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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Roman Coins| ▸ |Crisis & Decline| ▸ |Gallienus||View Options:   | | | Gallienus was co-emperor with his father Valerian from 253, then ruled alone after his father's capture by Parthia in 260. Ruling during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empire, he repelled wave after wave of barbarian invaders, but he was unable to prevent the secession of important provinces. Gallienus presided over a late flowering of Roman culture, patronizing poets, artists, and philosophers. He was assassinated by his own soldiers in 268 while besieging Milan. |
Wandering the world in a panther-drawn chariot, Dionysos rode ahead of the maenads and satyrs, who sang loudly and danced, flushed with wine. They were profusely garlanded with ivy and held the thyrsus, a staff topped with a pine cone, a symbol of the immortality of his believers. Everywhere he went he taught men how to cultivate vines and the mysteries of his cult. Whoever stood in his way and refused to revere him was punished with madness.RP96990. Bronze 7 assaria, Karbach Eirenopolis - (cf. 146-7 same obv. die, diff. rev. type); Leu web auction 12 (2020), 870 (same dies); SNG Levante -; SNG Paris -; SNG PFPS -, aVF/F, green patina with earthen deposits, weight 12.523 g, maximum diameter 27.7 mm, die axis 225o, Irenopolis (Düzici, Turkey) mint, 258 - 259 A.D.; obverse ΠOY ΛIK Γ/Θ>ANTΛIHNOC, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind; uncertain round countermark; reverse IPHNOΠOΛE (or similar), Dionysos drinking with his entourage, standing facing, kantharos (wine cup) in his right hand, pedum (shepherd's crook) in his left hand, Pan on right supporting him, Satyr on left standing with outstretched right hand, panther seated left at feet on left, Z (mark of value) right; ex Leu Numismatik web auction 13 (15 Aug 2020), lot 921; the second known; SOLD
In 253, Valerian I split the Roman Empire in two; Gallienus took control of the West and his father ruled the East, where he faced the Persian threat.SH57742. Orichalcum sestertius, Göbl MIR 22dd, RIC V-1 J213; Cohen V 239; SRCV III 10469, VF, weight 21.409 g, maximum diameter 31.4 mm, die axis 0o, Rome mint, Aug 253 - Aug 254 A.D.; obverse IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust right; reverse FIDES MILIT (the loyalty of the soldiers), Fides standing half left, flanked by a standard in each hand, S - C (senatus consulto) flanking across field; exceptional for this late sestertius issue, superb portrait on a full flan; scarce; SOLD
Virtus is the personification of valor and courage. Valor was, of course, essential for the success of a Roman emperor and Virtus was one of the embodiments of virtues that were part of the Imperial cult. During his joint reign with his father, Gallienus proved his courage in battle; but his failure to liberate his father from Persian captivity was perceived as cowardice and a disgrace to the Emperor and Empire. It was not, however, actually fear that prevented a rescue. While others mourned Valerian's fate, Gallienus rejoiced in his new sovereignty.RB76153. Orichalcum sestertius, Göbl MIR 38dd, RIC V-1 J248, Cohen V 1293, Hunter IV 33, SRCV III 10495, Nice gVF, excellent portrait, green patina, tight flan cutting off much legend, weight 10.962 g, maximum diameter 25.3 mm, die axis 0o, Rome mint, 253 - 255 A.D.; obverse IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust right; reverse VIRTVS AVGG (valor of the two emperors), Virtus standing left, wearing crested helmet and military garb, right resting hand on grounded shield, inverted spear vertical behind in left, S - C (senatus consulto) flanking across field; SOLD
This coin was dedicated to Gallienus' good relations with the army. Gallienus eventually fell out of harmony with his guard and officers. He was ambushed and murdered by his own men. The future emperors Claudius Gothicus and Aurelian were likely both involved in the conspiracy leading to his assassination.RB25653. Orichalcum sestertius, Göbl MIR 92h, RIC V J209, Cohen V 132, Hunter IV J24 corr. (described with aegis), SRCV III 10467, VF, exceptional portrait, typical chunky flan, weight 16.280 g, maximum diameter 26.4 mm, die axis 0o, Rome mint, 253 - 255 A.D.; obverse IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust right; reverse CONCORDIA EXERCIT (harmony with the army), Concord standing left holding patera and double cornucopia, S C at sides; very scarce; SOLD
Gallienus, August 253 - September 268 A.D., Irenopolis, Cilicia
| Rome officially adopted the cult of Cybele during the Second Punic War (218 to 201 B.C.), after dire prodigies, including a meteor shower, a failed harvest and famine, seemed to warn of Rome's imminent defeat. The Roman Senate and its religious advisers consulted the Sibylline oracle and decided that Carthage might be defeated if Rome imported the Magna Mater ("Great Mother") of Phrygian Pessinos. As this cult object belonged to a Roman ally, the Kingdom of Pergamum, the Roman Senate sent ambassadors to seek the king's consent; en route, a consultation with the Greek oracle at Delphi confirmed that the goddess should be brought to Rome. The goddess arrived in Rome in the form of Pessinos' black meteoric stone. Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica, supposedly the "best man" in Rome, was chosen to meet the goddess at Ostia; and Rome's most virtuous matrons conducted her to the temple of Victoria, to await the completion of her temple on the Palatine Hill. Pessinos' stone was later used as the face of the goddess' statue. In due course, the famine ended and Hannibal was defeated. |  |
Gallienus, August 253 - September 268 A.D., Magydus, Pamphylia
The first ever coin from Magydus handled by Forum!
