| Image search results - "Dacia" |
TRAJAN - Denarius - 103/112 AD.
Obv.:IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P, laureate head right, drapery on far shoulder
Rev.:COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC, Dacia mourning, seated on pile of captured arms, DAC CAP in ex.
Gs. 3,3 mm. 18,4
Cohen 118, RIC 98 Maxentius
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Caracalla, RIC 311d, Date 213-217 AD, Silver Antoninianus Rome, VENVS VICTRIX (with Helmet)
Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Caracalla
Antoninianus of the Roman Imperial Period 213/217 AD
Material: Silver
Diameter: 23mm
Weight: 5.19g
Mint: Rome
Reference: RIC IV Caracalla 311d var. (Rare, with Helmet)
Provenance: Ex Dr. Gernot Heinrich Collection
This ist the RIC 311d Version with Helmet under the shield. An fantastic Antoninianus with many details on obverse and reverse, fantastic Caracalla bust and a clear reverse Venus. Rare RIC, and more Rare in this condition.
Obverse:
You can see the right-facing bust of Caracalla with a radiant crown. The inscription reads: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM for Antoninus Pius Augustus Germanicus.
Reverse:
The goddess Venus can be seen standing to the left, leaning on a shield. In her left hand she holds a Victoriola, in her right hand a spear. Standing, she leans on her shield and helmet. The inscription reads: VENVS VICTRIX for Venus Victrix (the victorious Venus).
Comments:
In ancient Rome, Venus Victrix is the form of the goddess Venus as victor or „as the one who brings victory“. Especially Pompeius Magnus celebrated his military successes in their honor. This was probably inspired by the armed Aphrodite (nikephoros carrying victory) who protected the Acropolis in certain eastern regions of ancient Greece. In Rome, the victorious Venus was mainly in the third century BC increasingly invoked in the wars against Carthage. Iulius Caesar traced the descent of his family and thus his own from Venus (Venus Genitrix). Pompey, as his adversary, identified his glorious destiny with Venus Victrix in order to claim Venus‘ protection in the secret rivalry. After his victory in the war against Mithridates in 55 BC Pompeius celebrated his triumph „de orbi universo“ (over the whole world) and had a temple built for the victorious Venus, which unfortunately has not been preserved. The sanctuary of Venus Victrix stood on the Capitol, which was probably built during the war against the Samnites. Her feast days were August 12 and October 9, with an annual sacrifice being made on the latter date. At the same time, homage was also paid to Victoria, who closely connected the Romans with Venus Victrix.
Associating this type of coin directly with a specific historical event in the reign of Caracalla is difficult. This Antoninianus is between 213 and 217 AD dated. He could therefore retrospectively refer to the victories in the Germania campaign in 213 AD relate to the battles in Dacia against the Carps in 214 AD refer to or anticipate „the-victorious“ Venus Victrix to refer to the coming eastern campaign against the Parthians.paul1888
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14 Trajan AE AsTRAJAN
AE As, Rome mint
IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P, laureate bust right with drapery on left shoulder / S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Pax standing left, olive branch in right, cornucopia in left, right foot on Dacian captive
RIC 503
RI0125Sosius
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14 Trajan DupondiusTRAJAN
AE Dupondius
IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM TR P COS V PP, laureate head right / SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI S-C, Trajan riding right spearing Dacian enemy.
Cohen 506, RIC 538
RI0119Sosius
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2 Trajan SestertiusTRAJAN
AE Sestertius. 103-111 AD.
O: laureate head right
R: SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI S-C, Trajan riding right spearing Dacian enemy before horse.
Cohen 503, RIC 534, sear5 #3204
VG - Lots of wear....handled by many, many hands
RI0126Sosius
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3 Trajan DeciusTrajan Decius
AR Antoninianus
IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, radiate, draped, & cuirassed bust right / DACIA, Dacia standing left, holding draco standard or vertical staff surmounted by ass's head.
RIC 12b, RSC 16.
Holed for jewelry - loop gone.Sosius
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98Trajan 98-117 AD
AE sestertius
Obv "IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM TRP COS V PP"
Laureate bust left
Rev "SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI SC"
Emperor on horseback right spearing Dacian in front of horse
Rome mint
RIC 535mauseus
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98Trajan 98-117 AD
AR denarius
Obv "IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM TRP COS V PP"
Laureate bust right with aegis on left shoulder
Rev "SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI"
Dacia seated right on shield in mournful attitude, curved sword below
Rome mint
RIC 216mauseus
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Celtic CoinageContinental Celts & Tribes of Britannia
Gaul: Northwest Gaul: Aulerci Eburovices, Carnutes, Coriosolites, Redones, Senones, Veneti. Northeast Gaul: Ambiani, Remi, Suessiones (Cricironus), Treveri.
Central Gaul: Aediu, Arverni. Sequani (Turonos & Cantorix). Southern Gaul: Massalia (Marseilles), Tolostates, Volcae-Arecomici. Uncertain: Volcae Tectosages, Leuci, Senones.
Britain: Atrebates & Regni (Verica), Cantii (Amminus), CantuvellauniCorieltauvi (Volisios Dumnocoveros), Cunobelin, Dobunni, Durotriges, Epaticcus, Iceni, Trinovantes, Cantuvellauni & Trinovantes (Addedomaros, Caratacus).
Lower Danube: Geto-Dacians. Middle Danube: Hercuniates. Central Europe: Boii. Danubian Celts are also referred to as being from the Carpathian Region, in which there were various tribes, many unknown. Anaximander
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(0117) HADRIAN117 - 138 AD
AE As 26.5 mm 9.54 g
O: BARE-HEADED DRAPED BUST RIGHT
R: DACIA SEATED HOLDING VEXILLUM AND CURVED DACIAN SWORD/ S-Claney
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(0251) TREBONIANUS GALLUS251 - 253 AD
(struck YEAR 5 = 250-251 AD
AE 27 mm 9.62 g
O: IMP C VIBIO TREBON GALLO AVG
LAUR DR BUST R
R: PROVINCIA DACIA
DACIA STANDING BETWEEN EAGLE & LION, HOLDING BRANCH & PARAZONIUM
ANV IN EXE
DACIA, MOESIA SUPERIOR
AMNG 1/1(50) K(27) RARElaney
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009 - Trajan (98-117 AD), denarius - RIC 98Obv: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P, laureate bust draped on left shoulder.
Rev: COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC around and DAC CAP in exe, dacian seated left on pile of arms, mourning. Around him two curved swords, two spears and an oblong shield.
Minted in Rome [date?]pierre_p77
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0111 Valerian - DaciaAE 25
Oct 253 - Jul 254 AD
laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right from behind
IMP P LIC VALERIANO AVG
Dacia holding branch and scepter standing half-left between lion and eagle
PROVIN_CIA DACIA
AN VIII
Pick-Martin Ref.: 7.56.(1/2)
10,48g 25mmJ. B.
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013. Trajan. AD 98-117. Æ Sestertius. Pax. RIC 503varTrajan. AD 98-117. Æ Sestertius (34mm, 27.25 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck circa AD 104/5-107. Laureate bust right, slight drapery / Pax standing left, her right foot on Dacian, holding branch and cornucopia. RIC II 503 var. (bust type); Woytek 200bD; Banti 134LordBest
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015a01. TrajanTrajan
AE As. IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM TRP COS V PP. radiate bust right, slight drapery on left shoulder / SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI, SC in ex, Pax seated left with branch, Dacian kneeling right before, holding up both hands in supplication. RiC 513.lawrence c
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015a05. TrajanAE As. 26mm, 10.31 g. 103-111 AD. Obv: IMP CAES NERVA TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM TRP COS V P P, laureate head right, with aegis.
Rev: SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Dacia seated left on shield, trophy before, SC below. RIC 562, Cohen 532.lawrence c
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015a07. TrajanDenarius. 108-109 AD. Obv: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM TRP, laureate head right, drapery on far shoulder. Rev: COS V PP SPQR OPTIMO PRINC, Dacia mourning, seated on pile of captured arms, DAC CAP below. RIC 98, RSC 120a.lawrence c
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015a17. TrajanAE Sestertius. Obv: IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM TRP COS V P P, laureate head right, slight drapery on far shoulder. Rev: SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI, S C in exergue, Trajan on horseback right, spearing Dacian below horse. RIC 543, Sear 3204.lawrence c
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015a23. TrajanSestertius. Rome. Obv: IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P. Laureate bust right, with slight drapery. Rev: S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI / S C. Dacia seated left, in attitude on mourning, on round shield; two shields beside him, trophy of arms to left. RIC 564 var. (bust type). 23.68 g., 33 mm. Naumann Auction 103, lot 572lawrence c
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015a26. TrajanAR Denarius. Rome, AD 110. IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P, laureate bust to right, slight drapery on far shoulder / COS V P P SPQR OPTIMO PRINC, Dacian standing to left, with bound hands, before pile of captured arms; DAC CAP in exergue. RIC II 99; BMCRE 383; RSC 121a. 3.22g, 19mm, 7h. Roma Numismatics Auc 648, Lot 938.lawrence c
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027 Traianus (98-117 A.D.), Rome, RIC II 0098, AR-Denarius, COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC, -/-//DAC CAP, Dacia seated left, #1027 Traianus (98-117 A.D.), Rome, RIC II 0098, AR-Denarius, COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC, -/-//DAC CAP, Dacia seated left, #1
avers: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P, Laureate head right, drapery on far shoulder.
reverse: COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC, Dacia mourning, seated on a pile of captured arms, DAC CAP in ex.
exergue: -/-//DAC CAP, diameter: 17,0-18,5mm, weight:2,96g, axis: 7h,
mint: Rome, date: 103-111 A.D.,
ref: RIC II 098, BMCRE 390, RSC 120a,
Q-001quadrans
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027 Traianus (98-117 A.D.), Rome, RIC II 0099, AR-Denarius, COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC, -/-//DAC CAP, Dacia standing left, #1027 Traianus (98-117 A.D.), Rome, RIC II 0099, AR-Denarius, COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC, -/-//DAC CAP, Dacia standing left, #1
avers: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P, Laureate head right, drapery on far shoulder.
reverse: COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC, Dacia standing with bound hands before piling of arms, DAC CAP in exergue.
exergue: -/-//DAC CAP, diameter: 18,5mm, weight:3,12g, axis: 7h,
mint: Rome, date: 103-111 A.D.,
ref: RIC II 099, p-251, BMCRE-, RSC 121a,
Q-001quadrans
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027 Traianus (98-117 A.D.), Rome, RIC II 0222, AR-Denarius, S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, -/-//--, Dacia seated right, #1027 Traianus (98-117 A.D.), Rome, RIC II 0222, AR-Denarius, S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, -/-//--, Dacia seated right, #1
avers: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P, Laureate head right, drapery on far shoulder.
reverse: S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Dacia seated right at foot of trophy.
exergue: -/-//--, diameter: 17,0mm, weight:3,12g, axis: 6h,
mint: Rome, date: 103-111 A.D.,
ref: RIC II 222,
Q-001quadrans
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027 Traianus (98-117 A.D.), Rome, RIC II 0505var., Woytek 206cB, AE-Dupondius, S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI /S-C, Pax standing left, Rare! #1027 Traianus (98-117 A.D.), Rome, RIC II 0505var., Woytek 206cB, AE-Dupondius, S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI /S-C, Pax standing left, Rare! #1
avers: IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GERM P M TR P COS V P P, Laureate head right, with Aegis on the left shoulder.
reverse: S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Pax standing left, holding olive branch and cornucopia, her foot on the shoulder of a captive Dacia.
exergue: S/C//--, diameter: 28,0-29,0mm, weight: 13,24g, axis: 6h,
mint: Rome, date: A.D.,
ref: RIC II 505var., C-, Woytek 206cB, (6 specimens!!), Rare!
Q-001quadrans
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027 Traianus (98-117 A.D.), Rome, RIC II 0510, AE-Sestertius, S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Pax seated left on throne, #1027 Traianus (98-117 A.D.), Rome, RIC II 0510, AE-Sestertius, S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Pax seated left on throne, #1
avers: IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P, Laureate bust right, drapery on far shoulder.
reverse: S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Pax seated left, holding branch, kneeling Dacian with arms raised at her feet to left.
exergue: -/-//SC, diameter: mm, weight:g, axis: h,
mint: Rome, date: 103-111 A.D.,
ref: RIC II 510, p-281, C 419,
Q-001quadrans
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027 Traianus (98-117 A.D.), Rome, RIC II 0540, AE-As, S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI /S-C, Trajan riding right, #1027 Traianus (98-117 A.D.), Rome, RIC II 0540, AE-As, S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI /S-C, Trajan riding right, #1
avers: IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P, Laureate, head right with aegis.
reverse: S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Trajan riding right spearing Dacian enemy.
exergue: -/-//S-C, diameter: 27,5-28mm, weight: 10,77g, axis: 6h,
mint: Rome, date: 103-111 A.D.,
ref: RIC II 540, C-,
Q-001quadrans
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027 Traianus (98-117 A.D.), Rome, RIC II 0540, AE-Dupondius, S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI /S-C, Trajan riding right, #1027 Traianus (98-117 A.D.), Rome, RIC II 0540, AE-Dupondius, S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI /S-C, Trajan riding right, #1
avers: IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P, Laureate, head right with aegis.
revers: S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Trajan riding right spearing Dacian enemy.
exergue: -/-//S-C, diameter: 27,5-28,0mm, weight: 14,01g, axis: 7h,
mint: Rome, date: 103-111 A.D.,
ref: RIC II 540, C-,
"Woytek, MIR 208cB, 15 specimens in his photo file, c. 105-7 A.D." by Curtis Clay, thank you!
Q-001quadrans
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027b Trajan. AR Denarius 3.4gmobv: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM TR P laur. bust r. drp. on far shoulder
rev: COS V PP SPQR OPTIMO PRINC trophy with Dacian arms stacked belowhill132
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027c Trajan. AE AS 10.8gmobv: IMP CAES NERVA TRAIANO AVG DAC PM TRP COS V PP
laur. bust r.drp. on far shoulder
rev: SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI Dacia std. l. in attitude of mourning on
shield and arms, before her trophy
ex: SChill132
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032a. Maximinus I ThraxAugustus 19 March 235 - May/June 238
Of Dacian (Carpi tribe) background. First non-senatorial or non-equestrian class emperor. Reportedly very large and strong. Despised by Roman senators, who backed usurpers to him. Killed by own troops at siege of Aquileia as he was marching to Rome to restore power.lawrence c
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036. Trajan Decius, 249-251AD. AE Sestertius. AE Sestertius. Rome mint.
Obv. Laureate and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG
Rev. Dacia, wearing robe reaching feet, standing left holding vertical staff topped with a wolf's head DACIA SC.
