Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus
253 - 268 A.D.
Diana
| Denomination: | Antoninianus | Diameter: | 20 mms | Attribution: | RIC.176, VM.49/1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Weight: | 3.7 grams | Year Issued: | 267-268 A.D. | Metal: | bronze | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Exergue: | E (epsilon) | Mint: | Rome | Alignment: | 315 degrees |
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| Exergue Expaned: | |||||
| Obverse Legend: | IMP GALLIENVS AVG | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Obv. Legend Expanded: | IMPERATOR GALLIENVS AVGVSTVS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Obverse depiction: | Radiate head, bearded, right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reverse Inscription: | DIANAE CONS AVG | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rev. Inscription Expanded: | DIANAE CONSERVATORI AVGVSTI | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rev. Inscription Translated: | To Diana, the Preserver of Augustus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reverse depiction: | Doe walking right, head turned left. |
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Diana's coins (with the possible exception of the goat) refer to her role as goddess of the hunt, though she was also the goddess of fertility, childbirth, and nature. Diana and Apollo were also often honored as protectors of health. Perhaps their appearance on the majority of the coins in the Zoo series refers to a plague? It's also possible that pleas for health would have been references to the wound Gallienus received during one of the battles against Postumus. Diana is often portrayed in statues, paintings and mosaics as a huntress accompanied by a deer. Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus was about 40 when his father Valerian was declared emperor by his troops in 253. Gallienus was made Caesar immediately by his father, but was declared as an emperor (Augustus) within a month, when his father arrived in Rome. He was given responsibility over the western provinces, while Valerian moved east to fight the new Persian Sassanian kingdom. They would not see each other again. Gallienus ruled as a co-emperor from 253-260, before the treacherous capture of his father by the Sassanian king Shapur I. Gallienus' sons had also been declared as Caesars, but by the end of 260 both had perished. From 260-268 he ruled alone, during one of the most difficult times of the empire. Not only was the empire facing invasions on all sides from various barbarian groups, but he had to face at least 8 rebellions from his own governors and generals! Given the disasters that occurred during his reign and the fact that "the winners write the history books", it's not surprising that he is portrayed very negatively. However, given the fact that Gallienus managed to remain emperor for fifteen years during all of this chaos suggests otherwise. A look at the battles and rebellions that took place show him going back and forth almost constantly during his reign fighting battles, trying to hold his empire together. He simply had the misfortune to be the ruler of the Roman Empire at the time when, through a variety of reasons, the empire seemed bent on falling apart. Gallienus managed to bring the empire through this incredibly difficult period without complete disaster. Perhaps due to all of these problems, the rate of inflation soared incredibly during this period. The antoninianus, which had begun as a silver coin, was by now heavily debased. So many of these were being pumped out of the mints that they now offer the collector a huge, and generally very affordable, selection. One group of these coins was issued very near the end of his reign and honor nine Roman deities, asking for their protection against these troubles. The legend on the backs of the coins translates as "To (the named deity) Preserver of Augustus". There are a rich variety of animals on these, some real and some mythical. This series is sometimes called the "Zoo" of Gallienus. The links below are arranged by which deity the coin was dedicated to - Apollo, Diana, Liber Pater, Jupiter, Hercules, Neptune, Mercury, and Sol. Gallienus' wife, Salonina, also issued coins for this series, asking Juno for protection. It's possible that these coins also refer to religious festivals or games to entertain the Roman people, hopefully diverting their attention from the continuing rebellions, invasions, and plagues and thus help in maintaining the security of the rulers. The Cunetio Hoard consisting of 54,951 coins was found in England in 1978, and is sometimes used as an example of the coins in circulation when it was buried in the early 270's. About 30% of the coins in the hoard were struck for Gallienus and his family. Of these, 2737 belonged to the "Zoo" series. Using these numbers, and taking into consideration that only Gallienus and his wife (but NOT his sons) produced coins in this series, we come up with a very rough approximation (just this side of a wild guess) that roughly 14% of Gallienus' total coins minted belong to the Zoo series. The chart below has links to pages showing coins from each part of this series, as well as census information taken from the Cunetio Hoard. The percentage information below seems a bit off from what has been showing up in the marketplace. Though the coins of Diana and Apollo do show up more often than the rest, the coins of Sol, Jupiter, Liber and Neptune are still much more common than the numbers would have us guess.
