Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVII 28 Mar 2019
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Maximianus AV Aureus. Rome, AD 286. IMP C M AVR VAL MAXIMIANVS P F AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / IOVI CONSERVAT AVGG, Jupiter standing to left, nude but for drapery over shoulders, holding thunderbolt in right hand and sceptre in left. RIC 492a; C. 348; Calicó 4688. 5.63g, 22mm, 6h.
Near Mint State; lightly frosted surfaces with faintly reddish tone.
Ex Tradart S.A., December 2014 Auction, 18 December 2014, lot 395;
Ex Tradart S.A. Auction 5, 8 November 1992, lot 243.
It would ultimately be religious legitimisation, not military achievements, that would elevate Diocletian above his predecessors. The quasi-republican ideals of Augustus' 'primus inter pares' system were abandoned for all but the tetrarchs themselves. Diocletian took to wearing a gold crown and jewels, and forbade the use of purple cloth to all but the emperors. His subjects were required to prostrate themselves in his presence (adoratio); the most fortunate were allowed the privilege of kissing the hem of his robe (proskynesis). The reverse of this coin further alludes to the quasi-divine aspects of the new 'dominate' system of government. Around 287 Diocletian assumed the title Iovius, and his colleague Maximian assumed the title Herculius; these grandiose new titles not only reflected the working dynamic between Diocletian and Maximian (while the one acted as supreme strategist, the other enforced imperial will by brute force), but more importantly by taking on divine attributes Diocletian intended to make the person of the emperor inviolate as the gods' representative on earth.
Near Mint State; lightly frosted surfaces with faintly reddish tone.
Ex Tradart S.A., December 2014 Auction, 18 December 2014, lot 395;
Ex Tradart S.A. Auction 5, 8 November 1992, lot 243.
It would ultimately be religious legitimisation, not military achievements, that would elevate Diocletian above his predecessors. The quasi-republican ideals of Augustus' 'primus inter pares' system were abandoned for all but the tetrarchs themselves. Diocletian took to wearing a gold crown and jewels, and forbade the use of purple cloth to all but the emperors. His subjects were required to prostrate themselves in his presence (adoratio); the most fortunate were allowed the privilege of kissing the hem of his robe (proskynesis). The reverse of this coin further alludes to the quasi-divine aspects of the new 'dominate' system of government. Around 287 Diocletian assumed the title Iovius, and his colleague Maximian assumed the title Herculius; these grandiose new titles not only reflected the working dynamic between Diocletian and Maximian (while the one acted as supreme strategist, the other enforced imperial will by brute force), but more importantly by taking on divine attributes Diocletian intended to make the person of the emperor inviolate as the gods' representative on earth.