Aurelian and the Palmyrene Empire
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Lucius Domitius Aurelianus - Aurelian, Emperor 270 - 275 ADAurelian and the Palmyrene Empire
Obv: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG; bust of Aurelian, radiate, curaissed, facing r.
Rev: RESTITVT•OR/IENTIS; emperor in military dress standing l., holding a long sceptre in l. hand, with the r. hand raising a kneeling female figure who is facing r., a modius on her head, ✶C✶ in exergue.
Denomination: antoniniani; Mint: Cyzicus; Officina: 2nd; Issue: 5; Date: early - summer 272 AD; Weight: 4.25g; Diameter: 24.01mm; Die axis: 150º; References, for example: RIC V v.1 351; Hunter IV 101; SRCV III 11596; BnF 1160; MER - RIC 2952.
Regarding this type/issue at Cyzicus Sylviane Estiot states "The type Restitut●Orientis, the emperor raising the hand of a kneeling woman crowned with a modius (not turreted), resumed a type contemporary with Sisica, 5th issue." (Estiot 2004 v.1, p. 109. Translation is my own). Regarding the referenced type, 5th issue, at Sisica Estiot states "...the new type Restitutor Orientis depicts the emperor in a military costume standing left, under his hand the personification of a female of the Orient kneeling, not turreted, but with a modius: it is, again, an iconographic detail that alludes to the Roman supply of cereals, compromised by the expansionism of Palmyra in the Orient." (Estiot 2004 v.1, p. 86. Translation is my own). Although the legends on the two coins at Cyzicus and Sisica are slightly different, the reverse types are the same. Thus, the coin here from Cyzicus is a reference to the threat of the Palmyrene Empire.
Photo Credit: Marc R. Breitsprecher, Classical Numismatist
Sources
BnF: Estiot, Sylviane. Monnaies de L’Empire romain XII.1: D’Aurelian à Florien. Bibliothèque nationale de France: Poinsignon Numismatique, 2004.
MER - RIC: Maison de l’Orient et la Méditerranée: Monnaies de l’Empire Romain/Roman Imperial Coinage AD 268-276. http://www.ric.mom.fr/en/home
Robertson, Anne. Roman Imperial Coins in the Hunter Coin Cabinet, Vol. IV Valerian I to Allectus. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978.
Sear, David. Roman Coins and Their Values, Vol. III: Maximinus I to Carinus. London: Spink, 2005.
Webb, Percy. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. V, Part 1: Valerian to Florian, edited by Harold Mattingly and Edward Sydenham. London: Spink & Son, 1927.Tracy Aiello
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