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John Comnenus-Ducas. As emperor of Thessalonica, 1237-1242. BI Trachy (14mm, 0.38 g, 6h). Thessalonica mint. Facing bust of Christ Pantokrator / Facing busts John and St. Demetrius, holding patriarchal cross between them. DOC –; SB –; NAC 56, lot 830 (hammer 800 CHF). VF, dark green patina, obverse struck with worn die, ragged flan. Extremely rare.

From the Iconodule Collection.Quant.Geek

AGRIPPA
(b. 63 BC - d. 12 BC)
Struck posthumously 38 AD, under Caligula
AE As 28 mm; 10.12 g
O: Head left wearing a rostral crown
R: Very worn--Neptune standing half left,
Rome mint
RIC I Caligula 58, BMC II 161; SRCV I 556laney

1st Century CE, IRON AGE BRITAIN, Tribe: Iceni, AR Unit, Struck c.60 - 61 under Boudica (Boadicea)Obverse: No legend. Abstract Celtic style head with slit for eye and no ear facing right. Three pellets below head, branch emblem behind neck.
Reverse: No legend. Celtic style horse facing right, lozenge-shaped box with pellets on outer corners below horse. Section of large elaborate wheel-like object above horse, pellet below horse's tail.
Class: Icenian O
Diameter: 14mm | Weight: 0.9gms | Axis: 10
Spink: 434

The first known recorded example of this coin was made by William Stukely, an English antiquarian whose ideas influenced various antiquaries throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Stukeley published over twenty books on archaeology and other subjects during his lifetime and he is regarded as an important forerunner of archaeology for his emphasis on methodically measuring and documenting ancient sites. He died of a stroke in early 1765.
The theory that this coinage was connected with Boudica was originally reported in 1987 and this was endorsed by R D Van Arsdell, an authority on the Celtic coinage of Britain, as Boudican in the 1990's. At the time though this was disputed by many in the numismatic community, some of whom continued to rely on older studies that lumped all "Face-Horse" coins together in a group dating before 20 CE.
However, John Talbot of the University of Oxford carried out research on these issues and, as his die-link and hoard work gradually progressed through the 1990's into the early twenty-first century, these coins were confirmed to be the final coinage of the Iceni. As Talbot's findings were only gradually revealed over a period of time, the accepted dating used in some dealer catalogues did not always keep up with the latest information. During his studies, Talbot discovered that coins from several die sets are only found in the Boudican Rebellion hoards. He also confirmed that these coins were struck in abnormally great numbers for any Icenian issue. But, because he was not certain that this was enough evidence to date the coins to 61 CE. he suggested only that they could have been struck any time after the Claudian Invasion of 43 CE.
Considering though that some die sets are known only from the Boudican Rebellion hoards, that it is still the case that these coins appear in uncirculated condition in the hoards, and that to date none of these coins have been found from secure contexts earlier than the time of the Boudican rebellion, it would appear that the 1987 report was essentially correct and these coins must have been struck nearer to the date of the Boudican Rebellion than earlier, possibly in connection with the financing of that rebellion. The conclusion now is that these coins can, with some confidence, be attributed to Boudica.

THE ICENI
The Iceni were a tribe located in eastern Britain during the Iron Age and the early Roman era. Their territory was bordered by the Corieltauvi to the west, and the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes to the south. In the Roman period, their capital was Venta Icenorum at modern-day Caistor St Edmund.
Julius Caesar did not mention the Iceni in his account of his invasions of Britain in 55 and 54 BC, though they may have been related to the Cenimagni, whom Caesar notes as living north of the River Thames at that time. The Iceni were a significant power in eastern Britain during Claudius I's conquest of Britain in AD 43, in which they allied with Rome. Increasing Roman influence on their affairs led to a revolt in AD 47, though they remained nominally independent under king Prasutagus up until his death around AD 60. Roman encroachment after Prasutagus' death led his wife Boudica to launch a major revolt from 60–61. Boudica's uprising seriously endangered Roman rule in Britain and resulted in the burning of Londinium and other cities. The Romans finally crushed the rebellion, and the Iceni were eventually incorporated into the Roman province.
Archaeological evidence of the Iceni includes torcs, which are heavy rings of gold, silver or electrum worn around the neck and shoulders. The Iceni began producing coins around 10 BC. Their coins were a distinctive adaptation of the Gallo-Belgic "face/horse" design, and in some early issues, most numerous near Norwich, the horse was replaced with a boar. Some coins are inscribed ECENI, making them the only coin-producing group to use their tribal name on coins. The earliest personal name to appear on coins is Antedios (about 10 BC), and other abbreviated names like AESU and SAEMU followed. The name of Prasutagus also appears on some coins as PRASTO.

QUEEN BOUDICA
Queen Boudica was married to Prasutagus, ruler of the Iceni people of East Anglia. When the Romans conquered southern England in AD 43, they allowed Prasutagus to continue to rule. However, when Prasutagus died he left a will dividing his lands between the Roman emperor and his family. The Romans decided to rule the Iceni directly and confiscated all the king's property. When this was contested they are said to have stripped and flogged Boudica and raped her daughters. These actions exacerbated the widespread resentment at Roman rule.
In 60 or 61 AD, while the Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paullinus was leading a campaign in North Wales, the Iceni rebelled, other tribes joined them, and Boudica led a major uprising against the occupying Roman forces.
Boudica's warriors defeated the Roman Ninth Legion and destroyed the then capital of Roman Britain, Camulodunum (Colchester). They then went on to destroy Londinium (London) and Verulamium (St Albans) killing thousands in the process. Finally, Boudica was defeated by a Roman army led by Paulinus. A great number of her army were killed and, though Boudica's fate is unknown, she is alleged to have either died in battle or poisoned herself to avoid capture. The site of the battle which brought an end to her uprising is also unknown.
The photograph below is of the Victorian statue of Boudica (Boadicea) situated on the Thames embankment in London.

CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW TO ENLARGE THEM

3 comments*Alex

274, Roman Imitative Antoninianus (Barbarous Radiate), produced in Britain and the continent. Struck in the name of TETRICUS II as AUGUSTUSObverse: (IMP C TET)RICVS AG. Radiate bust of Tetricus II facing right, seen from behind.
Reverse: Struck from extremely worn reverse die which possibly depicts Salus feeding serpent arising from altar.
Diameter: 14mm | Weight: 1.7gms | Die Axis: 6
SPINK: 749
RARE

This is an irregular issue (barbarous radiate) giving Tetricus II the title of Augustus rather than Caesar.
Interestingly the Historia Augusta makes this statement with regard to Aurelian's triumph in A.D.274. "In the procession was Tetricus also, arrayed in a scarlet cloak, a yellow tunic, and Gallic trousers, and with him his son, whom he had proclaimed in Gaul as Imperator." (Historia Augusta, xxxiv, iii). Imperator was a title that invariably, when referring to an Imperial figure, implied the rank of Augustus, but no regular official coinage issues of Tetricus II citing him as such are known.

The term 'barbarous radiates', dating from its use by antiquarians in the 19th century, is still often used to refer to the locally produced unofficial coins which imitated the official Roman antoninianii of the period. These coins were not struck by barbarians outwith the Empire as the name would suggest, nor were they intrinsically forgeries or fakes. Instead they were the result of a period of great instability within the Roman empire during which the western provinces especially often experienced a severe lack of coinage. To fill this void small denomination coinage was unofficially issued in very large numbers. Though some of these coins are fairly close copies of the official coins which they imitate, many others have been produced by die engravers who were patently illiterate and often of limited ability artistically as well. Around 274 Aurelian banned the use of these imitative bronzes when he reformed the currency but it is possible that some "barbarous radiates" were still being produced after that date. Whether individual coins are of British or Continental mintage can really only be ascertained by provenance.

*Alex

3.5 Herennius EtruscusROMAN IMPERIAL
Herennius Etruscus
As Caesar, AD 249-251.
AR Antoninianus (22mm, 4.87 g, 12h). Rome mint. 3rd-4th emission, AD 250.

O: Radiate and draped bust right, seen from behind

R: Sprinkler, simpulum, jug, patera and lituus.
RIC IV 143 (Decius); RSC 14. VF, flan flaw on obverse, light reverse porosity, struck from a worn reverse die.

Ex-CNG
2 commentsSosius

7 GallienusGALLIENUS
AE Antoninianus, Rome Mint
261-262 AD

O: GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate bust r.

R: VIRTVS AVGVSTI, Mars standing l., holding olive branch and vertical spear, r. foot on helmet, X in l. field
Cunetio hoard 1278, Normanby hoard 264, Minster hoard 58,
Appleshaw hoard 68,
Göbl 0636a;
Lavilledieu hoard 53 & 54.
Cohen 1322
not in RIC

EF, worn reverse die
Sosius

8.5 QuietusQuietus
Usurper in the East, 260-261 AD
BI Antoninianus, Antioch (3.47 gm)
IMP C FVL QVIETVS PF AVG, Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / FORT REDVX, Fortuna seated left on wheel, holding tiller and cornucopia; star in left field.
RIC 4. EF / VF, worn reverse die
Ex Heritage Auctions, 9/20131 commentsSosius

JUSTINIAN I, AE Tetranummium (4 Nummi), struck 527 – 562 at ThessalonicaObverse: D N IVSTINIANVS AVG Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Justinian I facing right.
Reverse: Large Δ, between smaller A – P.
Diameter: 13.37mm | Weight: 1.66gms | Die Axis: 6
SBCV: 194 | Not in DOC | MIB: 175
Extremely Rare (R3)

Small denominations like this coin are excessively rare and are usually heavily worn. Hahn (MIB) considered this issue to have been struck between 538 – 540.*Alex

LUCANIA, Thourioi. Circa 350-300 BC. AR Nomos (21.5mm, 7.78 g, 3h).LUCANIA, Thourioi. Circa 350-300 BC. AR Nomos (21.5mm, 7.78 g, 3h). Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with Skylla holding trident / Bull butting right; Z above; in exergue, fish right. HN Italy 1813; SNG ANS 1056-7. Toned, struck with worn obverse die. Good VF. Purchased by the consignor from M&M Numismatics, October 2000 (their stock ticket included). Closing Date and Time: 15 December 2021 at 10:08:00 ET.5 commentsMark R1

(0098) TRAJAN98 - 117 AD
AE Sestertius 31.5 mm, 21.45 g
O: laureate bust right
R: wornlaney

(0117) HADRIAN117 - 138 AD
AE Sestertius 31 mm, 18.06 g
O: laureate head right
R: wornlaney

(504c) Roman Republic, L. Cassius Longinus, 63 B.C.Silver denarius, Crawford 413/1, RSC I Cassia 10, SRCV I 364, aVF, struck with worn dies, Rome mint, weight 3.867g, maximum diameter 20.3mm, die axis 0o, c. 63 B.C. Obverse: veiled bust of Vesta left, kylix behind, L before; Reverse: LONGIN III V, voter standing left, dropping tablet inscribed V into a cista.

The reverse of this Longinus denarius captures a fascinating moment when a Roman citizen casts his ballot. "The abbreviation III V [ir] indentifies Longinus as one of the three annually appointed mintmasters (officially called tres viri aere argento auro flando feriundo). A citizen is seen casting his vote into the urn. On the ballot is the letter 'U', short for uti rogas, a conventional formula indicating assent to a motion. The picture alludes to the law, requested by an ancestor of the mintmaster, which introduced the secret ballot in most proceedings of the popular court" (Meier, Christian. Caesar, a Biography. Berlin: Severin and Siedler, 1982. Plate 6).

The date that this denarius was struck possesses unique significance for another reason. Marcus Tullius Cicero (politician, philosopher, orator, humanist) was elected consul for the year 63 BC -- the first man elected consul who had no consular ancestors in more than 30 years. A "new man," Cicero was not the descendant of a "patrician" family, nor was his family wealthy (although Cicero married "well"). Cicero literally made himself the man he was by the power of the words he spoke and the way in which he spoke them. A witness to and major player during the decline of the Roman Republic, Cicero was murdered in 43 BC by thugs working for Marc Antony. But Cicero proved impossible to efface.

Cicero's words became part of the bed rock of later Roman education. As Peter Heather notes, every educated young man in the late Roman Empire studied "a small number of literary texts under the guidance of an expert in language and literary interpretation, the grammarian. This occupied the individual for seven or more years from about the age of eight, and concentrated on just four authors: Vergil, Cicero, Sallust and Terence" (Heather, Peter. The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. 17).

