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JUSTINIAN I, AR Siliqua or Half-Siliqua, struck 537 - 552 at CarthageObverse: D N IVSTINIANVS P P AV. Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Justinian I facing right.
Reverse: Monogram, cross above, S below, within circle, all encircled by wreath. (SBCV Monogram 3)
Diameter: 13mm | Weight: 1.17gms | Die Axis: 6
SBCV: 254 (Siliqua) | Sommer 4.119
Scratched obverse. Not in DOC.
RARE
The monogram on the reverse of this coin was originally interpreted as being that of the Ostrogothic queen Mathasunta (cf. BMC 80, 1). However, a later re-interpretation by Wolfgang Hahn (MIB) attributed this issue as being a regular African Imperial issue of Justinian, and this is the attribution that was adopted by SBCV.
On September the 15th 533 Justinian's army, led by Belisarius, entered the city of Carthage and brought it back into the Roman Empire after 98 years of Vandal rule. In March 534 the Vandal king Gelimer surrendered to Belisarius ending the Vandal kingdom and returning the African provinces to the empire. Large numbers of captured Vandals were transported to Constantinople and in April Belisarius returned there too and was permitted by Justinian I to celebrate a triumph, the first non-imperial triumph for over 500 years.*Alex
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Louis XIV and Marie-Thérèse, AE (Copper) Jeton struck c.1667Obverse: +LVD•XIIII•ET•MAR•THER•D•G•FRA•ET•NAV•REX•ET•REG. Busts of Louis XIV and Marie Therese facing one another. To the left, draped and laureate bust of Louis XVI facing right. To the right, draped bust of Marie Therese facing left, small crown on the back of her head.
Reverse: MAIESTATI•AC•AETERNIT•GALL•IMPERII•SACRVM+. Front view of the new Louvre Palace in Paris.
Diameter: 27.5mm | Weight: 5.7gms | Die Axis: 6
Ref. Feuardent: 13082
Struck at indeterminate mint, possibly Lisse, Netherlands
Engraved by Jean Varin or faithfully copied from his dies
The site of the Louvre was originally a fortress, built in the middle ages by King Philippe-Auguste (1165-1223). Between 1364 and 1380, Charles V (1338-1380) undertook work on this building to transform it into a castle, turning the old fort into a comfortable residence.
François I (1494-1547), known as the sovereign of the Renaissance, demolished the castle begun by Charles V and rebuilt it as the Louvre Palace and Catherine de Medici (1519-1589) had the Tuileries Palace built alongside.
Then King Henri IV (1553-1610), began further modernisations and had a large gallery built between the Louvre Palace and Tuileries Palace to facilitate movement between the seat of power and his apartments. The modernisation work begun by Henri IV was not completed until the reign of Louis XIV, and it is this that is commemorated on this jeton. It was Louis XIV who, before moving on to his work at Versailles, entrusted the development of the gardens to André Le Nôtre. But when the court of the Sun King moved to his new Palace of Versailles the Louvre Palace became somewhat run down and was occupied by a variety of intellectuals and artists who took up residence there.*Alex
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(0324) CONSTANTIUS II324 - 337 AD (as Caesar)
337 - 361 AD (as Augustus)
AE 18.5 mm max. 1.96 g
O: D N CONSTAN-TIVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
R: FEL TEMP-REPARATIO, helmeted soldier to left, shield on left arm, spearing fallen horseman who is wearing Phrygian helmet, turning to face soldier and extending right arm.
D in left field; SCON in exe.
Arles mint; cf RIC VIII Arles 215
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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0002 Sextus Pompey -- Neptune and Naval TrophySextus Pompey, Imperator and Prefect of the Fleet
[Youngest Son of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great)]
Obv: [MAG or MA (ligatured) G]⦁PIVS⦁IMP⦁ITER; Portrait of Neptune facing r., diademed and bearded, trident over l. shoulder. Border of dots.
Rev: [PRAE (AE ligatured) F⦁CLAS⦁ET⦁ORAE (AE ligatured)]⦁MAR (ligatured) IT⦁EX⦁S⦁C⦁; Naval trophy with trident on top and anchor on bottom, prow stem on l. and aplustre on r., at base two representations of Charybdis and two dog heads of Scylla. Border of dots.
Denomination: silver denarius; Mint: Sicily, uncertain location1; Date: summer 42 - summer 39 BC2; Weight: 3.89g; Diameter: 17mm; Die axis: 30º; References, for example: Sear CRI 333; BMCRR v. II Sicily 15, 16, and 17 variant3; Sydenham 1347 variant3; Crawford RRC 511/2a or 2b4.
Notes:
Obverse legend: MAG[NUS]⦁PIVS⦁IMP[ERATOR]⦁ITER[UM]
Reverse legend: PRAEF[ECTUS]⦁CLAS[SIS]⦁ET⦁ORAE⦁MARIT[IMAE]⦁EX⦁S[ENATUS]⦁C[ONSULTO]
1Sear CRI, Crawford RRC, Sydenham, and DeRose Evans (1987) all place the minting of this coin type in Sicily, but they do not reference a possible location. Grueber BMCRR v. II Sicily suggests Messana.
2This is the date range argued for in Estiot 2006 (p. 145). Estiot recommends returning to Crawford's proposal of 42 - 40 BC. Crawford RRC, p. 521 suggests the period in 42 BC after Sextus Pompey defeated Q. Salvidienus Rufus. Grueber BMCRR v. II Sicily, p.562 proposes 38 - 36 BC and Sydenham, p. 210 adopts the same datation. DeRose Evans (1987), p. 129 offers a time between late summer 36 and September 36 BC.
3Grueber BMCRR v. II Sicily 15, 16, and 17 and Sydenham 1347 only list a reverse legend containing MAR (ligatured) I but the coin here is MAR (ligatured) IT.
4It is impossible to see the full obverse legend, so it cannot be determined if MA is ligatured or not. The reverse legend is clearly the first variety of 2a or 2b, a variety not found on 2c.
Provenance: Ex Shanna Schmidt Numismatics April 11, 2019; from the collection of W. F. Stoecklin, Amriswil, Switzerland; acquired from Hess AG in Luzern, from the Ernst Haeberlin collection, Cahn & Hess, Frankfurt, July 17, 1933 Lot 2889.
Photo credits: Shanna Schmidt Numismatics
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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0006 Sextus Pompey -- Pompey the Great and Neptune with Catanaean BrothersSextus Pompey, Imperator and Prefect of the Fleet
[Youngest Son of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great)]
Obv: [MAG⦁PIVS⦁IMP⦁ITER]; portrait of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus r.; behind jug; before lituus. Border of dots.
Rev: above, [PRAE (AE ligatured) F]; in exergue, CLAS⦁ET⦁[ORAE (AE ligatured)⦁MAR (ligatured) IT⦁EX⦁S⦁C]; Neptune standing l., wearing diadem, aplustre in r. hand, cloak over l. arm, r. foot on prow,; on either side a Catanaean brother bearing one of his parents on his shoulders1. Border of dots.
Denomination: silver denarius; Mint: Sicily, uncertain location2; Date: summer 42 - summer 39 BC3; Weight: 3.68g; Diameter: 17mm; Die axis: 30º; References, for example: Sear CRI 334; BMCRR v. II Sicily 7, 8, 9, and 10; Sydenham 1344; Crawford RRC 511/3a.
Notes:
Obverse legend: MAG[NUS]⦁PIVS⦁IMP[ERATOR]⦁ITER[UM]
Reverse legend: PRAEF[ECTUS]⦁CLAS[SIS]⦁ET⦁ORAE⦁MARIT[IMAE]⦁EX⦁S[ENATUS]⦁C[ONSULTO]
1Grueber BMCRR v. II Sicily appears a bit hesitant in his pronouncement that the representation of the Catanaean brothers in fact refers to Sextus' title Pius (p. 561), but Sear CRI appears to have no such hesitation when he states "...the type illustrates the theme of 'Pietas' in connection with the assumption of the name Pius." (p.203). DeRose Evans (1987) goes further (pp. 115 - 116), arguing that Sextus chose the Catanaean brothers ("...he consciously identifies himself with the south Italian heroes") as a way to deliberately contrast his Pietas with that of Octavian's.
2Grueber BMCRR v. II Sicily tentatively suggests Catana as a possible location and Sear CRI follows suit.
3This is the date range argued for in Estiot 2006 (p. 145). Estiot recommends returning to Crawford's proposal of 42 - 40 BC. Crawford RRC, p. 521 suggests the period in 42 BC after Sextus Pompey defeated Q. Salvidienus Rufus. Grueber BMCRR v. II Sicily, p.560 proposes 42 - 38 BC and Sydenham, p. 210 follows suit. DeRose Evans (1987), p. 129 offers a time between late summer 36 and September 36 BC.
Provenance: Ex Shanna Schmidt Numismatics 11 June 2019; from the collection of W. F. Stoecklin, Amriswil, Switzerland, acquired from Hess AG in Luzern prior to 1975. Ex Dr. Jacob Hirsch 33, 17 November 1913 Lot 1058.
Photo credits: Shanna Schmidt Numismatics
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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009. C. Mamilius Limetanus.Denarius, 82-81 BC, Rome mint.
Obverse: Bust of Mercury wearing winged hat; caduceus and the letter I behind.
Reverse: C MAMIL LIMETAN / Ulysses, dressed like a Greek sailor, being recognized by his dog Argus upon returning to Ithaca.
4.06 gm., 19 mm.
Syd. #741; RSC #Mamilia 6; Sear #282.
The Mamilia gens claimed descent from Mamilia, the daughter of Telgonius, reputed son of Ulysses. Mercury is an ancestor of Ulysses.
The story as told in Homer's "Odyssey" is somewhat different from that portrayed on this coin. When Ulysses returned to Ithaca after twenty years, he found his dog Argus lying on a dung heap and nearly dead. Argus had only enough strength to wag his tail in recognition of his master's voice before he died. Be that as it may, this is still an elegant portrayal of this touching scene, the likes of which are rarely found on Roman coinage.
Callimachus
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010. Vespasian 69 AD - 79 ADVespasian
The character of this emperor showed very little, if anything, of the pagan tyrant. Though himself a man of no literary culture, he became the protector of his prisoner of war, the Jewish historian Josephus, a worshipper of the One God, and even permitted him the use of his own family name (Flavius). While this generosity may have been in some degree prompted by Josephus's shrewd prophecy of Vespasian's elevation to the purple, there are other instances of his disposition to reward merit in those with whom he was by no means personally sympathetic. Vespasian has the distinction of being the first Roman Emperor to transmit the purple to his own son; he is also noteworthy in Roman imperial history as having very nearly completed his seventieth year and died a natural death: being in feeble health, he had withdrawn to benefit by the purer air of his native Reate, in the "dewy fields" (rosei campi) of the Sabine country. By his wife, Flavia Domitilla, he left two sons, Titus and Domitian, and a daughter, Domitilla, through whom the name of Vespasian's empress was passed on to a granddaughter who is revered as a confessor of the Faith.
A man of strict military discipline and simple tastes, Vespasian proved to be a conscientious and generally tolerant administrator. More importantly, following the upheavals of A.D. 68-69, his reign was welcome for its general tranquility and restoration of peace. In Vespasian Rome found a leader who made no great breaks with tradition, yet his ability ro rebuild the empire and especially his willingness to expand the composition of the governing class helped to establish a positive working model for the "good emperors" of the second century. In contrast to his immediate imperial predecessors, Vespasian died peacefully - at Aquae Cutiliae near his birthplace in Sabine country on 23 June, A.D. 79, after contracting a brief illness. The occasion is said to have inspired his deathbed quip: "Oh my, I must be turning into a god!"
Denarius. IMP CAES VESP AVG P M COS IIII, laureate head right / VES-TA to either side of Vesta standing left, holding simpulum & scepter. RSC 574ecoli
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015a. TrajanEmperor 28 January 98 – 11 August 117
Born in Spain from a senatorial family. Oversaw a dramatic increase in the size of the territory ruled by Rome. He also created a vast building program for the Empire. Well respected both by the Senate and the army. He died while returning from a victory over the Parthians. After his death, it became customary for the Senate to inaugurate new emperors with the phrase felicior Augusto, melior Traiano (that he be "luckier than Augustus and better than Trajan").lawrence c
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040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-717, C2-235A, U-562.e., P-216-05, Madonna and child, #01040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-717, C2-235A, U-562.e., P-216-05, Madonna and child, #01
avers: •m•mAThIЄ•R•hVnTARIЄ, Hungarian shield, four-part shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion). Inside of the central shield, the raven standing and turning left. The ring in its beak.
reverse: PATROn VnGARIAЄ, Madonna sitting on a veil on her head, holding infant Jesus in her right arm, mint-mark on each side; border of dots.
exergue, mint mark: B/+ on top of the horseshoe//-- were struck by Stephan Kowach (by Pohl), diameter: mm, weight: g,
mint: Hungary, Buda (by Pohl),
date: 1469 A.D. (Pohl),
ref: Huszár-717, CNH-2-235A, Unger-562.e., Pohl-216-05,
Q-001quadrans
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040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-717, C2-235A, U-562.h., P-216-08, Madonna and child, #01040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-717, C2-235A, U-562.h., P-216-08, Madonna and child, #01
avers: ✠mOnЄTA-mAThIЄ•R•VnGARIЄ, Hungarian shield, four-part shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion). Inside of the central shield, the raven standing and turning left. The ring in its beak, (Legend variation!).
reverse: •PATROnA VnGARIAЄ, Madonna sitting on a veil on her head, holding infant Jesus in her right arm, mint-mark on each side; border of dots, (Legend variation!).
exergue, mint mark: K/ K over Shield//--, were struck by Johannes Constorfer, kammergraf, (by Pohl), diameter: 16,5mm, weight: 0,71g, axis: 9h,
mint: Hungary, Körmöcbánya (Kremnitz, today Slovakia: Kremnica) by Pohl,
date: 1468 A.D. (Pohl),
ref: Huszár-717, CNH-2-235A, Unger-562.h., Pohl-216-08,
Q-001
quadrans
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040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-717, C2-235A, U-562.h., P-216-08, Madonna and child, #02040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-717, C2-235A, U-562.h., P-216-08, Madonna and child, #02
avers: ✠mOnЄTA•mAThIЄ•R•VnG, Hungarian shield, four-part shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion). Inside of the central shield, the raven standing and turning left. The ring in its beak, (Legend variation!).
reverse: PATROnA VnGARIAЄ, Madonna sitting on a veil on her head, holding infant Jesus in her right arm, mint-mark on each side; border of dots, (Legend variation!).
exergue, mint mark: K/ K over Shield//--, were struck by Johannes Constorfer, kammergraf, (by Pohl), diameter: 16,5mm, weight: 0,51g, axis: 10h,
mint: Hungary, Körmöcbánya (Kremnitz, today Slovakia: Kremnica) by Pohl,
date: 1468 A.D. (Pohl),
ref: Huszár-717, CNH-2-235A, Unger-562.h., Pohl-216-08,
Q-002
quadrans
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040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-717, C2-235A, U-562.h., P-216-08, Madonna and child, #03040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-717, C2-235A, U-562.h., P-216-08, Madonna and child, #03
avers: ✠mOnЄTA•mAThIЄ•R•VnG, Hungarian shield, four-part shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion). Inside of the central shield, the raven standing and turning left. The ring in its beak, (Legend variation!).
reverse: PATROnA VnGARI, Madonna sitting on a veil on her head, holding infant Jesus in her right arm, mint-mark on each side; border of dots, (Legend variation!).
exergue, mint mark: K/ K over Shield//--, were struck by Johannes Constorfer, kammergraf, (by Pohl), diameter: 15,0-16,5mm, weight: 0,53g, axis: 3h,
mint: Hungary, Körmöcbánya (Kremnitz, today Slovakia: Kremnica) by Pohl,
date: 1468 A.D. (Pohl),
ref: Huszár-717, CNH-2-235A, Unger-562.h., Pohl-216-08,
Q-003
quadrans
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040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-717, C2-235A, U-562.h., P-216-08, Madonna and child, #04040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-717, C2-235A, U-562.h., P-216-08, Madonna and child, #04
avers: ✠mOnЄTA•mAThIЄ•R•VnGAR, Hungarian shield, four-part shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion). Inside of the central shield, the raven standing and turning left. The ring in its beak. (Legend variation!)
reverse: •PATROnA VnGARI•, Madonna sitting on a veil on her head, holding infant Jesus in her right arm, mint-mark on each side; border of dots, (Legend variation!).
exergue, mint mark: K/ K over Shield//--, were struck by Johannes Constorfer, kammergraf, (by Pohl), diameter: 16,0-16,5mm, weight: 0,51g, axis: 5h,
mint: Hungary, Körmöcbánya (Kremnitz, today Slovakia: Kremnica) by Pohl,
date: 1468 A.D. (Pohl),
ref: Huszár-717, CNH-2-235A, Unger-562.h., Pohl-216-08,
Q-004
quadrans
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040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-717, C2-235A, U-562.i., P-216-09, Madonna and child, #01040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-717, C2-235A, U-562.i., P-216-09, Madonna and child, #01
avers: ✠ m mAThIЄ R VnGARIЄ, Hungarian shield, four-part shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion). Inside of the central shield, the raven standing and turning left. The ring in its beak, (Legend variation!).
reverse: PATROn VnGAR, Madonna sitting on a veil on her head, holding infant Jesus in her right arm, mint-mark on each side; border of dots, (Legend variation!).
exergue, mint mark: K/ Shield//--, were struck by Johannes Constorfer, kammergraf, (by Pohl), diameter: 15,5-16,5mm, weight: 0,63g, axis: 4h,
mint: Hungary, Körmöcbánya (Kremnitz, today Slovakia: Kremnica) by Pohl,
date: 1469 A.D. (Pohl),
ref: Huszár-717, CNH-2-235A, Unger-562.i., Pohl-216-09,
Q-001
quadrans
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040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-717, C2-235A, U-562.m., P-216-13, Madonna and child, #01040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-717, C2-235A, U-562.m., P-216-13, Madonna and child, #01
avers: m mAThIЄ•R hVnGARЄ, Hungarian shield, four-part shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion). Inside of the central shield, the raven standing and turning left. The ring in its beak, (Legend variation!).
reverse: PATROn VnGARЄ, Madonna sitting on a veil on her head, holding infant Jesus in her right arm, mint-mark on each side; border of dots. (Legend variation!).
