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UNITED STATES, Hard Times. Political issues.
CU Token (28.5mm, 8.53 g, 12h). Belleville (New Jersey) mint. Dated 1838.
AM I NOT A WOMAN & A SISTER, hained female slave kneeling right, raising arms in supplication; * 1838 * below UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY/ 1838 within wreath
Rulau HT 81; Low 54

Ex Album 33 (17 January 2019), lot 2542

June 1900 saw a brief flurry of journalistic interest in the "Am I Not A Woman & A Sister" tokens. A specimen had been found in a garden in Indiana, apparently in one of the many towns that claim a connection to the Underground Railroad, and received a glowing and fanciful write up in the local newspaper. The paper claimed that it was a "Talisman of Slavery," and used as a token to ensure safe passage along the escaped slave's route, and that it was a very rare piece. The following week a newspaper in Maine recorded that a local collector had another example, again drawing a purported connection to the Underground Railroad. Astutely, the July 1900 edition of the American Journal of Numismatics pointed out that, while an isolated use like this was possible, it was not what the tokens were originally intended for.Ardatirion

03. Gordian III / RIC 127.Denarius, 240 AD, Rome mint.
Obverse: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG / Laureate bust of Gordian.
Reverse: DIANA LVCIFERA / Diana standing, holding lighted torch.
2.70 gm., 19 mm.
RIC #127; Sear #8673.Callimachus

038a Faustina (II) Filia (128-175 A.D.), RIC III 1405b (Ant.Pius), Rome, AE-Dupondius, No legend, S-C, Diana, Scarce!, #1038a Faustina (II) Filia (128-175 A.D.), RIC III 1405b (Ant.Pius), Rome, AE-Dupondius, No legend, S-C, Diana, Scarce!, #1
"Daughter of Antoninus Pius and Faustina Sr. and wife of Marcus Aurelius. She was also the mother of Commodus and Lucilla, wife of Lucius Verus."
avers:- FAVSTINA-AVG-P-II-AVG-FIL, Draped bust right, with hair waved and coiled on back of head, band of pearls and necklace.
revers: No legend - Diana standing left, holding arrow and resting hand on bow, S-C across the field.
exerg: S/C//--, diameter: 27mm, weight: 13,86g, axis: 5h,
mint: Rome, date: 145-146 A.D., ref: RIC-III-1405b (Antoninus Pius), p-194, C-207,209,
Q-0012 commentsquadrans

038a Faustina (II) Filia (128-175 A.D.), RIC III 1405b (Ant.Pius), Rome, AE-Dupondius, No legend, S-C, Diana, Scarce!, #2038a Faustina (II) Filia (128-175 A.D.), RIC III 1405b (Ant.Pius), Rome, AE-Dupondius, No legend, S-C, Diana, Scarce!, #2
"Daughter of Antoninus Pius and Faustina Sr. and wife of Marcus Aurelius. She was also the mother of Commodus and Lucilla, wife of Lucius Verus."
avers:- FAVSTINA-AVG-P-II-AVG-FIL, Draped bust right, with hair waved and coiled on back of head, band of pearls and necklace.
revers: No legend - Diana standing left, holding arrow and resting hand on bow, S-C across the field.
exerg: S/C//--, diameter: 25-26mm, weight: 13,01g, axis: 6h,
mint: Rome, date: 145-146 A.D., ref: RIC-III-1405b (Antoninus Pius), p-194, C-207,209,
Q-0022 commentsquadrans

050a Julia Domna (170-217 A.D.), Rome, RIC IV-I 373A (Caracalla), AR-Denar, DIANA LVCIFERA, Diana standing left, #2050a Julia Domna (170-217 A.D.), Rome, RIC IV-I 373A (Caracalla), AR-Denar, DIANA LVCIFERA, Diana standing left, #2
avers: IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG, Draped bust right.
reverse: DIANA LVCIFERA, Diana standing left, holding the long torch with both hands.
exergue:-/-//--, diameter: 18,5-19,0mm, weight: 3,57g, axis: 7h,
mint: Rome, date: 211-217 A.D.,
ref: RIC IV-I 373A (Caracalla), p-, RSC 32, (Caracalla), BMC 1, Sear 7100,
Q-002quadrans

13. Gordian III / RIC 116.Denarius, 240 AD, Rome mint.
Obverse: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG / Laureate bust of Gordian.
Reverse: VIRTVTI AVGVSTI / Hercules standing, resting right hand on hip and left hand club set on rock; lion-skin beside club.
3.58 gm., 20 mm.
RIC #116; Sear #8684.

The chronology of the denarii coinage of Gordian III has been poorly understood because Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC) has it mixed up in its listings. For example, it will tell you that 5 denarii (Diana, Pietas, Salus, Securitas, and Venus) were issued in the summer of 241 to commemorate the marriage of Gordian and Tranquillina. Recent thinking tells another entirely different story. The following summary is based on a posting by Curtis Clay, November 25, 2011, on the Forum Ancient Coins Classical Numismatics Discussion Board.
Although antoniniani were issued for a while under Caracalla and Elagabalus, the denarius was the standard silver denomination throughout the reigns of Severus Alexander, Maximinus Thrax, and into the first part of the joint reign of Balbinus & Pupienus. (This, by the way, is when the PIETAS AVGG denarius of Gordian as Caesar was issued.) Sometime during the short reign of Balbinus & Pupienus, the antoninianus supplanted the denarius as the standard silver denomination. When Gordian III became emperor (July 238), his administration continued to follow the then current practice of issuing only antoniniani.

Early in 240, Gordian apparently decided to revert back to the traditional coinage of the Empire and began to issue only denarii. The denarii issued at this time were the following:

P M TR P III COS P P / Horseman
DIANA LVCIFERA
PIETAS AVGVSTI
SALVS AVGVSTI
SECVRITAS PVBLICA
VENVS VICTRIX

No antoniniani exist with these reverse types.

The next issue of denarii was issued in the summer of 240 after Gordian became COS II, and consists of these types:

P M TR P III COS II P P / Emperor standing
P M TR P III COS II P P / Apollo seated
AETERNITATI AVG
IOVIS STATOR
LAETITIA AVG N
VIRTVTI AVGVSTI

Within a short time, however, it was decided to go back to having the antoninianus as the standard silver denomination. Antoniniani were issued again, at first with the same reverse types as the second issue of denarii. That is why these reverse types exist on denarii and antoniniani even though they were not issued at the same time.

So the period the mint issued denarii rather than antoniniani as the standard silver denomination lasted from about March through August, 240. This was the last time denarii were issued for general circulation. The antoninianus lasted until Diocletian’s coinage reform of 295, after which Roman coinage was so vastly different that there was no question of returning to the denarius.

The 13 denarii of Gordian III are presented in this album in this order:
Gordian III as Caesar denarius - 1 coin.
First issue of denarii - 6 coins.
Second issue of denarii - 6 coins.Callimachus

177-192 AD - COMMODUS AR denarius - struck 191 ADobv: M COMM ANT P FEL AVG BRIT PP
rev: CONC COM PM TRP XVI COSVI (Concordia standing left, holding patera & scepter)
ref: RIC III 219, C.45 (30frcs)
2.41gms, 17mm
Rare

History: In 190 AD Commodus named Rome after himself, Colonia Commodiana, adding the prenomina of LUCIA ANTONINIANA. This coin is belong to the group of the loyalty of the cohorts, Concordia Commodi Augusti.berserker

AE Sestertius, RIC 3, p.350, 1715 - Faustina II, Diana, standing rightFaustina II
Sestertius, Rome, AD 175-176
Obv.: DIVA FAVSTINA PIA, draped bust right
Rev.: SIDERIBVS RECEPTA, Faustina as Diana, standing right, with crescent at shoulders, holding long torch in both hands; S-C across fields
AR, 30mm, 24.1g
Ref.: RIC 1715 (Aurelius) [S]
shanxi

C. Hosidius C. f. Geta - AR denariusRome
²65 BC / ¹68 BC
diademed and draped bust of Diana, bow and quiver over shoulder
III VIR / GETA
attacked boar right, spear in shoulder, hound below
C HOSIDI C F
¹Crawford 407/2; Sydenham 903; Kestner 3317; BMCRR I Rome 3389; RSC I Hosidia 1, SRCV I 346
²Mark Passehl - Roman moneyer & coin type chronology, 150 – 50 BC
3,6g 16mm
ex Marc Walter

"Oineus, king of Kalydon in Aitolia, once had feasted the gods at an harvest festival but forgotten to butcher an animal for Artemis. The goddess was enraged and sent a big boar who wasted the fertile fields of the king. Oineus called for help and from all parts of Greece the heroes came to help him. There were the Curetes from Pleuron, the brothers of Althaia, the wife of Oineus. There were the Dioscurs Kastor and Polydeikes and their Messenian cousins Idas and Lynkeus. Theseus came from Athens, Iphikles, half-brother of Herakles, came from Thebens, Iason, Admetos, Peirithos, Peleus and Eurytion came from Thessalia, Telamon from Salamis, Amphiaraos from Argos, Ankaios and Atalante from Arcadia and much more. Herakles was prevented by his labours. On top of the heroes stood Meleagros, the son of Oineus and Althaia.
The hunt for the Calydonean boar ended very disastrous. Many heroes lost their lifes. Ankaios was the first killed by the boar. Peleus accidentally hit his father-in-law Eurytion with his spear. A second hunter too was killed by the boar.
The big catastrophe happened at the 6th day of the hunt. On this day Atalanta hit the boar with her arrow and Meleagros gave him the deathblow. Then he awarded head and skin of the boar to Atalante. But his uncles, brother of his mother Althaia, didn't tolerate that. They insisted on the rights of their clan. A dispute occured, they snatched the trophies from Atalante and then a fight began in which Meleagros slew his uncles. When Meleagros was born the fates predicted that he will live only as long as the log in the oven. Althaia pulled it out of the fire and hid it in a secret place. When she heard of the death of her brothers she enraged, got the log and threw it in the fire. When it was burnt Meleagros break down dead when he was dissecting the boar." - Jochen's Coins of mythological interestJ. B.

C. Hosidius C. f. Geta, Crawford 407/1C. Hosidius C. f. Geta, gens Hosidia
AR - denarius serratus, 3.79g
Rome 68 BC
obv. Bust of Diana, diademed, r., bow and quiver about shoulder, GETA behind, III.VIR
before
rev. The Calydonean boar stg. r., transfixed by spear, attacked by dog
C.HOSIDI C.F. in ex.
Crawford 407/1; Sydenham 904; Hosidia 2
rarer than the non-serrated type, VF

For more informations see the thread 'Coins of mythological interest'2 commentsJochen

Claudius Gothicus RIC V-1, 205 Antioch varAE 19.3-20.15mm 3.6g 268-270 AD
OBV:: IMP C CLAVDIVS AVG; Radiate and draped bust right seen from rear
REV:: DIANAE VICTR; Diana, standing right, bow and drawing arrow, stag before her
EX:: H ( Antioch)
REF:: RIC V-1, 205 Antioch var; Cohen 64; Markl. NZ 16, p. 457Johnny

Commodus, RIC 560, Sestertius of AD 190 (Ploughing)Æ Sestertius (16,57g, Ø 30mm, 7h). Rome mint. Struck AD 190.
Ob.: M COMMOD ANT P FE-LIX AVG BRIT P P, laureate head right
Rev.: COL LAN COM PM TR P XV IMP VIII (around) COS VI (in ex.) S C, Commodus, veiled, as priest, ploughing right with two oxen.

RIC 560; BMC 643; Cohen 39(60fr.); Sear (RCV) 5737

This is a very rare type, found occasionally as Æ-As, but extremely rare as a sestertius. It probably refers to the refounding of Lanuvium, the birthplace of Commodus and the place where he displayed his skills as Hercules by killing lions in the arena.

There has been speculation about the meaning of the first part of the reverse legend COLLANCOM. The traditional expansion of this legend is based on Eckhel (1796), reading the legend as COLonia Lucia ANtoniana COMmodiana, in order to try to relate it to the refounding of Rome. This was followed by Cohen and many other references. The British Museum and RIC expand it slightly differently: "The depiction of the ritual ploughing of the furrow marking out a new foundation refers to Commodus' refounding of Rome as COLonia Lucia ANnia COMmodiana."

Curtis Clay in Forum's discussion board, points to a powerful objection of this interpretation: "Since Commodus still calls himself Marcus on the obverse and was not to switch his praenomen back to Lucius until 191, a year later, why, on the reverse, does he name Rome Lucia and not Marcia?

Chantraine in 1971, following a suggestion of Renier in 1872, proposed what seems to be the solution to the problem: the legend is to be expanded COLonia LANuvina COMmodiana and commemorates Commodus' elevation of his birthplace Lanuvium, which had been a municipium, to the rank of colony.

Commodus did refound Rome too, and this deed is commemorated on very rare mediallions, sestertii, and dupondii struck late in 192, just before his assassination on 31 december. These coins have the same rev. type of emperor plowing, but the legend HERCuli ROMano CONDITORI P M TR P XVIII COS VII P P, 'To the Roman Hercules, the Founder'."

ex cgb.fr (2014).
1 commentsCharles S

Commodus, RIC 570, As of AD 190 (refounding Lanuvium)Æ As (11,21g, Ø 27mmmm, 6h). Rome, AD 190.
Obv.: M COMM ANT P FELIX AVG BRIT P P, laureate head right.
Rev.: COL LAN COM P M TR P XV IMP VIII around COS VI ex. SC field, Commodus, veiled and togate, as priest, ploughing right with yoke of two oxen..
RIC 570 [R2]; BMCRE 659; Cohen 40 (20 fr.); Sear (Roman Coins and their Values) 5856.
Expanding the reverse legend to COLonia LANuvina COMmodiana, this issue commemorates Commodus' elevation of his birthplace Lanuvium from municipium to the rank of colony.
Ex José A. Herrero, Subasta Num. Mayo 15.Charles S

Crawford 394/1, ROMAN REPUBLIC, C. Postumius, AR DenariusRome, The Republic.
C. Postumius, 74-73 BCE.
AR Denarius (3.95g; 20mm).
Rome mint.

Obverse: Draped bust of Diana facing right, with bow and quiver over shoulder.

Rev: Hound running to right; spear below; C. POSTVMI and AT or TA (ligate) in exergue.

References: Crawford 394/1a; Sydenham 785; BMCRR 3238; Postumia 9.

Provenance: Ex Student and Mentor Collection [NAC 83 (20 May 2015) Lot 347]; ex Frank Sternberg Auction VII (24-5 Nov 1977), Lot 390; ex Cuzzi Collection [Baranowski (Dec 1929) Lot 280].

The moneyer may have been the Caius Postumius that prosecuted Lucius Licinius Murena for election fraud in 63 BCE. It is uncertain what the ligate letters AT (or TA) denote on the reverse, and there is another variety of this issue without the monogram. Diana is a popular deity on coinage produced by the Postumia gens, and the hound and spear on the reverse are also attributes of Diana, the huntress. Diana appears so frequently on Postumian coins because on the eve of the battle of Lake Regillus (c. 496 BCE), during a sacrifice to Diana, the augurs foretold the domination of Rome over Latium. A. Postumius Albinus led the troops at this decisive battle. Thus, the gens subsequently claimed responsibility for fulfilling the prophecy of Diana.