Plutarch: Cicero's Death

But in the meantime the assassins were come with a band of soldiers, Herennius, a centurion, and Popillius, a tribune, whom Cicero had formerly defended when prosecuted for the murder of his father. Finding the doors shut, they broke them open, and Cicero not appearing, and those within saying they knew not where he was, it is stated that a youth, who had been educated by Cicero in the liberal arts and sciences, an emancipated slave of his brother Quintus, Philologus by name, informed the tribune that the litter was on its way to the sea through the close and shady walks. The tribune, taking a few with him, ran to the place where he was to come out. And Cicero, perceiving Herennius running in the walks, commanded his servants to set down the litter; and stroking his chin, as he used to do, with his left hand, he looked steadfastly upon his murderers, his person covered with dust, his beard and hair untrimmed, and his face worn with his troubles. So that the greatest part of those that stood by covered their faces whilst Herennius slew him. And thus was he murdered, stretching forth his neck out of the litter, being now in his sixty-fourth year. Herennius cut off his head, and, by Antony's command, his hands also, by which his Philippics were written; for so Cicero styled those orations he wrote against Antony, and so they are called to this day.

When these members of Cicero were brought to Rome, Antony was holding an assembly for the choice of public officers; and when he heard it, and saw them, he cried out, "Now let there be an end of our proscriptions." He commanded his head and hands to be fastened up over the rostra, where the orators spoke; a sight which the Roman people shuddered to behold, and they believed they saw there, not the face of Cicero, but the image of Antony's own soul. And yet amidst these actions he did justice in one thing, by delivering up Philologus to Pomponia, the wife of Quintus; who, having got his body into her power, besides other grievous punishments, made him cut off his own flesh by pieces, and roast and eat it; for so some writers have related. But Tiro, Cicero's emancipated slave, has not so much as mentioned the treachery of Philologus.

Translation by John Dryden: http://intranet.grundel.nl/thinkquest/moord_cicero_plu.html

Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes

001 Caesar (100-44 B.C.), Crawf 457-1, Sicily, AR-denarius, A•ALLIENVS PRO•COS, Trinacrus standing left,001 Caesar (100-44 B.C.), Crawf 457-1, Sicily, AR-denarius, A•ALLIENVS PRO•COS, Trinacrus standing left,
avers: C•CAESAR IMP•COS•ITER, Diademed, draped Venus Head Right,
reverse: A•ALLIENVS PRO•COS, Trinacrus standing left, placing the right foot on prow, holding triskeles in right hand and cloak in left.
exergue: -/-//--, diameter: 17-18,5mm, weight: 3,59g, axes: 6h,
mint: Sicily, date: 47B.C., ref: Crawford-457/1, Sydenham-1022, Babelon-Julia-14, Alliena-1, C-1,
Q-001
"In late 47 B.C. Caesar was on Sicily, preparing for his assault on the Pompeian forces in north Africa. During this period a small issue of denarii was produced in his name by Aulus Allienus, then the proconsul of Sicily. The reverse shows a figure of Trinacrus, supposedly a son of Neptune, who may have been invented to account for the name Trinacria, commonly used for Sicily. The coins of Allienus must have seen considerable circulation: almost all surviving specimens are considerably worn."3 commentsquadrans

02 01 Augustus. TarpeiaAugustus. 27 B.C.-14 A.D. AR. Denarius. Rome Mint. 19-18 B.C. 3.5g, 20 mm. Obv: CAESAR AVGVSTS, bare head righ. Rev: TVRPILIANVS III VIR, Tarpeia facing, buried to the waist in shields. RIC I 299. RSC 494, BMC 29.

Tarpeia, daughter of the commander of the citadel, betrayed her fellow Romans to the Sabines when they came to attack Rome. Tarpeia offered to admit the Sabines into the city in return for what they wore on their arms. She had in mind the gold torques the Sabines usually wore. The Sabines agreed, but disgusted by her greed, the gave her the shields they worn on their arms and put her to death by crushing her under their shields. She was then thrown from a high cliff above the city. The Tarpeian Rock, from which traitors were thrown in Rome, is named after her. 4 commentsLucas H

02 Augustus RIC 288Augusts 27 B.C.- 14 A.D. AR Denarius. Rome mint, 19 B.C. P. Petronius Turpilianus, moneyer. (3.65g, 18.2m, 0h). Obv: TVRPILIANS IIIVIR FERON, Diad. and draped bust of Feronia r. Rev: CAESAR AVGVSTVS SIGN RECE, Parthian kneeling r. presenting standard w. X marked vexillum. RIC 288, BMC 14, RSC 484.

A historical type commemorating the return of the standards lost by Crassus at the battle of Carrhae during his Parthian campaign in 53 B.C. Rome was humiliated by the defeat and loss of several Legionary Eagles. Crassus and several of his generals were killed. Through diplomacy, Augusts secured the return of the Eagles, an important victory to tout on his coinage.

I've been wanting this type for some time because of it's historic significance, but as it's outside of my primary collecting area, I was willing to compromise on condition. This example is worn, but clearly recognizable. The obverse has banker's marks which seem to disappear or become much more scarce on denarii towards the end of the Republic and beginning of the Empire. Lucas H

02 Augustus RIC I 0220Augustus 27 B.C.-14 A.D. AR Denarius. Lugdunum Mint 13-14 A.D. (3.57g, 19.5, 0 h). Obv: [CAESAR AVGVSTVS] DVI F PATER PATRRIAE, laureate head r. REV: [PONTIF] MAXIM, Liva as Pax seated r. on low-backed chair, vertical scepter in r., branch in left. RIC I 220 (R2), RSC 223.

Worn and on an irregular flan, I still wanted this example because of the reverse. Minted in his last year as emperor, this was Augustus’ precursor to Tiberius’ “tribute penny.” While this was one of many types during Augustus’ reign, it was one very few types for Tiberius. 1 commentsLucas H

032. Otacilia Severa AR Antoninianus PVDICITIAOtacilia Severa, Augusta, 244-249. Antoninianus (Silver, 22 mm, 4.34 g, 6 h), Rome, 244-245. MARCIA OTACIL SEVERA AVG Diademed and draped bust of Otacilia Severa set to right on crescent. Rev. PVDICITIA AVG Pudicitia seated left, raising veil with her right hand and holding long transverse scepter in her left. Cohen 53. RIC 123c. A lovely example with a sharply struck portrait. Struck from a slightly worn reverse die and with minor deposits, otherwise, good extremely fine.
From the collection of Dipl.-Ing. Adrian Lang.
2 commentsLordBest

05 Claudius RIC I 64Claudius. 41-54 A.D. Rome Mint 51-2 A.D. (3.32g, 18.4m, 0h). Obv: [TI CLA]VD CAESAR AVG PM TR P XI IMP P P C[OS V], laureate head right. Rev: SPQR/PP/OBCS in three lines in oak wreath. RIC I 64. RSC 96.

Claudius was put on the throne by the Praetorian Guard after the murder of Caligula, and was eventually murdered by Nero’s mother. This is a worn coin and common reverse during Claudius’ reign, but I wanted to obtain it as denarii of Claudius seem few and far between, second only to Gaius in the 12 Caesar series it seems. 4 commentsLucas H

054p Macrinus (217-218 A.D.), Moesia, Markianopolis, Pfeiffer 218 (same dies), AE-27, Pentassarion, Pontianus, Zeus with an eagle at feet, #1054p Macrinus (217-218 A.D.), Moesia, Markianopolis, Pfeiffer 218 (same dies), AE-27, Pentassarion, Pontianus, Zeus with an eagle at feet, #1
avers: AV K OΠΠEΛ CEV MAKPEINOC•K M OΠEΛ ANTΩNEINOC, Laureate bust of Macrinus facing bare-headed bust of Diadumenian.
reverse: VΠ ΠONTIANOV MAPKIANO/ΠOΛI, Naked Zeus standing left, holding patera and scepter, eagle at his feet.
exergue: Є/-//--, diameter: 26,5-27,5mm, weight:14,04g, axis: 7h,
mint: Moesia, Markianopolis, Pontianus, date: 217-218 A.D., ref: Pfeiffer 218 (same dies), AMNG 715, Varbanov (2005, English) I. 1240, Hristova-Jekov (2014) 06.24.01.??, Not in,
a) Not in Hristova/Jekov (2014):
rev. HJ (2014) 6.24.1.5 (same die)
obv. HJ (2014) 6.24.1. 3 (but writes AVT K OPEL, the depicted coin is very worn)
b) Megaw (2nd ed,) MAR5.59c (but writes AVT K OPEL, the depicted coin is very worn)
Q-0011 commentsquadrans

06 Nero RIC I 15Nero. 54-68 A.D. AR Denarius. Rome Mint. 54 A.D. Oct.-Dec.. (3.43g, 19.1mm, 9h) . Obv: NERO CAESAR AVG IMP, bare head right. Rev: PONTIF MAX TR P IIII PP around oak-wreath enclosing EX SC. RIC I 15 (R2).

A worn but scarce pre-reform denarius from early in Nero’s reign. Despite the wear, the weight of this specimen is quite nice. The EX SC with the oak wreath could allude to the Senate’s awarding of the corona civica to Nero. This specimen also has a very unusual die axis for imperial coinage of the Roman mint from this time.1 commentsLucas H

06 Nero RIC I 55Nero. 54-68 A.D. Rome Mint. 65-66 A.D. (3.30g, 18.7m, 5h). Obv: [N]ERO CAESAR AVGVS[TVS], laureate head right. Rev: ROMA in ex., Roma, helmeted and dr., seated l. on cuirass, r. holding Victory, l. parazonium by side, r. foot resting on helmet; shields, with greaves behind. RIC I 55 (R).

A worn denarius of Nero, but with an interesting reverse. Roma, deprecated frequently on denarii during the Republic, was as not frequently used during the empire. While not necessarily a scarce type, it seems less ubiquitous than Salas and Jupiter for Nero.1 commentsLucas H

064 - Septimius Severus denarius - RIC 411a (example 2) Obv:– IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG COS II, Laureate head right
Rev:– MONET AVG, Moneta standing left, holding scales in right hand, cornucopiae in left
Minted in Emesa, A.D. 194 - 195
References:– BMCRE 380ff, VM 84, RIC 411a, RCV02 6314, RSC 330

Worn obverse dies giving the impression of somewhat crude style, the original obverse die is actually very nice in style. maridvnvm

064 - Septimius Severus denarius - RIC 411a (example 2)Obv:– IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG COS II, Laureate head right
Rev:– MONET AVG, Moneta standing left, holding scales in right hand, cornucopiae in left
Minted in Emesa, A.D. 194 - 195
References:– BMCRE 380ff, VM 84, RIC 411a, RCV02 6314, RSC 330

Worn obverse dies giving the impression of somewhat crude style, the original obverse die is actually very nice in stylemaridvnvm

064 - Septimius Severus denarius - RIC 497b corr.Obv:– L SEP SEVERVS PER AVG PIV IMP XI PAR P M, laureate head right
Rev:– SALVTI AVGG, Salus seated left feeding snake coiled around altar
Eastern mint. A.D. 198
Reference:– BMCRE page 281 Note, citing RD page 102. RIC 497b corr.

Holed and worn but an obverse die match to my other two examples from this rare earliest version of obverse legend variety.

Very rare. maridvnvm

066 - Caracalla denarius - RIC 120Obv:– ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, Laureate bust right
Rev:– ADVENT AVGG, Galley sailing left with four rowers, steersman, and three figures (Septimius, Caracalla, Geta)
Minted in Rome. A.D. 201-206
Reference:– Van Meter 12. RIC 120 (Scarce). RCV02 6790. RSC 3.
Worn and a bit scrappy but OK.maridvnvm

07 Galba RIC I 168 Clashed diesGalba. AR Denarius. Rome Mint July 68- Jan. 69 A.D. (3.29g, 19.6m, 11h). Obv: IMP SER GALBA AVG, laureate head right. Rev: [SPQR/OB]/CS in three lines in oak-wreath. Reverse clashed dies. RIC I 168 (R). RSC 287a.

With complete obverse legends and a high relief portrait, the obverse is worn and the coin is on an oblong flan. The reason I added this to my collection is the reverse. I initially thought the reverse was an obverse brockage, which had been restruck. A more experienced collector pointed out it was produced by clashed dies. An interesting oddity.
Lucas H

098-117 AD - TRAJAN AE sestertius - struck 104-110 ADobv: [IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC PM TR P COS VI PP] (laureate, draped bust right)
rev: [ARMENIA ET MESOPOTAMIA IN POTESTATEM P R REDACTAE] (Trajan standing to the front, head turned right, holding spear and parazonium; on both sides of him and reclining are the three females figures, Armenia, Euphrates, Tigris), S-C in field
ref: RIC II 642 (R), BMC 1039, C.39 (20frcs)
mint: Rome
22.41gms, 33mm
Rare

History: Trajan declared war against the Parthians, after overrunning Syria, Mesopotamia and Armenia, he defeated in every encounter, establishing several governments, and thereby gaining from the Roman Senate the title of Parthicus.