exergue, mint mark: n/ hammers//--, were struck by Bürgertschaft, (by Pohl), diameter: 15,5-16,0mm, weight: 0,51g, axis: 5h,
mint: Hungary, Nagybánya (today Romania : Baia Mare) by Pohl,
date: 1470 A.D. (Pohl),
ref: Huszár-717, CNH-2-235A, Unger-562.m., Pohl-216-13,
Q-001
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040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-718, C2-234, U-564.c., P-219-03, Madonna and child, #01040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-718, C2-234, U-564.c., P-219-03, Madonna and child, #01
avers: ✠mOnЄTA•mAThIЄ•R•hVnGARI, Hungarian shield, four-part shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion). Inside of the central shield, the raven standing and turning left. The ring in its beak, (Legend variation!).
reverse: •PATROn VnGARI•, Madonna sitting on a veil on her head, holding infant Jesus in her right arm, mint-mark on each side; border of dots, (Legend variation!).
exergue, mint mark: K/ G//--, were struck by Johannes Constorfer, kammergraf, (by Pohl), diameter: 16,0mm, weight: 0,46g, axis: 6h,
mint: Hungary, Körmöcbánya (Kremnitz, today Slovakia: Kremnica) by Pohl,
date: 1472-1478 A.D. (Pohl),
ref: Huszár-718, CNH-2-234, Unger-564.c., Pohl-219-03,
Q-001
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040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-718, C2-234, U-564.e, P-219-05, K/ P/V//--, Madonna and child, #01040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-718, C2-234, U-564.e, P-219-05, K/ P/V//--, Madonna and child, #01
avers: ✠m•mAThIЄ•R•hVnGARIЄ, Hungarian shield, four-part shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion with Crown). Inside of the central shield, the raven standing and turning left. The ring in its beak, (Legend variation!).
reverse: •PATROn VnGAR•, Madonna sitting on a veil on her head, holding infant Jesus in her right arm, mint-mark on each side; border of dots,(Legend variation!).
exergue, mint mark: K/ P/V//--, were struck by Paul Peck/Veit Mühlstein, kammergraf, (by Pohl), diameter: 15,5-16,5mm, weight: 0,44g, axis: 10h,
mint: Hungary, Körmöcbánya (Kremnitz, today Slovakia: Kremnica) by Pohl,
date: 1472-1478 A.D. (Pohl),
ref: Huszár-718, CNH-2-234, Unger-564.e., Pohl-219-05,
Q-001
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040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-718, C2-234, U-564.f, P-219-04, K/P//--, Madonna and child, #01040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-718, C2-234, U-564.f, P-219-04, K/P//--, Madonna and child, #01
avers: ✠mOnЄTA•mAThIЄ•R•VnGARI, Hungarian shield, four-part shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion with Crown). Inside of the central shield, the raven standing and turning left. The ring in its beak, (Legend variation!).
reverse: •PATROn VnGARI•, Madonna sitting on a veil on her head, holding infant Jesus in her right arm, mint-mark on each side; border of dots,(Legend variation!).
exergue, mint mark: K/P//--, were struck by Paul Peck, (by Pohl), diameter: 15,5-16,0mm, weight: 0,53g, axis: 1h,
mint: Hungary, Körmöcbánya (Kremnitz, today Slovakia: Kremnica) by Pohl,
date: 1472-1478 A.D. (Pohl),
ref: Huszár-718, CNH-2-234, Unger-564.f., Pohl-219-04,
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040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-718, C2-234, U-564.g, P-219-02, K/A//--, Madonna and child, #01040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-718, C2-234, U-564.g, P-219-02, K/A//--, Madonna and child, #01
avers: ✠mOnЄTA•mAThIЄ•R•VnGARI, Hungarian shield, four-part shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion with Crown). Inside of the central shield, the raven standing and turning left. The ring in its beak, (Legend variation!).
reverse: •PATROnA VnGARIЄ•, Madonna sitting on a veil on her head, holding infant Jesus in her right arm, mint-mark on each side; border of dots,(Legend variation!).
exergue, mint mark: K/A//--, were struck by Augustin Langsfelder, (by Pohl), diameter: 15,0-16,5mm, weight: 0,62g, axis: 2h,
mint: Hungary, Körmöcbánya (Kremnitz, today Slovakia: Kremnica) by Pohl,
date: 1472-1478 A.D. (Pohl),
ref: Huszár-718, CNH-2-234, Unger-564.g., Pohl-219-02,
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040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-719, C2-239A, U-565.a., P-221-03, Madonna and child, #01040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-719, C2-239A, U-565.a., P-221-03, Madonna and child, #01
avers: ✠m•mAThIЄ•R•hVnGARI, Hungarian shield, four-part shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion). Inside of the central shield, the raven standing and turning left. The ring in its beak, (Legend variation!).
reverse: •PATRO VnGARI, Crowned Madonna sitting, holding infant Jesus in her left arm, mint-mark on each side; border of dots, (Legend variation!).
exergue, mint mark: K/ P/V//--, were struck by Paul Peck/Veit Mühlstein, kammergraf, (by Pohl), diameter: 15,0-15,5mm, weight: 0,65g, axis: 5h,
mint: Hungary, Körmöcbánya (Kremnitz, today Slovakia: Kremnica) by Pohl,
date: 1479-1485 A.D. (Pohl),
ref: Huszár-719, CNH-2-239A, Unger-565.a., Pohl-221-03,
Q-001
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040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-722, C2-232, U-567.b., P-223-01, Madonna and child, #01040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Denarius, H-722, C2-232, U-567.b., P-223-01, Madonna and child, #01
avers: ✠M•MATHIE•R•VNGARIE, Hungarian shield, four-part shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion). Inside of the central shield, the raven standing and turning left. The ring in its beak. One dots both sides of the shield. (Legend variation!)
reverse: PATRON VNGARIE, Nimbate, and Crowned Madonna seated facing, holding nimbate infant Jesus in her right arm, mint-mark (K-P/Rozette) on each side; line border, (Legend variation!).
exergue, mint mark: K/ P/Rozette//--, were struck by Peter Schaider, (by Pohl), diameter: 15,5mm, weight: 0,49g, axis: 9h,
mint: Hungary, Körmöcbánya (Kremnitz, today Slovakia: Kremnica) by Pohl,
date: 1488 A.D. (Pohl),
ref: Huszár-722, CNH-2-232, Unger-567.b., Pohl-223-01,
Q-001
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040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Gross, H-692, C2-213A-Evar., U-550.dvar., P-193-02, Madonna and child, #01040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Gross, H-692, C2-213A-Evar., U-550.dvar., P-193-02, Madonna and child, #01
avers: ✠mOnЄTA•mAThIЄ•RЄIS•hVnOAR, Hungarian shield, four-part shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, Dalmatian leopard heads(two!!), Crown(!!) and Bohemian lion). Inside of the central shield, the raven standing and turning left. The ring in its beak. (Legends error! "•RЄIS•hVnOAR" instead of "•RЄGIS•hVnGAR" and variation!)
reverse: PATROnA VnGARIЄ, Madonna sitting on a veil on her head, holding infant Jesus in her right arm, mint-mark on each side; border of dots. (Legend variation!)
exergue, mint mark: K/ Shield//--, were struck by Johannes Constorfer, kammergraf, (by Pohl), diameter: 26,5mm, weight: 2,9g, axis: 6h,
mint: Hungary, Körmöcbánya (Kremnitz, today Slovakia: Kremnica) by Pohl,
date: 1469 A.D. (Pohl),
ref: Huszár-692, CNH-2-213A-Evar., Unger-550.d-var., Pohl-193-02,
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040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Gross, H-695, C2-213A-Evar., U-550.j., P-197-05, Madonna and child, #01040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Gross, H-695, C2-213A-Evar., U-550.j., P-197-05, Madonna and child, #01
avers: ✠mOnЄTA•mAThIЄ•RЄGIS•Vn, Hungarian shield, four-part shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, (three!) Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion). Inside of the central shield, the raven standing and turning left. The ring in its beak. (Legend variation!)
reverse: •PATROnA hVnGARIЄ•, Madonna sitting on a veil on her head, holding infant Jesus in her right arm, mint-mark on each side; border of dots. (Legend variation!)
exergue, mint mark: K/ V/A//--, were struck by Veit Mühlstein and Augustin Langsfelder, kammergraf, (by Pohl), diameter: 26,0mm, weight: 3,05g, axis: 4h,
mint: Hungary, Körmöcbánya (Kremnitz, today Slovakia: Kremnica) by Pohl,
date: 1479-1485 A.D. (Pohl),
ref: Huszár-695, CNH-2-213A-Evar., Unger-550.j., Pohl-197-05,
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040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Obulus, H-728, C2-244, U-578.h., P-220-07, #01040 Mátyás Hunyadi., (Matthias Corvinus), King of Hungary, (1458-1490 A.D.) AR Obulus, H-728, C2-244, U-578.h., P-220-07, #01
avers: Hungarian shield, four-part shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion). Inside of the central shield, the raven standing and turning left. The ring in its beak.
revers: Madonna sitting on a veil on her head, holding infant Jesus in her left arm, mint-mark on each side; border of dots.
exe, mint mark: K/ V/A//--, were strucked by Veit Mühlstein and Augustin Langsfelder, kammergraf, (by Pohl), diameter: 12,0-13,0mm, weight: 0,30g, axis: 5h,
mint: Hungary, Körmöcbánya (Kremnitz, today Slovakia: Kremnica) by Pohl,
date: 1479 A.D. (Pohl),
ref: Huszar-728, CNH-2-244, Unger-578.h., Pohl-220-07,
Q-001
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120 Maximianus Herculeus (285-286 Caesar, 286-305, 307-308 & 310 A.D. Augustus), Ticinum, RIC V-II 565, AE-Ant., -/-//XXIAT, VIRTVS AVG G, Hercules, and Victory, Scarce, #1120 Maximianus Herculeus (285-286 Caesar, 286-305, 307-308 & 310 A.D. Augustus), Ticinum, RIC V-II 565, AE-Ant., -/-//XXIAT, VIRTVS AVG G, Hercules, and Victory, Scarce, #1
avers:- IMP C M VAL MAXIMIANVS AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right.,
revers:- VIRTVS AVG G, Hercules standing right, Victory left turning right.
exerg: -/-//XXIAT, diameter: 21,5-22,5mm, weight: 3,82g, axes: 6h,
mint: Ticinum, date: 292 A.D., ref: RIC V-II 565, p-285, Scarce!,
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13. Gordian III / RIC 116.Denarius, 240 AD, Rome mint.
Obverse: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG / Laureate bust of Gordian.
Reverse: VIRTVTI AVGVSTI / Hercules standing, resting right hand on hip and left hand club set on rock; lion-skin beside club.
3.58 gm., 20 mm.
RIC #116; Sear #8684.
The chronology of the denarii coinage of Gordian III has been poorly understood because Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC) has it mixed up in its listings. For example, it will tell you that 5 denarii (Diana, Pietas, Salus, Securitas, and Venus) were issued in the summer of 241 to commemorate the marriage of Gordian and Tranquillina. Recent thinking tells another entirely different story. The following summary is based on a posting by Curtis Clay, November 25, 2011, on the Forum Ancient Coins Classical Numismatics Discussion Board.
Although antoniniani were issued for a while under Caracalla and Elagabalus, the denarius was the standard silver denomination throughout the reigns of Severus Alexander, Maximinus Thrax, and into the first part of the joint reign of Balbinus & Pupienus. (This, by the way, is when the PIETAS AVGG denarius of Gordian as Caesar was issued.) Sometime during the short reign of Balbinus & Pupienus, the antoninianus supplanted the denarius as the standard silver denomination. When Gordian III became emperor (July 238), his administration continued to follow the then current practice of issuing only antoniniani.
Early in 240, Gordian apparently decided to revert back to the traditional coinage of the Empire and began to issue only denarii. The denarii issued at this time were the following:
P M TR P III COS P P / Horseman
DIANA LVCIFERA
PIETAS AVGVSTI
SALVS AVGVSTI
SECVRITAS PVBLICA
VENVS VICTRIX
No antoniniani exist with these reverse types.
The next issue of denarii was issued in the summer of 240 after Gordian became COS II, and consists of these types:
P M TR P III COS II P P / Emperor standing
P M TR P III COS II P P / Apollo seated
AETERNITATI AVG
IOVIS STATOR
LAETITIA AVG N
VIRTVTI AVGVSTI
Within a short time, however, it was decided to go back to having the antoninianus as the standard silver denomination. Antoniniani were issued again, at first with the same reverse types as the second issue of denarii. That is why these reverse types exist on denarii and antoniniani even though they were not issued at the same time.
So the period the mint issued denarii rather than antoniniani as the standard silver denomination lasted from about March through August, 240. This was the last time denarii were issued for general circulation. The antoninianus lasted until Diocletian’s coinage reform of 295, after which Roman coinage was so vastly different that there was no question of returning to the denarius.
The 13 denarii of Gordian III are presented in this album in this order:
Gordian III as Caesar denarius - 1 coin.
First issue of denarii - 6 coins.
Second issue of denarii - 6 coins.Callimachus
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1303a, Galerius, 1 March 305 - 5 May 311 A.D.Galerius, RIC VI 59, Cyzicus S, VF, Cyzicus S, 6.4 g, 25.86 mm; 309-310 AD; Obverse: GAL MAXIMIANVS P F AVG, laureate bust right; Reverse: GENIO A-VGVS[TI], Genius stg. left, naked but for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae. A nice example with sharp detail and nice brown hoard patina. Ex Ancient Imports.
De Imperatoribus Romanis,
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors
Galerius (305-311 A.D.)
Michael DiMaio, Jr.
Salve Regina University
Caius Galerius Valerius Maximianus, more commonly known as Galerius, was from Illyricum; his father, whose name is unknown, was of peasant stock, while his mother, Romula, was from beyond the Danube. Galerius was born in Dacia Ripensis near Sardica. Although the date of his birth is unknown, he was probably born ca. 250 since he served under Aurelian. As a youth Galerius was a shepherd and acquired the nickname Armentarius. Although he seems to have started his military career under Aurelian and Probus, nothing is known about it before his accession as Caesar on 1 March 293. He served as Diocletian's Caesar in the East. Abandoning his first wife, he married Diocletian's daugher, Valeria.
As Caesar he campaigned in Egypt in 294; he seems to have taken to the field against Narses of Persia, and was defeated near Ctesiphon in 295. In 298, after he made inroads into Armenia, he obtained a treaty from the Persians favorable to the Romans. Between 299-305 he overcame the Sarmatians and the Carpi along the Danube. The Great Persecution of the Orthodox Church, which was started in 303 by the Emperor Diocletian, was probably instigated by Galerius. Because of the almost fatal illness that he contracted toward the end of 304, Diocletian, at Nicomedeia, and Maximianus Herculius, at Mediolanum, divested themselves of the purple on 1 May 305. Constantius and Galerius were appointed as Augusti, with Maximinus Daia and Severus as the new Caesars. Constantius and Severus reigned in the West, whereas Galerius' and Daia's realm was the East. Although Constantius was nominally senior Augustus, the real power was in the hands of Galerius because both Caesars were his creatures.
The balance of power shifted at the end of July 306 when Constantius, with his son Constantine at his side, passed away at York in Britain where he was preparing to face incursions by the Picts; his army proclaimed Constantine his successor immediately. As soon as he received the news of the death of Constantius I and the acclamation of Constantine to the purple, Galerius raised Severus to the rank of Augustus to replace his dead colleague in August 306. Making the best of a bad situation, Galerius accepted Constantine as the new Caesar in the West. The situation became more complicated when Maxentius, with his father Maximianus Herculius acquiesing, declared himself princes on 28 October 306. When Galerius learned about the acclamation of the usurper, he dispatched the Emperor Severus to put down the rebellion. Severus took a large field army which had formerly been that of Maximianus and proceeded toward Rome and began to besiege the city, Maxentius, however, and Maximianus, by means of a ruse, convinced Severus to surrender. Later, in 307, Severus was put to death under clouded circumstances. While Severus was fighting in the west, Galerius, during late 306 or early 307, was campaigning against the Sarmatians.
In the early summer of 307 Galerius invaded Italy to avenge Severus's death; he advanced to the south and encamped at Interamna near the Tiber. His attempt to besiege the city was abortive because his army was too small to encompass the city's fortifications. Not trusting his own troops, Galerius withdrew. During its retreat, his army ravaged the Italian countryside as it was returning to its original base. When Maximianus Herculius' attempts to regain the throne between 308 and 310 by pushing his son off his throne or by winning over Constantine to his cause failed, he tried to win Diocletian and Galerius over to his side at Carnuntum in October and November 308; the outcome of the Conference at Carnuntum was that Licinius was appointed Augustus in Severus's place, that Daia and Constantine were denoted filii Augustorum, and that Herculius was completely cut out of the picture. Later, in 310, Herculius died, having been implicated in a plot against his son-in-law. After the Conference at Carnuntum, Galerius returned to Sardica where he died in the opening days of May 311.
By Michael DiMaio, Jr., Salve Regina University; Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Galerius was Caesar and tetrarch under Maximianus. Although a talented general and administrator, Galerius is better known for his key role in the "Great Persecution" of Christians. He stopped the persecution under condition the Christians pray for his return to health from a serious illness. Galerius died horribly shortly after. Joseph Sermarini, FORVM.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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1307a, Maxentius, February 307 - 28 October 312 A.D.Bronze follis, RIC 163, aEF, Rome mint, 5.712g, 25.6mm, 0o, summer 307 A.D.; obverse MAXENTIVS P F AVG, laureate head right; reverse CONSERVATO-RES VRB SVAE, Roma holding globe and scepter, seated in hexastyle temple, RT in ex; rare. Ex FORVM; Ex Maridvnvm
De Imperatoribus Romanis : An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
Maxentius (306-312 A.D.)
Michael DiMaio, Jr.
Salve Regina University
Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius, more commonly known as Maxentius, was the child of the Emperor Maximianus Herculius and the Syrian, Eutropia; he was born ca. 278 A.D. After Galerius' appointment to the rank of Caesar on 1 March 293, Maxentius married Galerius' daughter Valeria Maximilla, who bore him a son named Romulus and another son whose name is unknown. Due to his haughty nature and bad disposition, Maxentius could seldom agree with his father or his father-in-law; Galerius' and Maximianus Herculius' aversion to Maxentius prevented the young man from becoming a Caesar in 305. Little else is known of Maxentius' private life prior to his accession and, although there is some evidence that it was spent in idleness, he did become a Senator.
