his decision to support Christianity, Christianity benefitted from the arrangement. So, too, did Constantine. It was a match made in heaven.
J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
For perhaps the best Constantine The Great site on the web, see Victor Clark's Constantine The Great Coins: http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/ Cleisthenes
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1403e, Constantine I (the Great), early 307 - 22 May 337 A.D. (Heraclea)Constantine the Great, Bronze AE 3, RIC 69, VF, Heraclea, 3.38g, 19.0mm, 180o, 325 - 326 A.D. Obverse: CONSTAN-TINVS AVG, laureate head right; Reverse: D N CONSTANTINI MAX AVG, VOT XXX in wreath, SMHD in exergue.
The Emperor Constantine I was effectively the sole ruler of the Roman world between 324 and 337 A.D.; his reign was perhaps one of the most crucial of all the emperors in determining the future course of western civilization. By beginning the process of making Christianity the religious foundation of his realm, he set the religious course for the future of Europe which remains in place to this very day. Because he replaced Rome with Constantinople as the center of imperial power, he made it clear that the city of Rome was no longer the center of power and he also set the stage for the Middle Ages. His philosophical view of monarchy, largely spelled out in some of the works of Eusebius of Caesarea, became the foundation for the concept of the divine right of kings which prevailed in Europe.
Constantine was not a "Christian convert" in any traditional sense. He was not baptized until close to death, and while that was not an uncommon practice, the mention of Christ in his speeches and decrees is conspicuous by its absence. Eusebius, Church historian and Constantine biographer, is responsible for much of the valorization of Constantine as the Christian Emperor. The somnambulant "sign" in which Constantine was to become victor at the Milvian Bridge is, not so surprisingly, revealed to posterity long after the "fact." Throughout his reign, Constantine continues to portray himself on coins as a sun god (Freeman, Charles. Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean; Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 582). Above all, Constantine was a pragmatist. It would be cynical to egregiously disavow his commitment to Christianity, but it would be equally wrong to think that he would allow Christianity to meddle in the governance of his empire. As he reputedly told a group of bishops, "You are bishops of those within the church, but I am perhaps a bishop appointed by God of those outside." Whatever the motives for his decision to support Christianity, Christianity benefitted from the arrangement. So, too, did Constantine. It was a match made in heaven.
J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
For perhaps the best Constantine The Great site on the web, see Victor Clark's Constantine The Great Coins: http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/ Cleisthenes
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1403f, Constantine I (the Great), early 307 - 22 May 337 A.D. (Heraclea)Bronze follis, RIC 5, F/aF, 3.513g, 20.4mm, 180o, Heraclea mint, 313 A.D.; obverse IMP C FL VAL CONSTANTINVS P F AVG, laureate head right; reverse IOVI CONSER-VATORI AVGG, Jupiter standing left holding Victory and scepter, eagle with wreath in beek at feet, B in right field, SMHT in exergue.
The Emperor Constantine I was effectively the sole ruler of the Roman world between 324 and 337 A.D.; his reign was perhaps one of the most crucial of all the emperors in determining the future course of western civilization. By beginning the process of making Christianity the religious foundation of his realm, he set the religious course for the future of Europe which remains in place to this very day. Because he replaced Rome with Constantinople as the center of imperial power, he made it clear that the city of Rome was no longer the center of power and he also set the stage for the Middle Ages. His philosophical view of monarchy, largely spelled out in some of the works of Eusebius of Caesarea, became the foundation for the concept of the divine right of kings which prevailed in Europe.
Constantine was not a "Christian convert" in any traditional sense. He was not baptized until close to death, and while that was not an uncommon practice, the mention of Christ in his speeches and decrees is conspicuous by its absence. Eusebius, Church historian and Constantine biographer, is responsible for much of the valorization of Constantine as the Christian Emperor. The somnambulant "sign" in which Constantine was to become victor at the Milvian Bridge is, not so surprisingly, revealed to posterity long after the "fact." Throughout his reign, Constantine continues to portray himself on coins as a sun god (Freeman, Charles. Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean; Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 582). Above all, Constantine was a pragmatist. It would be cynical to egregiously disavow his commitment to Christianity, but it would be equally wrong to think that he would allow Christianity to meddle in the governance of his empire. As he reputedly told a group of bishops, "You are bishops of those within the church, but I am perhaps a bishop appointed by God of those outside." Whatever the motives for his decision to support Christianity, Christianity benefitted from the arrangement. So, too, did Constantine. It was a match made in heaven.
J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
For perhaps the best Constantine The Great site on the web, see Victor Clark's Constantine The Great Coins: http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/ Cleisthenes
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1403g, Constantine I (the Great), early 307 - 22 May 337 A.D. (Nicomedia)Constantine the Great, early 307 - 22 May 337 A.D. Bronze follis, RIC 12, aVF, Nicomedia mint, 2.760g, 22.0mm, 0o, 313 - 317 A.D. Obverse: IMP C FL VAL CONSTANTINVS P F AVG, laureate head right; Reverse: IOVI CONS-ERVATORI, Jupiter standing left holding Victory on globe and scepter, eagle with wreath in beak left, G right, SMN in exergue; scarce.
The Emperor Constantine I was effectively the sole ruler of the Roman world between 324 and 337 A.D.; his reign was perhaps one of the most crucial of all the emperors in determining the future course of western civilization. By beginning the process of making Christianity the religious foundation of his realm, he set the religious course for the future of Europe which remains in place to this very day. Because he replaced Rome with Constantinople as the center of imperial power, he made it clear that the city of Rome was no longer the center of power and he also set the stage for the Middle Ages. His philosophical view of monarchy, largely spelled out in some of the works of Eusebius of Caesarea, became the foundation for the concept of the divine right of kings which prevailed in Europe.
Constantine was not a "Christian convert" in any traditional sense. He was not baptized until close to death, and while that was not an uncommon practice, the mention of Christ in his speeches and decrees is conspicuous by its absence. Eusebius, Church historian and Constantine biographer, is responsible for much of the valorization of Constantine as the Christian Emperor. The somnambulant "sign" in which Constantine was to become victor at the Milvian Bridge is, not so surprisingly, revealed to posterity long after the "fact." Throughout his reign, Constantine continues to portray himself on coins as a sun god (Freeman, Charles. Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean; Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 582). Above all, Constantine was a pragmatist. It would be cynical to egregiously disavow his commitment to Christianity, but it would be equally wrong to think that he would allow Christianity to meddle in the governance of his empire. As he reputedly told a group of bishops, "You are bishops of those within the church, but I am perhaps a bishop appointed by God of those outside." Whatever the motives for his decision to support Christianity, Christianity benefitted from the arrangement. So, too, did Constantine. It was a match made in heaven.
J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
For perhaps the best Constantine The Great site on the web, see Victor Clark's Constantine The Great Coins: http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/ Cleisthenes
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1403h, Constantine I (the Great), early 307 - 22 May 337 A.D. (Siscia)Bronze follis, RIC 232b, gVF, Siscia, 3.87g, 23.8mm, 180o, early 313 A.D. Obverse: IMP CONSTANTINVS P F AVG, laureate head right; Reverse: IOVI CONSERVATORI AVGG NN, Jupiter standing left holding Victory on globe and scepter, eagle with wreath in beak left, E right, SIS in exergue.
The Emperor Constantine I was effectively the sole ruler of the Roman world between 324 and 337 A.D.; his reign was perhaps one of the most crucial of all the emperors in determining the future course of western civilization. By beginning the process of making Christianity the religious foundation of his realm, he set the religious course for the future of Europe which remains in place to this very day. Because he replaced Rome with Constantinople as the center of imperial power, he made it clear that the city of Rome was no longer the center of power and he also set the stage for the Middle Ages. His philosophical view of monarchy, largely spelled out in some of the works of Eusebius of Caesarea, became the foundation for the concept of the divine right of kings which prevailed in Europe.
Constantine was not a "Christian convert" in any traditional sense. He was not baptized until close to death, and while that was not an uncommon practice, the mention of Christ in his speeches and decrees is conspicuous by its absence. Eusebius, Church historian and Constantine biographer, is responsible for much of the valorization of Constantine as the Christian Emperor. The somnambulant "sign" in which Constantine was to become victor at the Milvian Bridge is, not so surprisingly, revealed to posterity long after the "fact." Throughout his reign, Constantine continues to portray himself on coins as a sun god (Freeman, Charles. Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean; Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 582). Above all, Constantine was a pragmatist. It would be cynical to egregiously disavow his commitment to Christianity, but it would be equally wrong to think that he would allow Christianity to meddle in the governance of his empire. As he reputedly told a group of bishops, "You are bishops of those within the church, but I am perhaps a bishop appointed by God of those outside." Whatever the motives for his decision to support Christianity, Christianity benefitted from the arrangement. So, too, did Constantine. It was a match made in heaven.
J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
For perhaps the best Constantine The Great site on the web, see Victor Clark's Constantine The Great Coins: http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/ Cleisthenes
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1403i, Constantine I (the Great), early 307 - 22 May 337 A.D. (Siscia)Silvered AE 3, RIC 214, VF, Siscia mint, 3.187g, 19.3mm, 0o, 328 - 329 A.D.
Obverse: CONSTAN-TINVS AVG, laureate head right; Reverse PROVIDEN-TIAE AVGG, campgate with two turrets, star above, ASIS and double crescent in exergue.
Flavius Valerius Constantinus, Constantine the Great, was the son of Helena and the First Tetrarchic ruler Constantius I. Constantine is most famous for his conversion to Christianity and the battle of the Milvian Bridge where he defeated emperor Maxentius. It is reputed that before the battle, he saw the words "In Hoc Signo Victor Eris" (By this sign you shall conquer) emblazoned on the sun around the Chi Rho, the symbol of Christianity. Other sources claim the vision came to Constantine I in a dream. The story continues that after placing this Christogram on the shields of his army, he defeated his opponent and thus ruled the empire through divine providence. Constantine I also shifted the capital of the empire to Constantinople, establishing the foundation for an Empire that would last another 1000 years. He died in 337 and his sons divided the Roman territories.
The Emperor Constantine I was effectively the sole ruler of the Roman world between 324 and 337 A.D.; his reign was perhaps one of the most crucial of all the emperors in determining the future course of western civilization. By beginning the process of making Christianity the religious foundation of his realm, he set the religious course for the future of Europe which remains in place to this very day. Because he replaced Rome with Constantinople as the center of imperial power, he made it clear that the city of Rome was no longer the center of power, and he also set the stage for the Middle Ages. His philosophical view of monarchy, largely spelled out in some of the works of Eusebius of Caesarea, became the foundation for the concept of the divine right of kings which prevailed in Europe.
Constantine was not a "Christian convert" in any traditional sense. He was not baptized until close to death, and while that was not an uncommon practice, the mention of Christ in his speeches and decrees is conspicuous by its absence. Eusebius, Church historian and Constantine biographer, is responsible for much of the valorization of Constantine as the Christian Emperor. The somnambulant "sign" in which Constantine was to become victor at the Milvian Bridge is, not so surprisingly, revealed to posterity long after the "fact." Throughout his reign, Constantine continues to portray himself on coins as a sun god (Freeman, Charles. Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean; Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 582). Above all, Constantine was a pragmatist. It would be cynical to egregiously disavow his commitment to Christianity, but it would be equally wrong to think that he would allow Christianity to meddle in the governance of his empire. As he reputedly told a group of bishops, "You are bishops of those within the church, but I am perhaps a bishop appointed by God of those outside." Whatever the motives for his decision to support Christianity, Christianity benefitted from the arrangement. So, too, did Constantine. It was a match made in heaven.
J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
For perhaps the best Constantine The Great site on the web, see Victor Clark's Constantine The Great Coins: http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/ Cleisthenes
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1403j, Constantine I (the Great), early 307 - 22 May 337 A.D. (Thessalonica)Bronze AE 3, RIC 153, VF, Thessalonica mint, 2.955g, 19.7mm, 0o, 326 - 328 A.D. Obverse: CONSTAN-TINVS AVG, laureate head right; Reverse: PROVIDEN-TIAE AVGG, campgate with two turrets, star above, dot right, SMTSG in exergue.
