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Fernando López Sánchez with the Exce VIRTUS PROBI: PAYMENTS FOR THE BATTLE CAVALRY DURING THE RULE OF PROBUS (A.D. 277–278)* Fernando López Sánchez With the exception of the military crisis beginning in 406,1 the worst military crisis that the Roman Empire ever suffered was the one that started in 260 with the capture in the East of Valentinian by Shapur. With all the frontiers under threat, the decreasing trust of the army in the ruling dynasty led to a de facto division into three regions: the Gal- lias, the Italian-Danubian axis and the Eastern part of the Empire. The re-uni cation of the Empire from the centre could only be achieved in 274, after many efforts by Aurelian. Within this context, it is not surprising that, both in the past and present, the main interest of his- torians has focused on understanding the means by which the central Empire that governed from Italy could at the same time cope with external attacks and carry out the re-conquest of the Empire. Within this process of re-uni cation, special attention has been given to the battle cavalry, a special cavalry unit presumably based in Milan and sent to different regions according to the orders given by the different central emperors. And yet the existence of a cavalry stationed in Milan and ready to act under direct order of the emperor does not seem to have been an exclusive prerogatory of the central Empire of Italy. The Gallic emperors, too, in the years 260–274, seem to have had a battle cavalry, similar to that formed in the north of Italy.2 The real agent in the recovery of the Gallias for the central Empire, the emperor Aurelian, had since 274 been very conscious of the need * I am indebted to Dominique Hollard for his advice and comments and to the research group Urbs of Zaragoza. 1 All dates are ad unless otherwise stated. 2 F. López Sánchez, ‹ La série légionnaire de Victorin et ses emblèmes ad hoc ›, in D. Hollard, ed., L’armée et la monnaie. Actes de la journée d’études du 10 décembre 2005 à la Monnaie de Paris. Recherches et Travaux de la Société d’Études Numismatiques et Archéologiques (= SÉNA) 1 (Paris 2006), 37–49. Fernando López Sánchez - 9789047430391 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 12:31:52PM via free access 564 fernando lópez sánchez to tackle rather than ignore the internal problems of Gaul. Although his premature death prevented him from becoming the emperor of the Gallias, the nucleus of the battle cavalry that, without any doubt, was based in Lyon in 274, was used by Probus in the years 277–278. The series Virtus Probi issued in Lyon to commemorate the personal actions of Probus in the Rhine area re] ects the fact that Probus acted during these years not so much as a commander of the central Empire but equally as an emperor of the Gallic region. In this paper, in four dif- ferent sections, I’ll attempt to demonstrate the way in which Probus, from Lyon, wanted to identify himself with Gallia, even though he was a central emperor. The rst section of this paper, The meaning of the coin legend Equites, aims to show that Equites was not a legend applied to the whole body of the cavalry in the monetary series of the third century. The Roman engravers had various ways of linking a monetary series to a particular cavalry unit and to a speci c event. Equites was a legend only used in the years 268 or 276–277 and was linked to an invading military corps under the ultimate command of a magister equitum, and not of a Roman emperor. It is therefore unsurprising that Probus used this coin legend only in Italy in 276–277 rather than during his personal leadership in the operations in Gaul in 277–278. The second and third parts of this article, Virtus Postumi and the defence of Gaul by a local emperor and Virtus Probi and the defence of Gaul on behalf of a central emperor, attempt to clarify why Probus decided to strike the 5th monetary series of P. Bastien in Lyon in the years 277–8. In those years, Probus wanted to present himself in Gaul not as merely a central emperor that had arrived in a Gallic frontier territory, but as a sovereign genuinely worried about the region. The \ nal section of this study, The Gallic battle cavalry of Probus, concludes that Probus inherited from Aurelian a battle cavalry based in Lyon. The meaning of the coin legend Equites As L. de Blois has pointed out, the battle cavalry of the central Empire (Italy and the Danube) had its headquarters in Milan between 260 and Fernando López Sánchez - 9789047430391 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 12:31:52PM via free access VIRTUS PROBI: payments for the battle cavalry 565 285,3 and so the allusive legends to cavalry are very explicit in the series of coins minted by Aureolus on behalf of Postumus in the town in the years 267–268.4 On these coins, Aureolus celebrates a compact cavalry that he shows to be under his control (Fides (A)Equit),5 and which he used in the service of Postumus (Concord. (A) Equit)6 to obtain power in Italy (Virtus (A)Equit).7 Fides or Concordia are represented by their respective divinities, and Virtus is mainly represented by Mars marching with a helmet, spear and shield (Fig. 2), but other examples also show Romulo Conditor8 (Fig. 1) and Hercules in relation to Virtus9 (Fig. 3). Fig. 1. Aureolus, Virtus Aequit., Mediolanum, ad 267, Schulzki, op. cit. (n. 5) pl. 12, n. 108 3 L. de Blois, The Policy of the Emperor Gallienus (Leiden 1976), 29: “Soldiers in Milan were mainly in the cavalry.” See also 28. 