This coin is worn enough, even the legends are disappeared, too, but shows the result about one of the most impotant Roman conquest.berserker

1.3 Crusader - JerusalemDenier of Amuary, King of Jerusalem from 1163 to 1174.
obv. AMALRICVS REX
cross, two pellets.
rev. DE IERVSALEM
Sun shining on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. X through church, probably imprint from Cross on obverse.

hole in top, probably worn as jewlry around the neck, maybe as a Christian souvenir. Desert patina. Ecgþeow

103. Hadrian31 mm
24.3g

Worn and corroded. Victory right on the reverse

Uncleaned.
ecoli

117 - Marius Antoninianus - RIC 18Antoninianus
Obv:– IMP C M AVR MARIVS AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– VICTORIA AVG, Victory advancing right, holding wreath and palm.
Minted in Cologne
Reference– RIC 18. C. 20. Elmer 636. AGK 6 a.

Lots of silvering. Worn reverse die.

Found in Poundbury, Dorset in 1986
2.62 g. 21.13 mm. 180 degreesmaridvnvm

1302a, Maximian, 285 - 305, 306 - 308, and 310 A.D.Maximianus AE Antoninianus. RIC V Part II 506 Bust Type C. Cohen 355; VF; Minted in Rome A.D. 285-286. Obverse: IMP MAXIMIANVS P F AVG, radiate, draped & cuirassed bust right; Rverse: IOVI CONSERVAT AVGG, Jupiter standing left holding thunderbolt & scepter, XXIZ in exergue. Ex maridvnvm.

De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families

Maximian, 285-305, 306-308, and 310 A.D.

Michael DiMaio, Jr.
Salve Regina University

Perhaps born ca. 249/250 A.D. in Sirmium in the area of the Balkans, Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus, more commonly known as Maximianus Herculius (Maximian), had been a soldier before he put on the purple. A fellow soldier with the Emperor Diocletian, he had served in the military during the reigns of Aurelian and Probus.

When the Emperor Diocletian determined that the empire was too large for one man to govern on his own, he made Maximian his Caesar in 285/6 and elevated him to the rank of Augustus in perhaps the spring of 286. While Diocletian ruled in the East, Maximian ruled in the West. In 293, in order to maintain and to strengthen the stability of the empire, Diocletian appointed Constantius I Chlorus to serve Maximian as a Caesar in the West, while Galerius did the same job in the East. This arrangement, called the "Tetrarchy", was meant not only to provide a stronger foundation for the two emperors' rule, but also to end any possible fighting over the succession to the throne once the two senior Augusti had left the throne--a problem which had bedeviled the principate since the time of the Emperor Augustus. To cement the relationship between Maximian and his Caesar, Constantius married Maximian's elder daughter Theodora. A decade later, Constantius' son Constantine would marry Maximia's younger daughter Fausta.

On 1 May 305 Diocletian, at Nicomedeia, and Maximian, at Mediolanum, divested themselves of the purple. Their resignations seem largely due to the almost fatal illness that Diocletian contracted toward the end of 304. Diocletian seems to have forced his colleague to abdicate. In any case, Herculius had sworn an oath at the temple of Capitoline Jupiter to carry out the terms of the abdication. Constantius and Galerius were appointed as Augusti, with Maximinus Daia and Severus as the new Caesars. The retired emperors then returned to private life. Diocletian's retirement was at Salonae in Dalmatia, while Herculius' retreat was either in Lucania or Campania.

Maximian's retirement, however, was of short duration because, a little more than a year later on 28 October 306, his son Maxentius was proclaimed emperor at Rome. To give his regime an aura of legitimacy, Maximian was forced to affirm his son's acclamation. When Galerius learned of Maxentius' rebellion, he sent Severus against him with an army that had formerly been under his father's command. Maxentius invested his father with the purple again to win over his enemy's troops, a ruse which succeeded. Perhaps to strengthen his own position, in 307 Maximian went to Gaul and married his daughter Fausta to Constantine. When Constantine refused to become embroiled in the civil war between Galerius and Maxentius, Maximian returned to Rome in 308 and attempted to depose his son; however, he did not succeed. When Maximian was unable to convince Diocletian to take up the purple again at a meeting in Carnuntum in late 308, he returned to his son-in-law's side in Gaul.

Although Maximian was treated with all of the respect due a former emperor, he still desired to be more than a figurehead. He decided to seize the purple from Constantine when his son-in-law least expected it. His opportunity came in the summer of 310 when the Franks revolted. When Constantine had taken a small part of his army into enemy territory, Maximian proclaimed himself again emperor and paid the soldiers under his command a donative to secure their loyalty. As soon as Constantine received news about Maximian's revolt in July 310, he went south and reached Arelate before his father-in-law could mount a defense of the city. Although Maximian fled to Massilia, his son-in-law seized the city and took Maximian prisoner. Although he was deprived of the purple, he was granted pardon for his crimes. Unable to endure the humiliation of his defeat, he attempted to have Constantine murdered in his bed. The plot failed because he tried to get his daughter Fausta's help in the matter; she chose to reveal the matter to her husband. Because of this attempt on his son-in-law's life Maximian was dead by the end of July either by his own hand or on the orders of his intended victim.

Eutropia was of Syrian extraction and her marriage to Maximian seems to have been her second. She bore him two children: Maxentius and Fausta. An older daughter, Theodora, may have been a product of her first marriage. Fausta became the wife of Constantine I , while her sister Theodora was the second spouse of his father Constantius I Chlorus . Eutropia apparently survived all her children, with the possible exception of her daughter Fausta who seems to have died in 326. Eutropia is also said to have become a Christian.

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.

Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr. Cleisthenes

1302b, Maximian, 285-305, 306-308, and 310 A.D., commemorative issued by Constantine the Great (Siscia)Maximian, 285-305, 306-308, and 310 A.D., commemorative issued by Constantine the Great. Bronze AE3, RIC 41, VF, Siscia, 1.30g, 16.1mm, 0o, 317-318 A.D. Obverse: DIVO MAXIMIANO SEN FORT IMP, laureate and veiled head right; Reverse: REQVIES OPTIMO-RVM MERITORVM, Emperor seated left on curule chair, raising hand and holding scepter, SIS in exergue; scarce (R3).

De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families

Maximian, 285-305, 306-308, and 310 A.D.

Michael DiMaio, Jr.
Salve Regina University

Perhaps born ca. 249/250 A.D. in Sirmium in the area of the Balkans, Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus, more commonly known as Maximianus Herculius (Maximian), had been a soldier before he put on the purple. A fellow soldier with the Emperor Diocletian, he had served in the military during the reigns of Aurelian and Probus.

When the Emperor Diocletian determined that the empire was too large for one man to govern on his own, he made Maximian his Caesar in 285/6 and elevated him to the rank of Augustus in perhaps the spring of 286. While Diocletian ruled in the East, Maximian ruled in the West. In 293, in order to maintain and to strengthen the stability of the empire, Diocletian appointed Constantius I Chlorus to serve Maximian as a Caesar in the West, while Galerius did the same job in the East. This arrangement, called the "Tetrarchy", was meant not only to provide a stronger foundation for the two emperors' rule, but also to end any possible fighting over the succession to the throne once the two senior Augusti had left the throne--a problem which had bedeviled the principate since the time of the Emperor Augustus. To cement the relationship between Maximian and his Caesar, Constantius married Maximian's elder daughter Theodora. A decade later, Constantius' son Constantine would marry Maximia's younger daughter Fausta.

On 1 May 305 Diocletian, at Nicomedeia, and Maximian, at Mediolanum, divested themselves of the purple. Their resignations seem largely due to the almost fatal illness that Diocletian contracted toward the end of 304. Diocletian seems to have forced his colleague to abdicate. In any case, Herculius had sworn an oath at the temple of Capitoline Jupiter to carry out the terms of the abdication. Constantius and Galerius were appointed as Augusti, with Maximinus Daia and Severus as the new Caesars. The retired emperors then returned to private life. Diocletian's retirement was at Salonae in Dalmatia, while Herculius' retreat was either in Lucania or Campania.

Maximian's retirement, however, was of short duration because, a little more than a year later on 28 October 306, his son Maxentius was proclaimed emperor at Rome. To give his regime an aura of legitimacy, Maximian was forced to affirm his son's acclamation. When Galerius learned of Maxentius' rebellion, he sent Severus against him with an army that had formerly been under his father's command. Maxentius invested his father with the purple again to win over his enemy's troops, a ruse which succeeded. Perhaps to strengthen his own position, in 307 Maximian went to Gaul and married his daughter Fausta to Constantine. When Constantine refused to become embroiled in the civil war between Galerius and Maxentius, Maximian returned to Rome in 308 and attempted to depose his son; however, he did not succeed. When Maximian was unable to convince Diocletian to take up the purple again at a meeting in Carnuntum in late 308, he returned to his son-in-law's side in Gaul.

Although Maximian was treated with all of the respect due a former emperor, he still desired to be more than a figurehead. He decided to seize the purple from Constantine when his son-in-law least expected it. His opportunity came in the summer of 310 when the Franks revolted. When Constantine had taken a small part of his army into enemy territory, Maximian proclaimed himself again emperor and paid the soldiers under his command a donative to secure their loyalty. As soon as Constantine received news about Maximian's revolt in July 310, he went south and reached Arelate before his father-in-law could mount a defense of the city. Although Maximian fled to Massilia, his son-in-law seized the city and took Maximian prisoner. Although he was deprived of the purple, he was granted pardon for his crimes. Unable to endure the humiliation of his defeat, he attempted to have Constantine murdered in his bed. The plot failed because he tried to get his daughter Fausta's help in the matter; she chose to reveal the matter to her husband. Because of this attempt on his son-in-law's life Maximian was dead by the end of July either by his own hand or on the orders of his intended victim.

Eutropia was of Syrian extraction and her marriage to Maximian seems to have been her second. She bore him two children: Maxentius and Fausta. An older daughter, Theodora, may have been a product of her first marriage. Fausta became the wife of Constantine I , while her sister Theodora was the second spouse of his father Constantius I Chlorus . Eutropia apparently survived all her children, with the possible exception of her daughter Fausta who seems to have died in 326. Eutropia is also said to have become a Christian.

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.

Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes

132 - Probus - RIC 878 var - Bust Type F (Serdica) (KAâ€¢Aâ€¢) (unlisted with this bust type) Obv:– IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG, Radiate, cuirassed bust right
Rev:– VIRTVS PROBI AVG, Emperor galloping right, spearing enemy whose shield lies beneath horse
Minted in Serdica (KA•A• in exe) Emission 4 Officina 1. 277 A.D.
Reference:– RIC 878 var. Bust type F (RIC does not list this bust type for this entry)
A nice bust but from slightly worn reverse dies. The reverse legend breaks around the shield. maridvnvm

1327 - 1377, EDWARD III, Billon Denier au Leopard, struck 1327 - 1362 at Bordeaux, FranceObverse: + EDVARDVS : REX around beaded inner circle containing legend ANGL between two lines, Leopard facing left above, trefoil of pellets below. Cross pattée in legend.
Reverse: + DVX AQITANIE around beaded inner circle containing cross pattée. Cross pattée in legend.
Diameter: 18mm | Weight: 0.70gms | Die Axis: 3h
Second type issue. Very Rare
SPINK: 8090 | Elias: 95c (RR)

Unlike English silver coins which, with few exceptions were maintained at sterling fineness, these small denomination continental coins were often debased. At the time of issue they would have had a good silver appearance, but after some use their color darkened, hence they became known as "Black Money".
Black money coins were hastily produced in large numbers and often poorly struck. They were the common circulating medium at the time and consequently they became very worn so that, during the ensuing years during which there were frequent re-coinages, they were the first into the melting pot. Surviving examples are therefore now quite rare and most of those that have survived are of a low grade.