Flavius Valerius Constantinus, Constantine the Great, was the son of Helena and the First Tetrarchic ruler Constantius I. Constantine is most famous for his conversion to Christianity and the battle of the Milvian Bridge where he defeated emperor Maxentius. It is reputed that before the battle, he saw the words "In Hoc Signo Victor Eris" (By this sign you shall conquer) emblazoned on the sun around the Chi Rho, the symbol of Christianity. Other sources claim the vision came to Constantine I in a dream. The story continues that after placing this Christogram on the shields of his army, he defeated his opponent and thus ruled the empire through divine providence. Constantine I also shifted the capital of the empire to Constantinople, establishing the foundation for an Empire that would last another 1000 years. He died in 337 and his sons divided the Roman territories.
The Emperor Constantine I was effectively the sole ruler of the Roman world between 324 and 337 A.D.; his reign was perhaps one of the most crucial of all the emperors in determining the future course of western civilization. By beginning the process of making Christianity the religious foundation of his realm, he set the religious course for the future of Europe which remains in place to this very day. Because he replaced Rome with Constantinople as the center of imperial power, he made it clear that the city of Rome was no longer the center of power, and he also set the stage for the Middle Ages. His philosophical view of monarchy, largely spelled out in some of the works of Eusebius of Caesarea, became the foundation for the concept of the divine right of kings which prevailed in Europe.
Constantine was not a "Christian convert" in any traditional sense. He was not baptized until close to death, and while that was not an uncommon practice, the mention of Christ in his speeches and decrees is conspicuous by its absence. Eusebius, Church historian and Constantine biographer, is responsible for much of the valorization of Constantine as the Christian Emperor. The somnambulant "sign" in which Constantine was to become victor at the Milvian Bridge is, not so surprisingly, revealed to posterity long after the "fact." Throughout his reign, Constantine continues to portray himself on coins as a sun god (Freeman, Charles. Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean; Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 582). Above all, Constantine was a pragmatist. It would be cynical to egregiously disavow his commitment to Christianity, but it would be equally wrong to think that he would allow Christianity to meddle in the governance of his empire. As he reputedly told a group of bishops, "You are bishops of those within the church, but I am perhaps a bishop appointed by God of those outside." Whatever the motives for his decision to support Christianity, Christianity benefitted from the arrangement. So, too, did Constantine. It was a match made in heaven.
J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
For perhaps the best Constantine The Great site on the web, see Victor Clark's Constantine The Great Coins: http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/
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1409a, Julian II "the Philosopher," February 360 - 26 June 363 A.D.Julian II, A.D. 360-363; RIC 167; VF; 2.7g, 20mm; Constantinople mint; Obverse: DN FL CL IVLIANVS P F AVG, helmeted & cuirassed bust right, holding spear & shield; Reverse: VOT X MVLT XX in four lines within wreath; CONSPB in exergue; Attractive green patina. Ex Nemesis.
De Imperatoribus Romanis,
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors
Julian the Apostate (360-363 A.D.)
Walter E. Roberts, Emory University
Michael DiMaio, Jr., Salve Regina University
Introduction
The emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus reigned from 360 to 26 June 363, when he was killed fighting against the Persians. Despite his short rule, his emperorship was pivotal in the development of the history of the later Roman empire. This essay is not meant to be a comprehensive look at the various issues central to the reign of Julian and the history of the later empire. Rather, this short work is meant to be a brief history and introduction for the general reader. Julian was the last direct descendent of the Constantinian line to ascend to the purple, and it is one of history's great ironies that he was the last non-Christian emperor. As such, he has been vilified by most Christian sources, beginning with John Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzus in the later fourth century. This tradition was picked up by the fifth century Eusebian continuators Sozomen, Socrates Scholasticus, and Theodoret and passed on to scholars down through the 20th century. Most contemporary sources, however, paint a much more balanced picture of Julian and his reign. The adoption of Christianity by emperors and society, while still a vital concern, was but one of several issues that concerned Julian.
It is fortunate that extensive writings from Julian himself exist, which help interpret his reign in the light of contemporary evidence. Still extant are some letters, several panegyrics, and a few satires. Other contemporary sources include the soldier Ammianus Marcellinus' history, correspondence between Julian and Libanius of Antioch, several panegyrics, laws from the Theodosian Code, inscriptions, and coinage. These sources show Julian's emphasis on restoration. He saw himself as the restorer of the traditional values of Roman society. Of course much of this was rhetoric, meant to defend Julian against charges that he was a usurper. At the same time this theme of restoration was central to all emperors of the fourth century. Julian thought that he was the one emperor who could regain what was viewed as the lost glory of the Roman empire. To achieve this goal he courted select groups of social elites to get across his message of restoration. This was the way that emperors functioned in the fourth century. By choosing whom to include in the sharing of power, they sought to shape society.
Early Life
Julian was born at Constantinople in 331. His father was Julius Constantius, half-brother of the emperor Constantine through Constantius Chlorus, and his mother was Basilina, Julius' second wife. Julian had two half-brothers via Julius' first marriage. One of these was Gallus, who played a major role in Julian's life. Julian appeared destined for a bright future via his father's connection to the Constantinian house. After many years of tense relations with his three half-brothers, Constantine seemed to have welcomed them into the fold of the imperial family. From 333 to 335, Constantine conferred a series of honors upon his three half-siblings, including appointing Julius Constantius as one of the consuls for 335. Julian's mother was equally distinguished. Ammianus related that she was from a noble family. This is supported by Libanius, who claimed that she was the daughter of Julius Julianus, a Praetorian Prefect under Licinius, who was such a model of administrative virtue that he was pardoned and honored by Constantine.
Despite the fact that his mother died shortly after giving birth to him, Julian experienced an idyllic early childhood. This ended when Constantius II conducted a purge of many of his relatives shortly after Constantine's death in 337, particularly targeting the families of Constantine's half-brothers. ulian and Gallus were spared, probably due to their young age. Julian was put under the care of Mardonius, a Scythian eunuch who had tutored his mother, in 339, and was raised in the Greek philosophical tradition, and probably lived in Nicomedia. Ammianus also supplied the fact that while in Nicomedia, Julian was cared for by the local bishop Eusebius, of whom the future emperor was a distant relation. Julian was educated by some of the most famous names in grammar and rhetoric in the Greek world at that time, including Nicocles and Hecebolius. In 344 Constantius II sent Julian and Gallus to Macellum in Cappadocia, where they remained for six years. In 351, Gallus was made Caesar by Constantius II and Julian was allowed to return to Nicomedia, where he studied under Aedesius, Eusebius, and Chrysanthius, all famed philosophers, and was exposed to the Neo-Platonism that would become such a prominent part of his life. But Julian was most proud of the time he spent studying under Maximus of Ephesus, a noted Neo-Platonic philospher and theurgist. It was Maximus who completed Julian's full-scale conversion to Neo-Platonism. Later, when he was Caesar, Julian told of how he put letters from this philosopher under his pillows so that he would continue to absorb wisdom while he slept, and while campaigning on the Rhine, he sent his speeches to Maximus for approval before letting others hear them. When Gallus was executed in 354 for treason by Constantius II, Julian was summoned to Italy and essentially kept under house arrest at Comum, near Milan, for seven months before Constantius' wife Eusebia convinced the emperor that Julian posed no threat. This allowed Julian to return to Greece and continue his life as a scholar where he studied under the Neo-Platonist Priscus. Julian's life of scholarly pursuit, however, ended abruptly when he was summoned to the imperial court and made Caesar by Constantius II on 6 November 355.
Julian as Caesar
Constantius II realized an essential truth of the empire that had been evident since the time of the Tetrarchy--the empire was too big to be ruled effectively by one man. Julian was pressed into service as Caesar, or subordinate emperor, because an imperial presence was needed in the west, in particular in the Gallic provinces. Julian, due to the emperor's earlier purges, was the only viable candidate of the imperial family left who could act as Caesar. Constantius enjoined Julian with the task of restoring order along the Rhine frontier. A few days after he was made Caesar, Julian was married to Constantius' sister Helena in order to cement the alliance between the two men. On 1 December 355, Julian journeyed north, and in Augusta Taurinorum he learned that Alamannic raiders had destroyed Colonia Agrippina. He then proceeded to Vienne where he spent the winter. At Vienne, he learned that Augustudunum was also under siege, but was being held by a veteran garrison. He made this his first priority, and arrived there on 24 June 356. When he had assured himself that the city was in no immediate danger, he journeyed to Augusta Treverorum via Autessioduram, and from there to Durocortorum where he rendezvoused with his army. Julian had the army stage a series of punitive strikes around the Dieuse region, and then he moved them towards the Argentoratum/Mongontiacum region when word of barbarian incursions reached him.
From there, Julian moved on to Colonia Agrippina, and negotiated a peace with the local barbarian leaders who had assaulted the city. He then wintered at Senonae. He spent the early part of the campaigning season of 357 fighting off besiegers at Senonae, and then conducting operations around Lugdunum and Tres Tabernae. Later that summer, he encountered his watershed moment as a military general. Ammianus went into great detail about Julian's victory over seven rogue Alamannic chieftains near Argentoratum, and Julian himself bragged about it in his later writing. After this battle, the soldiers acclaimed Julian Augustus, but he rejected this title. After mounting a series of follow-up raids into Alamannic territory, he retired to winter quarters at Lutetia, and on the way defeated some Frankish raiders in the Mosa region. Julian considered this campaign one of the major events of his time as Caesar.
Julian began his 358 military campaigns early, hoping to catch the barbarians by surprise. His first target was the Franks in the northern Rhine region. He then proceeded to restore some forts in the Mosa region, but his soldiers threatened to mutiny because they were on short rations and had not been paid their donative since Julian had become Caesar. After he soothed his soldiers, Julian spent the rest of the summer negotiating a peace with various Alamannic leaders in the mid and lower Rhine areas, and retired to winter quarters at Lutetia. In 359, he prepared once again to carry out a series of punitive expeditions against the Alamanni in the Rhine region who were still hostile to the Roman presence. In preparation, the Caesar repopulated seven previously destroyed cities and set them up as supply bases and staging areas. This was done with the help of the people with whom Julian had negotiated a peace the year before. Julian then had a detachment of lightly armed soldiers cross the Rhine near Mogontiacum and conduct a guerilla strike against several chieftains. As a result of these campaigns, Julian was able to negotiate a peace with all but a handful of the Alamannic leaders, and he retired to winter quarters at Lutetia.
Of course, Julian did more than act as a general during his time as Caesar. According to Ammianus, Julian was an able administrator who took steps to correct the injustices of Constantius' appointees. Ammianus related the story of how Julian prevented Florentius, the Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, from raising taxes, and also how Julian actually took over as governor for the province of Belgica Secunda. Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, supported Ammianus' basic assessment of Julian in this regard when he reported that Julian was an able representative of the emperor to the Gallic provincials. There is also epigraphic evidence to support Julian's popularity amongst the provincial elites. An inscription found near Beneventum in Apulia reads:
"To Flavius Claudius Julianus, most noble and sanctified Caesar, from the caring Tocius Maximus, vir clarissimus, for the care of the res publica from Beneventum".
Tocius Maximus, as a vir clarissimus, was at the highest point in the social spectrum and was a leader in his local community. This inscription shows that Julian was successful in establishing a positive image amongst provincial elites while he was Caesar.
Julian Augustus
In early 360, Constantius, driven by jealousy of Julian's success, stripped Julian of many troops and officers, ostensibly because the emperor needed them for his upcoming campaign against the Persians. One of the legions ordered east, the Petulantes, did not want to leave Gaul because the majority of the soldiers in the unit were from this region. As a result they mutinied and hailed Julian as Augustus at Lutetia. Julian refused this acclamation as he had done at Argentoratum earlier, but the soldiers would have none of his denial. They raised him on a shield and adorned him with a neck chain, which had formerly been the possession of the standard-bearer of the Petulantes and symbolized a royal diadem. Julian appeared reluctantly to acquiesce to their wishes, and promised a generous donative. The exact date of his acclamation is unknown, but most scholars put it in February or March. Julian himself supported Ammianus' picture of a jealous Constantius. In his Letter to the Athenians, a document constructed to answer charges that he was a usurper, Julian stated that from the start he, as Caesar, had been meant as a figurehead to the soldiers and provincials. The real power he claimed lay with the generals and officials already present in Gaul. In fact, according to Julian, the generals were charged with watching him as much as the enemy. His account of the actual acclamation closely followed what Ammianus told us, but he stressed even more his reluctance to take power. Julian claimed that he did so only after praying to Zeus for guidance.
