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Tacitus, 25 September 275 - 12 April 276 A.D.
Obverse:
Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
AK K Λ TAKITOC CEB
AK: AVTOKRATOR is the equivalent of the Latin Imperator, 'emperor'.
K Λ is an abbreviation for K AV IOC, 'Claudius' transliterated into Greek.
TOK: TAKITOC= Tacitus
CEB: SEBASTOS (greek indication for augustus).
With the pellet between TOC . CEB
Reverse:
ETOVC A (year 1)
Dikaiosyne standing left holding scales in right hand and cornucopia in left. Diakaiosyne is the Greek equivalent of Aequitas ('Equity, Fair Dealing' to quote Sear).
Domination: Billon TETRAdrachm (4 drachms): size 21 mm
Mint: Alexandria, provincial.
Comment:
These Egyptian issues are not in RIC, but the old standard catalogue for these is Milne, where yours is no. 4492, with the pellet between TOC . CEB. They are also listed in the new Sear vol.III (though in not as much detail), where the nearest is 11831, which doesn't have the pellets in the obverse legend (Milne 4489). Other references : Curtis 1832, BMC 2403v ; Geissen 3115.
Peter Wissing
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The reverse is still a bit encrusted. Also, the lettering on the obverse does not seem consistent with "Urbs Roma" - any ideas?Matthew W2
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Caesarea, Paneas. AE23.
Obv : head of Claudius
Rev : His 3 children : Antonia, Britannicus and Octavia
Ref : RPC 4842
Hen-567
This coin type seems questionable to place under the coinage of Agrippa II since the legends do not mention Agrippa and the time of minting does not conform to the other Agrippa II coins. We will notice the absence of Agrippa's name in other issues as well. At the very least, though, it was struck at Caesarea-Paneas, so it is definitely part of the city coinage. It is catalogued in The Numismatic Legacy of the Jews in the city coinage section as #208.R. Smits
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1st Century CE, IRON AGE BRITAIN, Tribe: Atrebates, AR Unit, Struck c.25 -35 under EpaticcusObverse: EPATI. Head of Hercules, wearing lionskin headdress with paws tied before neck, facing right; pellet in ring behind.
Reverse: No legend. Eagle standing facing, head left, on serpent; dot in circle at upper right.
Diameter: 12mm | Weight: 1.1gms | Axis: 10 |
Spink: 356
Coin found in Hampshire, England. Old repair
EPATICCUS
Epaticcus was a son of Tasciovanus, and probably the younger brother of Cunobelin, he was also apparently a favoured uncle of Caratacus. It is from his coinage issues that we know his name and his family relationship.
The distribution of his coinage would indicate that Epaticcus expanded the territory of his tribe at the expense of the Atrebatean king Verica, and installed himself at the latter's capital, Calleva around 25 CE.
It is likely that Epaticcus was permitted to govern the area by his brother as part of the Catuvellaunian hegemony that was expanding across south eastern Britain at the time. Epaticcus continued to take Verica’s lands to west and south until his death, probably on campaign, around 35 CE. After this his expansionist policies were continued by his nephews, Caratacus and Togodumnus, into the late 30’s CE.
ATREBATES
The Atrebates were a Belgic Iron Age tribe originally dwelling in the Artois region of Northern France.
After the tribes of Gallia Belgic were defeated by Caesar in 57 BC, 4,000 Atrebates participated in the Battle of Alesia in 53, led by their chief Commius.
Before 54 BC, an offshoot of the Gallic tribe probably settled in Britain where it was successively ruled by kings Commius, Tincommius, Eppillus and Verica. Their territory comprised modern Hampshire, West Sussex and Berkshire, centred on the capital Calleva Atrebatum (modern Silchester). They were bordered to the north by the Dobunni and Catuvellauni; to the east by the Regni; and to the south by the Belgae.
The settlement of the Atrebates in Britain does not seem to have been a mass population movement and it is possible that the name "Atrebates", as with many "tribal" names in this period, referred only to the ruling house or dynasty and not to an ethnic group.
After the Roman conquest the Atrebates' lands were organized into the civitates of the Atrebates, Regni and possibly, the Belgae.
CLICK ON MAP BELOW TO ENLARGE IT
*Alex
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Gallienus, RIC 176 RomeGallienus, AE antoninianus
Obverse: IMP GALLIENVS radiate, bust right.
Reverse: DIANAE CONS AVG, doe running right and looking backwards.
Rome mint, 19 mm., 2.9 g.NORMAN K
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177 - 192, COMMODUS, AE Sestertius, Struck 185 at Rome, alluding to BritanniaObverse: M COMMODVS ANTON AVG PIVS BRIT, laureate head of Commodus facing right.
Reverse: P M TR P X IMP VII COS IIII P P. Draped figure of Victory, seated on pile of shields, facing right, holding a long stylus in her right hand and supporting a shield on her left knee with her left hand; S – C in field; VICT BRIT in exergue.
Diameter: 29.5mm | Weight: 20.12gms | Die Axis: 12h
RIC III: 452 | SRCV: 5826 | Cohen: 946 | BMCRE: 560 | SPINK: 648
SCARCE
This sestertius has a historically important reverse type which refers to Commodus' significant military campaign in Northern Britain.
COMMODUS
Between 180 AD and 184 AD, the Romans were once again at war with the northern tribes in Britain. According to Cassius Dio, “the tribes in that island, crossing the wall that separated them from the Roman legions, proceeded to do much mischief and cut down a general together with his troops”. Though Dio does not make it clear to us today which wall he was writing about, his Roman audience would have known. However, that said, since Southern Scotland was still occupied by the Romans at this time and the Maetae, one of the main tribes involved in the incursion, occupied a hill fort (called Myot Hill today) a few miles north of Antonine's Wall, the wall that seems to best fit his description of separating the tribes from the Roman legions would be the Antonine Wall rather than that of Hadrian. This was the most serious war of Commodus’ reign and when the war was won, Commodus minted coins to celebrate the victory. He also took on the title “Britannicus”, and all his coins after this date feature “Brit” in the legend.
CLICK ON THE IMAGE OF COMMODUS BELOW TO ENLARGE IT
 *Alex
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Biblical/Judean / AUGUSTUS, Marcus Ambibulus , Hendin-1329Augustus / Marcus Ambibulus, procurator of Judea under Augustus.
Marcus Ambibulus, procurator of Judea under Augustus, 9-12 AD, bronze prutah of 16 mm, 2.14 grams. Struck in the year 9 AD.
Jerusalem mint.
Obverse: Ear of grain, KAICA POC.
Reverse: Palm tree with 2 bunches of dates and date : LMO
Reference: Hendin-1329.
*Jesus was born sometime between 6 B.C. and 4 B.C.
According to St. Matthew, King Herod as the ruler during the time of the Nativity, and Herod died in 4 B.C. , according the dates of the later on struck coins with the new ruler name and dates (see note)
Later, to kill Jesus and eliminate him as a rival king, Herod ordered the "Massacre of the Innocents" - the killing of all male children in Bethlehem aged two years and under. This means that Jesus may have been up to two years old already by that time, and this sets the Nativity between 6 and 4 B.C.
**Surely All coins at that time were struck under the Roman emperor (who happened to be the first Roman emperor in history Augustus (Octavian) Not Julius Caesar as commonly known, Julius was only a dictator and Caesar during the Roman Republic time, never considered Emperor despite the title IMP on some of his coins).
The dates on coins struck during the time of Nativity, before that time, and even later, completely different story depends on the mint home , the ruler year and the kingdom or empire. Using AD (Anno Domini) was much later.
“Swear to me, young women of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, that you won’t awaken or arouse love before its proper time.” Song of Solomon.
The Sam Mansourati Collection.
Given as a souvenir to a great man, a dear friend and brother Rev. Robert E. Burnock , on 2/25/2020.
Sam
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Crispus RIC VII 69 Thessalonica, 319 CEObverse: IVL CRIS-PVS NOB C, laureate and cuirassed bust right.
Reverse: VIRT EXERC, Sol raising right hand and holding globe in left, standing in center of plan of roman camp.
TS dot E dot in ex. Thessalonica mint
19.53mm., 2.2g. rare
The true meaning of this reverse type has never been fully deciphered. The latest theory being the X shaped pattern represents Constantine's vision before the battle of Milvainbridge. This does not seem likely since the type is known on coins of Licinius a pagan and Constantine's enemy
sold 4-2018
NORMAN K
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Manuel I Komnenus clipped billion aspron trachy SB1966Obverse: IC-XC (bar above) in field, Christ bearded and nimbate, wearing tunic and colobion, seated upon throne without back; holds gospels in left hand.
Reverse: MAN(monogram)HA AECIIOT or var, MP OV bar above in upper right field, Full-length figure of emperor, bearded on left, crowned by Virgin nimbate. Emperor wears stemma, divitision, collar-peice, and jewelled loros of simplified type; holds in right hand labarum-headed scepter, and in left globus cruciger. Virgin wears tunic and maphorion.
four main varieties:
Mint: Constantinople
Date: 1167-1183?
Sear 1966 Var d, Fourth coinage; H 16.14,15; 17.1-4
rev: Jewel within circle on loros waist
16mm .89gm
As discussed in the Byzantine forumThese are the "neatly clipped" trachies.
During the reign of Manuel I the silver content of the trachy was dropped from c.6% to c.3%, but later types were sometimes issued with the higher silver content.
In Alexius III's time these high silver types were clipped down to half size, probably officially, presumably so as to match the lower silver content of the later issues.
Of course this would only have worked as long as the populace accepted the idea that the clipped coins were all high silver versions to start with. Once smarties started clipping ordinary coins these types would soon have have fallen out of favour and been withdrawn.
Ross G.
During the reign of Alexius III were reused coins of previous releases, clipping its border in a very regular mode and thus reducing to half their weight. Regularity of shearing and the fact that they were found to stock uniforms, suggesting that this clipping is a formal issuance of mint. Based on the stocks found in Constantinople , some of which consist only of clipped coins, it may safely be dated between 1195 and 1203.
Hendy and Grierson believe that this shearing was a consequence of the devaluation of trachy mixture during the reign of Isaac II and Alexius III. They reduced by half the already low silver content of this coin: shearing coins of previous emperors, still widely in circulation, made their trachy consistent with the intrinsic value of current emissions. Of course, this does not justify the clipping of coins already degraded of Isaac II and Alexius III. Therefore, reason for their declassification is not understood. I think that reason of Ross is right!
The structure of their dispersion in hoards indicates that, however, were made after the other emissions. Clipped trachys appear in small amounts along with regular trachy in hoards, represents a rarity. Were clipped trachys of Manuel I, Andronicus I, Isaac II and Alexius III, and perhaps of John II; those of Manuel are less scarce. In principle, we must believe that all trachys after Manuel I have been clipped, although many have not yet appeared.
Antvwala
wileyc
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ROME
PB Tessera (15mm, 6.63 g, 12h)
Griffin standing right, raising front paw
LST
Rostovtsev –
Remarkably, Rostovtsev does not record any tesserae with a griffin. Ardatirion
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UNCERTAIN EAST
Circa 300 BC - 100 AD?
PB Tessera (20mm, 3.79 g)
Two punches: bee, Λ A flanking; Nike advancing facing, head right
Blank
Gülbay & Kireç -; Lang & Crosby -; Howgego -
The first punch depicts a bee with a long, cylindrical body, triangular pointed wings, and globular eyes with the letters Λ and A flanking. A second, added later over the edge of the first, shows Nike striding boldly forward with her head slightly to the right. The elegant engraving of the punches, both unlisted as countermarks in Howgego, contrasts starkly with the rough, unfinished flan. Although the basic types of Nike and a bee are common at Ephesos, the fabric and style differ from the issues of that city. Neither does the piece fit with the tokens found in the Athenian Agora. All considered, this piece appears consistent with what one would expect from a temporary token or entry pass, possibly of the pre-Roman period.Ardatirion
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EGYPT, Aphroditopolis
PB Tessera (13mm, 1.78 g)
Eros standing left, stooping over bird to left
Head of hippocamp right (or swan right?)
Milne 5325-9; Dattari (Savio) 11856-7; Köln -; Rostowzew & Prou 714 (dolphin)
The reverse type here more closely resembles a swan than it does a hippocamp. While the swan is a symbol of Aphrodite, Dattari (Savio) 11857 clearly shows the head a hippocamp. It is possible that these are two distinct types.Ardatirion
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EGYPT, Uncertain
PB Seal (?) (21mm, 4.19g)
Dated year 3 of an uncertain era.
ANTWNINOV[KAITOVNY]
Hermes standing facing, nude, head left, disk or globe in right, caduceus in left; ibis at his feet; LΙΓ in left field
Traces of attached metal
Milne , “Egyptian Leaden Tokens” in NC 1930, p. 310 note 3; Milne -; Dattari (Savio) 6413; Köln -
With an old Galiere Antiker Kunst ticket.
Milne does not regard this piece as a token. The attached metal on the reverse is characteristic of certain types of lead seals.Ardatirion
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D.abs Louis the Pious (obol, class 3)Louis the Pious, king of the Franks and Holy Roman emperor (813-840)
Obol (unknown mint in the south-east of France?, class 3, 822-840)
Silver, 0.77 g, 15 mm diameter, die axis 5 h
O/ +PISTIΛNΛ PI; cross pattée with 4 pellets
R/ +OPISTIΛNΛ PE; cross pattée
This obol may be due to a double reverse error because of the absence of the sovereign's name and the legend repetition on both sides. However several dies were used to strike this type (I could find 3 obverse and 3 reverse dies), one side always bears 4 pellets as the other does not. One of the reverse dies is associated to the more typical obverse legend +HLVDOVVICVS I. Consequently an error does not seem to be likely. Because of hoard localizations, these obols seem to come from a single mint, in the south-east of France (Lyon, Arles?).
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"C" denarius, RRC 107/1b (var)Denomination: Denarius
Era: C. 209-208 BC
Metal: AR
Obverse: Helmeted head of Roma R,; X behind. Border of dots
Reverse: Dioscuri on horseback right, each holding spear, star above each head; "C" above; ROMA in 3-line frame.
Mint: Uncertain (Etruria?)
Weight: 4.36 g
Reference: RRC 107/1b (var)*
Provenance: NAC 125, Lot 372
Ex De Nicola Fixed price list June 1967, 229.
*This variety is not seen in the RRC plates, but it is depicted and differentiated in Grueber. (See Grueber II p. 188, #186, Plate LXXXIV 8.). Style only seen on 107 ("C"), not on 106 (staff). Crawford doesn't speculate on the meaning of the "C", or whether it is a mintmark or a moneyer's symbol. Sydenham notes that the bronze coins with C are sometimes overstruck on Sardinian coins, suggesting a mint in Sardinia. Grueber speculates that the C is a minmark for Canusium.