Edward III was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after the disastrous and unorthodox reign of his father, Edward II. During his long reign Edward III transformed the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe. His reign also saw vital developments in legislation and government, in particular the evolution of the English parliament, though it also saw the ravages of the Black Death.
Edward was crowned at the age of fourteen after his father was deposed by his mother, Isabella of France, and her lover Roger Mortimer. But at the age of seventeen he led a successful coup d'état against Mortimer, whom he executed, and began his personal reign.
In 1337, after a successful campaign in Scotland, Edward declared himself the rightful heir to the French throne which started what was to become known as the Hundred Years' War. Following some initial setbacks, the first part of this war went exceptionally well for England, the victories at Crécy and Poitiers led to the highly favourable Treaty of Brétigny in which, though Edward renounced his claim to the French throne, England made great territorial gains. However Edward's later years were marked by international failure and domestic strife, largely as a result of his inactivity and poor health.
Around 29 September 1376 Edward fell ill with a large abscess and, after a brief period of recovery, the king died of a stroke at Sheen on 21 June. He was succeeded by his ten-year-old grandson, King Richard II, since the Black Prince, Edward's son and Richard's father, had predeceased Edward on 8 June 1376.*Alex

1355 - 1375, Edward the Black Prince, AR Hardi d'Argent, Struck 1362 -1372 at Limoges, Aquitaine, FranceObverse: ED PO GNS REGI AGEL. Facing robed half-length figure of Edward wearing a coronet of a simple band around his head (as opposed to the crown of a king) under Gothic canopy, holding sword in right hand, left hand raised with finger pointing in benedictory position. Rosette either side of coronet.
Reverse: ✤ PRI-CPS ✤ AQIT-ANE Long cross collarino, pattée at the ends, extending through legend. Fleur de lis in first and second quarters; lion passant, guardant in second and third quarters. Rosettes (marked in text by ✤) in legend.
Diameter: 19.1mm | Weight: 1.033gms | Axis 6h
SPINK: 8134 | Elias: 204
Ex. FORVM Ancient Coins
Scarce

This coin was struck for use in the English territory held in France, it had the value of an English silver penny.

THE BLACK PRINCE
Edward the Black Prince (1330-1376) was the eldest son of Edward III and Philippa of Hainaut. He was an excellent military leader and his victory over the French at the battle of Crécy in 1346 made him very popular at home in England. He was strongly impressed by the chivalrous attitude of John the Blind, King of Bohemia, who preferred to die rather than bear the dishonour of defeat and Edward took as his heraldic arms the ostrich feathers which the King of Bohemia had already worn. In 1356 Edward crushed the French at Poitiers, taking King Jean le Bon prisoner. The Treaty of Brétigny in May 1360, confirmed the independence of Aquitaine and Edward was its first prince (from 1362 to 1372). In 1369, war resumed with France but, after the first English defeats in Aquitaine, in 1371 the Black Prince returned to England and renounced his principality the following year. He died in 1376, his father Edward III died the next year, 1377, and Richard II, who was the son of the Black Prince, ascended the throne. The Black Prince, was the first English Prince of Wales not to become King of England.3 comments*Alex

141 - Diocletian - RIC V pt II Lugdunum 89Obv:– IMP DIOCLETIANVS AVG, Radiate bust left, wearing imperial mantle, holding globe in right hand
Rev:– SALVS AVGG, Salus standing right, feeding snake from patera.
Minted in Lugdunum (//C). 7th Issue, Spring A.D. 290 - 291
Reference:– RIC V Part II Lugdunum 89. Bastien VII 401 (3 examples cited)

A rare bust type for Diocletian. Worn reverse die.maridvnvm

1795- MoFM Mexico Spanish Colonial 8 Reales of Charles IIII - [KM-109 -- Charles IIII]Chopmarked, 0.7797 ounce silver 8 Reales (also known as the pillar dollar), 26.65g, 39.62mm, 0 degree, Mexico City, Mexico Mint [Mo -- small 'o' set over a large 'M'], 179[5]

Obv. - • CAROLUS IIII • DEI • GR[ATIA] •, laureate bust of Charles IIII right

Rev. - • HISPAN • ET IND • REX • Mo • 8R • F • M •, coat of arms of Spain

This coin was sold as a 1794 chopmarked 8 Reale. Upon inspection in hand under high magnification and different lighting conditions, as well as inspection of large, quality pictures on the computer allowing for color/contrast/levels manipulation, and I have determined this coin to actually be from 1795. The '5', although extremely worn is visible under the correct conditions and comparisons of the worn number morphology to other 179x coins lends credence to this finding.

The reverse is just as interesting and challenging. Although the mintmark is almost completely worn off, the assayer of FM ensures that the coin is of Mexico City, Mexico mintmark.

The coat of arms of Spain, a crown crown flanked by columns and a middle shield includes the national motto PLVS VLTRA spread across the two columns. PLVS VLTRA (PLUS ULTRA) translates to "further beyond." It is adopted from the personal motto of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (and King of Spain as Charles I) and is a Latin translation from Plus Oultre, his original motto in Old French.

Although this coin is quite worn in certain areas, it has a lovely tone and great character. The numerous different chopmarks just add to the appeal. This coins was bought as a conversation piece as I have always found them interesting, albeit with knowing next to nothing concerning them. However, after doing some research, I have come to appreciate it much more and may follow suite with further additions. In any case, I plan on further reading into the subject area.
___________

Purchased from Regal Coin Exchange in Savannah, GA1 commentsrenegade3220

1797 GEORGE III AE "CARTWHEEL" PENNYObverse: GEORGIUS III • D : G • REX. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of George III facing right.
Reverse: BRITANNIA 1797. Britannia seated facing left, holding olive branch and trident. Small ship in left background; mint-mark SOHO below shield.
Diameter: 36mm
SPINK: 3777

This portrait of George III was designed by Conrad Heinrich Kuchler (c.1740 - 1810), this is marked by a small "K." in the drapery at the base of the King's bust. Kuchler moved to Birmingham in 1795 and designed many of the coins and medals which were struck at Matthew Boulton's SOHO mint.

This was the year that the first copper penny was struck, it was also the first time that the figure of Britannia was portrayed seated amid the waves and holding a trident instead of a spear. The coin was struck by Matthew Boulton at the Soho Mint, Birmingham but, weighing a full one ounce (28.3g) and with a diameter of 36mm, it was rather heavy for the pocket and was soon discontinued. Many have survived though, battered and worn, having been used as weights for kitchen scales.*Alex

1797 GEORGE III AE "CARTWHEEL" TWOPENCEObverse: GEORGIUS III • D : G • REX. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of George III facing right.
Reverse: BRITANNIA. 1797. Britannia seated facing left, holding olive branch and trident. Small ship in left background; mint-mark SOHO below shield.
Diameter: 41mm. Weight: 56.7gms.
SPINK: 3776

This portrait of George III was designed by Conrad Heinrich Kuchler (c.1740 - 1810), this is marked by a small "K." in the drapery at the base of the King's bust. Kuchler moved to Birmingham in 1795 and designed many of the coins and medals which were struck at Matthew Boulton's SOHO mint.

The figure of Britannia was portrayed seated amid the waves and holding a trident instead of a spear for the first time on the Cartwheel twopences and pennies of this year. This mighty coin was struck in Birmingham by Matthew Boulton at his Soho Mint, but, since it weighed a full two ounces (56.7gms) and measured 5mm thick with a diameter of 41mm, it was a bit heavy for the pocket and was soon discontinued. Many have survived though, battered and worn, having been used as weights for kitchen scales. Some of these twopence coins, because they were so big, were even turned into patch boxes.*Alex

193 AD - PERTINAX AR denarius - struck January-March 193 ADobv: IMP.CAES.P.HELV.PERTIN.AVG (laureate head right)
rev:OPI.DIVIN.TR.P.COS.II (Ops seated left, holding two corn ears, left hand on top of throne)
ref: RIC IVi 8 (R2), C.33 (60frcs)
2.43gms
Very rare

This coin is ugly, worn and holed, but... it's a Pertinax.

Publius Helvius Pertinax was commander of an equestrian unit in Moesia Superior (or Pannonia Inferior), on the Middle Danube in 167 AD, and fight against the Yaziges. He was also the commander of the First legion Adiutrix, stationed at Brigetio (modern Szöny) between 171-174 AD. Pertinax played an important role during the campaigns against the Marcomanni. It is very likely that I Adiutrix and the two newly founded legions II Italica and III Italica were grouped together in a single task-force. According to the historian Herodian, Pertinax freed the provinces of Noricum and Raetia completely, and took part in the attacks on the Quadi and Sarmatians north of the Danube.2 commentsberserker

1945B JOHN II Metropolitan Tetarteron S-1945 DOC 12 CLBC 3.4.1 OBV Full length figure of Christ standing on a dais, bearded and nimbate, wearing tunic and kolobion; holds Gospels in l. hand.

REV Full length figure of Emperor wearing stemma, divitision, collar piece and jeweled loros of a simplified type. Holds in r. hand scepter cruciger and in l. hand gl. cr.

Size 18/19mm

Weight 3.8gm

Cosmopolitan Issue were minted in Constantinople, each of these coins had an added silver content of 3% and were also issued with a very light silver wash (Silver traces are common on Cosmopolitan issues but intact fully silvered coins are very rare.) These more than likely were tariffed at a higher rate than the Thessalonica issues that have been shown to have no silver content. Cosmopolitan issue are in general far scarcer than the Thessalonica issues.

DOC lists 27 examples with weights from 2,79gm to 4.69gm and sizes ranging from 18mm to 22mm

John IIs Metro tetartera are easy to come by, the do not have the same rarity as the other emperors metro issues. This one has been in my collection near the beginning , it grades as fine an evenly worn.Simon

1970c MANUEL METROPOLITIAN TETARTERON S-1970 DOC 17CLBC 4.4.4 OBV Bust of Virgin nimbate, orans wearing tunic and maphorion.

REV. Bust of emperor bearded, wearing stemma, divitision, and chlamys; holds in r. hand labarum headed and scepter and in l. Globus cruciger.

Size 21.07mm

Weight 3.5gm

Cosmopolitan Issue were minted in Constantinople, each of these coins had an added silver content of 3% and were also issued with a very light silver wash (Silver traces are common on Cosmopolitan issues but intact fully silvered coins are very rare.)

I know CLBC issues this as Rarity level 1, I very much disagree, they are not that easily found. Using his scale I would call it a 3.

This example is very worn and light weight. Still attractive to some :)

DOC lists 18 examples with weights ranging from 2.52 to 4.87 and sizes from 17mm to 23mm
Simon

1989B ANDRONICUS HALF TETARTERON S-1989 DOC 8 CLBC 5.4.3OBV Bust of Virgin nimbate, orans, wearing tunic and maphorion; beardless. Nimbate head of Christ on breast.

REV Bust of emperor wearing stemma, skaramangion or divitision and sagion; holds in r hand labrum headed scepter, and in l. globus cruciger.

Size 15.32

Weight 2.0gm

This is a Thessalonica minted coin, it contains no silver. It is believed to be valued at 1/864 Hyperpyron and the Metropolitan (Constantinople) issues at 1/288 Hyperpyron.The half tetartera at 1/1728 Hyperpyron. This coins are much more common than Metropolitan coins and very abundant in today’s marketplace.

DOC lists 3 examples with weights ranging from 1.38 gm to 2.46 gm with sizes from 15mm to 18mm.

This is my third example of this Very rare coin, well worn but all three examples have a die diameter of 12mm
Simon

1ab Marcus Licinius CrassusFormed First Triumvirate with Caesar and Pompey in 60 BC, killed at Carrhae in Parthia in 53 BC.

Denarius, minted by son, P Licinius Crassus, ca 54 BC.
Bust of Venus, right, SC behind
Amazon with horse, P CRASSVS MF.

Seaby, Licinia 18

These coins were probably minted to pay Crassus' army for the invasion of Parthia, which led to its destruction. My synthesis of reviewing 90 examples of this issue revealed a female warrior wearing a soft felt Scythian cap with ear flaps; a fabric garment with a decorated skirt to the knees; probably trousers; an ornate war belt; a baldric; a cape, animal skin, or shoulder cord on attached to the left shoulder; and decorated calf-high boots. She matches the historically confirmed garb of the real amazons—Scythian horsewomen—and of course holds her steed. The horse’s tack is consistent with archeological discoveries of tack in use by Scythians and Romans.

Adrienne Mayor writes that amazon imagery on Greek vases suddenly appeared in 575-550 BC, initially depicting them in Greek-style armor. By the end of the century, as the Greeks learned more through direct and indirect contact with Scythians, they began to appear wearing archeologically confirmed Scythian-Sarmatian-Thracian patterned attire. (Adrienne Mayor, The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2014, 199-200). To this, artists added their own creative ideas regarding colors, fabric patterns, and decorations. “They dressed the warrior women in body-hugging ‘unitards’ or tunics, short chitons or belted dresses, sometimes over leggings or trousers. . . . In paintings and sculpture, pointed or soft Scythian caps with earflaps or ties (kidaris) soon replaced the Greek helmets, and the women wear a variety of belts, baldrics (diagonal straps), corselets, shoulder cords or bands, and crisscrossing leather straps attached to belt loops like those worn by the archer huntress Artemis. . . . Amazon footgear included soft leather moccasin-like shoes, calf-high boots (endromides), or taller laced boots (embades) with scallops or flaps and lined with felt or fur.” (Mayor, 202)

The artists apparently had detailed knowledge of gear used by real Scythian horsewomen to equip their imagined Amazons. “Archeological discoveries of well-preserved sets of clothing confirm that real horsewomen of ancient Scythian lands dressed much as did those described in Greek texts and illustrated in Scythian and Greek artwork.” (Mayor, 203)1 commentsBlindado

1ab_2 Marcus Licinius CrassusFormed First Triumvirate with Caesar and Pompey in 60 BC, killed at Carrhae in Parthia in 53 BC.