RIC p. 135, 112b; C 18, , 18.398g, 22.4mm. gVF
LordBest
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040a04. Trajan DeciusAR Antoninianus. Obv: IMP TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: DACIA, Dacia standing left, holding draco standard. RIC 2b, RSC 13.lawrence c
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040a06. Trajan DeciusÆ Sestertius (29mm, 1h). Rome mint, 1st officina. 2nd-3rd emissions. Laureate and cuirassed bust right / Dacia standing left, holding staff surmounted by dragon's head. RIC IV 112a. Die shift. From the Robert W. Bartlett Bequest Sold for the Benefit of the ANS. Ex Berk BBS 19 (30 March 1982), lot 327. CNG Keystone Auction 4, Lot 241.lawrence c
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040a07. Trajan DeciusAntoninianus, RSC IV 16, RIC IV 12(b), Hunter III 7, SRCV III 9368. Rome mint, weight 3.970g, maximum diameter 22.4mm, c. 250 - 251 A.D.; obverse IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, from behind; reverse DACIA, Dacia standing half left, wearing robe reaching feet, staff topped with the head of Draco in right hand. A FORUM coin.lawrence c
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045. Trajan.Denarius, 103-111 AD, Rome mint.
Obverse: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM TR P / Laureate bust of Trajan.
Reverse: COS V PP SPQR OPTIMO PRINC / Trophy of arms: two shield, one round, one oval; at base: two swords, two javelins, and two shields.
3.28 gm., 18 mm.
RIC #147.
The conquest of Dacia, the most important military enterprise of Trajan's reign, occupied two campaigns: 101 - 102 AD, and 105 - 106 AD. This coin commemorates the victories of the second of these campaigns.Callimachus
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064 - Septimius Severus denarius - RIC 013Obv:- IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG, Laureate head right
Rev:- LEG XIII GEM / TR P COS, Legionary eagle between two standards.
Minted in Rome. A.D. 193
Reference:- Cohen 269. BMCRE 17, RIC 13 (Scarce)
Legion XIII Gemina was stationed at Apulum in Dacia. It is important for collectors to distinguish carefully issues of this scarce legion from the common Legion XIIII Gemina Marti Victrix. Legion XIII coins never have 'MV' following 'LEG XIII GEM' while Legion XIIII coins always have 'MV' following 'LEG XIIII GEM'. maridvnvm
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072 Trajan Decius. AR antoninianusobv: IMP C MQ TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG rad. drp. bust r.
rev: DACIA Dacia std. l. holding vertical staff with ass's headhill132
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074p Philippus I. (244-249 A.D.), Dacia, Dacia, PM 02-63-01, AE-Sestertius, -/-//AN•II•, PROVINCIA DACIA, Dacia standing left, Rare! #1074p Philippus I. (244-249 A.D.), Dacia, Dacia, PM 02-63-01, AE-Sestertius, -/-//AN•II•, PROVINCIA DACIA, Dacia standing left, Rare! #1
avers: IMP IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
reverse: PROVI N CIA DA CIA, Dacia sitting left, holding two standards, between an eagle and a lion, Year AN II in exergue.
exergue: -/-//AN•II•, diameter: 27,5mm, weight: 13,51g, axis: 1h,
mint: Dacia, date: 247-248 A.D., ref: Pick-12, PM-2-63-1, Mus-,
Q-001quadrans
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074p Philippus I. (244-249 A.D.), Dacia, Dacia, PM 02-67-22, AE-Sestertius, -/-//ANIII, PROVINCIA DACIA, Dacia standing left, Rare! #1074p Philippus I. (244-249 A.D.), Dacia, Dacia, PM 02-67-22, AE-Sestertius, -/-//ANIII, PROVINCIA DACIA, Dacia standing left, Rare! #1
avers: IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, Laureate, draped bust right.
reverse: PROV INC IA D ACIA, Dacia stands left in long chiton and Phrygian cap, curved sword in right, standard inscribed V in right, on left standard inscribed XIII and eagle head right wreath in beak, on right lion walking left.
exergue: -/-//ANIII, diameter: 28,0mm, weight: 14,20g, axis: 1h,
mint: Dacia, date: 248-249 A.D.,
ref: Pick-16, PM-2-67-22,
Q-001quadrans
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074p Philippus I. (244-249 A.D.), Dacia, Dacia, PM 02-67-23, AE-Sestertius, -/-//ANIII, PROVINCIA DACIA, Dacia standing left, Rare! #1074p Philippus I. (244-249 A.D.), Dacia, Dacia, PM 02-67-23, AE-Sestertius, -/-//ANIII, PROVINCIA DACIA, Dacia standing left, Rare! #1
avers: IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, Laureate, draped bust right.
reverse: PROV INC IA DA CIA, Dacia stands left in long chiton and Phrygian cap, curved sword in right, standard inscribed XIII in left, on left standard inscribed V and eagle head right wreath in beak, on right lion walking left.
exergue: -/-//ANIII, diameter: 26-27mm, weight: 11,90g, axis: 1h,
mint: Dacia, date: 248-249 A.D., ref: Pick-16, PM-2-67-23, SGICV 3873v, BMC 6v, Moushmov 1,
Q-001quadrans
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079 Traianus Decius (249-251 A.D.), RIC IV-III 0012b, Rome, AR-Antoninianus, DACIA, Dacia standing left, #1079 Traianus Decius (249-251 A.D.), RIC IV-III 0012b, Rome, AR-Antoninianus, DACIA, Dacia standing left, #1
avers:- IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, radiate, draped, & cuirassed bust right
revers:- DACIA, Dacia standing left, holding draco standard or vertical staff surmounted by ass's head.
exe: -/-//--, diameter: 22-24mm, weight: 4,76g, axis: h,
mint: Rome, date: , ref: RIC IV-III 12b, RSC 16,
Q-001quadrans
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079 Traianus Decius (249-251 A.D.), RIC IV-III 0012b, Rome, AR-Antoninianus, DACIA, Dacia standing left, #3079 Traianus Decius (249-251 A.D.), RIC IV-III 0012b, Rome, AR-Antoninianus, DACIA, Dacia standing left, #3
avers:- IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, radiate, draped, & cuirassed bust right
revers:- DACIA, Dacia standing left, holding draco standard or vertical staff surmounted by ass's head.
exe: -/-//--, diameter: 21-22mm, weight: 3,57g, axis: 0h,
mint: Roma, date: , ref: RIC IV-III 12b, RSC 16,
Q-003quadrans
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079 Traianus Decius (249-251 A.D.), RIC IV-III 0013, Rome, AR-Antoninianus, DACIA, Dacia standing left, #1079 Traianus Decius (249-251 A.D.), RIC IV-III 0013, Rome, AR-Antoninianus, DACIA, Dacia standing left, #1
avers:- IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, radiate, draped, & cuirassed bust right
revers:- DACIA, Dacia standing left, holding standard,
exerg: -/-//--, diameter: 21mm, weight: 4,85g, axis: 7h,
mint: Rome, date: 249-251 A.D., ref: RIC IV-III 013,
Q-001quadrans
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079p Traianus Decius (249-251 A.D.), Dacia, Dacia, PM 03-56-02, AE-Sestertius, -/-//ANV, PROVIN CIA DACIA, Dacia standing left, #1079p Traianus Decius (249-251 A.D.), Dacia, Dacia, PM 03-56-02, AE-Sestertius, -/-//ANV, PROVINCIA DACIA, Dacia standing left, #1
avers: IMP TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
reverse: PROVIN CIA DACIA, Dacia standing left, holding branch in right hand, transverse sceptre surmounted by a small figure of victory in left hand, between an eagle and a lion, emblems of legions V (eagle) and XIII (lion). Year AN V in ex.
exergue: -/-//ANV, diameter: 28mm, weight: 13,40g, axis: 6h,
mint: Dacia, date: 250-251 A.D., ref: Pick-??, PM-3-56-2, Mus-??,
Q-001quadrans
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084a. LiciniusBorn to a Dacian peasant family. Made Western Augustus by Galerius in 308. When Galerius died in 311, split empire with Maximinus Daia. Married half-sister of Constantine. Licinius broke with Maximinus, and in war between the two, Maximinus was defeated. Licinius then split empire with Constantine. On and off again conflict emerged between the two, In 324, Constantine defeated Licinius at battles of Adrianople and Chrysopolis. Licinius initially imprisoned, but then hanged.
lawrence c
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085a. Maximinus IIKnown as Daza or Daia. Dacian peasant and soldier. Nephew of Galerius, who named him Caesar in 305. Fought against Licinius in 313 and lost. Died a few months after. Known for his strong anti-Christian sympathies.lawrence c
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088p Valerian I. (253-260 A.D.), Dacia, Dacia, PM 07-54-01, AE-Sestertius, -/-//ANVIII, PROVINCIA DACIA, Dacia standing left, Rare!088p Valerian I. (253-260 A.D.), Dacia, Dacia, PM 07-54-01, AE-Sestertius, -/-//ANVIII, PROVINCIA DACIA, Dacia standing left, Rare!
avers: IMP P LIC VALERIANO AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
reverse: PROVIN CIA DACIA, Dacia standing left, holding two standards, between an eagle and a lion, Year ANVIII in exergue.
exergue: -/-//ANVIII, diameter: 25mm, weight: 9,73g, axis: h,
mint: Dacia, date: 253-254 A.D., ref: Pick-61var??, PM-7-54-1, Mus-23var??,
Q-001quadrans
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088p Valerian I. (253-260 A.D.), Dacia, Dacia, PM 07-59-??, AE-Sestertius, -/-//ANX, PROVINCIA DACIA, Dacia standing left, Rare!088p Valerian I. (253-260 A.D.), Dacia, Dacia, PM 07-59-??, AE-Sestertius, -/-//ANX, PROVINCIA DACIA, Dacia standing left, Rare!
avers: IMP P L VALERIANVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
reverse: PROVINCI A D ACIA, Dacia standing left, between an eagle and a lion, right hand holding serpent, left hand holding standards, Year ANX in exergue.
exergue: -/-//ANX, diameter: 26,5-28,5mm, weight: 8,75g, axis: 11h,
mint: Dacia, date: 255-256 A.D., ref: Pick-63var??, PM-7-59-???, Mus-??,
Q-001quadrans
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096 - Trajan Decius Antoninianus - RIC 012bObv:– IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– DACIA, Dacia, wearing robe reaching feet, standing left, holding vertical staff with ass’s head
Minted in Rome.
Reference:– RIC 12b. RSC 16maridvnvm
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098-117 AD - TRAJAN AE as - struck 103-111 ADobv: IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PMTRP COS V PP (laureate head right, draped far shoulder)
rev: SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI (Pax standing left holding branch & cornucopiae, foot on Dacian captive), S-C in field
ref: RIC II 503, C.408(2frcs)
8.76gms, 25mmberserker
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098-117 AD - TRAJAN AE dupondius - struck 112-114 ADobv: IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PMTRP COS VI PP (radiate bust right with aegis, drapery on far shoulder)
rev: DACIA AVGVST (Dacia seated left on rock, holds aquila. At her side a child holding corn, in front a child holding grapes), PROVINCIA and S-C in ex.
ref: RIC II 623 (S), C.126 (3frcs)
11.36gms, 26mm
Rare
History: D. Terentius Scaurianus, the first governor of Dacia (106–110/112 AD) started to organize the province and it had finished to 112 AD. Scaurianus executed the measures what required to becoming Dacia to the part of the Roman Empire, did the census and the land survey of the conquered areas, even made also several roads. This type of coin is the evidence of that works. berserker
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098-117 AD - TRAJAN AE sestertius - struck 104-110 ADobv: IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V PP (laureate head right, drapery at left shoulder)
rev: SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI (Dacia, in attitude of mourning, seated left on pile of arms; trophy before), S-C in ex.
ref: RIC II 564, Cohen 534(4frcs), BMC 785
24.33gms, 33mmberserker
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098-117 AD - TRAJAN AR denarius - struck 103-111 ADobv: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P (laureate bust right, drapery on far shoulder)
rev: COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC (Dacia seated left in mourning on pile of arms), DAC CAP in exergue.
ref: RIC II 98 (C); BMCRE 390; RSC 120
2.98gms, 18mm
Scarce
DACia CAPta = conquest of Daciaberserker
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098-117 AD - TRAJAN AR denarius - struck 112-114 ADobv: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI PP (laureate bust right, slight drapery on left shoulder)
rev: SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI (Abundantia standing left, holding cornucopiae and grain ears; at her feet, a child holding a roll), in ex. ALIM ITAL [Alimenta Italiae]
ref: RIC II 243, C.9 (3frcs)
mint: Rome
2.91gms, 19mm
The Alimenta was a welfare program for poor children and orphans. Credit for designing the program is usually attributed to Nerva, but it was increased and formally organized under Trajan. The Alimenta was funded from several sources. Probably, money from the Dacian Wars was used to initially underwrite the program; however, the long-term existence of the program was insured through 5% interest paid by wealthy landowners on loans and estate taxes. Philanthropy was also encouraged and contributed to the total funding.
Under Alimenta, boys of freemen received 16 sesterces monthly, girls received 12, while children borne out of wedlock received a bit less. The Alimenta was supplemented with a special young girls foundation initiated by Antoninus Pius in honor of his deceased wife Faustina. Municipal magistrates administered the alimentary funds and in turn were supervised by imperial clerks who had the status of knights. berserker
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102 AD: Triumph of Trajan in the first Dacian war and dedication of triumphal arch to Jupiter Optimus Maximus orichalcum sestertius (20.83g, 33mm, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 103-104.
IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P laureate head of Trajan facing right.
S·P·Q·R·OPTIMO PRINCIPI [r.b.,] S C [in ex.] monumental richly decorated triumphal arch; in the panel above pediment inscribed IOM (= Iovi Optimo Maximo)(nearly invisible on this specimen)
RIC 572 [R]; BMC 844; Cohen 547; Foss (Roman Historical Coins) 100:18
Ex CNG eAuct. 266; ex Deyo CollectionCharles S
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106 AD: Trajan triumph in the second Dacian warorichalcum sestertius (24.9g, 35mm, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 106-111.
IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM TR P COS V PP laureate bust of Trajan with aegis (note the detail of the Medusa head on Trajan's chest)
SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI [/] S C [in field] Winged Victory standing right, holding shield insribed VIC DAC against a palm tree
RIC 528 [common]; C 454; Foss (Roman Historical Coins) 101-31bCharles S
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106. Trajan Decius (249-251 A.D.)Av.: IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG
Rv.: DACIA
AR Antoninian Ø22-25 / 5,1g
RIC IV 12b Rome, Cohen 16
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106. Trajan Decius (249-251 A.D.)Av.: IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG
Rv.: DACIA
AR Antoninian Ø22-25 / 5,1g
RIC IV 12b Rome, Cohen 16
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117-138 AD - HADRIAN AR denarius - struck 118 ADobv: IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG (laureate bust right, cuirassed, draped far shoulder)
rev: P M TR P COS II (Justice is seated on the curule chair, as on a tribunal: with the insignia of the hasta pura and the extended patera she displays her care for religion), IVSTITIA in ex.
ref: RIC II 42, RSC 877
mint: Rome
3.25gms, 19mm
Rare cuirassed bust, RIC not describes (c - not in RIC). Unfortunately the reverse is burned, but still valuable.
The reverse perhaps refer to the edictum perpetuum or Pretorian edict, what was an annual declaration made by the praetor urbanus in which he laid out the principles by which he would exercise his jurisdiction for his year in office. Under Hadrian, the edict became fixed and unchangeable.