On 28 October 306 Maxentius was acclaimed emperor, although he was politically astute enough not to use the title Augustus; like the Emperor Augustus, he called himself princeps. It was not until the summer of 307 that he started using the title Augustus and started offending other claimants to the imperial throne. He was enthroned by the plebs and the Praetorians. At the time of his acclamation Maxentius was at a public villa on the Via Labicana. He strengthened his position with promises of riches for those who helped him obtain his objective. He forced his father Maximianus Herculius to affirm his son's acclamation in order to give his regime a facade of legitimacy. His realm included Italy, Africa, Sardinia, and Corsica. As soon as Galerius learned about the acclamation of Herculius' son, he dispatched the Emperor Severus to quell the rebellion. With the help of his father and Severus' own troops, Maxentius' took his enemy prisoner.
When Severus died, Galerius was determined to avenge his death. In the early summer of 307 the Augustus invaded Italy; he advanced to the south and encamped at Interamna near the Tiber. His attempt to besiege the city was abortive because his army was not large enough to encompass the city's fortifications. Negotiations between Maxentius and Galerius broke down when the emperor discovered that the usurper was trying to win over his troops. Galerius' troops were open to Maxentius' promises because they were fighting a civil war between members of the same family; some of the soldiers went over to the enemy. Not trusting his own troops, Galerius withdrew. During its retreat, Galerius' army ravaged the Italian countryside as it was returning to its original base. If it was not enough that Maxentius had to deal with the havoc created by the ineffectual invasions of Severus and Galerius, he also had to deal with his father's attempts to regain the throne between 308 and 310. When Maximianus Herculius was unable to regain power by pushing his son off his throne, he attempted to win over Constantine to his cause. When this plan failed, he tried to win Diocletian over to his side at Carnuntum in October and November 308. Frustrated at every turn, Herculius returned to his son-in-law Constantine's side in Gaul where he died in 310, having been implicated in a plot against his son-in-law. Maxentius' control of the situation was weakened by the revolt of L. Domitius Alexander in 308. Although the revolt only lasted until the end of 309, it drastically cut the size of the grain supply availble for Rome. Maxentius' rule collapsed when he died on 27 October 312 in an engagement he had with the Emperor Constantine at the Milvian Bridge after the latter had invaded his realm.
Copyright (C) 1996, Michael DiMaio, Jr.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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161Marcus Aurelius
AE medallion
Rome mint
Obv: M AVREL ANTONINVS AVG GERM SARM TRP XXXII
Laureate, draped bust right
Rev: IMP VIIII COS III PP
Emperor standing right, turning left and crowning a trophy of arm with two captives below
Gnecchi II, pl 59, 6 (obv), Gnecchi II, pl 60, 9 (rev)
mauseus
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161-169 AD - LUCIUS VERUS AE sestertius - struck 169 ADobv: DIVVS VERVS (bare head of Divus Verus right)
rev: CONSECRATIO (elephant quadriga advancing left, atop car shrine containing statue of Divus Verus seated left, raising hand), S-C in ex.
ref: RIC III 1507 (M.Aurelius), C.53 (30frcs), BMCRE (Marcus) 1369
23.51gms, 30mm, bronze
Very Rare
History: In the end of 168 AD as Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus were returning home from the fontier of south Pannonia, Lucius suddenly became ill with symptoms attributed to food poisoning, and was dead at the age of 38 near Altinum (Altino). The older Emperor accompanied the body to Rome, where he offered games to honour his memory. After the funeral, the senate declared Verus divine to be worshipped as Divus Verus.berserker
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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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1832/1-A French Louis Philippe Silver 1/4 FrancFrance, Louis Philippe I (1830-48), Silver 1/4 Franc, 1832/1-A, SCWC KM 740.1, Gadoury 355, F. 166/12 R2, 2/1 overdate variety, gEF, attractive coloured tone, edge milled, weight 1.25g (ASW 0.0362oz), composition 0.9 Ag, 0.1 Cu, diameter 15.0mm, thickness 0.9mm, die axis 180°, Paris mint, 1832; obverse LOUIS PHILIPPE I-ROI DES FRANÇAIS (Louis Philippe I, King of the French), laureate head of Louis Philippe I right, wearing oak wreath, tied with ribbon descending behind neck, one end returning to neck, DOMARD.F. raised below truncation for engraver Joseph-François Domard, toothed border surrounding; reverse ¼/FRANC/1832/1 in three lines, within closed laurel and olive wreath tied with bow at base, privy mark ★ in exergue, flanked by anchor with C privy and A mint marks, engraved by Joseph-François Domard, toothed border surrounding; from the Roger Belmar Collection; ex Timothy Medhurst Coins & Antiquities (2 Jan 2024); very rare; £50.00.Serendipity
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1850-A French Ceres Gold 20 FrancsFrance, Second Republic (1848-52), Gold 20 Francs, 1850-A, SCWC KM 762, Gadoury 1059, F. 529/3, Friedberg 566, Ceres (low-ear type), aUNC, raised edge lettering DIEU PROTEGE LA FRANCE *** (God Protect France), weight 6.4516g (AGW 0.1867oz), composition 0.9 Au, 0.1 Cu, diameter 21.0mm, thickness 1.25mm, die axis 180°, Paris mint, 1850; obverse REPUBLIQUE ✶-FRANÇAISE (French Republic), head of Ceres right, goddess of the harvest, wearing archipendulum earring with pearl choker, chignon and crowned with wreath of wheat sheaves, oak leaves and acorns, tied with ribbon descending behind neck, one end returning to neck, flanked by lictor's fasces surmounted by Hand of Justice to left, olive branch to right, L.MERLEY.F. raised below truncation for engraver Louis Merley, toothed border surrounding; reverse LIBERTE EGALITE FRATERNITE (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity), 20/FRANCS in two lines over line —, within closed olive and oak wreath tied with bow at base, 1850 in exergue with mint mark A above, flanked by hand pointing right and greyhound head with low ear right privy marks, engraved by Louis Merley, toothed border surrounding; from the Roger Belmar Collection; ex CGB Numismatics Paris (12 Feb 2024); £340.00.Serendipity
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1865-BB French Napoleon III Gold 20 FrancsFrance, Napoleon III (Second Empire, 1852-70), Gold 20 Francs, 1865-BB, SCWC KM 801.2, Gadoury 1062, F. 532/12, Friedberg 585, aUNC, raised edge lettering DIEU * PROTEGE * LA * FRANCE ***** (God Protect France), weight 6.4516g (AGW 0.1867oz), composition 0.9 Au, 0.1 Cu, diameter 21.0mm, thickness 1.25mm, die axis 180°, Strasbourg mint, 1865; obverse NAPOLEON III-EMPEREUR (Emperor Napoleon III), laureate head of Napoleon III right, a ribbon descending behind neck, one end returning to neck, BARRE raised below truncation for engraver Albert-Désiré Barre, with privy mark ✥ above, toothed border surrounding; reverse EMPIRE-FRANÇAIS (French Empire), crowned mantled shield of Arms of France bearing Imperial eagle perched facing on thunderbolt, head right, wings spread, within collar of the Legion of Honour, with cross surmounted by N for Napoleon, over Hand of Justice and Sceptre crossed in saltire, 20-FR across lower fields, 1865 in exergue, flanked by superimposed BB and anchor privy marks, engraved by Albert-Désiré Barre, toothed border surrounding; from the Roger Belmar Collection; ex Atkinsons (12 Apr 2024); £377.25.Serendipity
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1903 EDWARD VII AE FARTHINGObverse: EDWARDVS VII DEI GRA:BRITT:OMN:REX FID:DEF:IND:IMP: . Bare head of Edward VII facing right.
Reverse: FARTHING. Britannia seated facing right, right hand resting on shield, left hand holding trident; in exergue, 1903.
Diameter 20mm | Die Axis 12
SPINK: 3992
Edward VII's portrait was designed by George William De Saulles (1862 - 1903), this is marked by a small "De S" below the King's neck.
All Edward VII farthings were darkened artificially at the mint to avoid confusion with half sovereigns. An acid gas, sodium thiosulphate was used to react with the surface of the farthings after they had been struck, permanently altering their appearance chemically by turning them black. This coin still retains some of it's original black appearance.*Alex
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193-196(?) AD - JULIA DOMNA AR denariusobv: IVLIA DOMNA AVG (draped bust right, hair coiled and waved)
rev: VENERI VICTR (Venus half naked standing to r., holding an apple and a palm and leaning on a column)
ref: RIC IVi 632, C.194 (5frcs)
mint: Emesa and Laodicea (or probably Rome)
3.5gms, 18mm
Scarce
Julia Domna was the wife of Septimius Severus and mother of Caracalla and Geta. She was a great support for Severus in serving her family and the empire. A staunch opponent to Severus' praetorian prefect Plautianus, she attempted to turn his influence from the emperor. Her attempts to mitigate in the hatred between her two sons did not succeed. However, she seems to have prevented them from splitting the empire between them, fearing an all-out civil war. Perhaps this was one of the turning points of Roman history. If the empire had been divided at this time, future history may have become wholly different. Her greatest tragedy was probably the death of Geta in her arms from the murderers instigated by Caracalla. Nevertheless she continued serving the empire and Caracalla until, he too, was murdered. After bearing Caracalla's ashes to Rome, she starved herself to death.berserker
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198Caracalla 198-217 AD
AR antoninianus
Obv "ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM"
Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev "PM TRP XVIIII COS IIII PP"
Serapis standing right, turning back, holding staff and raising hand
Rome mint
RIC 280dmauseus
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1al Tiberius14-37
As
Laureate head, left, TI CAESAR AVGVST F IMPERAT V
PONTIF MAXIM TRIBVN POTEST XXIII SC
This is one of a series of 12 Caesars pieces that were local finds in Serbia. There are better coins out there, but I'll hang onto these because they really got me into the hobby.
RIC 469
Per Suetonius: Within three years, however, both Lucius Caesar and Gaius Caesar were dead [in AD2 and 4 respectively], and Augustus now adopted both their brother Agrippa Postumus, and Tiberius, who was first required to adopt his nephew Germanicus [in 4 AD]. . . .
From that moment onwards, Augustus did all he could to enhance Tiberius’ prestige, especially after the disowning and banishment of Postumus [ca 6 AD] made it obvious that Tiberius was the sole heir to the succession. . . .
Tiberius acted like a traditional citizen, more modestly almost than the average individual. He accepted only a few of the least distinguished honours offered him; it was only with great reluctance that he consented to his birthday being recognised, falling as it did on the day of the Plebeian Games in the Circus, by the addition of a two-horse chariot to the proceedings; and he refused to have temples, and priests dedicated to him, or even the erection of statues and busts, without his permission; which he only gave if they were part of the temple adornments and not among the divine images. . . .
Moreover, in the face of abuse, libels or slanders against himself and his family, he remained unperturbed and tolerant, often maintaining that a free country required free thought and speech. . . . He even introduced a species of liberty, by maintaining the traditional dignities and powers of the Senate and magistrates. He laid all public and private matters, small or great, before the Senate consulting them over State revenues, monopolies, and the construction and maintenance of public buildings, over the levying and disbanding of troops, the assignment of legions and auxiliaries, the scope of military appointments, and the allocation of campaigns, and even the form and content of his replies to letters from foreign powers. . . .
Returning to Capreae, he abandoned all affairs of state, neither filling vacancies in the Equestrian Order’s jury lists, nor appointing military tribunes, prefects, or even provincial governors. Spain and Syria lacked governors of Consular rank for several years, while he allowed the Parthians to overrun Armenia, Moesia to be ravaged by the Dacians and Sarmatians, and Gaul by the Germans, threatening the Empire’s honour no less than its security. Furthermore, with the freedom afforded by privacy, hidden as it were from public view, he gave free rein to the vices he had concealed for so long. . . . Blindado
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1ao Caligula37-41
As
Bare head, left, C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PON M TR POT
Vesta std, VESTA SC
RIC 38
The son of Germanicus, modern research suggests, was not as bad a ruler as history generally supposes, but the winners write the history, and Caligula had the dubious honor of being the first loser to die in the purple at the hand of assassins.
Suetonius recorded: Gaius Caesar (Caligula) was born on the 31st of August AD12, in the consulship of his father, Germanicus, and Gaius Fonteius Capito. The sources disagree as to his place of birth. Gnaeus Lentulus Gaetulicus claims it was Tibur (Tivoli), Pliny the Elder, says it was among the Treveri in the village of Ambitarvium, above Confluentes (the site of Koblenz) at the junction of the Moselle and Rhine. . . . His surname Caligula (‘Little Boot’) was bestowed on him affectionately by the troops because he was brought up amongst them, dressed in soldier’s gear.
Caligula accompanied his father, Germanicus, to Syria (in AD 19). On his return, he lived with his mother, Agrippina the Elder until she was exiled (in 29 AD), and then with his great-grandmother Livia. When Livia died (in 29 AD), he gave her eulogy from the rostra even though he was not of age. He was then cared for by his grandmother Antonia the Younger, until at the age of eighteen Tiberius summoned him to Capreae (Capri, in AD 31). On that day he assumed his gown of manhood and shaved off his first beard, but without the ceremony that had attended his brothers’ coming of age.
On Capraea, though every trick was tried to lure him, or force him, into making complaints against Tiberius, he ignored all provocation, . . . behaving so obsequiously to his adoptive grandfather, Tiberius, and the entire household, that the quip made regarding him was well borne out, that there was never a better slave or a worse master.
Even in those days, his cruel and vicious character was beyond his control, and he was an eager spectator of torture and executions meted out in punishment. At night, disguised in wig and long robe, he abandoned himself to gluttony and adulterous behaviour. He was passionately devoted it seems to the theatrical arts, to dancing and singing, a taste in him which Tiberius willingly fostered, in the hope of civilizing his savage propensities.
And came near to assuming a royal diadem at once, turning the semblance of a principate into an absolute monarchy. Indeed, advised by this that he outranked princes and kings, he began thereafter to claim divine power, sending to Greece for the most sacred or beautiful statues of the gods, including the Jupiter of Olympia, so that the heads could be exchanged for his own. He then extended the Palace as far as the Forum, making the Temple of Castor and Pollux its vestibule, and would often present himself to the populace there, standing between the statues of the divine brothers, to be worshipped by whoever appeared, some hailing him as ‘Jupiter Latiaris’. He also set up a special shrine to himself as god, with priests, the choicest sacrificial victims, and a life-sized golden statue of himself, which was dressed each day in clothes of identical design to those he chose to wear.
He habitually committed incest with each of his three sisters, seating them in turn below him at large banquets while his wife reclined above. . . . His preferred method of execution was by the infliction of many slight wounds, and his order, issued as a matter of routine, became notorious: ‘Cut him so he knows he is dying.’ Blindado
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1ao3 Julia DrusillaAE 20 of Smyrna (Izmir, Turkey)
Laureate head of Caligula, right, ΓAION KAICAPA EΠI AOYIOΛA
Drusilla as Persephone seated left, poppies between two stalks of grain in right hand, long scepter vertical behind in left hand, ∆POYCIΛΛAN ZMYPNAIΩN MHNOΦANHC
Caligula’s sister
Klose XXVIII, 27 (Vs4/Rs10); RPC I 2472; SNG Cop 1343; SNGvA 2202; BMC Ionia p. 269, 272
According to Suetonius’ salacious account: Germanicus had married Agrippina the Elder, daughter of Marcus Agrippa and Julia the Elder, and she had borne him nine children. Two died in infancy, another in early childhood. . . .
The other children survived their father: three girls, Agrippina the Younger, Drusilla and Livilla, born in successive years; and three boys, Nero, Drusus, and Gaius Caesar (Caligula). . . . [Caligula] habitually committed incest with each of his three sisters, seating them in turn below him at large banquets while his wife reclined above. It is believed that he violated Drusilla’s virginity while a minor, and been caught in bed with her by his grandmother Antonia, in whose household they were jointly raised. Later, when Drusilla was married to Lucius Cassius Longinus, an ex-consul, he took her from him and openly treated her as his lawful married wife. When he fell ill he made her heir to his estate and the throne.
When Drusilla died (in 38AD) he declared a period of public mourning during which it was a capital offense to laugh, or bathe, or to dine with parents, spouse or children. Caligula himself was so overcome with grief that he fled the City in the middle of the night, and travelled through Campania, and on to Syracuse, returning again with the same degree of haste, and without cutting his hair or shaving. From that time forwards whenever he took an important oath, even in public or in front of the army, he always swore by Drusilla’s divinity.Blindado
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1aw Vespasian69-79
Denarius
Laureate head, right, IMP CAES VESP AVG CEN
Salus seated left with patera, SALVS AVG
RIC 513 (C2)
Suetonius wrote: The Flavians seized power, and the Empire, long troubled and adrift, afflicted by the usurpations and deaths of three emperors, at last achieved stability. True they were an obscure family, with no great names to boast of, yet one our country has no need to be ashamed of. . . . Vespasian was born in the Sabine country, in the little village of Falacrinae just beyond Reate (Rieti), on the 17th of November 9 AD in the consulship of Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus and Gaius Poppaeus Sabinus, five years before the death of Augustus. He was raised by his paternal grandmother Tertulla on her estate at Cosa. . . .
Under Claudius, he was sent to Germany (in 41 AD) to command a legion, thanks to the influence of Narcissus. From there he was posted to Britain (in 43 AD), where partly under the leadership of Aulus Plautius and partly that of Claudius himself, he fought thirty times, subjugating two powerful tribes, more than twenty strongholds, and the offshore island of Vectis (the Isle of Wight). This earned him triumphal regalia, and a little later two priesthoods and the consulship (in 51 AD) which he held for the last two months of the year. . . . He won, by lot, the governorship of Africa (in 63 AD), ruling it soundly and with considerable dignity. . . .
An ancient and well-established belief became widespread in the East that the ruler of the world at this time would arise from Judaea. This prophecy as events proved referred to the future Emperor of Rome, but was taken by the Jews to apply to them. They rebelled, killed their governor, and routed the consular ruler of Syria also, when he arrived to restore order, capturing an Eagle. To crush the rebels needed a considerable force under an enterprising leader, who would nevertheless not abuse power. Vespasian was chosen, as a man of proven vigour, from whom little need be feared, since his name and origins were quite obscure. Two legions with eight divisions of cavalry and ten cohorts of auxiliaries were added to the army in Judaea, and Vespasian took his elder son, Titus, along as one of his lieutenants. . . .
Yet Vespasian made no move, though his follower were ready and eager, until he was roused to action by the fortuitous support of a group of soldiers unknown to him, and based elsewhere. Two thousand men, of the three legions in Moesia reinforcing Otho’s forces, despite hearing on the march that he had been defeated and had committed suicide, had continued on to Aquileia, and there taken advantage of the temporary chaos to plunder at will. Fearing that if they returned they would be held to account and punished, they decided to choose and appoint an emperor of their own, on the basis that they were every bit as worthy of doing so as the Spanish legions who had appointed Galba, or the Praetorian Guard which had elected Otho, or the German army which had chosen Vitellius. They went through the list of serving consular governors, rejecting them for one reason or another, until in the end they unanimously adopted Vespasian, who was recommended strongly by some members of the Third Legion, which had been transferred to Moesia from Syria immediately prior to Nero’s death. . . .