Crawford dated this issue to 74 BCE, but Hersh and Walker in Mesagne down-dated the issue to 73 BCE. Michael Harlan suggests an even later date of 71 BCE.
3 commentsCarausius

Crawford 407/2, ROMAN REPUBLIC, C. Hosidius C. f. Geta, AR DenariusRome, The Republic.
C. Hosidius C. f. Geta, 68 BC.
AR Denarius (3.91g; 17mm).
Rome Mint.

Obverse: IIIVIR – GETA; diademed bust of Diana, facing right, with quiver of arrows over shoulder.

Reverse: C.HOSIDI.C.F.; wounded boar running to right, pursued by hound.

References: Crawford 407/2; Sydenham 903; Hosidia 1.

Provenance: Ex Kunker Auction 257 (10 Oct 2014), Lot 8422.

This type was struck in a serrate and plain-edged variety. Obverse and reverse styles differed on both varieties. Additionally, there are very rare hybrids, with the style and legend variety of one type on edge style flans of the other. The hound on the coins of C. Hosidius are shown in two distinct styles: on the non-serrate coins, in an ultra-slim, almost linear body style; and on the serrate coins, in a more lifelike, heavier style. In both cases, the hunting scene suggests that this dog should be a Laconian or Vertragus hound. Indeed, the dog is slim on both types, with a short haired tail – not a bushy tail, like a Molossian.
2 commentsCarausius

DianaAR Denarius, Rome mint, 79 BC
Obv: Diademed and draped bust of Diana right, bow and quiver over shoulder. S.C. before. Border of dots
Rev: Victory in biga right, holding palm branch and reins in left hand, and laurel wreath in right hand. Control-mark A.IIII above exergue. TI.CLAVD.TI.F/ APN in exergue. Border of dots.
Weight: 3.88g
Crawford 383/1 Sear RCV I 310 RSC Claudia 6

Diana, the sister of Apollo, was regarded as the moon-goddess, but she was also the protectress of the young and the goddess of the chase. It is in this latter guise that she is depicted here with her attributes of bow and quiver depicting her as a huntress.
nemesis

Diana - Antoninian - AD 253-268 (Gallienus)AR-Antoninian
Rev.: DIANA FELIX, Diana, holding bow and drawing arrow from quiver, advancing right; hound springing right.
MIR 920g (2 specimens), RIC 380 var.

for obverse, reverse and coin details click hereshanxi

DIANA and LELAPS.AR denarius. 74 BC. 3.52 gr. Bust of Diana huntress right,bow and quiver on shoulder. / Hound running right,hunting spear below. C. POSTUMI/TA (in monogram) below. Toned. Craw 394/1a . RSC Postumia 9
Myth of Lelaps and the fox.
Procris was a mortal woman, a great favorite of the Goddess Diana, the goddess of hunting. Diana (also famous for her hunting hounds) made a gift of a dog to Procris. Lelaps was the swiftest of dogs and could outrun any rival. Diana also gave a JAVELIN that would never miss its target to Procris.
Procris fell in love and married a beautiful youth by the name of Cephalus. Cephalus was also a great hunter, and so Procris gave the presents of the hound and javelin to her husband.
It came to pass that some angry deity had sent a ravenous fox to plague the country, snatching his prey from under the farmers very noses. All the hunters turned out in great numbers and strength to kill the fox, but their efforts failed. None had a hound that could run this supernatural fox to ground.
At last the people came to Cephalus and begged him to set Lelaps, the famous gift hound from Diana, after the fox.
Lelaps was loosed and darted away faster than the eye could follow. It was said that if the men had not seen his footprints in the sand they would have thought he had taken flight. Cephalus and the hunters stood on a hill and watched the pursuit.
The fox tried every trick, every sly, cunning art he knew to evade the hound. He ran in a circle and turned on his track, he doubled back, he leapt over water and trotted across fallen logs, but no trick he knew would fool swift and clever Lelaps. The hound came on relentless, breathing on the foxes heels and snapping at his brushy tail, missing by only a hair!
Cephalus threw the magic javelin when suddenly both dog and fox stopped, frozen in mid-motion. The heavenly powers that had given both hound and fox their powers were not willing that either should conquer - or lose. In that very moment, they turned to Stone .ZEUS cast them into the stars as the constellations Canis Major (Lelaps) and Canis Minor (the Teumessian fox).[

1 commentsbenito

Diana and Victory * Roman Republican, Serrate AR Den., 79 BC.
Diana with Bow and Quiver | Victory in Biga * Republican, Serrate AR Den., 79 BC.

Obv: Diana, diademed and draped bust facing right, hair pulled up and bound behind, bow and quiver over her shoulder; S.C. before.
Rev: Victory driving a charging biga to the right, holding reins and palm-branch in left hand and wreath in her right, control mark A . XI below.

Exergue: Off flan. [ TI. CLAVD TI. F. APN ].

Mint: Rome
Struck: 79 BC.

Size: 18.50 mm. (Flan circ. at largest).
Weight: 3.9 gms.
Die axis: 190°

Condition: Exceptional. Bright, clear, radiant luster. Both sides well struck though slightly off-center and with a very slight bend near the rim (ca. 190° obverse). Excellent relief and details on both sides.

Refs:
Sear, 310.
Claudia 6.
Crawford 383/1
Sydenham, 770a
BMCRR, Rome 3103
Kestner, 3233 var. (control numeral)
*
5 commentsTiathena

Eastern Sogdiana, Ikhshids of Samarqand: Imitation of Gurak (710-738) AE Cash (Smirnova-400)There coins are classified differently between Smirnova and Akhunbabaev. Smirnova indicates that these are imitation coins of Gurak and hence read the inscription as "wr`kk MLK". However, Akhunbabaev attributed these coins to Divashtish, ruler of Penjikent. In this case, the inscription is read as "prykk MLK" which indicates Afrig Ikhshid. The tamgha is the same as Tukaspadak's and Tarkhun's and differing from the tamgha of Gurak.Quant.Geek

Eastern Sogdiana, Samarqand: Anonymous (ca. 5th-6th Century CE) AE Unit (Smirnova-1)Obv: Mustachioed bust 3/4 facing, wearing long earrings; Wide border
Rev: Tamgha of Samarqand; Wide border
Quant.Geek

Eastern Sogdiana, Samarqand: Anonymous Obol, 4th-5th Century (Zeimal pl. 31 #10)Obv: Diademed, bearded male head facing left
Rev: Stylized archer with bow facing right
Quant.Geek

Gallienus AntoninianusGallienus; joint reign with Valerian 253-260 AD; sole reign 260-268 AD

Asia, 267 AD

20mm., 3.39g.

GALLIENVS AVG. Bust of Gallienus, radiate, cuirassed, right

LVNA LVCIF. Diana, draped, walking right, holding torch. Mintmark: P[X]V

References: RIC V Gallienus 609

AAIG
RL

Gallienus, Antoninianus, RIC V 473Obv: GALLIENVS AVG
Head of Gallienus, radiate, right
Rev: DIANA FELIX
Diana, draped, standing right, holding spear in right hand & bow in left hand; hound at her feet
Mint: Mediolanum
262-268 CETim M

GALLIENVS AVG / DIANAE CONS AVG antelope antoninianus (close to 267-268 A.D.) "Zoo" series Obv.: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate bare? bust of Gallienus right, [one ribbon behind, one forward across shoulder?]
Rev.: DIANAE CONS AVG, antelope, walking left. Exergue unclear, mintmark broken off.

irregular 16-19mm, 2.13g, die axis 6h (coin alignment), material: bronze/copper-based alloy supposedly with some silver.

Authority and portrait: Gallienus (joint reign 253-, sole reign 260-268). Mint: Rome.

AVG = Augustus; DIANAE CONS[ervatorix] AVG[usti]= to Diana the Protector of the Augustus.

"Zoo" coins: a significant fraction of Gallienus radiates was issued very near the end of his reign to honor nine Roman deities, asking for their protection. Their reverses depict various animals and thus are known as "zoo" coins. Typically stag or doe is the sacred animal of Diana, but in this case it is antelope.

RIC V-1 181; RSC 165; Goebl 750b; Sear 10200. RIC 181 has some variations: emperor's bust bare/draped/cuirassed, antelope walking left or right and so on. The size is typically 19-20mm, but there are slightly larger types.

Note that as often with Rome mint some letters are made of separate lines and thus sometimes V = II, N = ΛI or III, M = IIII etc.

The officina is unknown, for this type it is typically XI or XII.Yurii P

GALLIENVS AVG / DIANAE CONS AVG stag antoninianus (close to 267-268 A.D.) "Zoo" series Obv.: [GA]LLIENVS AVG, radiate bare bust right, one ribbon behind, one forward across shoulder
Rev.: DIA[NAE CON]S [AVG], stag, walking left. X in exergue.

oval 17-21mm, 2.13g, die axis 6h (coin alignment), material: bronze/copper-based alloy supposedly with some silver.

Authority and portrait: Gallienus (joint reign 253-, sole reign 260-268). Mint: Rome.

AVG = Augustus; DIANAE CONS[ervatorix] AVG[usti]= to Diana the Protector of the Augustus.

"Zoo" coins: a significant fraction of Gallienus radiates was issued very near the end of his reign to honor nine Roman deities, asking for their protection. Their reverses depict various animals and thus are known as "zoo" coins. Stag (or doe) is the sacred animal of Diana. X designates officina 10, mostly minting Diana coins of this type, with a stag.

Seems RIC V-1 Rome 179; Cohen 160; Goebl 0744b; Sear 10201. RIC 179 has some variations: emperor's bust bare/draped/cuirassed, stag walking left or right and so on. There are coins of smaller 17-19mm type and larger and heavier 21-23mm / up to 4g type.

Note that as often with Rome mint some letters are made of separate lines and thus sometimes V = II, N = ΛI or III, M = IIII etc.

ID points: The coin is definitely a Diana Zoo type. There are two ID problems: is there IMP in the beginning of obverse legend (very likely not, because there is not enough space) and what type of animal is this, a stag or an antelope? The latter would point towards RIC 180 or 181 types. The shape of the antlers is a bit inconclusive, because there is only one and it bends down. However, the antelope usually has two clear parallel antlers close to each other. In this case it is more likely that we simply do not see the full pair of stag antlers, because they are separated too far and one is lost, while vague shapes near the other are continuation of its branches. Also, officina X almost exclusively minted the stag coins of Diana, while the antelope ones were the work of officinas 3, 11 and 12.Yurii P

Gens Accoleia, denario (43 a.C.)P. Accoleius Lariscolus, denario, 43 a.C., Roma
AR, 4.01 gr, 19mm, qBB
D/ P ACCOLEIVS LARISCOLVS; busto drappeggiato di Diana Nemorensis a destra.
R/ Triplice statua di culto di Diana Nemorensis (Diana, Hecate e Selene); dietro un boschetto di cipressi.
Crawford 486/1
Provenienza: collezione Berardengo (Roma, dal 6 febbraio 2018, numero catalogo 389), ex Giovanni Dorigo Numismatica (Venezia, Italia), ex collezione Alessandro Vanni, Tinia numismatica (Follonica, Grosseto, fino al gennaio 2018)
1 commentspaolo

Greek, Sogdiana, Imitative Antiochos I Soter, 281-261 BC, AR Drachm Laureate head of Antiochos right.
Retrograde legend Î’Î‘Î£Î™Î›Î•Î©Î£ ANT[I]OXOY curving from left to below and before a bridled horned horse head right, circled Î” to far right.
SC 461-462 (var. – controls); HGC 9, 136 (var. - controls) (R3).
Sogidana, uncertain mint, mid-third century BC.
A unique and unrecorded variant of SC 461-462.
(17 mm, 2.86 g, 6h)
ex- William K. Raymond Collection

The crude style, the retrograde semi-circular legend, the disposition of the mint control and the low weight of this coin are indicative of a Sogdian imitation of the Antiochos I drachm type that was issued by the mint at Ai Khanoum in Baktria during the period 281-261 BC. Unlike the imitative coin the official issue was struck on the Attic weight standard of 4.3 grams. The style of this coin and the full replication of the Ai Khanoum mint control place it early in the Sogdian imitative series, possibly contemporaneous with the lifetime Antiochos I issue that it imitates. Marcanda/Samarkand and Bukhara are likely candidates for the origin of this coin.

Julia Domna - Diana LuciferaDenarius 196
O/ IULIA - AUGUSTA Draped bust right
R/ DIANA - LU-CIFERA Diana, crescent on shoulder, standing half-left, holding long torch in both hands
C 27 - RIC S638
Mint: Laodicea1 commentsseptimus

Julia Domna RIC IV, 373Julia Domna, died 217(?), wife of Septimius Severus
AR - denar, 2.67g, 19mm
struck in Rome AD 211-217
obv. IVLIA PIA - FELIX AVG
Bust of Julia, head bare, draped, r. Hair elaborately waved in 5 vertical waves,
varying numbers of horizontal ridges, fastened in bun at back and queue
below it.
rev. DIANA - LVCIFERA
Diana, draped, standing front, holding long lighted torch, pointing slightly
upward to l., in both hands
RIC IV/1, (Caracalla) 373; C.32; BMC 2; RCV 6578
about EF3 commentsJochen

Julia Domna, RIC IV 379(a)Julia Domna, AD 193-217
AR - antoninianus, 4.67g, 22.88mm
Rome, AD 211-217, struck under Caracalla
obv. IVLIA PIA - FELIX AVG
Bust, draped, wearing stephane, r., on crescent
rev. LVNA LVCIFERA
Luna/Diana, in long garment, crescent on head, driving in a biga drawn by horses l., holding
reins in r. hand and sceptre in l. hand; above her the billowing garment.
RIC IV/1, Caracalla 379(a); C.106 (Diana?)
EF

Mythologically Diana is not known as biga driver like Sol. It seems to be the counterpart to Severus who
is depicted as Sol.4 commentsJochen

Lucilla Annia Aurelia Galeria wife Lucius Werusaaw. LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F
Bust of Lucilla, bare-headed, hair waved and fastened in a bun on back of head, draped, right
rew. DIANA LVCIFERA
Diana, draped, standing left, holding long lighted torch in both hands across body
RIC III Marcus Aurelius 762
data A.D. 164 - A.D. 180 nominał-Denar, mennica-Rzym

Lucilla Annia Aurlia Galeria ur. 150 - zm. ok. 182 AD
cesarzowa 164-169 ADWaldemar S

M. Plaetorius M.f. Cestianus – Plaetoria-4ROMAN REPUBLIC M. Plaetorius M.f. Cestianus AR Denarius 67 BC (18.96 mm 3.45 grams) SESTIANVS - S C, Helmeted draped bust right, with attributes of Isis, Minerva, Apollo, Diana, and Victory, cornucopia below chin / M.PLAETORIVS.M.F.AED - CVR, Eagle standing right on thunderbolt, head left, wings spread. Ex Madroosi collection. Crawford 409/1, Plaetoria 4, Syd 809, RCV 349Bud Stewart

Marcus Plaetorius M.f. CestianusObv: Helmeted and draped bust of a composite deity (referenced as Vacuna) facing right, wearing a wreath of laurel, corn, poppy and lotus, bow and quiver over her shoulder, cornucopia below chin, CESTIANVS behind, SC before.