During the reign of Gallienus, the Roman Imperial mints were beginning a system of putting mint and/or officina (workshop within a mint) marks on coins, a practice that was to continue throughout the remainder of the Imperial period. Among other things, this might have been needed for quality control, helping to trace irregularities in coin weights and alloys. In later times the mint of Roma (Rome) used a letter abbreviation for the Latin number of the officina, such as P, S, T, or Q (prima, secunda, tertia, quarta). During this early period though, it was a more mixed system, using a combination of a Greek numbering scheme and Roman. Officinae numbers 1-8 used Greek numerals, while 9 used Nu The number "6" by this reasoning is represented by the Greek letter stigma. For an excellent article on the use of this letter as a number, and it's identification as stigma (as opposed to digamma) please see The Numismatica Font Project. The vast majority of Zoo coins were produced at the mint of Rome, with a few rare examples coming from Siscia. Each officina produced a different coin within the series, with some producing a second, less common type also. Occasionally you'll find an animal with the "wrong" officina mark. These are fascinating, and the rarity leads us to believe that they represented mistakes, perhaps when a die engraver was transferred from one workshop to another. He gets the right animal, but the wrong officina. Or maybe one workshop was falling behind, so another was temporarily enlisted to help catch up on the quota? I show the more common, apparently "official" animal/mint combinations on this table, including the more rare Siscia mint marks. There are some excellent resources for learning more about this series, and about other coins of Gallienus. Ed Flinn's Gallienus Coin Collection - a listing of coins by Göbl catalogue number. A truly amazing collection, and growing rapidly. If you have any interest in coins or this emperor or need references to help identify your Gallienus coin, visiting this site is a must. Beast's Gallienus Coins - Besides the "Zoo" series, Gallienus also issued coins honoring each of his legions, with the legionary badge (usually an animal) on the reverse. The Beast has a wonderful collection of animal coins, and also shows some of his own Gallienus "Zoo" coins on this page. Source: http://www.ruark.org/coins/Zoo/index.html PVBLIVS LICINIVS EGNATIVS GALLIENVS, born about 218, was the son of Egnatia Mariniana (see MARINIANA) and Publius Licinius Valerianus (see VALERIAN I). He married Cornelia Salonina (see SALONINA) about 242, and had at least two sons, Publius Cornelius Licinius Valerianus (see VALERIAN II), born soon after the marriage, and Publius Licinius Cornelius Saloninus Valerianus (see SALONINUS), who born about five years later. The existence of another two sons is possible. Quintus Julius Gallienus, who died very early, is usually accepted, largely because of two known coins, one denarius and one antoninianus, both posthumous. A fourth son named Marinianus is thought to have been appointed Consul in 268, just before Gallienus' assassination, but he was put to death on the orders of the Senate in the general purge of Gallienus' family and friends which occurred after the assassination. When Trebonianus Gallus (q.v.) became Emperor in 251 after the death of Trajan Decius (q.v.), Gallus retired to Rome and simply appointed able men to deal with the numerous barbarian incursions. Valerian was put in command along the Rhine, which is where he was when word was received that Aemilian (q.v.) had rebelled against Gallus. Gallus commanded the loyal Valerian to intercept the advancing Aemilian, but Aemilian moved too quickly and Gallus and his son Volusian (q.v.) soon perished at Interamna (Terni) by the hands of their own men (July, 253). Valerian's German legions in Raetia then declared him Augustus and advanced into Italy. Aemilian ventured from Rome to meet them, but was killed by his own men just a few miles from Interamna at Narnia (Narni) on the Flaminian Way in September, 253. Valerian was then the undisputed ruler of the Roman world. Gallienus, as Valerian's son, was named Caesar for a brief period during this time, and named co-Augustus very soon after Valerian's arrival in Rome. Gallienus' older son Valerian II was named Caesar at the same time as his father's elevation to Augustus, and Salonina was declared Augusta.. The joint reign of Valerian and Gallienus was one of the darkest periods in Roman history. The plague which had begun under Gallus continued during their reign, killing almost 5,000 people per day in Rome at its peak and eventually killing nearly two-thirds of the population of Alexandria, the second largest city in the Empire. The plague affected the legions also, and the weakened Empire was a soft target for barbarian incursions. Border problems were experienced with the Franks and Alamanni along the Rhine, the Goths, Alamanni, and Marcomanni along the Danube, and, seemingly as always, with the Sassanians in the east. By 254 Valerian and Gallienus took personal charge at the frontiers. Valerian moved to the east and Gallienus moved to the Rhine. Gallienus was able to score some victories, and for about three years Gallienus was able to hold the barbarians in check (one notable exception was the penetration by the Marcomanni all the way to Ravenna in 254). The situation in the east was much more serious. The Goths had actually been able to penetrate to the shores of the Mare Aegaeum (Aegean Sea), unsuccessfully besieging