Vespasian, an unheralded and newly-forged emperor, as yet lacked even a modicum of prestige and divine majesty, but this too he acquired. . . . Returning to Rome (in 70 AD) attended by such auspices, having won great renown, and after a triumph awarded for the Jewish War, he added eight consulships (AD 70-72, 74-77, 79) to his former one, and assumed the censorship. He first considered it essential to strengthen the State, which was unstable and well nigh fatally weakened, and then to enhance its role further during his reign. . . .
Blindado
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1bc Trajan98-117
Sestertius
Laureate head, right, IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V PP
Roma and kneeling Dacian, SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI SC
RIC 485
Eutropius enthused: To [Nerva] succeeded ULPIUS CRINITUS TRAJANUS, born at Italica in Spain, of a family rather ancient than eminent for his father was the first consul in it. He was chosen emperor at Agrippina, a city of Gaul. He exercised the government in such a manner, that he is deservedly preferred to all the other emperors. He was a man of extraordinary skill in managing affairs of state, and of remarkable courage. The limits of the Roman empire, which, since the reign of Augustus, had been rather defended than honourably enlarged, he extended far and wide. He rebuilt some cities in Germany; he subdued Dacia by the overthrow of Decebalus, and formed a province beyond the Danube, in that territory which the Thaiphali, Victoali, and Theruingi now occupy. This province was a thousand miles in circumference.
He recovered Armenia, which the Parthians had seized, putting to death Parthamasires who held the government of it. He gave a king to the Albani. He received into alliance the king of the Iberians, Sarmatians, Bosporani, Arabians, Osdroeni, and Colchians. He obtained the mastery over the Cordueni and Marcomedi, as well as over Anthemusia, an extensive region of Persia. He conquered and kept possession of Seleucia, Ctesiphon, Babylon, and the country of the Messenii. He advanced as far as the boundaries of India, and the Red Sea, where he formed three provinces, Armenia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia, including the tribes which border on Madena. He afterwards, too, reduced Arabia into the form of a province. He also fitted out a fleet for the Red Sea, that he might use it to lay waste the coasts of India.
Yet he went beyond his glory in war, in ability and judgment as a ruler, conducting himself as an equal towards all, going often to his friends as a visitor, either when they were ill, or when they were celebrating feast days, and entertaining them in his turn at banquets where there was no distinction of rank, and sitting frequently with them in their chariots; doing nothing unjust towards any of the senators, nor being guilty of any dishonesty to fill his treasury; exercising liberality to all, enriching with offices of trust, publicly and privately, every body whom he had known even with the least familiarity; building towns throughout the world, granting many immunities to states, and doing every thing with gentleness and kindness; so that during his whole reign, there was but one senator condemned, and he was sentenced by the senate without Trajan's knowledge. Hence, being regarded throughout the world as next to a god, he deservedly obtained the highest veneration both living and dead. . . .
After having gained the greatest glory both in the field and at home, he was cut off, as he was returning from Persia, by a diarrhoea, at Seleucia in Isauria. He died in the sixty-third year, ninth month, and fourth day of his age, and in the nineteenth year, sixth month, and fifteenth day of his reign. He was enrolled among the gods, and was the only one of all the emperors that was buried within the city. His bones, contained in a golden urn, lie in the forum which he himself built, under a pillar whose height is a hundred and forty-four feet. So much respect has been paid to his memory, that, even to our own times, they shout in acclamations to the emperors, "More fortunate than Augustus, better than Trajan!" Blindado
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1bu Caracalla198-217
Denarius
Laureate head, right, ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT
Mars, MARTI PROPVGNATORI
RIC 223
The Historia Augusta, in the life of Severus, records: As he was advancing against Albinus, moreover, and had reached Viminacium 4 on his march, he gave his elder son Bassianus the name Aurelius Antoninus 5 and the title of Caesar, in order to destroy whatever hopes of succeeding to the throne his brother Geta had conceived. His reason for giving his son the name Antoninus was that he had dreamed that an Antoninus would succeed him. It was because of this dream, some believe, that Geta also was called Antoninus, in order that he too might succeed to the throne. . . . [After defeating Niger], he bestowed the. toga virilis on his younger son, Geta, and he united his elder son in marriage with Plautianus' daughter [Plautilla]. . . . Soon thereafter he appointed his sons to the consulship ; also he greatly honored his brother Geta. . . . Severus [in 198] invaded Parthia, defeated the king, and came to Ctesiphon; and about the beginning of the winter season he took the city. For this feat, likewise, the soldiers declared his son, Bassianus Antoninus, co-emperor; he had already been named Caesar and was now in his thirteenth year. And to Geta, his younger son, they gave the name Caesar. . . .
In the life of Caracalla, the history continues: He himself in his boyhood was winsome and clever, respectful to his parents and courteous to his parents' friends, beloved by the people, popular with the senate, and well able to further his own interests in winning affection. Never did he seem backward in letters or slow in deeds of kindness, never niggardly in largess or tardy in forgiving at least while under his parents. . . . All this, however, was in his boyhood. For when
he passed beyond the age of a boy, either by his father's advice or through a natural cunning, or because he thought that he must imitate Alexander of Macedonia,he became more reserved and stern and even somewhat savage in expression. . . .
After his father's death he went to the Praetorian Camp and complained there to the soldiers that his brother was forming a conspiracy against him. And so he had his brother slain in the Palace. . . . After this he committed many further murders in the city, causing many persons far and wide to be seized by soldier sand killed, as though he were punishing a rebellion. . . . After doing all this he set out for Gaul and immediately upon his arrival there killed the proconsul of Narbonensis. . . . Then he made ready for a journey to the Orient, but interrupted his march and stopped in Dacia. . . . Then he journeyed through Thrace accompanied by the prefect of the guard. . . . After this, turning to the war with the Armenians and Parthians, he appointed as military commander a man whose character resembled his own. . . . Then he betook himself to Alexandria. . . . [H]e issued an order to his soldiers to slay their hosts and thus caused great slaughter at Alexandria. . . . Next he advanced through the lands of the Cadusii and the Babylonians and waged a guerilla-warfare with the Parthian satraps, in which wild beasts were even let loose against the enemy. He then sent a letter to the senate as though he had won a real victory and thereupon was given the name Parthicus. . . .
After this he wintered at Edessa with the intention of renewing the war against the Parthians. During this time, on the eighth day before the Ides of April, the feast of the Megalensia and his own birthday, while on a journey to Carrhae to do honor to the god Lunus, he stepped aside to satisfy the needs of nature and was thereupon assassinated by the treachery of Macrinus the prefect of the guard, who after his death seized the imperial power.Blindado
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1cl Gordian III238-244
Antoninianus
Radiate, draped & cuirassed bust, right, IMP GORDINVS PIVS FEL AVG
Laetitia standing right with wreath & anchor, LAETITIA AVG N
RIC 86
Continuing his story of the deaths of Balbinus and Pupienus, Herodian wrote: Leaving the corpses exposed in the street, the praetorians took up Gordian Caesar and proclaimed him emperor, since at the moment they could find no other candidate for the office. Proclaiming that they had only killed the men whom the people did not want to rule them in the first place, they chose as emperor this Gordian who was descended from the Gordian whom the Romans themselves had forced to accept the rule. Keeping their emperor Gordian with them, they went off to the praetorian camp. . . . Gordian, at the age of about thirteen, was designated emperor and assumed the burden of the Roman empire. . . .
Eutropius continued the story: After Gordian, when quite a boy, had married Tranquillina at Rome, he opened the temple of Janus, and, setting out for the east, made war upon the Parthians, who were then proceeding to make an irruption. This war he soon conducted with success, and made havoc of the Persians in great battles. As he was returning, he was killed, not far from the Roman boundaries, by the treachery of Philip who reigned after him. The Roman soldiers raised a monument for him, twenty miles from Circessus, which is now a fortress of the Romans, overlooking the Euphrates. His relics they brought to Rome, and gave him the title of god. Blindado
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1cu Trebonianus Gallus251-253
AE Viminacium
Laureate, draped bust, right, IMP C GALLVS P FELIX AVG
Moesia standing facing, head left, hands outstretched over a bull and a lion at her sides, PMS COL VIM
Moushmov 56
For Gallus' perfidy against Decius, see the Decius entry. Zosimus reports regarding Gallus' reign: Gallus, who declared his son Volusianus his associate in the empire, published an open declaration, that Decius and his army had perished by his contrivance. The Barbarians now became more prosperous than before. For Callus not only permitted them to return home with the plunder, but promised to pay them annually a sum of money, and allowed them to carry off all the noblest captives; most of whom had been taken at Philippopolis in Thrace.
Gallus, having made these regulations, came to Rome, priding himself on the peace he had made with the Barbarians. And though he at first spoke with approbation of Decius's mode of government, and adopted one of his sons, yet, after some time was elapsed, fearing that some of them who were fond of new projects might recur to a recapitulation of the princely virtues of Decius, and therefore might at some opportunity give the empire to his son, he concerted the young man's destruction, without regard either to his own adoption of him, or to common honour and justice.
Gallus was so supine in the administration of the empire, that the Scythians in the first place terrified all the neighbouring nations, and then laid waste all the countries as far by degrees as the sea coast; not leaving one nation subject to the Romans unpillaged, and taking almost all the unfortified towns, and many that were fortified. Besides the war on every side, which was insupportably burdensome to them, the cities and villages were infested with a pestilence, which swept away the remainder of mankind in those regions; nor was so great a mortality ever known in any former period.
At this crisis, observing that the emperors were unable to defend the state, but neglected all without the walls of Rome, the Goths, the Borani, the Urugundi, and the Carpi once more plundered the cities of Europe of all that had been left in them; while in another quarter, the Persians invaded Asia, in which they acquired possession of Mesopotamia, and proceeded even as far as Antioch in Syria, took that city, which is the metropolis of all the east, destroyed many of the inhabitants, and carried the remainder into captivity, returning home with immense plunder, after they had destroyed all the buildings in the city, both public and private, without meeting with the least resistance. And indeed the Persians had a fair opportunity to have made themselves masters of all Asia, had they not been so overjoyed at their excessive spoils, as to be contented with keeping and carrying home what they had acquired.
Meantime the Scythians of Europe were in perfect security and went over into Asia, spoiling all the country as far as Cappodocia, Pesinus, and Ephesus, until Aemilianus, commander of the Pannonian legions, endeavouring as much as possible to encourage his troops, whom the prosperity of the Barbarians had so disheartened that they durst not face them, and reminding them of the renown of Roman courage, surprised the Barbarians that were in that neighbourhood. Having destroyed great numbers of them, and led his forces into their country, removing every obstruction to his progress, and at length freeing the subjects of the Roman empire from their ferocity, he was appointed emperor by his army. On this he collected all the forces of that country, who were become more bold since his successes against the Barbarians, and directed his march towards Italy, with the design of fighting Gallus, who was as yet. unprepared to contend with him. For Gallus had never heard of what had occurred in the east, and therefore made only what accidental preparations were in his reach, while Valerianus went to bring the Celtic and German legions. But Aemilianus advanced with great speed into Italy, and the armies were very near to each other, when the soldiers of Gallus, reflecting that his force was much inferior to the enemy both in number and strength, and likewise that he was a negligent indolent man, put him and his son to death, and going over to the party of Aemilianus, appeared to establish his authority.Blindado
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1cy Gallienus253-268
Bronze antoninianus
Radiate, draped bust, right, GALLINVS AVG
Mars standing left, holding globe in right hand and spear in left hand, P in right field, VIRTVS AVG
RIC 317
Gallienus oversaw a period of disintegration of the empire and lost control over the East, Gaul, Spain, and Britain.
Zosimus observed: [When Valerian left for the East] As the Germans were the most troublesome enemies, and harrassed the Gauls in the vicinity of the Rhine, Gallienus marched against them in person, leaving his officers to repel with the forces under their command any others that should enter Italy, Illyricum, and Greece. With these designs, he possessed himself of and defended the passages of the Rhine, at one time preventing their crossing, and at another engaging them as soon as they had crossed it. But having only a small force to resist an immense number, he was at a loss how to act, and thought to secure himself by a league with one of the German princes. He thus not only prevented the other Barbarians from so frequently passing the Rhine, but obstructed the access of auxiliaries.
Eutropius recorded: Gallienus, who was made emperor when quite a young man, exercised his power at first happily, afterwards fairly, and at last mischievously. In his youth he performed many gallant acts in Gaul and Illyricum, killing Ingenuus, who had assumed the purple, at Mursa, and Regalianus. He was then for a long time quiet and gentle; afterwards, abandoning himself to all manner of licentiousness, he relaxed the reins of government with disgraceful inactivity and carelesness. The Alemanni, having laid waste Gaul, penetrated into Italy. Dacia, which had been added to the empire beyond the Danube, was lost. Greece, Macedonia, Pontus, Asia, were devastated by the Goths. Pannonia was depopulated by the Sarmatians and Quadi. The Germans made their way as far as Spain, and took the noble city of Tarraco. The Parthians, after taking possession of Mesopotamia, began to bring Syria under their power.
Zosimus resumes: Gallienus in the mean time still continued beyond the Alps, intent on the German war, while the Senate, seeing Rome in such imminent danger, armed all the soldiers that were in the city, and the strongest of the common people, and formed an army, which exceeded the Barbarians in number. This so alarmed the Barbarians, that they left Rome, but ravaged all the rest of Italy. At this period, when Illyricum groaned under the oppression of the Barbarians, and the whole Roman empire was in such a helpless state as to be on the very verge of ruin, a plague happened to break out in several of the towns, more dreadful than any that had preceded it. The miseries inflicted on them by the Barbarians were thus alleviated, even the sick esteeming themselves fortunate. The cities that had been taken by the Scythians were thus deserted.
Gallienus, being disturbed by these occurrences, was returning to Rome to relieve Italy from the war which the Scythians were thus carrying on. It was at this time, that Cecrops, a Moor, Aureolus and Antoninus, with many others, conspired against him, of whom the greater part were punished and submitted. Aureolus alone retained his animosity against the emperor.
The Scythians, who had dreadfully afflicted the whole of Greece, had now taken Athens, when Gallienus advanced against those who were already in possession of Thrace, and ordered Odonathus of Palmyra, a person whose ancestors had always been highly respected by the emperors, to assist the eastern nations which were then in a very distressed condition. . . .
While affairs were thus situated in the east, intelligence was brought to Gallienus, who was then occupied in the Scythian war, that Aurelianus, or Aureolus, who was commander of the cavalry posted in the neighbourhood of Milan to watch the motions of Posthumus, had formed some new design, and was ambitious to be emperor. Being alarmed at this he went immediately to Italy, leaving the command against the Scythians with Marcianus, a person of great experience in military affairs. . . . Gallienus, in his journey towards Italy, had a plot formed against him by Heraclianus, prefect of the court, who communicated his design to Claudius, in whom the chief management of affairs was vested. The design was to murder Gallienus. Having found a man very ready for such an undertaking, who commanded a troop of Dalmatians, he entrusted the action to him. To effect it, the party stood by Gallienus at supper and informed him that some of the spies had brought intelligence, that Aureolus and his army were close at hand. By this they considerably alarmed him. Calling immediately for his horse and arms, he mounted, ordering his men to follow him in their armour, and rode away without any attendance. Thus the captain finding him alone killed him.Blindado
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1dn Florianus276
AE antoninianus
Radiate, draped & cuirassed bust, right, IMP FLORIANVS AVG
Victory & Flor, CONCORDIA MILITVM
RIC 116Q
Half-brother to Tacitus, he reigned only two months before his troops killed him rather than fight an army under Probus. Concordia Militvm did not really work out for him. Zosimus recorded, "An universal civil disturbance now arose, those of the east chusing Probus emperor, and those at Rome Florianus. The former of these governed all Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, and Egypt; but the latter was in possession of all the countries from Cilicia to Italy; besides which the homage of all the nations beyond the Alps, the Gauls, Spaniards, Britons, and Africans was paid to him. When both therefore were ready for war, Florianus came to Tarsus, resolving to encamp there, leaving his victory over the Scythians at the Bosphorus unfinished, by which he gave them an opportunity of recovering themselves and returning home, though he had cut off their retreat. Probus protracted the time, because he came with less preparation for a battle. By these means it came to pass, that the weather, being exceedingly hot, a pestilential disorder broke out amongst the troops of Florianus, most of whom were Europeans, and consequently unaccustomed to such excessive heat, by which many were taken off. When Probus understood this, he thought it a proper time to attack the enemy. The soldiers of Florianus, attempting what exceeded their strength, fought some slight skirmishes before the city, but nothing being done worthy of notice, some of the troops of Probus deposed Florianus. Having performed this, he was kept in custody for some time, until his own soldiers said, that it was the will of Probus that he should share the empire. Florianus therefore assumed |32 the purple robe again, until the return of those who were sent to know the true resolution of Probus. On their arrival they caused Florianus to be killed by his own soldiers."Blindado
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1dv Galerius305-311
Quarter Follis
Laureate head, right, MAXIMIANVS AVG
Genius standing left, modius on head, holding cornucopia & patera, SIS in ex., GENIO POPVLI ROMANI
RIC 169b
Eutropius tells us: Diocletian promoted MAXIMIAN HERCULIUS from the dignity of Caesar to that of emperor, and created Constantius and Maximian Galerius Caesars, of whom Constantius is said to have been the grand-nephew of Claudius by a daughter, and Maximian Galerius to have been born in Dacia not far from Sardica. . . . Galerius married Valeria, the daughter of Diocletian. . . .
Galerius Maximian, in acting against Narseus, fought, on the first occasion, a battle far from successful, meeting him between Callinicus and Carrae, and engaging in the combat rather with rashness than want of courage; for he contended with a small army against a very numerous enemy. Being in consequence defeated, and going to join Diocletian, he was received by him, when he met him on the road, with such extreme haughtiness, that he is said to have run by his chariot for several miles in his scarlet robes.
But having soon after collected forces in Illyricum and Moesia, he fought a second time with Narseus (the grandfather of Hormisdas and Sapor), in Greater Armenia, with extraordinary success, and with no less caution and spirit, for he undertook, with one or two of the cavalry, the office of a speculator. After putting Narseus to flight, he captured his wives, sisters, and children, with a vast number of the Persian nobility besides, and a great quantity of treasure; the king himself he forced to take refuge in the remotest deserts in his dominions. Returning therefore in triumph to Diocletian, who was then encamped with some troops in Mesopotamia, he was welcomed by him with great honour. Subsequently, they conducted several wars both in conjunction and separately, subduing the Carpi and Bastarnae, and defeating the Sarmatians, from which nations he settled a great number of captives in the Roman territories. . . .
