Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXI 24-25 Mar 2021
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Galerius, as Caesar, AV Aureus. Antioch, AD 293-295. MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES, laureate head to right / IOVI CONS CAES *, Jupiter, nude but for cloak, standing facing, bearded and laureate head to left, holding sceptre and thunderbolt; eagle standing to left before, SMAΣ in exergue. RIC VI 10; C. 118; Depeyrot 9/5; Calicó 4910. 5.37g, 19mm, 5h.
Good Extremely Fine; described in NAC 97 as "a superb portrait in the finest style of the period perfectly struck in high relief." Very Rare.
From the Collection of GK, Ukrainian Emigrant;
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 97, 12 December 2016, lot 237 (hammer: CHF 22,000);
Ex Hunter Collection, Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles, Auction 72, 5 February 2013, lot 4213 (hammer: USD 34,000).
It was in 293 that Diocletian resolved to expand the imperial college and convert the diarchy into the Tetrarchy. His co-emperor, Maximian, had recently suffered an ignominious defeat whilst attempting to retake Britain from Carausius, the self-proclaimed 'Emperor of Britain and Gaul'. This, among other setbacks, had alerted Diocletian to the grave need to promote more accomplished figures if he was to effectively confront the countless military and civic crises that were developing across the Empire. Consequently, two caesares were appointed from the senior military ranks, Galerius and Constantius Chlorus, each to be overseen by their superior augusti, Diocletian and Maximian respectively.
Little in known of Galerius' formative years, though we are told by the author Lactantius (De Mortibus Persecutorum) that he was a low-born herdsman turned soldier from Thrace, whose exceptional valour and ambition had rapidly elevated him into Diocletian's inner circle by the time of the announcement. In perhaps mid-293, Constantius was tasked with finally eradicating Carausius, who by this stage had governed Britain for seven years; whilst Galerius was assigned the equally unenviable duty of overseeing the Illyrian provinces and defending the ever-turbulent Danube frontier from the Goths. Upon arriving there, however, he was immediately compelled to travel to Egypt in order to put down various revolts pertaining to rising tax rates. Each and every emperor since the time of Augustus had made sure that Egypt, like much of mainland Italy, had remained largely exempt from paying taxes. With the empire now in critical need of extra capital, though, these long-cherished privileges were ended. Such was the indignation of the people of Egypt that it took Galerius almost two years to sufficiently subdue the unruly province.
We must surmise then that Galerius was stationed in Egypt at the time during which the present coin was minted (c. 293-295). The magnificent portrait, which was struck in impeccable high relief, depicts Galerius as a steadfast and uncompromising martial figure, much in the mould of his superior, Diocletian.
The mint of Antioch, where this specimen was struck, was to become an increasingly essential site of production for Galerius in the succeeding years. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus states that the belligerent Sassanid king, Narseh, relentlessly provoked Diocletian and Galerius by plundering the various settlements along the Syrian border between 295-296 (XXIII.5.11). This eventually culminated in a declaration of war and the Battle of Carrhae in 296 (not to be confused with Crassus' disastrous defeat in 53 BC). Like Crassus, though, Galerius suffered a crushing loss at Carrhae, his army unable to oppose Narseh's fluid cavalry and archers on open ground. He and his bested army staggered back to Antioch, where we are told that an apoplectic Diocletian castigated his Caesar publicly and forced him to walk back to the city ahead of the imperial caravan (De Mortibus Persecutorum); though this seems improbable considering Galerius' standing and the need to display the Tetrarchy as a united government.
Galerius subsequently re-engaged Narseh's forces at the Battle of Satala in 298, an event which resulted in a favourable new peace treaty and the acquisition of new territories on the Sassanid-Roman border.
Good Extremely Fine; described in NAC 97 as "a superb portrait in the finest style of the period perfectly struck in high relief." Very Rare.
From the Collection of GK, Ukrainian Emigrant;
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 97, 12 December 2016, lot 237 (hammer: CHF 22,000);
Ex Hunter Collection, Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles, Auction 72, 5 February 2013, lot 4213 (hammer: USD 34,000).
It was in 293 that Diocletian resolved to expand the imperial college and convert the diarchy into the Tetrarchy. His co-emperor, Maximian, had recently suffered an ignominious defeat whilst attempting to retake Britain from Carausius, the self-proclaimed 'Emperor of Britain and Gaul'. This, among other setbacks, had alerted Diocletian to the grave need to promote more accomplished figures if he was to effectively confront the countless military and civic crises that were developing across the Empire. Consequently, two caesares were appointed from the senior military ranks, Galerius and Constantius Chlorus, each to be overseen by their superior augusti, Diocletian and Maximian respectively.
Little in known of Galerius' formative years, though we are told by the author Lactantius (De Mortibus Persecutorum) that he was a low-born herdsman turned soldier from Thrace, whose exceptional valour and ambition had rapidly elevated him into Diocletian's inner circle by the time of the announcement. In perhaps mid-293, Constantius was tasked with finally eradicating Carausius, who by this stage had governed Britain for seven years; whilst Galerius was assigned the equally unenviable duty of overseeing the Illyrian provinces and defending the ever-turbulent Danube frontier from the Goths. Upon arriving there, however, he was immediately compelled to travel to Egypt in order to put down various revolts pertaining to rising tax rates. Each and every emperor since the time of Augustus had made sure that Egypt, like much of mainland Italy, had remained largely exempt from paying taxes. With the empire now in critical need of extra capital, though, these long-cherished privileges were ended. Such was the indignation of the people of Egypt that it took Galerius almost two years to sufficiently subdue the unruly province.
We must surmise then that Galerius was stationed in Egypt at the time during which the present coin was minted (c. 293-295). The magnificent portrait, which was struck in impeccable high relief, depicts Galerius as a steadfast and uncompromising martial figure, much in the mould of his superior, Diocletian.
The mint of Antioch, where this specimen was struck, was to become an increasingly essential site of production for Galerius in the succeeding years. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus states that the belligerent Sassanid king, Narseh, relentlessly provoked Diocletian and Galerius by plundering the various settlements along the Syrian border between 295-296 (XXIII.5.11). This eventually culminated in a declaration of war and the Battle of Carrhae in 296 (not to be confused with Crassus' disastrous defeat in 53 BC). Like Crassus, though, Galerius suffered a crushing loss at Carrhae, his army unable to oppose Narseh's fluid cavalry and archers on open ground. He and his bested army staggered back to Antioch, where we are told that an apoplectic Diocletian castigated his Caesar publicly and forced him to walk back to the city ahead of the imperial caravan (De Mortibus Persecutorum); though this seems improbable considering Galerius' standing and the need to display the Tetrarchy as a united government.
Galerius subsequently re-engaged Narseh's forces at the Battle of Satala in 298, an event which resulted in a favourable new peace treaty and the acquisition of new territories on the Sassanid-Roman border.