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(0193) JUIA DOMNAb. ca. 170, d. 217
(wife of Septimius Severus; mother of emperors Geta and Caracalla)
AR Fouree Denarius 19 mm, 3.49 g
O: IVLIA AVGVSTA draped bust right
R: FORTVN-[A]E AVG, Fortuna standing left holding cornucopiae
)(reverse type does not appear to have been used on official Domna denarius issues)laney
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(0193) SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS193-211 AD
AE 25.5 mm, 8.66 g
struck under governor Aurelius Gallus
O: AVT L CEPT -[ CEVHR PER] laureate head right
R: VP AV[R GALLOV] [NIKOPOLI]TWN / PROC ICTR; bow in exe; Cretan Bull with uplifted forelegs and raised tail left; Herakles, nude, running beside him left, grasping s the bull's horns to subdue him; club on ground behind Herakles’ right foot
Moesia inferior, Nikopolis ad Istrum
ref. a) AMNG I/1, 1309; b) Varbanov (engl.) 2710 corr. (doesn't mention club and bow)
c) Hristova/Jekov (2011) No. 8.14.14.25
d) Voegtli type 4m; Stoll, Herakles 39
Rare
Moesia inferior, Nikopolis ad Istrum laney
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(0293) CONSTANTIUS I CHLORUS (POSTHUMOUS)Augustus: 305 - 306 AD
struck ca.
AE Fractional 15.5 mm 1.73 g
O: DIVO CONSTANTIO PIO PRINCIPI , laureate veiled bust right
R: REQVIES OPTIMORVM MERITORVM , Constantius I seated left on curule chair
Dot TS Dot B Dot in exe
Thessalonica
RIC VII 25 a
Note: unlisted in RIC, which does not include officinae B (or A or D; the listed officinae are Rare (R5)
laney
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(501i) Roman Republic, D. Junius L.f. Silanus, 91 B.C.Silver denarius, Syd 646a, RSC Junia 16, S 225 var, Cr 337/3 var, VF, 3.718g, 18.6mm, 0o, Rome mint, 91 B.C.; obverse head of Roma right in winged helmet, X (control letter) behind; reverse Victory in a biga right holding reins in both hands, V (control numeral) above, D•SILANVS / ROMA in ex; mint luster in recesses. Ex FORVM.
Although the coin itself does not commemorate the event, the date this coin was struck is historically significant.
MARCUS Livius DRUSUS (his father was the colleague of Gaius Gracchus in the tribuneship, 122 B.C.), became tribune of the people in 91 B.C. He was a thoroughgoing conservative, wealthy and generous, and a man of high integrity. With some of the more intelligent members of his party (such as Marcus Scaurus and L. Licinius Crassus the orator) he recognized the need of reform. At that time an agitation was going on for the transfer of the judicial functions from the equites to the senate; Drusus proposed as a compromise a measure which restored to the senate the office of judices, while its numbers were doubled by the admission of 300 equites. Further, a special commission was to be appointed to try and sentence all judices guilty of taking bribes.
The senate was hesitant; and the equites, whose occupation was threatened, offered the most violent opposition. In order, therefore, to catch the popular votes, Drusus proposed the establishment of colonies in Italy and Sicily, and an increased distribution of corn at a reduced rate. By help of these riders the bill was carried.
Drusus now sought a closer alliance with the Italians, promising them the long coveted boon of the Roman franchise. The senate broke out into open opposition. His laws were abrogated as informal, and each party armed its adherents for the civil struggle which was now inevitable. Drusus was stabbed one evening as he was returning home. His assassin was never discovered (http://62.1911encyclopedia.org/D/DR/DRUSUS_MARCUS_LIVIUS.htm).
The ensuing "Social War" (91-88 B.C.) would set the stage for the "Civil Wars" (88-87 & 82-81 B.C.) featuring, notably, Marius & Sulla; two men who would make significant impressions on the mind of a young Julius Caesar. Caesar would cross the Rubicon not thirty years later.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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(502a) Roman Republic, L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi, 90 B.C.Silver denarius, S 235, Calpurnia 11, Crawford 340/1, Syd 663a, VF, rainbow toning, Rome mint, 3.772g, 18.5mm, 180o, 90 B.C. obverse: laureate head of Apollo right, scorpion behind; Reverse naked horseman galloping right holding palm, L PISO FRVGI and control number CXI below; ex-CNA XV 6/5/91, #443. Ex FORVM.
A portion of the following text is a passage taken from the excellent article “The Calpurnii and Roman Family History: An Analysis of the Piso Frugi Coin in the Joel Handshu Collection at the College of Charleston,” by Chance W. Cook:
In the Roman world, particularly prior to the inception of the principate, moneyers were allotted a high degree of latitude to mint their coins as they saw fit. The tres viri monetales, the three men in charge of minting coins, who served one-year terms, often emblazoned their coins with an incredible variety of images and inscriptions reflecting the grandeur, history, and religion of Rome. Yet also prominent are references to personal or familial accomplishments; in this manner coins were also a means by which the tres viri monetales could honor their forbearers. Most obvious from an analysis of the Piso Frugi denarius is the respect and admiration that Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi, who minted the coin, had for his ancestors. For the images he selected for his dies relate directly to the lofty deeds performed by his Calpurnii forbearers in the century prior to his term as moneyer. The Calpurnii were present at many of the watershed events in the late Republic and had long distinguished themselves in serving the state, becoming an influential and well-respected family whose defense of traditional Roman values cannot be doubted.
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi, who was moneyer in 90 B.C., depicted Apollo on the obverse and the galloping horseman on the reverse, as does his son Gaius. However, all of L. Piso Frugi’s coins have lettering similar to “L-PISO-FRVGI” on the reverse, quite disparate from his son Gaius’ derivations of “C-PISO-L-F-FRV.”
Moreover, C. Piso Frugi coins are noted as possessing “superior workmanship” to those produced by L. Piso Frugi.
The Frugi cognomen, which became hereditary, was first given to L. Calpurnius Piso, consul in 133 B.C., for his integrity and overall moral virtue. Cicero is noted as saying that frugal men possessed the three cardinal Stoic virtues of bravery, justice, and wisdom; indeed in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae, a synonym of frugalitas is bonus, generically meaning “good” but also implying virtuous behavior. Gary Forsythe notes that Cicero would sometimes invoke L. Calpurnius Piso’s name at the beginning of speeches as “a paragon of moral rectitude” for his audience.
L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi’s inclusion of the laureled head of Apollo, essentially the same obverse die used by his son Gaius (c. 67 B.C.), was due to his family’s important role in the establishment of the Ludi Apollinares, the Games of Apollo, which were first instituted in 212 B.C. at the height of Hannibal’s invasion of Italy during the Second Punic War. By that time, Hannibal had crushed Roman armies at Cannae, seized Tarentum and was invading Campania.
Games had been used throughout Roman history as a means of allaying the fears
of the populace and distracting them from issues at hand; the Ludi Apollinares were no different. Forsythe follows the traditional interpretation that in 211 B.C., when C. Calpurnius Piso was praetor, he became the chief magistrate in Rome while both consuls were absent and the three other praetors were sent on military expeditions against Hannibal.
At this juncture, he put forth a motion in the Senate to make the Ludi Apollinares a yearly event, which was passed; the Ludi Apollinares did indeed become an important festival, eventually spanning eight days in the later Republic. However, this interpretation is debatable; H.H. Scullard suggests that the games were not made permanent until 208 B.C. after a severe plague prompted the Senate to make them a fixture on the calendar. The Senators believed Apollo would serve as a “healing god” for the people of Rome.
Nonetheless, the Calpurnii obviously believed their ancestor had played an integral role in the establishment of the Ludi Apollinares and thus prominently displayed
the head or bust of Apollo on the obverse of the coins they minted.
The meaning of the galloping horseman found on the reverse of the L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi coin is more complicated. It is possible that this is yet another reference to the Ludi Apollinares. Chariot races in the Circus Maximus were a major component of the games, along with animal hunts and theatrical performances.
A more intriguing possibility is that the horseman is a reference to C. Calpurnius Piso, son of the Calpurnius Piso who is said to have founded the Ludi Apollinares. This C. Calpurnius Piso was given a military command in 186 B.C. to quell a revolt in Spain. He was victorious, restoring order to the province and also gaining significant wealth in the process.
Upon his return to Rome in 184, he was granted a triumph by the Senate and eventually erected an arch on the Capitoline Hill celebrating his victory. Of course
the arch prominently displayed the Calpurnius name. Piso, however, was not an infantry commander; he led the cavalry.
The difficulty in accepting C. Calpurnius Piso’s victory in Spain as the impetus for the galloping horseman image is that not all of C. Piso Frugi’s coins depict the horseman or cavalryman carrying the palm, which is a symbol of victory. One is inclined to believe that the victory palm would be prominent in all of the coins minted by C. Piso Frugi (the son of L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi) if it indeed signified the great triumph of C. Calpurnius Piso in 186 B.C. Yet the palm’s appearance is clearly not a direct reference to military feats of C. Piso Frugi’s day. As noted, it is accepted that his coins were minted in 67 B.C.; in that year, the major victory by Roman forces was Pompey’s swift defeat of the pirates throughout the Mediterranean.
Chrestomathy: Annual Review of Undergraduate Research at the College of Charleston. Volume 1, 2002: pp. 1-10© 2002 by the College of Charleston, Charleston SC 29424, USA.All rights to be retained by the author.
http://www.cofc.edu/chrestomathy/vol1/cook.pdf
There are six (debatably seven) prominent Romans who have been known to posterity as Lucius Calpurnius Piso:
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi: (d. 261 A.D.) a Roman usurper, whose existence is
questionable, based on the unreliable Historia Augusta.
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Licinianus: deputy Roman Emperor, 10 January 69 to15 January
69, appointed by Galba.
Lucius Calpurnius Piso: Consul in 27 A.D.
Lucius Calpurnius Piso: Consul in 1 B.C., augur
Lucius Calpurnius Piso: Consul in 15 B.C., pontifex
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus: Consul in 58 B.C. (the uncle of Julius Caesar)
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi: Moneyer in 90 B.C. (our man)
All but one (or two--if you believe in the existence of "Frugi the usurper" ca. 261 A.D.) of these gentlemen lack the Frugi cognomen, indicating they are not from the same direct lineage as our moneyer, though all are Calpurnii.
Calpurnius Piso Frugi's massive issue was intended to support the war against the Marsic Confederation. The type has numerous variations and control marks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Calpurnius_Piso
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/indexfrm.asp?vpar=55&pos=0
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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...and another shot of the Carthaginian crusherLooks a lot like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, doesn't it?
YUM!
ZEUGITANA, Carthage. 15 shekel.
AE45, 95.4g
circa 200 BC
Obverse: head of Tanit
Reverse: horse standing right, left foreleg up; above, radiate disc flanked by uraei
I don't have a reference book and the only other picture of one I've found is on the magnagraecia.nl site. Their list indicates four specimens known to them. Don't know if this is one of the four. TIF
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0006 Rider and Larissa SeatedThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Rider on a horse prancing r. on groundline, holding a single spear transversally with petasos flying backwards and chlamys on his back, beneath horse's belly a lion's head facing r. Border of dots or small grains.1
Rev: The nymph Larissa2 seated r. on a chair with a back ending in a swan's head, r. hand resting on her lap or thigh and holding a phiale, l. arm raised with palm forward,3 Λ and Α above to l. and r. of head with R and Ι to r. of body turned 90º and downward, all within a shallow incuse square.
Denomination: silver trihemiobol; Mint: Larissa; Date: mid- to late 5th Century BC4; Weight: 1.28g5; Diameter: 13mm; Die axis: 60º; References, for example: BMC Thessaly p. 25, 13; Warren 687 var. No mention of lion's head; Weber 2838; Traité IV, 651, pl. CCXCVI, 9; Herrmann Group II, pl. I, 7; Boston MFA 875 var. no lion's head and reference to two spears; Lorber 2008 pl. 41, 5; BCD Thessaly II 154; HGC 4, 466.
Notes:
1Forrer, BCD Thessaly II, and Hoover refer to the border as composed of dots; Babelon refers to the border as composed of small grains.
2Herrmann does not associate the figure on the reverse with the nymph Larissa. Instead he refers to the figure as a "sitting male" and cites two examples from Berlin and Warren 687 as having the indication of beards (p.9). He declares that the meaning [interpretation] of the sitter cannot be determined, but he invites us to think of a deity (p. 11). Brett in Boston MFA follows Herrmann's interpretation.
3Forrer and BCD Thessaly II state that Larissa is holding a mirror, Hoover mentions only that the arm is raised, Babelon indicates that the left arm is raised with palm forward, and Herrmann describes the left hand as raised in an "adoring gesture". On the coin here the left hand clearly has the thumb separated from the rest of the fingers with the palm facing forward; there is no indication that the hand is holding anything. I wonder what the intention of the gesture could have been.
4Dates in the sources cited here run the gamut of the 5th Century BC. Herrmann: c. 500 - 479 BC; Babelon: c. 470 - 430 BC; HGC: c. 440 - 420 BC; Forrer: c. 430 - 400 BC. In light of Kagen (2004) and his belief that Herrmann's Group I ended c. 460 BC it seems appropriate to choose the date range specified in BCD Thessaly II.
5Herrmann argues that Group II was struck on the Persian weight standard. (He believed that the same held true for Group I). Kagan (2004) demonstrates that Larissain coinage was not struck on the Persian weight standard.
The city of Larissa was named after the local water nymph, said to be the daughter of Pelasgos. He was said to be the ancestor of the pre-Greek Pelasgians. According to myth Larissa drowned while playing ball on the banks of the Peneios river. (HGC 4 p. 130).
Provenance: Ex Nomos AG December 8, 2019.
Photo Credits: Nomos AG
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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000931 Horse Prancing Left, Larissa Left With Hydra In Front On GroundThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv:horse prancing l. on groundline. 𐌔Ο above. All within border of dots.
Rev: ΛΑΡ r. and down, Ι𐌔Α l. and up, Larissa standing facing l., r. hand raised, l. hand lowered downward behind her and holding wreath, hydria standing on ground in front on l. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 420 - 400 BC1; Weight: .95g; Diameter: 14mm: Die axis: 160º; References, for example: Warren 694 var. legend and horse r.; Traité IV, 685 var. legend and horse r., pl. CCXCVII, 18; Boston MFA 883 var. legend and horse r., pl. 48, 883; Liampi 1992, 11 var. horse r.2; BCD Thessaly II 363.4 var. legend and horse r.; HGC 4 493 var. legend and horse r.
Notes:
1This is the date given in HGC 4.
2Liampi 1992 does not provide a legend with the reference.
Provenance: Ex. Numismatik Naumann Auction 106 Lot 148 August 1, 2021.
Photo Credits: Numismatik Naumann
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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000991 Facing Head of LarissaThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Head of the nymph Larissa facing slightly l., round curl to the l. of the head, wearing ampyx flanked by two hornlike locks, a pendant earring, and a simple necklace.
Rev: Horse crouching r., l. foreleg raised and bent (almost parallel with belly/ground), preparing to roll. ΛAPIΣ above horse and AIΩN in the exergue.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 356 - 342 BC1; Weight: 5.920g; Diameter: 19.2mm; Die axis: 135º; References, for example: Lorber Hoard, pl. 3, 27 (same dies); BCD Thessaly I 11582; BCD Thessaly II 316; HGC 4, 4543.
Notes:
1This is the date range stated in BCD Thessaly I. This coin appears to fall within Lorber's Phase Late II or Phase Late III. See Lorber Hoard and Lorber 2008.