Denarius, minted by son, P Licinius Crassus, ca 54 BC.
Bust of Venus, right, SC behind
Amazon with horse, P CRASSVS MF.

Seaby, Licinia 18

These coins were probably minted to pay Crassus' army for the invasion of Parthia. My synthesis of reviewing 90 examples of this issue revealed a female warrior wearing a soft felt Scythian cap with ear flaps (visible in this example); a fabric garment with a decorated skirt to the knees; probably trousers; an ornate war belt; a baldric; a cape, animal skin, or shoulder cord on attached to the left shoulder; and decorated calf-high boots. She matches the historically confirmed garb of the real amazons—Scythian horsewomen—and of course holds her steed. The horse’s tack is consistent with archeological discoveries of tack in use by Scythians and Romans.

Adrienne Mayor writes that amazon imagery on Greek vases suddenly appeared in 575-550 BC, initially depicting them in Greek-style armor. By the end of the century, as the Greeks learned more through direct and indirect contact with Scythians, they began to appear wearing archeologically confirmed Scythian-Sarmatian-Thracian patterned attire. (Adrienne Mayor, The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2014, 199-200). To this, artists added their own creative ideas regarding colors, fabric patterns, and decorations. “They dressed the warrior women in body-hugging ‘unitards’ or tunics, short chitons or belted dresses, sometimes over leggings or trousers. . . . In paintings and sculpture, pointed or soft Scythian caps with earflaps or ties (kidaris) soon replaced the Greek helmets, and the women wear a variety of belts, baldrics (diagonal straps), corselets, shoulder cords or bands, and crisscrossing leather straps attached to belt loops like those worn by the archer huntress Artemis. . . . Amazon footgear included soft leather moccasin-like shoes, calf-high boots (endromides), or taller laced boots (embades) with scallops or flaps and lined with felt or fur.” (Mayor, 202)
The artists apparently had detailed knowledge of gear used by real Scythian horsewomen to equip their imagined Amazons. “Archeological discoveries of well-preserved sets of clothing confirm that real horsewomen of ancient Scythian lands dressed much as did those described in Greek texts and illustrated in Scythian and Greek artwork.” (Mayor, 203)

Plutarch wrote of Crassus: People were wont to say that the many virtues of Crassus were darkened by the one vice of avarice, and indeed he seemed to have no other but that; for it being the most predominant, obscured others to which he was inclined. The arguments in proof of his avarice were the vastness of his estate, and the manner of raising it; for whereas at first he was not worth above three hundred talents, yet, though in the course of his political life he dedicated the tenth of all he had to Hercules, and feasted the people, and gave to every citizen corn enough to serve him three months, upon casting up his accounts, before he went upon his Parthian expedition, he found his possessions to amount to seven thousand one hundred talents; most of which, if we may scandal him with a truth, he got by fire and rapine, making his advantages of the public calamities. . . . Crassus, however, was very eager to be hospitable to strangers; he kept open house, and to his friends he would lend money without interest, but called it in precisely at the time; so that his kindness was often thought worse than the paying the interest would have been. His entertainments were, for the most part, plain and citizen-like, the company general and popular; good taste and kindness made them pleasanter than sumptuosity would have done. As for learning he chiefly cared for rhetoric, and what would be serviceable with large numbers; he became one of the best speakers at Rome, and by his pains and industry outdid the best natural orators. . . . Besides, the people were pleased with his courteous and unpretending salutations and greetings, for he never met any citizen however humble and low, but he returned him his salute by name. He was looked upon as a man well-read in history, and pretty well versed in Aristotle's philosophy. . . . Crassus was killed by a Parthian, called Pomaxathres; others say by a different man, and that Pomaxathres only cut off his head and right hand after he had fallen. But this is conjecture rather than certain knowledge, for those that were by had not leisure to observe particulars. . . .1 commentsBlindado

1at Galba68-69

Denarius

Laureate head, right, SER GALBA IMP CAESAR AVG P M TR P
Victory standing on globe, VICTORIA PR

RIC 111

Suetonius recorded: Servius Galba, the future emperor was born on the 24th of December, 3BC, in the consulship of Marcus Valerius Messala and Gnaeus Lentulus, at a hillside mansion near Terracina, on the left of the road to Fundi (Fondi). He was formally adopted by his stepmother Livia Ocellina, and took the name Livius and the surname Ocella, also changing his forename to Lucius, until he became Emperor.

It is common knowledge that when calling on Augustus to pay his respects, with other boys of his age, the Emperor pinched his cheek, and said in Greek: ‘You too will have a taste of power, my child.’ And when Tiberius heard the prophecy that Galba would be emperor in old age, he commented: ‘Well let him be, it’s no concern of mine.’

Galba achieved office before the usual age and as praetor (in 20AD), controlling the games at the Floralia, he was the first to introduce a display of tightrope-walking elephants. He next governed Aquitania, for almost a year, and not long afterwards held the consulship for six months (in 33AD). When Caligula was assassinated (in 41AD), Galba chose neutrality though many urged him to seize the opportunity for power. Claudius expressed his gratitude by including him among his intimate friends, and Galba was shown such consideration that the expedition to Britain was delayed to allow him to recover from a sudden but minor indisposition. Later he was proconsul in Africa for two years (44/45AD), being singled out, and so avoiding the usual lottery, to restore order in the province, which was riven by internecine rivalry and an indigenous revolt. He re-established peace, by the exercise of ruthless discipline, and the display of justice even in the most trifling matters. . . .

But when word from the City arrived that Nero was dead and that the people had sworn allegiance to him, he set aside the title of governor and assumed that of Caesar. He then began his march to Rome in a general’s cloak, with a dagger, hanging from his neck, at his chest, and did not resume the toga until his main rivals had been eliminated, namely the commander of the Praetorian Guard in Rome, Nymphidius Sabinus, and the commanders in Germany and Africa, Fonteius Capito and Clodius Macer. . . . His prestige and popularity were greater while winning power than wielding it, though he showed evidence of being a more than capable ruler, loved less, unfortunately, for his good qualities than he was hated for his bad ones.

He was even warned of the danger of imminent assassination, the day before his death, by a soothsayer, as he offered the morning sacrifice. Shortly afterwards he learnt that Otho had secured the Guards camp, and when his staff advised him to carry the day by his presence and prestige, by going there immediately, he opted instead to stay put, but gather a strong bodyguard of legionaries from their billets around the City. He did however don a linen corselet, though saying that frankly it would serve little against so many weapons. False reports, put about by the conspirators to lure him into appearing in public, deceived a few of his close supporters, who rashly told him the rebellion was over, the plotters overthrown, and that the rest of the troops were on their way to congratulate him and carry out his orders. So he went to meet them, with such confidence, that when a soldier boasted of killing Otho, he snapped out: ‘On whose authority?’ before hastening on to the Forum. The cavalrymen who had been ordered to find and kill him, who were spurring through the streets scattering the crowds of civilians, now caught sight of him in the distance and halted an instant before galloping towards him and cutting him down, while his staff ran for their lives.Blindado

1au Otho69

Denarius
Bewigged head, right, IMP OTHO CAESAR AVG TR P
Securitas stg., SECVRITAS P R

RIC 10

Suetonius wrote: Otho was born on the 28th of April 32 AD, in the consulship of Furius Camillus Arruntius and Domitius Ahenobarbus, Nero’s father. In early youth he was so profligate and insolent that he earned many a beating from his own father. . . . After his father died, he feigned love for an influential freedwoman at Court, though she was old and decrepit, in order to win her favour, and then used her to insinuate himself among the emperor’s friends, easily achieving the role of Nero’s chief favourite, not only because they were of a similar disposition, but also some say because of a sexual relationship. . . .

Otho had hoped to be adopted by Galba as his successor, and anticipated the announcement daily. But Piso was chosen, dashing Otho’s hopes, and causing him to resort to force, prompted not only by feelings of resentment but also by his mounting debts. He declared that frankly he would have to declare himself bankrupt, unless he became emperor. . . . When the moment was finally ripe, . . . his friends hoisted him on their shoulders and acclaimed him Emperor. Everyone they met joined the throng, as readily as if they were sworn accomplices and a part of the conspiracy, and that is how Otho arrived at his headquarters, amidst cheering and the brandishing of swords. He at once sent men to kill Galba and Piso. . . .

Meanwhile the army in Germany had sworn allegiance to Vitellius. When the news reached Otho he persuaded the Senate to send a deputation, advising the soldiers to maintain peace and order, since an emperor had already been chosen. However he also sent envoys with letters and personal messages, offering to share power with Vitellius, and marry his daughter. With civil war clearly inevitable, on the approach of Vitellius’s advance guard, who had marched on Rome led by their generals, . . . Otho began his campaign vigorously, and indeed too hastily. . . .

His army won three engagements, but of a minor nature, firstly in the Alps, then near Placentia, and finally at a place called Castor’s, and were ultimately defeated in a decisive and treacherous encounter at Betriacum (on the 14th April). . . . After this defeat, Otho resolved to commit suicide, more from feelings of shame, which many have thought justified, and a reluctance to continue the struggle with such high cost to life and property, than from any diffidence or fear of failure shown by his soldiers. . . . On waking at dawn (on the 16th of April, AD69), he promptly dealt himself a single knife-blow in the left side of his chest, and first concealing and then showing the wound to those who rushed in at the sound of his groaning, he breathed his last. . . . Otho was thirty-six years old when he died, on the ninety-second day of his reign. . . .

Neither his bodily form nor appearance suggested great courage. He is said to have been of medium height, bandy-legged and splay-footed, though as fastidious as a woman in personal matters. He had his body-hair plucked, and wore a toupee to cover his scanty locks, so well-made and so close-fitting that its presence was not apparent. Blindado

1av Vitellius69

Denarius
Portrait, right, A VITELLIVS GERMAN IMP TR P
Vesta std., PONT MAX

RIC 107

According to Suetonius: Lucius’s son Aulus, the future emperor, was born on the 24th of September 15AD, or according to some authorities on the 7th, during the consulship of Drusus Caesar and Norbanus Flaccus. . . . His boyhood and early youth were spent on Capreae (Capri) among Tiberius’s creatures, he himself being marked by the nickname of ‘Spintria’ (sex-token) throughout his life, and suspected of having secured his father’s first promotion to office by surrendering his own chastity. As he grew older, though contaminated by every kind of vice, Vitellius gained and kept a prominent place at court, winning Caligula’s friendship by his devotion to chariot-racing and Claudius’s by his love of dice. With Nero he was even closer. . . .

Honoured, as these emperors’ favourite, with high office in the priesthood, as well as political power, he governed Africa (under Nero, in 60/61AD) as proconsul, and was then Curator of Public Works (in 63AD), employing a contrasting approach, and with a contrasting effect on his reputation. In his province he acted with outstanding integrity over two successive years, since he served as deputy also to his brother who succeeded him (61/62AD) yet during his administration of the City he was said to have stolen various temple offerings and ornaments, and substituted brass and tin for the gold and silver in others. . . .

Contrary to all expectations, Galba appointed Vitellius to Lower Germany (in 68AD). Some think it was brought about by Titus Vinius, whose influence was powerful at that time, and whose friendship Vitellius had previously won through their mutual support for the ‘Blues’ in the Circus. But it is clear to everyone that Galba chose him as an act of contempt rather than favour, commenting that gluttons were among those least to be feared, and Vitellius’s endless appetite would now be able to sate itself on a province. . . .

He entered Rome to the sound of trumpets, surrounded by standards and banners, wearing a general’s cape, sword at his side, his officers in their military cloaks also, and the men with naked blades. With increasing disregard for the law, human or divine, he then assumed the office of High Priest on the anniversary of the Allia (18th July), arranged the elections for the next ten years, and made himself consul for life. . . .

Vitellius’s worst vices were cruelty and gluttony. . . . By the eighth month of his reign (November 69AD) the legions in Moesia and Pannonia had repudiated Vitellius, and sworn allegiance to Vespasian despite his absence, following those of Syria and Judaea who had done so in Vespasian’s presence. . . .

