Constantine I and a New Christian Golden Age: a Secretly Christian Reverse Type Identified? David Woods
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Constantine I and a New Christian Golden Age: A Secretly Christian Reverse Type Identified? David Woods HE PURPOSE of this paper is to explore the significance of a reverse type used on solidi struck in the name of T Constantine I (306–337) alone at the mints of Nico- media, Sirmium, Ticinum, and Trier during his vicennial year starting on 26 July 325.1 This type depicts what is usually described as two interlaced wreaths surrounded by the legend CONSTANTINVS AVG ( fig. 1).2 With the exception of the issue from Trier, Constantine used this type as part of the coinage struck for donatives as he stopped in the various mint-towns during the course of his journey from Nicomedia to Rome.3 The only minor variation between the mints is that the coins from Sirmium, Ticinum, and Trier always depict a single star cen- 1 The standard catalogue of the coinage of Constantine I remains Patrick M. Bruun, RIC VII (London 1966). I refer to the coins of Constantine and his Caesars by their numbers under the relevant mints in this volume. For a detailed treatment of the coins struck by Constantine as he travelled from Nicomedia to Rome during this vicennial year, including many types not known to Bruun, see Lars Ramskold, “Constantine’s Vicennalia and the Death of Crispus,” in Miša Rakocija (ed.), Niš and Byzantium Symposium XI (2013) 409–456 (cited hereafter by author’s name). In matters of dating and the structure of various issues, I follow Ramskold. However, while Ram- skold’s paper is invaluable in most respects, it avoids discussion of iconogra- phy. 2 RIC VII Nicomedia 108–109, Sirmium 62, Ticinum 192, Trier 497. 3 Ramskold 440 n.99 questions the authenticity of a solidus with this type apparently attributable to Heraclea and known from one example only. It was resold recently: Classical Numismatic Group, Triton XIX (5 Jan. 2016), lot 619. ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 58 (2018) 366–388 2018 David Woods DAVID WOODS 367 Figure 1: solidus (d. 20 mm, w. 4.50 g) of Constantine I, Ticinum (RIC VII 192). Ex Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 100 (29 May 2017), lot 638. Reproduced with permission © Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG. ——— trally above the two apparent wreaths, while the coins from Nicomedia seldom do. This reverse type is of interest because no emperor had struck anything like it previously, and no emperor would strike any- thing like it again either. It was part of a set of five standard types of solidi struck in the names of the male members of the dynasty at these mints during the vicennial celebrations, and probably in Thessalonica also, although the particular type under discussion does not seem to have survived in the case of Thessalonica.4 Two of the types were in the name of Constantine I himself, and one each in the names of his three eldest sons and Caesars, Crispus, Constantine II, and Constantius II. The other type struck in the name of Constantine I depicts the same legend CONSTANTI- NVS AVG about a seated Victory with a cornucopia in her left arm and a smaller Victory offering her a wreath in her right 4 Two standard types of solidi were also struck in the name of the female members of the dynasty, Constantine’s mother, Helena Augusta, and his wife, Fausta Augusta, simultaneously in the same mints. See Ramskold 440– 441. Stylistically, however, they are very different from the types struck in the names of the male members of the dynasty. For example, the obverses of the latter are all anepigraphic, but those struck in the names of the two women bear legends. Furthermore, the obverses of the types of the males all depict the exact same bust with an upwards gaze, whereas those of the womem depict very distinct busts and neither has an upwards gaze. It seems clear, therefore, that the coins struck in the names of the male and female members of the dynasty form two distinct sets conceptually speaking, even if issued simultaneously. ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 58 (2018) 366–388 368 CONSTANTINE I AND A NEW CHRISTIAN GOLDEN AGE Figure 2: solidus (d. 20 mm, w. 4.41 g) of Constantine I, Sirmium (RIC VII 56). Ex CNG, Triton XXI (9 Jan. 2018), lot 856. Reproduced with permission © Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. ——— Figure 3: solidus (d. 20 mm, w. 4.47 g) of Constantine II, Theassalonica (RIC VII 147). Ex CNG, Triton XVI (9 Jan. 2013), lot 1160. Reproduced with permission © Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. ——— hand ( fig. 2).5 The types in the name of his three sons share the same reverse design depicting Victory advancing left with a palm in her left arm and a wreath in her outstretched right hand surrounded by their name and title in each case ( fig. 3).6 Hence the type under discussion is alone among the larger set of five types in not depicting the goddess Victory. A key factor iden- tifying the five types as part of a larger set or issue is that they all bear the same obverse type depicting a single beardless bust with a plain band diadem and an upwards gaze. No legend accom- panies this bust and the only minor difference between the types lies in size, which tends to be smaller in the case of the Caesars, 5 RIC VII Nicomedia 70, Thessalonica 131, Sirmium 56, Ticinum 193. 