Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 135 21 Nov 2022
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The Roman Empire. Florian, 276.
Aureus circa 276, AV 4.58 g. VIRTVS F – LORIANI A – VG Laureate and cuirassed bust l., holding transverse spear over r. shoulder and decorated shield. Rev. PERPE – TVIT – ATE AVG Providentia standing l., leaning on column, holding globe and sceptre. C 55. RIC 21. RIC temp. 4150 (this coin listed). Calicó 4131.
Extremely rare. A very impressive portrait of great intensity. Almost
invisible marks, otherwise about extremely fine
Ex Stanbuiliu 22-24 November 2003, 451; NAC 27, 2004, 483 and Rauch 75, 2005, 778 sales.
In 275 the once-crumbling Roman Empire had made great strides toward recovery under the stewardship of Aurelian. In the previous year Aurelian had celebrated a spectacular triumph in Rome for his recovery of the Western provinces from Tetricus and the Eastern provinces from the rulers of Palmyra. Having achieved so much, Aurelian was not content to rest on his laurels, and had he not been murdered late in 275 he would have waged war against the Persians. Tacitus, perhaps a leading senator at the time, stepped in to replace Aurelian as emperor. He made his half-brother, Florian, his praetorian prefect and the two immediately set out for the East to confront the Heruli and Goths, who had swept into Asia Minor amidst the confusion. Indeed, the barbarians had only gathered in such force to join Aurelian as mercenaries on his Persian campaign, and in the meantime, they found themselves with little option but to engage in piracy. If we accept the testimony of coinage and the sketchy historical record, Tacitus and Florianus found some success against the invaders, notably in Cilicia. But not long afterward Tacitus died from disease or murder, after which Florian laid claim to his brother's title. He would not reign long, however, as Probus, the most successful of Aurelian's generals and the commander of the Roman armies in the East, opposed Florian. Probus emerged victorious and became one of Rome's most successful emperors. Florian was most likely killed by his own soldiers, who had been struck by a pestilence. This coin is among the earliest regular-issue coins to depict an emperor with shield and spear, a composition that had been used occasionally by Gallienus and Aurelian before him, but which only came to be a standard image under Florian's successor Probus. The shield on our coin is decorated with two rows of soldiers facing suppliant captives, instead on all the other known specimens the shield displays no decoration. The inscription on the obverse testifies to the valor (virtus) of the emperor, and as such they are an ideal accompaniment to his armoured bust. To gain perspective on this exceptional aureus, we should pause to examine earlier aurei, such as those of Hadrian or Antoninus Pius, to understand how militarised the empire had become by this point in the 3rd Century. In this difficult age emperors tended to be judged on a narrow range of virtues, namely their successes in war and how richly they rewarded their soldiers.
Aureus circa 276, AV 4.58 g. VIRTVS F – LORIANI A – VG Laureate and cuirassed bust l., holding transverse spear over r. shoulder and decorated shield. Rev. PERPE – TVIT – ATE AVG Providentia standing l., leaning on column, holding globe and sceptre. C 55. RIC 21. RIC temp. 4150 (this coin listed). Calicó 4131.
Extremely rare. A very impressive portrait of great intensity. Almost
invisible marks, otherwise about extremely fine
Ex Stanbuiliu 22-24 November 2003, 451; NAC 27, 2004, 483 and Rauch 75, 2005, 778 sales.
In 275 the once-crumbling Roman Empire had made great strides toward recovery under the stewardship of Aurelian. In the previous year Aurelian had celebrated a spectacular triumph in Rome for his recovery of the Western provinces from Tetricus and the Eastern provinces from the rulers of Palmyra. Having achieved so much, Aurelian was not content to rest on his laurels, and had he not been murdered late in 275 he would have waged war against the Persians. Tacitus, perhaps a leading senator at the time, stepped in to replace Aurelian as emperor. He made his half-brother, Florian, his praetorian prefect and the two immediately set out for the East to confront the Heruli and Goths, who had swept into Asia Minor amidst the confusion. Indeed, the barbarians had only gathered in such force to join Aurelian as mercenaries on his Persian campaign, and in the meantime, they found themselves with little option but to engage in piracy. If we accept the testimony of coinage and the sketchy historical record, Tacitus and Florianus found some success against the invaders, notably in Cilicia. But not long afterward Tacitus died from disease or murder, after which Florian laid claim to his brother's title. He would not reign long, however, as Probus, the most successful of Aurelian's generals and the commander of the Roman armies in the East, opposed Florian. Probus emerged victorious and became one of Rome's most successful emperors. Florian was most likely killed by his own soldiers, who had been struck by a pestilence. This coin is among the earliest regular-issue coins to depict an emperor with shield and spear, a composition that had been used occasionally by Gallienus and Aurelian before him, but which only came to be a standard image under Florian's successor Probus. The shield on our coin is decorated with two rows of soldiers facing suppliant captives, instead on all the other known specimens the shield displays no decoration. The inscription on the obverse testifies to the valor (virtus) of the emperor, and as such they are an ideal accompaniment to his armoured bust. To gain perspective on this exceptional aureus, we should pause to examine earlier aurei, such as those of Hadrian or Antoninus Pius, to understand how militarised the empire had become by this point in the 3rd Century. In this difficult age emperors tended to be judged on a narrow range of virtues, namely their successes in war and how richly they rewarded their soldiers.