Emperors of Rome - A (Chronological) Portrait Gallery

[Julius Germanicus]

And here is a Sestertius of his son, Gordian II (8 specimens known with this reverse type, all from the same obverse die. This is the Banti plate coin):

IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AFR AVG - laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian II right, seen from behind
VICTORIA AVGG S C - Victory advancing left, wreath upward in right hand, palm in left; S-C across fields.
AE Sestertius, Rome, April 238 aD
30mm / 17.21 gr / 1h
Banti (I Grandi Bronzi Imperiali, Vol. IV-2) Nr. 6 (4 specimens listed, this coin illustrated on p. 238); RIC 7 (plate XII, Nr.4, same obverse die); BMCRE 29 (plate 42, Nr. 29, illustrating specimen from Naples, same obverse die); Cohen 13 (citing specimen in Paris); Sear 8472.
From the collection Richard van de Vyvere-Colens (1837-1912); Charles Dupriez Sale Nr. 112 Bis, 07.04.1913

According to RIC, this reverse implies the hope of ultimate Victory to be gained by strength. The personification of Victory on the reverse of this Sestertius therefore can only represent the hope that the Senate and the people of Rome put into the ability of both the elder and the younger Gordian to defeat the enemies of the state. As they had no foreign foes to face, the enemies in mind could only be Maximinus and his supporters.

The fateful battle battle between good and evil came sooner than it was anticipated and under hopeless circumstances, for within days after the celators had created the dies and striking could begin, the Gordiani fought a hopeless battle for their lives.
The Gordiani had declared the replacement of Capelianus, governor of the neighboring province of Numidia, an old rival of the elder Gordian.
Capelianus, loyal to the cause of Maximinus, disobeyed and instead mobilized what was the only Roman Legion stationed in North Africa (stationed in Numidia by Septimius Severus), Legio III Augusta, and the accompanying auxiliary troops.
He invaded Africa Proconsularis and within a couple of weeks reached Carthage. All the Gordiani had at their disposal was one cohort (500 men), the local urban cohort, and a civilian militia hastily assembled having neither shields nor proper arms.

While the old senior Emperor chose to hang himself with his belt, Gordianus junior led his outnumbered force into a heroic but hopeless battle that saw his militia massacred and him dying a roman soldiers death.
The Gordiani Africani perished on 12 April, but the news only reached Rome on 22 April.

[Julius Germanicus]

And here is a Sestertius of Pupienus, celebrating the Victory over Maximinus Thrax:

IMP CAES M CLOD PVPIENVS AVG - Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind
VICTORIA AVGG - Victory standing facing, her head turned left, holding wreath in her right hand and drapery and palm frond in left; S-C across fields
Sestertius, Rome, 22. April – 29. July AD 238
32 mm / 23.82 g
RIC 23a, BMC 58, Cohen 38, Sear 8539, Banti 12 (35 specimens)

[Julius Germanicus]

And, last but not least, a Sestertius of his colleague Balbinus celebrating their Concordia (which would not last long, as we know...):

 

IMP CAES D CAEL BALBINVS AVG - Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Balbinus right
CONCORDIA AVGG S C - Concordia, in long dress, seated left on throne, holding double cornucopiae in her left and patera in her outstretched right hand
Sestertius, Rome, 22 April - 29 July 238
30 mm / 18,53 gr
RIC 22, BMCRE 18, Cohen 4, Sear 8494

[shanxi]

My Balbinus is broken, but I like the portrait:

Balbinus
AR Denarius,Rome, AD 238
Obv.: Laureateand drapedbust right
Rev.: Victory standing facing, head left, holding wreath and palm
Ag, 1.56g, 20.4mm
Ref.: RIC IV 8, RSC 27
"Crystallised", fragile and broken

 

[shanxi]

Pupienus

Pupienus
AR Antoninianus, AD 238
Obv.: IMP CAES PVPIEN MAXIMVS AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev.: PATRES SENATVS, clasped hands
Ag, 4.84g, 21.6mm
Ref.: RIC 11b, RSC 21

[Qcumbor]

Sadly I can't contribute with any of the two first Gordianii, but here are Balbinus and Pupienus in denarii (I parted some time ago with my antoninianii of theirs and a Pupienus sestertius aswell)

Q

[Prieure de Sion]

This are my two Portraits from Balbinus and Pupienus are my favorite of my collection. Of this two coins, the Pupienus is my absolute favorite with his detailed clear face.