Fearing the reaction of Constantius, Julian sent a letter to his fellow emperor justifying the events at Lutetia and trying to arrange a peaceful solution. This letter berated Constantius for forcing the troops in Gaul into an untenable situation. Ammianus stated that Julian's letter blamed Constantius' decision to transfer Gallic legions east as the reason for the soldiers' rebellion. Julian once again asserted that he was an unwilling participant who was only following the desire of the soldiers. In both of these basic accounts Ammianus and Julian are playing upon the theme of restoration. Implicit in their version of Julian's acclamation is the argument that Constantius was unfit to rule. The soldiers were the vehicle of the gods' will. The Letter to the Athenians is full of references to the fact that Julian was assuming the mantle of Augustus at the instigation of the gods. Ammianus summed up this position nicely when he related the story of how, when Julian was agonizing over whether to accept the soldiers' acclamation, he had a dream in which he was visited by the Genius (guardian spirit) of the Roman state. The Genius told Julian that it had often tried to bestow high honors upon Julian but had been rebuffed. Now, the Genius went on to say, was Julian's final chance to take the power that was rightfully his. If the Caesar refused this chance, the Genius would depart forever, and both Julian and the state would rue Julian's rejection. Julian himself wrote a letter to his friend Maximus of Ephesus in November of 361 detailing his thoughts on his proclamation. In this letter, Julian stated that the soldiers proclaimed him Augustus against his will. Julian, however, defended his accession, saying that the gods willed it and that he had treated his enemies with clemency and justice. He went on to say that he led the troops in propitiating the traditional deities, because the gods commanded him to return to the traditional rites, and would reward him if he fulfilled this duty.
During 360 an uneasy peace simmered between the two emperors. Julian spent the 360 campaigning season continuing his efforts to restore order along the Rhine, while Constantius continued operations against the Persians. Julian wintered in Vienne, and celebrated his Quinquennalia. It was at this time that his wife Helena died, and he sent her remains to Rome for a proper burial at his family villa on the Via Nomentana where the body of her sister was entombed. The uneasy peace held through the summer of 361, but Julian concentrated his military operations around harassing the Alamannic chieftain Vadomarius and his allies, who had concluded a peace treaty with Constantius some years earlier. By the end of the summer, Julian decided to put an end to the waiting and gathered his army to march east against Constantius. The empire teetered on the brink of another civil war. Constantius had spent the summer negotiating with the Persians and making preparations for possible military action against his cousin. When he was assured that the Persians would not attack, he summoned his army and sallied forth to meet Julian. As the armies drew inexorably closer to one another, the empire was saved from another bloody civil war when Constantius died unexpectedly of natural causes on 3 November near the town of Mopsucrenae in Cilicia, naming Julian -- the sources say-- as his legitimate successor.
Julian was in Dacia when he learned of his cousin's death. He made his way through Thrace and came to Constantinople on 11 December 361 where Julian honored the emperor with the funeral rites appropriate for a man of his station. Julian immediately set about putting his supporters in positions of power and trimming the imperial bureaucracy, which had become extremely overstaffed during Constantius' reign. Cooks and barbers had increased during the late emperor's reign and Julian expelled them from his court. Ammianus gave a mixed assessment of how the new emperor handled the followers of Constantius. Traditionally, emperors were supposed to show clemency to the supporters of a defeated enemy. Julian, however, gave some men over to death to appease the army. Ammianus used the case of Ursulus, Constantius' comes sacrum largitionum, to illustrate his point. Ursulus had actually tried to acquire money for the Gallic troops when Julian had first been appointed Caesar, but he had also made a disparaging remark about the ineffectiveness of the army after the battle of Amida. The soldiers remembered this, and when Julian became sole Augustus, they demanded Ursulus' head. Julian obliged, much to the disapproval of Ammianus. This seems to be a case of Julian courting the favor of the military leadership, and is indicative of a pattern in which Julian courted the goodwill of various societal elites to legitimize his position as emperor.
Another case in point is the officials who made up the imperial bureaucracy. Many of them were subjected to trial and punishment. To achieve this goal, during the last weeks of December 361 Julian assembled a military tribunal at Chalcedon, empanelling six judges to try the cases. The president of the tribunal was Salutius, just promoted to the rank of Praetorian Prefect; the five other members were Mamertinus, the orator, and four general officers: Jovinus, Agilo, Nevitta, and Arbetio. Relative to the proceedings of the tribunal, Ammianus noted that the judges, " . . . oversaw the cases more vehemently than was right or fair, with the exception of a few . . .." Ammianus' account of Julian's attempt at reform of the imperial bureaucracy is supported by legal evidence from the Theodosian Code. A series of laws sent to Mamertinus, Julian's appointee as Praetorian Prefect in Italy, Illyricum, and Africa, illustrate this point nicely. On 6 June 362, Mamertinus received a law that prohibited provincial governors from bypassing the Vicars when giving their reports to the Prefect. Traditionally, Vicars were given civil authority over a group of provinces, and were in theory meant to serve as a middle step between governors and Prefects. This law suggests that the Vicars were being left out, at least in Illyricum. Julian issued another edict to Mamertinus on 22 February 362 to stop abuse of the public post by governors. According to this law, only Mamertinus could issue post warrants, but the Vicars were given twelve blank warrants to be used as they saw fit, and each governor was given two. Continuing the trend of bureaucratic reform, Julian also imposed penalties on governors who purposefully delayed appeals in court cases they had heard. The emperor also established a new official to weigh solidi used in official government transactions to combat coin clipping.
For Julian, reigning in the abuses of imperial bureaucrats was one step in restoring the prestige of the office of emperor. Because he could not affect all elements of society personally, Julian, like other Neo-Flavian emperors, decided to concentrate on select groups of societal elites as intercessors between himself and the general populace. One of these groups was the imperial bureaucracy. Julian made it very clear that imperial officials were intercessors in a very real sense in a letter to Alypius, Vicar of Britain. In this letter, sent from Gaul sometime before 361, the emperor praises Alypius for his use of "mildness and moderation with courage and force" in his rule of the provincials. Such virtues were characteristic of the emperors, and it was good that Alypius is representing Julian in this way. Julian courted the army because it put him in power. Another group he sought to include in his rule was the traditional Senatorial aristocracy. One of his first appointments as consul was Claudius Mamertinus, a Gallic Senator and rhetorician. Mamertinus' speech in praise of Julian delivered at Constantinople in January of 362 is preserved. In this speech, Claudius presented his consular selection as inaugurating a new golden age and Julian as the restorer of the empire founded by Augustus. The image Mamertinus gave of his own consulate inaugurating a new golden age is not merely formulaic. The comparison of Julian to Augustus has very real, if implicit, relevance to Claudius' situation. Claudius emphasized the imperial period as the true age of renewal. Augustus ushered in a new era with his formation of a partnership between the emperor and the Senate based upon a series of honors and offices bestowed upon the Senate in return for their role as intercessor between emperor and populace. It was this system that Julian was restoring, and the consulate was one concrete example of this bond. To be chosen as a consul by the emperor, who himself had been divinely mandated, was a divine honor. In addition to being named consul, Mamertinus went on to hold several offices under Julian, including the Prefecture of Italy, Illyricum, and Africa. Similarly, inscriptional evidence illustrates a link between municipal elites and Julian during his time as Caesar, something which continued after he became emperor. One concrete example comes from the municipal senate of Aceruntia in Apulia, which established a monument on which Julian is styled as "Repairer of the World."
Julian seems to have given up actual Christian belief before his acclamation as emperor and was a practitioner of more traditional Greco-Roman religious beliefs, in particular, a follower of certain late antique Platonist philosophers who were especially adept at theurgy as was noted earlier. In fact Julian himself spoke of his conversion to Neo-Platonism in a letter to the Alexandrians written in 363. He stated that he had abandoned Christianity when he was twenty years old and been an adherent of the traditional Greco-Roman deities for the twelve years prior to writing this letter.
(For the complete text of this article see: http://www.roman-emperors.org/julian.htm)
Julian’s Persian Campaign
The exact goals Julian had for his ill-fated Persian campaign were never clear. The Sassanid Persians, and before them the Parthians, had been a traditional enemy from the time of the Late Republic, and indeed Constantius had been conducting a war against them before Julian's accession forced the former to forge an uneasy peace. Julian, however, had no concrete reason to reopen hostilities in the east. Socrates Scholasticus attributed Julian's motives to imitation of Alexander the Great, but perhaps the real reason lay in his need to gather the support of the army. Despite his acclamation by the Gallic legions, relations between Julian and the top military officers was uneasy at best. A war against the Persians would have brought prestige and power both to Julian and the army.
Julian set out on his fateful campaign on 5 March 363. Using his trademark strategy of striking quickly and where least expected, he moved his army through Heirapolis and from there speedily across the Euphrates and into the province of Mesopotamia, where he stopped at the town of Batnae. His plan was to eventually return through Armenia and winter in Tarsus. Once in Mesopotamia, Julian was faced with the decision of whether to travel south through the province of Babylonia or cross the Tigris into Assyria, and he eventually decided to move south through Babylonia and turn west into Assyria at a later date. By 27 March, he had the bulk of his army across the Euphrates, and had also arranged a flotilla to guard his supply line along the mighty river. He then left his generals Procopius and Sebastianus to help Arsacius, the king of Armenia and a Roman client, to guard the northern Tigris line. It was also during this time that he received the surrender of many prominent local leaders who had nominally supported the Persians. These men supplied Julian with money and troops for further military action against their former masters. Julian decided to turn south into Babylonia and proceeded along the Euphrates, coming to the fortress of Cercusium at the junction of the Abora and Euphrates Rivers around the first of April, and from there he took his army west to a region called Zaitha near the abandoned town of Dura where they visited the tomb of the emperor Gordian which was in the area. On April 7 he set out from there into the heart of Babylonia and towards Assyria.
Ammianus then stated that Julian and his army crossed into Assyria, which on the face of things appears very confusing. Julian still seems to be operating within the province of Babylonia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The confusion is alleviated when one realizes that,for Ammianus, the region of Assyria encompassed the provinces of Babylonia and Assyria. On their march, Julian's forces took the fortress of Anatha, received the surrender and support of several more local princes, and ravaged the countryside of Assyria between the rivers. As the army continued south, they came across the fortresses Thilutha and Achaiachala, but these places were too well defended and Julian decided to leave them alone. Further south were the cities Diacira and Ozogardana, which the Roman forces sacked and burned. Soon, Julian came to Pirisabora and a brief siege ensued, but the city fell and was also looted and destroyed. It was also at this time that the Roman army met its first systematic resistance from the Persians. As the Romans penetrated further south and west, the local inhabitants began to flood their route. Nevertheless, the Roman forces pressed on and came to Maiozamalcha, a sizable city not far from Ctesiphon. After a short siege, this city too fell to Julian. Inexorably, Julian's forces zeroed in on Ctesiphon, but as they drew closer, the Persian resistance grew fiercer, with guerilla raids whittling at Julian's men and supplies. A sizable force of the army was lost and the emperor himself was almost killed taking a fort a few miles from the target city.
Finally, the army approached Ctesiphon following a canal that linked the Tigris and Euphrates. It soon became apparent after a few preliminary skirmishes that a protracted siege would be necessary to take this important city. Many of his generals, however, thought that pursuing this course of action would be foolish. Julian reluctantly agreed, but became enraged by this failure and ordered his fleet to be burned as he decided to march through the province of Assyria. Julian had planned for his army to live off the land, but the Persians employed a scorched-earth policy. When it became apparent that his army would perish (because his supplies were beginning to dwindle) from starvation and the heat if he continued his campaign, and also in the face of superior numbers of the enemy, Julian ordered a retreat on 16 June. As the Roman army retreated, they were constantly harassed by guerilla strikes. It was during one of these raids that Julian got caught up in the fighting and took a spear to his abdomen. Mortally wounded he was carried to his tent, where, after conferring with some of his officers, he died. The date was 26 June 363.
