Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 106 9-10 May 2018
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Tacitus, 275 – 276. Medallion 275-276, Æ 21.30 g. IMP C M CL TACITVS P F AVG Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. ADL – OCVTIO – AVG Tacitus, in military attire, standing l. on platform, raising r. hand; in r. field, Victory and in l., soldiers standing r. C 1 var. (different bust) = Gnecchi 1 var. = BMC Medallion pl. LII, 1 var. Toynbee –.
An apparently unrecorded variety of an exceedingly rare type, apparently only
the second and by far the finest specimen known. An unusual portrait and
an interesting reverse type. Lovely green patina gently smoothed,
otherwise good very fine / very fine
Marcus Claudius Tacitus appears to have been in Campania serving as suffect consul when Aurelian was assassinated in A.D. 275. The Senate elected him to be Aurelian's successor, a decision that was ratified by the army. This was a remarkable event, for the army and Senate were frequently at odds about the creation of new emperors in the third century. As it turned out, Tacitus was destined to be the last emperor to be appointed by the Senate. Upon learning of his new, elevated position, Tacitus hurried to Rome, where he promptly instituted reforms to give greater consultative powers to the Senate, deified Aurelian, and executed his murderers. He then marched east to deal with an unruly assortment of Germanic mercenaries that had been assembled by Aurelian for a projected campaign against the Sasanian Persian Empire. With the death of Aurelian the mercenaries no longer had a paymaster and took to plundering towns. Tacitus, together with his brother, Florian, successfully defeated the mercenaries and ended their reign of terror in the East. In celebration of this event, the Senate gave Tacitus the somewhat overblown title Gothicus Maximus. The emperor next prepared to return west to deal with a new invasion of Gaul by the Franks and Alemanni, but before he could do so he was struck down by fever while passing through Tyana in Cappadocia. He died in June A.D. 276, before his promising career as emperor could really take off. Despite his recognition by the army as an able commander, Tacitus appears to have been of a literary bent. He is said to have claimed descent from the famous historian, Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (ca. A.D. 56-120), and made a habit of circulating the author's works, which had largely ceased to be read in the third century. This rare medallion illustrates Tacitus' relationship with the army, commemorating an exhortation made before the battle against the Germanic mercenaries or at the time of his accession. Imperial accessions were a common occasion for a speech before the troops and for the cementing of their loyalty with a distribution of coins and medallic gifts. The reverse belongs to a long tradition of Roman representations of speeches of emperors before the army - the adlocutio scene. It is arranged in typical fashion with the emperor and an assistant standing on a low podium before a group of soldiers. It is tempting to suggest that the second figure on the podium here might be Florian, whom Tacitus had made Praetorian Prefect. In this case, the soldiers probably represent the Praetorian Guard, an important group for any emperor to pacify. Over their long history as imperial bodyguards, the Praetorians developed a disturbing tendency to murder emperors who displeased them.
An apparently unrecorded variety of an exceedingly rare type, apparently only
the second and by far the finest specimen known. An unusual portrait and
an interesting reverse type. Lovely green patina gently smoothed,
otherwise good very fine / very fine
Marcus Claudius Tacitus appears to have been in Campania serving as suffect consul when Aurelian was assassinated in A.D. 275. The Senate elected him to be Aurelian's successor, a decision that was ratified by the army. This was a remarkable event, for the army and Senate were frequently at odds about the creation of new emperors in the third century. As it turned out, Tacitus was destined to be the last emperor to be appointed by the Senate. Upon learning of his new, elevated position, Tacitus hurried to Rome, where he promptly instituted reforms to give greater consultative powers to the Senate, deified Aurelian, and executed his murderers. He then marched east to deal with an unruly assortment of Germanic mercenaries that had been assembled by Aurelian for a projected campaign against the Sasanian Persian Empire. With the death of Aurelian the mercenaries no longer had a paymaster and took to plundering towns. Tacitus, together with his brother, Florian, successfully defeated the mercenaries and ended their reign of terror in the East. In celebration of this event, the Senate gave Tacitus the somewhat overblown title Gothicus Maximus. The emperor next prepared to return west to deal with a new invasion of Gaul by the Franks and Alemanni, but before he could do so he was struck down by fever while passing through Tyana in Cappadocia. He died in June A.D. 276, before his promising career as emperor could really take off. Despite his recognition by the army as an able commander, Tacitus appears to have been of a literary bent. He is said to have claimed descent from the famous historian, Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (ca. A.D. 56-120), and made a habit of circulating the author's works, which had largely ceased to be read in the third century. This rare medallion illustrates Tacitus' relationship with the army, commemorating an exhortation made before the battle against the Germanic mercenaries or at the time of his accession. Imperial accessions were a common occasion for a speech before the troops and for the cementing of their loyalty with a distribution of coins and medallic gifts. The reverse belongs to a long tradition of Roman representations of speeches of emperors before the army - the adlocutio scene. It is arranged in typical fashion with the emperor and an assistant standing on a low podium before a group of soldiers. It is tempting to suggest that the second figure on the podium here might be Florian, whom Tacitus had made Praetorian Prefect. In this case, the soldiers probably represent the Praetorian Guard, an important group for any emperor to pacify. Over their long history as imperial bodyguards, the Praetorians developed a disturbing tendency to murder emperors who displeased them.