And there's an other fact that can refer this reverse. When Hadrian arrived in Rome in July 118 to a hostile reception on the part of the senate, because of the death of the four consulars. The four men were Cornelius Palma, governor of Syria, Avidius Nigrinus, governor of Dacia, Publilius Celsus and Lusius Quietus, governor of Judaea, they were all Trajan's men, and their elimination certainly made Hadrian's course easier. But an Emperor had right everytime, and he was the justice.berserker
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1303a, Galerius, 1 March 305 - 5 May 311 A.D.Galerius, RIC VI 59, Cyzicus S, VF, Cyzicus S, 6.4 g, 25.86 mm; 309-310 AD; Obverse: GAL MAXIMIANVS P F AVG, laureate bust right; Reverse: GENIO A-VGVS[TI], Genius stg. left, naked but for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae. A nice example with sharp detail and nice brown hoard patina. Ex Ancient Imports.
De Imperatoribus Romanis,
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors
Galerius (305-311 A.D.)
Michael DiMaio, Jr.
Salve Regina University
Caius Galerius Valerius Maximianus, more commonly known as Galerius, was from Illyricum; his father, whose name is unknown, was of peasant stock, while his mother, Romula, was from beyond the Danube. Galerius was born in Dacia Ripensis near Sardica. Although the date of his birth is unknown, he was probably born ca. 250 since he served under Aurelian. As a youth Galerius was a shepherd and acquired the nickname Armentarius. Although he seems to have started his military career under Aurelian and Probus, nothing is known about it before his accession as Caesar on 1 March 293. He served as Diocletian's Caesar in the East. Abandoning his first wife, he married Diocletian's daugher, Valeria.
As Caesar he campaigned in Egypt in 294; he seems to have taken to the field against Narses of Persia, and was defeated near Ctesiphon in 295. In 298, after he made inroads into Armenia, he obtained a treaty from the Persians favorable to the Romans. Between 299-305 he overcame the Sarmatians and the Carpi along the Danube. The Great Persecution of the Orthodox Church, which was started in 303 by the Emperor Diocletian, was probably instigated by Galerius. Because of the almost fatal illness that he contracted toward the end of 304, Diocletian, at Nicomedeia, and Maximianus Herculius, at Mediolanum, divested themselves of the purple on 1 May 305. Constantius and Galerius were appointed as Augusti, with Maximinus Daia and Severus as the new Caesars. Constantius and Severus reigned in the West, whereas Galerius' and Daia's realm was the East. Although Constantius was nominally senior Augustus, the real power was in the hands of Galerius because both Caesars were his creatures.
The balance of power shifted at the end of July 306 when Constantius, with his son Constantine at his side, passed away at York in Britain where he was preparing to face incursions by the Picts; his army proclaimed Constantine his successor immediately. As soon as he received the news of the death of Constantius I and the acclamation of Constantine to the purple, Galerius raised Severus to the rank of Augustus to replace his dead colleague in August 306. Making the best of a bad situation, Galerius accepted Constantine as the new Caesar in the West. The situation became more complicated when Maxentius, with his father Maximianus Herculius acquiesing, declared himself princes on 28 October 306. When Galerius learned about the acclamation of the usurper, he dispatched the Emperor Severus to put down the rebellion. Severus took a large field army which had formerly been that of Maximianus and proceeded toward Rome and began to besiege the city, Maxentius, however, and Maximianus, by means of a ruse, convinced Severus to surrender. Later, in 307, Severus was put to death under clouded circumstances. While Severus was fighting in the west, Galerius, during late 306 or early 307, was campaigning against the Sarmatians.
In the early summer of 307 Galerius invaded Italy to avenge Severus's death; he advanced to the south and encamped at Interamna near the Tiber. His attempt to besiege the city was abortive because his army was too small to encompass the city's fortifications. Not trusting his own troops, Galerius withdrew. During its retreat, his army ravaged the Italian countryside as it was returning to its original base. When Maximianus Herculius' attempts to regain the throne between 308 and 310 by pushing his son off his throne or by winning over Constantine to his cause failed, he tried to win Diocletian and Galerius over to his side at Carnuntum in October and November 308; the outcome of the Conference at Carnuntum was that Licinius was appointed Augustus in Severus's place, that Daia and Constantine were denoted filii Augustorum, and that Herculius was completely cut out of the picture. Later, in 310, Herculius died, having been implicated in a plot against his son-in-law. After the Conference at Carnuntum, Galerius returned to Sardica where he died in the opening days of May 311.
By Michael DiMaio, Jr., Salve Regina University; Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Galerius was Caesar and tetrarch under Maximianus. Although a talented general and administrator, Galerius is better known for his key role in the "Great Persecution" of Christians. He stopped the persecution under condition the Christians pray for his return to health from a serious illness. Galerius died horribly shortly after. Joseph Sermarini, FORVM.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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1308b, Licinius I, 308 - 324 A.D. (Siscia)Licinius I, 11 November 308 - 18 September 324 A.D. Bronze follis, RIC 4, F, Siscia, 3.257g, 21.6mm, 0o, 313 - 315 A.D. Obverse: IMP LIC LICINIVS P F AVG, laureate head right; Reverse IOVI CONSERVATORI AVGG NN, Jupiter standing left holding Victory on globe and scepter, eagle with wreath in beak left, E right, SIS in exergue.
De Imperatoribus Romanis : An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
Licinius (308-324 A.D.)
Michael DiMaio, Jr.
Salve Regina University
Licinius' Heritage
Valerius Licinianus Licinius, more commonly known as Licinius, may have been born ca. 265. Of peasant origin, his family was from Dacia. A close friend and comrade of arms of the Emperor Galerius, he accompanied him on his Persian expedition in 297. When campaigns by Severus and Galerius in late 306 or early 307 and in the summer of 307, respectively, failed to dislodge Maxentius who, with the luke warm support of his father Maximianus Herculius, was acclaimed princeps on 28 October 306, he was sent by the eastern emperor to Maxentius as an ambassador; the diplomatic mission, however, failed because the usurper refused to submit to the authority of his father-in-law Galerius. At the Conference of Carnuntum which was held in October or November of 308, Licinius was made an Augustus on 11 November 308; his realm included Thrace, Illyricum, and Pannonia.
Licinius' Early Reign
Although Licinius was initially appointed by Galerius to replace Severus to end the revolt of Maxentius , Licinius (perhaps wisely) made no effort to move against the usurper. In fact, his first attested victory was against the Sarmatians probably in the late spring, but no later than the end of June in 310. When the Emperor Galerius died in 311, Licinius met Maximinus Daia at the Bosporus during the early summer of that year; they concluded a treaty and divided Galerius' realm between them. It was little more than a year later that the Emperor Constantine defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge on 28 October 312. After the defeat of the usurper, Constantine and Licinius met at Mediolanum (Milan) where Licinius married the former's sister Constantia; one child was born of this union: Valerius Licinianus Licinius. Licinius had another son, born of a slave woman, whose name is unknown. It appears that both emperors promulgated the so-called Edict of Milan, in which Constantine and Licinius granted Christians the freedom to practice their faith without any interference from the state.
As soon as he seems to have learned about the marital alliance between Licinius and Constantine and the death of Maxentius, who had been his ally, Daia traversed Asia Minor and, in April 313, he crossed the Bosporus and went to Byzantium, which he took from Licinius after an eleven day siege. On 30 April 313 the armies of both emperors clashed on the Campus Ergenus; in the ensuing battle Daia's forces were routed. A last ditch stand by Daia at the Cilician Gates failed; the eastern emperor subsequently died in the area of Tarsus probably in July or August 313. As soon as he arrived in Nicomedeia, Licinius promulgated the Edict of Milan. As soon as he had matters in Nicomedeia straightened out, Licinius campaigned against the Persians in the remaining part of 313 and the opening months of 314.
The First Civil War Between Licinius and Constantine
Once Licinius had defeated Maximinus Daia, the sole rulers of the Roman world were he and Constantine. It is obvious that the marriage of Licinius to Constantia was simply a union of convenience. In any case, there is evidence in the sources that both emperors were looking for an excuse to attack the other. The affair involving Bassianus (the husband of Constantius I's daughter Anastasia ), mentioned in the text of Anonymus Valesianus (5.14ff), may have sparked the falling out between the two emperors. In any case, Constantine' s forces joined battle with those of Licinius at Cibalae in Pannonia on 8 October 314. When the battle was over, Constantine prevailed; his victory, however, was Pyrrhic. Both emperors had been involved in exhausting military campaigns in the previous year and the months leading up to Cibalae and each of their realms had expanded so fast that their manpower reserves must have been stretched to the limit. Both men retreated to their own territory to lick their wounds. It may well be that the two emperors made an agreement, which has left no direct trace in the historical record, which would effectively restore the status quo.
Both emperors were variously engaged in different activities between 315 and 316. In addition to campaigning against the Germans while residing in Augusta Treverorum (Trier) in 315, Constantine dealt with aspects of the Donatist controversy; he also traveled to Rome where he celebrated his Decennalia. Licinius, possibly residing at Sirmium, was probably waging war against the Goths. Although not much else is known about Licinius' activities during this period, it is probable that he spent much of his time preparing for his impending war against Constantine; the latter,who spent the spring and summer of 316 in Augusta Treverorum, was probably doing much the same thing. In any case, by December 316, the western emperor was in Sardica with his army. Sometime between 1 December and 28 February 317, both emperors' armies joined battle on the Campus Ardiensis; as was the case in the previous engagement, Constantine' s forces were victorious. On 1 March 317, both sides agreed to a cessation of hostilities; possibly because of the intervention of his wife Constantia, Licinius was able to keep his throne, although he had to agree to the execution of his colleague Valens, who the eastern emperor had appointed as his colleague before the battle, as well as to cede some of his territory to his brother-in-law.
Licinius and the Christians
Although the historical record is not completely clear, Licinius seems to have campaigned against the Sarmatians in 318. He also appears to have been in Byzantium in the summer of 318 and later in June 323. Beyond these few facts, not much else is known about his residences until mid summer of 324. Although he and Constantine had issued the Edict of Milan in early 313, Licinius turned on the Christians in his realm seemingly in 320. The first law that Licinius issued prevented bishops from communicating with each other and from holding synods to discuss matters of interest to them. The second law prohibited men and women from attending services together and young girls from receiving instruction from their bishop or schools. When this law was issued, he also gave orders that Christians could hold services only outside of city walls. Additionally, he deprived officers in the army of their commissions if they did not sacrifice to the gods. Licinius may have been trying to incite Constantine to attack him. In any case, the growing tension between the two rulers is reflected in the consular Fasti of the period.
The Second Civil War Between Licinius and Constantine and Licinius' Death
War actually broke out in 321 when Constantine pursued some Sarmatians, who had been ravaging some territory in his realm, across the Danube. When he checked a similar invasion of the Goths, who were devastating Thrace, Licinius complained that Constantine had broken the treaty between them. Having assembled a fleet and army at Thessalonica, Constantine advanced toward Adrianople. Licinius engaged the forces of his brother-in-law near the banks of the Hebrus River on 3 July 324 where he was routed; with as many men as he could gather, he headed for his fleet which was in the Hellespont. Those of his soldiers who were not killed or put to flight, surrendered to the enemy. Licinius fled to Byzantium, where he was besieged by Constantine. Licinius' fleet, under the command of the admiral Abantus, was overcome by bad weather and by Constantine' s fleet which was under the command of his son Crispus. Hard pressed in Byzantium, Licinius abandoned the city to his rival and fled to Chalcedon in Bithynia. Leaving Martinianus, his former magister officiorum and now his co-ruler, to impede Constantine' s progress, Licinius regrouped his forces and engaged his enemy at Chrysopolis where he was again routed on 18 September 324. He fled to Nicomedeia which Constantine began to besiege. On the next day Licinius abdicated and was sent to Thessalonica, where he was kept under house arrest. Both Licinius and his associate were put to death by Constantine. Martinianus may have been put to death before the end of 324, whereas Licinius was not put to death until the spring of 325. Rumors circulated that Licinius had been put to death because he attempted another rebellion against Constantine.
Copyright (C) 1996, Michael DiMaio, Jr.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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1308c, Licinius I, 308-324 A.D. (Alexandria)Licinius I, 308-324 A.D. AE Follis, 3.60g, VF, 315 A.D., Alexandria. Obverse: IMP C VAL LICIN LICINIVS P F AVG - Laureate head right; Reverse: IOVI CONS-ERVATORI AVGG - Jupiter standing left, holding Victory on a globe and scepter; exergue: ALE / (wreath) over "B" over "N." Ref: RIC VII, 10 (B = r2) Rare, page 705 - Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, Scotland.
De Imperatoribus Romanis : An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families
Licinius (308-324 A.D.)
Michael DiMaio, Jr.
Salve Regina University
Licinius' Heritage
Valerius Licinianus Licinius, more commonly known as Licinius, may have been born ca. 265. Of peasant origin, his family was from Dacia. A close friend and comrade of arms of the Emperor Galerius, he accompanied him on his Persian expedition in 297. When campaigns by Severus and Galerius in late 306 or early 307 and in the summer of 307, respectively, failed to dislodge Maxentius who, with the luke warm support of his father Maximianus Herculius, was acclaimed princeps on 28 October 306, he was sent by the eastern emperor to Maxentius as an ambassador; the diplomatic mission, however, failed because the usurper refused to submit to the authority of his father-in-law Galerius. At the Conference of Carnuntum which was held in October or November of 308, Licinius was made an Augustus on 11 November 308; his realm included Thrace, Illyricum, and Pannonia.
Licinius' Early Reign
Although Licinius was initially appointed by Galerius to replace Severus to end the revolt of Maxentius , Licinius (perhaps wisely) made no effort to move against the usurper. In fact, his first attested victory was against the Sarmatians probably in the late spring, but no later than the end of June in 310. When the Emperor Galerius died in 311, Licinius met Maximinus Daia at the Bosporus during the early summer of that year; they concluded a treaty and divided Galerius' realm between them. It was little more than a year later that the Emperor Constantine defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge on 28 October 312. After the defeat of the usurper, Constantine and Licinius met at Mediolanum (Milan) where Licinius married the former's sister Constantia; one child was born of this union: Valerius Licinianus Licinius. Licinius had another son, born of a slave woman, whose name is unknown. It appears that both emperors promulgated the so-called Edict of Milan, in which Constantine and Licinius granted Christians the freedom to practice their faith without any interference from the state.
As soon as he seems to have learned about the marital alliance between Licinius and Constantine and the death of Maxentius, who had been his ally, Daia traversed Asia Minor and, in April 313, he crossed the Bosporus and went to Byzantium, which he took from Licinius after an eleven day siege. On 30 April 313 the armies of both emperors clashed on the Campus Ergenus; in the ensuing battle Daia's forces were routed. A last ditch stand by Daia at the Cilician Gates failed; the eastern emperor subsequently died in the area of Tarsus probably in July or August 313. As soon as he arrived in Nicomedeia, Licinius promulgated the Edict of Milan. As soon as he had matters in Nicomedeia straightened out, Licinius campaigned against the Persians in the remaining part of 313 and the opening months of 314.