Rev: M PLAETORIVS MF AED [CVR], eagle standing on thunderbolt, head turned left.

Note: Vacuna was an ancient Sabine goddess, identified by ancient Roman sources and later scholars with numerous other goddesses, including Ceres, Diana, Minerva, Victory, Bellona and Venus. She was mainly worshipped at a sanctuary in Horace's villa (now in the commune of Licenza), in sacred woods at Reate and at Rome.

Silver Denarius, Rome mint, 67 BC

4.1 grams, 18 mm, 180°

RSC Plaetoria 4, S3492 commentsMatt Inglima

Modern depictions of Artemis/Diana, 1552, FranceHenri II, France

Rev.: .NOMEN. AD *ASTRA. 1552, Diana walking left front, arrow in right hand, bow in left hand, building and tree in background.

for obverse, reverse and details click hereshanxi

Modern depictions of Artemis/Diana, 1586-1635, NurembergNuremberg, Counter Token/Jeton

by Hans Krauwinckel, Nuremberg, AD 1586-1635
Obv.: APOLLO DIANA /in ex. H . K . - Apollo with harp to left. Diana with dog, spear, arrow and quiver to right.

for obverse, reverse and details click hereshanxi

Modern depictions of Artemis/Diana, 1791, NurembergNuremberg, Counter Token

Rev.: RECH PFENN / LAUER , Artemis/Diana walking with her dog (poodle ?) on the dog leash, trees and bushes to the right
AE, 1.53g, 21mm

for obverse, reverse and details click hereshanxi

Modern depictions of Artemis/Diana, 1896, AustriaBronze Medal 1896
by Anton Scharff (1845 – 1903)
Obv.: Diana standing right with bow in right hand and placing left hand on helmet crowning heraldic shield, with a hound at her feet and jester in background; inscribed "G.d.b.K.W./1896/17.FEB.".

for obverse, reverse and details click hereshanxi

Modern depictions of Artemis/Diana, 1900, FranceAR Medal 1900

Obv: DIANE, Laureate bust of Diana with crossbow

for obverse, reverse and details click hereshanxi

Modern depictions of Artemis/Diana, 1907, FranceMedal by Lucien Jean Henri Cariat (1874-1925)

Obv: APTEMIΣ, Artemis with arrow and dog running right, signed Cariat

for obverse, reverse and details click here

shanxi

Modern depictions of Artemis/Diana, 1924, FranceMedal by Claude Léon Mascau (1924)

Obv: ARTEMIS, Artemis walking to the left and holding a leaping dog on a leash ) / signed C MASCAEUX

for obverse, reverse and details click here
shanxi

Modern depictions of Artemis/Diana, 1930, GermanyBronze Medal 1930
by Friedrich Wilhelm Hörnlein, (1873 – 1945)
Obv: Artemis/Diana with bow and quiver, roe behind, signed Hörnlein

for obverse, reverse and details click hereshanxi

Modern depictions of Artemis/Diana, 1931, FranceMedal by Pierre-Alexandre Morlon (original design 1931)

Obv: UNION FEDERALE DES SOCIETES DE TIR AUX ARMES DE CHASSE, Artemis/Diana Standing right, holding bow, dog behind, signed MORLON

for obverse, reverse and details click here

shanxi

Modern depictions of Artemis/Diana, 1932, FranceMedal by André Pierre Schwab

Obv: Artemis advancing right, holding bow, dog behind, signed SCHWAB

for obverse, reverse and details click here

shanxi

Modern depictions of Artemis/Diana, 1938/1966, GermanyGold Medal 1966 (design 1938)
by Hans Schwegerle (1882 – 1950)
Obv: DEUTSCHES JAGDMUSEUM MÜNCHEN, NEUERÖFFNUNG 1966, Diana left with dog

for obverse, reverse and details click hereshanxi

Modern depictions of Artemis/Diana, 1940, FranceBronze Medal ca. 1940
by François André Clémencin (1878-1950)
Obv: Artemis running left, holding bow, dog behind

for obverse, reverse and details click hereshanxi

Modern depictions of Artemis/Diana, 1963, FranceBronze Medal ca. 1963-1965
by Raymond Delamarre (1890–1986)

Obv: ARTEMIΣ, Artemis running left, stag behind, squirrel underneath

for obverse, reverse and details click here
shanxi

Modern depictions of Artemis/Diana, 2017, Cook IslandsSilver Coin, 2017
by Raphael David Maklouf, *1937
Obv: Artemis in the forest at night time with stars and a large stag in the background. She is featured drawing her bow and arrow and aiming into the distance, ARTEMIS

for obverse, reverse and details click here
shanxi

P. ACCOLEIUS LARISCOLUSAR denarius. 43 BC. 3,92 grs. Draped bust of Diana Nemorensis right. P. ACCOLEIUS LARISCULUS / Triple cult statue of Diana Nemorensis. The Nymphae Querquetulanae ( Diana, Hecate, Selene) facing, supporting on their hands and shoulders a beam, above which are five cypress trees. The figure on the left holds a poppy in her right hand; the nymph on the right holds a lily in her left.
Crawford 486/1. RSC Accoleia 1.1 commentsbenito

P. ACCOLEIUS LARISCOLUSAR denarius. 43 BC. 3,92 grs. Draped bust of Diana Nemorensis right. P. ACCOLEIVS LARISC0LVS / Triple cult statue of Diana Nemorensis. The Nymphae Querquetulanae ( Diana, Hecate, Selene) facing, supporting on their hands and shoulders a beam, above which are five cypress trees. The figure on the left holds a poppy in her right hand; the nymph on the right holds a lily in her left.
Crawford 486/1. RSC Accoleia 1.
benito

P. Accoleius Lariscolus - AR denariusRome
43 BC
draped bust of Diana Nemorensis (or Acca Larentia) right
P. ACCOLEIVS__LARISCOLVS
Triple cult statue of Diana Nemorensis (the Nymphae Querquetulanae: Diana, Hecate, Selene) facing supporting on their hands and shoulders a beam, above which are five cypress trees; the figure on the left holds a poppy in her right hand; the nymph on the right holds a lily in her left.
Crawford 486/1; CRI 172; Sydenham 1148; Kestner 3702-3703; BMCRR Rome 4211-4213; Accoleia 1
3,7g 17mm
ex Soler y Llach1 commentsJ. B.

P. Accoleius Lariscolus, Crawford 486/1AR - Denarius, 3.90gm, 19.7mm.
Rome, 43 BC
obv. P. ACCOLEIVS - LARISCOLVS
Archaisized bust of Diana Nemorensis, draped, r.
rev. Triple cult statue of Diana Nemorensis (Diana, Hecate, Selene) facing,
supporting on their hands and shoulders a bar; behind them a grove of five
cypresses; the figure on the left (Diana) holds a bow in her outer hand, the
figure on the right (Selene) a poppy.
Crawford 486/1; Sydenham 1148; Accoleia 1
gVF, light toning, with a reasonably unobtrusive banker's mark.

Regarding the hairstyle of the obv. portrait this coin is from a later period of this issue (A. Alföldi). The family of the mint-master is originated from Aricia at the Lake Nemi where stood the grove and the temple of Diana Nemorensis. Here too votiv-inscriptions of the Accoleii have been found. Octavian's mother was from Aricia. Perhaps Octavian himself has influenced the selection of this coin-motive.

For more informations please look at the thread 'Mythological interesting coins'1 commentsJochen

RIC 5a, p.098, 380var. - Gallienus, DianaGallienus
Antoninian, Mediolanum
Obv: IMP GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate bust right
Rev: DIANA FELIX, Diana, holding bow and drawing arrow from quiver, advancing right; hound springing right.
MIR 920g (2 specimens), RIC 380 var.
3.96 g, 22 mm
shanxi

Ric-127 - Gordian III DIANA LVCIFERAIMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG - Laureate and draped bust right
DIANA LVCIFERA - Diana, the moon-goddess, sister of Apollo, standing right, holding long, lighted torch

RIC-127(r) Cohen-69 Sear-2470jimwho523

Roman Empire, Augustus & Julia, Daughter of Augustus.Julia, daughter of Augustus.
AR Denarius, Roma mint, 13 BC.
Obv. AVGVSTVS, Bare head of Augustus right, lituus behind.
Rev. C MARIVS TRO III VIR, draped bust of Julia, as Diana, right with quiver at shoulder.
RIC 403 (I, 72); RSC 1 (I, 160).
3,82g, 17mm.
Provenance: H.D.Rauch Auktionshaus, Auction 84, lot 336.

Roman Empire, Faustina II (Filia) (128-175 A.D.), AE-Dupondius, RIC III 1405b (Ant.Pius), Rome, No legend, S-C, Diana, Scarce!,038a Faustina (II) Filia (128-175 A.D.), AE-Dupondius, RIC III 1405b (Ant.Pius), Rome, No legend, S-C, Diana, Scarce!,
"Daughter of Antoninus Pius and Faustina Sr. and wife of Marcus Aurelius. She was also the mother of Commodus and Lucilla, wife of Lucius Verus."
avers:- FAVSTINA-AVG-P-II-AVG-FIL, Draped bust right, with hair waved and coiled on back of head, band of pearls and necklace.
revers: No legend - Diana standing left, holding arrow and resting hand on bow, S-C across the field.
exerg: S/C//--, diameter: 27mm, weight: 13,86g, axis: 5h,
mint: Rome, date: 145-146 A.D., ref: RIC-III-1405b (Antoninus Pius), p-194, C-207,209,
Q-0016 commentsquadrans

Roman Imperial: Diva Faustina II (Postoumous Commemorative Issue), Orichalcum Sestertius.Rome 175-176 A.D. 20.21g - 31.3mm, Axis 12h.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA PIA - Draped bust right, hair in chignon at back of the head.

Rev: SIDERIBVS RECEPTA / S-C - Faustina as Diana, standing right, holding torch, crescent behind neck. S-C across fields.

Ref: RIC III 1715 (Aurelius); MIR 18, 64-6c; BMCRE 1584 (Aurelius); Cohen 215.
Rated: Scarce.
Provenance: Chris Scarlioli Collection.Christian Scarlioli

ROMAN REPUBLIC, C Postumius, Denarius, 74 BCObv: Anepigraphic
Draped bust of Diana, right. Bow and quiver over shoulder.
Rev: C POSTUMI TA (or AT)
Hound running right. Spear below. Legend in exergue.
3.6 gm, 17.4 mm, Mint: Rome, S 330, RSC 9.
Comment: Gens Postumia. Interesting that D. Sear did not know whether the A and T ligate on reverse is TA or AT although little of the historical record is left of this moneyer. Otherwise I love the pony tail on Diana, goddess of the hunt.

ROMAN REPUBLIC, Publius Accoleius Lariscolus. AR denarius, Rome, 43 BCObv. Diana Nemorensis to right. Behind P ACCOLEIVS, in front LARISCOLVS.
Rev. Triple cult statue of Diana Nemorensis ( consisting of Diana, Hekate and Selena ) standing facing, supporting beam on which there are five trees.
Coin: Sear maintains that this coin commemorates the town of Aricia, the place of origin of the moneyer's family. Diana Nemoerensis was the chief deity of Aricia, and the ruins of her temple there are still visible today. Octavian's mother, Atia, was born in the town.
Ref. Albert 1542, Crawford 486/1, Sear 484.
3.41 gr, 18mm.

Roman Republic: Gens: Aelia, Moneyer: C. Allius Bala, AR Denarius.Rome 92 B.C. 3.54g - 17mm, Axis 12h.

Obv: BALA - Diademed female head right.

Rev: C·ALLI. - Diana, holding spear and torch, driving galloping biga of stags right; grasshopper below, C·ALLI in the ex.

Ref: Crawford 336/1b; Aelia 4; Sydenham 595.
Provenance: Chris Scarlioli Collection.Christian Scarlioli

Sakastan, late 1st cent. BC - early 1st cent. AD, unknown ruler over Phraates IVAR dr., 3,55gr, 19,25mm
Sellw. 91.12, Shore 472, Senior 1991 D;
mint: Margiane or Sogdiana, axis: 12h; Sakastan, AR dr., late 1. cent. BC - early 1. cent. AD, AR dr., 3,55gr, 19,25mm;
obv.: bare-headed bust of Phraates IV, left, (Sellw.52.19); diadem, knot, and 2 broad ribbons joined at the end; med.-long hair in 5 waves, mustache, short pointed beard; royal wart; in upper right field eagle carrying wreath or diadem; on left shoulder oval countermark w/Eukratides style helmeted bust, right, surrounded by beads; host coin has BB 12 - 18h;
rev.: archer,right, on throne, w/bow and monogr. Î ; 5 lines of corrupted ‘Greek’ legend visible;

ex: CNG Auction 398, #370.

1 commentsSchatz

Skythians in Sogdiana, AR Obol, 1st century ADUncertain Tribe
Skythians in Sogdiana
AR Obol
1st century AD
Stylized bust left
Archer standing right
Senior A8.7Ardatirion

Sogdiana, Bukhara: Kai Yuan Tong Bao imitation (ca. 7th century)Quant.Geek

Sogdiana, Bukhara: Turco-Hephthalite lords of Bukhara in the name of the Abbasid caliph al-Amin (809-813) BI Drachm (Album-96, MACW-1396)Obv: Bukharan-style bust facing right with Arabic legend around, commencing at 5 o'clock
Rev: Fire altar; bust of Ahura Mazda in flames right on altar. Stylized attendants to either side.
Quant.Geek

Sogdiana, Bukhara: Turco-Hephthalite lords of Bukhara in the name of the Abbasid caliph al-Mahdhi (775-785) BI Drachm (Album-94, MACW-1395)Obv: Bust in the style of the Sasanian king Varhran V facing right. Sogdian legend Pwy'r ywB k'y 'King-Emperor of Bukhara' to right; Arabic legend 'al-Mahdi' behind head.
Rev: Fire altar; bust of Ahura Mazda in flames right on altar. Stylized attendants to either side. Quant.Geek

Sogdiana, Chach: Unknown Ruler (3rd-5th c.) AE Unit (Shagalov & Kuznetsov-1)Obv: Portrait of a ruler in profile facing left surrounded by a linear rim. The ruler has an almond shaped eyes, a large nose, sloping forehead, pointed chin with a forked beard, and small mustache. Hair is flowing down to his shoulders and individual strands of curly hair is intercepted by a tiara, which ends tied behind his head with two loops back down to his head. The top of the tiara has a crescent-shaped pommel attached. On the neck of the ruler is a jewlery with a round medallion in the middle.
Rev: Tamgra surrounded by Sogdian legend - c'c'n n'pn'c wnwn xw b - Chach people ruler - King Vanvan.Quant.Geek

Sogdiana, Ikhshids of Samarqand: Urk Wartramuka (675-696) AE Cash (Smirnova-657)Obv: Tamghas around central square hole
Rev: Sogdian legend around central square holeQuant.Geek

Sogdiana, Principality of Samitan: Nanaiabiat Samidanian (ca. 700-800 AD) AE Cash (Fedorov: pl. 24, 1-6)Obv: Sogdian legend around square hole, which can be translated as 'Nanaiabiat Samidanian', Samidan being the town's name, Nanaiabiat the ruler.
Rev: Tamgha each side of square hole. The identical tamghas are in the form of a semi-circle on a pedestal; small annulet in semi-circle.