Galerius, a man of excellent moral character, and skilful in military affairs, finding that Italy, by Constantius's permission, was put under his government, created two Caesars, MAXIMIN, whom he appointed over the east, and SEVERUS, to whom he committed Italy. He himself resided in Illyricum. Blindado
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1en Julian II "Apostate"360-363
AE3
Pearl-diademed, helmeted, cuirassed bust left, holding shield & spear, D N FL CL IVLIANVS P F AVG
VOT X MVLT XX in four lines within wreath, palm branch-BSIS-palm branch in ex [?].
RIC 415
According to Zosimus: Constantius, having so well succeeded in his design against Vetranio, marched against Magnentius, having first conferred the title of Caesar on Gallus, the son of his uncle, and brother to Julian who was afterwards emperor, and given him in marriage his sister Constantia. . . . CONSTANTIUS, after having acted towards Gallus Caesar in the manner I have related, left Pannonia to proceed into Italy. . . . He scarcely thought himself capable of managing affairs at this critical period. He was unwilling, however, to associate any one with himself in the government, because he so much desired to rule alone, and could esteem no man his friend. Under these circumstances he was at a loss how to act. It happened, however, that when the empire was in the greatest danger, Eusebia, the wife of Constantius, who was a woman of extraordinary learning, and of greater wisdom than her sex is usually endowed with, advised him to confer the government of the nations beyond the Alps on Julianus Caesar, who was brother to Gallus, and grandson to Constantius. As she knew that the emperor was suspicious of all his kindred, she thus circumvented him. She observed to him, that Julian was a young man unacquainted with the intrigues of state, having devoted himself totally to his studies; and that he was wholly inexperienced in worldly business. That on this account he would be more fit for his purpose than any other person. That either he would be fortunate, and his success would be attributed to the emperor's conduct, or that he would fail and perish; and that thus Constantius would have none of the imperial family to succeed to him.
Constantius, having approved her advice, sent for Julian from Athens, where he lived among the philosophers, and excelled all his masters in every kind of learning. Accordingly, Julian returning from Greece into Italy, Constantius declared him Caesar, gave him in marriage his sister Helena, and sent him beyond the Alps. . . .
Constantius, having thus disposed of Julian, marched himself into Pannonia and Moesia, and having there suppressed the Quadi and the Sarmatians, proceeded to the east, and was provoked to war by the inroads of the Persians. Julian by this time had arrived beyond the Alps into the Gallic nations which he was to rule. Perceiving that the Barbarians continued committing the same violence, Eusebia, for the same reasons as before, persuaded Constantius to place the entire management of those countries into the hands of Julian. . . . Julian finding the military affairs of Gallia Celtica in a very ruinous state, and that the Barbarians pased the Rhine without any resistance, even almost as far as the sea-port towns, he took a survey of the remaining parts of the enemy. And understanding that the people of those parts were terrified at the very name of the Barbarians, while those whom Constantius had sent along with him, who were not more than three hundred and sixty, knew nothing more, as he used to say, than how to say their prayers, he enlisted as many more as he could and took in a great number of volunteers. He also provided arms, and finding a quantity of old weapons in some town he fitted them up, and distributed them among the soldiers. The scouts bringing him intelligence, that an immense number of Barbarians had crossed the river near the city of Argentoratum (Strasburg) which stands on the Rhine, he no sooner heard of it, than he led forth his army with the greatest speed, and engaging with the enemy gained such a victory as exceeds all description.
After these events he raised a great army to make war on the whole German nation; He was opposed however by the Barbarians in vast numbers. Caesar therefore would not wait while they came up to him, but crossed the Rhine, preferring that their country should be the seat of war, and not that of the Romans, as by that means the cities would escape being again pillaged by the Barbarians. A most furious battle therefore took place; a great number of the Barbarians being slain on the field of battle, while the rest fled, and were pursued by Caesar into the Hercynian forest, and many of them killed. . . .
But while Julian was at Parisium, a small town in Germany, the soldiers, being ready to march, continued at supper till midnight in a place near the palace, which they so called there. They were as yet ignorant of any design against Caesar [by Constantius], when some tribunes, who began to suspect the contrivance against him, privately distributed a number of anonymous billets among the soldiers, in which they represented to them, that Caesar, by his judicious conduct had so managed affairs, that almost all of them had erected trophies over the Barbarians ; that he had always fought like a private soldier, and was now in extreme danger from the emperor, who would shortly deprive him of his whole army, unless they prevented it. Some of the soldiers having read these billets, and published the intrigue to the whole army, all were highly enraged. They suddenly rose from their seats in great commotion, and with the cups yet in their hands went to the palace. Breaking open the doors without ceremony, they brought out Caesar, and lifting him on a shield declared him emperor and Augustus. They then, without attending to his reluctance, placed a diadem upon his head. . . .
Arriving at Naisus, he consulted the soothsayers what measures to pursue. As the entrails signified that he must stay there for some time, he obeyed, observing likewise the time that was mentioned in his dream. When this, according to the motion of the planets, was arrived, a party of horsemen arrived from Constantinople at Naisus, with intelligence that Constantius was dead, and that the armies desired Julian to be emperor. Upon this he accepted what the gods had bestowed upon him, and proceeded on his journey. On his arrival at. Byzantium, he was received with joyful acclamations. . . .
[After slashing through Persia and crossing the Tigris,] they perceived the Persian army, with which they engaged, and having considerably the advantage, they killed a great number of Persians. Upon the following day, about noon, the Persians drew up in a large body, and once more attacked the rear of the Roman army. The Romans, being at that time out of their ranks, were surprised and alarmed at the suddenness of the attack, yet made a stout and spirited defence. The emperor, according to his custom, went round the army, encouraging them to fight with ardour. When by this means all were engaged, the emperor, who sometimes rode to the commanders and tribunes, and was at other times among the private soldiers, received a wound in the heat of the engagement, and was borne on a shield to his tent. He survived only till midnight. He then expired, after having nearly subverted the Persian empire.
Note: Julian favored the pagan faith over Christianity and was tarred by the church as "the apostate." Blindado
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1eo Jovian363-364
AE 3, Heraclea
Diademed bust left, draped & cuirassed, D N IOVIANVS P F AVG
VOT V MVLT X in wreath, Mintmark HERACA
RIC 110A
Zosimus recorded: A meeting of the officers and soldiers was afterwards convened, in order to appoint a successor to the empire : since it would be impossible for them without a ruler to avoid the dangers to which they were exposed in the midst of an enemy's country. The general voice was in favour of Jovianus, the son of Varronianus, tribune of the domestic forces. When Jovian had assumed the purple and the diadem, he directed his course homewards with all possible speed. . . . They then marched forward four days, continually harassed by the enemy, who followed them when they were proceeding, but fled when the Romans offered any resistance. At length, having gained some distance of the enemy, they resolved to crops the Tigris. For this purpose they fastened skins together, and floated over. When the greater part had gained the opposite bank, the commanders crossed over in safety with the remainder. The Persians, however, still accompanied them, and followed them with a large army so assiduously, that the Romans were in perpetual danger, both from the unfavourable circumstances in which they were placed, and from the want, of provisions. Although the Roman army was in this condition, the Persians were willing to treat for peace, and for that purpose sent Surenas with other |90 officers to the Roman camp. Jovian, upon hearing this, sent to them Sallustius, prefect of the court, together with Aristaeus, who, after some discussion, agreed on a truce for thirty years. The conditions were, that the Romans should give up to the Persians the country of the Rabdiceni, and that of the Candueni, Rhemeni, and Zaleni, besides fifteen castles in those provinces, with the inhabitants, lands, cattle, and all their property ; that Nisibis should be surrendered without its inhabitants, who were to be transplanted into whatever colony the Remans pleased. The Persians also deprived the Romans of great part of Armenia, leaving them but a very small part of it. The truce having been concluded on these conditions, and ratified on both sides, the Romans had an opportunity of returning home unmolested, neither party offering or sustaining any injury, either by open force; or secret machination.
Jovian marched through all the towns in great speed, because they were so filled with grief [because they were being given over to Persian rule], that the inhabitants could not look patiently on him; such being the custom and disposition of those countries. Taking with him the imperial guard, he proceeded to Antioch. . . . Jovian now turning his attention to the affairs of government, made various arrangements, and sent Lucilianus his father-in-law, Procopius, and Valentinian, who was afterwards emperor, to the armic.s in Pannoriia, to inform them of the death of Julian, and of his being chosen emperor. The Bavarians who were at Sirmium, and were left there for its protection, as soon as they received the news, put to death Lucilianus who brought such unwelcome intelligence, without regard to his relationship to the emperor. Such was the respect they had to Jovian's relations, that Valentinian himself only escaped from the death they intended to inflict on him. Jovianus proceeding from Antioch towards Constantinople, suddenly fell sick at Dadostana in Bithynia, and died after a reign of eight months, in which short time he had not been able to render the public any essential service.
Blindado
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2.94 Constantine: Constantinople.AE3, 328 - 329, Constantinople mint.
Obverse: CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG / Diademed bust of Constantine.
Reverse: CONSTANTINIANA DAFNE / Victory seated, holding palm branch, in each hand, trophy and kneeling captive in front. B in left field.
Mint mark: CONS*
3.39 gm., 20 mm.
RIC #38; LRBC #1002; Sear #16192.
The traditional interpretation of this reverse type is that it commemorates the building of a fortress and bridge over the River Danube at Dafne (now called Oltenita, Romania). A different interpretation is more allegorical. Since this is the first coinage from the mint of a new Christian city, it is appropriate that it shows Constantine (represented by Victory/Dafne) turning away from the old gods (the captive and standard) to Christianity (palm branches).Callimachus
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202. CARACALLACARACALLA. 198-217 AD.
The emperor visited Alexandria for intellectual and religious reasons, staying at the Serapeum and being present at the temple's sacrifices and cultural events. Earlier, during the German war, the emperor visited the shrine of the Celtic healing-god Grannus. Caracalla also visited the famous temple of Asclepius in Pergamum and fully participated in its program, which involved sleeping inside the temple compound and having his dreams interpreted.
It was this religious devotion that led to Caracalla's murder in 217. Although suspicious of the praetorian prefect Macrinus, Caracalla allowed himself to be accompanied by only a small, select corps of bodyguards on an early spring trip from the camp at Edessa to the temple of the moon-god at Carrhae, about 25 miles away. During the journey back on 8 April 217, Caracalla was killed. The returning guards claimed the emperor was ambushed while defecating, and that the alleged assassin was one of their own, a soldier named Martialis. Martialis was himself killed by the avenging guards, or so the story went. Suspicion was strong that Macrinus arranged the entire affair.
Caracalla's violent end seemed appropriate for an emperor who, early in his reign, had his own brother killed. Yet the moralizing about fratricide by both ancient and modern historians obscures the energetic, reformist and even intellectual character of Caracalla's reign. Some of the reforms, especially the pay raise for soldiers, would prove burdensome for future emperors, but the changes brought about in the little more than five years of Caracalla's sole rule would have long-lasting implications throughout the empire for generations to come.
AR Denarius (19mm, 3.11 gm). Struck 215 AD. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, laureate head right / P M TR P XVIII COS IIII PP, Sol standing left, radiate, raising right hand and holding globe. RIC IV 264a; BMCRE 139; RSC 288. EF
Ex - CNGecoli
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22.43. Béla IV., King of Hungary, (1235-1270 A.D.), CÁC III. 22.43.1.1., H-314, CNH I.-247, U-236, AR-Obulus, Eagle winged, head turning right, #0122.43. Béla IV., King of Hungary, (1235-1270 A.D.), CÁC III. 22.43.1.1., H-314, CNH I.-247, U-236, AR-Obulus, Eagle winged, head turning right, #01
avers: +RЄX BЄLA, Crowned head of King Béla IV. facing, line border.
reverse: Eagle winged, head turning right, line border.
exergue: -/-//--, diameter: 9,4 mm, weight: 0,17g, axis: 0h,
mint: , date: 1235-1270 A.D., ref: Huszár-314, CNH I.-247, Unger-236,
CÁC III. 22.43.1.1.,
Q-001quadrans
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22.43. Béla IV., King of Hungary, (1235-1270 A.D.), CÁC III. 22.43.1.1., H-314, CNH I.-247, U-236, AR-Obulus, Revers Brockage, Rare! #0122.43. Béla IV., King of Hungary, (1235-1270 A.D.), CÁC III. 22.43.1.1., H-314, CNH I.-247, U-236, AR-Obulus, Revers Brockage, Rare! #01
avers: Negative picture of the bird.
reverse: Bird winged, head turning right.
exergue: -/-//--, diameter: 9,5 mm, weight: 0,20g, axis: -h,
mint: , date: 1235-1270 A.D., ref: Huszár-314, CNH I.-247, Unger-236,
CÁC III. 22.43.1.1.,
Q-001quadrans
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305b. Herennius EtruscusQuintus Herennius Etruscus Messius Decius (c. 227 - July 1, 251), was Roman emperor in 251, in a joint rule with his father Trajan Decius. Emperor Hostilian was his younger brother.
Herennius was born in Pannonia, during one of his father's military postings. His mother was Herennia Cupressenia Etruscilla, a Roman lady of an important senatorial family. Herennius was very close to his father and accompanied him in 248, as a military tribune, when Decius was appointed by Philip the Arab to deal with the revolt of Pacatianus in the Danube frontier. Decius was successful on defeating this usurper and felt confident to begin a rebellion of his own in the following year. Acclaimed emperor by his own troops, Decius marched into Italy and defeated Philip near modern Verona. In Rome, Herennius was declared heir to the throne and received the title of princeps iuventutis (prince of youth).
From the beginning of Herennius' accession, Gothic tribes raided across the Danube frontier and the provinces of Moesia and Dacia. At the beginning of 251, Decius elevated Herennius to the title of Augustus making him his co-emperor. Moreover, Herennius was chosen to be one of the year's consuls. The father and son, now joint rulers, then embarked in an expedition against king Cniva of the Goths to punish the invaders for the raids. Hostilian remained in Rome and the empress Herennia Etruscilla was named regent. Cniva and his men were returning to their lands with the booty, when the Roman army encountered them. Showing a very sophisticated military tactic, Cniva divided his army in smaller, more manageable groups and started to push back the Romans into a marshy swamp. On July 1, both armies engaged in the battle of Abrittus. Herennius died in battle, struck by an enemy arrow. Decius survived the initial confrontation, only to be slain with the rest of the army before the end of the day. Herennius and Decius were the first two emperors to be killed by a foreign army in battle.
With the news of the death of the emperors, the army proclaimed Trebonianus Gallus emperor, but in Rome they were succeeded by Hostilian, who would die shortly afterwards in an outbreak of plague.
Herennius Etruscus AR Antoninianus. Q HER ETR MES DECIVS NOB C, radiate draped bust right / CONCORDIA AVGG, clasped hands. RIC 138, RSC 4ecoli
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362/1 , Mamilia 6 foureeI really like the reverse on these.
Ulysses returning home and greeted by his Argus.
crawforde
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408. MaxentiusMarcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius, more commonly known as Maxentius, was the child of the Emperor Maximianus Herculius and the Syrian Eutropia; he was born ca. 278 A.D. After Galerius' appointment to the rank of Caesar on 1 March 293, Maxentius married Galerius' daughter Valeria Maximilla, who bore him a son named Romulus and another son whose name is unknown. Due to his haughty nature and bad disposition, Maxentius could seldom agree with his father or his father-in-law; Galerius' and Maximianus Herculius' aversion to Maxentius prevented the young man from becoming a Caesar in 305. Little else is known of Maxentius' private life prior to his accession and, alth ough there is some evidence that it was spent in idleness, he did become a Senator.
On 28 October 306 Maxentius was acclaimed emperor, although he was politcally astute enough not to use the title Augustus; like the Emperor Augustus, he called himself princeps. It was not until the summer of 307 that he started usi ng the title Augustus and started offending other claimants to the imperial throne. He was enthroned by the plebs and the Praetorians. At the time of his acclamation Maxentius was at a public villa on the Via Labicana. He strengthened his position with promises of riches for those who helped him obtain his objective. He forced his father Maximianus Herculius to affirm his son's acclamation in order to give his regime a facade of legitimacy. His realm included Italy, Africa, Sardinia, and Corsica. As soon as Galerius learned about the acclamation of Herculius' son, he dispatched the Emperor Severus to quell the rebellion. With the help of his father and Severus' own troops, Maxentius' took his enemy prisoner.
When Severus died, Galerius was determined to avenge his death. In the early summer of 307 the Augustus invaded Italy; he advanced to the south and encamped at Interamna near the Tiber. His attempt to besiege the city was abortive because his army was not large enough to encompass the city's fortifications. Negotiations between Maxentius and Galerius broke down when the emperor discovered that the usurper was trying to win over his troops. Galerius' troops were open to Maxentius' promises because they were fighting a civil war between members of the same family; some of the soldiers went over to the enemy. Not trusting his own troops, Galerius withdrew. During its retreat, Galerius' army ravaged the Italian countryside as it was returning to its original base. If it was not enough that Maxentius had to deal with the havoc created by the ineffectual invasions of Severus and Galerius, he also had to deal with his father's attempts to regain the throne between 308 and 310. When Maximianus Herculius was unable to regain power by pushing his son off his throne, he attempted to win over Constantine to his cause. When this plan failed, he tried to win Diocletian over to his side at Carnuntum in October and November 308. Frustrated at every turn, Herculius returned to his son-in-law Constantine's side in Gaul where he died in 310, having been implicated in a plot against his son-in-law. Maxentius' control of the situation was weakened by the revolt of L. Domitius Alexander in 308. Although the revolt only lasted until the end of 309, it drastically cut the size of the grain supply availble for Rome. Maxentius' rule collapsed when he died on 27 October 312 in an engagement he had with the Emperor Constantine at the Milvian Bridge after the latter had invaded his realm.
Maxentius Follis. Ostia mint. IMP C MAXENTIVS P F AVG, laureate head right / AETE-RNITAS A-VGN, Castor and Pollux standing facing each other, each leaning on sceptre and holding bridled horse. ecoli
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705a, Claudius, 25 January 41 - 13 October 54 A.D.Claudius. 42-43 AD. AE As.
Claudius. 42-43 AD. AE As (29 mm, 10.87 g). Obverse: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP P P, bare head right; Reverse: CONSTANTIAE AVGVSTI / S - C, Constantiae in military dress standing left, holding spear; RIC I, 111; aVF. Ex Imperial Coins.
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
CLAUDIUS (41-54 A.D.)