The First Civil War Between Licinius and Constantine
Once Licinius had defeated Maximinus Daia, the sole rulers of the Roman world were he and Constantine. It is obvious that the marriage of Licinius to Constantia was simply a union of convenience. In any case, there is evidence in the sources that both emperors were looking for an excuse to attack the other. The affair involving Bassianus (the husband of Constantius I's daughter Anastasia ), mentioned in the text of Anonymus Valesianus (5.14ff), may have sparked the falling out between the two emperors. In any case, Constantine' s forces joined battle with those of Licinius at Cibalae in Pannonia on 8 October 314. When the battle was over, Constantine prevailed; his victory, however, was Pyrrhic. Both emperors had been involved in exhausting military campaigns in the previous year and the months leading up to Cibalae and each of their realms had expanded so fast that their manpower reserves must have been stretched to the limit. Both men retreated to their own territory to lick their wounds. It may well be that the two emperors made an agreement, which has left no direct trace in the historical record, which would effectively restore the status quo.
Both emperors were variously engaged in different activities between 315 and 316. In addition to campaigning against the Germans while residing in Augusta Treverorum (Trier) in 315, Constantine dealt with aspects of the Donatist controversy; he also traveled to Rome where he celebrated his Decennalia. Licinius, possibly residing at Sirmium, was probably waging war against the Goths. Although not much else is known about Licinius' activities during this period, it is probable that he spent much of his time preparing for his impending war against Constantine; the latter,who spent the spring and summer of 316 in Augusta Treverorum, was probably doing much the same thing. In any case, by December 316, the western emperor was in Sardica with his army. Sometime between 1 December and 28 February 317, both emperors' armies joined battle on the Campus Ardiensis; as was the case in the previous engagement, Constantine' s forces were victorious. On 1 March 317, both sides agreed to a cessation of hostilities; possibly because of the intervention of his wife Constantia, Licinius was able to keep his throne, although he had to agree to the execution of his colleague Valens, who the eastern emperor had appointed as his colleague before the battle, as well as to cede some of his territory to his brother-in-law.
Licinius and the Christians
Although the historical record is not completely clear, Licinius seems to have campaigned against the Sarmatians in 318. He also appears to have been in Byzantium in the summer of 318 and later in June 323. Beyond these few facts, not much else is known about his residences until mid summer of 324. Although he and Constantine had issued the Edict of Milan in early 313, Licinius turned on the Christians in his realm seemingly in 320. The first law that Licinius issued prevented bishops from communicating with each other and from holding synods to discuss matters of interest to them. The second law prohibited men and women from attending services together and young girls from receiving instruction from their bishop or schools. When this law was issued, he also gave orders that Christians could hold services only outside of city walls. Additionally, he deprived officers in the army of their commissions if they did not sacrifice to the gods. Licinius may have been trying to incite Constantine to attack him. In any case, the growing tension between the two rulers is reflected in the consular Fasti of the period.
The Second Civil War Between Licinius and Constantine and Licinius' Death
War actually broke out in 321 when Constantine pursued some Sarmatians, who had been ravaging some territory in his realm, across the Danube. When he checked a similar invasion of the Goths, who were devastating Thrace, Licinius complained that Constantine had broken the treaty between them. Having assembled a fleet and army at Thessalonica, Constantine advanced toward Adrianople. Licinius engaged the forces of his brother-in-law near the banks of the Hebrus River on 3 July 324 where he was routed; with as many men as he could gather, he headed for his fleet which was in the Hellespont. Those of his soldiers who were not killed or put to flight, surrendered to the enemy. Licinius fled to Byzantium, where he was besieged by Constantine. Licinius' fleet, under the command of the admiral Abantus, was overcome by bad weather and by Constantine' s fleet which was under the command of his son Crispus. Hard pressed in Byzantium, Licinius abandoned the city to his rival and fled to Chalcedon in Bithynia. Leaving Martinianus, his former magister officiorum and now his co-ruler, to impede Constantine' s progress, Licinius regrouped his forces and engaged his enemy at Chrysopolis where he was again routed on 18 September 324. He fled to Nicomedeia which Constantine began to besiege. On the next day Licinius abdicated and was sent to Thessalonica, where he was kept under house arrest. Both Licinius and his associate were put to death by Constantine. Martinianus may have been put to death before the end of 324, whereas Licinius was not put to death until the spring of 325. Rumors circulated that Licinius had been put to death because he attempted another rebellion against Constantine.
Copyright (C) 1996, Michael DiMaio, Jr.
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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138-161 AD - ANTONINUS PIUS AE as - struck 140-143 ADobv: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS PP TRP COS III (laureate head right)
rev: CONCORDIA EXERCITVM / S.C. (Concordia standing left, holding Victory and aquila)
ref: RIC III 678, C.140 (2frcs)
10.26gms, 26mm
This reverse symbolises the concord between the emperor and the army. The reign of Antoninus Pius was the most peaceful in the entire history of the Principate; while there were several military disturbances throughout the Empire in his time, the Moors in Mauretania (AD150), the Jews in Iudaea (for seventeen years the Romans didn't allow the Jews to bury their dead in Betar, after the Bar Kokhba revolt), the Brigantes in Britannia (AD 140-145, the Antonine Wall being built ca. 40 miles further north), the different Germanic tribes at the Germania limes, the Alans in Dacia (AD158), and had to put down rebellions in the provinces of Achaia and Egypt (AD154).berserker
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1403c, Constantine I (the Great), early 307 - 22 May 337 A.D.Bronze AE 3, RIC VII 35, choice aEF, Constantinople mint, 3.336g, 20.0mm, 180o, 328 A.D.; Obverse: CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG, laurel and rosette diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; Reverse: CONSTANTINI-ANA DAFNE, Victory seated left on cippus, head right, palm frond in each hand, trophy and captive before, CONS in exergue, B left; scarce. Ex FORVM.
"The information about Constantine's campaign across [the Danube] is obscure and untrustworthy. The question, therefore, of what he achieved by this enterprise was, and is, subject to contradictory interpretations. On the one hand, the Panegyrists claimed that he had repeated the triumphs of Trajan. On the other, his own nephew, Julian the Apostate, spoke for many when he expressed the view that this second 'conquest' of Dacia was incomplete and extremely brief . . . monetary commemoration was accorded to the building, at about the same time [AD 328], of the river frontier fortress of Constantiniana Dafne (Spantov, near Oltenita) . . ." (Grant, Michael. The Emperor Constantine. London: Phoenix, 1998. 58-9).
The Emperor Constantine I was effectively the sole ruler of the Roman world between 324 and 337 A.D.; his reign was perhaps one of the most crucial of all the emperors in determining the future course of western civilization. By beginning the process of making Christianity the religious foundation of his realm, he set the religious course for the future of Europe which remains in place to this very day. Because he replaced Rome with Constantinople as the center of imperial power, he made it clear that the city of Rome was no longer the center of power and he also set the stage for the Middle Ages. His philosophical view of monarchy, largely spelled out in some of the works of Eusebius of Caesarea, became the foundation for the concept of the divine right of kings which prevailed in Europe.
Constantine was not a "Christian convert" in any traditional sense. He was not baptized until close to death, and while that was not an uncommon practice, the mention of Christ in his speeches and decrees is conspicuous by its absence. Eusebius, Church historian and Constantine biographer, is responsible for much of the valorization of Constantine as the Christian Emperor. The somnambulant "sign" in which Constantine was to become victor at the Milvian Bridge is, not so surprisingly, revealed to posterity long after the "fact." Throughout his reign, Constantine continues to portray himself on coins as a sun god (Freeman, Charles. Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean; Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 582). Above all, Constantine was a pragmatist. It would be cynical to egregiously disavow his commitment to Christianity, but it would be equally wrong to think that he would allow Christianity to meddle in the governance of his empire. As he reputedly told a group of bishops, "You are bishops of those within the church, but I am perhaps a bishop appointed by God of those outside." Whatever the motives for his decision to support Christianity, Christianity benefitted from the arrangement. So, too, did Constantine. It was a match made in heaven.
J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
For perhaps the best Constantine The Great site on the web, see Victor Clark's Constantine The Great Coins: http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/Cleisthenes
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1409a, Julian II "the Philosopher," February 360 - 26 June 363 A.D.Julian II, A.D. 360-363; RIC 167; VF; 2.7g, 20mm; Constantinople mint; Obverse: DN FL CL IVLIANVS P F AVG, helmeted & cuirassed bust right, holding spear & shield; Reverse: VOT X MVLT XX in four lines within wreath; CONSPB in exergue; Attractive green patina. Ex Nemesis.
De Imperatoribus Romanis,
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors
Julian the Apostate (360-363 A.D.)
Walter E. Roberts, Emory University
Michael DiMaio, Jr., Salve Regina University
Introduction
The emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus reigned from 360 to 26 June 363, when he was killed fighting against the Persians. Despite his short rule, his emperorship was pivotal in the development of the history of the later Roman empire. This essay is not meant to be a comprehensive look at the various issues central to the reign of Julian and the history of the later empire. Rather, this short work is meant to be a brief history and introduction for the general reader. Julian was the last direct descendent of the Constantinian line to ascend to the purple, and it is one of history's great ironies that he was the last non-Christian emperor. As such, he has been vilified by most Christian sources, beginning with John Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzus in the later fourth century. This tradition was picked up by the fifth century Eusebian continuators Sozomen, Socrates Scholasticus, and Theodoret and passed on to scholars down through the 20th century. Most contemporary sources, however, paint a much more balanced picture of Julian and his reign. The adoption of Christianity by emperors and society, while still a vital concern, was but one of several issues that concerned Julian.
It is fortunate that extensive writings from Julian himself exist, which help interpret his reign in the light of contemporary evidence. Still extant are some letters, several panegyrics, and a few satires. Other contemporary sources include the soldier Ammianus Marcellinus' history, correspondence between Julian and Libanius of Antioch, several panegyrics, laws from the Theodosian Code, inscriptions, and coinage. These sources show Julian's emphasis on restoration. He saw himself as the restorer of the traditional values of Roman society. Of course much of this was rhetoric, meant to defend Julian against charges that he was a usurper. At the same time this theme of restoration was central to all emperors of the fourth century. Julian thought that he was the one emperor who could regain what was viewed as the lost glory of the Roman empire. To achieve this goal he courted select groups of social elites to get across his message of restoration. This was the way that emperors functioned in the fourth century. By choosing whom to include in the sharing of power, they sought to shape society.
Early Life
Julian was born at Constantinople in 331. His father was Julius Constantius, half-brother of the emperor Constantine through Constantius Chlorus, and his mother was Basilina, Julius' second wife. Julian had two half-brothers via Julius' first marriage. One of these was Gallus, who played a major role in Julian's life. Julian appeared destined for a bright future via his father's connection to the Constantinian house. After many years of tense relations with his three half-brothers, Constantine seemed to have welcomed them into the fold of the imperial family. From 333 to 335, Constantine conferred a series of honors upon his three half-siblings, including appointing Julius Constantius as one of the consuls for 335. Julian's mother was equally distinguished. Ammianus related that she was from a noble family. This is supported by Libanius, who claimed that she was the daughter of Julius Julianus, a Praetorian Prefect under Licinius, who was such a model of administrative virtue that he was pardoned and honored by Constantine.
Despite the fact that his mother died shortly after giving birth to him, Julian experienced an idyllic early childhood. This ended when Constantius II conducted a purge of many of his relatives shortly after Constantine's death in 337, particularly targeting the families of Constantine's half-brothers. ulian and Gallus were spared, probably due to their young age. Julian was put under the care of Mardonius, a Scythian eunuch who had tutored his mother, in 339, and was raised in the Greek philosophical tradition, and probably lived in Nicomedia. Ammianus also supplied the fact that while in Nicomedia, Julian was cared for by the local bishop Eusebius, of whom the future emperor was a distant relation. Julian was educated by some of the most famous names in grammar and rhetoric in the Greek world at that time, including Nicocles and Hecebolius. In 344 Constantius II sent Julian and Gallus to Macellum in Cappadocia, where they remained for six years. In 351, Gallus was made Caesar by Constantius II and Julian was allowed to return to Nicomedia, where he studied under Aedesius, Eusebius, and Chrysanthius, all famed philosophers, and was exposed to the Neo-Platonism that would become such a prominent part of his life. But Julian was most proud of the time he spent studying under Maximus of Ephesus, a noted Neo-Platonic philospher and theurgist. It was Maximus who completed Julian's full-scale conversion to Neo-Platonism. Later, when he was Caesar, Julian told of how he put letters from this philosopher under his pillows so that he would continue to absorb wisdom while he slept, and while campaigning on the Rhine, he sent his speeches to Maximus for approval before letting others hear them. When Gallus was executed in 354 for treason by Constantius II, Julian was summoned to Italy and essentially kept under house arrest at Comum, near Milan, for seven months before Constantius' wife Eusebia convinced the emperor that Julian posed no threat. This allowed Julian to return to Greece and continue his life as a scholar where he studied under the Neo-Platonist Priscus. Julian's life of scholarly pursuit, however, ended abruptly when he was summoned to the imperial court and made Caesar by Constantius II on 6 November 355.
Julian as Caesar
Constantius II realized an essential truth of the empire that had been evident since the time of the Tetrarchy--the empire was too big to be ruled effectively by one man. Julian was pressed into service as Caesar, or subordinate emperor, because an imperial presence was needed in the west, in particular in the Gallic provinces. Julian, due to the emperor's earlier purges, was the only viable candidate of the imperial family left who could act as Caesar. Constantius enjoined Julian with the task of restoring order along the Rhine frontier. A few days after he was made Caesar, Julian was married to Constantius' sister Helena in order to cement the alliance between the two men. On 1 December 355, Julian journeyed north, and in Augusta Taurinorum he learned that Alamannic raiders had destroyed Colonia Agrippina. He then proceeded to Vienne where he spent the winter. At Vienne, he learned that Augustudunum was also under siege, but was being held by a veteran garrison. He made this his first priority, and arrived there on 24 June 356. When he had assured himself that the city was in no immediate danger, he journeyed to Augusta Treverorum via Autessioduram, and from there to Durocortorum where he rendezvoused with his army. Julian had the army stage a series of punitive strikes around the Dieuse region, and then he moved them towards the Argentoratum/Mongontiacum region when word of barbarian incursions reached him.
From there, Julian moved on to Colonia Agrippina, and negotiated a peace with the local barbarian leaders who had assaulted the city. He then wintered at Senonae. He spent the early part of the campaigning season of 357 fighting off besiegers at Senonae, and then conducting operations around Lugdunum and Tres Tabernae. Later that summer, he encountered his watershed moment as a military general. Ammianus went into great detail about Julian's victory over seven rogue Alamannic chieftains near Argentoratum, and Julian himself bragged about it in his later writing. After this battle, the soldiers acclaimed Julian Augustus, but he rejected this title. After mounting a series of follow-up raids into Alamannic territory, he retired to winter quarters at Lutetia, and on the way defeated some Frankish raiders in the Mosa region. Julian considered this campaign one of the major events of his time as Caesar.
Julian began his 358 military campaigns early, hoping to catch the barbarians by surprise. His first target was the Franks in the northern Rhine region. He then proceeded to restore some forts in the Mosa region, but his soldiers threatened to mutiny because they were on short rations and had not been paid their donative since Julian had become Caesar. After he soothed his soldiers, Julian spent the rest of the summer negotiating a peace with various Alamannic leaders in the mid and lower Rhine areas, and retired to winter quarters at Lutetia. In 359, he prepared once again to carry out a series of punitive expeditions against the Alamanni in the Rhine region who were still hostile to the Roman presence. In preparation, the Caesar repopulated seven previously destroyed cities and set them up as supply bases and staging areas. This was done with the help of the people with whom Julian had negotiated a peace the year before. Julian then had a detachment of lightly armed soldiers cross the Rhine near Mogontiacum and conduct a guerilla strike against several chieftains. As a result of these campaigns, Julian was able to negotiate a peace with all but a handful of the Alamannic leaders, and he retired to winter quarters at Lutetia.