Reference

Fedorov, M., & Kuznetsov, A. (2010). A Hoard of Early Medieval Sogdian Bronze Coins from the Ming Tepe Hillfort. The Numismatic Chronicle, 170, 446-451.Quant.Geek

Sogdiana, Semirech'e: Proto-Qarakhanid (10th c.) AE Cash (Kamyshev-49)Obv: Legend in Kufic Arabic - ملك ارام ينال قرج (Malik Aram Yinal Qaraj)
Rev: BlankQuant.Geek

Sogdiana, Semirechie: Tugesh Kaganate (800-850AD) AE Cash? (Kamyshev #27)Obv: Sogdian legend around square hole
Rev. Scarce type of tamgha with elongated connection from square hole corner to tamgha
Quant.Geek

Sogdiana, Turgesh Kaqanate: Wahshutawa (8th c.) AE Cash (Kamyshev-21)Obv: Sogdian legend xwt' w'xswt'wy pny (coin of the king Vahshutava)
Rev: Tamgha, "P" & Yuan Quant.Geek

Sogdiana, Ustrushana: Satachari II (ca. 7th century) AE cash (Smirnova-1427)Obv: elephant facing left
Rev: tamgha
Quant.Geek

SOL statue from Gorsium (Pannonia Inferior) - 3rd century ADGorsium is the greatest open-air archeological park in the Carpathian basin. The city was established in place of a military settlement by the Emperor Trajan. Gorsium lay at one of the most important road intersections in the province, and it was the center of emperor worship in Pannonia and the seat of the provincial assembly. Delegates from all over the province gathered here once every year to offer sacrifices to their gods for the glory of the reigning emperor, and to attend the assembly meetings. Septimius Severus visited the city in AD 202, and rebuilt the Temple of Augustus, what was destroyed by Markomanns in AD 178.
The city was full of pagan shrines, reliefs and monuments. According to the artifacts, the inhabitants of the city worshipped Aeneas, Amor, Icarus, Achilles, Jupiter, Silvanus, Minerva, Liber, Attis, Hercules, Venus, Luna, Juno, Mars, Victoria, Diana, Mithra and others.
This SOL statue was found in the central free-well together with broken coins and other things. 42mm high.
3 commentsberserker

T. Claudius Nero T.f. Ap. N., Crawford 383/1T. Claudius Nero T.f. Ap. N., gens Claudia
AR - Denarius Serratus, 3.81g
Rome 79 BC
obv. Bust of Diana, draped, bow and quiver over r. shoulder, r.
S.C before
rev. Victory stg. in biga, galloping r., holding wreath in raised r. hand, and palm and reins in l. hand.
beneath LXIII
in ex. TI.CLAVD.TI. / AP.N. (VD and AP ligate)
Crawford 383/1; Sydenham 770; Claudia 6
VF
2 commentsJochen

Temple of DianaCaracalla --AE32, Augusta Trajana. R: Temple of Diana, tree on each side. cf. SNG Evelpedis 1037 3 commentsfeatherz

TEMPLE, CARACALLA, (Temple of Diana)Caracalla --AE32, Augusta Trajana. R: Temple of Diana, tree on each side. cf. SNG Evelpedis 1037 3 commentsfeatherz

The Roman Republic. C.Hosidius C.f. Geta AR Serrate DenariusThe Roman Republic. C.Hosidius C.f. Geta AR Serrate Denarius. Rome, 68 or 64 BC. Draped bust of Diana right, with bow and quiver over shoulder; GETA downwards to left, III•VIR downwards to right / Calydonian boar standing right, pierced by spear and attacked by hound to right; C•HOSIDI•C•F in exergue. Crawford 407/1; RSC Hosidia 2; Sydenham 904. 3.89g, 22mm, 6h.

Ex Andrew McCabe collection (CNG Electronic Auction 472, 15th July 2020, Lot 259).
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 114 (Part II), 7th May 2019, Lot 1326.
Ex Gorny & Mosch 186, 8th March 2010, Lot 1798.

‘He squealed harshly, hot foam streaming over his broad shoulders, and his tusks were as long as an elephant’s. Flames came out of his mouth, and the leaves were burnt up by his breath’ (Metamorphoses 8.284-9).

On the obverse of this handsome denarius is a portrait of Diana, goddess of the hunt, sporting her trademark bow and quiver. The reverse features the giant Calydonian boar of classical Greek myth, wounded by a spear and being attacked by a hound half it’s size. The ferocious boar was sent by Diana as retribution after King Oienus of Calydon forgot to include her in his annual sacrifical offerings to the gods. Oienus called for help from the best hunters in Greece, and many of the famous heroes of the generation before the Trojan war responded, including Oienus’ own son Meleager, some of the Argonauts, the Dioscuri and the huntress (and only woman) Atalanta.

Many of the men refused to hunt alongside a woman, but Meleager, who had taken a shine to the huntress, convinced them. It was Atalanta that drew the first blood, whilst Meleager finished the job off. He presented her with the trophies of the hunt, and this stirred up feelings of discontent that the prize should go to a girl. Meleager’s two uncles got in on the act and stole the spoils, causing Meleager to kill them in a fit of rage. This led to Meleager’s mother Althaea, whose brothers had just been murdered, seeking revenge - even if it meant killing her own son. It had been prophesized at Meleager’s birth that he would live only so long as a log then burning in the family hearth should last. Althaea had removed it from the fire and kept it hidden for years in the hope of preserving her son’s life. Until now. She threw the log back onto the fire, thus ending Meleager’s life as it was consumed. Diana had finally had her revenge against King Oienus.

One of the most famous depictions of the hunt is found on the François Vase, a large krater of Athenian workmanship dated to circa 570 BC.

As for Hosidius, there is little known about the moneyer responsible for this issue. There is no mention of the Hosidii in Rome prior to it’s appearance on these coins, but there is reference to the family name in inscriptions from a town on the coast of Italy called Histonium (present day Vasto). Indeed, there may be links between this town and the myth of the Calydonian boar; via Diomedes, one of the heroes of the Trojan war, and the founder of Histonium according to legend. Therefore Hosidius likely chose to depict a legend that was well known and important to the people of his home town.

This is without a doubt one of my favourites in my collection. It's a particularly well centred example with wonderful toning.

Notes from Andrew McCabe: "I purchased this coin due to the really exceptional speared boar and dog on the reverse and the very large flan, but later found an example from the collection of Benjamin Nightingale, a well-known 19th century antiquarian. My new coin has a less cute boar, but I had to choose between provenance and art."
2 commentsPaulus J

Ti Claudius Ti.f.Ap.n.Nero Denarius 79bcSilver denarius serratus, SRCV 310, Crawford 383/1, Sydenham 770a, RSC Claudia 6, VF, Rome mint, 79 B.C.; obverse diademed and draped bust of Diana, bow and quiver over shoulder, S·C before; reverse Victory in a biga right, raising wreath in right, palm and reigns in left, A·XVII? (control number) below, TI·CLAVD·TI·F / AP N (VD and AP in monogram) in ex; Nice dark toning

The S C on the obverse stands for Senatus Consulto. This issue was authorized by Senate decree, most likely to pay for the extensive military operations during the dictator ship of Sulla. The obverse refers to the Sabine origin of the Claudius Gens. The control numbers run all the way to CLXX.
Philoromaos

Valerian IDiana

In Roman mythology, Diana was the virgin goddess of the hunt, the equivalent of the Greek goddess Artemis. Born with her twin brother Apollo on the island of Delos, Diana was the daughter of Jupiter and Latona.

Diana was the perpetually virginal huntress goddess, associated with wild animals and woodlands. She also later became a moon goddess, supplanting Luna, and was an emblem of chastity. Oak groves were especially sacred to her. She was praised for her strength, athletic grace, beauty and hunting skill. She made up a trinity with two other Roman deities: Egeria the water nymph, her servant and assistant midwife; and Virbius, the woodland god.

Diana was worshipped in a temple on the Aventine Hill and at the city of Ephesus, where the Temple of Artemis stood. Being placed on the Aventine, and thus outside the pomerium, meant that Diana's cult essentially remained a 'foreign' one, like that of Bacchus; she was never officially 'transferred' to Rome as Juno was after the sack of Veii. It seems that her cult originated in Aricia, where her priest, the Rex Nemorensis remained. Diana was regarded with great reverence by lower-class citizens and slaves; slaves could receive asylum in her temples. She was worshipped at a festival on August 13, when King Servius Tullius, himself born a slave, dedicated her shrine on the Aventine.

Diana is usually depicted with a deer. This is because Diana was the patroness of hunting. It is also a reference to the myth of Acteon (or Actaeon), a prince who saw her bathing naked. Diana transformed Acteon into a deer and sent his own hunting dogs to kill him.

IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG Radiate draped cuirassed bust right
FELICITAS SAECVLI Diana, with crescent on head, walking right, drapery flying, carrying long traverse torch.

RIC 291 (Thanks!)ecoli

VI - Gallienus Antoninianus - G - StagGallienus (260 - 268 AD)
AR/BI Antoninianus

obv: GALLIENUS AUG - Radiate bust right.
rev: DIANAE CONS AUG - Stag walking left. 'X' in exergue.
-
*This coin has an AMAZING gold colored toning to it, that I have found very hard to capture on camera.... I will keep trying but I don't think I can quite show it the way it really looks... it is beautiful, the toning~!

Weight: 2.0 Grams
Size: 21 mmrexesq

VI - Gallienus Antoninianus - G - Stag w/ 25 cent pieceGallienus (260 - 268 AD)
AR/BI Antoninianus

obv: GALLIENUS AUG - Radiate bust right.
rev: DIANAE CONS AUG - Stag walking left. 'X' in exergue.

Weight: 2.0 Grams
Size: 21 mm
-
*This coin has an AMAZING gold colored toning to it, that I have found very hard to capture on camera.... I will keep trying but I don't think I can quite show it the way it really looks... it is beautiful, the toning~!

~Coin shown next to US Quarter Dollar (25 Cents) for size comparison.~
rexesq

[1112a] Valerian I, October 253 - c. June 260 A.D.Silver antoninianus, RIC 232, RSC 10, VF, worn die reverse, Mediolanum mint, 3.909g, 22.2mm, 180o, 257 A.D.; Obverse: IMP VALERIANVS P AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right; Reverse: AETERNITATI AVGG, Sol standing left, raising right, globe in left; nice portrait, good silver for the reign. Ex FORVM.

De Imperatoribus Romanis,
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors and their Families

Valerian (A.D. 253-260) and Gallienus (A.D. 253-268)

Richard D. Weigel
Western Kentucky University

P. Licinius Valerianus, or Valerian, was unusual for his time period in that he was an emperor who came from an old Roman senatorial family. He was likely born shortly before 200 A.D., but little is known of his early life. Valerian married Egnatia Mariniana and had two sons, Gallienus and Valerian Junior. Gallienus was born around 218. Valerian makes his first appearance in the sources in 238 A.D. as an ex-consul and princeps senatus negotiating with (more likely than serving on) the embassy sent to Rome by Gordian I's African legions to secure senatorial approval of Gordian's rebellion against and replacement of Maximinus Thrax as emperor. The Scriptores Historiae Augustae probably report accurately that Trajan Decius, on the recommendation of the Senate, offered Valerian the censorship in 251. Although the senatus consultum cited and the specific office are of doubtful authenticity, the high reputation Valerian possessed in the Senate and his association with the government under Decius probably are truthful aspects of the story. In 253 Valerian was apparently commanding in Raetia and Noricum when Trebonianus Gallus sent him to bring legions from Gaul and Germany to Italy for the struggle with the forces of Aemilianus. After Gallus' troops killed him and his son and joined Aemilianus, Valerian's men proclaimed their general emperor and their arrival in Italy caused Aemilianus' soldiers to desert and kill their commander and join Valerian's forces in acclaiming Valerian as emperor.

The Senate presumably was pleased to ratify the position of Valerian, one of their own, as emperor and they also accepted his son and colleague, P. Licinius Egnatius Gallienus, as Augustus, rather than just as Caesar. Valerian apparently realized the necessity of sharing power equally with his son and of dividing their efforts geographically, with Gallienus responsible for the West and Valerian himself concentrating on the East. The biographies of Valerian and Gallienus in the Scriptores Historiae Augustae, attributed to Trebellius Pollio, are not especially helpful in putting together an account of their joint reign. The life of Valerian is fragmentary and that of Gallienus projects an extremely biased negative interpretation of his career.

Gallienus in the early years of the joint reign concentrated, with some success, on protecting Gaul and the Rhine frontier by driving back Germanic tribes and fortifying cities such as Cologne and Trier. In a move which would characterize later diplomacy with Germans, Gallienus concluded an alliance with one of their chieftains, presumably to assist the Romans in protecting the empire from other Germanic tribes. The invasions increased in number around 257-258 as the Franks entered Gaul and Spain, destroying Tarraco (Tarragona), and the Alamanni invaded Italy. Gallienus defeated the Alamanni at Milan, but soon was faced with the revolts in Pannonia and Moesia led first by his general there, Ingenuus, and then by Regalianus, commander in Illyricum. Gallienus put down these rebellions by 260 and secured stability in the region by concluding an alliance with the Marcomannic king, whose daughter Pipa the emperor apparently accepted as his concubine although he was still married to Cornelia Salonina.

In the East, Valerian had succeeded by A.D. 257 in rescuing Antioch in Syria from Persian control, at least temporarily, but was soon faced with a major invasion of the Goths in Asia Minor. The Scriptores Historiae Augustae biography of Aurelian has Valerian appear to speak in the Baths at Byzantium to publicly commend Aurelian for his success in driving back the Goths and reward him with the consulship and even with adoption as imperial successor. However, it is not clear that Valerian even reached Byzantium because he sent Felix to that city while he remained to protect the eastern section of Asia Minor and then returned to Antioch to guard it against renewed Persian attacks. It was at this point, around 259, that Valerian moved to defend Edessa and his troops lost significant numbers to the plague. Valerian tried to negotiate a peace with the Persian king, Sapor, but was captured by treachery and taken into captivity. The ultimate humiliation of a Roman emperor by a foreign leader was enacted through Sapor's use of Valerian as a human stepping-stool to assist the Persian king in mounting his horse and Valerian's body was later skinned to produce a lasting trophy of Roman submission.

Eusebius discusses the policy of Valerian toward the Christians and says that, after initially treating them most positively, Valerian was persuaded by Macrianus to lead another persecution against them. Valerian in fact after his brutal imprisonment and death in Persia would serve as a negative moral exemplum for some Latin Christian writers who gleefully pointed out that those who oppose the true God receive their just desserts.

Eusebius also credits Gallienus with reversing his father's policy and establishing peace with the Church, citing imperial edicts which established freedom of worship and even restored some lost property. Paul Keresztes claims that Gallienus in fact established a peace with Christians that lasted for forty-three years, from A.D. 260 until 303, and gave the community a kind of legal status which they had previously lacked.