Garrett G. Fagan
Pennsylvania State University
Ti. Claudius Nero Germanicus (b. 10 BC, d. 54 A.D.; emperor, 41-54 A.D.) was the third emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. His reign represents a turning point in the history of the Principate for a number of reasons, not the least for the manner of his accession and the implications it carried for the nature of the office. During his reign he promoted administrators who did not belong to the senatorial or equestrian classes, and was later vilified by authors who did. He followed Caesar in carrying Roman arms across the English Channel into Britain but, unlike his predecessor, he initiated the full-scale annexation of Britain as a province, which remains today the most closely studied corner of the Roman Empire. His relationships with his wives and children provide detailed insights into the perennial difficulties of the succession problem faced by all Roman Emperors. His final settlement in this regard was not lucky: he adopted his fourth wife's son, L. Domitius Ahenobarbus, who was to reign catastrophically as Nero and bring the dynasty to an end. Claudius's reign, therefore, was a mixture of successes and failures that leads into the last phase of the Julio-Claudian line.
Robert Graves' fictional characterization of Claudius as an essentially benign man with a keen intelligence has tended to dominate the wider public's view of this emperor. Close study of the sources, however, reveals a somewhat different kind of man. In addition to his scholarly and cautious nature, he had a cruel streak, as suggested by his addiction to gladiatorial games and his fondness for watching his defeated opponents executed. He conducted closed-door (in camera ) trials of leading citizens that frequently resulted in their ruin or deaths -- an unprecedented and tyrannical pattern of behavior. He had his wife Messalina executed, and he personally presided over a kangaroo court in the Praetorian Camp in which many of her hangers-on lost their lives. He abandoned his own son Britannicus to his fate and favored the advancement of Nero as his successor. While he cannot be blamed for the disastrous way Nero's rule turned out, he must take some responsibility for putting that most unsuitable youth on the throne. At the same time, his reign was marked by some notable successes: the invasion of Britain, stability and good government in the provinces, and successful management of client kingdoms. Claudius, then, is a more enigmatic figure than the other Julio-Claudian emperors: at once careful, intelligent, aware and respectful of tradition, but given to bouts of rage and cruelty, willing to sacrifice precedent to expediency, and utterly ruthless in his treatment of those who crossed him. Augustus's suspicion that there was more to the timid Claudius than met the eye was more than fully borne out by the events of his unexpected reign.
The possibility has to be entertained that Claudius was a far more active participant in his own elevation than traditional accounts let on. There is just reason to suspect that he may even have been involved in planning the murder of Gaius (Caligula). Merely minutes before the assassination of Gaius, Claudius had departed for lunch; this appears altogether too fortuitous. This possibility, however, must remain pure speculation, since the ancient evidence offers nothing explicit in the way of support. On the other hand, we can hardly expect them to, given the later pattern of events. The whole issue of Claudius's possible involvement in the death of Gaius and his own subsequent acclamation by the Praetorian Guard must, therefore, remain moot . . . yet intriguing
Copyright 1998, Garrett G. Fagan.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
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706a, Nero, 13 October 54 - 9 June 68 A.D.6, Nero, 13 October 54 - 9 June 68 A.D. AE setertius, Date: 66 AD; RIC I 516, 36.71 mm; 25.5 grams; aVF. Obverse: IMP NERO CAESAR AVG PONT MAX TR POT PP, Laureate bust right; Reverse: S C, ROMA, Roma seated left, exceptional portrait and full obverse legends. Ex Ancient Imports.
NERO (54-68 A.D.)
It is difficult for the modern student of history to realize just how popular Nero actually was, at least at the beginning of his reign. Rome looked upon her new Emperor with hope. He was the student of Seneca, and he had a sensitive nature. He loved art, music, literature, and theatre. He was also devoted to horses and horse racing—a devotion shared by many of his subjects. The plebs loved their new Emperor. As Professor of Classics Judith P. Hallett (University of Maryland, College Park) says, “It is not clear to me that Nero ever changed or that Nero ever grew-up, and that was both his strength and his weakness. Nero was an extraordinarily popular Emperor: he was like Elvis” (The Roman Empire in the First Century, III. Dir. Margaret Koval and Lyn Goldfarb. 2001. DVD. PBS/Warner Bros. 2003).
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
Herbert W. Benario
Emory University
Introduction and Sources
The five Julio-Claudian emperors are very different one from the other. Augustus dominates in prestige and achievement from the enormous impact he had upon the Roman state and his long service to Rome, during which he attained unrivaled auctoritas. Tiberius was clearly the only possible successor when Augustus died in AD 14, but, upon his death twenty-three years later, the next three were a peculiar mix of viciousness, arrogance, and inexperience. Gaius, better known as Caligula, is generally styled a monster, whose brief tenure did Rome no service. His successor Claudius, his uncle, was a capable man who served Rome well, but was condemned for being subject to his wives and freedmen. The last of the dynasty, Nero, reigned more than three times as long as Gaius, and the damage for which he was responsible to the state was correspondingly greater. An emperor who is well described by statements such as these, "But above all he was carried away by a craze for popularity and he was jealous of all who in any way stirred the feeling of the mob." and "What an artist the world is losing!" and who is above all remembered for crimes against his mother and the Christians was indeed a sad falling-off from the levels of Augustus and Tiberius. Few will argue that Nero does not rank as one of the worst emperors of all.
The prime sources for Nero's life and reign are Tacitus' Annales 12-16, Suetonius' Life of Nero, and Dio Cassius' Roman History 61-63, written in the early third century. Additional valuable material comes from inscriptions, coinage, papyri, and archaeology.
Early Life
He was born on December 15, 37, at Antium, the son of Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbusand Agrippina. Domitius was a member of an ancient noble family, consul in 32; Agrippina was the daughter of the popular Germanicus, who had died in 19, and Agrippina, daughter of Agrippa, Augustus' closest associate, and Julia, the emperor's daughter, and thus in direct descent from the first princeps. When the child was born, his uncle Gaius had only recently become emperor. The relationship between mother and uncle was difficult, and Agrippina suffered occasional humiliation. But the family survived the short reign of the "crazy" emperor, and when he was assassinated, it chanced that Agrippina's uncle, Claudius, was the chosen of the praetorian guard, although there may have been a conspiracy to accomplish this.
Ahenobarbus had died in 40, so the son was now the responsibility of Agrippina alone. She lived as a private citizen for much of the decade, until the death of Messalina, the emperor's wife, in 48 made competition among several likely candidates to become the new empress inevitable. Although Roman law forbade marriage between uncle and niece, an eloquent speech in the senate by Lucius Vitellius, Claudius' closest advisor in the senatorial order, persuaded his audience that the public good required their union. The marriage took place in 49, and soon thereafter the philosopher Seneca [[PIR2 A617]] was recalled from exile to become the young Domitius' tutor, a relationship which endured for some dozen years.
His advance was thereafter rapid. He was adopted by Claudius the following year and took the name Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar or Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was preferred to Claudius' natural son, Britannicus, who was about three years younger, was betrothed to the emperor's daughter Octavia, and was, in the eyes of the people, the clear successor to the emperor. In 54, Claudius died, having eaten some poisoned mushrooms, responsibility for which was believed to be Agrippina's, and the young Nero, not yet seventeen years old, was hailed on October 13 as emperor by the praetorian guard.
The First Years of Rule
The first five years of Nero's rule are customarily called the quinquennium, a period of good government under the influence, not always coinciding, of three people, his mother, Seneca, and Sextus Afranius Burrus, the praetorian prefect. The latter two were allies in their "education" of the emperor. Seneca continued his philosophical and rhetorical training, Burrus was more involved in advising on the actualities of government. They often combined their influence against Agrippina, who, having made her son emperor, never let him forget the debt he owed his mother, until finally, and fatally, he moved against her.
Nero's betrothal to Octavia was a significant step in his ultimate accession to the throne, as it were, but she was too quiet, too shy, too modest for his taste. He was early attracted to Poppaea Sabina, the wife of Otho, and she continually goaded him to break from Octavia and to show himself an adult by opposing his mother. In his private life, Nero honed the musical and artistic tastes which were his chief interest, but, at this stage, they were kept private, at the instigation of Seneca and Burrus.
As the year 59 began, Nero had just celebrated his twenty-first birthday and now felt the need to employ the powers which he possessed as emperor as he wished, without the limits imposed by others. Poppaea's urgings had their effect, first of all, at the very onset of the year, with Nero's murder of his mother in the Bay of Naples.
Agrippina had tried desperately to retain her influence with her son, going so far as to have intercourse with him. But the break between them proved irrevocable, and Nero undertook various devices to eliminate his mother without the appearance of guilt on his part. The choice was a splendid vessel which would collapse while she was on board. As this happened, she swam ashore and, when her attendant, having cried out that she was Agrippina, was clubbed to death, Agrippina knew what was going on. She sent Nero a message that she was well; his response was to send a detachment of sailors to finish the job. When she was struck across the head, she bared her womb and said, "Strike here, Anicetus, strike here, for this bore Nero," and she was brutally murdered.
Nero was petrified with fear when he learned that the deed had been done, yet his popularity with the plebs of Rome was not impaired. This matricide, however, proved a turning point in his life and principate. It appeared that all shackles were now removed. The influence of Seneca and Burrus began to wane, and when Burrus died in 62, Seneca realized that his powers of persuasion were at an end and soon went into retirement. Britannicus had died as early as 55; now Octavia was to follow, and Nero became free to marry Poppaea. It may be that it had been Burrus rather than Agrippina who had continually urged that Nero's position depended in large part upon his marriage to Octavia. Burrus' successor as commander of the praetorian guard, although now with a colleague, was Ofonius Tigellinus, quite the opposite of Burrus in character and outlook. Tigellinus became Nero's "evil twin," urging and assisting in the performance of crimes and the satisfaction of lusts.
Administrative and Foreign Policy
With Seneca and Burrus in charge of administration at home, the first half-dozen years of Nero's principate ran smoothly. He himself devoted his attention to his artistic, literary, and physical bents, with music, poetry, and chariot racing to the fore. But his advisors were able to keep these performances and displays private, with small, select audiences on hand. Yet there was a gradual trend toward public performance, with the establishment of games. Further, he spent many nights roaming the city in disguise, with numerous companions, who terrorized the streets and attacked individuals. Those who dared to defend themselves often faced death afterward, because they had shown disrespect for the emperor. The die was being cast for the last phases of Nero's reign.
The Great Fire at Rome and The Punishment
of the Christians
The year 64 was the most significant of Nero's principate up to this point. His mother and wife were dead, as was Burrus, and Seneca, unable to maintain his influence over Nero without his colleague's support, had withdrawn into private life. The abysmal Tigellinus was now the foremost advisor of the still young emperor, a man whose origin was from the lowest levels of society and who can accurately be described as criminal in outlook and action. Yet Nero must have considered that he was happier than he had ever been in his life. Those who had constrained his enjoyment of his (seemingly) limitless power were gone, he was married to Poppaea, a woman with all advantages save for a bad character the empire was essentially at peace, and the people of Rome enjoyed a full measure of panem et circenses. But then occurred one of the greatest disasters that the city of Rome, in its long history, had ever endured.
The fire began in the southeastern angle of the Circus Maximus, spreading through the shops which clustered there, and raged for the better part of a week. There was brief success in controlling the blaze, but then it burst forth once more, so that many people claimed that the fires were deliberately set. After about a fortnight, the fire burned itself out, having consumed ten of the fourteen Augustan regions into which the city had been divided.
Nero was in Antium through much of the disaster, but his efforts at relief were substantial. Yet many believed that he had been responsible, so that he could perform his own work comparing the current fate of Rome to the downfall of Troy. All his efforts to assist the stricken city could not remove the suspicion that "the emperor had fiddled while Rome burned." He lost favor even among the plebs who had been enthusiastic supporters, particularly when his plans for the rebuilding of the city revealed that a very large part of the center was to become his new home.
As his popularity waned, Nero and Tigellinus realized that individuals were needed who could be charged with the disaster. It so happened that there was such a group ready at hand, Christians, who had made themselves unpopular because of their refusal to worship the emperor, their way of life, and their secret meetings. Further, at this time two of their most significant "teachers" were in Rome, Peter and Paul. They were ideal scapegoats, individuals whom most Romans loathed, and who had continually sung of the forthcoming end of the world.
Their destruction was planned with the utmost precision and cruelty, for the entertainment of the populace. The venue was Nero's circus near the Mons Vaticanus. Christians were exposed to wild animals and were set ablaze, smeared with pitch, to illuminate the night. The executions were so grisly that even the populace displayed sympathy for the victims. Separately, Peter was crucified upside down on the Vatican hill and Paul was beheaded along the Via Ostiensis. But Nero's attempt, and hope, to shift all suspicion of arson to others failed. His popularity even among the lower classes was irrevocably impaired.
[For a detailed and interesting discussion of Nero’s reign please see http://www.roman-emperors.org/nero.htm]
The End - Nero's Death and its Aftermath
Nero's and Tigellinus' response to the conspiracy was immediate and long-lasting. The senatorial order was decimated, as one leading member after another was put to death or compelled to commit suicide. The year 66 saw the suicides of perhaps the most distinguished victims of the "reign of terror," Caius Petronius and Thrasea Paetus. Petronius, long a favorite of Nero because of his aesthetic taste, had been an able public servant before he turned to a life of ease and indolence. He was recognized as the arbiter elegantiae of Nero's circle, and may be the author of the Satyricon. At his death, he left for Nero a document which itemized many of the latter's crimes. Thrasea, a staunch Stoic who had been for some years an outspoken opponent of Nero's policies, committed suicide in the Socratic manner. This scene is the last episode in the surviving books of Tacitus' Annals.
In the year 68, revolt began in the provinces. . . the end of Nero's reign became inevitable. Galba claimed the throne and began his march from Spain. Nero panicked and was rapidly abandoned by his supporters. He finally committed suicide with assistance, on June 9, 68, and his body was tended and buried by three women who had been close to him in his younger days, chief of whom was Acte. His death scene is marked above all by the statement, "Qualis artifex pereo," (What an artist dies in me.) Even at the end he was more concerned with his private life than with the affairs of state.
The aftermath of Nero's death was cataclysmic. Galba was the first of four emperors who revealed the new secret of empire, that an emperor could be made elsewhere than in Rome. Civil war ensued, which was only ended by the victory of the fourth claimant, Vespasian, who established the brief dynasty of the Flavians. The dynasty of the Julio-Claudians was at an end.
Nero's popularity among the lower classes remained even after his death.
. . . .
It is not excessive to say that he was one of the worst of Rome's emperors in the first two centuries and more of the empire. Whatever talents he had, whatever good he may have done, all is overwhelmed by three events, the murder of his mother, the fire at Rome, and his savage treatment of the Christians.
Precisely these qualities are the reasons that he has remained so well known and has been the subject of many writers and opera composers in modern times. These works of fiction particularly merit mention: Henryk Sienkiewicz's Quo Vadis, one of the finest works of the 1907 Nobel Laureate in Literature, and John Hersey's The Conspiracy. Nero unquestionably will always be with us.
Copyright (C) 2006, Herbert W. Benario.
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.
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710a, Vespasian, 1 July 69 - 24 June 79 A.D.Silver denarius, RIC II, 10, aVF, 3.5 g, 18mm, Rome mint, 69-71 AD; Obverse: IMP CAESA[R] VESPASIANV[S AV]G - Laureate head right; Reverse: COS ITER [T]R POT - Pax seated left holding branch and caduceus. Ex Imperial Coins.
De Imperatoribus Romanis:
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
Titus Flavius Vespasianus (A.D. 69-79)
John Donahue
College of William and Mary
Introduction
Titus Flavius Vespasianus (b. A.D. 9, d. A.D. 79, emperor A.D. 69-79) restored peace and stability to an empire in disarray following the death of Nero in A.D. 68. In the process he established the Flavian dynasty as the legitimate successor to the Imperial throne. Although we lack many details about the events and chronology of his reign, Vespasian provided practical leadership and a return to stable government - accomplishments which, when combined with his other achievements, make his emperorship particularly notable within the history of the Principate.
Early Life and Career
Vespasian was born at Falacrina near Sabine Reate on 17 November, A.D. 9, the son of T. Flavius Sabinus, a successful tax collector and banker, and Vespasia Polla. Both parents were of equestrian status. Few details of his first fifteen years survive, yet it appears that his father and mother were often away from home on business for long periods. As a result, Vespasian's early education became the responsibility of his paternal grandmother, Tertulla. [[1]] In about A.D. 25 Vespasian assumed the toga virilis and later accepted the wearing of the latus clavus, and with it the senatorial path that his older brother, T. Flavius Sabinus, had already chosen. [[2]] Although many of the particulars are lacking, the posts typically occupied by one intent upon a senatorial career soon followed: a military tribunate in Thrace, perhaps for three or four years; a quaestorship in Crete-Cyrene; and the offices of aedile and praetor, successively, under the emperor Gaius. [[3]]
It was during this period that Vespasian married Flavia Domitilla. Daughter of a treasury clerk and former mistress of an African knight, Flavia lacked the social standing and family connections that the politically ambitious usually sought through marriage. In any case, the couple produced three children, a daughter, also named Flavia Domitilla, and two sons, the future emperors Titus and Domitian . Flavia did not live to witness her husband's emperorship and after her death Vespasian returned to his former mistress Caenis, who had been secretary to Antonia (daughter of Marc Antony and mother of Claudius). Caenis apparently exerted considerable influence over Vespasian, prompting Suetonius to assert that she remained his wife in all but name, even after he became emperor. [[4]]
Following the assassination of Gaius on 24 January, A.D. 41, Vespasian advanced rapidly, thanks in large part to the new princeps Claudius, whose favor the Flavians had wisely secured with that of Antonia, the mother of Germanicus, and of Claudius' freedmen, especially Narcissus. [[5]] The emperor soon dispatched Vespasian to Argentoratum (Strasbourg) as legatus legionis II Augustae, apparently to prepare the legion for the invasion of Britain. Vespasian first appeared at the battle of Medway in A.D. 43, and soon thereafter led his legion across the south of England, where he engaged the enemy thirty times in battle, subdued two tribes, and conquered the Isle of Wight. According to Suetonius, these operations were conducted partly under Claudius and partly under Vespasian's commander, Aulus Plautius. Vespasian's contributions, however, did not go unnoticed; he received the ornamenta triumphalia and two priesthoods from Claudius for his exploits in Britain. [[6]]
By the end of A.D. 51 Vespasian had reached the consulship, the pinnacle of a political career at Rome. For reasons that remain obscure he withdrew from political life at this point, only to return when chosen proconsul of Africa about A.D. 63-64. His subsequent administration of the province was marked by severity and parsimony, earning him a reputation for being scrupulous but unpopular. [[7]] Upon completion of his term, Vespasian returned to Rome where, as a senior senator, he became a man of influence in the emperor Nero's court. [[8]] Important enough to be included on Nero's tour of Greece in A.D. 66-67, Vespasian soon found himself in the vicinity of increasing political turbulence in the East. The situation would prove pivotal in advancing his career.