2The coin referenced in this auction catalogue is actually a silver stater, but in discussing the coin the catalogue states that the earliest Larissian staters "...bear the normal types of a drachm...."
3The picture of the coin in this reference does not show the foreleg raised and bent, but the entry does reference BCD Thessaly II, lots 312 - 320, which matches one of the references here.
The city of Larissa was named after the local water nymph, said to be the daughter of Pelasgos. He was said to be the ancestor of the pre-Greek Pelasgians. According to myth Larissa drowned while playing ball on the banks of the Peneios river. (HGC 4 p.. 130).
Provenance: Ex Forum Ancient Coins October 31, 2018; from the BCD collection, with his tag noting "Thz. G/ni ex Thess., Apr. 94, SFr. 100.-"
Photo credits: Forum Ancient Coins
CLICK FOR SOURCES
Tracy Aiello
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005. Constantius Gallus constantinople Fel TempUnlisted in RIC. Ric does not record any C. Gallus with field marks of B*ecoli
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014. Faustina I, wife of Antoninus Pius 138-141A.D. AR Denarius.AR Denarius. Rome mint.
Obv.Draped bust right DIVA FAVSTINA
Rev. Aeternitas standing left holding globe, veil billowing. AETERNITAS
RSC 32, RIC 351.
Delightful coin, scan does not do it justice. EF.
LordBest
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015. Elagabalus / RIC 168.Denarius, 218-19 AD , Antioch mint.
Obv: IMP ANTONINVS AVG / Laureate bust of Elagabalus.
Rev: CONSVL II P P / Aequitas standing, holding scales and cornucopiae.
3.34 gm., 18 mm.
RIC #168; Sear #7508 var.
RIC doesn't specify where the break (if any) comes in the obverse legend. This particular coin has no break in the obverse legend.Callimachus
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020. Elagabalus / RIC 168.Denarius, 219 AD , Antioch mint.
Obv: IMP ANTONINVS AVG / Laureate bust of Elagabalus.
Rev: CONSVL . II . P P / Aequitas standing, holding scales and cornucopiae.
3.35 gm., 18 mm.
RIC #168; Sear #7508.
RIC doesn't specify where the break (if any) comes in the obverse legend. This particular coin has a break in the obverse legend between O and N.Callimachus
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026/3 Litra or 1/8 ounceAnonymous. Æ Litra or 1/8 ounce. Rome. 234-231 BC. ( 3.43g, 15mm, 5h) Obv: Laureate head of Apollo right Rev: Horse rearing left, wearing bridle, bit, and reins; ROMA below.
Crawford 26/3; Sydenham 29 (Half-litra); Kestner 56-65; BMCRR Romano-Campanian 70-74 (Half-litra)
This coin is attributed as a Litra by Crawford, others define it as half-litra. However, it could be argued that "1/8 ounce piece" is the better description.
First of all, on litra and half-litra:
"According to Crawford, the weight standard of the series 26 litra and half litra are based on a litra of 3.375 grams . The half litra in Crawford is described as having a dog on the reverse rather than a horse, and the average weight of the half litra of several specimens is described as 1.65 grams. BMCRR does refer to these as half litrae; but keep in mind that Grueber was writing circa 1900 and based on older scholarship. Sydenham was writing in the 1950s. Of the three major works cited, Crawford is the most current and likely based on a greater number of more recent finds."
Andrew Mccabe:
"It's very doubtful to me that the word "litra" is correct. Much more likely, these small bronze coins were simply fractions of the Aes Grave cast coinage system, as they come in weights of 1/4, 1/8 and 1/16 ounce, and the Aes Grave coinage generally had denominations from As down to Semuncia (1/2 ounce). So this coin would be 1/8 ounce coin. That's my view, which differs from their long term designation as "Litra", which presume them to be overvalued token bronze coinage on the Sicilian model, whereby bronze coins had value names that indicate a relationship to the silver coinage.
Litra, the word, is from the same stem as Libra, i.e. pound, would suggest a denomination of a (light) Sicilian pound of bronze, which sometimes equates in value to a small silver coin in Sicily weighing about 1/12 didrachm (about 0.6 grams) so by this definition, a Litra = an Obol. But it hardly stands up to scrutiny that such a tiny bronze coin, weighing 3.375 grams, could have been equivalent to a 0.6 gram silver obol. It would imply a massive overvaluation of bronze that just does not seem credible.
So. throw out the Litras, and call these coins 1/8 ounce pieces, and I think we have a sensible answer."
Paddy
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030 - Vespasian denarius - RIC II (New) 39Obv:- IMP CAES VESP AVG P M, Laureate head right
Rev:- TRI POT II COS III P P, Mars, helmeted, naked except for cloak round waist, advancing right, holding spear in right, and aquila over left shoulder
Minted in Rome January - June A.D. 71 (RIC II (New) dating)
Reference:- RIC II (New) 39 (Rated R). RIC II (Old) 38 corr. (Rated C) (doesn't mention aquila)maridvnvm
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030 - Vespasian Dupondius - RIC 481 var.Obv:– IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG COS III, Radiate head right, globe on neck
Rev:– VICTORIA NAVALIS S - C, Victory standing right on prow, holding wreath and palm
Minted in Lugdunum. A.D. 70-71
References:– Cohen -. RIC II 481 var (Not listed in RIC with this bust and legend combination)
Additional comments coutesy of Curtis Clay:-
“A coin like yours, from the same obv. die, was in M&M's Voirol Sale of 1968, lot 385, ex Hall Sale, 1950, lot 1203. A second spec. from that same die pair is publ. by Giard, Lyon, 42/1a, pl. XLIII, Coll. Gricourt.
BMC 809 pl. 38.7 has obv. CAESAR not CAES and a broader portrait on shorter neck.
Paris doesn't have this type on a COS III dup. of Vesp. at Lugdunum, but their As, Paris 812 pl. LXVII, is from the same rev. die as your dupondius!
Obviously quite a scarce item, and an attractive specimen!”maridvnvm
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030 - Vespasian Dupondius - RIC 753bObv:- IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG COS VIII P P, Laureate head right, globe on neck
Rev:- FIDES PVBLICA S - C, Fides standing left, holding patera and cornucopiae
Minted in Lugdunum. A.D. 77-78
References:- Cohen -. (Cohen 187 is Radiate but Cohen doesn't list a laureate version). RIC II 753bmaridvnvm
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030 - Vespasian Dupondius - RIC 754bObv:- IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG COS VIII P P, Laureate head right, globe on neck
Rev:- FORTVNAE AVGVSTI S - C, Fortuna standing left, holding rudder on globe and cornucopiae
Minted in Lugdunum. A.D. 77-78
References:- Cohen -.(Cohen 166 is Radiate but Cohen doesn't list a laureate version). RIC II 754bmaridvnvm
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044 - Hadrian Denarius - RIC -Obv:- HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS, laureate head right with slight drapery on far shoulder (Legend reversed as AVGVSTVS HADRIANVS)
Rev:- COS III, Victory standing right holding wreath and palm (Legend reversed as III COS)
Minted in Eastern Mint. A.D. 129-131
Reference:- BMCRE -. Strack -. RIC -. RSC -. Apparently unpublished.
Strack knew just three Eastern denarii with this transposed obv. legend, including one with a Minerva standing rev. type in the Trau coll., Strack's pl. XVIII, *18. Curtis Clay has another example with this obverse with the Minerva type. This would appear to be a fifth specimen from this obverse die but with a new reverse type.
Additional information on this coin from Curtis Clay:-
"Interesting. Apparently a new rev. type on the Eastern denarii, of uncertain origin.
That's admittedly a fairly standard Victory advancing right rev. type, but I find no such type on any denarius of Hadrian from the mint of Rome, nor on his Asian cistophori.
A similar type does occur on Hadrian's silver quinarii, and on a rather scarce denarius of Trajan struck in 112 but these seem unlikely sources for a type on Hadrian's Eastern denarii.
Moreover on the Roman coins Victory grasps the stem of the palm over her shoulder in her left fist, thumb upwards, whereas on the Eastern denarius she palms the stem, holding it with her downwards pointing thumb while apparently keeping her fingers extended. I imagine that this detail may go back to the source copied, since it seems unlikely that the engraver changed it on his own whim."maridvnvm
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048 - Antoninus Pius Denarius - RIC 040Obv: IMP T AEL CAES HADR ANTONINVS, bare head right
Rev: AVG PIVS P M TR P COS II P P, Modius with corn ears.
Minted in Rome. A.D. 139
Reference:- BMC 79 (4 corn ears and poppy, L. A. Lawrence). RIC III 40 (corn ears and poppy). RSC 103.
This coin doesn't show the poppy as per the BMC/RIC examples.maridvnvm
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05 Attica, Athenian TritartemorionObv: Head of Athena r. wearing Attic helmet with three olive leaves and a floral scroll, profile eye.
Rev:, E☉A within three crescents - horns inward - arranged in a circle, all within incuse square.
Denomination: silver tritartemorion; Mint: Athens; Date: c. 400/390 - 294 BC1; Weight: .78g; Diameter: 9mm; Die axis: 0º; References, for example: Traité p. 102 no. 36 pl. CXC 21 - 24, var. two legend arrangements and two arrangements indistinguishable; Svoronos Athens pl. 17, 44 - 48, var. legend arrangement; SGCV I 2542, var. legend arrangement; Kroll 21 a and b, pl. 3, 21a2; SNG München 118 - 122, var. legend arrangement; HGC 4, 1668, var. legend arrangement.
Notes:
1This is the date given in HGC 4.
2Kroll’s referenced legend arrangement is different than on this coin, although he does state that variations exist. He does not enumerate those variations.
Provenance: Ex. cgb.fr Numismatics March 12, 2024
Photo Credits: cgb.fr Numismatics
CLICK FOR SOURCES
Tracy Aiello
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05 Constantius IIConstantius II
21x23mm 4.6gm
D N CONSTAN-TIVS P F AVG, pearl diademed, draped & cuirassed, A behind.
FEL TEMP - REPARATIO Soldier spearing fallen horseman, Phrygian helmet, sitting on ground, arm(s) up, A left field
PAR[?] in ex
It may be PAR dot F, PARF, PAR PALM. There does not seem to be enough space for PAR dot F. if PARF or Palm, then not listed in RICRandygeki(h2)
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05. Constantine: Alexandria.AE 4, 337 - 341, Alexandria mint.
Obverse: DV CONSTANTINVS PT AVGG / Veiled bust of Constantine.
Reverse: Constantine riding to heaven in quadriga; Hand of God reaches down to him.
Mint mark: ALB
1.05 gm., 15 mm.
RIC #12 var.; LRBC #1454 var.; Sear #17490var.
That this coin is from the mint in Alexandria is beyond doubt. However the mint mark without SM does not seem to be listed in RIC or LRBC.Callimachus
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056/3 Ancient imitationAnonymous. Ae Semis imitation. Probably first century BC. Obv: Laureate head of Saturn r.; behind, S. Rev: Prow r.; above, S and below, ROMA.
Crawford 56/3
Style and shape is not the best on this coin. However, as an ancient imitation it does have historical value.
Paddy
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058 Eric Menved or 063 Christopher IIPenny of Eric VI Menved, king of Denmark 1286-1319, or of Christopher II, king of Denmark 1320-1326, 1329-1332
Mint: Roskilde
MB 422
Eric was another somewhat forgotten king of Denmark. During his reign the powers of the king were limited and the treasury was drained. Eric had 14 children and had the misfortune to outlive them all.
Recent scholarship has questioned the attribution, as to whether this coin belongs to Eric or Christopher's reign. The presence of the E doesn't really mean much in favor of Eric, as many of these coins have a single letter represented, of uncertain meaning.
Ex- G WardSt. George's Collection
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064 - Septimius Severus denarius - RIC -Obv:– IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG II C, laureate head right
Rev:– FORTVAE(sic) REDVCI, Moneta/Aequitas standing left, holding scales in right hand, cornucopiae in left
Minted in Emesa. A.D. 193
Reference(s) – BMCRE -. RIC -. RSC -.
2.99g, 17.53mm, 180o
Additional comments from Curtis Clay - "This combination of the FORTVNAE REDVCI legend with a type of Aequitas is reported on a denarius of Pescennius Niger by Cohen 25 (in a private collection), but does not seem to have been attested before for either Septimius Severus or Julia Domna, at least I can't find any such coin in BMC or RSC." maridvnvm
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064 - Septimius Severus denarius - RIC -Obv:– IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG II C, laureate head right
Rev:– FORTVAE(sic) REDVCI, Moneta/Aequitas standing left, holding scales in right hand, cornucopiae in left
Minted in Emesa. A.D. 193
Reference(s) – BMCRE -. RIC -. RSC -.
2.99g, 17.53mm, 180o
Additional comments from Curtis Clay - "This combination of the FORTVNAE REDVCI legend with a type of Aequitas is reported on a denarius of Pescennius Niger by Cohen 25 (in a private collection), but does not seem to have been attested before for either Septimius Severus or Julia Domna, at least I can't find any such coin in BMC or RSC."maridvnvm
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064 - Septimius Severus denarius - RIC 427Obv:- [IMP CAE L SEP S]EV PERT AVG COS II, Laureate head right
Rev:- VICT AVG, Victory seated left holding wreath and palm
Ref:- RIC 427, RSC 677, BMCRE 402a
RIC and RSC cite Cohen 677, BMCRE cites Cohen 677 and Oldroyd bequest, 1946 (ex. L.A.L.). Cohen doesn't appear to provide a source.
No examples if Reka Devnia, so a relatively scarce coin. maridvnvm
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066 - Caracalla Ae As - RIC 532bObv:- ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:- P M TR P XVII IMP III COS IIII P P - S C, Mars, helmeted in military dress, cloak over left arm, standing front, head left, right knee slightly bent, holding branch raised in right hand and vertical spear in left hand. Items on ground. I cannot really make them out but at magnification they look like helmet on left, cuirass between legs and spear resting on shield.
This seems to generally match RIC 532b, which cites Cohen 260. RIC 532a is the same reverse type with a Laureate head right. BMCRE does not include this type with this bust but does include the type in the notes to BMCRE 268. BMCRE 268, which is the Laureate head type is described as right foot on helmet with cuirass? to right.maridvnvm
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068 - Geta denarius - RIC 059aObv:– P SEPTIMIVS GETA CAES, Bare headed, bearded, draped bust right
Rev:– PONTIF COS II, Genius, naked standing left, sacrificing out of patera over lighted altar and holding corn ears
Minted in Rome. early A.D. 209
Reference:– BMC p.274, 584. RIC 59a. RSC 114. 72 examples in RD.
