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The Battle of Adrianople and its Effect on Coinage

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Robert_Brenchley:
That's what I suspected; you have something going on in East Asia, and it has devastating consequences for Western Europe. Even then the world was a smaller place than people assumed.

sejanus:
Here is a coin which really defines Adrianople's effect:


Gratian


The reverse depicts the emperor lifting a "turreted woman" up.  Turreted - where have we seen that before?  Tyche.  The goddess personifying every city.  In this case, most likely Hadrianopolis (Adrianople).

Alex:
She actually must represent all the cities of the region, thanking Theodosius and Gratian for relieving them from the menace. These coins must have been struck after the peace that followed the battle of Adrianopole.

sejanus:
Or the cities in which they were minted mostly. :)

Ecgþeow:
imagine what the world would have been like if Valens had not been so overconfident and had actually waited for Gratian's reinforcements.  Maybe Rome would not have resigned itself to defeatism and could possibly have rallied itself out of its troubles? who knows?

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