Conclusion
Thus an ignominious end for a man came about who had hoped to restore the glory of the Roman empire during his reign as emperor. Due to his intense hatred of Christianity, the opinion of posterity has not been kind to Julian. The contemporary opinion, however, was overall positive. The evidence shows that Julian was a complex ruler with a definite agenda to use traditional social institutions in order to revive what he saw as a collapsing empire. In the final assessment, he was not so different from any of the other emperors of the fourth century. He was a man grasping desperately to hang on to a Greco-Roman conception of leadership that was undergoing a subtle yet profound change.
Copyright (C) 2002, Walter E. Roberts and Michael DiMaio, Jr. Used by permission.
In reality, Julian worked to promote culture and philosophy in any manifestation. He tried to reduce taxes and the public debts of municipalities; he augmented administrative decentralisation; he promoted a campaign of austerity to reduce public expenditure (setting himself as the example). He reformed the postal service and eliminated the powerful secret police.
by Federico Morando; JULIAN II, The Apostate, See the Julian II Page on NumisWiki
Flavius Claudius Iulianus was born in 331 or maybe 332 A.D. in Constantinople. He ruled the Western Empire as Caesar from 355 to 360 and was hailed Augustus by his legions in Lutetia (Paris) in 360. Julian was a gifted administrator and military strategist. Famed as the last pagan emperor, his reinstatement of the pagan religion earned him the moniker "the Apostate." As evidenced by his brilliant writing, some of which has survived to the present day, the title "the Philosopher" may have been more appropriate. He died from wounds suffered during the Persian campaign of 363 A.D. Joseph Sermarini, FORVM.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
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1410a, Jovian, 27 June 363 - 17 February 364 A.D.Bronze AE 3, RIC 179, aVF, Constantinople, 3.126g, 21.6mm, 180o. Obverse: D N IOVIANVS P F AVG, pearl diademed, draped and cuirassed bust left; Reverse: VOT V MVLT X within wreath, CONSPG in exergue; scarce.
Flavius Jovianuswas born in 331 at Singidunum, modern Belgrade. His distinguished father, Varronianus, had been a tribune of the legion Ioviani and a comes domesticorum, perhaps under Constantius II, who had retired to private life shortly before Jovian's elevation to the purple. Jovian married a daughter of Lucillianus, perhaps named Charito, and by her produced at least two children.
Jovian himself was a protector domesticus under Constantius II and Julian and, under Julian, primicerius domesticorum. Various Christian sources maintain that Jovian's Christianity led to his deposition by Julian, though most modern scholars dismiss this as ex post facto Christian apologetic. Jovian, recalled to the ranks if he had ever been dismissed, marched with Julian against Sapor in 363, and on 27 June, the day after that emperor's death, was acclaimed Augustus.
Ammianus and Zosimus, among others, detail the difficult straits of the Roman army during its withdrawal from Persian territory, Ammianus from the perspective of a proud soldier confident even in defeat of the superiority of Roman arms, Zosimus, in a much shorter and confused version, concentrating on the predicament of Jovian's troops and on the dire effects to the empire of the peace terms agreed to with Sapor. These terms entailed the cessation to Persia of Roman territory beyond the Tigris -- the cities of Singara and Nisibis, however, to be surrendered on the condition of the safe passage of their inhabitants -- and the guarantee of the neutrality of Rome's ally Arsaces, King of Armenia, in the event of future hostilities between Roman and Persia. Ammianus asserts that in agreeing to these terms Jovian misjudged his tactical strength and wasted an opportunity presented by negotiations with Sapor to move his forces closer to supplies at Corduena, and that Jovian acted on the advise of flatterers to preserve the fighting strength of his forces in the event of an attempt by Julian's relative Procopius to seize the throne. Others present the treaty terms as unavoidable given the Roman predicament.
Jovian appears to have treaded cautiously with regard to religious matters during the early months of his reign. Eunapius says that Jovian continued to honor Maximus and Priscus, the Neoplatonist advisors of Julian, and, upon reaching Tarsus, Jovian performed funeral rites for Julian. Nonetheless, various Christians, most notably Athanasius, took the initiative in an effort to gain Jovian's favor and support. An adherent of the Nicaean creed, Jovian did eventually recall various bishops of homoousian disposition and restore to their followers churches lost under earlier emperors. But in spite of such measures, unity among various Christian sects seems to have been the foremost concern of Jovian, whose ipsissima verba Socrates Scholasticus purports to give: "I abhor contentiousness, but love and honor those hurrying towards unanimity" (Hist. Eccl. 3.25).
Jovian died at the age of thirty-two on 17 February 364 at Dadastana on the boundary of Bithynia and Galatia. The cause of his death was most probably natural and is variously attributed to overeating, the consumption of poisonous mushrooms, or suffocation from fumes of charcoal or of the fresh paint on the room in which he was sleeping. Ammianus' comparison of the circumstances of Jovian's death to those of Scipio Aemilianus suggest the possibility of foul play, as does John of Antioch's reference to a poisoned rather than a poisonous mushroom, while John Chrysostom -- in a highly suspect literary context of consolatio-- asserts outright that the emperor was murdered. Eutropius records that he was enrolled among the gods, inter Divos relatus est. Zonaras says he was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles and that his wife, Charito, was eventually laid to rest beside him.
Ancient authors agree that Jovian was of modest intellect but imposing physique and disposed to excessive eating and drinking.
By Thomas Banchich, Canisius College
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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1460 - 1488, JAMES III, AE Threepenny Penny struck c.1470 - 1480 at an unidentified mint, ScotlandObverse: + IACOBVS ‡ DEI ‡ GRA ‡ REX ‡ . Orb with rosette at centre, tilted upwards, within pelleted circle. Cross hummetty in legend.
Reverse: + CRVX ‡ PELLIT ‡ OIE ‡ CRI (Crux pellit omne crimen = The cross drives away all sin). Latin cross within quatrefoil with trefoils on cusps, within pelleted circle. Cross hummetty in legend.
Diameter: 20mm | Weight: 1.9gms | Die Axis: 9h
SPINK: 5311 Type III
Very Rare
THREEPENNY PENNY "CROSSRAGUEL" ISSUES
These 'Crux pellit' coins are often known as "Crossraguel" issues, so called after a hoard containing 51 of them was found in a drain at Crossraguel Abbey, Ayrshire in 1919.
Once regarded as Ecclesiastical and connected to Bishop James Kennedy of St Andrews by earlier scholars, these coins are now, after extensive research in the second half of the twentieth century by J E L Murray of the British Numismatic Society, believed to have been a regal issue whose place of mintage has not as yet been certainly identified. During his reign James III took an interest in the coinage and introduced several new denominations. The thistle-head made its first appearance as a Scottish emblem on coins during his reign and a further innovation of his coinage were coins bearing a likeness of the king himself in the new renaissance style which predated similarly styled English coins by several years.
J E L Murray identified these coins with those referred to in contemporary documents as "three-penny pennies" or "Cochrane's Placks", which appear to have been greatly devalued in 1482. Cochrane's Placks comes from Robert Cochrane, one of James III's main favourites. Cochrane played a major part in the government during the 1470's and he is said to have advised the king to debase the coinage in order to raise cash.
CLICK ON IMAGE BELOW FOR INFO ON JAMES III
 *Alex
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1485 - 1509, HENRY VII, AR Penny, Struck 1485 - 1500 under Archbishop Rotherham at York, EnglandObverse: HENRIC DI GRA REX AN. Crowned and robed figure of Henry VII holding a lis topped sceptre in his right hand and a globus cruciger in his left, seated facing on throne, the one visible pillar of which is topped with a lis, all except the king's crown within a circle of pellets.
Reverse: CIVITAS EBORACI. Shield bearing coat-of-arms of England and France on cross fourchée, two keys below shield.
Diameter: 17mm | Weight: 0.6gms | Die Axis: 3h
SPINK: 2237
CLICK ON IMAGES BELOW FOR INFO ON HENRY VII AND THOMAS ROTHERHAM
  *Alex
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1509 - 1547, HENRY VIII, AR Half-groat, Struck 1526 - 1530 at York, England under Archbishop Thomas (Cardinal) WolseyObverse: HENRIC•VIII•D•G•R•AGL•Z•F•. Youthful profile crowned bust of Henry VIII facing right within circle of pellets. Mint-mark: Voided cross.
Reverse: CIVITAS EBORACI. Shield bearing coat-of-arms on cross fourchée; T - W in upper field divided by shield; galero (cardinal's hat) below.
Diameter: 19mm | Weight: 1.0gm | Die Axis: 8h
Virtually uncirculated but with a dark, almost black, tone
SPINK: 2346
The T W on the reverse of this coin refers to Thomas Wolsey, known to posterity as Cardinal Wolsey, one of the most powerful figures at the court of Henry VIII. Although this coin is undated, the issue of Henry VIII's second coinage only began in 1526 and so, since Cardinal Wolsey died in 1530, it must have been struck between those two dates.
CLICK ON IMAGES BELOW TO ENLARGE AND FOR MORE INFO ON CARDINAL WOLSEY
  *Alex
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1749 - Octavian, DenariusItalian mint, possibly Rome, 31-30 BC
Anepigraph, bare head of Octavian left
CAESAR - DIVI F, Victory standing right on globe, holding wreath
3.84 gr
Ref : HCRI # 408, RCV # 1552v, Cohen # 66, RIC # 255
The following comment is taken from CNG, sale 84 # 957 :
"Following his victory at Actium, Octavian ordered a golden statue of Victory, standing on a globe and holding a wreath and palm, to be set up on an altar in the Curia in Rome. This statue had been captured by the Romans from Pyrrhus in 272 BC, and it assumed a somewhat tutelary mystique, protecting the Roman state from dissolution. In AD 382, the emperor Gratian ordered its removal. Two years later, the senator and orator Symmachus urged Valentinian II to replace it, a request that was met with stiff opposition from the bishop of Milan, Ambrose. Though it was briefly returned to its place by the usurper Eugenius, it was again removed following his defeat. Petitions to Theodosius I for its subsequent replacement were refused, on grounds that the once-important symbol of the gods’ blessing on the Roman Empire was now nothing more than a piece of paganism"Potator II
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1791 AE Halfpenny Token. Leeds, Yorkshire.Obverse: ARTIS NOSTRÆ CONDITOR •. Standing figure of Bishop Blaize (patron saint of woolcombers) holding a wool comb in his raised right hand and a book and crosier in his left; at his feet, to right, a lamb facing right with it's head turned to left.
Reverse: LEEDS HALFPENNY 1791. Coat of arms of the City of Leeds consisting of a shield containing three stars and a hanging fleece, crested by an owl. The date, 17 - 91, bisected by the base of the shield.
Edge: “PAYABLE AT THE WAREHOUSE OF RICHARD PALEY •XX•".
Diameter: 29mm | Axis: 6
Dalton & Hamer: 45 | Conder: 20 (Yorkshire)
This token was issued by Richard Paley, a freeholder, maltster, soap-boiler and chandler with a business in a locality known as the “Calls” in Leeds. The token was manufactured by Matthew Bolton at his SOHO Mint in Birmingham, the dies were engraved by Henry Brownbill.
Bishop Blaise, also known as Saint Blasius, was a well-known martyr from Armenia, who as the price of his faith, back in the 4th century, had been put to death by being raked with red-hot rakes. Later he was adopted as the Patron Saint of Woolcombers and, appropriately, his effigy is usually shown holding a rake. On this token, however, Bishop Blaise is shown holding the traditional bishop's crosier.*Alex
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1794 AE Halfpenny Token. Chichester, SussexObverse: QUEEN ELIZABETH •. Three-quarter facing crowned bust of Queen Elizabeth I right, sceptre resting on her right shoulder.
Reverse: CHICHESTER HALFPENNY •. View of Chichester Cross; in exergue, 1794.
