The Roman Empire
Domitian


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Coin Details

  

Set Details
Coin Description:
Grade: NGC MS Strike: 5/5 Surface: 3/5
Owner: Kohaku
 
Set Category: Ancients
Set Name: The Roman Empire
Slot Name: Domitian
Research: Currently not available

Owner's Description

During Rome’s Crisis of the Third Century, many Emperors ascended solely on the basis of their military prowess. Not so for Valerian (c. 200 – c. 260 AD). Noble born, he held progressively more important political positions, including that of an influential senator. Valerian became a trusted and esteemed administrator, and in 250 AD (during the reign of Trajan Decius), earned a special post entrusting him to govern Rome when the Emperor was away. During the reign of Augustus Trebonianus Gallus, Valerian was given the assignment to recruit troops at the Rhine frontier. He received an urgent communication to return and help fight Aemilianus, a usurper who was rapidly marching towards Rome. Valerian was still marching his own troops to the scene when another urgent message arrived. This time, the news was…that it was too late! Aemilianus had defeated Gallus, and the usurper claimed the title of Augustus. Valerian’s troops would not hear of it; instead, they proclaimed Valerian as the rightful Augustus. Valerian eventually caught up with Aemilianus, whose weary troops presented no match for the fresh and formidable Rhine legions. In a disturbingly routine development, Aemilianus’ troops preferred to murder their leader rather than risk defeat. Valerian finally made it back to Rome, and the Senate promptly approved elevating one of their own. In fact, the Senators were so anxious, they didn’t wait for Valerian’s return to declare his son, Gallienus, as Caesar. Coming from a long-established Roman family, Valerian held conventional Roman views. These included upholding Pagan traditions, and persecuting those with opposing religious views, for instance Christians. Valerian purged his imperial household of Christian workers, and ordered Christian Senators and commoners alike to perform acts worshiping the Roman gods. Those who refused lost their titles, property, and even their lives. Among those paying the price for disobedience were prominent bishops and even the Pope. Valerian had much more to deal with than Rome’s religious preferences, considering the Empire had enemies attacking along several borders. Valerian upgraded Gallienus’ role from Caesar to co-Augustus, and tasked his son with defending against German incursions across the Rhine. This allowed Valerian to focus on addressing the threat on the far eastern front, namely the Sassanid Empire. In the mid 260s AD, Valerian’s nemesis, Sassanid King Shapur I, successfully raided across Asia Minor and sacked several prominent cities, including Antioch (an important mint that was easily recovered, since the enemy quickly looted and left). Later the same decade, Shapur was back at it for more spoils, again capturing eastern Roman cities, including, yet again, Antioch. This billon double denarius (or antoninianus) was minted sometime between 256 and 260 AD while Valerian was defending against the Sassanids. The obverse radiate, draped, and cuirassed portrait is typical for the period, contradicting Valerian’s aristocratic, rather than military, upbringing. On the verso is Orient, a personification of the east handing the Emperor a wreath. The epithet states RESTITVT ORIENTIS, “restorer of the east.” The numismatic motif anticipating Valerian’s success proved to be one of ancient Rome’s most ironic, and that’s saying something. Although he had accumulated several years of on-the-job battle training, Valerian was far more experienced at political, rather than military strategy. In contrast, Shapur had successfully outlasted his Roman enemies for decades. Disparity in military leadership experience was not the only issue. Perhaps the worst enemy facing Rome was not Shapur, but rather the plague. Valerian’s troops were suffering horribly, and the Emperor was forced to withdraw to the city of Edessa, which Shapur subsequently besieged. Having no good prospects, Valerian, ever the politician, attempted to negotiate with the Sassanids. Shapur did not understand the parley attempt, and/or had no intention to negotiate. In any case, Valerian was taken prisoner, and his conquered troops deployed in various engineering and development projects across the Sassanid Empire. It was the very first time an Augustus had been captured as a prisoner-of-war, and an already strained Roman Empire plunged further into chaos. Accounts of Valerian’s final demise at his captor’s hands vary. Those recording and propagating the events were likely colored by anti-Persian and pro-Christian biases of the times. According to one, admittedly apocryphal account, Valerian was flayed alive and his skin fashioned into a footstool; instead of restoring the east, the Augustus was denigrated into helping Shapur mount his horse. Coin Details: ROMAN EMPIRE, Valerian I, AD 253-260, Billon Double Denarius / Antoninianus (19 mm, 3.2 g, 12h), Minted in 256-260 AD at the Samosata mint, 2nd emission, NGC Grade: MS, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 3/5, Obverse: Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, IMP C P LIC VALERIANVS P F AVG, Reverse: Orient standing right, presenting wreath to Emperor standing left, holding spear, RESTITVT ORIENTIS, References: RIC V 287; MIR 36, 1685e; RSC 189.

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