BMC and RIC mention that the busts of Geta are bearded for this issue but this example doesn't show any trace of beard.maridvnvm
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072p Gordianus-III. (238-244 A.D.), Moesia, Nicopolis Ad Istrum, HrHJ (2012) 08.36.05.??, AE-28, Athena standing frontal,072p Gordianus-III. (238-244 A.D.), Moesia, Nicopolis Ad Istrum, HrHJ (2012) 08.36.05.??, AE-28, Athena standing frontal,
avers:- AVT-K-M-ANT-W-ΓOPΔIANOC-AVΓ (AVΓ ligate), Bust, draped and cuirassed, seen from behind, laureate, right.
revers:- VΠ-CAB-MOΔECTOV-NI-KOΠOΛEITΩN-ΠP (ΠP ligate), in right field one below the other POC [I]C[T]P, in upper left field ON (Γ?), Athena in long girded double chiton, helmeted, standing frontal, head left, resting with raised left hand on inverted spear and holding with lowered right hand shield seen from inside set on ground.
exe: O/N/Γ(?)//O/C/I/C/T/P//--, diameter: 26,5-28mm, weight: 12,2g, axis: 6h,
mint: Moesia, Nicopolis Ad Istrum, Sabinius Modestus (241-244 A.D.,) date: 241-244 A.D.,
ref. a) not in AMNG:
AMNG I/1, 2051 (for the type only)
b) Varbanov (engl.) 4177 (but Varbanov doesn't differentiate between different legend
distributions!)
c) not in Hristova-Hoeft-Jekov (2015)
rev. No. 8. 36.4 (for the depiction only)
obv. e.g. No. 8.36.4.4 (same die)
Q-001quadrans
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08. Helena: Constantinople.A 4, 337 - 341, Constantinople mint.
Obverse: FL IVL HELENAE AVG / Diademed bust of Helena.
Reverse: PAX PVBLICA / Pax standing, holding branch and sceptre.
Mint mark: CONSE
1.57 gm., 15.5 mm.
RIC 34/49; LRBC #1047 var.; Sear #17497/98.
This coin does not really fit the description of RIC #34 or RIC #49:
RIC #34 - terminal dot to reverse legend, Officina E.
RIC #49 - without terminal dot. Officina Θ.
This coin - without terminal dot. Officina E.Callimachus
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083. Caracalla.Denarius, 199-200 AD, Rome mint.
Obverse: ANTONINVS AVGVSTVS / Laureate bust of Caracalla.
Reverse: RECTOR ORBIS / Sol standing, holding globe and spear.
3.46 gm., 18 mm.
RIC #39b; Sear #6880.
RIC calls the figure on the reverse Sol, with a footnote saying "or Caracalla as Sol?" Sear calls the figure Caracalla. Even though the physique does not look like that of an 11 year-old boy, the legend RECTOR ORBIS (Ruler of the World) was probably intended to have a double meaning here.Callimachus
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090 VespasianVespasian, 1 July 69 - 24 June 79 A.D.
Silver denarius, RIC II part 1, 362; SRCV I 2317, BMCRE II 74, F, 2.879g, 17.2mm, 195o, Rome mint, 72 - 73 A.D.; obverse IMP CAES VESP AVG P M COS IIII, laureate head right; reverse VICTORIA AVGVSTI, Victory advancing right, crowning legionary standard with wreath with right, palm across shoulder in left.
"This type likely refers to the victory in Judaea but does not specifically identify that victory."Randygeki(h2)
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090b Gallienus (253-268 A.D.), Rome, RIC V-I 176, AE-Antoninianus, Sole Reign, -/-//Є, DIANAE CONS AVG, Doe right, #1090b Gallienus (253-268 A.D.), Rome, RIC V-I 176, AE-Antoninianus, Sole Reign, -/-//Є, DIANAE CONS AVG, Doe right, #1
avers: IMP GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate head right.
reverse: DIANAE CONS AVG, Doe standing right, head turned left, over the shoulder.
exergue: -/-//Є, diameter: 19-20mm, weight: 3,15g, axis: 0h,
mint: Rome, date: 260-268 A.D.,
ref: RIC V-I 176, p-, Sear 10199 var. RSC 154.
Q-001quadrans
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130 - Tacitus Antoninianus - RIC unlisted Bust Type CObv:– CL TACITVS AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– CONSERVAT MILIT, Mars standing right, holding spear, handing globe to emeperor, standing left, in military dress, holding a sceptre.
Minted in Serdica (//S) Emission 1 Officina 2.
Reference(s) – Cohen -. LV -. (No coins with this short obverse legend in LV, LV 2386 is the same type but with IMP C M CL TACITVS AVG). RIC unlisted Bust type C var (RIC doesn’t include this short legend, RIC doesn’t include this set of officina marks for Serdica).
The following information came courtesy of Barry Murphy:-
This is recorded by Estiot and a specimen is illustrated on pl. 95, #449. Estiot's source is Zanchi, "Quelques nouveaux antoniens de Serdica (274-277)," in SchweizerMunzblatter 120 (1980)
This obverse legend is also recorded with the reverse CONSERVATOR MILITVM.maridvnvm
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132 - Probus - RIC 877 var - Bust Type H (Serdica) (KAΔ) (unlisted with this bust type)Obv:– IMP C M AVR PROBVS P F AVG, Radiate and cuirassed bust left wearing imperial mantle and holding eagle tipped scepter
Rev:– VIRTVS PROBI AVG, Emperor galloping right, spearing enemy whose shield lies beneath horse
Minted in Serdica (KAΔ in exe) Emission 4 Officina 4. A.D. 277
Reference:– RIC 877 var. Bust type H. (RIC does not list this entry with this bust type)maridvnvm
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132 - Probus - RIC 877 var - Bust Type H (Serdica) (KA•Δ•) (unlisted with this bust type)Obv:– IMP C M AVR PROBVS P F AVG, Radiate and cuirassed bust left wearing imperial mantle and holding eagle tipped scepter
Rev:– VIRTVS PROBI AVG, Emperor galloping right, spearing enemy whose shield lies beneath horse
Minted in Serdica (KA•Î”• in exe) Emission 4 Officina 4. A.D. 277
Reference:– RIC 877 var. Bust type H. (RIC does not list this entry with this bust type)maridvnvm
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132 - Probus - RIC 877 var - Bust Type H (Serdica) (KA•Δ•) (unlisted with this bust type)Obv:– IMP C M AVR PROBVS P F AVG, Radiate and cuirassed bust left wearing imperial mantle and holding eagle tipped scepter
Rev:– VIRTVS PROBI AVG, Emperor galloping right, spearing enemy whose shield lies beneath horse
Minted in Serdica (KA•Δ• in exe) Emission 4 Officina 4. A.D. 277
Reference:– RIC 877 var. Bust type H. (RIC does not list this entry with this bust type)
2.26 gms, 23.66 mm. 180 degrees maridvnvm
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132 - Probus - RIC 878 var - Bust Type F (Serdica) (KA•A•) (unlisted with this bust type) Obv:– IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG, Radiate, cuirassed bust right
Rev:– VIRTVS PROBI AVG, Emperor galloping right, spearing enemy whose shield lies beneath horse
Minted in Serdica (KA•A• in exe) Emission 4 Officina 1. 277 A.D.
Reference:– RIC 878 var. Bust type F (RIC does not list this bust type for this entry)
A nice bust but from slightly worn reverse dies. The reverse legend breaks around the shield. maridvnvm
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1404a, Crispus, Caesar 317 - 326 A.D. Bronze AE 3, RIC 17, aEF, Cyzicus mint, 3.196g, 19.9mm, 315o, 321 - 324 A.D.; Obverse: D N FL IVL CRISPVS NOB CAES, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right; Reverse: IOVI CONSERVATORI, Jupiter standing left holding Victory on globe in right and scepter in left, eagle with wreath in beak to left, X / IIG and captive right, SMKD in exergue; scarce (RIC R3). Ex FORVM.
De Imperatoribus Romanis;
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors and their Families
Crispus Caesar (317-326 A.D.)
Hans Pohlsander
SUNY Albany
Crispus was the oldest son of the emperor Constantine I and played a fairly important role in the political and military events of the early fourth century. The regular form of his full name is Flavius Iulius Crispus, although the forms Flavius Claudius Crispus and Flavius Valerius Crispus also occur. His mother was a woman named Minervina, with whom Constantine had a relationship, probably illegitimate, before he married Fausta in 307. When Minervina died or when Constantine put her aside we do not know. Nor do we know when she gave birth to Crispus; we may assume, of course, that it was before 307. Some modern authorities, on good grounds, think that it was in 305. Crispus' place of birth must have been somewhere in the East, and it is not known when he was brought to Gaul and when, where, or under what circumstances he was separated from his mother.
Constantine entrusted the education of his son to the distinguished Christian scholar Lactantius, thereby giving a clear sign of his commitment to Christianity. We are not told when Lactantius assumed his duties, but a date before 317 seems likely. Nor do we know how successful he was in instilling Christian beliefs and values in his imperial pupil. No later than January of 322 Crispus must have married a woman named Helena -- not to be confused with Constantine's mother or daughter by the same name- and this woman bore him a child in October of 322. Constantine, we learn, was pleased.
Crispus' official career began at an early age and is well documented. On March 1 of 317, at Serdica (modern Sofia), his father appointed him Caesar. The consulship was his three times, in 318, 321, and 324. While nominally in charge of Gaul, with a prefect at his side, he successfully undertook military operations against the Franks and Alamanni in 320 and 323.
In 324, during the second war between Constantine and Licinius, he excelled as commander of Constantine's fleet in the waters of the Hellespont, the Propontis, and the Bosporus, thus making a significant contribution to the outcome of that war. The high points of his career are amply reflected in the imperial coinage. In addition to coins, we have his portrait, with varying degrees of certainty, in a number of sculptures, mosaics, cameos, etc. Contemporary authors heap praises upon him. Thus the panegyrist Nazarius speaks of Crispus' "magnificent deeds," and Eusebius calls him "an emperor most dear to God and in all regards comparable to his father."
Crispus' end was as tragic as his career had been brilliant. His own father ordered him to be put to death. We know the year of this sad event, 326, from the Consularia Constantinopolitana, and the place, Pola in Istria, from Ammianus Marcellinus. The circumstances, however, are less clear. Zosimus (6th c.) and Zonaras (12th c.) both report that Crispus and his stepmother Fausta were involved in an illicit relationship. There may be as much gossip as fact in their reports, but it is certain that at some time during the same year the emperor ordered the death of his own wife as well, and the two cases must be considered together. That Crispus and Fausta plotted treason is reported by Gregory of Tours, but not very believable. We must resolutely reject the claim of Zosimus that it was Constantine's sense of guilt over these deeds which caused him to accept Christianity, as it alone promised him forgiveness for his sins. A similar claim had already been made by Julian the Apostate. We must also, I think, reject the suggestion of Guthrie that the emperor acted in the interest of "dynastic legitimacy," that is, that he removed his illegitimate first-born son in order to secure the succession for his three legitimate younger sons. But Crispus must have committed, or at least must have been suspected of having committed, some especially shocking offense to earn him a sentence of death from his own father. He also suffered damnatio memoriae, his honor was never restored, and history has not recorded the fate of his wife and his child (or children).
Copyright (C) 1997, Hans A. Pohlsander. Published on De Imperatoribus Romanis;An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors and their Families:
http://www.roman-emperors.org/crispus.htm
What If?
St. Nectarios, in his book, The Ecumenical Synods, writes "Hellenism spread by Alexander paved the way for Christianity by Emperor Constantine the Great."
Constantine's upward gaze on his "Eyes to Heaven" coins recall the coin portraits of Alexander the Great (namely coins struck by the Diodochi), which served as prototypes for the divine ruler portraiture of much of the Hellenistic age. The diadem, of which this is the most elaborate type, was adopted by Constantine and the members of his house as a new symbol of sovereignty.
In the Greek Orthodox Church, Constantine the Great is revered as a Saint.
Is it just possible? Constantine, knowing what happened (or thinking that he does) to Phillip II of Macedon—assassinated on the eve of his greatness, in a plot that most likely involved his wife—and possibly his son. . . isn’t it just possible that Constantine is growing obsessively jealous of his ever more successful and adulated son? Imagine the Constantine who has proven time and again (think: Licinius) that he is a completely self-serving liar and a murderer, decides to murder again? Why "must we resolutely reject the claim of Zosimus that it was Constantine's sense of guilt over these deeds which caused him to accept Christianity, as it alone promised him forgiveness for his sins [?] (see: above). A similar claim had already been made by Julian the [Philosopher]."
Perhaps it is time to cease being apologists for the sometime megalomaniacal Constantine. As Michael Grant notes, "It is a mocking travesty of justice to call such a murderer Constantine the Great . . ." (Grant, Michael. The Emperor Constantine. London: Phoenix Press, 1998. 226).
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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1404b, Crispus, Caesar 317 - 326 A.D. (Thessalonica)Bronze AE 3, RIC 118, VF, Thessalonica mint, 2.740g, 18.0mm, 180o, 320 - 321 A.D. Obverse: FL IVL CRISPVS NOB CAES, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust left; Reverse: CAESARVM NOSTRORVM, VOT V in wreath, TSDVI in exergue.
Flavius Julius Crispus was the son of Constantine I by his first wife. A brilliant soldier, Crispus was well loved by all until 326 A.D., when Constantine had him executed. It is said that Fausta, Crispus stepmother, anxious to secure the succession for her own sons falsely accused Crispus of raping her. Constantine, learning of Fausta`s treachery, had her executed too.
De Imperatoribus Romanis;
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors and their Families
Crispus Caesar (317-326 A.D.)
Hans Pohlsander
SUNY Albany
Crispus was the oldest son of the emperor Constantine I and played a fairly important role in the political and military events of the early fourth century. The regular form of his full name is Flavius Iulius Crispus, although the forms Flavius Claudius Crispus and Flavius Valerius Crispus also occur. His mother was a woman named Minervina, with whom Constantine had a relationship, probably illegitimate, before he married Fausta in 307. When Minervina died or when Constantine put her aside we do not know. Nor do we know when she gave birth to Crispus; we may assume, of course, that it was before 307. Some modern authorities, on good grounds, think that it was in 305. Crispus' place of birth must have been somewhere in the East, and it is not known when he was brought to Gaul and when, where, or under what circumstances he was separated from his mother.
Constantine entrusted the education of his son to the distinguished Christian scholar Lactantius, thereby giving a clear sign of his commitment to Christianity. We are not told when Lactantius assumed his duties, but a date before 317 seems likely. Nor do we know how successful he was in instilling Christian beliefs and values in his imperial pupil. No later than January of 322 Crispus must have married a woman named Helena -- not to be confused with Constantine's mother or daughter by the same name- and this woman bore him a child in October of 322. Constantine, we learn, was pleased.
Crispus' official career began at an early age and is well documented. On March 1 of 317, at Serdica (modern Sofia), his father appointed him Caesar. The consulship was his three times, in 318, 321, and 324. While nominally in charge of Gaul, with a prefect at his side, he successfully undertook military operations against the Franks and Alamanni in 320 and 323.
In 324, during the second war between Constantine and Licinius, he excelled as commander of Constantine's fleet in the waters of the Hellespont, the Propontis, and the Bosporus, thus making a significant contribution to the outcome of that war. The high points of his career are amply reflected in the imperial coinage. In addition to coins, we have his portrait, with varying degrees of certainty, in a number of sculptures, mosaics, cameos, etc. Contemporary authors heap praises upon him. Thus the panegyrist Nazarius speaks of Crispus' "magnificent deeds," and Eusebius calls him "an emperor most dear to God and in all regards comparable to his father."
