The Wonderful World of Ancient Coin Collecting
Coinage of the Roman Empire


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Coin Details

  

Set Details
Coin Description:
Grade: NGC AU* Strike: 5/5 Surface: 5/5
Owner: RAM-VT
 
Set Category: Ancients
Set Name: The Wonderful World of Ancient Coin Collecting
Slot Name: Coinage of the Roman Empire
Research: Currently not available

Owner's Description

Roman Empire Maxentius 306-312 AD BI Nummus Ostia Mint, Sear #14975 Grade: AU*: Strike 5/5: Surface 5/5 Census - NGC does not provide census info on ancient coins :>( Obv.: IMP C MAXENTIVS PF AVG, Laur. hd. r. Rev.: AETERNITAS AVG N, The Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, stg., facing each other, each holding his bridled horse and resting on his scepter, mint mark M OST followed by officina mark S Maxentius (Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius Augustus) was Roman Emperor from 306 to 312. He was the son of former Emperor Maximian, and the son-in-law of Emperor Galerius. As his father became emperor in 285, he was regarded as crown prince who would eventually follow his father on the throne. Apparently he did not serve in any important military or administrative position during Diocletian's and his father's reign. In 305, Diocletian and Maximian resigned, and the former caesares Constantius and Galerius became Augusti. Although with Constantine and Maxentius two sons of emperors were available, they were left out from the new tetrarchy, and Severus and Maximinus Daia were appointed Caesars. Some sources state that Galerius hated Maxentius and used his influence on Diocletian that Maxentius be ignored in the succession; maybe Diocletianus also thought that he was not qualified for the military duties of the imperial office. Maxentius retired to an estate some miles from Rome. When Constantius died in 306, his son Constantine was crowned emperor on July 25 and subsequently accepted by Galerius into the tetrarchy as Caesar. This set the precedent for Maxentius' accession later in the same year. When rumours reached the capital that the emperors tried to subject the Roman population to the capitation tax, and dissolve the remaining of the Praetorian Guard which were still stationed at Rome, riots broke out. A group of officers of the city's garrisons turned to Maxentius to accept the imperial purple, probably judging that the official recognition which was granted to Constantine would not be withheld from Maxentius, son of an emperor as well. Maxentius accepted the honour, promised donations to the city's troops, and was publicly acclaimed emperor on October 28, 306. The usurpation obviously went largely without. Evidently the conspirators turned to Maximian, who had retired to a palace in Lucania, but he declined to resume power for the time being. Maxentius managed to be recognized as emperor in central and southern Italy, the islands of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily, and the African provinces. Northern Italy remained under the control of the western Augustus Severus, who resided in Milan. Galerius reckoned that it would be not too difficult to quell the usurpation, and early in 307, the Augustus Severus marched on Rome with a large army. The majority of this army consisted of soldiers who had fought under Maxentius' father Maximian for years, and as Severus reached Rome, the majority of his army went over to Maxentius, rightful heir of their former commander, who dealt out a large amount of money. When Maximian himself finally left his retreat and returned to Rome to assume the imperial office once again and support his son, Severus with the rest of his army retreated to Ravenna. Shortly after he surrendered to Maximian, who promised that his life be spared. After the defeat of Severus, Maxentius took possession of northern Italy up to the Alps and the Istrian peninsula to the east, and assumed the title of Augustus, which (in his eyes) had become vacant with the surrender of Severus. In the years that followed there were various alliances and wars between the this group of individuals holding/claiming pwerful possitions within the empire. This finally ended when Constantine, in an attempt to prevent Maxentius from forming a hostile alliance with Licinius, forged his own alliance with the man over the winter of 311–12 by offering to him his sister Constantia in marriage. Maximin considered Constantine's arrangement with Licinius an affront to his authority. In response, he sent ambassadors to Rome, offering political recognition to Maxentius in exchange for military support. Two alliances, Maximin and Maxentius, Constantine and Licinius, lined up against one another. The emperors prepared for war. The armies of Maxentius and Constantine met north of Rome, beyond the Tiber river on the Via Flaminia. Constantine's forces defeated Maxentius's troops, who retreated to the Tiber, and in the chaos of the fleeing army trying to cross the river, Maxentius fell into the water and drowned. His body was found the next day. Oddly enough, he died on October 28 – the sixth anniversary of the day that he assumed the Empire My Cost $145

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