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Home , Arcadius, Aurelian, Constans, Constantine II (emperor), Constantine the Great, Constantius Gallus

This remarkable collection of genuine traces the history of the Empire from the late second through the fourth centuries, a period of tumult and uncertainty, when came and went, almost none of them dying of natural causes.

The was the greatest the world had ever known. Its dominions stretched from Britain to Persia, from the to Northern , and encompassed every inch of shoreline along the great . While endured for centuries, establishing a system of colonization and administration that is still copied today, the Empire was always on the brink of collapse. Indeed, the definitive , ’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, covers the period from 98 through 1590 CE. In other words, Rome’s decline and fall lasted for almost 15 centuries!

This remarkable collection of genuine bronze coins traces the history of the Empire from the late second through the fourth centuries, a period of tumult and uncertainty, when emperors came and went, almost none of them dying of natural causes. Indeed, the entire history of the Roman Empire is revealed in its coinage. Coins were the newspapers of their day, used not only to exchange for goods and services, but to share information. The , legends, and reverse iconographies describe the adoration of the emperors and their heirs and families, and communicate imperial agendas in the realms of politics, religion, domestic life and the military. All of this history is handed down to us on these ancient coins.

1. , the Egalitarian (253-268) While this hard-nosed , who assumed sole control of the empire after the death of his father, I, in 260, believed sincerely that he was a demigod come down to earth, he still managed to implement important reforms in the military. His decision to bar senators from serving as military commanders allowed more equestrians to fill those positions, encouraging a meritocracy that would continue when the seat of the empire moved from Rome to . Before his assassination, Gallienus lost a chunk of the empire, including —lands it would never recover. was first legalized via Gallienus’ of Toleration—only to be made illegal later. W: 1.8-3.9g │D:18-22.5mm

2. II, Gothicus (268-270) Claudius was the commander of the that resoundingly defeated the at the Battle of Naissus in 268, giving him the sobriquet Gothicus. His savvy promise to pay a to his troops for installing him on the hastened his rise to power. After Naissus, Claudius chased the Goths throughout the eastern part of the kingdom in a quest to repulse them from the . His death of a plague thought to be smallpox was deeply mourned in the Empire, and he was declared a by the Senate. W: 2.3-4.5g │D: 17-21mm

3. , the Well-Bred (271-274) In 269, during the Age of Chaos, the breakaway began to crumble with the death of its founder, , and his successor, , who was killed by one of his officers, whose wife he’d seduced. The slain emperor’s mother, , served as de facto empress after her son was killed, paying vast sums of money in 271 to install a well-bred general, Tetricus I, as emperor. By then, the tide had turned. Fickle generals abandoned the Gallic emperors, pledging allegiance to the new , . Tetricus surrendered to him in 274. After being paraded through Rome as trophies, he was spared death by Aurelian in exchange for his obeisance. W: 1.8-3.9g │D: 17-21mm

4. Aurelian, the Father of (270-275) In the year 274, the winter solstice fell on 25 December. The Emperor Aurelian proclaimed that fixed date the Natalis Solis Invicti, the festival of the sun. Early Christians, who in those days worshiped in secret for fear of being fed to the lions, could not celebrate the birth of in the open. They appropriated the Natalis Solis Invicti for their own purposes, to avoid detection by Roman police. Christmas has been observed on 25 December ever since. It was during the five- year reign of Aurelian that the Alamanni, Goths, , , , and Carpians were decisively defeated, and the breakaway empires of Gaul and restored, providing some respite in the Roman Age of Chaos. In 275, the honored these impressive accomplishments by stabbing Aurelian in the back repeatedly. W: 2.7-3.7g │D:21-24mm

5. , the Builder (276-282) Probus delivered Gaul from the ravages of the Germans, pursued them across the , and everywhere defeated them. He also suppressed several insurrections, and employed his soldiers in various useful works such as planting vineyards, building roads and canals and bridges in . The soldiers rebelled against these menial tasks to such an extent that they proclaimed a new emperor and put Probus to death. W: 3-3.8g │D:21-23.5mm