Magydus was a small town on the coast between Attaleia and Perga, occasionally mentioned by ancient geographers, and on numerous coins of the imperial era. Its site was probably at modern Lara in the Ottoman vilayet of Konia, where there are ruins of a small man-made harbor.SH54378. Bronze AE 30, SNGvA 4645; SNG BnF 321; SNG Cop 298; BMC Lycia p. 117, 9, Choice gVF, weight 17.889 g, maximum diameter 30.3 mm, die axis 180o, Magydus mint, obverse AYT KAI ΠO ΛI ΓAΛΛIHNO CEB, laureate and draped bust right, seen from behind, globe below; reverse MAΓY-ΔEΩN, Tyche standing slightly left, kalathos on head, rudder in right hand, cornucopia in left hand, I upper left field, M - A across fields; an attractive large bronze from a rarer city; rare; SOLD
Liberalitas coin types attest to occasions when the emperor has displayed his generosity towards the people by a distribution to them of money, provisions, or both. The first mention of Liberalitas was on coins of Hadrian. It was a type frequently repeated by the succeeding emperors. Indeed these instances of imperial generosity are more carefully recorded on coins than they are by history. Liberality is personified by the image of a woman, holding in one hand a counting board, or square tablet with a handle on which are cut a certain number of holes. These boards were used to quickly count the proper number of coins or other items for distribution to each person. In the other hand she holds a cornucopia, to indicate the prosperity of the state and the abundance of wheat contained in the public granaries.RB110375. Bronze sestertius, Göbl MIR 66w, RIC V-1 J221, Hunter IV 36, SRCV III 10474, Cohen V 572, VF, small squared flan, nice brown patina, excellent expressive portrait, rev. legend off flan or encrusted, weight 13.218 g, maximum diameter 26.2 mm, die axis 180o, Rome mint, 255 - 257 A.D.; obverse IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS P F AVG, laureate, cuirassed and slightly draped, bust right; reverse LIBERTALITAS AVGG (the generosity of the two emperors), Liberalitas standing slightly left, wearing long chiton, coin counting board in right hand, cornucopia in left hand, S - C (senatus consulto) flanking across the field; SOLD
Gallienus, August 253 - September 268 A.D., Phoenicia, Berytos
| Astarte, called "Ashtroth" in Scripture, was the favorite goddess of the Sidonians, Tyrians, Philistines, and Syro-Phoenicians generally. She was associated with the Greek Aphrodite and Roman Venus Genetrix, being believed by the ancients to be the goddess of generation, as well as of beauty. Astarte was chiefly worshiped and appears on the coins of Berytus, Bostra, Sidon, and Tyre. Her image is of a young woman, wearing a tall headdress; and clothed in a tunic, high in the neck- sometimes, not reaching lower than the knees, or sometimes with a longer dress, but with one knee exposed, and one foot planted on a galley's prow. |  |
In 253, Valerian split the Roman Empire in two. Gallienus took control of the West and his father ruled the East, facing the Persians.SH58951. Orichalcum sestertius, Göbl MIR 40h, RIC V-1 J250, Cohen V 1342, SRCV III 10505, Hunter IV - (p. xli), aVF, centered on a tight flan, nice green patina, weight 17.025 g, maximum diameter 27.8 mm, die axis 180o, Rome mint, 253 A.D.; obverse IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG, laureate and draped bust right, seen from behind; reverse VOTIS / DECENNA/LIBIS / S C, legend within laurel wreath; scarce; SOLD
Gallienus, August 253 - September 268 A.D., Ake Ptolemais, Galilee
Akko was refounded as a Roman colony, colonia Ptolemais, probably in 53 or 54 A.D., the last year of Claudius' reign or the first year of Nero’s. Akko was one of hundreds of cities in the Roman provinces that minted civic coins. In the mid 3rd century cities stopped producing their own coins. The last city coins were struck under Gallienus, and Akko was among the very last cities to strike its own coins.JD96394. Bronze AE 27, BMC Phoenicia p. 138, 50 var. (obv. leg.); Rosenberger 86 var. (same); Kadman Akko 256 var. (same, draped); Sofaer 293 ff. (draped, etc.); SNG Cop -, aF, rough green patina, light earthen deposits, a little off center, weight 13.158 g, maximum diameter 26.5 mm, die axis 0o, Ake Ptolemais (Acre, Israel) mint, 253 - 268 A.D.; obverse IMP CAES LIC GALLIENVS AVG, laureate head right; reverse COL P-TOL, portable shrine containing a statue of Zeus Heliopolites, shrine consisting of a frame within two pillars supporting a architrave with hatched decoration, two carrying poles projecting from bottom, figure of deity within standing facing on rock or base, wearing short chiton, double axe in right hand, harpe(?) in left hand; an unpublished variant of a very rare type; from the J. Berlin Caesarea Collection, 1977 surface find at Caesarea Maritima, Israel; extremely rare; SOLD
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