Leu Numismatik AG
Auction 7 24-25 Oct 2020
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Theodosius II, 402-450, and Valentinian III, 425-455, with Fl. Olbius Auxentius Draucus, praefectus urbi. 'Tessera Monumenti' (Bronze, 18x13 mm, 4.32 g), Rome, 441 or 445 (?). SALVIS DD NN / DRAVCVS / AVXENTIVS FEC in three lines; all inlaid in silver. Rev. Blank. Bendall -. CIL -. CPAI -. MAH -. Pondera -. Unpublished and unique. A highly important 'tessera monumenti' of great historical interest. Very few inlays missing, otherwise, very fine.
Such very rare late Roman square plaquettes usually carry the names of officials, with the most famous example, now in Paris, naming Zeno and Odoacer on the obverse and the historian Symmachus as praefectus urbi on the reverse (Bendall 172). Some of them bear the formulas renovavit ('He has restored') or, as this example, fec[it], which led Dressel to think of them as 'tesserae monumentorum' or dedicatory plaquettes, produced to mark dedications, constructions or repairs of buildings; however, as they usually weigh around 3.3-4.3 g, they are also sometimes referred to as weights of solidi. Most of these tesserae only provide the name of the official, but the few that record imperial names and/or the offices of the magistrates allow for general dating of the series to the second quarter of the 5th down to the early 6th century
The present piece records the name of a member of the Auxentii, Draucus, while the two emperors referred to in the first line of the inscription remain unnamed. However, as the only recorded offices to appear on these plaquettes are the praefecti urbi and the praefecti praetorio, the urban and praetorian prefects of Rome, we can safely identify our Draucus with the praefectus urbi Fl. Olbius Auxentius Draucus, whose career we are fortunate to know from the base of his statue, which was found in Rome (CIL VI, 1725). Draucus served in minor urban magistracies before becoming 'comiti ordinis primi et vicario urbis Romae, comiti sacri consistorii, praefecto urbis Romae' ('comes of the first rank, vicarius of the city of Rome, comes of the imperial consistory, prefect of the city of Rome') under the emperors Theodosius II and Valentinian III. He may very well be the Auxentius recorded as praefectus urbi for a first time in 441 (Nov. Val. 8.2) and a second time in 445 (Nov. Val. 20), although it is worth noting that CIL VI, 1669 mentions another Auxentius, Fonteius Litorius (his father?), as prefect of Rome at an uncertain date under Theodosius II and Valentinian III, rendering the exact dating of Draucus' tenure(s) somewhat uncertain.
Such very rare late Roman square plaquettes usually carry the names of officials, with the most famous example, now in Paris, naming Zeno and Odoacer on the obverse and the historian Symmachus as praefectus urbi on the reverse (Bendall 172). Some of them bear the formulas renovavit ('He has restored') or, as this example, fec[it], which led Dressel to think of them as 'tesserae monumentorum' or dedicatory plaquettes, produced to mark dedications, constructions or repairs of buildings; however, as they usually weigh around 3.3-4.3 g, they are also sometimes referred to as weights of solidi. Most of these tesserae only provide the name of the official, but the few that record imperial names and/or the offices of the magistrates allow for general dating of the series to the second quarter of the 5th down to the early 6th century
The present piece records the name of a member of the Auxentii, Draucus, while the two emperors referred to in the first line of the inscription remain unnamed. However, as the only recorded offices to appear on these plaquettes are the praefecti urbi and the praefecti praetorio, the urban and praetorian prefects of Rome, we can safely identify our Draucus with the praefectus urbi Fl. Olbius Auxentius Draucus, whose career we are fortunate to know from the base of his statue, which was found in Rome (CIL VI, 1725). Draucus served in minor urban magistracies before becoming 'comiti ordinis primi et vicario urbis Romae, comiti sacri consistorii, praefecto urbis Romae' ('comes of the first rank, vicarius of the city of Rome, comes of the imperial consistory, prefect of the city of Rome') under the emperors Theodosius II and Valentinian III. He may very well be the Auxentius recorded as praefectus urbi for a first time in 441 (Nov. Val. 8.2) and a second time in 445 (Nov. Val. 20), although it is worth noting that CIL VI, 1669 mentions another Auxentius, Fonteius Litorius (his father?), as prefect of Rome at an uncertain date under Theodosius II and Valentinian III, rendering the exact dating of Draucus' tenure(s) somewhat uncertain.