Edge: PAYABLE AT DALLY'S CHICHESTER + + + +.
Diameter 29mm | Die Axis 6
Dalton & Hamer: 15
This token was manufactured by Peter Kempson in Birmingham and the dies were engraved by Thomas Wyon. Little is known about the issuer of the token, seemingly to have been Dally and Son who were drapers in Chichester in the 18th century.
Chichester Cross is an elaborate perpendicular market cross standing at the intersection of the four principal streets in the centre of the city of Chichester, West Sussex. According to the inscription upon it, this cross was built by Edward Story, Bishop of Chichester from 1477 to 1503, but little is known for certain and the style and ornaments of the building suggest that it may date from the reign of Edward IV. It was apparently built so that the poor people should have somewhere to sell their wares, and as a meeting point. An earlier wooden cross had been erected on the same site by Bishop Rede (1369-1385). The stone cross, which underwent repairs during the reign of Charles II and again in 1746, still stands to this day.*Alex
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1813 AE Penny, Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham.Obverse: CHRISTOPHER & JENNETT * STOCKTON *, incuse letters on a raised rim. View of the bridge over the Tees being crossed by several small figures including a rider on horse, rowing boat containing two figures in river below; in field above, TEES; in field below, 1813.
Reverse: BRITANNIA * ONE PENNY TOKEN *, incuse letters on a raised rim. Britannia seated facing left on shield, holding olive branch and trident, small ship in left background at her feet.
Edge: Centre-grained.
Diameter 34mm | Weight 19.7gms
Davis:6 | Withers:1109
The die engraver for this token was Peter Wyon. It was issued by Robert Christopher & Thomas Jennett who were booksellers and printers in Stockton, they were also the Stockton agents for the Sun Fire Office.
Jennett was Christopher's apprentice and on the completion of his indentures, he was taken into partnership. Matching the high standards of his companion, Jennett became well known and much respected, growing to be a man of power and influence. He became a magistrate and was mayor of Stockton three times.
The bridge shown on this token was the first bridge to serve the growing town of Stockton, it was a five arch stone bridge which was completed in 1769. Before the existence of the bridge at this location, the only way of crossing the Tees was by the Bishop’s Ferry. The bridge was subject to rent to the Bishop of Durham and the costs of building it had to be repaid, so a system of tolls was charged. These were supposed to be abolished as soon as the debt was cleared, but they remained in place until, in 1819, the local people took the law into their own hands, throwing two of the bridge gates into the river and burning the third gate in the High Street. Although the bridge was good news for Stockton’s business, it had a devastating impact on Yarm. As ships were growing in size at this time, the building of the bridge prevented many ships reaching Yarm because they were unable to navigate further up the river. This only heightened shipping in Stockton and affirmed its place as the main port on the Tees before the 1800s. The bridge also halted Yarm’s shipbuilding industry and, since Stockton was unaffected, yards sprang up east of the bridge towards the sea. By 1876 the old bridge was inadequate and in 1881 work was begun on a new bridge. This new bridge, named the ‘Victoria Bridge’ in recognition of Queen Victoria, was opened in 1887 and the old stone bridge was demolished.*Alex
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22352 Claudius/Hippopotamus 22352 Claudius/Hippopotamus
Obv: TIB KLAY KAI CEBAC GEPM, laureate head right, star lower right
Rev: hippopotamus standing right, AYTOKPA above, L B (year 2) in exergue
Mint: Alexandria, Roman Provincial Egypt 25.2mm 13.467g 0 degrees
Geissen 71; RPC I 5124 (9 spec.); Dattari 164; BMC Alexandria p. 12, 96; Milne 71; SNG Milan 627; Kampmann 12.10; Emmett 91/2 (R1); SNG Cop
Purchased from Forum Ancient Coins, ex Errett Bishop CollectionBlayne W
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29. Trebonianus Gallus.Antoninianus, ca 252 AD, Rome mint.
Obverse: IMP CAES VIB TREB GALLVS AVG / Radiate bust of Gallus.
Reverse: APOLL SALVTARI / Apollo standing, holding branch and a lyre set on a rock.
3.82 gm., 20 mm.
RIC #32; Sear #9627.
In his book The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, & the End of an Empire, author Kyle Harper suggests the plague described by Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, was not a localized plague of some sort, but was one and the same with the plague that ravaged the Roman Empire during the reign of Trebonianus Gallus and several of his successors.
The plague was first reported in Alexandria in 249 AD, and by 251 AD it had made its way to Rome where the boy emperor Hostilian died from it. Harper says (p, 138), “The Plague of Cyprian is in the background of imperial history from ca. AD 249 to AD 262, possibly with even later effects around AD 270.”
Harper also presents a case that the plague was either pandemic influenza (similar to that of 1918) or a viral hemorrhagic fever (similar to the Ebola virus of today).
Coins with the reverse legend APOLL SALVTARI (“Apollo the Healer”) exist on coins of Trebonianus Gallus, Volusian, Aemilian, and Valerian I. This reverse type is certainly to be interpreted as an appeal to Apollo for deliverance from the plague that was spreading through the Empire at this time.Callimachus
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501. CONSTANTINE I Siscia SOLI INVICTO COMITSol Invictus ("the undefeated Sun") or, more fully, Deus Sol Invictus ("the undefeated sun god") was a religious title applied to three distinct divinities during the later Roman Empire, El Gabal, Mithras, and Sol.
Unlike the earlier, agrarian cult of Sol Indiges ("the native sun" or "the invoked sun" - the etymology and meaning of the word "indiges" is disputed), the title Deus Sol Invictus was formed by analogy with the imperial titulature pius felix invictus ("dutiful, fortunate, unconquered").
A festival of the birth of the Unconquered Sun (or Dies Natalis Solis Invicti) was celebrated when the duration of daylight first begins to increase after the winter solstice,—the "rebirth" of the sun.
Christianity adopted some of the attributes of the Sol Invictus religion, as apparent in the first examples of Christian iconography, depicting Christ with solar attributes such as the radiated crown or, in a few instances, a solar chariot.
Sol Invictus had been adopted by the Church of Rome as evidenced by Christ as Apollo-Helios in a mausoleum discovered under St. Peter's Basilica and dated to 250[1], and, from the beginning of the third century, "Sun of Justice" was used as a title of Christ[2].
The date for Christmas may also bear a relation to the sun worship. According to the Syriac bishop Jacob Bar-Salibi, writing in the twelth century:
"It was a custom of the Pagans to celebrate on the same 25 December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. In these solemnities and revelries the Christians also took part. Accordingly when the doctors of the Church perceived that the Christians had a leaning to this festival, they took counsel and resolved that the true Nativity should be solemnised on that day." (cited in "Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries", Ramsay MacMullen. Yale:1997, p155])
Christianity designated Sunday as the "Lord's Day" and the day of rest, rather than Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath.
CONSTANTINE I
RIC VII Siscia 32 R3
ecoli
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501b. Crispus BEATA TrierTrier
The Romans under Julius Caesar subdued the Celtic Treverans in 58 to 50 BC. When the Roman provinces in Germany were reorganised in 16 BC, Augustus decided that Trier, then called Augusta Treverorum, should become the regional capital. From 259 to 274 Trier was the capital of the break away Gallic Empire. Later for a few years (383 - 388) it was the capital of Magnus Maximus, who ruled most of the western Empire.
The ruins of the Roman baths.Sacked by Attila in 451, it passed to the Franks in 463, to Lorraine in 843, to Germany in 870, and back to Lorraine in 895, and was finally united to Germany by Henry I the Fowler. The Archbishop of Trier was, as chancellor of Burgundy, one of the electors of the empire, a right which originated in the 12th or 13th century, and which continued until the French Revolution. The last elector removed to Koblenz in 1786; and Trier was the capital of the French department of Sarre from 1794 till 1814, after which time it belonged to Prussia.
RIC VII Trier 308
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502. Constantine II Siscia GLORIA EXERCITVSSiscia
All that remains from prehistoric inhabitants on this area are small statues of idols and tools. Indigenous Illyrian tribes were conquered in the 4th century by the Celts. Celts ethically and culturally mixed with Illyric tribes and established on the right bank of the river Kupa a settlement called Segestica. Illyric and Celtic tribes succeeded in withstanding Roman pressures until the year 35 BC when Emperor Octavian with 12,000 soldiers conquered Segestica after a thirty - day siege.
After Romans had conquered Segestica, they built Siscia on the left bank of the river Kupa (right below the centre of today's Sisak). Siscia was the capital town of the Province of Pannonia Savia, where 40,000 inhabitants resided. The town had the forum, basilicas, temples, an empire mint, a theatre and two ports.
Christianity was spreading unstoppably and encompassed the town of Sisak. The first known Bishop of Sisak was Kvirin from 284 AD until his martyr's death, probably in the year 303 AD.
With gradual collapse of the Roman Empire, the importance of Sisak declined and the great migration brought to Sisak Huns, Gauls, Avars and Slavs. Slav tribes remained in this area and eventually the Slav language became dominant.
RIC VII Siscia 253 R3
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504. Constantius II Campgate NicomediaNicomedia
Titular see of Bithynia Prima, founded by King Zipoetes. About 264 B.C. his son Nicodemes I dedicated the city anew, gave it his name, made it his capital, and adorned it with magnificent monuments. At his court the vanquished Hannibal sought refuge. When Bithynia became a Roman province Nicomedia remained its capital. Pliny the Younger mentions, in his letters to Trajan, several public edifices of the city — a senate house, an aqueduct which he had built, a forum, the temple of Cybele, etc. He also proposed to join the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmora by a canal which should follow the river Sangarius and empty the waters of the Lake of Sabandja into the Gulf of Astacus. A fire then almost destroyed the town. From Nicomedia perhaps, he wrote to Trajan his famous letter concerning the Christians. Under Marcus Aurelius, Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, addressed a letter to his community warning them against the Marcionites (Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl.", IV, xxiii). Bishop Evander, who opposed the sect of the Ophites (P.L., LIII, 592), seems to have lived at the same time. Nicomedia was the favorite residence of Diocletian, who built there a palace, a hippodrome, a mint, and an arsenal. In 303 the edict of the tenth persecution caused rivers of blood to flow through the empire, especially in Nicomedia, where the Bishop Anthimus and a great many Christians were martyred. The city was then half Christian, the palace itself being filled with them. In 303, in the vast plain east of Nicomedia, Diocletian renounced the empire in favour of Galerius. In 311 Lucian, a priest of Antioch, delivered a discourse in the presence of the judge before he was executed. Other martyrs of the city are numbered by hundreds. Nicomedia suffered greatly during the fourth century from an invasion of the Goths and from an earthquake (24 Aug., 354), which overthrew all the public and private monuments; fire completed the catastrophe. The city was rebuilt, on a smaller scale. In the reign of Justinian new public buildings were erected, which were destroyed in the following century by the Shah Chosroes. Pope Constantine I visited the city in 711. In 1073 John Comnenus was there proclaimed emperor and shortly afterwards was compelled to abdicate. In 1328 it was captured by the Sultan Orkhan, who restored its ramparts, parts of which are still preserved.
RIC VII Nicomedia 158 R2
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513. GratianFlavius Gratianus Augustus (April 18/May 23, 359 - August 25, 383), known as Gratian, was a Western Roman Emperor from 375 to 383. He was the son of Valentinian I by Marina Severa and was born at Sirmium in Pannonia.
On August 4, 367 he received from his father the title of Augustus. On the death of Valentinian (November 17, 375), the troops in Pannonia proclaimed his infant son (by a second wife Justina) emperor under the title of Valentinian II.
Gratian acquiesced in their choice; reserving for himself the administration of the Gallic provinces, he handed over Italy, Illyria and Africa to Valentinian and his mother, who fixed their residence at Milan. The division, however, was merely nominal, and the real authority remained in the hands of Gratian.
The Eastern Roman Empire was under the rule of his uncle Valens. In May, 378 Gratian completely defeated the Lentienses, the southernmost branch of the Alamanni, at the Battle of Argentovaria, near the site of the modern Colmar. Later that year, Valens met his death in the Battle of Adrianople on August 9.