6. Maximianus I, the Brawny (286-310) The Age of Chaos, also known as Military Anarchy and the Crisis of the Third Century, was a fifty-year period of extreme volatility that almost saw the disintegration of the mighty Roman Empire. No fewer than 20 would-be emperors claimed the throne, a veritable parade of usurpers, most of whom were dead within a year or two. The empire splintered into three rival states vying for ultimate power, of every stripe invaded almost constantly, and the so-called Plague of killed off those emperors (and soldiers) who did not meet a violent end. The Age of Chaos did not end until the reign of . His second in command was , a soldier’s solider, a tough commander who fought in important battles against the Goths. He also fought extensively in Britain. He declared himself in 310, when the emperor was off on a campaign in the Rhine, but his sole reign did not last long. When Constantine discovered the betrayal, he gave Maximian the choice between execution or suicide. Maximian chose the latter. W: 1.9-3g │D:18.5-20mm

7. Constantine I, the Great (293-337) In 305 CE, Constantine I became emperor. Not since the glory days of the Julio-Augustan has a Roman Emperor exerted such profound influence on the world. In 312, while at battle, Constantine had a of a flaming in the sky at noon. He interpreted this as a sign that he should engage his legions in a holy war to wrest control of the entire Roman Empire, and to proclaim Christianity as the . Guided by divine inspiration, he succeeded, winning territory from the , the , and the Sarmatians, and expanding imperial territory. ’s other accomplishments include issuing the Edict of , which made legal the practice of Christianity; founding the in the city that bore his name, Constantinople (now ); working with Sylvester I to establish the Papacy in Rome; and building the Old St. Peter’s , the of the Holy Sepulchre, and the of Constantine. W: 1.5-3.5g │ D: 15-23mm

8. I, the Libertarian (308-324) Ruling alongside Constantine I, Licinius was the co-author of the famed , which legalized the Christian religion within the empire once and for all. His alliance with his co-emperor was never a steady one, however. In time, Rome was roiled with civil war. Licinius fell to Constantine in 324, and was executed. W: 1.5- 3g │D: 17.5-23.5mm

9. Constantine II 10. Constantius II 11. I 12.

9. Constantine II (337-340) | 10. Constantius II (337-361) 11. Constans I (337-350) | 12. Constantius Gallus (351-354) The Sons & Heirs Constantine the Great’s sons—Constantine II, Constans I and Constantius II—all ascended to power, establishing the Constantinian Dynasty, the most significant since the days of Augustus. After slaughtering all other pretenders to the throne, the threesome divvied up the empire among them. The balance of power did not last. Constans arranged for the ambush of his older brother Constantine II, and took possession of the Western half of the empire. When the usurper killed Constans, Constantius II avenged his brother’s death. To help manage the vast empire, he elevated his cousin Constantius Gallus to the rank of Caesar, only to have him executed three years later.

Constantine II- W: 2-4g │D: 16.8-19.5mm, Constantius II-W: 1-3g│D:16.5-21mm Constans I-W: 1-3.5g │D:15-21.5mm, Constantius Gallus- W: 2-5g │D:14.5-21mm

13. II, the Apostate (361-363) A cousin of Constantius II, Julian routed the hated Alamanni at the famed Battle of despite being badly outnumbered. In the provincial city that would one day be called , he was given the title Augustus by his soldiers, and moved to depose his cousin. Before blood could be shed, Constantius died, and Julian took the throne. A man of letters with a bent for history, Julian sought to return Rome to its traditional value system by ridding it of Christianity. He was the last non-Christian Roman Emperor. W:1.5-2.5g | D: 14.5-19mm

14. , the Cruel (364-375) Valentinian was a stout, brave, rough man of limited education but strong faith, a soldier named emperor. As soon as he reached Constantinople, he divided the empire with his brother , whom he left to rule the East, while he himself went to govern the West, chiefly from Milan. Emperors by now were not fond of living at Rome, partly because the remains of the Senate interfered with their full grandeur, and partly because there were old customs that were anathema to the Christian faith. When he was angry he could be cruel; it is said he kept two bears to whom criminals were thrown. W:1.5-2.5g | D: 16.5-18mm