Judaea and the Accession to Power
In response to rioting in Caesarea and Jerusalem that had led to the slaughter in the latter city of Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers, Nero granted to Vespasian in A.D. 66 a special command in the East with the objective of settling the revolt in Judaea. By spring A.D. 67, with 60,000 legionaries, auxiliaries, and allies under his control, Vespasian set out to subdue Galilee and then to cut off Jerusalem. Success was quick and decisive. By October all of Galilee had been pacified and plans for the strategic encirclement of Jerusalem were soon formed. [[9]] Meanwhile, at the other end of the empire, the revolts of Gaius Iulius Vindex, governor of Gallia Lugdunensis, and Servius Sulpicius Galba , governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, had brought Nero's reign to the brink of collapse. The emperor committed suicide in June, A.D. 68, thereby ensuring chaos for the next eighteen months, as first Galba and then Marcus Salvius Otho and Aulus Vitellius acceded to power. Each lacked broad-based military and senatorial support; each would be violently deposed in turn. [[10]]
Still occupied with plans against Jerusalem, Vespasian swore allegiance to each emperor. Shortly after Vitellius assumed power in spring, A.D. 69, however, Vespasian met on the border of Judaea and Syria with Gaius Licinius Mucianus, governor of Syria, and after a series of private and public consultations, the two decided to revolt. [[11]] On July 1, at the urging of Tiberius Alexander, prefect of Egypt, the legions of Alexandria declared for Vespasian, as did the legions of Judaea two days later. By August all of Syria and the Danube legions had done likewise. Vespasian next dispatched Mucianus to Italy with 20,000 troops, while he set out from Syria to Alexandria in order to control grain shipments for the purpose of starving Italy into submission. [[12]] The siege of Jerusalem he placed in the hands of his son Titus.
Meanwhile, the Danubian legions, unwilling to wait for Mucianus' arrival, began their march against Vitellius ' forces. The latter army, suffering from a lack of discipline and training, and unaccustomed to the heat of Rome, was defeated at Cremona in late October. [[13]] By mid-December the Flavian forces had reached Carsulae, 95 kilometers north of Rome on the Flaminian Road, where the Vitellians, with no further hope of reinforcements, soon surrendered. At Rome, unable to persuade his followers to accept terms for his abdication, Vitellius was in peril. On the morning of December 20 the Flavian army entered Rome. By that afternoon, the emperor was dead. [[14]]
Tacitus records that by December 22, A.D. 69, Vespasian had been given all the honors and privileges usually granted to emperors. Even so, the issue remains unclear, owing largely to a surviving fragment of an enabling law, the lex de imperio Vespasiani, which conferred powers, privileges, and exemptions, most with Julio-Claudian precedents, on the new emperor. Whether the fragment represents a typical granting of imperial powers that has uniquely survived in Vespasian's case, or is an attempt to limit or expand such powers, remains difficult to know. In any case, the lex sanctioned all that Vespasian had done up to its passing and gave him authority to act as he saw fit on behalf of the Roman people. [[15]]
What does seem clear is that Vespasian felt the need to legitimize his new reign with vigor. He zealously publicized the number of divine omens that predicted his accession and at every opportunity he accumulated multiple consulships and imperial salutations. He also actively promoted the principle of dynastic succession, insisting that the emperorship would fall to his son. The initiative was fulfilled when Titus succeeded his father in A.D. 79.[[16]]
Emperorship
Upon his arrival in Rome in late summer, A.D. 70, Vespasian faced the daunting task of restoring a city and a government ravaged by the recent civil wars. Although many particulars are missing, a portrait nevertheles emerges of a ruler conscientiously committed to the methodical renewal of both city and empire. Concerning Rome itself, the emperor encouraged rebuilding on vacated lots, restored the Capitol (burned in A.D. 69), and also began work on several new buildings: a temple to the deified Claudius on the Caelian Hill, a project designed to identify Vespasian as a legitimate heir to the Julio-Claudians, while distancing himself from Nero ; a temple of Peace near the Forum; and the magnificent Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheatre), located on the site of the lake of Nero 's Golden House. [[17]]
Claiming that he needed forty thousand million sesterces for these projects and for others aimed at putting the state on more secure footing, Vespasian is said to have revoked various imperial immunities, manipulated the supply of certain commodities to inflate their price, and increased provincial taxation. [[18]] The measures are consistent with his characterization in the sources as both obdurate and avaricious. There were occasional political problems as well: Helvidius Priscus, an advocate of senatorial independence and a critic of the Flavian regime from the start, was exiled after A.D. 75 and later executed; Marcellus Eprius and A. Alienus Caecina were condemned by Titus for conspiracy, the former committing suicide, the latter executed in A.D. 79.
As Suetonius claims, however, in financial matters Vespasian always put revenues to the best possible advantage, regardless of their source. Tacitus, too, offers a generally favorable assessment, citing Vespasian as the first man to improve after becoming emperor. [[19]] Thus do we find the princeps offering subventions to senators not possessing the property qualifications of their rank, restoring many cities throughout the empire, and granting state salaries for the first time to teachers of Latin and Greek rhetoric. To enhance Roman economic and social life even further, he encouraged theatrical productions by building a new stage for the Theatre of Marcellus, and he also put on lavish state dinners to assist the food trades. [[20]]
In other matters the emperor displayed similar concern. He restored the depleted ranks of the senatorial and equestrian orders with eligible Italian and provincial candidates and reduced the backlog of pending court cases at Rome. Vespasian also re-established discipline in the army, while punishing or dismissing large numbers of Vitellius ' men. [[21]]
Beyond Rome, the emperor increased the number of legions in the East and continued the process of imperial expansion by the annexation of northern England, the pacification of Wales, and by advances into Scotland and southwest Germany between the Rhine and the Danube. Vespasian also conferred rights on communities abroad, especially in Spain, where the granting of Latin rights to all native communities contributed to the rapid Romanization of that province during the Imperial period. [[22]]
Death and Assessment
In contrast to his immediate imperial predecessors, Vespasian died peacefully - at Aquae Cutiliae near his birthplace in Sabine country on 23 June, A.D. 79, after contracting a brief illness. The occasion is said to have inspired his deathbed quip: "Oh my, I must be turning into a god!" [[23]] In fact, public deification did follow his death, as did his internment in the Mausoleum of Augustus alongside the Julio-Claudians.
A man of strict military discipline and simple tastes, Vespasian proved to be a conscientious and generally tolerant administrator. More importantly, following the upheavals of A.D. 68-69, his reign was welcome for its general tranquility and restoration of peace. In Vespasian Rome found a leader who made no great breaks with tradition, yet his ability ro rebuild the empire and especially his willingness to expand the composition of the governing class helped to establish a positive working model for the "good emperors" of the second century.
Bibliography
Since the scholarship on Vespasian is more comprehensive than can be treated here, the works listed below are main accounts or bear directly upon issues discussed in the entry above. A comprehensive modern anglophone study of this emperor is yet to be produced.
Atti congresso internazionale di studi Flaviani, 2 vols. Rieti, 1983.
Atti congresso internazionale di studi Vespasianei, 2 vols. Rieti, 1981.
Bosworth, A.B. "Vespasian and the Provinces: Some Problems of the Early 70s A.D." Athenaeum 51 (1973): 49-78.
Brunt, P. A. "Lex de imperio Vespasiani." JRS (67) 1977: 95-116.
D'Espèrey, S. Franchet. "Vespasien, Titus et la littérature." ANRW II.32.5: 3048-3086.
Dudley, D. and Webster, G. The Roman Conquest of Britain. London, 1965.
Gonzalez, J. "The Lex Irnitana: A New Copy of the Flavian Municipal Law." JRS 76 (1986): 147-243.
Grant, M. The Roman Emperors: A Biographical Guide to the Rulers of Rome, 31 B.C. - A.D. 476. New York, 1985.
Homo, L. Vespasien, l'Empereur du bons sens (69-79 ap. J.-C.). Paris, 1949.
Levi, M.A. "I Flavi." ANRW II.2: 177-207.
McCrum, M. and Woodhead, A. G. Select Documents of the Principates of the Flavian Emperors Including the Year of the Revolution. Cambridge, 1966.
Nicols, John. Vespasian and the Partes Flavianae. Wiesbaden, 1978.
Scarre, C. Chronicle of the Roman Emperors. The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial Rome. London, 1995.
Suddington, D. B. The Development of the Roman Auxiliary Forces from Caesar to Vespasian, 49 B.C. - A.D. 79. Harare: U. of Zimbabwe, 1982.
Syme, R. Tacitus. Oxford, 1958.
Wardel, David. "Vespasian, Helvidius Priscus and the Restoration of the Capitol." Historia 45 (1996): 208-222.
Wellesley, K. The Long Year: A.D. 69. Bristol, 1989, 2nd ed.
Notes
[[1]] Suet. Vesp. 2.1. Suetonius remains the major source but see also Tac. Hist. 2-5; Cass. Dio 65; Joseph. BJ 3-4.
[[2]] Suetonius (Vesp. 2.1) claims that Vespasian did not accept the latus clavus, the broad striped toga worn by one aspiring to a senatorial career, immediately. The delay, however, was perhaps no more than three years. See J. Nicols, Vespasian and the Partes Flavianae (Wiesbaden, 1978), 2.
[[3]] Military tribunate and quaestorship: Suet. Vesp. 2.3; aedileship: ibid., 5.3, in which Gaius, furious that Vespasian had not kept the streets clean, as was his duty, ordered some soldiers to load him with filth;,they complied by stuffing his toga with as much as it could hold. See also Dio 59.12.2-3; praetorship: Suet. Vesp. 2.3, in which Vespasian is depicted as one of Gaius' leading adulators, an account consistent with Tacitus' portrayal (Hist 1.50.4; 2.5.1) of his early career. For a more complete discussion of these posts and attendant problems of dating, see Nicols, Vespasian, 2-7.
[[4]] Marriage and Caenis: Suet. Vesp. 3; Cass. Dio 65.14.
[[5]] Nicols, Vespasian, 12-39.
[[6]] Suet. Vesp. 4.1 For additional details on Vespasian's exploits in Britain, see D. Dudley and G. Webster, The Roman Conquest of Britain (London, 1965), 55 ff., 98.
[[7]] Concerning Vespasian's years between his consulship and proconsulship, see Suet. Vesp. 4.2 and Nicols, Vespasian, 9. On his unpopularity in Africa, see Suet. Vesp. 4.3, an account of a riot at Hadrumentum, where he was once pelted with turnips. In recording that Africa supported Vitellius in A.D. 69, Tacitus too suggests popular dissatisfaction with Vespasian's proconsulship. See Hist. 2.97.2.
[[8]] This despite the fact that the sources record two rebukes of Vespasian, one for extorting money from a young man seeking career advancement (Suet. Vesp. 4.3), the other for either leaving the room or dozing off during one of the emperor's recitals (Suet. Vesp. 4.4 and 14, which places the transgression in Greece; Tac. (Ann. 16.5.3), who makes Rome and the Quinquennial Games of A.D. 65 the setting; A. Braithwaite, C. Suetoni Tranquilli Divus Vespasianus, Oxford, 1927, 30, who argues for both Greece and Rome).
[[9]] Subjugation of Galilee: Joseph. BJ 3.65-4.106; siege of Jerusalem: ibid., 4.366-376, 414.
[[10]] Revolt of Vindex: Suet. Nero 40; Tac. Ann. 14.4; revolt of Galba: Suet. Galba 10; Plut. Galba, 4-5; suicide of Nero: Suet. Nero 49; Cass. Dio 63.29.2. For the most complete account of the period between Nero's death and the accession of Vespasian, see K. Wellesley, The Long Year: A.D. 69, 2nd. ed. (Bristol, 1989).
[[11]] Tac. Hist. 2.76.
[[12]] Troops in support of Vespasian: Suet. Vit. 15; Mucianus and his forces: Tac. Hist. 2.83; Vespasian and grain shipments: Joseph. BJ 4.605 ff.; see also Tac. Hist. 3.48, on Vespasian's possible plan to shut off grain shipments to Italy from Carthage as well.
[[13]] On Vitellius' army and its lack of discipline, see Tac. Hist. 2.93-94; illness of army: ibid., 2.99.1; Cremona: ibid., 3.32-33.
[[14]] On Vitellius' last days, see Tac. Hist. 3.68-81. On the complicated issue of Vitellius' death date, see L. Holzapfel, "Römische Kaiserdaten," Klio 13 (1913): 301.
[[15]] Honors, etc. Tac. Hist. 4.3. For more on the lex de imperio Vespasiani, see P. A. Brunt, "Lex de imperio Vespasiani," JRS (67) 1977: 95-116.
[[16]] Omens: Suet. Vesp. 5; consulships and honors: ibid., 8; succession of sons: ibid., 25.
[[17]] On Vespasian's restoration of Rome, see Suet. Vesp. 9; Cass. Dio 65.10; D. Wardel, "Vespasian, Helvidius Priscus and the Restoration of the Capitol," Historia 45 (1996): 208-222.
[[18]] Suet. Vesp. 16.
[[19]] Ibid.; Tac. Hist. 1.50.
[[20]] Suet. Vesp. 17-19.
[[21]] Ibid., 8-10.
[[22]] On Vespasian's exploits in Britain, see esp. Tac., Agricola, eds. R. M. Ogilvie and I. A. Richmond (1967), and W. S. Hanson, Agricola and the Conquest of the North (1987); on the granting of Latin rights in Spain, see, e.g., J. Gonzalez, "The Lex Irnitana: a New Copy of the Flavian Municipal Law." JRS 76 (1986): 147-243.
[[23]] For this witticism and other anecdotes concerning Vespasian's sense of humor, see Suet. Vesp. 23.
Copyright (C) 1998, John Donahue. Published on De Imperatoribus Romanis, an Online Encyplopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families.
http://www.roman-emperors.org/vespasia.htm
Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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AE3 Imitative Imitative of coin in the style of Constans, Constantius Gallus or Constantius II
17mm., 2.16g.
Bust, pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed, right
Inscription not read [perhaps some variation on FEL TEMP REPARATIO]. Soldier, helmeted, draped, cuirassed, spearing fallen horseman; horseman turning face to soldier, extending left arm
References:
AAFQRL
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Alexander III Athena / Nike AV StaterKINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’. 336-323 BC. AV Stater (17.5mm, 8.65 g, 11h). Sidon mint. Struck under Menes. Dated RY 7 of Abdalonymos (327/6 BC).
O: Head of Athena right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet decorated with coiled serpent, and necklace
R: AΛEΞANΔPOY, Nike standing left, holding wreath in extended right hand and cradling stylis in left arm; palm frond and date (in Phoenician) to left, ΣI below left wing.
- Price 3482; Newell, Dated 21 (dies –/α [unlisted obv. die]); Rouvier 1171; DCA 867. From the rare, earliest issue of dated Sidon staters.
Abdalonymos was a gardener, but of royal descent, who was made king of Sidon by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. After Alexander the Great had Sidon under siege, he gave permission to Hephaestion to bestow its crown on whom he pleased. Hephaestion offered it to two brothers with whom he lodged, but they thankfully declined it, alleging that according to their local laws, it could only be worn by one of royal blood. Being desired to point out such a person, they named Abdalonymos - the gardener, who, notwithstanding his birth, had fallen into such poverty, that he supported himself by the cultivation of a kitchen garden.
Hephaestion directed the brothers to carry the royal crown and robes to Abdalonymos. They obeyed, and found him weeding in his garden. After causing him to wash, they invested him with the ensigns of royalty, and conducted him to Alexander. This prince, who discerned in him an aspect not unworthy of his origin, turning to those around him and said 'I wish to know how he bore his poverty.'-'Would to heaven,' replied Abdalonymos, 'I may as well bear my prosperity! These hands have ministered to all my necessities; and as I possessed nothing, I wanted nothing'. Alexander was so well pleased with this reply, that he confirmed the nomination of Hephaestion, and gave the new king the palace and private estate of Strato his predecessor, and even augmented his dominions from the neighbouring country.Nemonater
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Alexander the GreatPortrait of Alexander the Great done in mosaic that is housed at the Museo Nazionale, Naples, Italy. Dated from the late 2nd century. B.C., copy of a painting dated to c. 300 B.C.
Traditionally this scene reresents the turning-point at Issus when Darius fled the battle; but Philoxenus, the artist from whose painting the mosaic was copied, may have incorporated elements from other battles. Alexander's personal moment of peril seems borrowed from the Granicus, and the confrontation also has echoes of Gaugamela.
This mosaic depicts a battle between Alexander the Great and the Persian king Darius, probably the Battle of the Issus River in November of 333 B.C. It is in opus vermiculatum, with over one and a half million tesserae, none larger than 4 mm., in four colors: white, yellow, red, and black. The minuteness of the tesserae enables incredibly fine detail and painterly effects, including remarkable portraits of Alexander and Darius.
See:http://www.hackneys.com/alex_web/pages/alxphoto.htm
Cleisthenes
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Antoninus She Wolf BoatANTONINUS PIUS, 138-161 AD. Æ As, 10.84, 25mm
Minted 143-144 AD.
OBV: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III, laureate head right
REV: IMPERATOR II S-C, wolf suckling twins, boat in ex. Cohen 448.
RIC.734, Cohen 448.
This reverse type comes in two variants, with the she-wolf either looking straight ahead, or turning her head back to look at the twins, as on this coin. This second variant is definitely the scarcer of the two: not represented in our Forvms photofile, nor in CoinArchives according to my (Curtis Clay) perhaps inadequate search. Strack 945 lists five museum specimens and one in an auction catalogue, apparently all that he knew, meaning that this variant is missing from the rich collections in Paris and Vienna.SRukke
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Aurelian - AE antoninianusRome
early - IX 275 AD
Issue 11
radiate and cuirassed bust right
IMP AVRELIANVS AVG
Sol standing right, wearing chalmys, holding olive branch and bow, foot resting on kneeling captive turning left and raising hand, wearing oriental dress
ORIE_N_S AVG
H
XXIR
LV 1293-320; RIC1st 64
https://ric.mom.fr/en/coin/1832
3,5g 21mm
ex Soler y LlachJ. B.
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Aurelian - AE antoninianusRome
early - IX 275 AD
Issue 11
radiate and cuirassed bust right
IMP AVRELIANVS AVG
Sol standing right, wearing chalmys, holding olive branch and bow, resting his foot on kneeling captive wearing oriental dress right, turning left, raising hand
ORIE_N_S AVG
I
XXIR
LV 1333-55; RIC1st 64
https://ric.mom.fr/en/coin/1835
3,6g 21mm
ex inAstaJ. B.
