Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXV 22-23 Sep 2022
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Julian II AV Solidus. Sirmium, AD 360-363. FL CL IVLIANVS P P AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust to right / VIRTVS EXERCITVS ROMANORVM, soldier advancing to right, head to left, holding trophy and dragging kneeling captive; *SIRM(wreath) in exergue. RIC VIII 95; Depeyrot 21/1. 4.49g, 21mm, 7h.
Near Mint State. Rated R3 in RIC.
Ex Dr. Hans Krähenbühl Collection, privately purchased from Bank Leu AG, 3 July 1965.
Julian, because he was part of a lesser branch of the Imperial Dynasty begun by Constantius Chlorus (his father was a half-brother to Constantine I, who, being of the right age, was in a position to succeed his father in Eboracum in AD 306), was destined from birth in AD 331 to a life of obscurity and danger because of his potential risk to the ruling branch's control. When he was just a young boy, in AD 337 his cousin Constantius II presided over the murders of the majority of the male members of this lesser branch in an attempt to shore up his position and that of his brothers Constantine II and Constans I, who were proclaimed joint emperors that year after the death of their father Constantine I. This massacre left only Julian and his brother Constantius Gallus as living members of that branch, and to keep these two from being a possible risk, they were set apart from public life in their youth and jealously guarded in a form of exile. Julian was raised and educated as a Christian, the religion of the ruling family, and when he was no longer held under exile, at the age of 18, he became a lector in the Christian church in the East, where occurred in circa AD 351 his conversion to the paganism for which he was chiefly to be remembered in posterity, followed by his seeking of further education in pagan texts and religious practices.
Meanwhile, however, a civil war between his cousins Constantine II and Constans I had left the former dead in AD 340, while the latter had died whilst fighting against the usurper Magnentius in 350. This left Julian's remaining cousin, Constantius II, alone and in need of assistance. Julian's brother Constantius Gallus was consequently made Caesar of the East in AD 351, but he was executed in 354 after a breakdown in his relationship with Constantius II. In AD 355, when he was again desirous of support from an imperial colleague, Constantius II raised Julian to be Caesar in the West, thinking Julian could be kept under the control of his prefects as a puppet figurehead.
Initially unwilling to abandon his studies and the peace of his spiritual life, Julian nonetheless threw himself into the life of a Caesar, rejecting any sense that he might merely be a pawn of Constantius' men, and developed himself into a capable military leader and imperial administrator, achieving victories over a number of tribes, including the Franks and Alemanni, on either side of the Rhine, whilst also overseeing a restoration of Gaul to some level of peace and prosperity, in so doing clashing with the praetorian prefect of Gaul for attempting to lower taxes and reducing imperial corruption. This type aptly celebrates the virtue of the Roman army with a military type of a soldier dragging a captive. As emperor in his own right, however, his invasion of Persia in AD 363 was much less successful, and Julian II was killed in battle while retreating from Ctesiphon. His successor, Jovian, signed a humiliating peace treaty in order to save the rest of the invading force.
Near Mint State. Rated R3 in RIC.
Ex Dr. Hans Krähenbühl Collection, privately purchased from Bank Leu AG, 3 July 1965.
Julian, because he was part of a lesser branch of the Imperial Dynasty begun by Constantius Chlorus (his father was a half-brother to Constantine I, who, being of the right age, was in a position to succeed his father in Eboracum in AD 306), was destined from birth in AD 331 to a life of obscurity and danger because of his potential risk to the ruling branch's control. When he was just a young boy, in AD 337 his cousin Constantius II presided over the murders of the majority of the male members of this lesser branch in an attempt to shore up his position and that of his brothers Constantine II and Constans I, who were proclaimed joint emperors that year after the death of their father Constantine I. This massacre left only Julian and his brother Constantius Gallus as living members of that branch, and to keep these two from being a possible risk, they were set apart from public life in their youth and jealously guarded in a form of exile. Julian was raised and educated as a Christian, the religion of the ruling family, and when he was no longer held under exile, at the age of 18, he became a lector in the Christian church in the East, where occurred in circa AD 351 his conversion to the paganism for which he was chiefly to be remembered in posterity, followed by his seeking of further education in pagan texts and religious practices.
Meanwhile, however, a civil war between his cousins Constantine II and Constans I had left the former dead in AD 340, while the latter had died whilst fighting against the usurper Magnentius in 350. This left Julian's remaining cousin, Constantius II, alone and in need of assistance. Julian's brother Constantius Gallus was consequently made Caesar of the East in AD 351, but he was executed in 354 after a breakdown in his relationship with Constantius II. In AD 355, when he was again desirous of support from an imperial colleague, Constantius II raised Julian to be Caesar in the West, thinking Julian could be kept under the control of his prefects as a puppet figurehead.
Initially unwilling to abandon his studies and the peace of his spiritual life, Julian nonetheless threw himself into the life of a Caesar, rejecting any sense that he might merely be a pawn of Constantius' men, and developed himself into a capable military leader and imperial administrator, achieving victories over a number of tribes, including the Franks and Alemanni, on either side of the Rhine, whilst also overseeing a restoration of Gaul to some level of peace and prosperity, in so doing clashing with the praetorian prefect of Gaul for attempting to lower taxes and reducing imperial corruption. This type aptly celebrates the virtue of the Roman army with a military type of a soldier dragging a captive. As emperor in his own right, however, his invasion of Persia in AD 363 was much less successful, and Julian II was killed in battle while retreating from Ctesiphon. His successor, Jovian, signed a humiliating peace treaty in order to save the rest of the invading force.