Postumus 260-9AD
THE GALLIC EMPIRE
The Gallic Empire is the term used to describe the rulers of the western provinces of the Roman Empire following the revolt of Postumus around 260AD. A separate regime was established mirroring the larger Roman Empire even down to the governmental structure and the coinage. It remained independant until the defeat of the Tetrici in 274 by the Roman Emperor Aurelian, although it has to be said that from around 269 it was contracting, initially with the loss of Spain and then the incursion of Claudius II.
The coinage of the Gallic Empire is rather common as a whole, in base silver at least, the primary denomination being the radiate coin known today as the antoninianus. The following pages provide a reference as to the sequence of issues, to give the coinage a structure. It is not intended that these form a corpus of the Gallic coinage but rather identify the main types and the order in which they were struck.
A useful reference to the coinage, politics and history of the Gallic Empire is The Relationship between the Central and Gallic Empires in the Mid to Late Third-Century AD British Archaeological Reports Int. Ser. 963 (2001), available from the publishers, Archaeopress, and also Oxbow Books, price £30.
Click here to return to the Roman Coins home page
©RJB 2003