Andreas Alföldi details a growing separation between Gallienus and his father which goes well beyond the geographical one which had developed out of military necessity. In addition to the strikingly different policies, just described, which they pursued toward the Christians, Gallienus began to make his military independence clear through changes in coin inscriptions and by 258 he had created his central cavalry unit and stationed it at Milan. This independent force, which was under the command of a man of equestrian rank and soon stood on a level at least equal to that of the Praetorian Guard, would play a significant role in Gallienus' upcoming battles and, of course, was a foretoken of a new trend for military organization in the future. Alföldi cites as evidence of the increasing separation between the joint emperors the statement that Gallienus did not even seek his father's return from captivity, which Lactantius of course interpreted as part of Valerian's divine punishment, but one wonders what indeed Gallienus might have done and his "indifference" may have been instead his attempt to reassert confidence in his armies and not dwell on the depressing and humiliating servitude and ultimate death of Valerian. Another reform which Alföldi discusses as part of Gallienus' independent stand is his exclusion of the senatorial class from major military commands. H.M.D. Parker credits Gallienus with beginning to separate the civil and military functions of Rome's provincial governors, thus making senatorial governors purely civil administrators and starting to replace them even in this reduced role by equestrians. The disappearance in this period of the S.C. stamp of senatorial authority on bronze coins was probably also seen as an attack on the prestige of the order, although the debasement of the silver coinage had by this time practically reached the point where the "silver" coins were themselves essentially bronze and the change may have been more for economic than for political reasons. Gallienus' exclusion of senators from military command further broke down class distinctions because sons of centurions were by this time regularly given equestrian rank and the move further accelerated the alienation of Rome as center of the Empire. In addition, the bitterness of the senatorial class over Gallienus' policy most likely explains the hatred of Latin writers toward this particular emperor.

Although Gallienus' military innovations may have made his forces more effective, he still had to face numerous challenges to his authority.In addition to systemic invasions and revolts, the plague wreaked havoc in Rome and Italy and probably in several provinces as well. It must have seemed that every commander he entrusted to solve a problem later used that authority to create another threat. When Gallienus was involved in putting down the revolt of Ingenuus in Pannonia, he put Postumus in charge of the armies guarding the Rhine and Gaul. There is some doubt about which of Gallienus' sons, Cornelius Valerianus or P. Cornelius Licinius Saloninus, was left in Cologne under the care of the Praetorian Prefect Silvanus and perhaps also Postumus. In any case, when Postumus revolted and proclaimed his independent Gallic Empire, Silvanus and one of the emperor's sons were killed. Gallienus probably restricted Postumus' expansion, but he never gained the personal revenge that, according to one source, drove him to challenge Postumus to single combat. While Gallienus was thus engaged, and after Valerian's capture by the Persians, Macrianus had his soldiers proclaim his sons, Macrianus and Quietus, emperors in Syria, Asia Minor, and Egypt. Gallienus sent Aureolus to defeat Macrianus and one son in the area of Illyria and Thrace; Odenathus of Palmyra defeated the other son and restored stability in Syria and, with Gallienus' approval, followed that up with a victory over the Persians. After Odenathus' assassination ca. 267, his wife Zenobia continued to rule the independent Palmyrene section of the Empire.

In A.D. 262 Gallienus concluded his tenth year in office by celebrating in Rome his Decennalia with a spectacular procession involving senators, equestrians, gladiators, soldiers, representatives of foreign peoples, and many other groups. This festival included feasts, games, entertainment, and spectacle which probably reminded Romans of the millennial Secular Games celebrations of Philip I and likely were intended to secure popular support at home for Gallienus. Over the next five years little is known about specific activities of the emperor and he presumably spent more time in Rome and less along the frontiers.

Gallienus and Salonina as rulers patronized a cultural movement which collectively is known as the Gallienic Renaissance. The imperial patrons are most directly connected with the philosophical aspects of this movement because Porphyry testifies to their friendship for the Neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus. Porphyry goes on to say that Plotinus asked Gallienus to rebuild an abandoned former city of philosophers in Campania, rename it Platonopolis, and govern it as a kind of Platonic Republic, but that the jealousy and spite of others at court scuttled the plan. In addition to Neoplatonic philosophy, according to Gervase Matthew, the Gallienic Renaissance included the "upward glance" and other stylistic changes in imperial sculpture and religious beliefs that were characterized by "an overwhelming sense of the transcendent and immutable." Matthew points out both the return to artistic models of Augustus, Hadrian, and even Severus Alexander and also "a new Romantic tension" which breaks with the past and points toward a new and very different world. The Hellenic character of much of the Gallienic Renaissance is also stressed in the emperor's trip to Athens where he, likely in imitation of Hadrian, became eponymous archon and received initiation into the Eleusinian cult of Demeter.
Late in his reign, Gallienus issued a series of coins in Rome which honored nine deities as Conservator Augusti or protector of the emperor by pairing his portrait with reverses picturing an animal or animals symbolic of each deity. Included in this group of celestial guardians are Apollo, Diana, Hercules, Jupiter, Juno, Liber Pater, Mercury, Neptune, and Sol. For example, Apollo's coin-types portray a centaur, a gryphon, or Pegasus; Hercules is represented by either the lion or the boar. It appears that Gallienus was issuing the "animal series" coins both to secure, through some religious festival, the aid of Rome's protective gods against continuing invasions, revolts, and plague and to entertain the Roman populace with pageantry and circus games, thus to divert their attention away from the same problems and maintain the security of the regime in power.

In A.D. 268, Gallienus saw his third son, Marinianus, become consul, but in the spring another Gothic invasion brought the emperor back to Greece. He defeated the invaders at Naissus in Moesia , but was deterred from pursuing them further by a revolt of the commander of his elite cavalry, Aureolus. He besieged this last rebel emperor in Milan, but a plot involving his Praetorian Prefect and two future emperors, Claudius and Aurelian, all three men Illyrians popular with many of the soldiers, lured Gallienus away from the city on a false pretext and assassinated him.The emperor's brother Valerian and young son Marinianus were also murdered. In spite of the bitter resentment which many of the senators must have felt toward the dead emperor and his reform policies, Claudius II, perhaps only to legitimize his own reign, persuaded the Senate to deify Gallienus.

Copyright Richard D. Weigel, 2007. Published on De Imperatoribus Romanis,
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors and their Families

Valerian I was proclaimed emperor after the death of Trajan Decius. He successfully repulsed many barbarian incursions but the standard of living declined and would never recover. In 260 A.D., after four years of war during which Roman forces suffered great losses in battle and to plague, he arranged for peace talks. He set off with a small group to discuss terms with the Sassinian emperor Sapor and was never seen again. The date of his death is unknown, but in Rome it was rumored that he had been murdered and that Sapor was using his stuffed body as a footstool. Joseph Sermarini, FORVM.

Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes

[1113a] Gallienus, August 253 - 24 March 268 A.D.Bronze antoninianus, RIC 163, RSC 72, choice EF, Rome mint, 3.716g, 21.6mm, 180o, 268 A.D.; Obverse: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right; Reverse: APOLLINI CONS AVG, centaur walking right drawing bow, Z in exergue; struck on a full and round flan, rare this nice. Commemorates vows to Apollo invoking his protection against the revolt of Aureolus. Ex FORVM.

De Imperatoribus Romanis,
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors and their Families

Valerian (A.D. 253-260) and Gallienus (A.D. 253-268)

Richard D. Weigel
Western Kentucky University

P. Licinius Valerianus, or Valerian, was unusual for his time period in that he was an emperor who came from an old Roman senatorial family. He was likely born shortly before 200 A.D., but little is known of his early life. Valerian married Egnatia Mariniana and had two sons, Gallienus and Valerian Junior. Gallienus was born around 218. Valerian makes his first appearance in the sources in 238 A.D. as an ex-consul and princeps senatus negotiating with (more likely than serving on) the embassy sent to Rome by Gordian I's African legions to secure senatorial approval of Gordian's rebellion against and replacement of Maximinus Thrax as emperor. The Scriptores Historiae Augustae probably report accurately that Trajan Decius, on the recommendation of the Senate, offered Valerian the censorship in 251. Although the senatus consultum cited and the specific office are of doubtful authenticity, the high reputation Valerian possessed in the Senate and his association with the government under Decius probably are truthful aspects of the story. In 253 Valerian was apparently commanding in Raetia and Noricum when Trebonianus Gallus sent him to bring legions from Gaul and Germany to Italy for the struggle with the forces of Aemilianus. After Gallus' troops killed him and his son and joined Aemilianus, Valerian's men proclaimed their general emperor and their arrival in Italy caused Aemilianus' soldiers to desert and kill their commander and join Valerian's forces in acclaiming Valerian as emperor.

The Senate presumably was pleased to ratify the position of Valerian, one of their own, as emperor and they also accepted his son and colleague, P. Licinius Egnatius Gallienus, as Augustus, rather than just as Caesar. Valerian apparently realized the necessity of sharing power equally with his son and of dividing their efforts geographically, with Gallienus responsible for the West and Valerian himself concentrating on the East. The biographies of Valerian and Gallienus in the Scriptores Historiae Augustae, attributed to Trebellius Pollio, are not especially helpful in putting together an account of their joint reign. The life of Valerian is fragmentary and that of Gallienus projects an extremely biased negative interpretation of his career.

Gallienus in the early years of the joint reign concentrated, with some success, on protecting Gaul and the Rhine frontier by driving back Germanic tribes and fortifying cities such as Cologne and Trier. In a move which would characterize later diplomacy with Germans, Gallienus concluded an alliance with one of their chieftains, presumably to assist the Romans in protecting the empire from other Germanic tribes. The invasions increased in number around 257-258 as the Franks entered Gaul and Spain, destroying Tarraco (Tarragona), and the Alamanni invaded Italy. Gallienus defeated the Alamanni at Milan, but soon was faced with the revolts in Pannonia and Moesia led first by his general there, Ingenuus, and then by Regalianus, commander in Illyricum. Gallienus put down these rebellions by 260 and secured stability in the region by concluding an alliance with the Marcomannic king, whose daughter Pipa the emperor apparently accepted as his concubine although he was still married to Cornelia Salonina.

In the East, Valerian had succeeded by A.D. 257 in rescuing Antioch in Syria from Persian control, at least temporarily, but was soon faced with a major invasion of the Goths in Asia Minor. The Scriptores Historiae Augustae biography of Aurelian has Valerian appear to speak in the Baths at Byzantium to publicly commend Aurelian for his success in driving back the Goths and reward him with the consulship and even with adoption as imperial successor. However, it is not clear that Valerian even reached Byzantium because he sent Felix to that city while he remained to protect the eastern section of Asia Minor and then returned to Antioch to guard it against renewed Persian attacks. It was at this point, around 259, that Valerian moved to defend Edessa and his troops lost significant numbers to the plague. Valerian tried to negotiate a peace with the Persian king, Sapor, but was captured by treachery and taken into captivity. The ultimate humiliation of a Roman emperor by a foreign leader was enacted through Sapor's use of Valerian as a human stepping-stool to assist the Persian king in mounting his horse and Valerian's body was later skinned to produce a lasting trophy of Roman submission.

Eusebius discusses the policy of Valerian toward the Christians and says that, after initially treating them most positively, Valerian was persuaded by Macrianus to lead another persecution against them. Valerian in fact after his brutal imprisonment and death in Persia would serve as a negative moral exemplum for some Latin Christian writers who gleefully pointed out that those who oppose the true God receive their just desserts.

Eusebius also credits Gallienus with reversing his father's policy and establishing peace with the Church, citing imperial edicts which established freedom of worship and even restored some lost property. Paul Keresztes claims that Gallienus in fact established a peace with Christians that lasted for forty-three years, from A.D. 260 until 303, and gave the community a kind of legal status which they had previously lacked.

Andreas Alföldi details a growing separation between Gallienus and his father which goes well beyond the geographical one which had developed out of military necessity. In addition to the strikingly different policies, just described, which they pursued toward the Christians, Gallienus began to make his military independence clear through changes in coin inscriptions and by 258 he had created his central cavalry unit and stationed it at Milan. This independent force, which was under the command of a man of equestrian rank and soon stood on a level at least equal to that of the Praetorian Guard, would play a significant role in Gallienus' upcoming battles and, of course, was a foretoken of a new trend for military organization in the future. Alföldi cites as evidence of the increasing separation between the joint emperors the statement that Gallienus did not even seek his father's return from captivity, which Lactantius of course interpreted as part of Valerian's divine punishment, but one wonders what indeed Gallienus might have done and his "indifference" may have been instead his attempt to reassert confidence in his armies and not dwell on the depressing and humiliating servitude and ultimate death of Valerian. Another reform which Alföldi discusses as part of Gallienus' independent stand is his exclusion of the senatorial class from major military commands. H.M.D. Parker credits Gallienus with beginning to separate the civil and military functions of Rome's provincial governors, thus making senatorial governors purely civil administrators and starting to replace them even in this reduced role by equestrians. The disappearance in this period of the S.C. stamp of senatorial authority on bronze coins was probably also seen as an attack on the prestige of the order, although the debasement of the silver coinage had by this time practically reached the point where the "silver" coins were themselves essentially bronze and the change may have been more for economic than for political reasons. Gallienus' exclusion of senators from military command further broke down class distinctions because sons of centurions were by this time regularly given equestrian rank and the move further accelerated the alienation of Rome as center of the Empire. In addition, the bitterness of the senatorial class over Gallienus' policy most likely explains the hatred of Latin writers toward this particular emperor.

Although Gallienus' military innovations may have made his forces more effective, he still had to face numerous challenges to his authority.In addition to systemic invasions and revolts, the plague wreaked havoc in Rome and Italy and probably in several provinces as well. It must have seemed that every commander he entrusted to solve a problem later used that authority to create another threat. When Gallienus was involved in putting down the revolt of Ingenuus in Pannonia, he put Postumus in charge of the armies guarding the Rhine and Gaul. There is some doubt about which of Gallienus' sons, Cornelius Valerianus or P. Cornelius Licinius Saloninus, was left in Cologne under the care of the Praetorian Prefect Silvanus and perhaps also Postumus. In any case, when Postumus revolted and proclaimed his independent Gallic Empire, Silvanus and one of the emperor's sons were killed. Gallienus probably restricted Postumus' expansion, but he never gained the personal revenge that, according to one source, drove him to challenge Postumus to single combat. While Gallienus was thus engaged, and after Valerian's capture by the Persians, Macrianus had his soldiers proclaim his sons, Macrianus and Quietus, emperors in Syria, Asia Minor, and Egypt. Gallienus sent Aureolus to defeat Macrianus and one son in the area of Illyria and Thrace; Odenathus of Palmyra defeated the other son and restored stability in Syria and, with Gallienus' approval, followed that up with a victory over the Persians. After Odenathus' assassination ca. 267, his wife Zenobia continued to rule the independent Palmyrene section of the Empire.

In A.D. 262 Gallienus concluded his tenth year in office by celebrating in Rome his Decennalia with a spectacular procession involving senators, equestrians, gladiators, soldiers, representatives of foreign peoples, and many other groups. This festival included feasts, games, entertainment, and spectacle which probably reminded Romans of the millennial Secular Games celebrations of Philip I and likely were intended to secure popular support at home for Gallienus. Over the next five years little is known about specific activities of the emperor and he presumably spent more time in Rome and less along the frontiers.