Crispus' end was as tragic as his career had been brilliant. His own father ordered him to be put to death. We know the year of this sad event, 326, from the Consularia Constantinopolitana, and the place, Pola in Istria, from Ammianus Marcellinus. The circumstances, however, are less clear. Zosimus (6th c.) and Zonaras (12th c.) both report that Crispus and his stepmother Fausta were involved in an illicit relationship. There may be as much gossip as fact in their reports, but it is certain that at some time during the same year the emperor ordered the death of his own wife as well, and the two cases must be considered together. That Crispus and Fausta plotted treason is reported by Gregory of Tours, but not very believable. We must resolutely reject the claim of Zosimus that it was Constantine's sense of guilt over these deeds which caused him to accept Christianity, as it alone promised him forgiveness for his sins. A similar claim had already been made by Julian the Apostate. We must also, I think, reject the suggestion of Guthrie that the emperor acted in the interest of "dynastic legitimacy," that is, that he removed his illegitimate first-born son in order to secure the succession for his three legitimate younger sons. But Crispus must have committed, or at least must have been suspected of having committed, some especially shocking offense to earn him a sentence of death from his own father. He also suffered damnatio memoriae, his honor was never restored, and history has not recorded the fate of his wife and his child (or children).
Copyright (C) 1997, Hans A. Pohlsander. Published on De Imperatoribus Romanis;An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors and their Families:
http://www.roman-emperors.org/crispus.htm
What If?
St. Nectarios, in his book, The Ecumenical Synods, writes "Hellenism spread by Alexander paved the way for Christianity by Emperor Constantine the Great."
Constantine's upward gaze on his "Eyes to Heaven" coins recall the coin portraits of Alexander the Great (namely coins struck by the Diodochi), which served as prototypes for the divine ruler portraiture of much of the Hellenistic age. The diadem, of which this is the most elaborate type, was adopted by Constantine and the members of his house as a new symbol of sovereignty.
In the Greek Orthodox Church, Constantine the Great is revered as a Saint.
Is it just possible? Constantine, knowing what happened (or thinking that he does) to Phillip II of Macedon—assassinated on the eve of his greatness, in a plot that most likely involved his wife—and possibly his son. . . isn’t it just possible that Constantine is growing obsessively jealous of his ever more successful and adulated son? Imagine the Constantine who has proven time and again (think: Licinius) that he is a completely self-serving liar and a murderer, decides to murder again? Why "must we resolutely reject the claim of Zosimus that it was Constantine's sense of guilt over these deeds which caused him to accept Christianity, as it alone promised him forgiveness for his sins [?] (see: above). A similar claim had already been made by Julian the [Philosopher]."
Perhaps it is time to cease being apologists for the sometime megalomaniacal Constantine. As Michael Grant notes, "It is a mocking travesty of justice to call such a murderer Constantine the Great . . ." (Grant, Michael. The Emperor Constantine. London: Phoenix Press, 1998. 226).
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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1410a, Jovian, 27 June 363 - 17 February 364 A.D.Bronze AE 3, RIC 179, aVF, Constantinople, 3.126g, 21.6mm, 180o. Obverse: D N IOVIANVS P F AVG, pearl diademed, draped and cuirassed bust left; Reverse: VOT V MVLT X within wreath, CONSPG in exergue; scarce.
Flavius Jovianuswas born in 331 at Singidunum, modern Belgrade. His distinguished father, Varronianus, had been a tribune of the legion Ioviani and a comes domesticorum, perhaps under Constantius II, who had retired to private life shortly before Jovian's elevation to the purple. Jovian married a daughter of Lucillianus, perhaps named Charito, and by her produced at least two children.
Jovian himself was a protector domesticus under Constantius II and Julian and, under Julian, primicerius domesticorum. Various Christian sources maintain that Jovian's Christianity led to his deposition by Julian, though most modern scholars dismiss this as ex post facto Christian apologetic. Jovian, recalled to the ranks if he had ever been dismissed, marched with Julian against Sapor in 363, and on 27 June, the day after that emperor's death, was acclaimed Augustus.
Ammianus and Zosimus, among others, detail the difficult straits of the Roman army during its withdrawal from Persian territory, Ammianus from the perspective of a proud soldier confident even in defeat of the superiority of Roman arms, Zosimus, in a much shorter and confused version, concentrating on the predicament of Jovian's troops and on the dire effects to the empire of the peace terms agreed to with Sapor. These terms entailed the cessation to Persia of Roman territory beyond the Tigris -- the cities of Singara and Nisibis, however, to be surrendered on the condition of the safe passage of their inhabitants -- and the guarantee of the neutrality of Rome's ally Arsaces, King of Armenia, in the event of future hostilities between Roman and Persia. Ammianus asserts that in agreeing to these terms Jovian misjudged his tactical strength and wasted an opportunity presented by negotiations with Sapor to move his forces closer to supplies at Corduena, and that Jovian acted on the advise of flatterers to preserve the fighting strength of his forces in the event of an attempt by Julian's relative Procopius to seize the throne. Others present the treaty terms as unavoidable given the Roman predicament.
Jovian appears to have treaded cautiously with regard to religious matters during the early months of his reign. Eunapius says that Jovian continued to honor Maximus and Priscus, the Neoplatonist advisors of Julian, and, upon reaching Tarsus, Jovian performed funeral rites for Julian. Nonetheless, various Christians, most notably Athanasius, took the initiative in an effort to gain Jovian's favor and support. An adherent of the Nicaean creed, Jovian did eventually recall various bishops of homoousian disposition and restore to their followers churches lost under earlier emperors. But in spite of such measures, unity among various Christian sects seems to have been the foremost concern of Jovian, whose ipsissima verba Socrates Scholasticus purports to give: "I abhor contentiousness, but love and honor those hurrying towards unanimity" (Hist. Eccl. 3.25).
Jovian died at the age of thirty-two on 17 February 364 at Dadastana on the boundary of Bithynia and Galatia. The cause of his death was most probably natural and is variously attributed to overeating, the consumption of poisonous mushrooms, or suffocation from fumes of charcoal or of the fresh paint on the room in which he was sleeping. Ammianus' comparison of the circumstances of Jovian's death to those of Scipio Aemilianus suggest the possibility of foul play, as does John of Antioch's reference to a poisoned rather than a poisonous mushroom, while John Chrysostom -- in a highly suspect literary context of consolatio-- asserts outright that the emperor was murdered. Eutropius records that he was enrolled among the gods, inter Divos relatus est. Zonaras says he was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles and that his wife, Charito, was eventually laid to rest beside him.
Ancient authors agree that Jovian was of modest intellect but imposing physique and disposed to excessive eating and drinking.
By Thomas Banchich, Canisius College
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Edited By J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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1502c, Valens, 28 March 364 - 9 August 378 A.D. (Cyzikus)Bronze AE 3, S 4118, 2.42g, 16.5mm, 180o,Cyzikus, F/F, obverse D N VALENS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; reverse SECVRITAS REIPVBLICAE, Victory advancing left, wreath in right, palm frond in left, SMK L(?) in exergue. Ex FORVM.
De Imperatoribus Romanis, An Online Encyclopedia of the Roman Emperors and their Families
Valens (365-369 AD.)
Noel Linski, University of Colorado
Valens was the brother of Valentinian I. On March 28, 364, precisely one month after his accession by Roman reckoning, Valentinian appointed his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor at the Hebdomon, the first in a long line of emperors proclaimed there. Themistius was present and later recounted the occasion in his Or. 6. After only two months of co-rulership, the two departed from Constantinople for their native Illyricum. Outside Naissus, in Moesia, they divided their administrative staff between them and at Sirmium they did the same with their mobile forces. Valens was to rule the east, from Thrace in the North and Cyrenaica in the South eastward to the Persian frontier. Valentinian ruled the west. They did not spend long in Sirmium. By late August 365 Valentinian had moved on toward Milan, where he resided for the following year before moving on to Trier, which remained his capital until 375. Similarly, Valens was back in Constantinople by December 364.and he was declared Augustus in 364 A.D. He was given command of the Eastern provinces, where he spent much of his time campaigning against the Goths and Persians.
In 376 A.D., Valens allowed Gothic tribes, who were being driven forward by the Huns to settle in the Danube provinces. The Goths were so badly treated by the Romans that they rebelled. Valens marched against the confederated barbarian army, and on August 9, 378, the two forces met at Adrianople. Although negotiations were attempted, these broke down when a Roman unit sallied forth and carried both sides into battle. The Romans held their own early on but were crushed by the surprise arrival of Greuthungi cavalry which split their ranks.
In one historical account, Valens was wounded in battle but escaped to a nearby farmstead where he was burned to death in a tower by Gothic marauders. The fourth century A.D. Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus does not seem to concur with this story. Regardless, when the battle was over Valens' body was never recovered, 10,000 roman soldiers lay dead and the perception of Roman military invincibility was destroyed.
Adrianople was the most significant event in Valens' career. Though he displayed some talent as an administrator, Valens' persecutions of Nicene Christians and pagan philosophers, his halting efforts at military achievement and his obtuse personality rendered him a less than glorious emperor. To have died in so inglorious a battle has thus come to be regarded as the nadir of an unfortunate career. This is especially true because of the profound consequences of Valens' defeat.
Adrianople spelled the beginning of the end for Roman territorial integrity in the late empire and this fact was recognized even by contemporaries. The Roman historian Ammianus (325-391 AD) understood that it was the worst defeat in Roman history since Cannae. Rufinus (340–410 CE), monk, historian, and theologian; called it "the beginning of evils for the Roman empire then and thereafter."
Noel Lenski, University of Colorado
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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1502h, Valens, 364-378 A.D. (Heraclea)Valens, 364-378 A.D., Heraclea mint, VF, Chi-Rho standard reverse.
De Imperatoribus Romanis, An Online Encyclopedia of the Roman Emperors and their Families
Valens (365-369 AD.)
Noel Linski, University of Colorado
Valens was the brother of Valentinian I. On March 28, 364, precisely one month after his accession by Roman reckoning, Valentinian appointed his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor at the Hebdomon, the first in a long line of emperors proclaimed there. Themistius was present and later recounted the occasion in his Or. 6. After only two months of co-rulership, the two departed from Constantinople for their native Illyricum. Outside Naissus, in Moesia, they divided their administrative staff between them and at Sirmium they did the same with their mobile forces. Valens was to rule the east, from Thrace in the North and Cyrenaica in the South eastward to the Persian frontier. Valentinian ruled the west. They did not spend long in Sirmium. By late August 365 Valentinian had moved on toward Milan, where he resided for the following year before moving on to Trier, which remained his capital until 375. Similarly, Valens was back in Constantinople by December 364.and he was declared Augustus in 364 A.D. He was given command of the Eastern provinces, where he spent much of his time campaigning against the Goths and Persians.
In 376 A.D., Valens allowed Gothic tribes, who were being driven forward by the Huns to settle in the Danube provinces. The Goths were so badly treated by the Romans that they rebelled. Valens marched against the confederated barbarian army, and on August 9, 378, the two forces met at Adrianople. Although negotiations were attempted, these broke down when a Roman unit sallied forth and carried both sides into battle. The Romans held their own early on but were crushed by the surprise arrival of Greuthungi cavalry which split their ranks.
In one historical account, Valens was wounded in battle but escaped to a nearby farmstead where he was burned to death in a tower by Gothic marauders. The fourth century A.D. Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus does not seem to concur with this story. Regardless, when the battle was over Valens' body was never recovered, 10,000 roman soldiers lay dead and the perception of Roman military invincibility had been destroyed.
Adrianople was the most significant event in Valens' career. Though he displayed some talent as an administrator, Valens' persecutions of Nicene Christians and pagan philosophers, his halting efforts at military achievement and his obtuse personality rendered him a less than glorious emperor. To have died in so inglorious a battle has thus come to be regarded as the nadir of an unfortunate career. This is especially true because of the profound consequences of Valens' defeat.
Adrianople spelled the beginning of the end for Roman territorial integrity in the late empire and this fact was recognized even by contemporaries. The Roman historian Ammianus (325-391 AD) understood that it was the worst defeat in Roman history since Cannae. Rufinus (340–410 CE), monk, historian, and theologian; called it "the beginning of evils for the Roman empire then and thereafter."
Noel Lenski, University of Colorado
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr. Cleisthenes
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1505b, Theodosius I, 19 January 379 - 17 January 395 A.D. (Antioch)Theodosius I, 19 January 379 - 17 January 395 A.D. Bronze AE 3, RIC 44(b), VF, Antioch, 2.17g, 18.1mm, 180o, 9 Aug 378 - 25 Aug 383 A.D. Obverse: D N THEODOSIVS P F AVG, rosette-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; Reverse: CONCORDIA AVGGG, Constantinopolis enthroned facing, r. foot on prow, globe in l., scepter in r., Q and F at sides, ANTG in ex; scarce.
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
THEODOSIUS I (379-395 A.D.)
David Woods
University College of Cork
Origin and Early Career
Flavius Theodosius was born at Cauca in Spain in about 346 to Thermantia and Theodosius the Elder (so-called to distinguish him from his son). Theodosius the Elder was a senior military officer serving in the Western empire and rose to become the magister equitum praesentalis under the emperor Valentinian I from late 368 until his execution in early 375. As the son of a soldier, Theodosius was legally obliged to enter upon a military career. He seems to have served under his father during his expedition to Britain in 367/8, and was the dux Moesiae Primae by late 374. Unfortunately, great controversy surrounds the rest of his career until Gratian had him hailed as his imperial colleague in succession to the emperor Valens at Sirmium on 19 January 379. It is clear that he was forced to retire home to Spain only to be recalled to active service shortly thereafter, but the circumstances of his forced retirement are shrouded in mystery. His father was executed at roughly the same time, and much speculation has centred on the relationship between these events.
[For a very detailed and interesting discussion of the Foreign Policy of Theodosius and the Civil Wars that plagued his reign, please see http://www.roman-emperors.org/theo1.htm]
Family and Succession
Theodosius married twice. His first wife was the Spanish Aelia Flavia Flaccilla. She bore him Arcadius ca. 377, Honorius on 9 September 384, and Pulcheria ca. 385. Theodosius honoured her with the title of Augusta shortly after his accession, but she died in 386. In late 387 he married Galla, daughter of Valentinian I and full-sister of Valentinian II. She bore him Gratian ca. 388, Galla Placidia ca. 388/390, and died in childbirth in 394, together with her new-born son John. Of his two sons who survived infancy, he appointed Arcadius as Augustus on 19 January 383 and Honorius as Augustus on 23 January 393. His promotion of Arcadius as a full Augustus at an unusually young age points to his determination right from the start that one of his own sons should succeed him. He sought to strengthen Arcadius' position in particular by means of a series of strategic marriages whose purpose was to tie his leading "generals" irrevocably to his dynasty. Hence he married his niece and adoptive daughter Serena to his magister militum per Orientem Stilicho in 387, her elder sister Thermantia to a "general" whose name has not been preserved, and ca. 387 his nephew-in-law Nebridius to Salvina, daughter of the comes Africae Gildo. By the time of his death by illness on 17 January 395, Theodosius had promoted Stilicho from his position as one of the two comites domesticorum under his own eastern administration to that of magister peditum praesentalis in a western administration, in an entirely traditional manner, under his younger son Honorius. Although Stilicho managed to increase the power of the magister peditum praesentalis to the disadvantage of his colleague the magister equitum praesentalis and claimed that Theodosius had appointed him as guardian for both his sons, this tells us more about his cunning and ambition than it does about Theodosius' constitutional arrangements.
