Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Auction 120 11-12 May 2022
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Hostilian. As Caesar, AD 250-251. AV Aureus (18.5mm, 3.66 g, 5h). Rome mint, 5th officina. 5th emission of Trajan Decius, AD 251. C VALENS HOSTIL MES QVINTVS N C, bareheaded and draped bust right / PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS, Hostilian standing left, holding signum in right hand and vertical spear reversed in left. RIC IV 181b; Calicó 3316; Biaggi 1405 (same obv. die). Light marks in fields. Near EF. Rare.
Gaius Valens Hostilianus Messius Quintus was the younger son of Trajan Decius, who rose to prominence in the Roman Senate during the chaotic third century AD. His mother was Herennia Etruscilla, a noblewoman of Etruscan descent. Hostilian was probably 11 or 12 when, in AD 249, his father assumed the purple. Early in AD 250, the Goths and Carpi breached the Danube defenses and plundered the Balkans. To meet the threat, Decius took the field himself, and so he named Hostilian Caesar and left the youth and his mother in charge of Rome while he marched north. However, Decius and Herennius both perished in Summer AD 251 in a Gothic ambush at Abrittus. The surviving general, Trebonianus Gallus, was hailed as emperor by the troops. Despite whispers he had conspired in the death of Decius, Gallus asked the Senate to confirm Hostilian as co-Augustus, while naming his own son Volusian as Caesar. Gallus arrived in Rome a few weeks after Abrittus and warmly greeted his young co-ruler. Alas, his returning army also brought a virulent plague, which ravaged the population of the capital. A few months later, Hostilian caught the disease and quickly succumbed, probably in October or November AD 251. Thus the "dynasty" of Trajan Decius lasted barely two years.
Due to the brevity of his reign, gold coins of Hostilian are extremely rare in the Roman series. The empire's weakened economy is revealed by the severely reduced weight of 3.66 grams. Hostilian's tender age is quite evident on the obverse portrait, while the reverse proclaims him "Prince of Youth."
Gaius Valens Hostilianus Messius Quintus was the younger son of Trajan Decius, who rose to prominence in the Roman Senate during the chaotic third century AD. His mother was Herennia Etruscilla, a noblewoman of Etruscan descent. Hostilian was probably 11 or 12 when, in AD 249, his father assumed the purple. Early in AD 250, the Goths and Carpi breached the Danube defenses and plundered the Balkans. To meet the threat, Decius took the field himself, and so he named Hostilian Caesar and left the youth and his mother in charge of Rome while he marched north. However, Decius and Herennius both perished in Summer AD 251 in a Gothic ambush at Abrittus. The surviving general, Trebonianus Gallus, was hailed as emperor by the troops. Despite whispers he had conspired in the death of Decius, Gallus asked the Senate to confirm Hostilian as co-Augustus, while naming his own son Volusian as Caesar. Gallus arrived in Rome a few weeks after Abrittus and warmly greeted his young co-ruler. Alas, his returning army also brought a virulent plague, which ravaged the population of the capital. A few months later, Hostilian caught the disease and quickly succumbed, probably in October or November AD 251. Thus the "dynasty" of Trajan Decius lasted barely two years.
Due to the brevity of his reign, gold coins of Hostilian are extremely rare in the Roman series. The empire's weakened economy is revealed by the severely reduced weight of 3.66 grams. Hostilian's tender age is quite evident on the obverse portrait, while the reverse proclaims him "Prince of Youth."