Gallienus and Salonina as rulers patronized a cultural movement which collectively is known as the Gallienic Renaissance. The imperial patrons are most directly connected with the philosophical aspects of this movement because Porphyry testifies to their friendship for the Neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus. Porphyry goes on to say that Plotinus asked Gallienus to rebuild an abandoned former city of philosophers in Campania, rename it Platonopolis, and govern it as a kind of Platonic Republic, but that the jealousy and spite of others at court scuttled the plan. In addition to Neoplatonic philosophy, according to Gervase Matthew, the Gallienic Renaissance included the "upward glance" and other stylistic changes in imperial sculpture and religious beliefs that were characterized by "an overwhelming sense of the transcendent and immutable." Matthew points out both the return to artistic models of Augustus, Hadrian, and even Severus Alexander and also "a new Romantic tension" which breaks with the past and points toward a new and very different world. The Hellenic character of much of the Gallienic Renaissance is also stressed in the emperor's trip to Athens where he, likely in imitation of Hadrian, became eponymous archon and received initiation into the Eleusinian cult of Demeter.

Late in his reign, Gallienus issued a series of coins in Rome which honored nine deities as Conservator Augusti or protector of the emperor by pairing his portrait with reverses picturing an animal or animals symbolic of each deity. Included in this group of celestial guardians are Apollo, Diana, Hercules, Jupiter, Juno, Liber Pater, Mercury, Neptune, and Sol. For example, Apollo's coin-types portray a centaur, a gryphon, or Pegasus; Hercules is represented by either the lion or the boar. It appears that Gallienus was issuing the "animal series" coins both to secure, through some religious festival, the aid of Rome's protective gods against continuing invasions, revolts, and plague and to entertain the Roman populace with pageantry and circus games, thus to divert their attention away from the same problems and maintain the security of the regime in power.

In A.D. 268, Gallienus saw his third son, Marinianus, become consul, but in the spring another Gothic invasion brought the emperor back to Greece. He defeated the invaders at Naissus in Moesia , but was deterred from pursuing them further by a revolt of the commander of his elite cavalry, Aureolus. He besieged this last rebel emperor in Milan, but a plot involving his Praetorian Prefect and two future emperors, Claudius and Aurelian, all three men Illyrians popular with many of the soldiers, lured Gallienus away from the city on a false pretext and assassinated him.The emperor's brother Valerian and young son Marinianus were also murdered. In spite of the bitter resentment which many of the senators must have felt toward the dead emperor and his reform policies, Claudius II, perhaps only to legitimize his own reign, persuaded the Senate to deify Gallienus.

Copyright (C) 1998, Richard D. Weigel. Published on De Imperatoribus Romanis,
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/gallval.htm. Used by permission.

Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus was born in about AD 213. This means that he was about 40 years old when his father Valerian, in AD 253, was hailed emperor by his troops in Raetia. Gallienus was made Caesar immediately by his father. But within a month, when Valerian got to Rome, Gallienus received the rank of Augustus.

Compared to other Roman emperors of the age, Gallienus was an exception, as far as he was not a soldier-emperor. He was rather a thoughtful, intellectual ruler, possessing sophisticated Greek tastes. However, this made him deeply unpopular with the gritty Danubian generals, who very much understood it as their right to choose a leader among their own ranks to rule the empire.

If the Danubian military elite didn't like Gallienus, then he certainly soon proved that he was a capable military leader. Between AD 254 to AD 256 he campaigned along the Danube, securing this troubled frontier against the barbarians. In AD 256 he then moved west to fight the Germans along the Rhine.

Then by autumn AD 260 the message of Valerian's capture by the Persians reached Gallienus. If Gallienus had always been unpopular among the military leaders, then now with his father gone and Roman authority crumbling, rebellion was in the air.

On a night in September, AD 268, at the siege of Mediolanum (Milan), an alarm was suddenly raised in the camp of the emperor. In the brief moment of confusion, Gallienus was struck down in the dark as he emerged from his tent.

During his reign, Gallienus began numerous reforms and military campaigns to defend the empire, as much from usurpers as from barbarians. In doing so, he perhaps saved the empire from oblivion. At the same time he presided over perhaps the last flowering of classical Roman culture, patronizing poets, artists and philosophers.

As a last gesture of disrespect to this, most unfortunate of emperors, the Romans should lay Gallienus to rest not in one of the great mausoleums in Rome, but in a tomb nine miles south of the capital, along the Via Appia.

Ironically, he was deified by the senate at the request of Claudius II Gothicus, one of the men who must be held accountable for the assassination of Gallienus.
See: http://www.roman-empire.net/decline/gallienus.html

Gallienus was the son of Valerian I and was named Caesar at his father's accession to the throne in 253 A.D. Upon his father's capture by the Parthians he assumed the rank of Augustus and began numerous reforms and military campaigns to defend the empire, as much from usurpers as from barbarians. At the same time he presided over perhaps the last flowering of classical Roman culture, patronizing poets, artists and philosophers. Gallienus was assassinated while besieging Milan. Joseph Sermarini, FORVM.

Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr. Cleisthenes

[1114a] Claudius II Gothicus, September 268 - August or September 270 A.D.Silvered antoninianus, RIC V 197 var (pellet in exergue), aEF, 3.880g, 21.1mm, 0o, Antioch mint, 268 - 270 A.D.; Obverse: IMP C CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right; Reverse: AEQVITAS AVG, Aequitas standing left, scales in right, cornucopia in left, • in exergue; full silvering, bold strike, excellent centering and eastern style, rare this nice; rare variety. Ex FORVM.

De Imperatoribus Romanis
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors

Claudius II Gothicus (268-270)

Richard D. Weigel
Western Kentucky University

M. Aurelius Claudius, known to history as Claudius Gothicus or Claudius II, was born in either Dalmatia or Illyria on May 10, probably in A.D. 213 or 214. Although the most substantive source on Claudius is the biography in the Scriptores Historiae Augustae (SHA), this account is riddled with fabrications and slanted with fawning praise for this particular emperor, who in the fourth century was viewed as an ancestor of Constantine's father and thus of the ruling imperial family. This biography, attributed to one Trebellius Pollio, must be read with extreme caution and supplemented with information from other sources, including Aurelius Victor, the Epitome de Caesaribus, Eutropius, Orosius, Zonaras, and Zosimus, as well as coins and inscriptions.

The SHA account describes Claudius as being tall, with fiery eyes, and so strong that he could knock out the teeth of man or beast with one punch. It also says that Trajan Decius rewarded him after Claudius demonstrated his strength while wrestling another soldier in the Campus Martius. The SHA author suggests that Claudius may have been descended from the Trojan King Ilus and even from Dardanus, son of Zeus and ancestor of the Trojan royal family, but these suggestions are very likely fabricated to further ennoble Claudius and his putative descendants, the family of Constantine. The SHA biography also includes false letters attributed to the emperors Trajan Decius, Valerian, and Gallienus, all attesting to their high opinions of Claudius. Reference is made in these letters to Claudius' service as tribune in an otherwise unattested legion V Martialis and also as general in command of Illyria, but these positions may also be fictitious. One can assume that Claudius had served for some time in the army, at least under Gallienus and perhaps also under several earlier emperors.

There is some evidence that Claudius was wounded in Gallienus' campaign to put down the revolt of Ingenuus and that he later served with Aureolus under Gallienus in the war with Postumus. By 268, when Gallienus took his troops into Italy to put down Aureolus' revolt, Claudius had emerged as heir-apparent to Gallienus and may also have been involved in the plot to assassinate the emperor. Aurelius Victor says that when Gallienus was killed by his own troops besieging Aureolus in Milan, Claudius as tribune was commanding the soldiers stationed at Ticinum, some twenty miles to the south, and that prior to dying Gallienus designated Claudius as his heir. Victor goes on to claim that after succeeding to the purple Claudius forced the Senate to deify Gallienus. The SHA account states that the soldiers mutinied after Gallienus' death and had to be quieted with a donative of twenty aurei each before settling down and accepting their new emperor. Once in power, Claudius quickly dealt with Aureolus, who surrendered and was killed almost immediately. The new emperor also demanded clemency for the supporters of Gallienus.

The story of Gallienus' deathbed selection of his successor is doubtful at best and is very likely an attempt to deflect blame for the assassination plot from Claudius. The suggestion that the new emperor pressured the Senate to deify Gallienus is more difficult to assess. It is true that securing divine status for one's predecessor is generally seen as a pious act (e.g. Antoninus Pius requesting deification of Hadrian) that reflects positively on the initiator and the story, recorded only in Aurelius Victor, could just be a fabrication used to build up Claudius' moral reputation. What is difficult to penetrate is the biased condemnation of Gallienus that particularly dominates the Latin sources. They make it hard to see why anyone would want to deify Gallienus and so the story seems out of place. However, deification of a predecessor could also be interpreted as the expected thing to do and the act could have fostered legitimacy of the new emperor and gained support from those who were still loyal to Gallienus so it may well have taken place.

The first major challenge facing the new emperor was that of the Alemanni, who had invaded Raetia and Italy. After an early defeat, Claudius replaced some irresponsible officers and soldiers, designated Aurelian as cavalry commander, and led the army to a decisive victory over the Alemanni. This victory earned Claudius the title of Germanicus Maximus and several of his coin-types appear to refer to victory over the Germans.

In 269 Claudius served as consul with Paternus. This year would also feature his major campaign against the Goths. There are indications that Spain separated itself from the Gallo-Roman Empire of Postumus and Tetricus and recognized Claudius, at least nominally, as emperor. In addition, rebellion within Gaul itself demonstrated the weakening of this independent state, although Claudius avoided engagement at Augustodunum and chose only to send a small force to protect Narbonese Gaul. While Claudius concentrated on protecting Roman territory against the Alemanni and Goths, Zenobia extended her Palmyrene Empire by taking Antioch, parts of Asia Minor, and most of Egypt. Although Eusebius and Sulpicius Severus portray the period between the reign of Valerian and that of Diocletian as a peaceful pause in the persecution of Christians, the Acts of the Martyrs does list some individuals allegedly martyred during Claudius II's reign.

The coins issued by Claudius II provide some limited insight into his reign. In addition to the standard "personified virtues" coins that are common with most emperors of the second and third centuries, Claudius struck coin-types proclaiming the security of the Empire (SECVRITAS PERPETVA and PAX AETERNA), the fidelity of the army (FIDES MILITVM), and military victories over the Germans and Goths (VICTORIA GERMAN and VICTORIAE GOTHIC). In addition, Claudius Gothicus' mints struck some other interesting and unusual coin-types. For example, Claudius is one of very few emperors who issued coins portraying the god Vulcan. These must have been limited issues because they are struck only by the Antioch mint and are very rare. The type shows Vulcan standing, with his special tools, the hammer and tongs, and features the unique inscription REGI ARTIS. A variant type with a similar image has been described as carrying another unique coin inscription, DEO CABIRO, and interpreted as depicting one of Vulcan's sons, the Cabiri, with the same tools. However, the existence of this variant type is doubtful. Although the reason for honoring Vulcan (and his sons?) with these coins is unclear, there may be a connection to the fact that the Cabiri were patron gods of Thessalonica who had protected that city against an attack by the Goths. Although a connection between Claudius Gothicus and the Cabiri as defenders against Gothic attacks is relatively attractive, it is weakened somewhat by the fact that Valerian and Gallienus had also issued coins with Vulcan in a temple so there may be some other reason for his reappearance on coins in this period.

Claudius II issued an unusual and scarce series of coins that features a pair of deities, who are presumably conservatores Augusti, on each reverse. The AETER AVG type depicts Apollo and Diana, who, as gods of the sun and moon, are associated with the concept of aeternitas. A type featuring Serapis and Isis is combined with a CONSER AVG inscription and one of Hercules and Minerva with one of CONSERVATORES AVG. Apollo and Diana are depicted with a SALVS AVG inscription, Aesculapius and Salus with one of SPES PVBLIC, and Vulcan and Minerva with VIRT AVG. The general message is that these deities will protect the future of the empire and the emperor.

Other unusual coin-types include MARS VLTOR, the god Augustus had honored with a temple for securing revenge for Caesar's assassination. This deity had appeared on Roman coins in the reigns of Galba and Severus Alexander. Claudius II also minted coins with rarely-seen NEPTVN AVG [see this reverse type in my collection] and SOL AVG types. The latter coin indicates some early interest in the god who would become so dominant a few years later on the coins of Aurelian, yet Claudius also used the INVICTVS AVG inscription that Gallienus had paired with an image of Sol with one of Hercules. ROMAE AETERNAE coin-types were fairly common in the mid-third century, but Claudius II issued an unusual variant type on an aureus that showed the goddess in her temple and echoed the SAECVLVM NOVVM images associated with Philip I. In addition, Claudius introduced a IOVI VICTORI reverse combined with the image normally paired with a IOVI STATORI inscription and a IOVI FVLGERAT reverse inscription, both of which had not been used by any of his predecessors. Andreas Alföldi suggested that Claudius' GENIVS SENATVS type signified improvement of the relationship between emperor and Senate following the senatorial hostility toward Gallienus.

Claudius Gothicus also produced coin-types with reverses of goddesses customarily found paired on coins with images of the Roman empresses. The deities portrayed include Ceres, Diana, Diana Lucifera, and Diana Victrix, Minerva, Venus, and the goddess naturally associated with the image of an empress, Juno Regina. One might suggest that Claudius issued these images because he had no empress with which to pair them, but an examination of other emperors' reigns during this period reveals that those emperors who did not issue coins bearing the empress' image also did not strike these particular goddess types. Although Ceres and Venus images are sometimes paired with an emperor's portrait, Diana Lucifera is rarely found on emperors' coins and Claudius II is the only emperor paired on coins with Juno Regina. In addition, Claudius was the first emperor to issue imperial coins that featured an isolated image of the exotic Egyptian goddess, Isis Faria.

Claudius II's short reign was vulnerable to internal as well as external attack. There may have been a revolt in 269-270 led by a Censorinus, although the date and even the existence of this usurper remain in doubt. The SHA includes him as the last of the "thirty tyrants" and lists a whole series of offices for him, including two consulships, but no other record exists to confirm such service. The SHA account states that he was proclaimed emperor by his soldiers, but soon afterwards killed by them because of his enforcement of strict discipline. His tomb is listed as being in Bologna, which may provide some idea of the location for the revolt. Henry Cohen dates the revolt to the beginning of the year 270, perhaps on the basis of a reference in the Epitome de Caesaribus, but suggests that coins attributed to Censorinus in earlier works may not exist.

The Gothic challenge in 269 proved to be the greatest that Claudius II would face. The Goths assembled a large invading force, reportedly amounting to 320,000 men transported on a fleet of at least 2,000 ships, and first attacked coastal cities along the Black Sea in Moesia. After passing into the Aegean the Goths besieged Thessalonica. At this point, in 269, Claudius left Rome to stop the invasion. The Goths then sent the larger segment of their troops on land toward the Danube, while the fleet took the remaining group to continue the naval attack on Aegean coastal cities. Claudius sent Aurelian's cavalry to Macedonia to protect Illyria from attack, while he commanded the forces blocking the route to the Danube. In the area of Doberus and Pelagonia, the Goths lost 3,000 men to Aurelian's cavalry. At Naissus in Moesia, Claudius' force succeeded in killing some 50,000 Goths. There were follow-up operations on both land and sea, but the Gothic War had essentially been won. Staving off the attacks of the Goths was a major contribution to the survival of the Roman Empire. It was a significant step leading to the subsequent success of Aurelian and the resurrection of the Empire under Diocletian and Constantine. When the Goths eventually succeeded in taking parts of the western Empire in the fifth century, their disruption to the course of civilization was likely much less violent than it would have been had they succeeded in the third century.