Of course, Julian did more than act as a general during his time as Caesar. According to Ammianus, Julian was an able administrator who took steps to correct the injustices of Constantius' appointees. Ammianus related the story of how Julian prevented Florentius, the Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, from raising taxes, and also how Julian actually took over as governor for the province of Belgica Secunda. Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, supported Ammianus' basic assessment of Julian in this regard when he reported that Julian was an able representative of the emperor to the Gallic provincials. There is also epigraphic evidence to support Julian's popularity amongst the provincial elites. An inscription found near Beneventum in Apulia reads:
"To Flavius Claudius Julianus, most noble and sanctified Caesar, from the caring Tocius Maximus, vir clarissimus, for the care of the res publica from Beneventum".
Tocius Maximus, as a vir clarissimus, was at the highest point in the social spectrum and was a leader in his local community. This inscription shows that Julian was successful in establishing a positive image amongst provincial elites while he was Caesar.
Julian Augustus
In early 360, Constantius, driven by jealousy of Julian's success, stripped Julian of many troops and officers, ostensibly because the emperor needed them for his upcoming campaign against the Persians. One of the legions ordered east, the Petulantes, did not want to leave Gaul because the majority of the soldiers in the unit were from this region. As a result they mutinied and hailed Julian as Augustus at Lutetia. Julian refused this acclamation as he had done at Argentoratum earlier, but the soldiers would have none of his denial. They raised him on a shield and adorned him with a neck chain, which had formerly been the possession of the standard-bearer of the Petulantes and symbolized a royal diadem. Julian appeared reluctantly to acquiesce to their wishes, and promised a generous donative. The exact date of his acclamation is unknown, but most scholars put it in February or March. Julian himself supported Ammianus' picture of a jealous Constantius. In his Letter to the Athenians, a document constructed to answer charges that he was a usurper, Julian stated that from the start he, as Caesar, had been meant as a figurehead to the soldiers and provincials. The real power he claimed lay with the generals and officials already present in Gaul. In fact, according to Julian, the generals were charged with watching him as much as the enemy. His account of the actual acclamation closely followed what Ammianus told us, but he stressed even more his reluctance to take power. Julian claimed that he did so only after praying to Zeus for guidance.
Fearing the reaction of Constantius, Julian sent a letter to his fellow emperor justifying the events at Lutetia and trying to arrange a peaceful solution. This letter berated Constantius for forcing the troops in Gaul into an untenable situation. Ammianus stated that Julian's letter blamed Constantius' decision to transfer Gallic legions east as the reason for the soldiers' rebellion. Julian once again asserted that he was an unwilling participant who was only following the desire of the soldiers. In both of these basic accounts Ammianus and Julian are playing upon the theme of restoration. Implicit in their version of Julian's acclamation is the argument that Constantius was unfit to rule. The soldiers were the vehicle of the gods' will. The Letter to the Athenians is full of references to the fact that Julian was assuming the mantle of Augustus at the instigation of the gods. Ammianus summed up this position nicely when he related the story of how, when Julian was agonizing over whether to accept the soldiers' acclamation, he had a dream in which he was visited by the Genius (guardian spirit) of the Roman state. The Genius told Julian that it had often tried to bestow high honors upon Julian but had been rebuffed. Now, the Genius went on to say, was Julian's final chance to take the power that was rightfully his. If the Caesar refused this chance, the Genius would depart forever, and both Julian and the state would rue Julian's rejection. Julian himself wrote a letter to his friend Maximus of Ephesus in November of 361 detailing his thoughts on his proclamation. In this letter, Julian stated that the soldiers proclaimed him Augustus against his will. Julian, however, defended his accession, saying that the gods willed it and that he had treated his enemies with clemency and justice. He went on to say that he led the troops in propitiating the traditional deities, because the gods commanded him to return to the traditional rites, and would reward him if he fulfilled this duty.
During 360 an uneasy peace simmered between the two emperors. Julian spent the 360 campaigning season continuing his efforts to restore order along the Rhine, while Constantius continued operations against the Persians. Julian wintered in Vienne, and celebrated his Quinquennalia. It was at this time that his wife Helena died, and he sent her remains to Rome for a proper burial at his family villa on the Via Nomentana where the body of her sister was entombed. The uneasy peace held through the summer of 361, but Julian concentrated his military operations around harassing the Alamannic chieftain Vadomarius and his allies, who had concluded a peace treaty with Constantius some years earlier. By the end of the summer, Julian decided to put an end to the waiting and gathered his army to march east against Constantius. The empire teetered on the brink of another civil war. Constantius had spent the summer negotiating with the Persians and making preparations for possible military action against his cousin. When he was assured that the Persians would not attack, he summoned his army and sallied forth to meet Julian. As the armies drew inexorably closer to one another, the empire was saved from another bloody civil war when Constantius died unexpectedly of natural causes on 3 November near the town of Mopsucrenae in Cilicia, naming Julian -- the sources say-- as his legitimate successor.
Julian was in Dacia when he learned of his cousin's death. He made his way through Thrace and came to Constantinople on 11 December 361 where Julian honored the emperor with the funeral rites appropriate for a man of his station. Julian immediately set about putting his supporters in positions of power and trimming the imperial bureaucracy, which had become extremely overstaffed during Constantius' reign. Cooks and barbers had increased during the late emperor's reign and Julian expelled them from his court. Ammianus gave a mixed assessment of how the new emperor handled the followers of Constantius. Traditionally, emperors were supposed to show clemency to the supporters of a defeated enemy. Julian, however, gave some men over to death to appease the army. Ammianus used the case of Ursulus, Constantius' comes sacrum largitionum, to illustrate his point. Ursulus had actually tried to acquire money for the Gallic troops when Julian had first been appointed Caesar, but he had also made a disparaging remark about the ineffectiveness of the army after the battle of Amida. The soldiers remembered this, and when Julian became sole Augustus, they demanded Ursulus' head. Julian obliged, much to the disapproval of Ammianus. This seems to be a case of Julian courting the favor of the military leadership, and is indicative of a pattern in which Julian courted the goodwill of various societal elites to legitimize his position as emperor.
Another case in point is the officials who made up the imperial bureaucracy. Many of them were subjected to trial and punishment. To achieve this goal, during the last weeks of December 361 Julian assembled a military tribunal at Chalcedon, empanelling six judges to try the cases. The president of the tribunal was Salutius, just promoted to the rank of Praetorian Prefect; the five other members were Mamertinus, the orator, and four general officers: Jovinus, Agilo, Nevitta, and Arbetio. Relative to the proceedings of the tribunal, Ammianus noted that the judges, " . . . oversaw the cases more vehemently than was right or fair, with the exception of a few . . .." Ammianus' account of Julian's attempt at reform of the imperial bureaucracy is supported by legal evidence from the Theodosian Code. A series of laws sent to Mamertinus, Julian's appointee as Praetorian Prefect in Italy, Illyricum, and Africa, illustrate this point nicely. On 6 June 362, Mamertinus received a law that prohibited provincial governors from bypassing the Vicars when giving their reports to the Prefect. Traditionally, Vicars were given civil authority over a group of provinces, and were in theory meant to serve as a middle step between governors and Prefects. This law suggests that the Vicars were being left out, at least in Illyricum. Julian issued another edict to Mamertinus on 22 February 362 to stop abuse of the public post by governors. According to this law, only Mamertinus could issue post warrants, but the Vicars were given twelve blank warrants to be used as they saw fit, and each governor was given two. Continuing the trend of bureaucratic reform, Julian also imposed penalties on governors who purposefully delayed appeals in court cases they had heard. The emperor also established a new official to weigh solidi used in official government transactions to combat coin clipping.
For Julian, reigning in the abuses of imperial bureaucrats was one step in restoring the prestige of the office of emperor. Because he could not affect all elements of society personally, Julian, like other Neo-Flavian emperors, decided to concentrate on select groups of societal elites as intercessors between himself and the general populace. One of these groups was the imperial bureaucracy. Julian made it very clear that imperial officials were intercessors in a very real sense in a letter to Alypius, Vicar of Britain. In this letter, sent from Gaul sometime before 361, the emperor praises Alypius for his use of "mildness and moderation with courage and force" in his rule of the provincials. Such virtues were characteristic of the emperors, and it was good that Alypius is representing Julian in this way. Julian courted the army because it put him in power. Another group he sought to include in his rule was the traditional Senatorial aristocracy. One of his first appointments as consul was Claudius Mamertinus, a Gallic Senator and rhetorician. Mamertinus' speech in praise of Julian delivered at Constantinople in January of 362 is preserved. In this speech, Claudius presented his consular selection as inaugurating a new golden age and Julian as the restorer of the empire founded by Augustus. The image Mamertinus gave of his own consulate inaugurating a new golden age is not merely formulaic. The comparison of Julian to Augustus has very real, if implicit, relevance to Claudius' situation. Claudius emphasized the imperial period as the true age of renewal. Augustus ushered in a new era with his formation of a partnership between the emperor and the Senate based upon a series of honors and offices bestowed upon the Senate in return for their role as intercessor between emperor and populace. It was this system that Julian was restoring, and the consulate was one concrete example of this bond. To be chosen as a consul by the emperor, who himself had been divinely mandated, was a divine honor. In addition to being named consul, Mamertinus went on to hold several offices under Julian, including the Prefecture of Italy, Illyricum, and Africa. Similarly, inscriptional evidence illustrates a link between municipal elites and Julian during his time as Caesar, something which continued after he became emperor. One concrete example comes from the municipal senate of Aceruntia in Apulia, which established a monument on which Julian is styled as "Repairer of the World."
Julian seems to have given up actual Christian belief before his acclamation as emperor and was a practitioner of more traditional Greco-Roman religious beliefs, in particular, a follower of certain late antique Platonist philosophers who were especially adept at theurgy as was noted earlier. In fact Julian himself spoke of his conversion to Neo-Platonism in a letter to the Alexandrians written in 363. He stated that he had abandoned Christianity when he was twenty years old and been an adherent of the traditional Greco-Roman deities for the twelve years prior to writing this letter.
(For the complete text of this article see: http://www.roman-emperors.org/julian.htm)
Julian’s Persian Campaign
The exact goals Julian had for his ill-fated Persian campaign were never clear. The Sassanid Persians, and before them the Parthians, had been a traditional enemy from the time of the Late Republic, and indeed Constantius had been conducting a war against them before Julian's accession forced the former to forge an uneasy peace. Julian, however, had no concrete reason to reopen hostilities in the east. Socrates Scholasticus attributed Julian's motives to imitation of Alexander the Great, but perhaps the real reason lay in his need to gather the support of the army. Despite his acclamation by the Gallic legions, relations between Julian and the top military officers was uneasy at best. A war against the Persians would have brought prestige and power both to Julian and the army.
Julian set out on his fateful campaign on 5 March 363. Using his trademark strategy of striking quickly and where least expected, he moved his army through Heirapolis and from there speedily across the Euphrates and into the province of Mesopotamia, where he stopped at the town of Batnae. His plan was to eventually return through Armenia and winter in Tarsus. Once in Mesopotamia, Julian was faced with the decision of whether to travel south through the province of Babylonia or cross the Tigris into Assyria, and he eventually decided to move south through Babylonia and turn west into Assyria at a later date. By 27 March, he had the bulk of his army across the Euphrates, and had also arranged a flotilla to guard his supply line along the mighty river. He then left his generals Procopius and Sebastianus to help Arsacius, the king of Armenia and a Roman client, to guard the northern Tigris line. It was also during this time that he received the surrender of many prominent local leaders who had nominally supported the Persians. These men supplied Julian with money and troops for further military action against their former masters. Julian decided to turn south into Babylonia and proceeded along the Euphrates, coming to the fortress of Cercusium at the junction of the Abora and Euphrates Rivers around the first of April, and from there he took his army west to a region called Zaitha near the abandoned town of Dura where they visited the tomb of the emperor Gordian which was in the area. On April 7 he set out from there into the heart of Babylonia and towards Assyria.
Ammianus then stated that Julian and his army crossed into Assyria, which on the face of things appears very confusing. Julian still seems to be operating within the province of Babylonia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The confusion is alleviated when one realizes that,for Ammianus, the region of Assyria encompassed the provinces of Babylonia and Assyria. On their march, Julian's forces took the fortress of Anatha, received the surrender and support of several more local princes, and ravaged the countryside of Assyria between the rivers. As the army continued south, they came across the fortresses Thilutha and Achaiachala, but these places were too well defended and Julian decided to leave them alone. Further south were the cities Diacira and Ozogardana, which the Roman forces sacked and burned. Soon, Julian came to Pirisabora and a brief siege ensued, but the city fell and was also looted and destroyed. It was also at this time that the Roman army met its first systematic resistance from the Persians. As the Romans penetrated further south and west, the local inhabitants began to flood their route. Nevertheless, the Roman forces pressed on and came to Maiozamalcha, a sizable city not far from Ctesiphon. After a short siege, this city too fell to Julian. Inexorably, Julian's forces zeroed in on Ctesiphon, but as they drew closer, the Persian resistance grew fiercer, with guerilla raids whittling at Julian's men and supplies. A sizable force of the army was lost and the emperor himself was almost killed taking a fort a few miles from the target city.
Finally, the army approached Ctesiphon following a canal that linked the Tigris and Euphrates. It soon became apparent after a few preliminary skirmishes that a protracted siege would be necessary to take this important city. Many of his generals, however, thought that pursuing this course of action would be foolish. Julian reluctantly agreed, but became enraged by this failure and ordered his fleet to be burned as he decided to march through the province of Assyria. Julian had planned for his army to live off the land, but the Persians employed a scorched-earth policy. When it became apparent that his army would perish (because his supplies were beginning to dwindle) from starvation and the heat if he continued his campaign, and also in the face of superior numbers of the enemy, Julian ordered a retreat on 16 June. As the Roman army retreated, they were constantly harassed by guerilla strikes. It was during one of these raids that Julian got caught up in the fighting and took a spear to his abdomen. Mortally wounded he was carried to his tent, where, after conferring with some of his officers, he died. The date was 26 June 363.
Conclusion
Thus an ignominious end for a man came about who had hoped to restore the glory of the Roman empire during his reign as emperor. Due to his intense hatred of Christianity, the opinion of posterity has not been kind to Julian. The contemporary opinion, however, was overall positive. The evidence shows that Julian was a complex ruler with a definite agenda to use traditional social institutions in order to revive what he saw as a collapsing empire. In the final assessment, he was not so different from any of the other emperors of the fourth century. He was a man grasping desperately to hang on to a Greco-Roman conception of leadership that was undergoing a subtle yet profound change.
Copyright (C) 2002, Walter E. Roberts and Michael DiMaio, Jr. Used by permission.