The vanguard of Vespasian’s army had now forced its way into the Palace, unopposed, and the soldiers were ransacking the rooms, in their usual manner. They hauled Vitellius, unrecognised, from his hiding place, asked his name and where the Emperor might be. He gave some lying answer, but was soon identified, so he begged for safe custody, even if that meant imprisonment, claiming he had important information for Vespasian regarding his security. However his arms were bound behind him and a noose flung over his head, and he was dragged along the Sacred Way to the Forum, amid a hail of mockery and abuse, half-naked, with his clothes in tatters. His head was held back by the hair, like a common criminal and, with a sword-point under his chin so that he was forced to look up and reveal his face, he was pelted with filth and dung, denounced as arsonist and glutton, and taunted with his bodily defects by the crowd. For, Vitellius was exceptionally tall, and his face was usually flushed from some drinking bout. He had a huge belly, too, and one thigh crippled by a blow from a four-horse chariot which struck him when he was in attendance on Caligula who was driving. At last, after being tormented by a host of cuts from the soldiers’ swords, he was killed on the Gemonian Stairs, and his body dragged with a hook to the Tiber.1 commentsBlindado

1bd PlotinaWife of Trajan. Died 129

AE 19, Philadelphia, Lydia

Diademed and draped bust, right, PLWTEINA CEBACTH
Worn, FI-LADE-LFE-WN in four lines within wreath

Plotina is credited with having influenced Trajan to select Hadrian as his successor.

BMC 70Blindado

1bs Septimius Severus193-211

Denarius

Laureate head, right, SEVERVS PIVS AVG
Septimius, togate and veiled, standing left holding olive branch, FVNDATOR PACIS

RIC 265

According to the Historia Augusta: After the murder of Didius Julianus, Severus, a native of Africa, gained the empire. His home town was Lepcis Magna, his father was Geta and his ancestors had been Roman knights before citizenship had been given to all. . . . He himself was born on the third day before the Ides of April, when Erucius Clarus, for the second time, and Severus were the consuls [11 April A.D.146]. . . .

After his departure to Germany he conducted himself in such a way in his governorship as to increase his reputation, which had already become noteworthy. Up to this point his military activity was as a private citizen. But then, after it had been learned that Commodus had been murdered and, moreover, that Julianus held the empire amid universal hatred, he was proclaimed emperor by the German legions at Carnuntum, on the Ides of August, although he did put up some resistance to the many who urged him on. He gave the soldiers . . . sesterces each. Then, after strengthening the provinces which he was leaving in his rear, he marched on Rome. All yielded to him wherever he went, while the armies of Illyricum and Gaul, under the pressure of their generals, had already sworn allegiance to him - for he was received by everyone as the avenger of Pertinax. At the same time, on the instigation of Julianus, Septimius Severus was declared a public enemy, and envoys were sent to the army who were to order the soldiers to desert him, on the instructions of the Senate. At first, when Severus heard that the envoys had been sent by authority of a senatorial decree, he was very frightened. Afterwards, by bribing the envoys, he ensured that they spoke in his favour before the army and crossed to his side. Having learned this, Julianus caused a decree ofthe Senate to be passed regarding his sharing of the empire with Severus. It is uncertain whether or not he did this as a trick, since he had already, before this, dispatched certain men, well known for their assassinations of generals, who were to kill Severus. Similarly he had sent men to assassinate Pescennius Niger, who had also assumed the position of emperor in opposition to him, on the instigation of the Syrian armies. But Severus escaped the hands of those that Julianus had sent to murder him and sent a letter to the praetorian guard, giving them the signal either to desertJulianus or to kill him. He was obeyed at once; Julianus was killed in the palace and Severus was invited to Rome. Thus Severus became the victor merely at will - something that had never happened to anyone - and hastened to Rome under arms. . . .

The same emperor, although implacable towards offences, likewise displayed singular judiciousness in encouraging all hard-working persons. He was quite interested in philosophy and the practice of rhetoric, and enthusiastic about learning in general. He took some measures against brigands everywhere. He composed a convincing autobiography dealing with both his private and his public life, making excuses only for the vice of cruelty. With regard to this, the Senate pronounced that either he ought not to have been born or that he ought not to die, since he appeared to be both excessively cruel and excessively useful to the republic. . . . . He died at Eboracum [York] in Britain, having subdued the tribes which appeared hostile to Britain, in the eighteeneh year of his reign, stricken by a very grave illness, now an old man. . . .

This emperor wore such meagre clothing that even his tunic scarcely had any purple, while he covered his shoulders with a shaggy cloak. He ate sparingly, being very addicted to his native vegetable, sometimes fond of wine, often abstaining from meat. His person was handsome, he was of huge size,(Dio Cassius, who knew Severus personally, says that he was small) with a long beard and curly white hair. His face inspired reverence, his voice was resonant but with a trace of an African accent right up to his old age. He was equally beloved after his death, when envy, or the fear of his cruelty, had disappeared.Blindado

1ef CrispusCaesar 317-326

AE3, Thessalonica

Laureate, draped & cuirassed bust, right, D N FL IVL CRISPVS NOB CAES
Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm, VICTORIA CAESS NN. Mintmark dot TS dot epsilon dot.

Zosimus recorded Crispus' elevation to Caesar: "Constantine, having taken Cibalis, and Sirmium, and all the towns that Licinius had abandoned, sent five thousand men in pursuit of him. But as these were ignorant of the course he had taken, they could not overtake him. Constantine however, having rebuilt the bridge over the Saus, which Licinius had broken down, was with his army almost at his heels. Having entered Thrace, he arrived at the plain where Licinius lay encamped. On the night of his arrival there he marshalled his army, and gave orders for his soldiers to be ready for battle by day-break. As soon as it was light, Licinius, perceiving Constantine with his army, drew up his forces also, having been joined by Valens, whom he styled Caesar, after the battle of Cibalis. When the armies engaged, they first fought with bows at a distance ; but when their arrows were spent, they began to use their javelins, and poignards. Thus the battle continued very obstinately for a considerable time, until those whom Constantine had sent in pursuit of Licinius descended from an eminence upon the armies while they were engaged. These wheeled round the hill |46 before they arrived at them, deeming it best to join their own party from the higher ground, and to encompass the enemy. The troops of Licinius, being aware of them, courageously withstood against them all, so that many thousands were slain on both sides, and the advantage was equal, till the signal was given for both to retire. Next day they agreed on a truce, and entered into an alliance with each other, on condition that Constantine should possess Illyricum and all the nations westward, and that Licinius should have Thrace and the east; but that Valens, whom Licinius had made Caesar, should be put to death, because be was said to be the author of all the mischief which had happened. Having done this, and sworn on both sides to observe the conditions, Constantine conferred the rank and title of Caesar on Crispus, his son by a concubine called Minervina, who was as yet but a youth, and on Constantine, who was born but a few days before at Arelatum. At the same time Licinianus, the son of Licinius, who was twenty months of age, was declared Caesar, Thus ended the second war."

According to Zonaras, "By a concubine he also had another son, called Crispus, older than his other sons, who distinguished himself often in the war against Licinius. His stepmother Fausta, being erotically obsessed with him, since she did not find him compliant, denounced him to his father as being in love with her and as having often attempted to use force against her. Hence, Crispus was condemned to death by his father, who had been persuaded by his spouse."

Constantine had his son strangled to death in Pula.

RIC 62Blindado

1eg DelmatiusCaesar 335-337

AE3, Thessalonica

Laureate, cuirassed bust, right, FL DELMATIVS NOB C two soldiers holding spears and shields with two standards between them, O on banner, GLORIA EXERCITVS. Mintmark: SMTSD.

RIC 202D

Zosimus recorded: After Constantine had oppressed and tormented the people in these various modes, he died of a disease, and was succeeded by his three sons, who were not born of Fausta the daughter of Maximianus Herculius, but of another woman, whom he had put to death for adultery. They devoted themselves more to the pleasures of youth than to the service of the state. They began by dividing the nations between them. Constantine the eldest, and Constans the youngest, having for their share all beyond the Alps, together with Italy and Illyricum, the countries bordering on the Euxine sea and all that belonged to Carthage in Africa; Constantius obtained all Asia, the east, and Egypt. There were likewise others who shared in the government; Dalmatius, whom Constantine made Caesar, Constantius his brother, and Hanniballianus, who had all worn robes of purple embroidered with gold, and were promoted to the order of Nobilissimates by Constantine, from respect to their being of his own family. . . . The empire being thus divided, Constantius who appeared to take pains not to fall short of his father in impiety, began by shedding the blood of his nearest relations. He first caused Constantius, his father's brother, to be murdered by the soldiers ; next to whom he treated Dalmatius in the same manner, as also Optatus whom Constantine had raised to the rank of a Nobilissimate.

A great-nephew of Constantine the Great. Blindado

29a. Celtic AR drachm – Boier TÃ“TFALU typeBecause of the obverse is worn enough, just some wave fragments (?) seen at the edge, it was hard enough to indentify. Of the typical Tótfalu coins only the gaul type has wavy hair figure, so I think my coin is verisimilar than the reference coin.1 commentsberserker

2nd- 3rd Century Pelta Harness MountThis large pelta-shaped mount was probably worn on the horse's headstall. Two mushroom-footed studs on the back secured this item to the headstall. 47mm x 47mm

3. Mars descends on sleeping Rhea SilviaAntoninus Pius. 138-161 AD. As. Rome mint. Struck 140-144 AD. Obv.: [ANTO]NINVS - AVG PIVS P P, laureate head right. Rev.: TR POT COS [III around] S C [in field], Mars holding spear and shield descends on sleeping Rhea Silvia.

This coin was struck just prior to 900th anniversary of Rome which was celebrated in 147 AD. According to Titus Livius (59BC to AD17) account of the legend, Rhea Silva was the daughter of Numitor, king of Alba Longa and descendant of Aeneas. Numitor's younger brother Amulius seized the throne and killed Numitor's son. Amulius forced Rhea Silvia to become a Vestal Virgin, a priestess to the goddess Vesta, so that the line of Numitor would have no heirs; Vestal Virgins were sworn to celibacy for a period of thirty years. Rhea Silvia claimed that the god Mars, however, came upon her and seduced her in the forest, thereby conceiving the twins Romulus and Remus. When Amulius learned of this, he imprisoned Rhea Silvia. (In another version of the story, he ordered her to be thrown into the Tiber, where she fell into the arms of the river god who married her.) Legend continued on "Wolf suckling twins"...Charles S

344/2b L. Titurius L.f. Sabinus L. Titurius L.f. Sabinus 89 B.C. AR Denarius. Rome Mint. 89 B.C. (3.9 g, 17.48 mm, 9h). Obv: Head of Tatius right, SABIN behind, palm branch below chin. Rev: Tarpeia buried to her waist in shields, fending off two soldiers about to throw shields on her, LTITV[RI] in ex. Tituria 4, Craw. 344/2b, Syd 699.

Tarpeia, daughter of the commander of the citadel, betrayed her fellow Romans to the Sabines when they came to attack Rome. Tarpeia offered to admit the Sabines into the city in return for what they wore on their arms. She had in mind the gold torques the Sabines usually wore. The Sabines agreed, but disgusted by her greed, the gave her the shields they worn on their arms and put her to death by crushing her under their shields. She was then thrown from a high cliff above the city. The Tarpeian Rock, from which traitors were thrown in Rome, is named after her.

This type was later used by Augustus, possibly to demonstrate his ties to the times of the Republic (RIC I 299). 1 commentsLucas H

431/1 A. Plautius A. Plautius. Republic: AR Denarius. Hendin 1443. BACCHIVS, IVDAEVS, kneeling figure facing right with palm branch in left hand, camel behind. A PLAVTIVS AED CVR S C, turreted head facing right.

Very worn, but I enjoy the historic significance of this coin. I understand this may be the first coin depicting Roman involvement in Judaea.1 commentsLucas H

495/2a Lepidus and OctavianLepidus and Octavian. Military mint traveling with Lepidus in Italy. 43 B.C., late. AR Denarius.(3.35g, 16mm, 6h). Obv:LEPIDVS•PONT•MAX•III•VIR•R•P•C•, bare head of Lepidus right Rev: CAESAR•IMP•III•VIR•R•P•C•, bare head of Octavian right. Cf Crawford 495/2a 2c-d; Syd. 1323; Cf RSC 2-2a; 2c-d. “From Group SGF”

I’ve sought a coin with a portrait of Lepidus, and while worn, the obverse portrait is clearly identifiable. 43 B.C. saw the establishment of the Second Triumvirate giving Lepidus, Antony, and Octavian dictatorial powers over the Roman State.1 commentsLucas H

534/2 Octavian, Marcus Vipsanius AgrippaOctavian and M. Vipsanius Agrippa. AR Denarius. Military mint moving with Octavian. c. 38 A.D. (3.48g, 18.2mm, 6h). Obv: DIVOS IVLIVS DIVI F, confronting heads of Julius Caesar, wreathed r., Octavian, bare headed, l. banker's marks Rev: M AGRIPPA COS DESIG. Craw. 534/2, Vipsania 2.