In the same year, the government of the Eastern Empire devolved upon Gratian, but feeling himself unable to resist unaided the incursions of the barbarians, he promoted Theodosius I on January 19, 379 to govern that portion of the empire. Gratianus and Theodosius then cleared the Balkans of barbarians in the Gothic War (377–382).
For some years Gratian governed the empire with energy and success but gradually sank into indolence, occupying himself chiefly with the pleasures of the chase, and became a tool in the hands of the Frankish general Merobaudes and bishop Ambrose of Milan.
By taking into his personal service a body of Alani, and appearing in public in the dress of a Scythian warrior, he aroused the contempt and resentment of his Roman troops. A Roman general named Magnus Maximus took advantage of this feeling to raise the standard of revolt in Britain and invaded Gaul with a large army. Gratian, who was then in Paris, being deserted by his troops, fled to Lyon. There, through the treachery of the governor, Gratian was delivered over to one of the rebel generals and assassinated on August 25, 383.
RIC IX Antioch 46b S
DN GRATIA-NVS PF AVG
CONCOR-DIA AVGGGecoli
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514. Valentinian IIValentinian II (371 - 392) was elevated as Western Roman Emperor at the age of four in 375, along with his half-brother Gratian.
Valentinian and his family lived in Milan, and the empire was nominally divided between them. Gratian took the trans- Alpine provinces, while Italy, Illyricum in part, and Africa were to be under the rule of Valentinian, or rather of his mother, Justina. Justina was an Arian, and the imperial court at Milan struggled against the Catholics of that city, led by their bishop Ambrose. The popularity of Ambrose was so great that the emperors' authority was materially shaken. In 387, Magnus Maximus, a Roman consul who had commanded an army in Briton, and in 383 (the year of Gratian's death) had declared himself emperor of Western Rome, crossed the Alps into the valley of the Po and threatened Milan.
The emperor Valentinian II and his mother fled to Theodosius I, the Eastern Roman Emperor and Valentinian's brother in law. Valentinian was restored in 388 by Theodosius, following the death of Magnus Maximus.
On May 15, 392, Valentinian was found hanged in his residence in the town of Vienne in Gaul. The Frankish soldier Arbogast, Valentinian's protector and magister militum, maintained that it was suicide. Arbogast and Valentinian had frequently disputed rulership over the Western Roman Empire, and Valentinian was also noted to have complained of Arbogast's control over him to Theodosius. Thus when word of his death reached Constantinople Theodosius believed, or at least suspected, that Arbogast was lying and that he had engineered Valentinian's demise. These suspicions were further fueled by Arbogast's elevation of a Eugenius, pagan official to the position of Western Emperor, and the veiled accusations which Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, spoke during his funeral oration for Valentinian.
Valentinian II's death sparked a civil war between Eugenius and Theodosius over the rulership of the West in the Battle of the Frigidus. The resultant Eastern victory there led to the final brief unification of the Roman Empire under Theodosius, and the ultimate irreparable division of the Empire after his death.
Bronze AE3, RIC 22, VF, 2.19g, 17.7mm, 0o, Arelate mint, 378-383 A.D.; obverse D N VALENTINIANVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; reverse VICTORIAE AVGGG, Victory advancing left holding wreath in right and palm frond in left, [S]CON in ex;Ex Aiello;Ex Forumecoli
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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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602a. Valentinian IIIIn the early years of his reign, Valentinian was overshadowed by his mother. After his marriage in 437, moreover, much of the real authority lay in the hands of the Patrician and Master of Soldiers Aetius. Nor does Valentinian seem to have had much of an aptitude for rule. He is described as spoiled, pleasure-loving, and influenced by sorcerers and astrologers. He divided his time primarily between Rome and Ravenna. Like his mother, Valentinian was devoted to religion. He contributed to churches of St. Laurence in both Rome and Ravenna. He also oversaw the accumulation of ecclesiastical authority in the hands of the bishop of Rome as he granted ever greater authority and prestige to pope Leo the Great (440-461) in particular.
Valentinian's reign saw the continued dissolution of the western empire. By 439, nearly all of North Africa was effectively lost to the Vandals; Valentinian did attempt to neutralize that threat by betrothing his sister Placidia to the Vandal prince Huneric. In Spain, the Suevi controlled the northwest, and much of Gaul was to all intents and purposes controlled by groups of Visigoths, Burgundians, Franks, and Alans. In 454, Valentinian murdered his supreme general Aetius, presumably in an attempt to rule in his own right. But in the next year, he himself was murdered by two members of his bodyguard, ex-partisans of Aetius.
Although Valentinian was ineffectual as a ruler, his legitimate status and connection to the old ruling dynasty provided a last vestige of unity for the increasingly fragmented Roman empire. After his death, the decay of the west accelerated. The different regions of the west went their own way, and the last several western emperors, the so-called "Shadow" or "Puppet" Emperors, not only were usually overshadowed by one barbarian general or other, but also were limited primarily to Italy.ecoli
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704a, Caligula, 16 March 37 - 24 January 41 A.D.Caligula, 37 - 41 AD, Ionia, Smyrna. AE 17mm. Klose, Smyrna 27a. RPC 2473. 2.89 gm. Fine. Menophanes, Aviola, Procos, 37-38 AD. Obverse: AION, laureate head right; Reverse: Nike holding wreath right. Ex Tom Vossen.
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
GAIUS (CALIGULA) (A.D. 37-41)
Garrett G. Fagan
Pennsylvania State University
Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (Caligula) was born on 31 August, A.D. 12, probably at the Julio-Claudian resort of Antium (modern Anzio), the third of six children born to Augustus's adopted grandson, Germanicus, and Augustus's granddaughter, Agrippina. Caligula was the Roman Emperor between A.D. 37-41). Unfortunately, his is the most poorly documented reign of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The literary sources for these four years are meager, frequently anecdotal, and universally hostile.[[1]] As a result, not only are many of the events of the reign unclear, but Gaius himself appears more as a caricature than a real person, a crazed megalomaniac given to capricious cruelty. Although some headway can be made in disentangling truth from embellishment, the true character of the youthful emperor will forever elude us.
As a baby he accompanied his parents on military campaigns in the north and was shown to the troops wearing a miniature soldier's outfit, including the hob-nailed sandal called caliga, whence the nickname by which posterity remembers him. His childhood was not a happy one, spent amid an atmosphere of paranoia, suspicion, and murder. Instability within the Julio-Claudian house, generated by uncertainty over the succession, led to a series of personal tragedies.
When Tiberius died on 16 March A.D. 37, Gaius was in a perfect position to assume power, despite the obstacle of Tiberius's will, which named him and his cousin Tiberius Gemellus joint heirs. (Gemellus's life was shortened considerably by this bequest, since Gaius ordered him killed within a matter of months.) Backed by the Praetorian Prefect Q. Sutorius Macro, Gaius asserted his dominance. He had Tiberius's will declared null and void on grounds of insanity, accepted the powers of the Principate as conferred by the Senate, and entered Rome on 28 March amid scenes of wild rejoicing. His first acts were generous in spirit: he paid Tiberius's bequests and gave a cash bonus to the Praetorian Guard, the first recorded donativum to troops in imperial history.
The ancient sources are practically unanimous as to the cause of Gaius's downfall: he was insane. The writers differ as to how this condition came about, but all agree that after his good start Gaius began to behave in an openly autocratic manner, even a crazed one. The sources describe his incestuous relations with his sisters, laughable military campaigns in the north, the building of a pontoon bridge across the Bay at Baiae, and the plan to make his horse a consul. Their unanimous hostility renders their testimony suspect, especially since Gaius's reported behavior fits remarkably well with that of the ancient tyrant, a literary type enshrined in Greco-Roman tradition centuries before his reign. Further, the only eye-witness account of Gaius's behavior, Philo's Embassy to Gaius, offers little evidence of outright insanity, despite the antagonism of the author, whom Gaius treated with the utmost disrespect.
The conspiracy that ended Gaius's life was hatched among the officers of the Praetorian Guard, apparently for purely personal reasons. It appears also to have had the support of some senators and an imperial freedman. As with conspiracies in general, there are suspicions that the plot was more broad-based than the sources intimate, and it may even have enjoyed the support of the next emperor Claudius, but these propositions are not provable on available evidence. On 24 January A.D. 41 the praetorian tribune Cassius Chaerea and other guardsmen caught Gaius alone in a secluded palace corridor and cut him down. He was 28 years old and had ruled three years and ten months.
Whatever damage Tiberius's later years had done to the carefully crafted political edifice created by Augustus, Gaius multiplied it a hundredfold. When he came to power in A.D. 37 Gaius had no administrative experience beyond his honorary quaestorship, and had spent an unhappy early life far from the public eye. He appears, once in power, to have realized the boundless scope of his authority and acted accordingly. For the elite, this situation proved intolerable and ensured the blackening of Caligula's name in the historical record they would dictate. The sensational and hostile nature of that record, however, should in no way trivialize Gaius's importance. His reign highlighted an inherent weakness in the Augustan Principate, now openly revealed for what it was -- a raw monarchy in which only the self-discipline of the incumbent acted as a restraint on his behavior. That the only means of retiring the wayward princes was murder marked another important revelation: Roman emperors could not relinquish their powers without simultaneously relinquishing their lives.
Copyright © 1997, Garrett G. Fagan.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Ancient Smyrna
The 5,000 year-old city of Izmir is one of the oldest cities of the Mediterranean basin. The original city was established in the third millennium BC (at present day Bayraklı), at which time it shared with Troy the most advanced culture in Anatolia.
Greek settlement is attested by the presence of pottery dating from about 1000 BC. In the first millennium BC Izmir, then known as Smyrna, ranked as one of the most important cities of the Ionian Federation. During this period, it is believed that the epic poet Homer resided here.
Lydian conquest of the city around 600 BC brought this golden age to an end. Smyrna was little more than a village throughout the Lydian and subsequent sixth century BC Persian rule. In the fourth century BC a new city was built on the slopes of Mt. Pagos (Kadifekale) during the reign of Alexander the Great. Smyrna's Roman period, beginning in the first century BC, was its second great era.
In the first century AD, Smyrna became one of the earliest centers of Christianity and it was one of the Seven Churches of Revelation. Both Revelation and the Martyrdom of Polycarp indicate the existence of a Jewish community in Smyrna as early as the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The letter to the church at Smyrna in Revelation indicates that the Christians were spiritually "rich" and apparently in conflict with the Jews (2:9).
The origins of the Christian community there, which was established in the 1st century, are unknown. Ignatius of Antioch stopped at Smyrna on his way to martyrdom in Rome in 107 AD, and he sent a letter back to the Christians there from later in his journey. Smyrna's bishop, Polycarp, was burned at the stake in Smyrna's stadium around 156 AD.
Byzantine rule came in the fourth century and lasted until the Seljuk conquest in 11th century. In 1415, under Sultan Mehmed Çelebi, Smyrna became part of the Ottoman Empire.
The city earned its fame as one of the most important port cities of the world during the 17th to 19th centuries. The majority of its population were Greek but merchants of various origins (especially Greek, French, Italian, Dutch, Armenian, Sephardi and Jewish) transformed the city into a cosmopolitan portal of trade. During this period, the city was famous for its own brand of music (Smyrneika) as well as its wide range of products it exported to Europe (Smyrna/Sultana raisins, dried figs, carpets, etc.).
Today, Izmir is Turkey's third largest city and is nicknamed "the pearl of Aegean." It is widely regarded as the most Westernized city of Turkey in terms of values, ideology, gender roles, and lifestyle.
© 2005-08 Sacred Destinations. All rights reserved.
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/izmir-history.htm
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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AE As, RIC 3, p.347, 1680 - Faustina II, Venus, MarsFaustina II
Bronze As
Obverse: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right, hair in waves and bun at the back
Reverse: VENERI VICTRICI (to victorious Venus), Venus standing right, nude to the waist, both hands holding the right arm of Mars, Mars standing front, nude, helmeted head left, shield on his left arm, parazonium at left side, S - C (senatus consulto) across field.