In reality, Julian worked to promote culture and philosophy in any manifestation. He tried to reduce taxes and the public debts of municipalities; he augmented administrative decentralisation; he promoted a campaign of austerity to reduce public expenditure (setting himself as the example). He reformed the postal service and eliminated the powerful secret police.
by Federico Morando; JULIAN II, The Apostate, See the Julian II Page on NumisWiki
Flavius Claudius Iulianus was born in 331 or maybe 332 A.D. in Constantinople. He ruled the Western Empire as Caesar from 355 to 360 and was hailed Augustus by his legions in Lutetia (Paris) in 360. Julian was a gifted administrator and military strategist. Famed as the last pagan emperor, his reinstatement of the pagan religion earned him the moniker "the Apostate." As evidenced by his brilliant writing, some of which has survived to the present day, the title "the Philosopher" may have been more appropriate. He died from wounds suffered during the Persian campaign of 363 A.D. Joseph Sermarini, FORVM.
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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1650 Hadrian Sestertius, Roma 130-38 AD Dacia Reference.
RIC II, 849; Strack 715: RIC 1650; Banti 237
Bust C2
Obv. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P
Laureate, draped, bust viewed from side
Rev. S C in field; DACIA in ex.
Dacia seated left, on pile of rocks, with foor on helmet, holding standard and falx (curved sword)
26.93 gr
34 mm
12hokidoki
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1658 Hadrian AS Roma 130-38 AD DaciaReference.
RIC II, 850; Strack 715; RIC III, 1658
Bust C2
Obv. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P
Laureate, draped bust viewed from side
Rev. in ex. DACIA S C in field
Dacia seated left on pile of rocks, with foot on helmet, holding standard and falx (curved sword)
11.52 gr
26 mm
6h
Note.
At the time of the Dacian wars researchers have estimated that only ten percent of Spanish and Gallic warriors had access to swords, usually the nobility. By contrast Dacia had rich resources of iron and were prolific metal workers. It is clear that a large percentage of Dacians owned swords, greatly reducing Rome's military advantage.[7]
Marcus Cornelius Fronto described the large gaping wounds that a falx inflicted, and experiments have shown that a blow from a falx easily penetrated the Romans' lorica segmentata, incapacitating the majority of victims.okidoki
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177-192 AD - COMMODUS AR denarius - struck 183 ADobv: M.COMMODVS ANTONINVS AVG PIVS (laureate head right)
rev: TRP VIII IMP VI COS IIII PP (Mars walking right with trophy & spear)
ref: RIC III 54, RSC 878
2.38gms, 17mm
In 183 AD Commodus assumed the title 'Pius'. War broke out in Dacia: few details are available but it appears two future contenders for the throne, Clodius Albinus and Pescennius Niger, both distinguished themselves in the campaign.berserker
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1ai Augustus27 BC-14 AD
Denarius
Laureate head left, AVGVSTVS DIVI F
Apollo stg. Right, IMP XII
Van Meter notes that after about 15 BC, Augustus moved the production of gold and silver to Lugdunum and underscored the end of the moneyer issues by using "IMP" on the reverse.
RIC 180
Suetonius summarized Augusts' life in these words: He lost his father at the age of five (58BC). At twelve he delivered a funeral oration in honour of his grandmother Julia, Julius Caesar’s sister (51BC). At sixteen, having assumed the toga, he was decorated by Caesar during the African triumph (46BC) even though he had been too young to fight. When Caesar went to conquer Pompey’s sons in Spain (in 46BC), Augustus followed, despite still being weak from severe illness, and despite being shipwrecked on the way, with a minimal escort, over roads menaced by the enemy, so endearing himself greatly to Caesar, who quickly formed a high opinion of Augustus’ character, beyond merely his energetic pursuit of the journey.
After recovering the Spanish provinces, Caesar planned an expedition against the Dacians, to be followed by an attack on Parthia, and sent Augustus ahead (in 45BC) to Apollonia in Illyria, where he spent his time studying. When news came of Caesar’s assassination (in 44BC), and that the will named him as the main heir, Augustus considered seeking protection from the legions quartered there. However he decided it would be rash and premature, and chose to return to Rome, and enter on his inheritance, despite the doubts expressed by his mother, and strong opposition from his stepfather, the ex-consul Marcius Philippus.
Augustus went on to levy armies and rule the State; firstly for a twelve-year period (from 43BC to 30BC), initially with Mark Antony and Lepidus and then (from 33BC) with Antony alone; and later by himself for a further forty-four years (to his death in AD14).
In his youth he was betrothed to Servilia, the daughter of Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus, but on his reconciliation with Mark Antony following their first dispute, the troops begged them to become allied by some tie of kinship, and he married (in 43BC) Claudia, Antony’s stepdaughter, born to Fulvia and Publius Clodius Pulcher, even though Claudia was barely of marriageable age. However he quarrelled with Fulvia, and divorced Claudia before the marriage had been consummated.
Not long afterwards (in 40BC), he married Scribonia, whose previous husbands had been ex-consuls, and to one of whom she had borne a child. He divorced her also ‘tired’, he wrote, ‘of her shrewish ways,’ and immediately took Livia Drusilla from her husband Tiberius Nero though she was pregnant at the time (38BC), loving and esteeming her alone to the end.Blindado
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1al Tiberius14-37
As
Laureate head, left, TI CAESAR AVGVST F IMPERAT V
PONTIF MAXIM TRIBVN POTEST XXIII SC
This is one of a series of 12 Caesars pieces that were local finds in Serbia. There are better coins out there, but I'll hang onto these because they really got me into the hobby.
RIC 469
Per Suetonius: Within three years, however, both Lucius Caesar and Gaius Caesar were dead [in AD2 and 4 respectively], and Augustus now adopted both their brother Agrippa Postumus, and Tiberius, who was first required to adopt his nephew Germanicus [in 4 AD]. . . .
From that moment onwards, Augustus did all he could to enhance Tiberius’ prestige, especially after the disowning and banishment of Postumus [ca 6 AD] made it obvious that Tiberius was the sole heir to the succession. . . .
Tiberius acted like a traditional citizen, more modestly almost than the average individual. He accepted only a few of the least distinguished honours offered him; it was only with great reluctance that he consented to his birthday being recognised, falling as it did on the day of the Plebeian Games in the Circus, by the addition of a two-horse chariot to the proceedings; and he refused to have temples, and priests dedicated to him, or even the erection of statues and busts, without his permission; which he only gave if they were part of the temple adornments and not among the divine images. . . .
Moreover, in the face of abuse, libels or slanders against himself and his family, he remained unperturbed and tolerant, often maintaining that a free country required free thought and speech. . . . He even introduced a species of liberty, by maintaining the traditional dignities and powers of the Senate and magistrates. He laid all public and private matters, small or great, before the Senate consulting them over State revenues, monopolies, and the construction and maintenance of public buildings, over the levying and disbanding of troops, the assignment of legions and auxiliaries, the scope of military appointments, and the allocation of campaigns, and even the form and content of his replies to letters from foreign powers. . . .
Returning to Capreae, he abandoned all affairs of state, neither filling vacancies in the Equestrian Order’s jury lists, nor appointing military tribunes, prefects, or even provincial governors. Spain and Syria lacked governors of Consular rank for several years, while he allowed the Parthians to overrun Armenia, Moesia to be ravaged by the Dacians and Sarmatians, and Gaul by the Germans, threatening the Empire’s honour no less than its security. Furthermore, with the freedom afforded by privacy, hidden as it were from public view, he gave free rein to the vices he had concealed for so long. . . . Blindado
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1bc Trajan98-117
Sestertius
Laureate head, right, IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V PP
Roma and kneeling Dacian, SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI SC
RIC 485
Eutropius enthused: To [Nerva] succeeded ULPIUS CRINITUS TRAJANUS, born at Italica in Spain, of a family rather ancient than eminent for his father was the first consul in it. He was chosen emperor at Agrippina, a city of Gaul. He exercised the government in such a manner, that he is deservedly preferred to all the other emperors. He was a man of extraordinary skill in managing affairs of state, and of remarkable courage. The limits of the Roman empire, which, since the reign of Augustus, had been rather defended than honourably enlarged, he extended far and wide. He rebuilt some cities in Germany; he subdued Dacia by the overthrow of Decebalus, and formed a province beyond the Danube, in that territory which the Thaiphali, Victoali, and Theruingi now occupy. This province was a thousand miles in circumference.
He recovered Armenia, which the Parthians had seized, putting to death Parthamasires who held the government of it. He gave a king to the Albani. He received into alliance the king of the Iberians, Sarmatians, Bosporani, Arabians, Osdroeni, and Colchians. He obtained the mastery over the Cordueni and Marcomedi, as well as over Anthemusia, an extensive region of Persia. He conquered and kept possession of Seleucia, Ctesiphon, Babylon, and the country of the Messenii. He advanced as far as the boundaries of India, and the Red Sea, where he formed three provinces, Armenia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia, including the tribes which border on Madena. He afterwards, too, reduced Arabia into the form of a province. He also fitted out a fleet for the Red Sea, that he might use it to lay waste the coasts of India.
Yet he went beyond his glory in war, in ability and judgment as a ruler, conducting himself as an equal towards all, going often to his friends as a visitor, either when they were ill, or when they were celebrating feast days, and entertaining them in his turn at banquets where there was no distinction of rank, and sitting frequently with them in their chariots; doing nothing unjust towards any of the senators, nor being guilty of any dishonesty to fill his treasury; exercising liberality to all, enriching with offices of trust, publicly and privately, every body whom he had known even with the least familiarity; building towns throughout the world, granting many immunities to states, and doing every thing with gentleness and kindness; so that during his whole reign, there was but one senator condemned, and he was sentenced by the senate without Trajan's knowledge. Hence, being regarded throughout the world as next to a god, he deservedly obtained the highest veneration both living and dead. . . .
After having gained the greatest glory both in the field and at home, he was cut off, as he was returning from Persia, by a diarrhoea, at Seleucia in Isauria. He died in the sixty-third year, ninth month, and fourth day of his age, and in the nineteenth year, sixth month, and fifteenth day of his reign. He was enrolled among the gods, and was the only one of all the emperors that was buried within the city. His bones, contained in a golden urn, lie in the forum which he himself built, under a pillar whose height is a hundred and forty-four feet. So much respect has been paid to his memory, that, even to our own times, they shout in acclamations to the emperors, "More fortunate than Augustus, better than Trajan!" Blindado
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1be Hadrian117-138
Sestertius
Laureate head, right, HADRIANVUS AVG COS III PP
Fortuna standing left with rudder on globe and cornucopia, FORTVNA AVG
RIC 759
According to the Historia Augusta, "Bereft of his father at the age of ten, he became the ward of Ulpius Trajanus, his cousin, then of praetorian rank, but afterwards emperor, and of Caelius Attianus, a knight. He then grew rather deeply devoted to Greek studies, to which his natural tastes inclined so much that some called him 'Greekling. . . .' In the 105-106 second Dacian war, Trajan appointed him to the command of the First Legion, the Minervia, and took him with him to the war; and in this campaign his many remarkable deeds won great renown. . . . On taking possession of the imperial power
Hadrian at once resumed the policy of the early emperors and devoted his attention to maintaining peace throughout the world. . . . [I]n this letter to the Senate he apologized because he had not left it the right to decide regarding his accession, explaining that the unseemly haste of the troops in acclaiming him emperor was due to the belief that the state could not be without an emperor. . . . He was, in the same person, austere and genial, dignified and playful, dilatory and quick to act, niggardly and generous, deceitful and straightforward, cruel and merciful, and always in all things changeable. . . . Hadrian's memory was vast and his ability was unlimited ; for instance, he personally dictated his speeches and gave opinions on all questions. He was also very witty. . . ."
After this Hadrian departed for Baiae, leaving Antoninus at Rome to carry on the government. But he received no benefit there, and he thereupon
sent for Antoninus, and in his presence he died there at Baiae on the sixth day before the Ides of July.
According to Eutropius: After the death of Trajan, AELIUS HADRIAN was made emperor, not from any wish to that effect having been expressed by Trajan himself, but through the influence of Plotina, Trajan's wife; for Trajan in his life-time had refused to adopt him, though he was the son of his cousin. He also was born at Italica in Spain. Envying Trajan's glory, he immediately gave up three of the provinces which Trajan had added to the empire, withdrawing the armies from Assyria, Mesopotamia, and Armenia, and deciding that the Euphrates should be the boundary of the empire. When he was proceeding, to act similarly with regard to Dacia, his friends dissuaded him, lest many Roman citizens should be left in the hands of the barbarians, because Trajan, after he had subdued Dacia, had transplanted thither an infinite number of men from the whole Roman world, to people the country and the cities; as the land had been exhausted of inhabitants in the long war maintained by Decebalus.
He enjoyed peace, however, through the whole course of his reign; the only war that he had, he committed to the conduct of a governor of a province. He went about through the Roman empire, and founded many edifices. He spoke with great eloquence in the Latin language, and was very learned in the Greek. He had no great reputation for clemency, but was very attentive to the state of the treasury and the discipline of the soldiers. He died in Campania, more than sixty years old, in the twenty-first year, tenth month, and twenty-ninth day of his reign. The senate was unwilling to allow him divine honours; but his successor Titus Aurelius Fulvius Antonius, earnestly insisting on it, carried his point, though all the senators were openly opposed to him. Blindado
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1bp Pertinax193
Denarius
Bearded laureate head, right, IMP CAES P HELV PERTIN AVG
Ops std, OPI DIVIN TR P COS II
RIC 8
The Historia Augusta has this to say: Publius Helvius Pertinax was the son of a freedman, Helvius Successus by name, who confessed that he gave this name to his son because of his own long-standing connection with the timber-trade. . . . Pertinax himself was born in the Apennines on an estate which belonged to his mother. . . . Winning promotion because of the energy he showed in the Parthian war, he was transferred to Britain and there retained. Later he led a squadron in Moesia. . . . Next, he commanded the German fleet. . . . From this command he was transferred to Dacia. . . . After Cassius' revolt had been suppressed, Pertinax set out from Syria to protect the bank of the Danube, and presently he was appointed to govern both the Moesias and, soon thereafter, Dacia. And by reason of his success in these provinces, he won the appointment to Syria. . . .
Pertinax was made consul for the second time. And while in this position, Pertinax did not avoid complicity in the murder of Commodus, when a share in this plot was offered him by the other conspirators. After Commodus was slain, aetus, the prefect of the guard, and Eclectus, the chamberlain, came to Pertinax and reassured him, and then led him to the camp. There he harangued the soldiers, promised a donative, and said that the imperial power had been thrust upon him by Laetus and Eclectus. . . .
He reduced the imperial banquets from something absolutely unlimited to a fixed standard, and, indeed, cut down all expenses from what they had been under Commodus. And from the example set by the emperor, who lived rather simply, there resulted a general economy and a consequent reduction in the cost of living. . . . [H]e restored to everyone the property of which Commodus had despoiled him. . . . He always attended the stated meetings of the senate and always made some proposal. . . .