6 For Crispus, see RIC VII Nicomedia 110–111, Sirmium 63, Ticinum 194, Trier 497; for Constantine II, Nicomedia 112, Sirmium 64, Thessalonica 147, Ticinum 195; for Constantius II, Nicomedia 113, Sirmium 65, Thes- salonica 148, Ticinum 196, Trier 499. ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 58 (2018) 366–388 DAVID WOODS 369 most noticeably so in the case of the youngest Caesar Con- stantius II. The numismatic context The fact that the reverse type under discussion shows two apparent wreaths identical in every way naturally suggests that it commemorates two of something. Furthermore, since laurel wreaths were traditional symbols of victory, the obvious sug- gestion is that this type commemorates two victories of some sort. For example, the Roman moneyer Faustus Cornelius Sulla in 56 B.C. issued a denarius with reverse type depicting four wreaths around a globe, one larger in reference to the golden wreath awarded to his father-in-law Pompey the Great by the senate in 63 and three smaller ones in reference to the three triumphs also awarded to Pompey for his various foreign vic- tories ( fig. 4).7 Figure 4: denarius (d. 19 mm, w. 3.89 g) of Faustus Cornelius Sulla. Ex Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 100 (29 May 2017), lot 325. Reproduced with permission © Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG. ——— Obviously, a long time had since passed, but this example well illustrates the attraction of such one-to-one correspondence between the commemoration of military victory and the number of those victories. Furthermore, in the case of the reverse under discussion, one does not have to search very hard to discover two victories. Given the date of issue shortly after Constantine had defeated Licinius I in his second civil-war against him in late 324, one obvious suggestion is that this type commemorates his victories in those two civil-wars, the first in 316/7and the second 7 Crawford, RRC I no. 426/4a. ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 58 (2018) 366–388 370 CONSTANTINE I AND A NEW CHRISTIAN GOLDEN AGE in 324. Another possibility, perhaps less likely, is that the two wreaths allude to the fact that Constantine had defeated two imperial commanders in his most recent civil-war, Licinius I as Augustus and the Martinianus whom he had promoted as Caesar during the course of this war. Finally, one should not forget Constantine’s so-called ‘pagan vision’ in Gaul in 310 as reported by an anonymous panegyricist, according to which Constantine saw Apollo, accompanied by Victory, offering him an unstated number of wreaths, each of which symbolised thirty years.8 So perhaps these wreaths represent thirty years each once more, and promise Constantine that he would reach 60 years of age at a time when he was still only 54. However, any attempt to interpret the significance of the reverse type under discussion must also acknowledge that it has a counterpart among the silver coins struck at the same time, and needs to take its symbolism into account also before reaching any conclusions. The same mints that struck the five types of solidi described above seem to have struck four different types of siliqua at the same time. In this case, only one type was issued in the name of Constantine I, and one type again in the names of each of three sons who were Caesars. The reverse of the type in the name of Constantine I depicts Victory advancing left with a trophy in her right hand and a palm branch in her left ( fig. 5).9 The types in the names of his three Caesars all share the same reverse design once more, three standing palm branches with a star above the central branch ( fig. 6), the only difference in each case being their name about this design.10 All four issues display the same ob- verse type depicting a single beardless bust with a plain band 8 Pan.Lat. 6(7).21.4. Peter Weiss, “The Vision of Constantine,” JRA 16 (2003) 237–259, at 250, argues that Constantine saw a spectacular double solar-halo in the sky, and that the reference to thirty years reflects the fact that there were three concentrations of light on each halo-ring.