Thessalonica. The Borani and Goths opened a new phase of warfare by taking to ships to raid coastal settlements throughout the Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea). Valerian seems to have personally comanded the situation along the Danube, although the Sassanians were also active, taking Carrrhae, Nisibis, and Dura-Europus (which was destroyed and never resettled) in that time period. Sometime between 255 and 258 Valerian II died of unknown causes, and was immediately replaced as Caesar by his younger brother Saloninus. The end of the year 256 brought a change for the worse on all fronts, and Valerian made the geographical division between he and Gallienus into an administrative one also, giving Gallienus complete authority in the west while he retained it in the east. In the west, Groups of Franks broke through to drive all the way through Gaul and Spain. In the east, Rome's old enemy, Sapor I (Shapur I), was active and in late 256 or early 257 was able to seize Antioch again, perhaps aided by a fifth column led by Mareades (also known as Mariada or Cyriades), who was then set up as a puppet ruler. The Sassanians claimed to have taken 60,000 prisoners and captured thirty-eight cities in that campaign. Mareades was burned alive when the city eventually fell back into Roman hands. In August, 257, Valerian, possibly looking for both money and a scapegoat for the Empire's disasters, began a general persecution of the Christians. The persecution was intensified by a second edict in 258. Notable victims were yet another bishop of Rome, Xystus (or Sixtus), and Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, in September, 258. Gallienus obviously implemented the edict, but when he became sole Augustus in 260 he ended the persecution. In 258 the Alamanni succeeded in breaking through the Brenner Pass to menace Mediolanum (Milan), but Gallienus arrived on the scene and defeated them in a battle. Gallienus also began to try political solutions to the border problems, even going so far as to marry the daughter, Pipara, of the King of the Marcomanni. Many ascribe his marriage to other motives, for he had a reputation for licentiousness. He also granted the Marcomanni land concessions in Pannonia. Valerian, meanwhile, moved into Mesopotamia to relieve a Sassanian threat to Edessa. Since his army was weakened by the plague, Valerian wished to negotiate first. Sapor received Valerian and his delegation in May, 260, but immediately made them prisoner. Valerian, by treachery, thus became the first Roman Emperor to be captured by a foreign enemy. Sapor had the event commemorated in at least five massive rock-carvings, still existent today, which depict not only a captive Valerian but a suppliant Philip I (q.v.), who had sued for peace following the death of Gordian III in 244. The Sassanians claimed to have taken 70,000 prisoners and captured thirty-six cities in the campaign of 259-260. Gallienus, as far as is known, did not attempt any rescue or ransom of Valerian, and Valerian finished his days as a prisoner of the Sassanians. The legend is related that whenever Sapor wanted to mount his horse, he would make Valerian kneel down and act as a step for him. The legend further states that when Valerian finally died (he was nearly 70 when captured) the Sassanians stuffed his skin with straw and displayed it for years afterward in one of their chief temples. Virtual anarchy broke out when Valerian was captured. The ensuing years saw so many revolts that ancient historians referred to that period as 'the age of the thirty tyrants', although modern history can only verify the existence of 18. Two rebellions, one by Ingenuus, the governor of Pannonia, and the other by Regalianus, the governor of Pannonia Superior, called for the attention of Gallienus in 260. He moved into Pannonia, leaving Marcus Cassianus Latinius Postumus (see POSTUMUS) to conduct the defense of Gaul in co-operation with Silvanus, the guardian of Gallienus' younger son, Saloninus. Gallienus was aided in the suppression of the rebellion of Ingenuus by his calvary commander, Manius Acilius Aureolus, whose own rebellion eight years later was to be the occasion of the death of Gallienus. No sooner had Ingenuus been killed than the soldiers of Pannonia hailed Publius Caius Regalianus (see REGALIANUS) as Augustus. Gallienus returned to the area and apparently Regalianus was killed by his own men. However, shortly after Gallienus left Gaul, Posthumus and Silvanus began fighting between themselves, with the result that Posthumus besieged Silvanus and Saloninus in the city of Colonia Agrippinensis (Cologne). During the brief siege Saloninus assumed the title of Augustus, as rare coins show. Postumus succeeded in taking the city in 260 and immediately put to death not only Silvanus but Saloninus also. His rebellion gathered strength and ultimately Spain, Gaul, and Britain all formed the resulting 'Gallic Empire', which was to last until crushed by the Emperor Aurelian (q.v.) in 273. Gallienus had too many other problems to deal with to make more than a half-hearted attempt to force Postumus into submission. The Gallic Empire actually served Rome well by organizing quite an effective resistance to the barbarian incursions, while itself never threatening to invade what was left of the Roman Empire. Meanwhile in the east, Valerian's leaderless army had turned for direction to Titus Fulvius Junius Macrianus, one of Valerian's staff officers. It is believed that he initially recognized Gallienus, but then decided to create