A conspiracy l was organized against Pertinax by Laetus, the prefect of the guard, and sundry others who were displeased by his integrity. . . . [T]hree hundred soldiers, formed into a wedge, marched under arms from the camp to the imperial residence. . . . After they had burst into the inner portion of the Palace, however, Pertinax advanced to meet them and sought to appease them with a long and serious speech. In spite of this, one Tausius, a Tungrian, after haranguing the soldiers into a state of fury and fear, hurled his spear at Pertinax' breast. And he, after a prayer to Jupiter the Avenger, veiled his head with his toga and was stabbed by the rest.Blindado
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1bu Caracalla198-217
Denarius
Laureate head, right, ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT
Mars, MARTI PROPVGNATORI
RIC 223
The Historia Augusta, in the life of Severus, records: As he was advancing against Albinus, moreover, and had reached Viminacium 4 on his march, he gave his elder son Bassianus the name Aurelius Antoninus 5 and the title of Caesar, in order to destroy whatever hopes of succeeding to the throne his brother Geta had conceived. His reason for giving his son the name Antoninus was that he had dreamed that an Antoninus would succeed him. It was because of this dream, some believe, that Geta also was called Antoninus, in order that he too might succeed to the throne. . . . [After defeating Niger], he bestowed the. toga virilis on his younger son, Geta, and he united his elder son in marriage with Plautianus' daughter [Plautilla]. . . . Soon thereafter he appointed his sons to the consulship ; also he greatly honored his brother Geta. . . . Severus [in 198] invaded Parthia, defeated the king, and came to Ctesiphon; and about the beginning of the winter season he took the city. For this feat, likewise, the soldiers declared his son, Bassianus Antoninus, co-emperor; he had already been named Caesar and was now in his thirteenth year. And to Geta, his younger son, they gave the name Caesar. . . .
In the life of Caracalla, the history continues: He himself in his boyhood was winsome and clever, respectful to his parents and courteous to his parents' friends, beloved by the people, popular with the senate, and well able to further his own interests in winning affection. Never did he seem backward in letters or slow in deeds of kindness, never niggardly in largess or tardy in forgiving at least while under his parents. . . . All this, however, was in his boyhood. For when
he passed beyond the age of a boy, either by his father's advice or through a natural cunning, or because he thought that he must imitate Alexander of Macedonia,he became more reserved and stern and even somewhat savage in expression. . . .
After his father's death he went to the Praetorian Camp and complained there to the soldiers that his brother was forming a conspiracy against him. And so he had his brother slain in the Palace. . . . After this he committed many further murders in the city, causing many persons far and wide to be seized by soldier sand killed, as though he were punishing a rebellion. . . . After doing all this he set out for Gaul and immediately upon his arrival there killed the proconsul of Narbonensis. . . . Then he made ready for a journey to the Orient, but interrupted his march and stopped in Dacia. . . . Then he journeyed through Thrace accompanied by the prefect of the guard. . . . After this, turning to the war with the Armenians and Parthians, he appointed as military commander a man whose character resembled his own. . . . Then he betook himself to Alexandria. . . . [H]e issued an order to his soldiers to slay their hosts and thus caused great slaughter at Alexandria. . . . Next he advanced through the lands of the Cadusii and the Babylonians and waged a guerilla-warfare with the Parthian satraps, in which wild beasts were even let loose against the enemy. He then sent a letter to the senate as though he had won a real victory and thereupon was given the name Parthicus. . . .
After this he wintered at Edessa with the intention of renewing the war against the Parthians. During this time, on the eighth day before the Ides of April, the feast of the Megalensia and his own birthday, while on a journey to Carrhae to do honor to the god Lunus, he stepped aside to satisfy the needs of nature and was thereupon assassinated by the treachery of Macrinus the prefect of the guard, who after his death seized the imperial power.Blindado
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1ca Conquests of Trajan: DaciaTrajan
98-117
Dupondius
Portrait, right, IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V PP
Trajan's column, SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI SC
Trajan's Column records the military history of the emperor's conquest of Dacia in 104.
RIC 603Blindado
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1cq Trajan Decius249-251
Sestertius
Laureate, cuirassed bust, right, MP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG
Dacia standing left holding draco standard, or staff surmounted by a donkey's head, DACIA SC
RIC 101b
The Byzantine historian Zosimus recorded in his New History: [Philip], thinking that he had by these means established himself in the possession of the empire, he made an expedition against the Carpi, who had plundered all the country about the Ister. . . . As there were at that time many disturbances in the empire, the eastern provinces, which were uneasy, partly, owing to the exactions of exorbitant tributes, and partly to their dislike of Priscus, their governor, who was a man of an intolerably evil disposition, wished for innovation, and set up Papianus for emperor, while the inhabitants of Moesia and Pannonia were more inclined to Marinus.
Philip, being disturbed by these events, desired the senate cither to assist him against such imminent dangers, or, if they were displeased with his government, to suffer him to lay it down and dismiss him quietly. No person making a reply to this, Decius, a person of illustrious birth and rank, and moreover gifted, with every virtue, observed, that he was unwise in being so much concerned at those events, for they would vanish of themselves, and could not possibly long subsist. And though the event corresponded with the conjecture of Decius, which long experience in the world had enabled him to make, Papianus and Marinus being taken off, yet Philip was still in fear, knowing how obnoxious the officers in that country were to the army. He therefore desired Decius to assume the command of the legions in Moesia and Pannonia. As he refused this under the plea that it was inconvenient both for Philip and himself, Philip made use of the rhetoric of necessity, as the Thessalians term it, and compelled him to go to Pannonia to punish the accomplices of Marinus. The army in that country, finding that Decius punished all that had offended, thought it most politic to avoid the present danger and to set up a sovereign who would better consult the good of the state, and who, being more expert both in civil and military affairs, might without difficulty conquer Philip.
For this purpose they clothed Decius in purple, and notwithstanding all his apprehensions of future mischances, compelled him to assume the supreme authority. Philip therefore, on hearing that Decius was thus made emperor, collected all his forces to overpower him. The supporters of Decius, though they knew that the enemy had greatly the advantage in numbers, still retained their confidence, trusting to the general skill and prudence of Decius in affairs. And when the two armies engaged, although the one was superior in number, yet the other so excelled it in discipline and conduct, that a great number of Philip's partisans were slain and he himself amongst them, together with his son, on whom he had conferred the title of Caesar. Decius thus acquired the empire.
The Scythians, taking advantage of the disorder which every where prevailed through the negligence of Philip, crossed the Tanais, and pillaged the countries in the vicinity of Thrace. But Decius, marching against them, was not only victorious in every battle, but recovered the spoils they had taken, and endeavoured to cut off their retreat to their own country, intending to destroy them all, to prevent their ever again, making a similar incursion. For this purpose he posted Gallus on the bank of the Tanais with a competent force, and led in person the remainder of his army against the enemy. This expedition exceeded to his utmost wish; but Gallus, who was disposed to innovation, sent agents to the Barbarians, requesting their concurrence in a conspiracy against Decius. To this they gave a willing assent, and Gallus retained his post on the bank of the Tanais, but the Barbarians divided themselves into three battalions, the first of which posted itself behind a marsh. Decius having destroyed a considerable number of the first battalion, the second advanced, which he likewise defeated, and discovered part of the third, which lay near the marsh. Gallus sent intelligence to him, that he might march against them across the fen. Proceeding therefore incautiously in an unknown place, he and his army became entangled in the mire, and under that disadvantage were so assailed by the missiles of the Barbarians, that not one of them escaped with life. Thus ended the life of the excellent emperor Decius.
Eutropius wrote: DECIUS, a native of Lower Pannonia, born at Budalia, assumed the government. . . . When he and his son had reigned two years, they were both killed in the country of the Barbarians, and enrolled among the gods. Blindado
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1cw Aemilian253
AE 26
Laureate, draped & cuirassed bust, right, IMP C M AEMIL AEMILIANVS AVG
PROVIN-CIA DACIA, Dacia standing facing, holding short sceptre in left arm, over which is a wreath, and holding up a bundle of rice in right hand, eagle and lion at feet, VIII in exergue.
Moushmov 20
Zosimus records: Aemilianus advanced with great speed into Italy, and the armies were very near to each other, when the soldiers of Gallus, reflecting that his force was much inferior to the enemy both in number and strength, and likewise that he was a negligent indolent man, put him and his son to death, and going over to the party of Aemilianus, appeared to establish his authority. But Valerianus brought into Italy from beyond the Alps a vast army, with which he deemed himself secure of conquering Aemilianus. The soldiers of Aemilianus, who saw that his conduct was more like that of a private sentinel than of an emperor, now put him to death as a person unfit for so weighty a charge.
Eutropius' curt review: AEMILIANUS was little distinguished by birth, and less distinguished by his reign, in the third month of which he was cut off.Blindado
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1cy Gallienus253-268
Bronze antoninianus
Radiate, draped bust, right, GALLINVS AVG
Mars standing left, holding globe in right hand and spear in left hand, P in right field, VIRTVS AVG
RIC 317
Gallienus oversaw a period of disintegration of the empire and lost control over the East, Gaul, Spain, and Britain.
Zosimus observed: [When Valerian left for the East] As the Germans were the most troublesome enemies, and harrassed the Gauls in the vicinity of the Rhine, Gallienus marched against them in person, leaving his officers to repel with the forces under their command any others that should enter Italy, Illyricum, and Greece. With these designs, he possessed himself of and defended the passages of the Rhine, at one time preventing their crossing, and at another engaging them as soon as they had crossed it. But having only a small force to resist an immense number, he was at a loss how to act, and thought to secure himself by a league with one of the German princes. He thus not only prevented the other Barbarians from so frequently passing the Rhine, but obstructed the access of auxiliaries.
Eutropius recorded: Gallienus, who was made emperor when quite a young man, exercised his power at first happily, afterwards fairly, and at last mischievously. In his youth he performed many gallant acts in Gaul and Illyricum, killing Ingenuus, who had assumed the purple, at Mursa, and Regalianus. He was then for a long time quiet and gentle; afterwards, abandoning himself to all manner of licentiousness, he relaxed the reins of government with disgraceful inactivity and carelesness. The Alemanni, having laid waste Gaul, penetrated into Italy. Dacia, which had been added to the empire beyond the Danube, was lost. Greece, Macedonia, Pontus, Asia, were devastated by the Goths. Pannonia was depopulated by the Sarmatians and Quadi. The Germans made their way as far as Spain, and took the noble city of Tarraco. The Parthians, after taking possession of Mesopotamia, began to bring Syria under their power.
Zosimus resumes: Gallienus in the mean time still continued beyond the Alps, intent on the German war, while the Senate, seeing Rome in such imminent danger, armed all the soldiers that were in the city, and the strongest of the common people, and formed an army, which exceeded the Barbarians in number. This so alarmed the Barbarians, that they left Rome, but ravaged all the rest of Italy. At this period, when Illyricum groaned under the oppression of the Barbarians, and the whole Roman empire was in such a helpless state as to be on the very verge of ruin, a plague happened to break out in several of the towns, more dreadful than any that had preceded it. The miseries inflicted on them by the Barbarians were thus alleviated, even the sick esteeming themselves fortunate. The cities that had been taken by the Scythians were thus deserted.
Gallienus, being disturbed by these occurrences, was returning to Rome to relieve Italy from the war which the Scythians were thus carrying on. It was at this time, that Cecrops, a Moor, Aureolus and Antoninus, with many others, conspired against him, of whom the greater part were punished and submitted. Aureolus alone retained his animosity against the emperor.
The Scythians, who had dreadfully afflicted the whole of Greece, had now taken Athens, when Gallienus advanced against those who were already in possession of Thrace, and ordered Odonathus of Palmyra, a person whose ancestors had always been highly respected by the emperors, to assist the eastern nations which were then in a very distressed condition. . . .
While affairs were thus situated in the east, intelligence was brought to Gallienus, who was then occupied in the Scythian war, that Aurelianus, or Aureolus, who was commander of the cavalry posted in the neighbourhood of Milan to watch the motions of Posthumus, had formed some new design, and was ambitious to be emperor. Being alarmed at this he went immediately to Italy, leaving the command against the Scythians with Marcianus, a person of great experience in military affairs. . . . Gallienus, in his journey towards Italy, had a plot formed against him by Heraclianus, prefect of the court, who communicated his design to Claudius, in whom the chief management of affairs was vested. The design was to murder Gallienus. Having found a man very ready for such an undertaking, who commanded a troop of Dalmatians, he entrusted the action to him. To effect it, the party stood by Gallienus at supper and informed him that some of the spies had brought intelligence, that Aureolus and his army were close at hand. By this they considerably alarmed him. Calling immediately for his horse and arms, he mounted, ordering his men to follow him in their armour, and rode away without any attendance. Thus the captain finding him alone killed him.Blindado
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1ds Diocletian284-305
AE antoninianus
Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust, right, IMP C C VAL DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG
Zeus and Diocletian, CONCORDIA MILITVM
RIC 284B
According to the Historia Augusta, after the death of Numerian: Then a huge assembly was held and a tribunal, too, was constructed. And when the question was asked who would be the most lawful avenger of Numerian and who could be given to the commonwealth as a good emperor, then all, with a heaven-sent unanimity, conferred the title of Augustus on Diocletian. . . . He was at this time in command of the household-troops, an outstanding man and wise, devoted to the commonwealth, devoted to his kindred, duly prepared to face whatever the occasion demanded, forming plans that were always deep though sometimes over-bold, and one who could by prudence and exceeding firmness hold in check the impulses of a restless spirit. This man, then, having ascended the tribunal was hailed as Augustus, and when someone asked how Numerian had been slain, he drew his sword and pointing to Aper, the prefect of the guard, he drove it through him, saying as he did so, "It is he who contrived Numerian's death.''
Eutropius summarized a long and important reign: DIOCLETIAN, a native of Dalmatia, [was] of such extremely obscure birth, that he is said by most writers to have been the son of a clerk, but by some to have been a freedman of a senator named Anulinus. . . . He soon after overthrew Carinus, who was living under the utmost hatred and detestation, in a great battle at Margum, Carinus being betrayed by his own troops, for though he had a greater number of men than the enemy, he was altogether abandoned by them between Viminacium and mount Aureus. He thus became master of the Roman empire; and when the peasants in Gaul made an insurrection, giving their faction the name of Bagaudae, and having for leaders Amandus and Aelianus, he despatched Maximian Herculius, with the authority of Caesar, to suppress them. Maximian, in a few battles of little importance, subdued the rustic multitude, and restored peace to Gaul. . . .
Diocletian promoted MAXIMIAN HERCULIUS from the dignity of Caesar to that of emperor, and created Constantius and Maximian Galerius Caesars, of whom Constantius is said to have been the grand-nephew of Claudius by a daughter, and Maximian Galerius to have been born in Dacia not far from Sardica. That he might also unite them by affinity, Constantius married Theodora the step-daughter of Herculius, by whom he had afterwards six children, brothers to Constantine; while Galerius married Valeria, the daughter of Diocletian; both being obliged to divorce the wives that they had before. . . .
Diocletian, meanwhile, besieging Achilleus in Alexandria, obliged him to surrender about eight months after, and put him to death. He used his victory, indeed, cruelly, and distressed all Egypt with severe proscriptions and massacres. Yet at the same time he made many judicious arrangements and regulations, which continue to our own days. . . .
Diocletian was of a crafty disposition, with much sagacity, and keen penetration. He was willing to gratify his own disposition to cruelty in such a way as to throw the odium upon others; he was however a very active and able prince. He was the first that introduced into the Roman empire a ceremony suited rather to royal usages than to Roman liberty, giving orders that he should be adored, whereas all emperors before him were only saluted. He put ornaments of precious stones on his dress and shoes, when the imperial distinction had previously been only in the purple robe, the rest of the habit being the same as that of other men. . . .