In addition to bad weather, a lack of supplies, and hunger, plague was a major factor in the defeat of the Goths. Many of the Gothic prisoners were either impressed into Roman military service or settled on farms as coloni. Claudius received the title Gothicus in recognition of his triumph over the Goths. At some point he had also been given the title Parthicus, but the unlikelihood of any conflict with the Parthians in his short reign makes this difficult to explain. Perhaps Damerau was correct in his suggestion that a Parthian unit may have been involved in one of the battles with the Palmyrenes, although on this front there were few achievements to claim. In any case, Claudius' victory over the Goths was short-lived. The emperor himself caught the plague and died at Sirmium early in 270. He was 56 years old. Claudius' brother, Quintillus, became emperor briefly before losing out to Aurelian. Claudius also had another brother, Crispus, and the SHA traces the link to Constantius through Crispus' daughter Claudia.

The Roman Senate showed its respect for Claudius Gothicus by setting up a gold portrait-shield in the Curia and by approving his deification. He was also honored with a golden statue in front of the great temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus and a silver statue set on a column on the Rostra.

In many ways, Claudius II received more adulation and honor in his Nachleben than he had during his lifetime. In the fourth century, attempts to link Constantine's family to Claudius resulted in the phrases of adoration and outright fabrication that dominate the SHA life and most of our other sources. Constantine even issued commemorative coins honoring Claudius. These carried inscriptions such as: DIVO CLAVDIO OPT[IMO] IMP[ERATORI], MEMORIAE AETERNAE, and REQVIES OPT[IMORVM] ME[RITORVM]. A tradition grew that changed the story of Claudius' death in some sources. In this version, Claudius, instead of dying from the plague, had actually performed a devotion, in response to an oracle found in the Sibylline Books, and sacrificed his life so that Rome could win the Gothic War. One of the most surprising things about the SHA account is that it ignores this more dramatic tradition and has Claudius simply dying from the plague.

One must, of course, reject the excessive claims of the SHA to the effect that Claudius II was "destined to rule for the good of the human race" and would, had he lived longer, "…by his strength, his counsel, and his foresight have restored to us the Scipios, the Camilli, and all those men of old." However, Claudius Gothicus was clearly a good emperor who made a significant contribution to protecting and restoring the Empire. In the third century there aren't too many emperors who merit such an assessment.

Copyright (C) 2001, Richard D. Weigel. Used by permission.
http://www.roman-emperors.org/claudgot.htm

Claudius II Gothicus was born in Illyricum around 215 A.D. Under Valerian and Gallienus he was recognized as a superb general. After the murder of Gallienus, Claudius Gothicus was proclaimed emperor and preceded to crush the Alemani tribe who had invaded Roman territory. Soon after an enormous horde of Goths poured into the empire. Against all advice, Claudius confronted the barbarians at Naissus in Upper Moesia. He fought a brilliant battle and annihilated them. Unfortunately for the empire, he died of plague after a reign of only two years (Joseph Sermarini, FORVM;
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?vpar=741&pos=0#Recovery%20of%20the%20Empire%20Coins).

Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes

[1114b] Claudius II Gothicus, September 268 - August or September 270 A.D.Bronze antoninianus, RIC V 214, VF, 2.930g, 20.3mm, 180o, Antioch mint; Obverse: IMP C CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate bust right; Reverse: NEPTVN AVG, Neptune standing left, dolphin in right, trident in left hand, • in exergue; excellent centering. Ex FORVM.

De Imperatoribus Romanis
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors

Claudius II Gothicus (268-270)

Richard D. Weigel
Western Kentucky University

M. Aurelius Claudius, known to history as Claudius Gothicus or Claudius II, was born in either Dalmatia or Illyria on May 10, probably in A.D. 213 or 214. Although the most substantive source on Claudius is the biography in the Scriptores Historiae Augustae (SHA), this account is riddled with fabrications and slanted with fawning praise for this particular emperor, who in the fourth century was viewed as an ancestor of Constantine's father and thus of the ruling imperial family. This biography, attributed to one Trebellius Pollio, must be read with extreme caution and supplemented with information from other sources, including Aurelius Victor, the Epitome de Caesaribus, Eutropius, Orosius, Zonaras, and Zosimus, as well as coins and inscriptions.

The SHA account describes Claudius as being tall, with fiery eyes, and so strong that he could knock out the teeth of man or beast with one punch. It also says that Trajan Decius rewarded him after Claudius demonstrated his strength while wrestling another soldier in the Campus Martius. The SHA author suggests that Claudius may have been descended from the Trojan King Ilus and even from Dardanus, son of Zeus and ancestor of the Trojan royal family, but these suggestions are very likely fabricated to further ennoble Claudius and his putative descendants, the family of Constantine. The SHA biography also includes false letters attributed to the emperors Trajan Decius, Valerian, and Gallienus, all attesting to their high opinions of Claudius. Reference is made in these letters to Claudius' service as tribune in an otherwise unattested legion V Martialis and also as general in command of Illyria, but these positions may also be fictitious. One can assume that Claudius had served for some time in the army, at least under Gallienus and perhaps also under several earlier emperors.

There is some evidence that Claudius was wounded in Gallienus' campaign to put down the revolt of Ingenuus and that he later served with Aureolus under Gallienus in the war with Postumus. By 268, when Gallienus took his troops into Italy to put down Aureolus' revolt, Claudius had emerged as heir-apparent to Gallienus and may also have been involved in the plot to assassinate the emperor. Aurelius Victor says that when Gallienus was killed by his own troops besieging Aureolus in Milan, Claudius as tribune was commanding the soldiers stationed at Ticinum, some twenty miles to the south, and that prior to dying Gallienus designated Claudius as his heir. Victor goes on to claim that after succeeding to the purple Claudius forced the Senate to deify Gallienus. The SHA account states that the soldiers mutinied after Gallienus' death and had to be quieted with a donative of twenty aurei each before settling down and accepting their new emperor. Once in power, Claudius quickly dealt with Aureolus, who surrendered and was killed almost immediately. The new emperor also demanded clemency for the supporters of Gallienus.

The story of Gallienus' deathbed selection of his successor is doubtful at best and is very likely an attempt to deflect blame for the assassination plot from Claudius. The suggestion that the new emperor pressured the Senate to deify Gallienus is more difficult to assess. It is true that securing divine status for one's predecessor is generally seen as a pious act (e.g. Antoninus Pius requesting deification of Hadrian) that reflects positively on the initiator and the story, recorded only in Aurelius Victor, could just be a fabrication used to build up Claudius' moral reputation. What is difficult to penetrate is the biased condemnation of Gallienus that particularly dominates the Latin sources. They make it hard to see why anyone would want to deify Gallienus and so the story seems out of place. However, deification of a predecessor could also be interpreted as the expected thing to do and the act could have fostered legitimacy of the new emperor and gained support from those who were still loyal to Gallienus so it may well have taken place.

The first major challenge facing the new emperor was that of the Alemanni, who had invaded Raetia and Italy. After an early defeat, Claudius replaced some irresponsible officers and soldiers, designated Aurelian as cavalry commander, and led the army to a decisive victory over the Alemanni. This victory earned Claudius the title of Germanicus Maximus and several of his coin-types appear to refer to victory over the Germans.

In 269 Claudius served as consul with Paternus. This year would also feature his major campaign against the Goths. There are indications that Spain separated itself from the Gallo-Roman Empire of Postumus and Tetricus and recognized Claudius, at least nominally, as emperor. In addition, rebellion within Gaul itself demonstrated the weakening of this independent state, although Claudius avoided engagement at Augustodunum and chose only to send a small force to protect Narbonese Gaul. While Claudius concentrated on protecting Roman territory against the Alemanni and Goths, Zenobia extended her Palmyrene Empire by taking Antioch, parts of Asia Minor, and most of Egypt. Although Eusebius and Sulpicius Severus portray the period between the reign of Valerian and that of Diocletian as a peaceful pause in the persecution of Christians, the Acts of the Martyrs does list some individuals allegedly martyred during Claudius II's reign.

The coins issued by Claudius II provide some limited insight into his reign. In addition to the standard "personified virtues" coins that are common with most emperors of the second and third centuries, Claudius struck coin-types proclaiming the security of the Empire (SECVRITAS PERPETVA and PAX AETERNA), the fidelity of the army (FIDES MILITVM), and military victories over the Germans and Goths (VICTORIA GERMAN and VICTORIAE GOTHIC). In addition, Claudius Gothicus' mints struck some other interesting and unusual coin-types. For example, Claudius is one of very few emperors who issued coins portraying the god Vulcan. These must have been limited issues because they are struck only by the Antioch mint and are very rare. The type shows Vulcan standing, with his special tools, the hammer and tongs, and features the unique inscription REGI ARTIS. A variant type with a similar image has been described as carrying another unique coin inscription, DEO CABIRO, and interpreted as depicting one of Vulcan's sons, the Cabiri, with the same tools. However, the existence of this variant type is doubtful. Although the reason for honoring Vulcan (and his sons?) with these coins is unclear, there may be a connection to the fact that the Cabiri were patron gods of Thessalonica who had protected that city against an attack by the Goths. Although a connection between Claudius Gothicus and the Cabiri as defenders against Gothic attacks is relatively attractive, it is weakened somewhat by the fact that Valerian and Gallienus had also issued coins with Vulcan in a temple so there may be some other reason for his reappearance on coins in this period.

Claudius II issued an unusual and scarce series of coins that features a pair of deities, who are presumably conservatores Augusti, on each reverse. The AETER AVG type depicts Apollo and Diana, who, as gods of the sun and moon, are associated with the concept of aeternitas. A type featuring Serapis and Isis is combined with a CONSER AVG inscription and one of Hercules and Minerva with one of CONSERVATORES AVG. Apollo and Diana are depicted with a SALVS AVG inscription, Aesculapius and Salus with one of SPES PVBLIC, and Vulcan and Minerva with VIRT AVG. The general message is that these deities will protect the future of the empire and the emperor.

Other unusual coin-types include MARS VLTOR, the god Augustus had honored with a temple for securing revenge for Caesar's assassination. This deity had appeared on Roman coins in the reigns of Galba and Severus Alexander. Claudius II also minted coins with rarely-seen NEPTVN AVG [see this reverse type in my collection] and SOL AVG types. The latter coin indicates some early interest in the god who would become so dominant a few years later on the coins of Aurelian, yet Claudius also used the INVICTVS AVG inscription that Gallienus had paired with an image of Sol with one of Hercules. ROMAE AETERNAE coin-types were fairly common in the mid-third century, but Claudius II issued an unusual variant type on an aureus that showed the goddess in her temple and echoed the SAECVLVM NOVVM images associated with Philip I. In addition, Claudius introduced a IOVI VICTORI reverse combined with the image normally paired with a IOVI STATORI inscription and a IOVI FVLGERAT reverse inscription, both of which had not been used by any of his predecessors. Andreas Alföldi suggested that Claudius' GENIVS SENATVS type signified improvement of the relationship between emperor and Senate following the senatorial hostility toward Gallienus.

Claudius Gothicus also produced coin-types with reverses of goddesses customarily found paired on coins with images of the Roman empresses. The deities portrayed include Ceres, Diana, Diana Lucifera, and Diana Victrix, Minerva, Venus, and the goddess naturally associated with the image of an empress, Juno Regina. One might suggest that Claudius issued these images because he had no empress with which to pair them, but an examination of other emperors' reigns during this period reveals that those emperors who did not issue coins bearing the empress' image also did not strike these particular goddess types. Although Ceres and Venus images are sometimes paired with an emperor's portrait, Diana Lucifera is rarely found on emperors' coins and Claudius II is the only emperor paired on coins with Juno Regina. In addition, Claudius was the first emperor to issue imperial coins that featured an isolated image of the exotic Egyptian goddess, Isis Faria.

Claudius II's short reign was vulnerable to internal as well as external attack. There may have been a revolt in 269-270 led by a Censorinus, although the date and even the existence of this usurper remain in doubt. The SHA includes him as the last of the "thirty tyrants" and lists a whole series of offices for him, including two consulships, but no other record exists to confirm such service. The SHA account states that he was proclaimed emperor by his soldiers, but soon afterwards killed by them because of his enforcement of strict discipline. His tomb is listed as being in Bologna, which may provide some idea of the location for the revolt. Henry Cohen dates the revolt to the beginning of the year 270, perhaps on the basis of a reference in the Epitome de Caesaribus, but suggests that coins attributed to Censorinus in earlier works may not exist.

The Gothic challenge in 269 proved to be the greatest that Claudius II would face. The Goths assembled a large invading force, reportedly amounting to 320,000 men transported on a fleet of at least 2,000 ships, and first attacked coastal cities along the Black Sea in Moesia. After passing into the Aegean the Goths besieged Thessalonica. At this point, in 269, Claudius left Rome to stop the invasion. The Goths then sent the larger segment of their troops on land toward the Danube, while the fleet took the remaining group to continue the naval attack on Aegean coastal cities. Claudius sent Aurelian's cavalry to Macedonia to protect Illyria from attack, while he commanded the forces blocking the route to the Danube. In the area of Doberus and Pelagonia, the Goths lost 3,000 men to Aurelian's cavalry. At Naissus in Moesia, Claudius' force succeeded in killing some 50,000 Goths. There were follow-up operations on both land and sea, but the Gothic War had essentially been won. Staving off the attacks of the Goths was a major contribution to the survival of the Roman Empire. It was a significant step leading to the subsequent success of Aurelian and the resurrection of the Empire under Diocletian and Constantine. When the Goths eventually succeeded in taking parts of the western Empire in the fifth century, their disruption to the course of civilization was likely much less violent than it would have been had they succeeded in the third century.

In addition to bad weather, a lack of supplies, and hunger, plague was a major factor in the defeat of the Goths. Many of the Gothic prisoners were either impressed into Roman military service or settled on farms as coloni. Claudius received the title Gothicus in recognition of his triumph over the Goths. At some point he had also been given the title Parthicus, but the unlikelihood of any conflict with the Parthians in his short reign makes this difficult to explain. Perhaps Damerau was correct in his suggestion that a Parthian unit may have been involved in one of the battles with the Palmyrenes, although on this front there were few achievements to claim. In any case, Claudius' victory over the Goths was short-lived. The emperor himself caught the plague and died at Sirmium early in 270. He was 56 years old. Claudius' brother, Quintillus, became emperor briefly before losing out to Aurelian. Claudius also had another brother, Crispus, and the SHA traces the link to Constantius through Crispus' daughter Claudia.

The Roman Senate showed its respect for Claudius Gothicus by setting up a gold portrait-shield in the Curia and by approving his deification. He was also honored with a golden statue in front of the great temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus and a silver statue set on a column on the Rostra.

