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Auction 48 14 Jan 2020
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Magnus Maximus. Gold Solidus (4.48 g), AD 383-388. Treveri. D N MAG MA-XIMVS P F AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Magnus Maximus right. Reverse: RESTITVTOR REIPVBLICAE, emperor standing facing, head right, holding labarum inscribed with a Christogram, and holding Victory on globe; *//SMTR. RIC 76; Depeyrot 50/1 corr. Delicately toned and perfectly centered. Lustrous. Mint State. Value $18,000 - UP
As the son of the notable commander Flavius Julius Eucherius, Magnus Maximus was virtually born into the military profession. He served under Count Theodosius with distinction in Africa (373) and on the Danube frontier (376) but began to develop a reputation for greed and recklessness. In 380, Maximus, who held the post of magister militum per Gallias ("Master of the Army in the Gauls") was dispatched to Britannia to bring order to the troubled island. He defeated an invasion of southern Britannia mounted by the Picts and Caledonians in 381, after which his success seems to have begun to go to his head.
At the same time that Maximus was quelling the northern enemies of Britannia, the popularity of Gratian, the Western Roman Emperor, was at low ebb. Policies designed to settle Christianized Alans (a migrating Iranian people) were perceived as evidence of imperial favoritism at the expense of indigenous citizens of the Roman Empire. Taking advantage of the growing discontent, Maximus proclaimed himself a rival emperor with the support of his troops in 383. He immediately crossed the English Channel to face Gratian in battle. The Western emperor was defeated near Paris and fled to Lyons, but Maximus had him hunted down and killed. He then mounted an invasion of Italy with the intention of overthrowing Gratian's co-emperor, the 12-year-old Valentinian II. He was only prevented from making good on his plans by the timely intervention of a large army sent by Theodosius I, the Eastern emperor, and the entreaties of Ambrose, the famous Bishop of Milan. Subsequent negotiations, which dragged on into 384, ultimately recognized Maximus as Western emperor with Valentinian II as his co-emperor.
Maximus established a new imperial capital at Trier, from which he ruled over Gaul, Britannia, Hispania, and Africa while Valentinian II retained only Italy. He seems to have had greater popularity than his predecessor and was even made the subject of a panegyric by the pagan senator Q. Aurelius Symmachus despite Maximus' strong orthodox Christian beliefs. The latter were loudly expressed in his execution of Priscillian, the wealthy but heretical Bishop of Ávila, and his followers in 385. Two years later, Maximus made a second invasion of Italy, this time forcing Valentinian II to abandon his capital at Milan and flee to Theodosius I in the East.
Unfortunately, Maximus did not have long to enjoy his victory. In the summer of 388, Theodosius I and Valentinian II began to march against him with a large army. Maximus faced them at the Sava River in Pannonia but suffered defeat and fled to Aquileia. He subsequently surrendered and threw himself on the mercy of Theodosius I, but the Eastern emperor was not in a forgiving mood and ordered his execution. The Roman Senate, whose members had praised Maximus not so long before, now decreed a damnatio memoriae against him, throwing down his images and striking his name from inscriptions. His mother and daughters were left unharmed, but his son, Flavius Victor, was strangled in Trier because his father had appointed him as co-emperor, probably in 387.
This attractive gold solidus was struck for Magnus Maximus at Trier not long after he claimed imperial authority for himself. The reverse legend describes him as RESTITVTOR REI PVBLICAE ("Restorer of the State"), probably referring to Maximus' removal of the unpopular Gratian, whose supposed favoritism served to destabilize the Western Roman Empire. He is shown on the reverse as a cuirassed warrior emperor holding Victory in his right hand and the labarum in his left. The latter was a sacred military banner constructed by Constantine the Great and which he had emblazoned with the Chi-Rho monogram of Christ in response to his famous vision in which he was advised in hoc signo vincit ("in this sign conquer"). It subsequently became a talisman of imperial victory that continued in use in battle or in ceremonial form down to the end of the Byzantine Empire.
As the son of the notable commander Flavius Julius Eucherius, Magnus Maximus was virtually born into the military profession. He served under Count Theodosius with distinction in Africa (373) and on the Danube frontier (376) but began to develop a reputation for greed and recklessness. In 380, Maximus, who held the post of magister militum per Gallias ("Master of the Army in the Gauls") was dispatched to Britannia to bring order to the troubled island. He defeated an invasion of southern Britannia mounted by the Picts and Caledonians in 381, after which his success seems to have begun to go to his head.
At the same time that Maximus was quelling the northern enemies of Britannia, the popularity of Gratian, the Western Roman Emperor, was at low ebb. Policies designed to settle Christianized Alans (a migrating Iranian people) were perceived as evidence of imperial favoritism at the expense of indigenous citizens of the Roman Empire. Taking advantage of the growing discontent, Maximus proclaimed himself a rival emperor with the support of his troops in 383. He immediately crossed the English Channel to face Gratian in battle. The Western emperor was defeated near Paris and fled to Lyons, but Maximus had him hunted down and killed. He then mounted an invasion of Italy with the intention of overthrowing Gratian's co-emperor, the 12-year-old Valentinian II. He was only prevented from making good on his plans by the timely intervention of a large army sent by Theodosius I, the Eastern emperor, and the entreaties of Ambrose, the famous Bishop of Milan. Subsequent negotiations, which dragged on into 384, ultimately recognized Maximus as Western emperor with Valentinian II as his co-emperor.
Maximus established a new imperial capital at Trier, from which he ruled over Gaul, Britannia, Hispania, and Africa while Valentinian II retained only Italy. He seems to have had greater popularity than his predecessor and was even made the subject of a panegyric by the pagan senator Q. Aurelius Symmachus despite Maximus' strong orthodox Christian beliefs. The latter were loudly expressed in his execution of Priscillian, the wealthy but heretical Bishop of Ávila, and his followers in 385. Two years later, Maximus made a second invasion of Italy, this time forcing Valentinian II to abandon his capital at Milan and flee to Theodosius I in the East.
Unfortunately, Maximus did not have long to enjoy his victory. In the summer of 388, Theodosius I and Valentinian II began to march against him with a large army. Maximus faced them at the Sava River in Pannonia but suffered defeat and fled to Aquileia. He subsequently surrendered and threw himself on the mercy of Theodosius I, but the Eastern emperor was not in a forgiving mood and ordered his execution. The Roman Senate, whose members had praised Maximus not so long before, now decreed a damnatio memoriae against him, throwing down his images and striking his name from inscriptions. His mother and daughters were left unharmed, but his son, Flavius Victor, was strangled in Trier because his father had appointed him as co-emperor, probably in 387.
This attractive gold solidus was struck for Magnus Maximus at Trier not long after he claimed imperial authority for himself. The reverse legend describes him as RESTITVTOR REI PVBLICAE ("Restorer of the State"), probably referring to Maximus' removal of the unpopular Gratian, whose supposed favoritism served to destabilize the Western Roman Empire. He is shown on the reverse as a cuirassed warrior emperor holding Victory in his right hand and the labarum in his left. The latter was a sacred military banner constructed by Constantine the Great and which he had emblazoned with the Chi-Rho monogram of Christ in response to his famous vision in which he was advised in hoc signo vincit ("in this sign conquer"). It subsequently became a talisman of imperial victory that continued in use in battle or in ceremonial form down to the end of the Byzantine Empire.