AE, 11.911g, maximum diameter 26.5mm, die axis 195°
Ref.: RIC III MA1680 (R); BMCRE IV p. 543, MA999; Cohen III 241; SRCV II 5305; Hunter II p. 360, 78,
Ex Errett Bishop Collection
Ex Forum Ancient Coins
shanxi
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AE provincial, Saitta, Lydia (Sidas Kaleh, Turkey), Senate/River-God (mid-2nd to early 3d century AD) IЄΡA - [CYNKΛHTOC], bare-headed youthful draped bust of Senate right / CAIT[THNΩN] + [ЄPMOC] in exergue, River-God Hermos reclining left, holding reed and cornucopiae, resting arm on urn (hydria) from which waters flow.
Ó” (base metal yellow, orichalcum?), 22 mm, 5.68 g, die axis 6.5h (coin alignment)
It is difficult to read the name of the river. I think that ЄPMOC is more likely, but VΛΛΟС is also possible, representing the other important local river, Hyllos.
Possible catalog references are BMC Lydia 25 (or 26-27?), SNG Copenhagen 398, SNG München 439.
For the Hyllos reverse, Leypold 1153.
To emphasize the autonomy of certain Hellenistic polises, even under the Roman rule they sometimes used allegorical figures of Senate or Demos on obverses of their coins instead of imperial portraits. Saitta was issuing similar-looking coins with busts of emperors and their family as well, but in this issue the town Senate is honoured as the ruler. IЄΡA CYNKΛHTOC = Holy Senate. CAITTHNΩN = Saitta, ЄPMOC = Hermos, the name of the river and its god.
River-Gods or Potamoi (Ποταμοί) were the gods of the rivers and streams of the earth, all sons of the great earth-encirling river Okeanos (Oceanus) and his wife Tethys. Their sisters were the Okeanides (Oceanids), goddesses of small streams, clouds and rain, and their daughters were the Naiades, nymphs of springs and fountains. A River-God was depicted in one of three forms: as a man-headed bull; a bull-horned man with the tail of a serpentine-fish in place of legs; or as a reclining man with an arm resting upon a pitcher pouring water, which we see in this case. The addition of cornucopia symbolizes the blessings that a particular river bestows on those who live near it.
Saitta or Saittae (Σαίτται, Ptolemy 5.2.21: ΣÎτται, Σάετται) was a polis in eastern Lydia (aka Maeonia), in the rivers' triangle between the upper Hyllus (modern Demirci Çayı, c. 12 km to the west) and the Hermus or Hermos (modern Gediz Nehri, c. 20 km to the south). In Roman imperial times it belonged to the "conventus" of Sardis in the Roman province of Asia (conventus was a territorial unit of a Roman province, mostly for judicial purposes).
Now its ruins are known now as Sidas Kaleh or Sidaskale in Turkey, near the village of Ä°çikler (Ä°cikler Mahallesi, 45900 Demirci/Manisa). They were never excavated, so are little known or cared for. Ruins of a stadium and a theatre survive, together with remains of some temples and tombs.
Not much is known about it. It was a regional centre for the production of textiles. In 124 AD the town was probably visited by emperor Hadrianus. During the Roman period the cult of the moon god MÄ“n Axiottenus was very popular in the city. Because of its reference to "angels" (both literally as the Greek word and by their function as god's messengers) it was possibly close to the more general Asia Minor cult of Theos Hypsistos, Θεος ὕψιστος, "the highest god" (200 BC – 400 AD), which in turn was perhaps related to the gentile following of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.
Known Roman provincial coins issued by this city feature portraits of emperors from Hadrian to Gallienus, thus covering the period from 117 to 268 AD, with the peak around the Severan dynasty. The semi-autonomous issues are usually dated from mid-2nd to mid-3d century AD.
Later Saittae was the seat of a Byzantine bishopric. Bishop Limenius signed the Chalcedon Creed, while Bishop Amachius spoke at the Council of Chalcedon. Although an Islamic area now, Saittae remains a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.Yurii P
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Aksumite, AnonymousObverse: Draped bust right, wearing headcloth ('King')
Reverse: Greek cross within circle, with greek legend ('May this please the country')
Date : Circa AD 340-425
Reference : Munro-Hay Type 52; BMC Aksum 140
Grade : VF
Weight : 1.12 g
Metal : AE
Comments : 13mm, The most common of all axumite coins, they are generally attributed to King Ezana, the first Christian King of the Axumites. Part of now Ethiopia, Axum (Askum) was in the path of the ancient commercial trade routes between Africa, Arabia, and India, as a result it became a very wealth and cosmopolitan centre in the ancient world. In the second century AD, Aksum expanded its empire acquired tribute states on the Arabian Peninsula across the Red Sea, conquered northern Ethiopia, and then finally conquered Kush.
In the fourth century, King Ezana, converted to Christianity under the influence of a Syrian bishop named Frumentius and declared Axum to be a Christian state. Axum remained a strong empire and trading power until the rise of Islam in the seventh century AD, when it became cut off from its major trading partners. However, because the Axumites had sheltered Muhammed's first followers, the Muslims never attempted to overthrow Axum as they spread across the face of Africa.
Of general interest they are the only coins minted in sub saharian africa during the ancient times and one of the first nations to offically convert to Christianity and to show Christian icons on their coins.Peattie
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Anglo-Saxon: Archbishop Wigmund of Northumbria, AE Styca, Moneyer: Edilveard. York 837-849/50 A.D. 0.93g - 12.7mm, Axis 3h.
Obv: +VIGMVИD ΛREP - Legend around a cross pattée with pellet.
Rev: +EDILVEARD - Legend around cross pattée with pellet.
Ref: Spink 870.
Provenance: UK Metal Detecting find. Chris Scarlioli Collection.Christian Scarlioli
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Anglo-Saxon: Archbishop Wigmund, AE Styca, Moneyer: Edilveard.York 837-850 A.D. 1.05g - 12.8mm, Axis 9h.
Obv: +VIGMVИD ΛREP - Legend around cross pattée.
Rev: +EDILVEARD - Legend around cross pattée.
Ref: Spink 870; North 196 (this moneyer not listed); Pirie 689.
Provenance: Chris Scarlioli Collection.Christian Scarlioli
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Anglo-Saxon: Kingdom of Northumbria: Archbishop Wigmund of York, AE Styca, Moneyer: Hunlaf. York 837-849/50 A.D. 0.78g - 12.8mm, Axis 10h.
Obv: + VIGMVИD ΛREP - Legend around a rosette of pellets in centre.
Rev: +HUNLAF - Legend around cross pattée in centre.
Ref: Spink 879.
Provenance: UK Metal Detecting find. Chris Scarlioli Collection.Christian Scarlioli
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Anglo-Saxon: Wigmund Archbishop of York, AE Styca, Moneyer Æthelhelm.York 837-850 A.D. 0.85g - 13.2mm, Axis 3h.
Obv: +VIGMVИD (N retrograde) - Legend around cross pattée..
Rev: +EDELHELM - Legend around cross pattée, (both L upside down).
Ref: Spink 870; BMC 741; Bolton Percy hoard 1581-1586.
Provenance: Chris Scarlioli Collection. Added onto the Wildwinds site in December 2019.Christian Scarlioli
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Anglo-Saxon: Wigmund Archbishop of York, AE Styca, Moneyer Coenred.York 837-849/50 A.D. 0.82g - 12.2mm, Axis 12h.
Obv: +VIGMVИD ΛREP (N retrograde, A without crossbar) - Legend around cross pattée.
Rev: +COENRED - Legend around cross pattée.
Ref: Spink 870; BMC 724-725; Bolton Percy hoard 1532-1533.
Provenance: Chris Scarlioli Collection. Added onto the Wildwinds site in December 2019.
Christian Scarlioli
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Antoninus Pius, RIC 798Antoninus Pius, AD 138-161
AE - Orcichalcum Dupondius, 14.37g, 25.5mm, 225°
Rome, AD 145-161
obv. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P
Radiate head r.
rev. COS III
Salus stg. half left, head l., patera in r. hand, feeding snake coiled around altar at
feet on left, in extended r. hand holding rudder set on globe
in l. and r. field big S - C
ref. RIC III, 798; BMCR IV, 1732; Cohen II, 279; SRCV II, 4269; Hunter II -
VF+, porous, nice portrait
pedigree:
ex Errett Bishop coll.
From Forum Ancient Coins, thanks!
Salus was the Roman goddess of health. According to Strack III, p. 129, the idea behind the type is that the safety of the state is dependent on the health of the emperor. "For that reason Salus holds the rudder of Fortuna in some of these types, as an indication that the fate of the empire rests in her hands."
Errett Bishop (1928-1983), an American mathematician, known for the development of a constructive Analysis
Jochen
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AodobertMerovingian inscribed denier
Monarch: unknown (?Audebert)
Moneyer: Frederic
Mint: unknown
O: AodoBERT
R: FREdIRI
Merovingian deniers present a number of difficulties in identification. Inscribed Merovingian deniers are quite rare, and are often illegible or nonsensical. This is certainly legible, but not quite clear. The name 'Aodobert' is not the name of a king, but could possibly be a moneyer or a religious figure. St. Aubert (Audbert) is the traditional founder of the bishopric of Cambray (Cambrai).
The reverse seems to depict "+FREdIRI". Unclear if this is a moneyer
Ex- Comptoir Général FinancierSt. George's Collection
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Arados, Phoenicia240n - 237 BC
AE 16 mm, 4.102 grams, 0 degrees
O: Turreted bust of Tech right.
R: Prow of war galley left with figurehead of Athena Promachos fighting no date, AP monogram above.
Ref: Duyrat 1374-1403; BMC Phoenicia p 13, 88-90,; Lindgren III 1334; HGC 10 86.
Notes: VF, nice glossy black patina with red earthen highlighting; obverse edge beveled, tiny edge split. Arados mint.
Ex-Forum Ancient Coins, ex-Errett Bishop collectionVirgil H
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Archbishop of Canterbury, CeolnothStruck c.865-868AD Kent, Canterbury mint. AR Penny 1.20g Ceolnoth Group III. Floriated Cross type. Obv tonsured bust facing, breaking inner circle 'ARCHIEP- CEOLNOD'; Rev 'BIARNRED MONETA' (Moneyer Beornraed) around, in inner circle a floriated cross. S.895? (Group III) N.247.
There are 58 recorded coins of Ceolnoth at the SCBI/EMC but only 3 coins of this moneyer for him. He also struck 6 more recorded coins for Alfred, Edward the Elder and some Danish imitative Alfred coins from East Anglia. This actual type is not listed in the corpus. However, a fragment at the British Museum, see BNJ28 CE Blunt 'A new coin of Ceolnoth' and JJ North plate III/9, is likely the same. Infact, I believe these coins are of the same dies and moneyer. Blunt & North describe 'LD' in the fragmented moneyer legend though it is likely 'ED' with the top half of the 'E' missing at the break. The Floriated Cross design is also found on coins of Aethelberht for the moneyers Dudda and Oshere but only 4 on database (N.621). In superb condition, a single find from the Driffield area in Yorkshire. This coin is potentially the only complete specimum and should be considered a great rarity. It is now recorded in the 2011 'The Coinage of Southern England' by Rory Naismith, Volume 1 Plate 65 C218.2b.
Gareth Williams at the British Museum kindly commented:
'I agree with your reading of the coin, and think that it is probably from the same dies as our fragment 1947, 14-4, 6, as you suggest, although it's difficult to be absolutely certain - the angle of the D on the reverse in particular looks slightly different, but that may just be the lighting on the photograph'
Rory Naismith from the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge is studying the period for his PhD dissertation. He kindly commented as below:
'The Ceolnoth in particular is quite spectacular: not only is it, as you say, the only known whole floreate cross penny of Ceolnoth, but it is also a stunning coin of considerable historical importance. There is some reason to believe that it was found as part of a small hoard comprising at least three floreate cross pennies, the other two both being of Aethelberht by the moneyer Dudda. One is unfortunately only a small fragment, but the other is beautifully preserved. As the only known hoard of floreate cross coins, this is understandably a find of some significance, although it is odd to find it deposited so far north. A trawl through the BM and as many other catalogues and find records as I could find turned up only a total of nineteen floreate cross pennies, including yours, struck by seven moneyers. It was probably a lot larger than this meagre record seems to suggest: were it not for the large Dorking hoard of 1817 the preceding Inscribed Cross phase would be almost as little-known, and many moneyers who produced this type reappeared in the Lunettes coinage, so they may well have continued over the intervening period as well'.