In many ways, Claudius II received more adulation and honor in his Nachleben than he had during his lifetime. In the fourth century, attempts to link Constantine's family to Claudius resulted in the phrases of adoration and outright fabrication that dominate the SHA life and most of our other sources. Constantine even issued commemorative coins honoring Claudius. These carried inscriptions such as: DIVO CLAVDIO OPT[IMO] IMP[ERATORI], MEMORIAE AETERNAE, and REQVIES OPT[IMORVM] ME[RITORVM]. A tradition grew that changed the story of Claudius' death in some sources. In this version, Claudius, instead of dying from the plague, had actually performed a devotion, in response to an oracle found in the Sibylline Books, and sacrificed his life so that Rome could win the Gothic War. One of the most surprising things about the SHA account is that it ignores this more dramatic tradition and has Claudius simply dying from the plague.

One must, of course, reject the excessive claims of the SHA to the effect that Claudius II was "destined to rule for the good of the human race" and would, had he lived longer, "…by his strength, his counsel, and his foresight have restored to us the Scipios, the Camilli, and all those men of old." However, Claudius Gothicus was clearly a good emperor who made a significant contribution to protecting and restoring the Empire. In the third century there aren't too many emperors who merit such an assessment.

Copyright (C) 2001, Richard D. Weigel. Used by permission.
http://www.roman-emperors.org/claudgot.htm

Claudius II Gothicus was born in Illyricum around 215 A.D. Under Valerian and Gallienus he was recognized as a superb general. After the murder of Gallienus, Claudius Gothicus was proclaimed emperor and preceded to crush the Alemani tribe who had invaded Roman territory. Soon after an enormous horde of Goths poured into the empire. Against all advice, Claudius confronted the barbarians at Naissus in Upper Moesia. He fought a brilliant battle and annihilated them. Unfortunately for the empire, he died of plague after a reign of only two years (Joseph Sermarini, FORVM;
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?vpar=741&pos=0#Recovery%20of%20the%20Empire%20Coins).

Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes

[1114c] Claudius II Gothicus, September 268 - August or September 270 A.D.Antoninianus. RIC 34. Weight, Size. F. Rome mint. Obverse: IMP C CLAVDIVS AVG, Radiate, draped bust right; Reverse: FIDES EXERCI, Fides standing left, holding two standards. Ex Maridvnvm

De Imperatoribus Romanis
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors

Claudius II Gothicus (268-270)

Richard D. Weigel
Western Kentucky University

M. Aurelius Claudius, known to history as Claudius Gothicus or Claudius II, was born in either Dalmatia or Illyria on May 10, probably in A.D. 213 or 214. Although the most substantive source on Claudius is the biography in the Scriptores Historiae Augustae (SHA), this account is riddled with fabrications and slanted with fawning praise for this particular emperor, who in the fourth century was viewed as an ancestor of Constantine's father and thus of the ruling imperial family. This biography, attributed to one Trebellius Pollio, must be read with extreme caution and supplemented with information from other sources, including Aurelius Victor, the Epitome de Caesaribus, Eutropius, Orosius, Zonaras, and Zosimus, as well as coins and inscriptions.

The SHA account describes Claudius as being tall, with fiery eyes, and so strong that he could knock out the teeth of man or beast with one punch. It also says that Trajan Decius rewarded him after Claudius demonstrated his strength while wrestling another soldier in the Campus Martius. The SHA author suggests that Claudius may have been descended from the Trojan King Ilus and even from Dardanus, son of Zeus and ancestor of the Trojan royal family, but these suggestions are very likely fabricated to further ennoble Claudius and his putative descendants, the family of Constantine. The SHA biography also includes false letters attributed to the emperors Trajan Decius, Valerian, and Gallienus, all attesting to their high opinions of Claudius. Reference is made in these letters to Claudius' service as tribune in an otherwise unattested legion V Martialis and also as general in command of Illyria, but these positions may also be fictitious. One can assume that Claudius had served for some time in the army, at least under Gallienus and perhaps also under several earlier emperors.

There is some evidence that Claudius was wounded in Gallienus' campaign to put down the revolt of Ingenuus and that he later served with Aureolus under Gallienus in the war with Postumus. By 268, when Gallienus took his troops into Italy to put down Aureolus' revolt, Claudius had emerged as heir-apparent to Gallienus and may also have been involved in the plot to assassinate the emperor. Aurelius Victor says that when Gallienus was killed by his own troops besieging Aureolus in Milan, Claudius as tribune was commanding the soldiers stationed at Ticinum, some twenty miles to the south, and that prior to dying Gallienus designated Claudius as his heir. Victor goes on to claim that after succeeding to the purple Claudius forced the Senate to deify Gallienus. The SHA account states that the soldiers mutinied after Gallienus' death and had to be quieted with a donative of twenty aurei each before settling down and accepting their new emperor. Once in power, Claudius quickly dealt with Aureolus, who surrendered and was killed almost immediately. The new emperor also demanded clemency for the supporters of Gallienus.

The story of Gallienus' deathbed selection of his successor is doubtful at best and is very likely an attempt to deflect blame for the assassination plot from Claudius. The suggestion that the new emperor pressured the Senate to deify Gallienus is more difficult to assess. It is true that securing divine status for one's predecessor is generally seen as a pious act (e.g. Antoninus Pius requesting deification of Hadrian) that reflects positively on the initiator and the story, recorded only in Aurelius Victor, could just be a fabrication used to build up Claudius' moral reputation. What is difficult to penetrate is the biased condemnation of Gallienus that particularly dominates the Latin sources. They make it hard to see why anyone would want to deify Gallienus and so the story seems out of place. However, deification of a predecessor could also be interpreted as the expected thing to do and the act could have fostered legitimacy of the new emperor and gained support from those who were still loyal to Gallienus so it may well have taken place.

The first major challenge facing the new emperor was that of the Alemanni, who had invaded Raetia and Italy. After an early defeat, Claudius replaced some irresponsible officers and soldiers, designated Aurelian as cavalry commander, and led the army to a decisive victory over the Alemanni. This victory earned Claudius the title of Germanicus Maximus and several of his coin-types appear to refer to victory over the Germans.

In 269 Claudius served as consul with Paternus. This year would also feature his major campaign against the Goths. There are indications that Spain separated itself from the Gallo-Roman Empire of Postumus and Tetricus and recognized Claudius, at least nominally, as emperor. In addition, rebellion within Gaul itself demonstrated the weakening of this independent state, although Claudius avoided engagement at Augustodunum and chose only to send a small force to protect Narbonese Gaul. While Claudius concentrated on protecting Roman territory against the Alemanni and Goths, Zenobia extended her Palmyrene Empire by taking Antioch, parts of Asia Minor, and most of Egypt. Although Eusebius and Sulpicius Severus portray the period between the reign of Valerian and that of Diocletian as a peaceful pause in the persecution of Christians, the Acts of the Martyrs does list some individuals allegedly martyred during Claudius II's reign.

The coins issued by Claudius II provide some limited insight into his reign. In addition to the standard "personified virtues" coins that are common with most emperors of the second and third centuries, Claudius struck coin-types proclaiming the security of the Empire (SECVRITAS PERPETVA and PAX AETERNA), the fidelity of the army (FIDES MILITVM), and military victories over the Germans and Goths (VICTORIA GERMAN and VICTORIAE GOTHIC). In addition, Claudius Gothicus' mints struck some other interesting and unusual coin-types. For example, Claudius is one of very few emperors who issued coins portraying the god Vulcan. These must have been limited issues because they are struck only by the Antioch mint and are very rare. The type shows Vulcan standing, with his special tools, the hammer and tongs, and features the unique inscription REGI ARTIS. A variant type with a similar image has been described as carrying another unique coin inscription, DEO CABIRO, and interpreted as depicting one of Vulcan's sons, the Cabiri, with the same tools. However, the existence of this variant type is doubtful. Although the reason for honoring Vulcan (and his sons?) with these coins is unclear, there may be a connection to the fact that the Cabiri were patron gods of Thessalonica who had protected that city against an attack by the Goths. Although a connection between Claudius Gothicus and the Cabiri as defenders against Gothic attacks is relatively attractive, it is weakened somewhat by the fact that Valerian and Gallienus had also issued coins with Vulcan in a temple so there may be some other reason for his reappearance on coins in this period.

Claudius II issued an unusual and scarce series of coins that features a pair of deities, who are presumably conservatores Augusti, on each reverse. The AETER AVG type depicts Apollo and Diana, who, as gods of the sun and moon, are associated with the concept of aeternitas. A type featuring Serapis and Isis is combined with a CONSER AVG inscription and one of Hercules and Minerva with one of CONSERVATORES AVG. Apollo and Diana are depicted with a SALVS AVG inscription, Aesculapius and Salus with one of SPES PVBLIC, and Vulcan and Minerva with VIRT AVG. The general message is that these deities will protect the future of the empire and the emperor.

Other unusual coin-types include MARS VLTOR, the god Augustus had honored with a temple for securing revenge for Caesar's assassination. This deity had appeared on Roman coins in the reigns of Galba and Severus Alexander. Claudius II also minted coins with rarely-seen NEPTVN AVG [see this reverse type in my collection] and SOL AVG types. The latter coin indicates some early interest in the god who would become so dominant a few years later on the coins of Aurelian, yet Claudius also used the INVICTVS AVG inscription that Gallienus had paired with an image of Sol with one of Hercules. ROMAE AETERNAE coin-types were fairly common in the mid-third century, but Claudius II issued an unusual variant type on an aureus that showed the goddess in her temple and echoed the SAECVLVM NOVVM images associated with Philip I. In addition, Claudius introduced a IOVI VICTORI reverse combined with the image normally paired with a IOVI STATORI inscription and a IOVI FVLGERAT reverse inscription, both of which had not been used by any of his predecessors. Andreas Alföldi suggested that Claudius' GENIVS SENATVS type signified improvement of the relationship between emperor and Senate following the senatorial hostility toward Gallienus.

Claudius Gothicus also produced coin-types with reverses of goddesses customarily found paired on coins with images of the Roman empresses. The deities portrayed include Ceres, Diana, Diana Lucifera, and Diana Victrix, Minerva, Venus, and the goddess naturally associated with the image of an empress, Juno Regina. One might suggest that Claudius issued these images because he had no empress with which to pair them, but an examination of other emperors' reigns during this period reveals that those emperors who did not issue coins bearing the empress' image also did not strike these particular goddess types. Although Ceres and Venus images are sometimes paired with an emperor's portrait, Diana Lucifera is rarely found on emperors' coins and Claudius II is the only emperor paired on coins with Juno Regina. In addition, Claudius was the first emperor to issue imperial coins that featured an isolated image of the exotic Egyptian goddess, Isis Faria.

Claudius II's short reign was vulnerable to internal as well as external attack. There may have been a revolt in 269-270 led by a Censorinus, although the date and even the existence of this usurper remain in doubt. The SHA includes him as the last of the "thirty tyrants" and lists a whole series of offices for him, including two consulships, but no other record exists to confirm such service. The SHA account states that he was proclaimed emperor by his soldiers, but soon afterwards killed by them because of his enforcement of strict discipline. His tomb is listed as being in Bologna, which may provide some idea of the location for the revolt. Henry Cohen dates the revolt to the beginning of the year 270, perhaps on the basis of a reference in the Epitome de Caesaribus, but suggests that coins attributed to Censorinus in earlier works may not exist.

The Gothic challenge in 269 proved to be the greatest that Claudius II would face. The Goths assembled a large invading force, reportedly amounting to 320,000 men transported on a fleet of at least 2,000 ships, and first attacked coastal cities along the Black Sea in Moesia. After passing into the Aegean the Goths besieged Thessalonica. At this point, in 269, Claudius left Rome to stop the invasion. The Goths then sent the larger segment of their troops on land toward the Danube, while the fleet took the remaining group to continue the naval attack on Aegean coastal cities. Claudius sent Aurelian's cavalry to Macedonia to protect Illyria from attack, while he commanded the forces blocking the route to the Danube. In the area of Doberus and Pelagonia, the Goths lost 3,000 men to Aurelian's cavalry. At Naissus in Moesia, Claudius' force succeeded in killing some 50,000 Goths. There were follow-up operations on both land and sea, but the Gothic War had essentially been won. Staving off the attacks of the Goths was a major contribution to the survival of the Roman Empire. It was a significant step leading to the subsequent success of Aurelian and the resurrection of the Empire under Diocletian and Constantine. When the Goths eventually succeeded in taking parts of the western Empire in the fifth century, their disruption to the course of civilization was likely much less violent than it would have been had they succeeded in the third century.

In addition to bad weather, a lack of supplies, and hunger, plague was a major factor in the defeat of the Goths. Many of the Gothic prisoners were either impressed into Roman military service or settled on farms as coloni. Claudius received the title Gothicus in recognition of his triumph over the Goths. At some point he had also been given the title Parthicus, but the unlikelihood of any conflict with the Parthians in his short reign makes this difficult to explain. Perhaps Damerau was correct in his suggestion that a Parthian unit may have been involved in one of the battles with the Palmyrenes, although on this front there were few achievements to claim. In any case, Claudius' victory over the Goths was short-lived. The emperor himself caught the plague and died at Sirmium early in 270. He was 56 years old. Claudius' brother, Quintillus, became emperor briefly before losing out to Aurelian. Claudius also had another brother, Crispus, and the SHA traces the link to Constantius through Crispus' daughter Claudia.

The Roman Senate showed its respect for Claudius Gothicus by setting up a gold portrait-shield in the Curia and by approving his deification. He was also honored with a golden statue in front of the great temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus and a silver statue set on a column on the Rostra.

In many ways, Claudius II received more adulation and honor in his Nachleben than he had during his lifetime. In the fourth century, attempts to link Constantine's family to Claudius resulted in the phrases of adoration and outright fabrication that dominate the SHA life and most of our other sources. Constantine even issued commemorative coins honoring Claudius. These carried inscriptions such as: DIVO CLAVDIO OPT[IMO] IMP[ERATORI], MEMORIAE AETERNAE, and REQVIES OPT[IMORVM] ME[RITORVM]. A tradition grew that changed the story of Claudius' death in some sources. In this version, Claudius, instead of dying from the plague, had actually performed a devotion, in response to an oracle found in the Sibylline Books, and sacrificed his life so that Rome could win the Gothic War. One of the most surprising things about the SHA account is that it ignores this more dramatic tradition and has Claudius simply dying from the plague.

One must, of course, reject the excessive claims of the SHA to the effect that Claudius II was "destined to rule for the good of the human race" and would, had he lived longer, "…by his strength, his counsel, and his foresight have restored to us the Scipios, the Camilli, and all those men of old." However, Claudius Gothicus was clearly a good emperor who made a significant contribution to protecting and restoring the Empire. In the third century there aren't too many emperors who merit such an assessment.

Copyright (C) 2001, Richard D. Weigel. Used by permission.
http://www.roman-emperors.org/claudgot.htm

Claudius II Gothicus was born in Illyricum around 215 A.D. Under Valerian and Gallienus he was recognized as a superb general. After the murder of Gallienus, Claudius Gothicus was proclaimed emperor and preceded to crush the Alemani tribe who had invaded Roman territory. Soon after an enormous horde of Goths poured into the empire. Against all advice, Claudius confronted the barbarians at Naissus in Upper Moesia. He fought a brilliant battle and annihilated them. Unfortunately for the empire, he died of plague after a reign of only two years (Joseph Sermarini, FORVM;
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?vpar=741&pos=0#Recovery%20of%20the%20Empire%20Coins).

Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes

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