15. Valens (364-378) 16. (375-383) The Last True Romans Valens became the Eastern Roman Emperor in 364. Although a fine administrator and a staunch Christian, Valens was not a military man. He led a series of unsuccessful campaigns against the Goths, culminating in his death at the disastrous Battle of Hadrianopolis in 378, when he stubbornly refused to wait for Valens reinforcements. This decisive defeat heralded the disintegration of the Roman Empire, a moment recognized even by contemporary historians. His nephew Gratian, the son of Valens’ brother the Emperor Valentinian I, ascended to the throne of the Western Empire in 375. An able military leader in his youth, Gratian lost the faith of the army after the massacre at Hadrianopolis. He was killed in a coup in 383.

Valens - W: 2-3.5g | D: 16.5-19.5mm Gratian - W: 1-4g | D: 11.5-23mm

Gratian

17. Valentinian II (375-392) 18. (378-395) Defenders of the Faith In the West, Valentinian I had been succeeded by his sons Gratian and Valentinian II. The former was assassinated by a usurper, Maximus, who also deprived Valentinian II of his province of Italia. Theodosius, who had been appointed by Gratian, defeated the usurper in 388, restoring the young Emperor to his throne. Frankish insurgents Valentinian II strangled to death the 21-year-old Valentinian II in 392. Theodosius marched against the rebels, defeating them in 394, reuniting the empire. He belonged to the orthodox Christian faith, and sought to suppress , as well as many other perceived which had crept into the Christian Church. He was a prudent ruler, and resisted successfully the inroads of the barbarians. Theodosius the Great, as he is now known, died of dropsy in Milan in 395.

Valentinian II-W: 0.5-6g | D: 11-23mm Theodosius I-W: 0.9-2.5g | D: 10.5-16.2mm Theodosius I

19. , the Vain (383-408) The elder son of Emperor Theodosius I and , Arcadius, like almost all the children of the Roman Emperors, was vain and weak, spoiled by growing up in luxury. Arcadius, who was eighteen, had the East, and was under the charge of a conniving Roman officer called , whose unsound military advice almost cost the young Emperor his throne to the hated Goths. Arcadius died in 408 in his palace at Constantinople. W: 0.7-2.5g | D: 11.5-18.5mm

20. , the Hapless (375-383) Honorius was the son of Theodosius the Great, the last emperor to rule over both the Eastern and Western Roman Empires. In the long annals of Rome, the hapless Honorius was arguably the worst ruler to take the throne. It was under his watch that the unthinkable happened in the year410—Rome fell to the Visigoths. As St. wrote at the time, “The city that had taken the entire world was itself taken.” W: 0.9-2.5g | D: 13-18mm

Although Roman emperors tended to rule for short periods of time, each new emperor took the throne believing that his reign would last for decades. Among the first official actions a new emperor would take was to arrange for his to appear on the coinage of the time. For most citizens of the vast realm, this was the only image of the emperor they would ever see. A bust of the emperor would be sent to the mint where a skilled artisan would carefully hand sculpt, in incredibly minute detail, a set of iron dies—without the aid of glasses, magnifiers or other equipment. The reverse side was typically a military or religious theme. To create the coins, a hot metal blank was held between the dies. The upper die would be hit with a heavy hammer to create the impression in the hot, soft metal.

Coins circulated for long periods of time. Most coins of the era were lost to history—corroded, melted down, or otherwise worn away. Now and again, collectors come into possession of “hoards” of buried coins. It is from these hoards that these coins were hand- selected for this remarkable collection.

Order Code: 20ROMBOX-G Each coin is protected in an archival capsule and beautifully displayed in a deluxe case. Each collection with an informational booklet, certificate of authenticity, and a plaque inscribed with a list of the coins. The deluxe case is packaged in an attractive black gift box.

Box measures approximately: 13 ¾" X 6 ¾" X 1 ½". Coin images are for illustration purpose only and are not to scale. The coin grades will vary in the collection.