The initial coinage of Group III has as the reverse motif a cross crosslet with pellets in the angles [coin 1, illustrated above]. Those of Ceolnoth are of good style and feature a neater tonsured bust of the archbishop possibly wearing his pallium. Those of Aethelwulf for the same period, Phase II at Canterbury, tend to have a rather crude right facing bust with thick lettering in the legend - although a few are of better style. Not all of Aethelwulf's coins of this type have pellets in the angles of the cross crosslet. This type was struck until c.852, when it was replaced by a coinage that was to become standard at Canterbury throughout the remainder of Aethelwulf's reign and the majority of the reign of his son Aethelberht. The Inscribed Cross coinage, struck only by Ceolnoth and the two aforementioned kings, have an identical reverse with a large voided cross that contains the moneyers name within and in the angles. Comparitively large numbers of these coins survive and they have been the subject of much study with regard to dating, reduced silver content and so on. Toward the end of his reign, c.854, Aethelberht minted a new coinage mirrored by Ceolnoth, the extremely rare Floriate Cross issue. These coins as would be expected have a large floriated cross on the reverse and had a very limited striking - perhaps as little as a year. Less than ten examples survive today for the king and archbishop. Illustrated below is the only known complete example of the Floriate Cross type of archbishop Ceolnoth.
AlexB
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Archbishop of York, Wigmund Styca.Anglo-Saxon. Archbishop of York, Wigmund 834-854. AE Styca (1.01 gm, 12mm, 9h) of York, 841-843, Phase II Gp Cii. Short cross. ➕VIGMИD. / Short Cross. ➕EDEΓHEΓM (Ethelhelm, moneyer). EF. Alan Cherry, London Coin Fair, 2014. Ex Format 1970. Spink SCBC 870. MEC 1 #1277ff; MEC 8 #880ff; North 196; Pirie Guide 3.27a, #1483.Anaximander
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Archbishopric SalzburgArchbishopric Salzburg, Leonhard von Keutschach 1495 - 1519 Size/Weight: 19mm, 0.4g Denomination: one-sided 'Zweier' (1515), silver. Flat strike areas, very fine mitra, monasterial and family crest.dpaul7
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Archbishopric SalzburgArchbishopric Salzburg -- Max Gandolph, Graf von Küenburg (1668 - 1687) 3 Kreuzer, dated 1681, gVF. 18 mm, 1.3g, silver.dpaul7
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ARCHBISHOPRIC SALZBURG - MATTAUS LANG v. WELLENBURG ARCHBISHOPRIC SALZBURG - MATTAUS LANG v. WELLENBURG -1519-1540 silver Zweiling. Only first 2 digits of date visible (15??). Omniface coin.dpaul7
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ARCHBISHOPRIC SALZBURG - MATTAUS LANG v. WELLENBURGSALZBURG - ARCHBISHOP MATTAUS LANG v. WELLENBURG-1519-1540 AR Zweier, 1528. Uniface coin. Arms of Salzburg and Mattaus side-by-side, bishop's hat above, date delow. Ref.: Probst #275.dpaul7
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Ariobarzanes III Athena Cappadocian KingdomAriobarzanes III Eusebes Philoromaios, Cappadocian Kingdom, Silver Drachm, Mazaka-Eusebeia (Kayseri, Turkey) mint, 3.549g, 17.1mm, die axis 0o, 44 - 43 B.C., Simonetta p. 44, 1b; BMC Galatia p.
42, 1; Simonetta Collection p. 147, 2; SNGvA 6326 var. (monogram); HGC 7 852 (R2); SNG Cop -,
OBV: head right, with short hair and beard
REV: BAΣIΛEΩΣ APIOBAPZANOY EYΣEBOYΣ KAI ΦIΛOΠΩMIOY, Athena Nikephoros standing left, Nike offering wreath in right hand,
spear and grounded shield behind in left, star in crescent with horns up lower inner left,
monogram upper inner right, Θ (year 9) in exergue (off flan)
RARE
Ariobarzanes was an ally of Pompey, but after their defeat Julius Caesar received him well and kept his position.
He later refused to aid Cassius. Caesar's assassins declared him a traitor, invaded Cappadocia and executed him.
EX: Errett Bishop Collection
EX: Forvm Ancient Coins
SRukke
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Armour - Buckle - for Breastplate from Kalkriese-type Lorica SegmentataArmour buckle for Lorica Segmentata armour.
On the Kalkriese type of Lorica Segmentata this type of buckle was used to fasten together breastplates.
It was attached to a long-is leather strap which was riveted to the breastplate.
This type of buckle was not used on the later Corbridge or Newstead types of Lorica Segmentata
(which used the hinged buckle and the turn key (respectively) to fasten their breastplates.
The Kalkriese type was used from Late 1st century BC to mid-1st century AD,
especially the Augustan to Tiberian eras.
References:
Bishop, Lorica Segmentata I, figures 4.1, 4.3 and 10.1.
Thomas, Lorica Segmentata II, type Ai, fig. 1, # 3, 20, 29, 30, etc.
Ivcevic, Roman Military Equipment from Gardun Croatia, fig. I, # 13-14.SC
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Armour - Buckle with Articulated Plate - For Breastplate from Corbridge-type Lorica SegmentataUnique buckle and plate type that was only used on Roman Lorica Segmentata armour.
It was used on all versions of the Corbridge-type (A to C) to fasten together the breastplates.
It played the same function as the plain D-buckle on the Kalkriese type and the turn keys on the Newstead type.
The Corbridge-type is dated to the mid-1st to mid-2nd century AD,
especially the Claudian to Traianic/Hadrianic eras.
References:
Bishop, Lorica Segmentata I, figure 5.1, 5.4, 5.6 b, 5.9, 5.10, 10.1.
Thomas, Lorica Segmentata II, figure 5, # 1, 4 and 7.
This example matches type Aiii with finds at Vindonissa, Cirnchester and, in an almost exact match, Kaiseraugst Germany (dated to 50 AD). SC
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Armour - Lobate Hinge from Corbridge-type Lorica SegmentataThis bronze lobate-form hinge was used to fasten lorica segmentata shoulder plates together.
It was used on the Corbridge-type lorica segmentata. The earlier Kalkriese-type used a more-squared sub-lobate hinge while the later Newstead-type used a much larger hinge.
Traces of iron from the armour plate can be seen on the reverse.
Early/mid-1st to mid-2nd century AD.
References:
Bishop, Lorica Segmentata I, fig. 5.1, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 10.1.
Thomas, Lorica Segmentata II, type Fiv, fig. 48, # 15, 20, 40, 43, etc.
Ar Arma!, Augusta Raurica (Kaiseraugst) Switzerland, # 253.
Xantener Berichte 16, fig. 193, # 16, Serbia.
SC
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Armour - Tie Loop - plain type from Corbridge- or Newstead-type Lorica SegmentataVertical fastener or Tie loop from Corbridge or Newstead-type Lorica Segmentata armour.
Plain design.
Mid-1st to mid-2nd century AD.
References:
Bishop, Lorica Segmentata I, fig. 5.6, 5.9, 5.10, 5.14, and 6.8.
Thomas, Lorica Segmentata II, type Gi, fig. 56, # 16 + 21.SC
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Armour - Tie Loop for Corbridge- or Newstead-type Lorica SegmentataVertical fastener or Tie loop from Corbridge or Newstead-type Lorica Segmentata armour.
Mid-1st to mid-2nd century AD.
References:
Bishop, Lorica Segmentata I, fig. 5.6, 5.9, 5.10, 5.14, and 6.8.
Thomas, Lorica Segmentata II, type Gi, fig. 56, # 3-8, 12-15, + 19.
Xantener Berichte 16, fig. 193, # 18, Bugenae Serbia.
Feugère, Gaule Méridionale 19, fig. 21, # 206, circa 50-75 AD.SC
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Armour - Tie Rings (four) - For Girth Hoops from Newstead-type Lorica SegmentataFour tie rings for Newstead-type lorica segmentata armour.
Theses were used on the Newstead-type armour to fasten together the girth hoops (the bands that covered the lower chest and abdomen).
They were riveted to one side of the girth hoop, the other side of the girth hoop was overlapped and the tie ring passed through a rectangular slot.
The tie rings were then secured, so that the girth hoop stayed closed, either with individual split pins (cotter pins) or with a single long metal rod.
The Newstead-type is dated to the early 2nd to mid-3rd century AD,
especially the Hadrianic to late Severan eras.
References:
Bishop, Lorica Segmentata I, figure 6.1, 6.8, 6.12 # 1 + 5; 10.1.
Thomas, Lorica Segmentata II, type Ii, with basal traverse rib.
The rings were mounted to one side of the breastplate and passed through a rectangular slot on the other side of the breastplate. Unlike the keys they were not turned after being passed through the slot but instead tied with leather cords.
SC
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Armour - Tie Rings (three) - For Girth Hoops from Newstead-type Lorica SegmentataThree tie rings for Newstead-type lorica segmentata armour.
Theses were used on the Newstead-type armour to fasten together the girth hoops (the bands that covered the lower chest and abdomen).
They were riveted to one side of the girth hoop, the other side of the girth hoop was overlapped and the tie ring passed through a rectangular slot.
The tie rings were then secured, so that the girth hoop stayed closed, either with individual split pins (cotter pins) or with a single long metal rod.
The Newstead-type is dated to the early 2nd to mid-3rd century AD,
especially the Hadrianic to late Severan eras.
References:
Bishop, Lorica Segmentata I, figure 6.1, 6.8, 6.12 # 3, 4, 7, 8 + 12; 10.1.
Thomas, Lorica Segmentata II, type Iiii, known as "D-shaped".
Parallels have been found in Carnuntum, Komano Bulgaria, Aldborough, Caerleon, Chichester, Dalton Parlows, and South Shields.SC
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Armour - two Turn Keys for Lorica Squamata and Newstead-type Lorica Segmentata BreastplatesTwo types of turn keys for the breastplates from Roman lorica squamata (scale armour) or lorica segmentata.
These true keys were used for fasteneing the breastplates on lorica squamata (scale armour) as well as the upper breastplates on Newstead-type lorica segmentata armour.
Roman lorica squamata scale armour had two small pectoral plates which were slightly overlapped until the rectangular holes lined up. This type of turn key was then inserted through the two holes and turned locking the plates together. The pectoral plates were fastened with one or two such keys each.
A pair were similarly used for lorica segmentata breastplates on the Newstead-type in the same role as the single buckle on the Kalkriese-type and the articulated buckle on the Corbridge-type.
These come in two main variants. The first has a T-shape, the second has a spade shape. Both are contemporary.
These examples came from near Carnuntum.
Mid-2nd to mid-3rd century AD.
References:
Upper example:
Dura Europos report 7, page 121, # 426-429, 431.
Bishop, Lorica Segmentata I, fig. 6.1, 6.2, 6.11
Lower example:
Caerleon Canabae report, fig. 94, # 204.
Dura Europos report 7, page 121, # 420-425, 430.
One examples was found at Manching, Germany still attached to the lorica squamata plates.SC
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Austria, CNA I. C a-005, Eberhard I. (1147-1164 A.D.), AR-Pfennig, Friesach, under Archbishopric of Salzburg, Sprag cross with balls in each angle, #1Austria, CNA I. C a-005, Eberhard I. (1147-1164 A.D.), AR-Pfennig, Friesach, under Archbishopric of Salzburg, Sprag cross with balls in each angle, #1
avers: Saint’s bust facing between Crozier and star, cross above.
reverse: Sprag cross with balls in each angle.
diameter: 17,5-18,0 mm, weight: 0,73g, axis: 6/12 h,
mint: Krems - Friesach, mint mark: -/-,
date: 1147-1164 A.D., ref: CNA I. C a-005,
Q-001quadrans
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