But when Diocletian, as age bore heavily upon him, felt himself unable to sustain the government of the empire, he suggested to Herculius that they should both retire into private life, and commit the duty of upholding the state to more vigorous and youthful hands. With this suggestion his colleague reluctantly complied. Both of them, in the same day, exchanged the robe of empire for an ordinary dress, Diocletian at Nicomedia, Herculius at Milan, soon after a magnificent triumph which they celebrated at Rome over several nations, with a noble succession of pictures, and in which the wives, sisters, and children of Narseus were led before their chariots. The one then retired to Salonae, and the other into Lucania.
Diocletian lived to an old age in a private station, at a villa which is not far from Salonae, in honourable retirement, exercising extraordinary philosophy, inasmuch as he alone of all men, since the foundation of the Roman empire, voluntarily returned from so high a dignity to the condition of private life, and to an equality with the other citizens. That happened to him, therefore, which had happened to no one since men were created, that, though he died in a private condition, he was enrolled among the gods. Blindado
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1dv Galerius305-311
Quarter Follis
Laureate head, right, MAXIMIANVS AVG
Genius standing left, modius on head, holding cornucopia & patera, SIS in ex., GENIO POPVLI ROMANI
RIC 169b
Eutropius tells us: Diocletian promoted MAXIMIAN HERCULIUS from the dignity of Caesar to that of emperor, and created Constantius and Maximian Galerius Caesars, of whom Constantius is said to have been the grand-nephew of Claudius by a daughter, and Maximian Galerius to have been born in Dacia not far from Sardica. . . . Galerius married Valeria, the daughter of Diocletian. . . .
Galerius Maximian, in acting against Narseus, fought, on the first occasion, a battle far from successful, meeting him between Callinicus and Carrae, and engaging in the combat rather with rashness than want of courage; for he contended with a small army against a very numerous enemy. Being in consequence defeated, and going to join Diocletian, he was received by him, when he met him on the road, with such extreme haughtiness, that he is said to have run by his chariot for several miles in his scarlet robes.
But having soon after collected forces in Illyricum and Moesia, he fought a second time with Narseus (the grandfather of Hormisdas and Sapor), in Greater Armenia, with extraordinary success, and with no less caution and spirit, for he undertook, with one or two of the cavalry, the office of a speculator. After putting Narseus to flight, he captured his wives, sisters, and children, with a vast number of the Persian nobility besides, and a great quantity of treasure; the king himself he forced to take refuge in the remotest deserts in his dominions. Returning therefore in triumph to Diocletian, who was then encamped with some troops in Mesopotamia, he was welcomed by him with great honour. Subsequently, they conducted several wars both in conjunction and separately, subduing the Carpi and Bastarnae, and defeating the Sarmatians, from which nations he settled a great number of captives in the Roman territories. . . .
Galerius, a man of excellent moral character, and skilful in military affairs, finding that Italy, by Constantius's permission, was put under his government, created two Caesars, MAXIMIN, whom he appointed over the east, and SEVERUS, to whom he committed Italy. He himself resided in Illyricum. Blindado
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1dy Maximinus II309-313
Quarter Follis
Laureate head, right, MAXIMINVS NOB C
Genius standing left, naked except for modius on head & chlamys over shoulder, holding patera & cornucopiae, SIS in ex, GENIO POPVLI ROMANI.
RIC 170b
According to Eutropius: Galerius, a man of excellent moral character, and skilful in military affairs, finding that Italy, by Constantius's permission, was put under his government, created two Caesars, MAXIMIN, whom he appointed over the east, and SEVERUS, to whom he committed Italy. He himself resided in Illyricum. . . . LICINIUS, a native of Dacia, was made emperor by Galerius, to whom he was known by old companionship, and recommended by his vigorous efforts and services in the war which he had conducted against Narseus. The death of Galerius followed immediately afterwards. The empire was then held by the four new emperors, Constantine and Maxentius, sons of emperors, Licinius and Maximian, sons of undistinguished men. Constantine, however, in the fifth year of his reign, commenced a civil war with Maxentius, routed his forces in several battles, and at last overthrew Maxentius himself (when he was spreading death among the nobility by every possible kind of cruelty,4) at the Milvian bridge, and made himself master of Italy. Not long after, too, Maximin, after commencing hostilities against Licinius in the east, anticipated the destruction that was falling upon him by an accidental death at Tarsus. Blindado
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1dz Maxentius306-312
Follis
Laureate head, right, MAXENTIVS P F AVG
Roma in temple, CONSERVATORES VRB SVAE
RIC 194a
Eutropius reports: But after the death of Constantius, CONSTANTINE, his son by a wife of obscure birth, was made emperor in Britain, and succeeded his father as a most desirable ruler. In the meantime the praetorian guards at Rome, having risen in insurrection, declared MAXENTIUS, the son of Maximian Herculius, who lived in the Villa Publica not far from the city, emperor. At the news of this proceeding, Maximian, filled with hopes of regaining the imperial dignity, which he had not willingly resigned, hurried to Rome from Lucania. . . , and stimulated Diocletian by letters to resume the authority that he had laid down, letters which Diocletian utterly disregarded. Severus Caesar, being despatched to Rome by Galerius to suppress the rising of the guards and Maxentius, arrived there with his army, but, as he was laying siege to the city, was deserted through the treachery of his soldiers.
The power of Maxentius was thus increased, and his government established. Severus, taking to flight, was killed at Ravenna. Maximian Herculius, attempting afterwards, in an assembly of the army, to divest his son Maxentius of his power, met with nothing but mutiny and reproaches from the soldiery. . . .
At this time LICINIUS, a native of Dacia, was made emperor by Galerius, to whom he was known by old companionship, and recommended by his vigorous efforts and services in the war which he had conducted against Narseus. The death of Galerius followed immediately afterwards. The empire was then held by the four new emperors, Constantine and Maxentius, sons of emperors, Licinius and Maximian, sons of undistinguished men. Constantine, however, in the fifth year of his reign, commenced a civil war with Maxentius, routed his forces in several battles, and at last overthrew Maxentius himself (when he was spreading death among the nobility by every possible kind of cruelty,) at the Milvian bridge, and made himself master of Italy. Blindado
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1ea Licinius308-324
Follis
Laureate head, right, IMP LIC LICINIVS P F AVG
Jupiter standing left with thunderbolt and sceptre, eagle at foot with wreath in its beak, A over μ (Mu) over dot in right field, dot SIS dot in ex, IOVI CONSERVATORI
RIC 225a var
According to Zonaras: Maximinus took as colleague in his rule Licinius, who derived his lineage from the Dacians and was the brother-in-law of Constantine the Great. After he had made him colleague in his sovereignty and left him in Illyricum to defend the Thracians, who were being plundered by barbarians, he himself proceeded to Rome, to battle against Maxentius. Then, being suspicious of his own soldiers and fearing lest they desert to the enemy, he desisted from battle and departed. He regretted his appointment of Licinius, first plotted secretly against him, and then openly joined battle with him. He attacked him, was repulsed, defeated, and fled, and in his flight did away with himself. . . .
Eutropius adds: CONSTANTINE, being a man of great energy, bent upon effecting whatever he had settled in his mind, and aspiring to the sovereignty of the whole world, proceeded to make war on Licinius, although he had formed a connexion with him by marriage, for his sister Constantia was married to Licinius. And first of all be overthrew him, by a sudden attack, at Cibalae in Pannonia, where he was making vast preparations for war; and after becoming master of Dardania, Maesia, and Macedonia, took possession also of several other provinces.
There were then various contests between them, and peace made and broken. At last Licinius, defeated in a battle at Nicomedia by sea and land, surrendered himself, and, in violation of an oath taken by Constantine, was put to death, after being divested of the purple, at Thessalonica. Blindado
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2. Trajan (AD 98-117)AE Sestertius (35mm, 27.71 g). Rome mint. AD 106-107. IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P, laureate head right with drapery on left shoulder / S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Dacia seated left on shield in attitude of mourning, before trophy; S C in exergue. RIC III 564 var.
Ex Ploil Collection.
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica Spring Sale 2021 (10 May 2021), lot 1299.
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica Auction 101 (24 Oct 2017), lot 249.
Ex Gorny & Mosch Auction 125 (13 October 2003), lot 475.Romancollector
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2008-Savaria - Roman DragonThe Roman Dragon ("draco"), a symbol associated with the military ensigns (banners) all of the Roman Legionary Armies during the period of the Empire, as well as by the Dacians and the Parthians.berserker
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2008-Savaria - The stone of the CaesarsOn the top of the red granite stone a sun-dial shows the time, and has six emperor relief. All of them played a significant role in the development of this town:
Claudius founded in AD 43 as Colonia Claudia Savaria;
during the reign of Domitian the town became a religion centre;
Emperor Trajan settled military troops from the civilians and they fought in Dacian War;
during the reign of Septimius Severus was built an Isis shrine;
Diocletian made the centre of jury during the Great Persecution;
and finally Constantine the Great, who partitioned Pannonia four province and Savaria was the capital of Pannonia Prima.berserker
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201c. Pescennius NigerGaius Pescennius Niger was governor of Syria in the year 193 when he learned of the emperor Pertinax's murder. Niger's subsequent attempt to claim the empire for himself ended in failure in Syria after roughly one year. His life before becoming governor of Syria is not well known. He was born in Italy to an equestrian family. He seems to have been older than his eventual rival Septimius Severus, so his birth should perhaps be placed ca. AD 135-40. Niger may have held an important position in the administration of Egypt. He won renown, along with Clodius Albinus, for participation in a military campaign in Dacia early in Commodus' reign. Although Niger could have been adlected into the senate before the Dacian campaign, he was by now pursuing a senatorial career and must have been held in high esteem by Commodus. Niger was made a suffect consul, probably in the late 180s, and he was sent as governor to the important province of Syria in 191.
Niger was a well-known and well-liked figure to the Roman populace. After Pertinax became emperor at the beginning of 193, many in Rome may have hoped that the elderly Pertinax would adopt Niger as his Caesar and heir, but Pertinax was murdered without having made succession plans. When Didius Julianus arrived at the senate house on 29 March 193, his first full day as emperor, a riot broke out among the Roman crowd. The rioters took over the Circus Maximus, from which they shouted for Niger to seize the throne. The rioters dispersed the following day, but a report of their demonstration may well have arrived in the Syrian capital, Antioch, with the news that Pertinax had been murdered and replaced by Julianus.
Spurred into action by the news, Niger had himself proclaimed emperor in Antioch. The governors of the other eastern provinces quickly joined his cause. Niger's most important ally was the respected proconsul of Asia, Asellius Aemilianus, and support began to spread across the Propontis into Europe. Byzantium welcomed Niger, who now was preparing further advances. Niger took the additional cognomen Justus, "the Just." Justice was promoted as the theme of his intended reign, and personifications of Justice appeared on his coins.
Other provincial governors, however, also set their sights on replacing Julianus. Albinus in Britain and Septimius Severus in Upper Pannonia (western Hungary) had each aspired to the purple, and Severus was marching an army on Rome. Severus was still 50 miles from the city when the last of Julianus' dwindling authority disappeared. Julianus was killed in Rome 1 June 193.
Niger sent messengers to Rome to announce his acclamation, but those messengers were intercepted by Severus. A deal was struck between Severus and Albinus that kept Albinus in Britain with the title of Caesar. The larger armies of the western provinces were now united in their support for Severus. Niger's support was confined to the east. Severus had Niger's children captured and held as hostages, and a legion was sent to confront Niger's army in Thrace.
The first conflict between the rival armies took place near Perinthus. Although Niger's forces may have inflicted greater casualties on the Severan troops, Niger was unable to secure his advance; he returned to Byzantium. By the autumn of 193, Severus had left Rome and arrived in the region, though his armies there continued to be commanded by supporters. Niger was offered the chance of a safe exile by Severus, but Niger refused.
Severan troops crossed into Asia at the Hellespont and near Cyzicus engaged forces supporting Niger under the command of Aemilianus. Niger's troops were defeated. Aemilianus attempted to flee but was captured and killed. Not long after, in late December 193 or early January 194, Niger was defeated in a battle near Nicaea and fled south to Antioch. Eastern provincial governors now switched their loyalty to Severus, and Niger faced revolts even in Syria. By late spring 194, the Severan armies were in Cilicia preparing to enter Syria. Niger and his army met the Severan troops near Issus. The battle was a decisive defeat for Niger, who fled back to Antioch. The Syrian capital that only one year earlier had cheered as Niger was proclaimed emperor now waited in fear for the approach of its new master. Niger prepared to flee once more, but outside Antioch he was captured and killed.
Despite his popularity with the Roman mob, Pescennius Niger lacked both the strong loyalty of other senatorial commanders and the number of soldiers that his rival Severus enjoyed. Niger was ultimately unable to make himself the true avenger of Pertinax, and his roughly one-year control of the eastern provinces never qualified him to be reckoned a legitimate emperor.
BITHYNIA, Caesarea. Pescennius Niger. AD 193-194. Æ 22mm (6.35 g). Laureate head right / KAICAREIAC GERMANIKHC, coiled serpent left. RG p. 282, 9, pl. XLIV, 8 (same dies); SNG Copenhagen -; SNG von Aulock -. Near VF, brown patina, rough surfaces. Very rare. Ex-CNGecoli
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22. Celtic AR tetradrachm - SATTELKOPFPFERD type - c.125-75 BCobv: stylized, laureated Lysimachos head right
rev: horse walking left with stylized rider made up of three dots and a leg. All within incuse - somewhat scyphate
ref: Göbl OTA 300-14; Slg. Lanz 648ff; Pink 305; Preda: Varteju-Bucarest type
mint: epicentre Muntenia
8.04gms, 22mm
Tetradrachm of geto-dacian tribes.
Description of this type see my East celtic coins topic at the Classical Numismaticsberserker
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23. Celtic AR tetradrachm - SATTELKOPFPFERD type - c.125-75 BCobv: stylized, laureated Lysimachos head right
rev: horse walking left with stylized rider made up of three dots and a leg. All within incuse - somewhat scyphate
ref: Göbl OTA 300-14; Slg. Lanz 648ff; Pink 305; Preda: Varteju-Bucarest type
mint: epicentre Muntenia
7.53gms, 21mm
Tetradrachm of geto-dacian tribes.
Description of this type see my East celtic coins topic at the Classical Numismaticsberserker
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24 - 2 - 1 TRAJANO (98-117 D.C.) LEUCAS COELESYRIAE, Coele-Syria
AE 20 mm 8.3 gr
Anv: ”AV KAI NEP TPAIANOC ΔAK” – Cabeza laureada viendo a izquierda.
Rev: ”ΛEYKAΔIΩN KΛAYΔIEWN ΕN” – Dios Bárbaro / Trajano, portando Tridente/Cetro en la mano de su brazo izquierdo extendido, galopando hacia la derecha en una cuadriga. "EN" en el campo centro superior, es la fecha, año 55 de la era local de Leucas, aproximadamente 102/103 D.C.
RESELLO: "ΔAK", Por el título de Dacius o Dacicus (conquistador de la Dacia) que poseia Trajano.
Referencias del resello: Howgego GIC #511?
Acuñada: 102 - 103 D.C.
Referencias: Sear GICTV #1082, Pag.99; BMC Vol.XX #3 Pag.296; SNG Cop. #306mdelvalle
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