An exceedingly rare issue, I had to have this despite its condition. Worn, but not beyond recognition, this was an issue under the authority of Agrippa who was governor of Gaul at the time. This is a first use of confronting busts which became more common on dynastic issues of the Empire. The picture does not show it well, but the reverse legend is all there.1 commentsLucas H

544/21 Mark Anthony Marc Antony Legionary Denarius- Legion VIII. Patrae(?) Mint 32-31 BC. (3.42 g, 16.73 mm) Obv: ANT AVG III VIR R P C, Praetorian galley. Rev: LEG VIII, legionary eagle between two standards.
Sydenham 1225, RSC 35, Crawford 544/21

Ex: Private Collection

Description from Forvm Ancient Coins:

"The legionary denarii were struck by Antony for the use of his fleet and legions, most likely at his winter headquarters at Patrae just before the Actian campaign. They may have been struck with silver from Cleopatra's treasury. The legionary denarii provide an interesting record of the 23 legions, praetorian cohorts and the chort of speculatores of which Antony's army was composed. Some of them give the name as well as the number of the legion honored. They have a lower silver content than the standard of the time. As a result they were rarely hoarded, heavily circulated and are most often found in very worn condition."

Unfortunately from what I understand VIII Leg has no equivelant among the imperial legions.

This specific coin was fun to photograph, it seemed like no matter how you turned and twisted it still turned out great. A photogenic coin, in other words!Paddy

5728 EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian Tetradrachm 128-29 AD Hands ClaspedReference.
Emmett 848.13; Dattari 1525; Milne 1274; RPC III, 5728

Issue L IΓ = year 13

Obv. AVT KAI TPAI AΔPIA CEB
Laureate, draped, cuirassed bust right, seen from back, with Paludamentum.

Rev. PATHR PATRIDOC (nobele vader)
Hands clasped, L IΓ

13.08 gr
25 mm
6h

note.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bust of Septimius Severus wearing a paludamentum
In Republican and Imperial Rome, the paludamentum was a cloak or cape fastened at one shoulder, worn by military commanders (e.g. the legionary Legatus) and rather less often by their troops. As supreme commander of the whole Roman army, Roman emperors were often portrayed wearing it in their statues (e.g. the Prima Porta Augustus) and on their coinage. After the reign of Augustus, the paludamentum was restricted to the Emperor.[citation needed] Children would also wear it sometimes, when there was bad weather and they needed protection.
The paludamentum was generally crimson, scarlet, or purple in colour, or sometimes white. It was fastened at the shoulder with a clasp, called a fibula, whose form and size varied through time. Putting on the paludamentum was a ceremonial act on setting out for war.2 commentsokidoki

6390 EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian Nome Obol 126-27 AD Isis standingReference.
RPC III 6390/22; Dattari-Savio Pl. 304, 6299 (this coin). Dattari 6299 and Pl XXXV (this rev. Illustrated) Emmett 1246

Issue Memphite

Obv. ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙ ΤΡΑΙ ΑΔΡΙΑ СΕΒ
Laureate head of Hadrian, r., drapery on l. shoulder

Rev. ΜΕΜΦΙ, L ΙΑ
Isis standing, facing, head l., wearing basileion upon vulture headdress, holding in l. hand figure of Ptah, standing, r., wearing sun disk and was-sceptre in hands, and raised uraeus, l., wearing pschent, in r. hand

5.75 gr
19.5 mm
12h

Note.
From the Dattari collection. Illustrated in Dattari.

Figure of Ptah, God of Creation
The Pschent was the name of the Double Crown worn by rulers in ancient Egypt1 commentsokidoki

709a, Vitellius, 2 January - 20 December 69 A.D.VITELLIUS AR silver denarius. RSC 72, RCV 2200. 19mm, 3.2 g. Obverse: A VITELLIVS GERM IMP AVG TR P, laureate head right; Reverse - PONT MAXIM, Vesta seated right, holding scepter and patera. Quite decent. Ex. Incitatus Coins. Photo courtesy of Incitatus Coins.

De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families

Vitellius (69 A.D.)

John F. Donahue
College of William and Mary

It is often difficult to separate fact from fiction in assessing the life and reign of Vitellius. Maligned in the ancient sources as gluttonous and cruel, he was also a victim of a hostile biographical tradition established in the regime of the Flavians who had overthrown him. Nevertheless, his decision to march against Rome in 69 was pivotal, since his subsequent defeat signalled the end of military anarchy and the beginning of an extended period of political stability under Vespasian and his successors.

Early Life and Career

Aulus Vitellius was born in September, 15 AD, the son of Lucius Vitellius and his wife Sestilia. One of the most successful public figures of the Julio-Claudian period, Lucius Vitellius was a three-time consul and a fellow censor with the emperor Claudius. Aulus seems to have moved with equal ease in aristocratic circles, successively winning the attention of the emperors Gaius, Claudius, and Nero through flattery and political skill.

Among his attested public offices, Vitellius was a curator of public works, a senatorial post concerned with the maintenance and repair of public buildings in Rome, and he was also proconsul of North Africa, where he served as a deputy to his brother, perhaps about 55 A. D. In addition, he held at least two priesthoods, the first as a member of the Arval Brethren, in whose rituals he participated from 57 A.D., and the second, as one of the quindecemviri sacris faciundis, a sacred college famous for its feasts.

With respect to marriage and family, Vitellius first wed a certain Petroniana, the daughter of a consul, sometime in the early to mid thirties A.D. The union produced a son, Petronianus, allegedly blind in one eye and emancipated from his father's control as a result of being named his mother's heir. Tradition records that Vitellius killed the boy shortly after emancipation amid charges of parricide; the marriage soon ended in divorce. A second marriage, to Galeria Fundana, daughter of an ex-praetor, was more stable than the first. It produced another son, who was eventually killed by the Flavians after the overthrow of Vitellius, as well as a daughter. Galeria is praised by Tacitus for her good qualities, and in the end it was she who saw to Vitellius' burial.

Rise to Power and Emperorship

Without doubt, the most fortuitous moment in Vitellius' political career was his appointment as governor of Lower Germany by the emperor Galba late in 68. The decision seemed to have caught everybody by surprise, including Vitellius himself, who, according to Suetonius, was in straitened circumstances at the time. The choice may have been made to reduce the possibility of rebellion by the Rhine armies, disaffected by Galba's refusal to reward them for their part in suppressing the earlier uprising of Julius Vindex. Ironically, it was Vitellius' lack of military achievement and his reputation for gambling and gluttony that may have also figured in his selection. Galba perhaps calculated that a man with little military experience who could now plunder a province to satisfy his own stomach would never become disloyal. If so, it was a critical misjudgement by the emperor.

The rebellion began on January 1, 69 ("The Year of the Four Emperors"), when the legions of Upper Germany refused to renew their oath of allegiance to Galba. On January 2, Vitellius' own men, having heard of the previous day's events, saluted him as emperor at the instigation of the legionary legate Fabius Valens and his colleagues. Soon, in addition to the seven legions that Vitellius now had at his command in both Germanies, the forces in Gaul, Britain, and Raetia also came over to his side. Perhaps aware of his military inexperience, Vitellius did not immediately march on Rome himself. Instead, the advance was led by Valens and another legionary general, Aulus Caecina Alienus, with each man commanding a separate column. Vitellius would remain behind to mobilize a reserve force and follow later.

Caecina was already one hundred fifty miles on his way when news reached him that Galba had been overthrown and Otho had taken his place as emperor. Undeterred, he passed rapidly down the eastern borders of Gaul; Valens followed a more westerly route, quelling a mutiny along the way. By March both armies had successfully crossed the Alps and joined at Cremona, just north of the Po. Here they launced their Batavian auxiliaries against Otho's troops and routed them in the First Battle of Bedriacum. Otho killed himself on April 16, and three days later the soldiers in Rome swore their allegience to Vitellius. The senate too hailed him as emperor.

When Vitellius learned of these developments, he set out to Rome from Gaul. By all accounts the journey was a drunken feast marked by the lack of discipline of both the troops and the imperial entourage. Along the way he stopped at Lugdunum to present his six-year-old son Germanicus to the legions as his eventual successor. Later, at Cremona, Vitellius witnessed the corpse-filled battlefield of Otho's recent defeat with joy, unmoved by so many citizens denied a proper burial.

The emperor entered Rome in late June-early July. Conscious of making a break with the Julio-Claudian past, Vitellius was reluctant to assume the traditional titles of the princes, even though he enthusiastically made offerings to Nero and declared himself consul for life. To his credit, Vitellius did seem to show a measure of moderation in the transition to the principate. He assumed his powers gradually and was generally lenient to Otho's supporters, even pardoning Otho's brother Salvius Titianus, who had played a key role in the earlier regime. In addition, he participated in Senate meetings and continued the practice of providing entertainments for the Roman masses. An important practical change involved the awarding of posts customarily held by freedmen to equites, an indication of the growth of the imperial bureaucracy and its attractiveness to men of ambition.

In other matters, he replaced the existing praetorian guard and urban cohorts with sixteen praetorian cohorts and four urban units, all comprised of soldiers from the German armies. According to Tacitus, the decision prompted a mad scramble, with the men, and not their officers, choosing the branch of service that they preferred. The situation was clearly unsatisfactory but not surprising, given that Vitellius was a creation of his own troops. To secure his position further, he sent back to their old postings the legions that had fought for Otho, or he reassigned them to distant provinces. Yet discontent remained: the troops who had been defeated or betrayed at Bedriacum remained bitter, and detachments of three Moesian legions called upon by Otho were returned to their bases, having agitated against Vitellius at Aquileia.

Flavian Revolt

The Vitellian era at Rome was short-lived. By mid-July news had arrived that the legions of Egypt under Tiberius Julius Alexander had sworn allegiance to a rival emperor, Titus Flavius Vespasianus, the governor of Judaea and a successful and popular general. Vespasian was to hold Egypt while his colleague Mucianus, governor of Syria, was to invade Italy. Before the plan could be enacted, however, the Danube legions, former supporters of Otho, joined Vespasian's cause. Under the leadership of Antonius Primus, commander of the Sixth legion in Pannonia, and Cornelius Fuscus, imperial procurator in Illyricum, the legions made a rapid descent on Italy.

Although his forces were only half of what Vitellius commanded in Italy, Primus struck first before the emperor could muster additional reinforcements from Germany. To make matters worse for the Vitellians, Valens was ill, and Caecina, now consul, had begun collaborating with the Flavians. His troops refused to follow his lead, however, and arrested him at Hostilia near Cremona. They then joined the rest of the Vitellian forces trying to hold the Po River. With Vitellius still in Rome and his forces virtually leaderless, the two sides met in October in the Second Battle of Bedriacum. The emperor's troops were soundly defeated and Cremona was brutally sacked by the victors. In addition, Valens, whose health had recovered, was captured while raising an army for Vitellius in Gaul and Germany; he was eventually executed.

Meanwhile, Primus continued towards Rome. Vitellius made a weak attempt to thwart the advance at the Apennine passes, but his forces switched to the Flavian side without a fight at Narnia in mid-December. At Rome, matters were no better. Vespasian's elder brother, Titus Flavius Sabinus, the city prefect, was successful in an effort to convince Vitellius to abdicate but was frustrated by the mob in Rome and the emperor's soldiers. Forced to flee to the Capitol, Sabinus was set upon by Vitellius' German troops and soon killed, with the venerable Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus set ablaze in the process. Within two days, the Flavian army fought its way into Rome. In a pathetic final move, Vitellius disguised himself in dirty clothing and hid in the imperial doorkeeper's quarters, leaning a couch and a mattress against the door for protection. Dragged from his hiding place by the Flavian forces, he was hauled off half-naked to the Forum, where he was tortured, killed, and tossed into the Tiber. The principate could now pass to Vespasian.

Assessment

Vitellius has not escaped the hostility of his biographers. While he may well have been gluttonous, his depiction as indolent, cruel, and extravagant is based almost entirely on the propaganda of his enemies. On the other hand, whatever moderating tendencies he did show were overshadowed by his clear lack of military expertise, a deficiency that forced him to rely in critical situations on largely inneffective lieutenants. As a result he was no match for his Flavian successors, and his humiliating demise was perfectly in keeping with the overall failure of his reign.

