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CICF Signature Sale 3032 10-12 April 2014
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Constantius Gallus Caesar (AD 351-354). AV solidus (21mm, 4.16 gm, 12h). Thessalonica, AD 351-354. D N CONSTANTI-VS NOB CAES, bareheaded, draped, and cuirassed bust of Gallus right, seen from front / GLORIA REI-PVBLICAE, Roma and Constantinopolis facing, supporting between them a wreath inscribed VOT/V/MVLT/X; in exergue, *TES*. RIC 149 (R2). Depeyrot 8/4. Rare. NGC (photo-certificate) Choice VF 4/5 - 2/5, graffito, clip. From The Andre Constantine Dimitriadis Collection. Ex Dreesmann Collection (Spink London, 13 April 2000), lot 205; J. Vichon (Monte Carlo, 23 April 1976), lot 274. The son of Constantine the Great's half-brother Julius Constantius, Flavius Claudius Julius Constantius Gallus was born in AD 325 into the third tier of Constantinian princes, who were left out of the succession arrangements. When Constantine died in AD 337, his sons engineered a massacre of potential rivals that Gallus only escaped on account of his youth and ill health. Instead, he was sent into exile with his younger half-brother Julian at the fortress of Macellum in Cappadocia. Over the next 14 years, he received a strict Christian education while under constant surveillance by the spies of his suspicious uncle, Constantius II. After such ill treatment, it must have come as a shock to Gallus when, early in AD 351, Constantius abruptly called him out of exile, arranged for him to marry his half-aunt Constantia, and proclaimed him Caesar. Gallus was charged with watching the Eastern frontier while Constantius moved westward with his army to deal with the usurper Magnentius. Gallus and Constantia made a rapid journey to the Syrian metropolis of Antioch, where they set up court in mid-May. Unfortunately, the years of isolation seem to have scarred Gallus' psyche, for he proved a cruel, capricious and tyrannical ruler. His new wife, described by the historian Ammianus as a "mortal fury," seems to have been a kindred spirit. Together, they terrorized the Asiatic provinces of the Roman Empire for two years, living extravagantly, imposing rapacious taxation on the populace, and responding to any disobedience with extreme ferocity. When Constantius got wind of the turmoil in the east, he sent an inspector-general to investigate. Gallus, however, arranged for the agent to be lynched. Aware that he'd crossed a line, Gallus pondered outright rebelion, but at this critical juncture Constantia died and he seems to have lost his nerve. When Constantius called him to a summit meeting at Milan late in AD 354, Gallus meekly assented. At Istra on the Italian border, he was arrested, stripped of his title, tried for crimes against the state, and beheaded.
Estimate: 2500-3500 USD
Constantius Gallus Caesar (AD 351-354). AV solidus (21mm, 4.16 gm, 12h). Thessalonica, AD 351-354. D N CONSTANTI-VS NOB CAES, bareheaded, draped, and cuirassed bust of Gallus right, seen from front / GLORIA REI-PVBLICAE, Roma and Constantinopolis facing, supporting between them a wreath inscribed VOT/V/MVLT/X; in exergue, *TES*. RIC 149 (R2). Depeyrot 8/4. Rare. NGC (photo-certificate) Choice VF 4/5 - 2/5, graffito, clip. From The Andre Constantine Dimitriadis Collection. Ex Dreesmann Collection (Spink London, 13 April 2000), lot 205; J. Vichon (Monte Carlo, 23 April 1976), lot 274. The son of Constantine the Great's half-brother Julius Constantius, Flavius Claudius Julius Constantius Gallus was born in AD 325 into the third tier of Constantinian princes, who were left out of the succession arrangements. When Constantine died in AD 337, his sons engineered a massacre of potential rivals that Gallus only escaped on account of his youth and ill health. Instead, he was sent into exile with his younger half-brother Julian at the fortress of Macellum in Cappadocia. Over the next 14 years, he received a strict Christian education while under constant surveillance by the spies of his suspicious uncle, Constantius II. After such ill treatment, it must have come as a shock to Gallus when, early in AD 351, Constantius abruptly called him out of exile, arranged for him to marry his half-aunt Constantia, and proclaimed him Caesar. Gallus was charged with watching the Eastern frontier while Constantius moved westward with his army to deal with the usurper Magnentius. Gallus and Constantia made a rapid journey to the Syrian metropolis of Antioch, where they set up court in mid-May. Unfortunately, the years of isolation seem to have scarred Gallus' psyche, for he proved a cruel, capricious and tyrannical ruler. His new wife, described by the historian Ammianus as a "mortal fury," seems to have been a kindred spirit. Together, they terrorized the Asiatic provinces of the Roman Empire for two years, living extravagantly, imposing rapacious taxation on the populace, and responding to any disobedience with extreme ferocity. When Constantius got wind of the turmoil in the east, he sent an inspector-general to investigate. Gallus, however, arranged for the agent to be lynched. Aware that he'd crossed a line, Gallus pondered outright rebelion, but at this critical juncture Constantia died and he seems to have lost his nerve. When Constantius called him to a summit meeting at Milan late in AD 354, Gallus meekly assented. At Istra on the Italian border, he was arrested, stripped of his title, tried for crimes against the state, and beheaded.
Estimate: 2500-3500 USD