as Augusti his own two sons, Macrianus (q.v.) and Quietus (q.v.). Gallienus then turned to the ruler of Palmyra, Odenathus, to guard his interests and co-ordinate the defense of Roman territory. Macrianus the elder and his son Macrianus decided to move westward to challenge Gallienus, but their army of 30,000 was intercepted in 261 in Thrace by troops of Aureolus. The eastern legions were defeated and both father and son were slain. When word reached Quietus, who had been left behind in charge of the eastern provinces, he sought refuge in Emesa, where he was besieged by Odenathus and slain the same year as his father and brother. In 262 Odenathus began five years of moderately successful warfare against the Sassanians, a deed which kept the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire intact. However, Odenathus and his son Herodes were finally murdered at Ephesus in 267 by a plot which involved close family members, including, according to some sources, his wife Zenobia (q.v.). Zenobia and her surviving son Vabalathus (q.v.) were much more ambitious and independent than Odenathus had been, and Gallienus finally tried to force Palmyra into submission. He sent a force under his Praetorian Praefect Heraclianus, but Zenobia defeated his army and reigned supreme in the east. Zenobia's kingdom continued to claim Roman affiliation until 271 when she and her son claimed the titles of Augusta and Augustus, respectively. They were finally captured by Aurelian in 272. Even after conceding Gallic independence, Gallienus continued to face minor usurpers, including Aemilian (no known relation to the former emperor), the Praefect of Egypt, who in 262 cut off the Alexandrian corn shipments to Rome. He was speedily suppressed by Theodotus, who replaced him. Late in 262 Gallienus began the celebrations of his 'decennalia', ten years in power. One of the processions had groups of 200 men, each group portraying a vanquished nation. Daring Romans broke into the procession and began studying the faces of the "Sassanians". When asked what they were doing they replied "We're looking for the Emperor's father". Gallienus reportedly ordered them burned alive. The following four years were years of comparative quiet (except for a few half-hearted attempts to deal with Postumus), as the Gallic Empire had stabilized the west and Zenobia had stabilized the east. Gallienus found time to travel to Greece, where he was initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries. He had intellectual interests, which led him to dream of founding a "Philosopher's State" in Campania. Although he was criticized for his intellectual pursuits in a period of military crisis, he still found time to re-organize the Roman army, forming a large calvary corps and relying upon speed and mobility rather than masses of foot-soldiers. Unfortunately the losses of territory impacted the Empire's financial strength, and Gallienus sharply debased the antoninianus, the standard silver coin, from 35% to 3% silver over the course of his reign, a move which caused runaway inflation and increased the misery of the common person. In 267 the Goths and the Heruli invaded again, ravaging Asia Minor and Greece. Gallienus set out to intercept them on their way home, and in 268 he met them at Naissus (Nis) in Moesia Superior. Gallienus scored a stunning victory, destroying almost 50,000 of the barbarians. Unfortunately while Gallienus was occupied with the Goths and Heruli, his calvary commander Aureolus revolted and declared for Postumus. Gallienus marched to Italy to deal with Aureolus, and seems to have defeated him near his headquarters city of Mediolanum (Milan). Aureolus retired to Mediolanum and defiantly declared himself Augustus. Gallienus laid siege to Mediolanum, but before it was captured he was killed in March, 268 by a conspiracy of his staff officers, led by his Praetorian Praefect Heraclianus and involving the future Emperors Claudius II (q.v.) and Aurelian (q.v.). His faithful and virtuous wife Salonina perished with him. Gallienus and Valerian inherited the Empire at the lowest point in its history, and they set about with energy to rebuild it. Historical views of Gallienus differ widely, with some maintaining that on the whole he was simply an indolent Sybarite, while others focus upon his campaigns on behalf of the Empire. However, Gallienus made only half-hearted attempts to regain the east and the west, and gave the appearance of one who was relieved to be rid of the responsibility for their defense. Certainly he was of a more intellectual nature than his predecessors (since Severus Alexander), and tolerant of religious persuasion. Overall, Gallienus reigned during the Empire's darkest period, but still managed to keep together some semblance of order for 15 years. Perhaps others could have done better (indeed Aurelian soon would), but others could certainly have done worse. Source: MONETA Historical Reference |
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(Alpha)
(Beta)
(Gamma)
(Delta)
(epsilon)
(stigma)
(Zeta)
(Eta)
(Nu)
, but this was also the first letter of the Greek word for death, Thanatos, and seems to have been considered unlucky. Officinae 10-12 went back to typical Roman numerals, providing a mixed and sometimes confusing pattern. Soon after the reign of Gallienus the Imperial mints seem to have ironed out their system more, with western mints using the latin numerals while the eastern ones used Greek, but the Gallienic period provides an interesting glimpse into the development of this system.