Theodosius' importance rests on the fact that he founded a dynasty which continued in power until the death of his grandson Theodosius II in 450. This ensured a continuity of policy which saw the emergence of Nicene Christianity as the orthodox belief of the vast majority of Christians throughout the middle ages. It also ensured the essential destruction of paganism and the emergence of Christianity as the religion of the state, even if the individual steps in this process can be difficult to identify. On the negative side, however, he allowed his dynastic interests and ambitions to lead him into two unnecessary and bloody civil wars which severely weakened the empire's ability to defend itself in the face of continued barbarian pressure upon its frontiers. In this manner, he put the interests of his family before those of the wider Roman population and was responsible, in many ways, for the phenomenon to which we now refer as the fall of the western Roman empire.
Copyright (C) 1998, David Woods.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
There is a nice segue here, as we pick-up John Julius Norwich's summation of the reign of Theodosius, "Readers of this brief account of his career may well find themselves wondering, not so much whether he deserved the title of 'the Great' as how he ever came to acquire it in the first place. If so, however, they may also like to ask themselves another question: what would have been the fate of the Empire if, at that critical moment in its history after the battle of Adrianople, young Gratian had not called him from his Spanish estates and put the future of the East into his hands? . . . the probability is that the whole Empire of the East would have been lost, swallowed up in a revived Gothic kingdom, with effects on world history that defy speculation.
In his civil legislation he showed, again and again, a consideration for the humblest of his subjects that was rare indeed among rulers of the fourth century. What other prince would have decreed that any criminal, sentenced to execution, imprisonment or exile, must first be allowed thirty days' grace to put his affairs in order? Or that a specified part of his worldly goods must go to his children, upon whom their father's crimes must on no account be visited? Or that no farmer should be obliged to sell his produce to the State at a price lower than he would receive on the open market?
Had he earned his title? Not, perhaps, in the way that Constantine had done or as Justinian was to do. But, if not ultimately great himself, he had surely come very close to greatness; and had he reigned as long as they did his achievements might well have equalled theirs. He might even have saved the Western Empire. One thing only is certain: it would be nearly a century and a half before the Romans would look upon his like again" (Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium, the Early Centuries. London: Penguin Group, 1990. 116-7;118).
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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1505c, Theodosius I, 379 - 395 A.D. (Constantinople)Theodosius I (379 - 395 AD) AE3. 388-394 AD, RIC IX 27(a)3, Third Officina. Seventh Period. 20.27 mm. 4.8gm. Near VF with black and earthen patina. Constantinople. Obverse: DN THEODO-SIANVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped, & cuirassed bust right; Reverse: GLORIA-ROMANORVM, Theodosius I standing, facing, holding labarum and globe, CONSB in exergue (scarcer reverse). A Spanish find.
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
THEODOSIUS I (379-395 A.D.)
David Woods
University College of Cork
Origin and Early Career
Flavius Theodosius was born at Cauca in Spain in about 346 to Thermantia and Theodosius the Elder (so-called to distinguish him from his son). Theodosius the Elder was a senior military officer serving in the Western empire and rose to become the magister equitum praesentalis under the emperor Valentinian I from late 368 until his execution in early 375. As the son of a soldier, Theodosius was legally obliged to enter upon a military career. He seems to have served under his father during his expedition to Britain in 367/8, and was the dux Moesiae Primae by late 374. Unfortunately, great controversy surrounds the rest of his career until Gratian had him hailed as his imperial colleague in succession to the emperor Valens at Sirmium on 19 January 379. It is clear that he was forced to retire home to Spain only to be recalled to active service shortly thereafter, but the circumstances of his forced retirement are shrouded in mystery. His father was executed at roughly the same time, and much speculation has centred on the relationship between these events.
[For a very detailed and interesting discussion of the Foreign Policy of Theodosius and the Civil Wars that plagued his reign, please see http://www.roman-emperors.org/theo1.htm]
Family and Succession
Theodosius married twice. His first wife was the Spanish Aelia Flavia Flaccilla. She bore him Arcadius ca. 377, Honorius on 9 September 384, and Pulcheria ca. 385. Theodosius honoured her with the title of Augusta shortly after his accession, but she died in 386. In late 387 he married Galla, daughter of Valentinian I and full-sister of Valentinian II. She bore him Gratian ca. 388, Galla Placidia ca. 388/390, and died in childbirth in 394, together with her new-born son John. Of his two sons who survived infancy, he appointed Arcadius as Augustus on 19 January 383 and Honorius as Augustus on 23 January 393. His promotion of Arcadius as a full Augustus at an unusually young age points to his determination right from the start that one of his own sons should succeed him. He sought to strengthen Arcadius' position in particular by means of a series of strategic marriages whose purpose was to tie his leading "generals" irrevocably to his dynasty. Hence he married his niece and adoptive daughter Serena to his magister militum per Orientem Stilicho in 387, her elder sister Thermantia to a "general" whose name has not been preserved, and ca. 387 his nephew-in-law Nebridius to Salvina, daughter of the comes Africae Gildo. By the time of his death by illness on 17 January 395, Theodosius had promoted Stilicho from his position as one of the two comites domesticorum under his own eastern administration to that of magister peditum praesentalis in a western administration, in an entirely traditional manner, under his younger son Honorius. Although Stilicho managed to increase the power of the magister peditum praesentalis to the disadvantage of his colleague the magister equitum praesentalis and claimed that Theodosius had appointed him as guardian for both his sons, this tells us more about his cunning and ambition than it does about Theodosius' constitutional arrangements.
Theodosius' importance rests on the fact that he founded a dynasty which continued in power until the death of his grandson Theodosius II in 450. This ensured a continuity of policy which saw the emergence of Nicene Christianity as the orthodox belief of the vast majority of Christians throughout the middle ages. It also ensured the essential destruction of paganism and the emergence of Christianity as the religion of the state, even if the individual steps in this process can be difficult to identify. On the negative side, however, he allowed his dynastic interests and ambitions to lead him into two unnecessary and bloody civil wars which severely weakened the empire's ability to defend itself in the face of continued barbarian pressure upon its frontiers. In this manner, he put the interests of his family before those of the wider Roman population and was responsible, in many ways, for the phenomenon to which we now refer as the fall of the western Roman empire.
Copyright (C) 1998, David Woods.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
There is a nice segue here, as we pick-up John Julius Norwich's summation of the reign of Theodosius, "Readers of this brief account of his career may well find themselves wondering, not so much whether he deserved the title of 'the Great' as how he ever came to acquire it in the first place. If so, however, they may also like to ask themselves another question: what would have been the fate of the Empire if, at that critical moment in its history after the battle of Adrianople, young Gratian had not called him from his Spanish estates and put the future of the East into his hands? . . . the probability is that the whole Empire of the East would have been lost, swallowed up in a revived Gothic kingdom, with effects on world history that defy speculation.
In his civil legislation he showed, again and again, a consideration for the humblest of his subjects that was rare indeed among rulers of the fourth century. What other prince would have decreed that any criminal, sentenced to execution, imprisonment or exile, must first be allowed thirty days' grace to put his affairs in order? Or that a specified part of his worldly goods must go to his children, upon whom their father's crimes must on no account be visited? Or that no farmer should be obliged to sell his produce to the State at a price lower than he would receive on the open market?
Had he earned his title? Not, perhaps, in the way that Constantine had done or as Justinian was to do. But, if not ultimately great himself, he had surely come very close to greatness; and had he reigned as long as they did his achievements might well have equalled theirs. He might even have saved the Western Empire. One thing only is certain: it would be nearly a century and a half before the Romans would look upon his like again" (Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium, the Early Centuries. London: Penguin Group, 1990. 116-7;118).
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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1701a, Saladin, 1169-1193AYYUBID: Saladin, 1169-1193, AR dirham (2.92g), Halab, AH580, A-788, lovely struck, well-centered & bold, Extremely Fine, Scarce.
His name in Arabic, in full, is SALAH AD-DIN YUSUF IBN AYYUB ("Righteousness of the Faith, Joseph, Son of Job"), also called AL-MALIK AN-NASIR SALAH AD-DIN YUSUF I (b. 1137/38, Tikrit, Mesopotamia--d. March 4, 1193, Damascus), Muslim sultan of Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and Palestine, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, and the most famous of Muslim heroes.
In wars against the Christian crusaders, he achieved final success with the disciplined capture of Jerusalem (Oct. 2, 1187), ending its 88-year occupation by the Franks. The great Christian counterattack of the Third Crusade was then stalemated by Saladin's military genius.
Saladin was born into a prominent Kurdish family. On the night of his birth, his father, Najm ad-Din Ayyub, gathered his family and moved to Aleppo, there entering the service of 'Imad ad-Din Zangi ibn Aq Sonqur, the powerful Turkish governor in northern Syria. Growing up in Ba'lbek and Damascus, Saladin was apparently an undistinguished youth, with a greater taste for religious studies than military training.
His formal career began when he joined the staff of his uncle Asad ad-Din Shirkuh, an important military commander under the amir Nureddin, son and successor of Zangi. During three military expeditions led by Shirkuh into Egypt to prevent its falling to the Latin-Christian (Frankish) rulers of the states established by the First Crusade, a complex, three-way struggle developed between Amalric I, the Latin king of Jerusalem, Shawar, the powerful vizier of the Egyptian Fatimid caliph, and Shirkuh. After Shirkuh's death and after ordering Shawar's assassination, Saladin, in 1169 at the age of 31, was appointed both commander of the Syrian troops and vizier of Egypt.
His relatively quick rise to power must be attributed not only to the clannish nepotism of his Kurdish family but also to his own emerging talents. As vizier of Egypt, he received the title king (malik), although he was generally known as the sultan. Saladin's position was further enhanced when, in 1171, he abolished the Shi'i Fatimid caliphate, proclaimed a return to Sunnah in Egypt, and consequently became its sole ruler.
Although he remained for a time theoretically a vassal of Nureddin, that relationship ended with the Syrian emir's death in 1174. Using his rich agricultural possessions in Egypt as a financial base, Saladin soon moved into Syria with a small but strictly disciplined army to claim the regency on behalf of the young son of his former suzerain.
Soon, however, he abandoned this claim, and from 1174 until 1186 he zealously pursued a goal of uniting, under his own standard, all the Muslim territories of Syria, northern Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Egypt.
This he accomplished by skillful diplomacy backed when necessary by the swift and resolute use of military force. Gradually, his reputation grew as a generous and virtuous but firm ruler, devoid of pretense, licentiousness, and cruelty. In contrast to the bitter dissension and intense rivalry that had up to then hampered the Muslims in their resistance to the crusaders, Saladin's singleness of purpose induced them to rearm both physically and spiritually.
Saladin's every act was inspired by an intense and unwavering devotion to the idea of jihad ("holy war")-the Muslim equivalent of the Christian crusade. It was an essential part of his policy to encourage the growth and spread of Muslim religious institutions.
He courted its scholars and preachers, founded colleges and mosques for their use, and commissioned them to write edifying works especially on the jihad itself. Through moral regeneration, which was a genuine part of his own way of life, he tried to re-create in his own realm some of the same zeal and enthusiasm that had proved so valuable to the first generations of Muslims when, five centuries before, they had conquered half the known world.
Saladin also succeeded in turning the military balance of power in his favour-more by uniting and disciplining a great number of unruly forces than by employing new or improved military techniques. When at last, in 1187, he was able to throw his full strength into the struggle with the Latin crusader kingdoms, his armies were their equals. On July 4, 1187, aided by his own military good sense and by a phenomenal lack of it on the part of his enemy, Saladin trapped and destroyed in one blow an exhausted and thirst-crazed army of crusaders at Hattin, near Tiberias in northern Palestine.
So great were the losses in the ranks of the crusaders in this one battle that the Muslims were quickly able to overrun nearly the entire Kingdom of Jerusalem. Acre, Toron, Beirut, Sidon, Nazareth, Caesarea, Nabulus, Jaffa (Yafo), and Ascalon (Ashqelon) fell within three months.
But Saladin's crowning achievement and the most disastrous blow to the whole crusading movement came on Oct. 2, 1187, when Jerusalem, holy to both Muslim and Christian alike, surrendered to the Sultan's army after 88 years in the hands of the Franks. In stark contrast to the city's conquest by the Christians, when blood flowed freely during the barbaric slaughter of its inhabitants, the Muslim reconquest was marked by the civilized and courteous behaviour of Saladin and his troops. His sudden success, which in 1189 saw the crusaders reduced to the occupation of only three cities, was, however, marred by his failure to capture Tyre, an almost impregnable coastal fortress to which the scattered Christian survivors of the recent battles flocked. It was to be the rallying point of the Latin counterattack.
Most probably, Saladin did not anticipate the European reaction to his capture of Jerusalem, an event that deeply shocked the West and to which it responded with a new call for a crusade. In addition to many great nobles and famous knights, this crusade, the third, brought the kings of three countries into the struggle.
The magnitude of the Christian effort and the lasting impression it made on contemporaries gave the name of Saladin, as their gallant and chivalrous enemy, an added lustre that his military victories alone could never confer on him.
The Crusade itself was long and exhausting, and, despite the obvious, though at times impulsive, military genius of Richard I the Lion-Heart, it achieved almost nothing. Therein lies the greatest-but often unrecognized--achievement of Saladin. With tired and unwilling feudal levies, committed to fight only a limited season each year, his indomitable will enabled him to fight the greatest champions of Christendom to a draw. The crusaders retained little more than a precarious foothold on the Levantine coast, and when King Richard set sail from the Orient in October 1192, the battle was over.
Saladin withdrew to his capital at Damascus. Soon, the long campaigning seasons and the endless hours in the saddle caught up with him, and he died. While his relatives were already scrambling for pieces of the empire, his friends found that the most powerful and most generous ruler in the Muslim world had not left enough money to pay for his own grave.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
H.A.R. Gibb, "The Arabic Sources for the Life of Saladin," Speculum, 25:58-72 (1950). C.W. Wilson's English translation of one of the most important Arabic works, The Life of Saladin (1897), was reprinted in 1971. The best biography to date is Stanley Lane-Poole, Saladin and the Fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, new ed. (1926, reprinted 1964), although it does not take account of all the sources.Cleisthenes
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18. Kyme: Tetradrachm in the name of Alexander the Great.Tetradrachm, ca 188 - 170 BC, Kyme mint.
Obverse: Head of Alexander as Herakles, wearing lion's skin headdress.
Reverse: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΟΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ / Zeus sitting, holding his attendant eagle and sceptre. A one-handled jug in wreath at left, ΑΘΗΝΙΚΩΝ in exergue.
16.71 gm., 37 mm.
P. #1642; M. #950.
The photo does not do justice to the beauty of this coin.Callimachus
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1874. Edward VII, as Prince of Wales. Royal Horticultural Buildings. Taylor 180bObv. Head of Edward left ALBERT EDWARD PRINCE OF WALES PRESIDENT, G MORGAN SC, on truncation BOEHM
Rev. The Royal Horticultural Buildings LONDON ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF ALL FINE ARTS INDUSTRIES AND INVENTIONS on scroll below central medallion MDCCCLXXIV
AE51. Taylor 180b.