Copyright (C) 1999, John Donahue.
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

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

a typical IVLIA TRAD of Augustus the obverse is very worn, but identifiable.Most collectors are familiar with these. Coins were struck at this site in Hispania only for a short time around the time of a visit by Augustus, a scarce coin. 1 commentsRyan C

AÎ”PSYRIA: COELE SYRIA. Leucas. Trajan. Æ 20. A.D. 102/103 (year 55). Obv: AYKAINEP-TRAIA(NOCÎ”AK...) or sim.Laur. head right; CM on neck. Rev: (Î›EYKAÎ”IWN)-KÎ›AYÎ”IEWN, EN in field. Emperor, hld. sceptre, in quadriga galloping right. Ref: BMC 3; Sear GIC 1082. Axis: 30°. Weight: 6.52 g. CM: AÎ”P in rectangular punch, 5.5 x 3 mm. Howgego 511 (12 pcs). Note: Interestingly, no coins countermarks "AÎ”P" are also countermarked "Î”AK". "Î”AK" is clearly the more common of the two countermarks. The meaning of "AÎ”P" is uncertain. There are also coins of Macrinus from Leucas countermarked "AÎ”P", and Howgego therefore argues that it cannot refer to Hadrian. It seems odd, though, that issues of Trajan and Macrinus (but NONE of intervening emperors) should have been countermarked at the same time. If this really were the case, one would expect coins of Trajan to be heavily worn, which is not the case. Collection Automan.Automan

AE follis Constans II SB 1009Obverse: ENTOTO NIKA Constans with longbeard and moustache stg, facing , wearing crown and chlamys, holding long cross and gl. cr.
Reverse: Large M between ANNO and regnal yr (worn) K above. CON in exergue
Mint: Constantinople
Date: 655-8 CE
Sear 1009 DO 77-8
22mm 5.05gm2 commentswileyc

AE follis Constans II SB 1010Obverse: no legend,Constans on l., Constantine IV on r, stg, facing the former with long beard and holding long cross
Reverse: Large M, between ANNO and regnal yr (worn) CON in exergue
Mint: Constantinople
Date: 646-8 CE
Sear 1010 DO 79-81
24/28mm 8.54gmwileyc

AE-Jeton, Radiate head right, Single sided, Howgego 30,AE-Jeton, Radiate head right, Single sided, Howgego 30,
avers: Radiate head right, before the face "KOTI", belowe the neck another radiated head, looking like double stike..
revers: Single sided,
exe:-/-//--, diameter: 18mm, weight: 2,24g, axis: h,
mint: , date: A.D., ref: Howgego #30 ,
Q-001
"KOTI before laureate bust right (Antonine emperor?) Applied twice on one example
(countermark applied at Cotiaeum, where one was found).
W.H. Waddington, Voyage en Asie-Mineure au point de vue numismatique, 1853, p.21,
1= P.Waddington 5880; P.876 (countermark applied twice).
All the coin are worn flat. One of a group of countermarks bearing the name of a city
which were applied such 'blanks' "
quadrans

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: AÎ›EÎžANÎ”POY, Nike standing left, holding wreath in extended right hand and cradling stylis in left arm; palm frond and date (in Phoenician) to left, Î£I below left wing.

- Price 3482; Newell, Dated 21 (dies –/Î± [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.5 commentsNemonater

Alexander tetradrachm Price 6 Amphipolis mint. Lifetime issue. Janiform-head vase to the left. Looks like a worn die on the lion-skin headress and a punch on the thundergod's hip.1 commentsChance Vandal

Alexander The Great GorytosAlexander The Great, bronze, gorytos type, four chalkoi (hemiobol), 336 - 323 BC, 17mm, 4.4g
Western Asia Minor, M.J. Price 322, Müller 1699, SNG Saraglos 843, SNG Milano 145,
SNG Stockholm 284, SNG Cop. 1059, McClean 3516.
This Alexander bronze type, like the first, also features Herakles on the obverse and a soldier's weapons on the reverse.
But in this case the weapons are a gorytos (case for bow and quiver) along with a club, and the bow lies within the gorytos
rather than underneath the quiver.
Often the gorytos is referred to as a bow case, but it also holds arrows as well so is probably best referred to as a gorytos.
Sometimes it's erroneously referred to as an arrow case or quiver, by dealers as well as attribution references,
with no distinction made between the gorytos and quiver bronze types.
SNG Manchester mistakenly referred to it as a bull's head based upon the worn specimen they had to attribute.
Gorytos bronzes are seen less frequently than the quiver bronzes. The mint mark on this particular variety, below the gorytos, is the letter E.
SRukke

Alexius I, SBCV 1932AE tetarteron, 15mm, 2.11g, very worn
Patriarchal Cross on two steps, A - Δ / K - Φ to sides
AΛE ZI
Facing bust of Emperor, holding cruciform scepter and globus cruciger
Constantinople mintnovacystis

Amphipolis, Macedonia, c. 168 - 149 B.C.Bronze AE 20, SGCV I 1394; (SNG Cop 62), weight 7.8 g, max. diameter 21.75 mm, Amphipolis mint, Roman rule, c. 168 - 149 B.C.; Obv. diademed head of Artemis Tauropolos right, bow and quiver at shoulder; Rev. ΑΜΦΙΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ, two goats on their hind legs, contending head to head. Green patina, very worn.

Artemis Tauropolos was an epithet for the goddess Artemis, variously interpreted as worshipped at Tauris, or pulled by a yoke of bulls, or hunting bull goddess. A statue of Artemis "Tauropolos" in her temple at Brauron in Attica was supposed to have been brought from the Taurians by Iphigenia. Tauropolia was a festival of Artemis in Athens. - WikipediaSteve E

Anchialos Commodus Hades Iulius CastusAnchialos Commodus governor Julius Castus (184/5 AD) Hades

AE26 11.53g

AV âˆ™ KAI Î› âˆ™ AV]| KOMOÎ”OC
Laureate head right

HÎ“ âˆ™ IOY âˆ™ KACTO | Y | AÎ“XIAÎ›EÎ©N
Serapis enthroned left holding scepter with Cerberos at feet, modus on head

worn, granular brown patina

AMNG II-; Varbanov II(E) –; Mionnet-; BMC-; SNG Cop.-rennrad12020

AnonymousAnonymous. 211-210 BC. AR Victoriatus (16.5mm, 3.14 g, 6h). Spearhead (first) series. Mint in southeast Italy. Laureate head of Jupiter right within border of dots / Victory standing right, placing wreath on trophy; Roma in exergue.

In around 218 BC, at roughly the same time as the appearance of the silver denarius, mints in the Roman Republic began to strike silver coins bearing on the obverse a bust of Jupiter and on the reverse a figure of Victory placing a wreath upon a trophy. Known as a victoriatus in Latin or tropaikon in Greek, this coin was primarily issued to facilitate payments in Greek-speaking southern Italy, where its weight was roughly equivalent to a drachm or half nomos. Rome at this time had a great need for coinage, as the Second Punic War then raged across Italy, and the city needed silver to pay her allies. This function is demonstrated by the hoard evidence, which shows that their circulation was generally limited to southern Italy, and later Cisalpine Gaul and Spain.

The victoriatus was generally struck in less pure silver than the denarius, rarely meeting the same 90% standard, yet it generally followed the same overall pattern of debasements. Despite this, it proved to be an important coin for the budding empire. Though the type was discontinued around 170 BC, the coins themselves continued to circulate, eventually becoming worn enough to function in the marketplace as quinarii. Accordingly, even into the early Imperial period, the silver quinarius was also sometimes refered to as a victoriatus.ecoli

ANTIQUITIES, Roman, Bronze Cavalry Officer's Horse Adornment, c.3rd century ADToo large to be worn as a a soldier's cuirass decoration, this cavalry adornment was probably affixed to a horse's bridle or harness.
Weight: 14.17 g
Dimensions: 34 mm

ANTIQUITIES, Roman, Crossbow Brooch - 4th CenturyLarge (92mm) complete Roman crossbow brooch dating from circa A.D.320 - 400.

Typology: Keller 4a; Pröttel 3/4a; Soupault III1
Distribution: Upper Danube, NE Gaul

The brooch would have been worn as shown in the inset, which is a detail from an ivory diptych of the Roman general Stilicho.
1 comments*Alex

Antonia, RIC 92ANTONIA AVGVSTA
TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG PM T RP IMP
AE dupondius, 26mm, 12.00g
Draped bust right
Cladius, togate, standing left, holding simpulum, SC to sides

very worn examplenovacystis

Antoninianus; ANNONA AVGG, RIC 28c RomePhilip I, the Arab, First Half of 244 - End of September 249 A.D. Silver antoninianus, SRCV III 8922, RIC IV 28c, RSC IV 25, VF, Rome mint, 3.823g, 22.5mm, 0o, 244 - 247 A.D.; obverse IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right; reverse ANNONA AVGG, Annona standing left holding stalks of grain over modius and cornucopia; struck with a worn reverse die. Ex FORVM, photo credit FORVMPodiceps

Antoninus Pius (RIC 920, Coin #346)RIC 920 (C), AE Dupondius, Rome, 153-154 AD.
Obv: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XVII Radiate head right.
Rev: LIBERTAS COS IIII S C Libertas standing right holding pileus (cap worn by freed slaves).
Size: 26.0mm 11.49gmMaynardGee

Antoninus Pius, 10Jul. 138-7 to Mar. 161 AD, Rome mintOrichalcum sestertius, Sear RCV II 4252, RIC 967, (BMCRE 2016), (Cowen 1008); Weight 21.4 gr., Max Diameter 32.3 mm; Rome mint, 156-7 AD; Obv. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P IMP II, laureate head right, Rev. TR POT XX COS IIII S C, Justitia (?) seated left on chair formed by 2 crossed cornuacopiae, holding sceptre; Thin olive patina with with brass showing through in areas, very worn, pitted and corrosion spots mainly on rev.Steve E

Aphrodite and Ares on Cilician AR Stater of Satrap PharnabazosCirca 380-374/3 B.C.(21mm, 10.39g, 11h). Struck circa 380-379 B.C. Casabonne series 3; Moysey Issue 3, 3-5 var. (dolphin on obv.); SNG France 246 var. (rev. legend). Obverse Head of nymph facing three-quarters left. Reverse Helmeted head of Ares left, Aramaic PRNBZW to left. Near EF, toned, struck from a slightly worn obverse die.

Ex CNG.

There is still an ongoing debate whether who represent the obverse and reverse of this coin type of Pharnabazos. The obverse obviously was inspired by the renowned Syracusan tetradrachm of Kimon, whose three-quarter facing head of the nymph Arethusa was widely copied throughout the ancient world. A handful of ancient poleis adopted this style to represent their local nymph or goddess on their coins. A perfect example is the numerous coins of Larissa in Thessaly representing the local nymph of the same name. It is possible to assume then that the obverse of our coin might be another female deity other than Arethusa. A current opinion holds that the obverse represents Aphrodite, the goddess of love; and the reverse depicts Ares, the god of war. The two were known in ancient mythology as lovers, and commonly paired together on ancient coins. Of special note on this coin is the reverse: while most coins of this type display static male heads with little originality, the reverse die is probably from a special issue marked by superior style and executed with extreme delicacy. It has been suggested (Leu Auction 81, lot 317) that the head of Ares may be a disguised portrait of Pharnabazos himself.

1 commentsJason T

Apollonia Pontica Topalov 56 - Silver Diobol - very worn410 - 323 B.C.
0.59 gm, 8.78 mm
Obv.: Head of Apollo (or Medusa)
Rev.: Anchor, A to left, crayfish to right
Topalov Apollonia p.596, 56
Sear p.165, 1657
B.M.C. 15 (Mysia) p.9, 15

From Topalov Apollonia 2007: "Full-Face Apollo's Head - Upright Anchor" silver diobol (410/404 – 341/323 B.C.) Obv.: Full-face laureate Apollo with short hair. Rev.: Magistrates' initials around the images. Upright anchor with thick flukes and a rectangular stock. The letter A on one side and the additional symbol of a crab viewed from above on the other side between flukes and the stock.Jaimelai

AR Antoninianus, Philip the Arab 244-249 A.D., reversePhilip I AR Silver Antoninianus. Rome, 244-249 AD.
Reverse: ANNONA AVGG, Annona standing left, holding corn-ear over galley at feet, & cornucopia.

RIC 29
RSC 32
SR 8923

The coin seems to be AU-UNC but has this weakly struck reverse, perhaps struck with a worn reverse die?1 commentsLarry M2

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