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Aurelian - AE antoninianusRome
early - IX 275 AD
Issue 11
radiate and cuirassed bust right
IMP AVRELIANVS AVG
Sol standing right, wearing chalmys, holding olive branch and bow, foot resting on kneeling captive turning left and raising hand, wearing oriental dress
ORI_ENS AVG
Δ
XXIR
LV 1204-35; RIC1st 64
https://ric.mom.fr/en/coin/1819
3,5g 21,5mm
ex Berliner MünzauktionJ. B.
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Aurelian - AE antoninianusRome
early - IX 275 AD
Issue 11
radiate and cuirassed bust right
IMP AVRELIANVS AVG
Sol standing right, wearing chalmys, foot resting on captive, holding olive branch and bow; captive wearing oriental dress to the right, kneeling, turning left, raised hand
ORIE_N_S AVG
Γ
XXIR
LV 1333-55; RIC1st 64
https://ric.mom.fr/en/coin/1817
4,2g 21mm
ex NaumannJ. B.
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Aurelian - silvered antoninianusRome
early - IX 275 AD
Issue 11
radiate and cuirassed bust right
IMP AVRELIANVS AVG
Sol standing right, wearing chalmys, foot resting on captive, holding olive branch and bow; captive wearing oriental dress to the right, kneeling, turning left, raised hand
ORIE_N_S AVG
B
XXIR
LV 1137-66; RIC1st 64
https://ric.mom.fr/en/coin/1815
3,9g 22mm
ex aureaJ. B.
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Aurelian - silvered antoninianusRome
early - IX 275 AD
Issue 11
radiate and cuirassed bust right
IMP AVRELIANVS AVG
Sol standing right, wearing chalmys, holding olive branch and bow, foot resting on kneeling captive turning left and raising hand, wearing oriental dress
ORI_ENS AVG
E
XXIR
LV 1236-66; RIC1st 64
https://ric.mom.fr/en/coin/1823
4,5g 21,5mm
ex Vienna International AuctionsJ. B.
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Aurelian - silvered antoninianusRome
early - IX 275 AD
Issue 11
radiate and cuirassed bust right
IMP AVRELIANVS AVG
Sol standing right, wearing chalmys, holding olive branch and bow, foot resting on kneeling captive turning left and raising hand, wearing oriental dress
ORI_ENS AVG
*
XXIR
LV 1321-32; RIC1st 64
https://ric.mom.fr/en/coin/1834
4,1g 21mm
ex Berliner MünzauktionJ. B.
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Bardas Parsakoutenos, magistros and doux of Anatolikon. Lead seal c. AD 970-990 10291|Bardas Parsakoutenos, magistros and doux of Anatolikon. Lead seal c. AD 970-990
Star with six rays ending in something resembling arrows; circular invocational legend + KE ROHΘEI TW CW ΔUΛW
+RAPΔ|MAΓICTP,|S ΔUΞ TWN| ANATOΛ’K|TWN OÎ AT|O Î APCK’ in six lines
30mm; 16.24gram.
Before turning to the identification of the seal’s owner, there are a number of issues to be addressed about the reverse legend. Up to the fourth line, all is clear. A nominative legend listing Bardas’ dignity of magistros and his office of doux ton Anatolikon. The last line has his family name Pars(a)k(outenos). The fifth line, however, does not make sense. It might be an engraver’s error, repeating TWN of the third line and O Î AP of the last line. This explanation, even though unelegant, has to do for now, unless an otherwise unknown office or command is meant.
The seal’s owner is probably the person named in Leon Diakonos (VII.1) as one of three brothers Parsakoutenos, who backed Bardas Phokas the younger during his rebellion of AD 970 against John I Tzimiskes. These brothers, Theodore, Bardas and Nikephoros took their name, according to Leon, “after the city of their birth, Parsakouta”, which is a village on the road between Nymphaion and Sardis in the Thrakesian theme (p. 162, n.4 of the English edition). Leon adds that the Parsakoutenoi were cousins of Bardas Phokas and that they held the rank of patrikios and adds that they ‘mustered troops with great zeal’. Skylitzes (291.13-14) adds that Theodore and Nikephoros were the sons of the patrikios Theodoulos Parsakoutenos, and were exarchs in Cappadocia (p. 162, n.3). The rebellion, however, was extinguished by the skilled general Bardas Skleros, and Bardas Phokas was temporarily imprisoned.
Leon Diakonos once again mentions Bardas Parsakoutenos in book X, chapter 7, during the revolt of Bardas Skleros. He is now called magistros, a higher rank than patrikios, which implies that his earlier allegience to a usurper had not frustrated his political career. In the late 970’s, Skleros conquered large parts of Asia and was threatening to blockade the Dardanelles, hindering merchants and grain transports to the capital. In the end, he was defeated by Bardas Phokas on 24th of March 979 and fled to Muslim territory. But before his final defeat on the battleground, according to Leon Diakonos, his fortress at Abydos was seized, his army destroyed, and fire was set to his fleet of triremes by an imperial fleet of fireships dispatched from the capital under the command of Bardas Parsakoutenos. The seal, listing Bardas’ dignity as magistros, not patrikios as attested in AD 970, might well be from this period.
Gert
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BCC CG1 Terra Sigillata Leaping HareRoman Pottery Fragment
Caesarea Maritima
1st-3rd century CE
Roman earthenware red-slip fragment
(terra sigillata) with leaping hare over
shrub, floral designs, and tendrils. Panels
bordered with beads and knobs at the angles.
Moulded and wheel made, the interior shows
horizontal marks from the turning process.
Medium fine-grained, light reddish-tan clay.
8.2 x 3.8 x 0.9cm. 25.48gm.
Surface find from Caesarea Maritima, 1970's
J. Berlin Caesarea Collection
(click for larger pic)v-drome
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BCC CG2 Terra Sigillata Bowl Fragment with Bird and TendrilsRoman Pottery Fragment
Caesarea Maritima
1st-3rd century CE
Roman earthenware red-slip fragment (terra
sigillata) with bird and floral decorative motifs.
Row of rounded chevrons with egg and dart
pattern above. Below, tendrils terminating in
a flower bud and rosette. Within scroll, bird
standing on zig-zag line above a field of "arrow
heads". Moulded and wheel made, the interior
shows light turning lines, and worn slip on the
exterior highlights. 6.0 x 4.3 x 0.65cm. 18.52gm.
Surface find from the sand dunes south of
Caesarea Maritima, ca. 1970.
J. Berlin Caesarea Collection
(click for larger pic)v-drome
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BCC CG27 Erotic Scene Red Slip FragmentCeramic Fragment
1st-2nd Century CE?
Red slip earthenware pottery fragment,
with erotic scene and remains of a nearly
vertical longitudinal beaded line border.
Moulded and wheel made, the interior
shows horizontal marks from the turning
process. Fine-grained, very light reddish/
tan clay with applied red slip. Any additional
information or corrections welcomed.
3.65 x 3.6 x 0.75cm. Wt: 8.0gm.
Surface find Caesarea Maritima, 1971.
J. Berlin Caesarea Collection
(click for larger pic)v-drome
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BCC CG29 Pan Red Slip Ware Ceramic Fragment
1st-4th Century CE?
Red slip earthenware pottery fragment (terra
sigillata), with applied or moulded figure of Pan?
advancing right. The interior shows horizontal
marks from the turning process. Medium-grained,
light reddish/tan clay with applied red slip.
1.9 x 1.4 x 0.6cm. Wt: 1.88gm.
Surface find Caesarea Maritima, ca.1970's.
J. Berlin Caesarea Collection
(click for larger pic)v-drome
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BCC CG34 Red Slip Ware Maker's StampRoman Pottery Fragment
1st-2nd Century CE?
Red Slip Ware pottery fragment
with unidentified Maker's stamp (Terra
Sigillata). Flat base with slight down
curve starting near the far point of the
fragment from the 11x8mm., rounded
rectangular, incuse stamp. Turning lines
visible on the surface of the exterior? side.
Very fine-grained, light reddish-tan clay.
5.0cm.x3.8cm.x0.45cm. 5.18gm.
Surface find Caesarea Maritima, 1970's
J. Berlin Caesarea Collection
(click for larger pic)v-drome
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BCC CG35 Red Slip Ware Maker's StampRoman Pottery Fragment
1st-2nd Century CE?
Red-Slip Ware pottery fragment
with maker's stamp (Terra Sigillata).
Flat base piece with turning lines visible
on the interior and exterior surfaces.
Oval incuse stamp with the letter "A...",
broken, 8 x 7mm. remaining. Very fine
grained, light pinkish-tan clay.
3.95 x 2.65 x 0.5cm. 4.27gm.
Surface find Caesarea Maritima, 1970's
J. Berlin Caesarea Collection
(click for larger pic)v-drome
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BCC CG36 Red Slip Ware with Maker's StampRoman Pottery Fragment
1st-4th Century CE?
Red-Slip Ware pottery fragment
with maker's stamp (Terra Sigillata).
Flat base piece with turning lines visible
on the exterior surface. Propeller-shaped
incuse stamp with uncertain image, broken,
1.7 x 1.1cm. remaining. Medium-fine grained,
light reddish-tan clay with numerous dark
crystalline inclusions.
2.8 x 3.2 x 0.4cm. 2.54gm.
Surface find Caesarea Maritima, 1970's
J. Berlin Caesarea Collection
(click for larger pic)v-drome
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BCC CG38 Roman Red Slip Ware Palm BranchesRoman Pottery Fragment
Caesarea Maritima
1st-3rd century CE
Roman terracotta red-slip fragment
(terra sigillata) of a bowl, decorated
with a splay of foliage. Parts of four
palm branches? remain. Moulded and
wheel made, the interior shows horizontal
marks from the turning process. Exterior
slip is worn through on the highlights.
Medium fine-grained, light reddish-tan
matrix. 5.3 x 3.8 x 0.45cm. 8.21gm.
Surface find from Caesarea Maritima, 1970's
J. Berlin Caesarea Collectionv-drome
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BCC CG39 Red Slip Ware Festoons Scrolls IvyRoman Pottery Fragment
Caesarea Maritima
1st-5th century CE
Roman terracotta red-slip fragment
(terra sigillata), decorated with remains
of festoons, scrolls, and ivy leaf shapes
over a horizontal line. Moulded and wheel
made, the interior shows fine marks from
the turning process and incised horizontal
dividing line. Exterior slip very worn and
eroded through on all of the high points.
Medium fine-grained, light reddish-tan
clay with dark ash-like particles adhering
to the soft exposed surfaces.
3.1 x 2.7 x 0.65cm. 5.41gm.
Surface find from Caesarea Maritima, 1970's
J. Berlin Caesarea Collectionv-drome
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BCC CG41 Red Slip Ware PendantsRoman Pottery Fragment
Caesarea Maritima
1st-2nd century CE?
Roman terracotta red-slip fragment
decorated with remains of three amphora?
shaped objects suspended from a draped
line. Moulded and wheel made, the interior
shows marks from the turning process.
Exterior slip very worn and eroded through
on all of the high points. Medium fine-grained,
light reddish clay. 2.9 x 2.8 x 0.4cm. 2.84gm.
Surface find from Caesarea Maritima, 1970's
J. Berlin Caesarea Collection
(click for larger pic)v-drome
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BCC CG42 Red Slip Ware Rim Fragment Scrolled TendrilRoman Pottery Fragment
Caesarea Maritima
1st-5th century CE?
Rim fragment of a Roman terracotta red-slip
vessel, slightly everted lip, decorated with a
scrolled tendril or volute, terminal end only,
remaining. Exterior slip very worn and eroded
through on the high points. Moulded and wheel
made, with interior and exterior turning marks.
Medium fine-grained, light reddish-tan clay.
2.3 x 1.55 x 0.65cm. 2.20gm.
Surface find from Caesarea Maritima, 1970's
J. Berlin Caesarea Collection
(click for larger pic)v-drome
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Byzantine Empire: Andronicus III Palaeologus (1328-1341) Æ Trachy, Constantinople (Sear 2482; LPC 234.2; PCPC 257; Lianta 834)Obv: â’¶ to left, Δ/M/T to right. Half-length figure of St. Demetrius, beardless and nimbate, wearing armor; right hand holds spear.
Rev: A M above St. Michael. Three-quarter-length figure of St. Michael, beardless and nimbate, on left, turning right, and with left hand raised in blessing over the head of the emperor, who holds two patriarchal crosses. Emperor wears stemma, divitision, collar-piece and jeweled loros of simplified type. Saint wears tunic, breastplate and sagion.
Quant.Geek
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Byzantine Empire: Andronicus III Palaeologus (1328-1341) Æ Trachy, Constantinople (Sear 2482; LPC 234.2; PCPC 257; Lianta 834)Obv: â’¶ to left, Δ/M/T to right. Half-length figure of St. Demetrius, beardless and nimbate, wearing armor; right hand holds spear.
Rev: A M above St. Michael. Three-quarter-length figure of St. Michael, beardless and nimbate, on left, turning right, and with left hand raised in blessing over the head of the emperor, who holds two patriarchal crosses. Emperor wears stemma, divitision, collar-piece and jeweled loros of simplified type. Saint wears tunic, breastplate and sagion.
Quant.Geek
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Byzantine Empire: Andronicus III Palaeologus (1328-1341) Æ Trachy, Constantinople (Sear 2482; LPC 234.2; PCPC 257; Lianta 834)Obv: â’¶ to left, Δ/M/T to right. Half-length figure of St. Demetrius, beardless and nimbate, wearing armor; right hand holds spear.
Rev: A M above St. Michael. Three-quarter-length figure of St. Michael, beardless and nimbate, on left, turning right, and with left hand raised in blessing over the head of the emperor, who holds two patriarchal crosses. Emperor wears stemma, divitision, collar-piece and jeweled loros of simplified type. Saint wears tunic, breastplate and sagion.Quant.Geek
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CALABRIA, Taras. Circa 272-240 BC. AR Nomos18 mm, 6.39 g, 5 h
Damokritos and Euf..., magistrates. EYΦ / [Δ]A-MOK-PI[TOΣ]
Youth on horseback right, holding patera in his right hand and turning his head slightly to left; to left, Nike flying right, crowning him with wreath.
Rev. Youthful oikist riding dolphin right, holding cornucopiae on his right hand and trident below his left arm; to left, monogram ΙΩΠ.
HN Italy 1043. Vlasto 926 (same dies). Extremely rare, Vlasto knew a single example. Some areas of weaknes and a few light marks and scratches, otherwise, very fine.
From an American collection, ex Rauch 110, 2 July 2020, 21.
This extremely rare variety, known to Vlasto from a single obverse die (925-926) and a single reverse die (926), is among the rarest Tarentine nomoi of the late period and, as the author points out, the dies are of remarkably 'charming style', especially for the period.Leo
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CaracallaANTONINVS PIVS AVG
Laureate head of Caracalla right
LAETITIA TEMPORVM
The spina of the Circus Maximus decorated as a ship facing l., with the turning posts at its prow and stern, a sail mounted on the central obelisk, and the spina's other monuments visible in between; above the ship, four quadrigas racing l.; below, seven animals: an ostrich at l. and bear at r.; between them a lion and a lioness chasing a wild ass and a panther attacking a bison.
Rome 206 AD
3.34g
Ex-Londinium coins, Ex Professor K.D. White with original envelope.
Sear 6813, RIC 157, BMCRE 257, CSS 793
Very rare! Only 2 examples in the Reka Devnia hoard
Better in hand
Notes by Curtis Clay:
This famous type commemorates the chariot races and animal hunt that took place on the seventh and final day of Severus' Saecular Games in 204 AD, as described in the inscriptional acts of those games which were found in Rome in the 1870s and 1930s. According to the acts, after three days of sacrifices and three days of honorary stage shows, Severus and Caracalla held circus games on the seventh day, consisting of chariot races and then a hunt of 700 beasts, 100 each of "lions, lionesses, panthers, bears, bisons, wild asses, ostriches". Dio Cassius describes the same hunt, adding the detail that the cage from which the animals were discharged was formed like a boat: "The entire receptacle in the theater had been fashioned in the shape of a boat and was capable of receiving or discharging four hundred beasts at once; and then, as it suddenly fell apart, there came rushing forth bears, lionesses, panthers, lions, ostriches, wild asses, bisons, so that 700 beasts in all, both wild and domesticated, at one and the same time were seen running about and were slaughtered. For to correspond with the duration of the festival, which lasted seven days, the number of the animals was also seven times one hundred." In Dio's text this passage follows directly on his account of Severus' Decennalian Games in 202 AD, causing scholars to accuse Dio of misdating the hunt or to postulate that similar hunts of 700 animals were held both in 202 and in 204. But the true explanation, in my opinion, is that Dio's Byzantine epitimator Xiphilinus, on whom we are dependent for this section of Dio's text, has simply jumped without warning or transition from Dio's description of the Decennalian Games of 202 to his description of the circus spectacle concluding the Saecular Games of 204. This hypothesis easily explains why Dio's text as we have it makes no mention of the Saecular Games themselves or of any event of 203: Xiphilinus omitted this whole section of Dio's history! The seven kinds of animals named by both Dio and the inscriptional acts are also depicted in the coin type: on good specimens, especially the aureus BM pl. 34.4, the ostrich and the bear are clear, the lion has a mane, the ass has long ears, the bison has horns and a hump. Two large felines remain, of which we may suppose that the one accompanying the lion is the lioness and the one attacking the bison is the panther. The animals are named somewhat differently in Cohen, BMC, and other numismatic works: though numismatists have long cited Dio's text to explain the coin type, no one previously seems to have posed the question whether the seven animals in the lower part of the type might not be the same seven that Dio and now the inscriptional acts too name! These circus games with the ship and 700 animals were held in 204 AD, but the coin type commemorating them did not appear until two years later: on aurei of Septimius the type is die linked to a dated type of 206 AD, and for Caracalla the type passes from a draped and cuirassed obverse type on the aureus to the "head only" type on his denarii, a transition that took place in 206 AD according to his dated coins.
SOLD October 2014Jay GT4
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Caracalla, 198 - 217 ADObv: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, laureate, draped bust of Caracalla facing right.
Rev: ADVENT AVGG, a galley, with four rowers, travelling right, over waves; vexillum at prow, three passengers seated at stern.
Note: The three passengers are supposedly Septimius Severus, Caracalla, and Geta returning from an eastern campaign.
Silver Denarius, Rome mint, 202 AD
3.3 grams, 19.4 mm, 22.5°
RIC IVi 120, RSC III 3, S6790, VM 12Matt Inglima
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