This medal is arguably the most complex architectural medal ever undertaken, and in my opinion the most accomplished. The depth of view is truly astounding, though this does not come accross to well in the picture. The depiction of the buildings is used as the cover art of Taylor's "The Architectural Medal: England in the Nineteenth Century", British Museum Publication, 1978.
LordBest
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1946a JOHN II METROPOLITIAN TETARTERON S-1946 DOC 13 CLBC 3.4.21946 JOHN II METROPOLITIAN TETARTERON S-1946 DOC 13 CLBC 3.4.2
OBV Bust of Virgin nimbate, orans, wearing tunic and maphorion.
REV Full length figure of Emperor wearing stemma, divitision, collar piece and jeweled loros of a simplified type. Holds in r. hand jeweled scepter and in l. hand gl. cr.
Size
Weight
Cosmopolitan Issue were minted in Constantinople, each of these coins had an added silver content of 3% and were also issued with a very light silver wash (Silver traces are common on Cosmopolitan issues but intact fully silvered coins are very rare.) These more than likely were tariffed at a higher rate than the Thessalonica issues that have been shown to have no silver content. Cosmopolitan issue are in general far scarcer than the Thessalonica issues.
DOC lists 9 examples with weights from 2.97gm to 4.57gm and sizes from 17mm to 20mm
Very old example in my collection, would grade as only fine. These coins rarely come to market and when they do the design does not command a high price. Mary was the patron of Constantinople, she is seen in much of the coinage minted there.
Simon
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1969C MANUEL METROPOLITIAN TETARTERON S-1969 DOC 16 CLBC 4.4.3 Imitation?OBV Full length figure of Christ standing on a dais, bearded and nimbate, wearing tunic and kolobion; right hand raised high in benediction holds Gospels in l. hand. Pellets in each limb of nimbus cross.
REV Full length figure of emperor, bearded, wearing stemma, divitision, collar piece, jeweled loros of a simplified type and Saigon; holds in right a labrum on a long shaft. On which X and in l. globus cruciger
Size 19.84
Weight 1.8gm
Not certain but I now believe this to be an imitation, the biggest reason for this is the low weight and thin flan. Does not have the look of a Constantinople minted coin. This coin was found in Cyprus.
Simon
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1978 MANUEL AE HALF TETARTERON S-1978 DOC 21 CLBC 4.4.8
OBV Bust of Christ beardless and nimbate, wearing tunic and kolobion; holds scrolls in l. hand. Pellet in each limb of nimbus cross
.
REV Full length figure of emperor, bearded, wearing uncertain dress (stemma, short military tunic, breastplate and sagion?) holds in r. hand scepter cruciger and in l. Globus cruciger.
Size 19mm
Weight 3.23gm
DOC lists 3 examples with weights ranging from 2.66 gm to 2.75 gm with sizes all 20mm
This coin differs from S-1981 not only by size but DOC notes a beard on Christ on S-1981 where as S-1978 is beardless , I however am finding that a difficult distinction to concur with, the beard on Christ can be a simple dot on his chin, however with this style of coins I am finding the lighter weight coins with perhaps a beard with one dot on chin in another example a series of dots making the beard, in these larger and heavier beards the dot on the chin is still there but not as distinct. Interesting to note that Hendy did not note a beard in his 1969 book but in his latter DOC works he does, the earlier catalogs such as Ratto do note a difference in the two styles because of the weight and beard.
This coin is a choice example Good Very Fine. Simon
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1978a MANUEL AE HALF TETARTERON S-1978 DOC 21 CLBC 4.4.8
OBV Bust of Christ beardless and nimbate, wearing tunic and kolobion; holds scrolls in l. hand. Pellet in each limb of nimbus cross
.
REV Full length figure of emperor, bearded, wearing uncertain dress (stemma, short military tunic, breastplate and sagion?) holds in r. hand scepter cruciger and in l. Globus cruciger.
Size 19mm
Weight 3.23gm
DOC lists 3 examples with weights ranging from 2.66 gm to 2.75 gm with sizes all 20mm
This coin differs from S-1981 not only by size but DOC notes a beard on Christ on S-1981 where as S-1978 is beardless , I however am finding that a difficult distinction to concur with, the beard on Christ can be a simple dot on his chin, however with this style of coins I am finding the lighter weight coins with perhaps a beard with one dot on chin in another example a series of dots making the beard, in these larger and heavier beards the dot on the chin is still there but not as distinct. Interesting to note that Hendy did not note a beard in his 1969 book but in his latter DOC works he does, the earlier catalogs such as Ratto do note a difference in the two styles because of the weight and beard.Simon
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1978c MANUEL AE HALF TETARTERON S-1978 DOC 21 CLBC 4.4.8 OBV Bust of Christ beardless and nimbate, wearing tunic and kolobion; holds scrolls in l. hand. Pellet in each limb of nimbus cross
.
REV Full length figure of emperor, bearded, wearing uncertain dress (stemma, short military tunic, breastplate and sagion?) holds in r. hand scepter cruciger and in l. Globus cruciger.
Size 18.63mm
Weight 3.1gm
DOC lists 3 examples with weights ranging from 2.66 gm to 2.75 gm with sizes all 20mm
This coin differs from S-1981 not only by size but DOC notes a beard on Christ on S-1981 where as S-1978 is beardless , I however am finding that a difficult distinction to concur with, the beard on Christ can be a simple dot on his chin, however with this style of coins I am finding the lighter weight coins with perhaps a beard with one dot on chin in another example a series of dots making the beard, in these larger and heavier beards the dot on the chin is still there but not as distinct. Interesting to note that Hendy did not note a beard in his 1969 book but in his latter DOC works he does, the earlier catalogs such as Ratto do note a difference in the two styles because of the weight and beard.
Simon
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1de Postumus259-268
Antoninianus
Radiate, draped & cuirassed bust, right, IMP C POTVMVS PF AVG
Virtus standing right, holding spear & shield, VIRTVS AVG
RIC 93
Postumus rebelled against Gallienus and ruled Gaul, Spain, and Britain. Eutropius wrote: When affairs were in this desperate condition, and the Roman empire almost ruined, POSTUMUS, a man of very obscure birth, assumed the purple in Gaul, and held the government with such ability for ten years, that he recruited the provinces, which had been almost ruined, by his great energy and judgment; but he was killed in a mutiny of the army, because he would not deliver up Moguntiacum, which had rebelled against him, to be plundered by the soldiers, at the time when Lucius Aelianus was endeavouring to effect a change of government.
According to the Historia Augusta: This man, most valiant in war and most steadfast in peace, was so highly respected for his whole manner of life that he was even entrusted by Gallienus with the care of his son Saloninus (whom he had placed in command of Gaul), as the guardian of his life and conduct and his instructor in the duties of a ruler.- Nevertheless, as some writers assert though it does not accord with his character he afterwards broke faith and after slaying Saloninus seized the imperial power. As others, however, have related with greater truth, the Gauls themselves, hating Gallienus most bitterly and being unwilling to endure a boy as their emperor, hailed as their ruler the man who was holding the rule in trust for another, and despatching soldiers they slew the boy. When he was slain, Postumus was gladly accepted by the entire army and by all the Gauls, and for seven years he performed such exploits that he completely restored the provinces of Gaul. . . . Great, indeed, was the love felt for Postumus in the hearts of all the people of Gaul because he had thrust back all the German tribes and had restored the Roman Empire to its former security. But when he began to conduct himself with the greatest sternness, the Gauls, following their custom of always desiring a change of government, at the instigation of Lollianus put him to death.
Zonaras adds: Galienus, when he had learned of [his son's death], proceeded against Postumus, and, when he had engaged him, was initially beaten and then prevailed, with the result that Postumus fled. Then Auriolus was sent to chase him down. Though able to capture him, he was unwilling to pursue him for long, but, coming back, he said that he was unable to capture him. Thus Postumus, having escaped, next organized an army. Galienus again marched upon him and, after he had penned him in a certain city of Gaul, besieged the usurper. In the siege, the sovereign was struck in the back by an arrow and, having become ill as a result, broke off the siege.Blindado
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1et Valentinian II373-392
AE3, Nicomedia
Pearl-diademed, draped & cuirassed bust rightt, D N VALENTINIANVS IVN P F AVG
Roma seated on cuirass, holding spear and Victory on globe, VRBS ROMA
The SMN mintmark indicates that the coin was minted in Nicomedia, but RIC does not list this reverse type for that mint.
Sim to RIC 51
Zosimus reports: Valentinian being dead, the tribunes Merobaudes and Equitius, reflecting on the distance at which Valens and Gratian resided, the former being in the east, and the latter left by his father in the western part of Gaul, were apprehensive lest the Barbarians beyond the Ister should make an effort while the country was without a ruler. They therefore sent for the younger son of Valentinian, who was born of his wife the widow of Magnentius, who was not far from thence with the child. Having clothed him in purple, they brought him into the court, though scarcely five years old. The empire was afterwards divided between Gratian and the younger Valentinian, at the discretion of their guardians, they not being of age to manage their own affairs. The Celtic nations, Spain, and Britain were given to Gratian; and Italy, Illyricum, and Africa to Valentinian. . . .
Affairs being thus situated in the east, in Thrace, and in Illyricum, Maximus, who deemed his appointments inferior to his merits, being only governor of the countries formerly under Gratian, projected how to depose the young Valentinian from the empire, if possible totally, but should he fail in the whole, to secure at least some part. . . . he immediately entered Italy without; resistance, and marched to Aquileia. . . . This so much surprised Valentinian, and rendered his situation so desperate, that his courtiers were alarmed lest he should be taken by Maximus and put to death. He, therefore, immediately embarked,and sailed to Thessalonica with his mother Justina, who, as I before mentioned, had been the wife of Magnentius, but after his decease was taken in marriage by the emperor Valentinian on account of her extraordinary beauty. She carried along with her her daughter Galla. After having passed many seas, and arriving at Thessalonica, they sent messengers to the emperor Theodosius, intreating him now at least to revenge the injuries committed against the family of Valentinian. He was astonished at hearing of this, and began to forget his extravagance, and to lay some restraint on his wild inclination for pleasure. . . . Theodosius then delivered to Valentinian as much of the empire as his father had possessed; in which he only acted as he was enjoined by his duty to those who so merited his kindness. . . .
intelligence was brought that the emperor Valentianian was no more, and that his death happened in this manner: Arbogastes, a Frank, who was appointed by the emperor Gratian lieutenant to Baudo, at the death of Baudo, confiding in his own ability, assumed the command without the emperor's permission. Being thought proper for the station by all the soldiers under him, both for his valour and experience in military affairs, and for his disregard of riches, he attained great influence. He thus became so elevated, that he would speak without reserve to the emperor, and would blame any measure which he thought improper. This gave such umbrage to Valentinian. . . .
Eugenius became the sincere friend of Arbogastes, who had no secret which he did not confide to him. Recollecting Eugenius, therefore, at this juncture, who by his extraordinary learning and the gravity of his conversation seemed well-adapted for the management of an empire, he communicated to him his designs. But finding him not pleased with the proposals, he attempted to prevail on him by all the arts he could use, and entreated him not to reject what fortune so favourably offered. Having at length persuaded him, he deemed it advisable in the first place to remove Valentinian, and thus to deliver the sole authority to Eugenius. With this view he proceeded to Vienna, a town in Gaul, where the emperor resided; and as he was amusing himself near the town in some sports with the soldiers, apprehending no danger, Arbogastes gave him a mortal wound. Blindado
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2014.051.3Siscia, 3.25 g
Obverse: IMP C M AVR PROBVS PF AVG; Radiate, wearing helmet, cuirassed bust right; holding spear in right over right shoulder; shield with Pegasus left and other decorations on left shoulder.
Reverse: ROMAE AETERNAE; XXIP in exergue; Roma seated left in hexa-style temple; holding globe(?) in extended right; scepter in left; shield beneath seat; wreath in pediment.
Ref: RIC 739; Alfoldi Type 60, no 14, though type 14 does not show the same decorated shield, only Pegasus shown and not additional decorations.
gordian_guy
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2016AV ALEXIUS III ANGELUS-COMNENUS AE HALF TETARTERON S-2016 DOC 7 CLBC 8.4.4 Unlisted VariationOBV Bust of St. George , beardless and nimbate , wearing tunic, breastplate wearing tunic, breastplate, and sagion; holds spear in r. hand resting on RIGHT shoulder and in l. hand. Scroll or hilt of sword ( This one with such an exceptional Obv makes it clear it is a hilt of sword, also no others mention spear resting on right shoulder.))
REV Full length figure of emperor wearing stemma, divitision, and chlamys; holds in r. hand labarum on long shaft and in l. Globus cruciger cr. Manus Dei ( Hands of God) in upper right field.
This is a Thessalonica minted coin, it contains no silver. It is believed to be valued at 1/864 Hyperpyron and the Metropolitan (Constantinople) issues at 1/288 Hyperpyron
Size 16/14mm
Weight 2.3gm
DOC lists 6 examples with weights from 1.2 to 1.9 gm and sizes 15x11 to 17mm
Half tetartera are rare for Alexius III, this example has and excellent obv and the reverse is attributable in hand but does not photograph well.
Both of my Alexius III half tetartera are very odd shaped flans.
Simon
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202b. GetaGeta, as Caesar,
Publius Septimius Geta was the younger son of the emperor Septimius Severus. Geta's rivalry with his older brother, Caracalla, culminated in Geta's murder less than a year after Severus' death. Tradition soon idealized this victim of fratricide as a gentle prince taken by treachery far too soon. Critics of Caracalla looked back wistfully at the murdered prince, who came to be described as a lamb devoured by his ferocious, lion-like brother. The little reliable evidence about Geta's personality does not seem to support the idealized picture of a gentle prince, but the shocking nature of his death at the instigation of his brother transformed Geta's life into legend.
Denarius. P SEPT GETA CAES PONT, draped bust right / PRINC IVVENTVTIS, Geta, in military dress, standing left with baton & scepter, trophy behind. RIC 18, RSC 157ecoli
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22140 Gallienus/Zoo Doe22140 Gallienus/Zoo Doe
Obv: GALLIENVS AVG
Radiate Bust Right
Rev: DIANAE CONS AVG
Doe standing left looking backwards
Epsilon in Exergue
Mint: Rome 19.4mm 3.2g
RIC V-1, Rome 177
Blayne W
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24. Alfred.Penny, first coinage 871-875, mint ?.
Obverse: +AELBRED REX / bust of Alfred.
Reverse: MON / EALHERE / ETA
Moneyer: Ealhere.
1.21 gm., 19 mm.
North #627; Seaby #1057.
The similarities of the lunnettes coinage of Burgred and the first coinage of Alfred has long been noted. There is evidence of an agreement between Mercia and Wessex to produce a unified coinage in the two states. This agreement was continued by Burgred and Alfred. At the beginning of Alfred's reign in 871, there were just two mints operating in Mercia and Wessex: London and Canterbury. Philip Grierson, in his book Medieval European Coinage: Volume 1, The Early Middle Ages, has Ealhere a moneyer in Canterbury.