4 De Blois 1976, op. cit. (n. 3) 27 and notes 17–21; A. Alföldi, ,Zur kenntnis der römischen Soldatenkaiser: I. Der usurpator Aureolus un die kavalleriereform des Gallienus,‘ in Studien zur Geschichte der Weltkrise des dritten Jahrhunderts n. Chr. (Darmstadt 1967), 1–16 is still important. 5 H.-J. Schulzki, Die Antoninianprägung der gallischen Kaiser von Postumus bis Tetricus. Typenka- talog der regulären und nachgeprägten Münzen. Antiquitas 3 (Bonn 1996), 49–51, nn. 15–19a, pl. 2–3. 6 Schulzki 1996, op. cit. (n. 5), 47–48, nn. 4–8, pl. 1. 7 On the coin legends Virtus Aequit of Milan in 267, see Schulzki 1996, op. cit (n. 5), 67–68, nn. 106–114, pl. 12–13. On the issuing see G. Elmer, Die Münzprägung der gallischen Kaiser in Köln, Trier und Mailand, (Berlin 1941), 55–56, nn. 600–617 and 619. N. 620 reads Pax Equitum. 8 N. Méthy, ,Romulus Conditor : un type monétaire mal connu,‘ Annali 48 (2001), 157–184. Romulus is, in any case, the son of Mars, Ovidius Fasti 3.59; Vergilius, Aeneid 1.276–277; 6.778–779; Servius, Commentaries to Vergil’s Aeneid 6.778. 9 Signi cantly Fides and Virtus, two of Aureolus’ coin legends, are linked with two of the most frequent legends on Gallienus’ coinage. See De Blois 1976, op. cit. (n. 3), 101–102. The third legend on the Milanese series of Aureolus, Concordia, substitutes the third most frequent one on Gallienus’ coins, Victoria, because of the circumstantial alliance between Aureolus himself and Postumus. Fernando López Sánchez - 9789047430391 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 12:31:52PM via free access 566 fernando lópez sánchez Fig. 2. Aureolus, Virtus Equit., Mediolanum, ad 267, Schulzki, op. cit. (n. 5) pl. 13, n. 110 Fig. 3. Aureolus, Virtus Equitum, Mediolanum, ad 267/268, Schulzki, op. cit. (n. 5) pl. 13, n. 112 The legend Equites does not often appear on the coins of the period, even though considerable cavalry forces were used at the time. Although there is a lack of clear references to Equites, numismatists and histor- ians should consider that legends such as Virtus and others associated with Mars are sometimes related to Imperial cavalry forces. The second series of coins minted by Claudius II10 in Milan is a paradigmatic example of this association. The main types,11 Virtus Aug(usti) and Marti Pacifero,12 were in fact minted to commemorate the victory of the Mila- nese cavalry13 over the Alamanni near Lake Garda.14 10 The rst series minted by Claudius II at Milan was a donativum to commemorate the victory at Lake Garda. It was composed exclusively of gold, with legends alluding to the event: Concordia Exercitus, Pax Exerc(itus), Spes Publica and Victoria Aug. A contem- porary issue in Rome relates the victory to the prosperity and eternity of the Urbs and some of its tutelary gods: Salus Aug, Felicitas Aug, Victoria Aug, Adventus Aug, Liberalitas Aug, Concord Exerci(tus) or divinities linked to the Urbs such as Iovi Statori, Aeternitas Aug, Apolli Cons. See H. Huvelin, ‹ L’atelier de Rome sous Claude II le Gothique (aurei, deniers, quinaires et moyens bronzes), › Numismatica ed Antichità Classica 13 (1984), 199–213. 11 Apart from the Victoria with two captives that reappears in Siscia brie y after and one denarius with the legend Fides Militum, Huvelin 1984, op. cit. (n. 10), 206. 12 H. Huvelin, ,La victoire du lac de Garde de Claude II,‘ Numismatica e Antichità Classica 11 (1982), 263–269, esp. 263–265. 13 H. Huvelin, ,L’atelier de Milan sous Claude II. La première émission de monnaies d’or,‘ Numismatica e Antichità Classica 15 (1986), 197–209. On p. 197 he says: « Atelier militaire, il semble avoir joui d’une organisation bien structuré et avoir assez rapide- ment acquis un certain nombre de règles.» 14 According to Huvelin, the Milanese series must have been distributed at the end Fernando López Sánchez - 9789047430391 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 12:31:52PM via free access VIRTUS PROBI: payments for the battle cavalry 567 A similar phenomenon occurs in another Milanese example portrayed in a series minted by Aurelian at the beginning of 271, in close associa- tion with Siscia.
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