A more detailed analysis of Alfred's coinage comes to a different conclusion. The Lunettes Coinage of Alfred the Great by A. W. Lyons & W. A. Mackay (2008, BNJ 78, 4) places this obverse die in Group 2 Mercian Style Lunettes, variant IV: "Horizonal bust." Characteristics: Bust lacks a bonnet, the hair is comprised of several horizontal lines usually ending in pellets and sloping between 45 to 60 degrees. Double-banded diadem surmounted by a crescent. Distinctively cut "wedge" lips. The eye is a small circle with a dot in the center.
The reverse die of this coin is Lunettes type C (illustrated under Burgred in North, p. 67.) However, Table 2B does not show the moneyer Ealhere using reverse type Lunette C. So coins with this die combination were evidentally not known to Lyons & Mackay.
Table 2D, listing all the moneyers of Alfred's Lunette coinage, says Ealhere used obverse dies of Group 1 variant I, and Group 2 variant IV (the obverse die on this coin). Lyons & Mackay suggest that Ealhere was located in central or west Wessex as he used London and Canterbury dies. Callimachus
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2586 PHRYGIA, Apameia. Hadrian, MarsyasReference.
RPC III, 2586; BMC PHRYGIA, 155 (P. 96); SNG Copenhagen 211; SNG von Aulock 3492.
Obv. AΔPIANOC KAI CEB
Laureate bust right, aegis tied at shoulder.
Rev. : AΠAMEΩN MARCYAS KIBΩTOI
Marsyas, naked but for chlamys over lower limbs, reclining l. in rocky cave, above which are two or five chests, holding cornucopia in his raised r. hand, double flute in l.; beneath him, inverted vase from which water flows.
5.28 gr
20 mm
6h
Note.
CNG
The figure on the reverse is not the satyr Marsyas, who does have his mythological orgins in Phrygia, but rather the personification of the river Marsyas, which flows from a spring in the heights above Apamea and eventually joins the Maeander. Apamea was known as Kelaenai before being re-founded by Antiochos I, and had the additional epithet of Kibotos, or "chest," for its importance as a regional trading center.okidoki
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2787A PISIDIA, Claudioseleucia Hadrian Dionysus standingReference. Extremely rare.
RPC III, 2787A; Cf. SNG Copenhagen 209; cf. Waddington 5043.
http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/2787A/
Obv: ΚΑΙCΑΡ ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟC.
Laureate bust right.
Rev: ΚΛΑΥΔΙΟСΕΛΕΥΚΕΩΝ
Dionysus standing left, holding filleted thyrsus and pouring cantharus.
Note Gitbud & Naumann.
Though the reverse legend does not seem to match the Copenhagen and Waddington specimens (Aνθυ Κυιητ Υρκανων---a reading which is already questionable), the similarity in obverse legend and overall style makes an attribution to this city likely.
3.70 gr
16 mmokidoki
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3012 Hadrian Denarius 129-31 AD Victory Eastern mintReference.
RIC III, 3012; BMCRE --; Strack --; RIC --; C. --
Bust A2
Obv. AVGVSTVS HADRIANVS
Laureate head with drapery
Rev. III COS
Victory standing right holding wreath and palm
3.13 gr
19 mm
6h
Note.
Strack knew just three Eastern denarii with this transposed obv. legend, including one with a Minerva standing rev. type in the Trau coll., Strack's pl. XVIII, *18. Curtis Clay has another example with this obverse with the Minerva type. This would appear to be a fifth specimen from this obverse die but with a new reverse type.
Additional information on this coin from Curtis Clay:-
"Interesting. Apparently a new rev. type on the Eastern denarii, of uncertain origin.
That's admittedly a fairly standard Victory advancing right rev. type, but I find no such type on any denarius of Hadrian from the mint of Rome, nor on his Asian cistophori.
A similar type does occur on Hadrian's silver quinarii, and on a rather scarce denarius of Trajan struck in 112 but these seem unlikely sources for a type on Hadrian's Eastern denarii.
Moreover on the Roman coins Victory grasps the stem of the palm over her shoulder in her left fist, thumb upwards, whereas on the Eastern denarius she palms the stem, holding it with her downwards pointing thumb while apparently keeping her fingers extended. I imagine that this detail may go back to the source copied, since it seems unlikely that the engraver changed it on his own whim."
Ex maridvnvmokidoki
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32. Otacilia Severa.Antoninianus, ca 245 - 247 AD, "Branch mint" (?)
Obverse: M OTACIL SEVERA AVG / Diademed bust of Severa, on a crescent.
Reverse: IVNO CONSERVAT / Juno standing, veiled, holding patera and sceptre.
4.27 gm., 21 mm.
RIC #127; Sear #9152.
RIC tentatively assigns this coin to Antioch, Sear assigns it to Rome (See RIC, vol. IV, part III, pages 54 and 64). Stylistically, this coin does not fit in with Rome and that is why RIC attributed it to Antioch. Curtis Clay recently suggested this coin is part of a small issue minted at a branch mint to produce coinage for Philip's Carpic campaign of 245-247. So at present, the mint for this coin is still open to question. Callimachus
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320. CarusMarcus Aurelius Carus (c. 230 - late July/early August, 283), Roman emperor (282-283), was born probably at Narbona (more correctly, Narona -- now the ruins at Vid, Croatia) in Illyria, but was educated at Rome. He was a senator, and had filled various civil and military posts before he was appointed prefect of the Praetorian Guard by the emperor Probus. After the murder of Probus at Sirmium, Carus was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers.
Although Carus severely avenged the death of Probus, he was himself suspected of having been an accessory to the deed. He does not seem to have returned to Rome after his accession, but contented himself with an announcement of the fact to the Senate.
Bestowing the title of Caesar upon his sons Carinus and Numerian, he left Carinus in charge of the western portion of the empire, and took Numerian with him on the expedition against the Persians which had been contemplated by Probus. Having defeated the Quadi and Sarmatians on the Danube, Carus proceeded through Thrace and Asia Minor, conquered Mesopotamia, pressed on to Seleucia and Ctesiphon, and carried his arms beyond the Tigris.
His hopes of further conquest were cut short by his death. One day, after a violent storm, it was announced that he was dead. His death was variously attributed to disease, the effects of lightning, or a wound received in a campaign against the Huns. However it seems more probable that he was murdered by the soldiers, who were averse to further campaigns against Persia, at the instigation of Arrius Aper, prefect of the Praetorian Guard.
VF/VF Carus AE Antoninianus / Virtus
Attribution: VM 16
Date: 282-283 AD
Obverse: IMP C M AVR CARVS P F AVG, radiate bust r.
Reverse: VIRTVS AVGGG, Carus receiving globe from Jupiter
Size: 20.32 mm
Weight: 2.7 grams
Description: An attractive Carus ant
ecoli
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3266 CILICIA, Tarsus Hadrian Tridrachm Sandan Reference.
RPC III 3266/17; Prieur 767; SNG BN 1407-9.
Issue Second group
Obv. ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙ ΘΕ ΤΡΑ ΠΑΡ ΥΙ ΘΕ ΝΕΡ ΥΙ ΤΡΑΙ ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟϹ ϹΕ.
Laureate head of Hadrian, r. with drapery on l. shoulder
Rev. ΤΑΡϹΕΩΝ ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΕΩϹ.
Sandan, wearing tall headdress and long cloak, standing, r., on horned lion; he wears on his l. side bow-case and sword crossing the bow-case; his r. hand is raised and he holds bipennis and wreath in l.
10.20 gr
25 mm
12h
Note.
Sandan was a Hittite High God, and like all the High Gods, his feet were believed never to touch the earth. Riding on the back of a powerful mythical animal, as Sandan does here with a horned lion, was an often-used means of transportation for these Gods. Sandan's appearance on a 2nd Century AD Cilician coin shows the lasting impact of the Hittite occupation of Cilicia, which occurred 18 centuries before this coin was struck.okidoki
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379/1. Procilia - denarius (80 BC)AR Denarius (Rome, 80 BC)
O/ Laureate head of Jupiter right; S C downwards behind.
R/ Juno Sospita standing right, holding shield and hurling spear; snake before; L PROCILI/F downwards behind.
3.57g
Crawford 379/1 (104 obverse dies/116 reverse dies)
* Lucius Procilius:
The life of Procilius is sparsely known. Besides, he is the only recorded member of the gens Procilia for the Republic and the lack of a cognomen further indicates a humble origin. Dictionaries often record two different Procilius (a historian and a politician), but they were possibly the same person. Since there are 35 years between this denarius and the dated events of Procilius' life, the moneyer could have been the father of the politician and historian.
Regarding Procilius the historian, none of his writings has survived, even as fragments, but he is quoted by Varro about the origin of the Lacus Curtius on the Forum (Latin Language, v. 148), Pliny the Elder on a text related to Pompey (Natural History, viii. 2), and Cicero alludes that he wrote on Greek constitutions (Atticus, ii. 2). The scope of his works must have therefore been quite extensive. In the aforementioned letter, Cicero shows his dislike for Procilius, which is perhaps related to Procilius' political role.
Indeed, in other letters, Cicero mentions that Procilius was also a Tribune of the Plebs in 56, and that he was allied to Gaius Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger's cousin) and Marcus Nonius Sufenas, also Tribunes that year. They supported Publius Clodius Pulcher, Tribune in 59 and Aedile in 56, who -- as Tribune -- had banned Cicero from Rome for his repression of the Catiline Conspiracy, hence the animosity of Cicero towards Procilius. In 56, Pulcher and the three tribunes, including Procilius, prevented the elections from taking place, in order to force an interregnum, so that Crassus and Pompey could be chosen consuls for 55 (Cassius Dio, Roman History, xxxix. 27-33).
They used violence and bribery to prevent this election and were therefore sued. Cato and Sufenas were acquitted, but Procilius was found guilty on 4 July 54 (Cicero, Atticus, iv. 15). Apparently, he was not condemned for the complete illegality of his deeds, but because he had killed a man in his house; and Cicero complains that 22 judges on 49 still wanted to absolve him. In the following letter to Atticus (ii. 16), Cicero adds that there are rumors about Sufenas and his judges, possibly about corruption, but does not give more details.
The use of Juno Sospita refers to the town of Lanuvium, where she was worshiped, probably the hometown of Procilius.
Joss
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380. Severus Alexander / RIC 300 var.Denarius, ca 222-223 AD, Antioch mint.
Obv: IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG / Laureate bust of Severus Alexander.
Rev: VICTORIA AVG / Victoria running, holding wreath and palm. No star in right field.
2.70 gm., 18 mm.
RIC #300 var.
RIC #300 has the long obverse legend -- as does this coin. It also has a star on the reverse, which this coin does not have. So I have listed this coin as a variety of RIC #300.Callimachus
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46. Richard I.Penny, London mint.
Obverse: HENRICVS REX / Crowned bust, facing, with sceptre at left.
Reverse: +STIVENE . ON . LVN / Short cross voided, with quatrefoil in each angle.
Moneyer: Stivene.
1.36 gm., 19 mm.
North #968; Seaby #1348A (old #1348).
Classification from North, Vol.1, p. 163-64, 170, Addendum; and Seaby 1994:
- The moneyer Stivene coined types 2 - 4b.
- Types 2 and 3 can be eliminated because the beard consists of small curls.
- Type 4 has beard consisting of pellets (as does this coin).
- Type 4b has a much coarser portrait and letters; the pellets in the crown run into one line.
North (1963) assigns type 4 to John, but later works (Seaby 1994, for example) assign 4a-4b to Richard. It appears that Stivene coined only for Richard. The difficulty in attribution stems from the fact that both Richard and John kept the name of their father (Henry II) on their coins.
Callimachus
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534/2 Octavian, Marcus Vipsanius AgrippaOctavian and M. Vipsanius Agrippa. AR Denarius. Military mint moving with Octavian. c. 38 A.D. (3.48g, 18.2mm, 6h). Obv: DIVOS IVLIVS DIVI F, confronting heads of Julius Caesar, wreathed r., Octavian, bare headed, l. banker's marks Rev: M AGRIPPA COS DESIG. Craw. 534/2, Vipsania 2.
An exceedingly rare issue, I had to have this despite its condition. Worn, but not beyond recognition, this was an issue under the authority of Agrippa who was governor of Gaul at the time. This is a first use of confronting busts which became more common on dynastic issues of the Empire. The picture does not show it well, but the reverse legend is all there.Lucas H
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57. Maximinus I year II.Denarius, 236 AD, Rome mint.
Obverse: IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG / Laureate bust of Maximinus.
Reverse: P M TR P II COS P P / The emperor standing between two standards, holding spear, and raising right hand.
3.50 gm., 19 mm.
RIC #3; Sear #8312.
Maximinus had a great victory over the Germans sometime in the late Fall of 235 at which time he took the title Germanicus. This coin from 236 does not have GERM in the obverse legend, indicating it was minted before the news of this victory reached Rome. Once this news reached Rome, a different obverse legend was used, which then remained unchanged for the rest of the reign.Callimachus
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602a. Valentinian IIIIn the early years of his reign, Valentinian was overshadowed by his mother. After his marriage in 437, moreover, much of the real authority lay in the hands of the Patrician and Master of Soldiers Aetius. Nor does Valentinian seem to have had much of an aptitude for rule. He is described as spoiled, pleasure-loving, and influenced by sorcerers and astrologers. He divided his time primarily between Rome and Ravenna. Like his mother, Valentinian was devoted to religion. He contributed to churches of St. Laurence in both Rome and Ravenna. He also oversaw the accumulation of ecclesiastical authority in the hands of the bishop of Rome as he granted ever greater authority and prestige to pope Leo the Great (440-461) in particular.
Valentinian's reign saw the continued dissolution of the western empire. By 439, nearly all of North Africa was effectively lost to the Vandals; Valentinian did attempt to neutralize that threat by betrothing his sister Placidia to the Vandal prince Huneric. In Spain, the Suevi controlled the northwest, and much of Gaul was to all intents and purposes controlled by groups of Visigoths, Burgundians, Franks, and Alans. In 454, Valentinian murdered his supreme general Aetius, presumably in an attempt to rule in his own right. But in the next year, he himself was murdered by two members of his bodyguard, ex-partisans of Aetius.
Although Valentinian was ineffectual as a ruler, his legitimate status and connection to the old ruling dynasty provided a last vestige of unity for the increasingly fragmented Roman empire. After his death, the decay of the west accelerated. The different regions of the west went their own way, and the last several western emperors, the so-called "Shadow" or "Puppet" Emperors, not only were usually overshadowed by one barbarian general or other, but also were limited primarily to Italy.ecoli
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64. Procopius.AE 3, Sept. 365 - May 355, Constantinople mint.
Obverse: DN PROCOPIVS P F AVG / Diademed bust of Procopius, facing left.
Reverse: REPARATIO FEL TEMP / The emperor standing, holding labarum and shield, a small indeterminate object at foot. Christogram at upper right, palm branch at left.
Mint mark: CONSS
3.88 gm., 17 mm.
RIC #17 var.; Sear #19882/83.
This coin is not listed in RIC. The description of the types would indicate RIC 17a. However the branch at left indicates RIC 17b. But RIC 17b does not have the "indeterminate object" at the emperor's feet. Also, the officina number (S) is not listed for RIC 17a or 17b. Callimachus
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