  

 

Decimus Caelius Calvinus Balbinus
Antoninianus of the Roman Imperial Period 238 AD; Material: Silver; Diameter: 22.3mm; Weight: 4.89g; Mint: Rome; Reference: RIC IV Balbinus 10; Obverse: Bust of Balbinus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, right. The inscription reads: IMP CAES D CAEL BALBINVS AVG for Imperator Caesar Decimus Caelius Balbinus Augustus; Reverse: Clasped right hands. The inscription reads: CONCORDIA AVGG for Concordia Duorum Augustorum (Harmony of the two emperors).

 

Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus
Antoninianus of the Roman Imperial Period 238 AD; Material: Silver; Diameter: 23mm; Weight: 5.09g; Mint: Rome; Reference: RIC IV Pupienus 9b; Obverse: Bust of Pupienus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, right. The inscription reads: IMP CAES CLOD PVPIEN MAXIMVS AVG for Imperator Caesar Clodius Pupienus Maximus Augustus; Reverse: Clasped right hands. The inscription reads: AMOR MVTVVS AVGG for Amor Mutuus Duorum Augustorum (Mutual affection of the two Augusti).

 

[Limes]

4 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

Here's a draft schedule @CPK and I have come up with that takes us to the end of May, at which point we'd move to the Byzantine subforum beginning with Anastasius.  Feedback solicited!  That is, notes of any sorts of errors would be gratefully received (preferably by pm so as not to clutter the thread), as well as suggestions for substantive changes (preferably in the thread & so open to discussion).

We've tried to keep the variety and number of coins expected in each 2-day slot within a manageable range.  For example, that required dividing up the Valerianic dynasty and the Constantinian dynasty in some way... perhaps you'll like our way, or perhaps not. 😄 Let us have it! 🥊 However, I hasten to add, it will be CPK's decision in the end, as he's the thread Caesar!

Extremely rare personalities are omitted from the list, but would of course be welcome in an appropriate slot.

Nice schedule, if you don't mind I'll keep it for personal use!

So, I think the ending of this thread on May 30th as far as it concerns the Roman era deserves a party with cake and drinks? Is the location already decided? 😁

[CPK]

 

@Julius Germanicus I am continually impressed with your sestertii collection! Very nice!

Great coins posted by everyone so far! 👍

 

5 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

Here's a draft schedule @CPK and I have come up with that takes us to the end of May, at which point we'd move to the Byzantine subforum beginning with Anastasius.  Feedback solicited!  That is, notes of any sorts of errors would be gratefully received (preferably by pm so as not to clutter the thread), as well as suggestions for substantive changes (preferably in the thread & so open to discussion).

We've tried to keep the variety and number of coins expected in each 2-day slot within a manageable range.  For example, that required dividing up the Valerianic dynasty and the Constantinian dynasty in some way... perhaps you'll like our way, or perhaps not. 😄 Let us have it! 🥊 However, I hasten to add, it will be CPK's decision in the end, as he's the thread Caesar!

Extremely rare personalities are omitted from the list, but would of course be welcome in an appropriate slot.

Perfect! Thank you @Severus Alexander. I was also thinking about making the switch time a set time - that way, I don't hold up the thread if I can't be here to manage the switch. I was thinking maybe 7pm CST? Or, if it's more convenient for our European members, we could back it up to say 12pm (that way the schedule days stays consistent.) Any suggestions are welcome!

 

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Balbinus and Pupienus

Maximinus, now declared a public enemy, had already begun to march on Rome with another army. The senate's previous candidates, the Gordians, had failed to defeat him, and knowing that they stood to die if he succeeded, the senate needed a new emperor to defeat him. With no other candidates in view, on 22 April 238 they elected two elderly senators Pupienus and Balbinus (who had both been part of a special senatorial commission to deal with Maximinus) as joint emperors. 

Pupienus was sent at the head of an army to face Maximinus, and Balbinus stayed in Rome. Meanwhile, Maximinus was also having problems. In early February, he reached the city of Aquileia, to find that it had declared for his three enemies. Maximinus besieged the city, but without success. By April, discontent due to this failure, the lack of success in the campaign in general, lack of supplies and the strong opposition of the senate, forced his legionaries to rethink their allegiance. Soldiers of the II Parthica killed Maximinus in his tent, along with his son Maximus (who had been appointed deputy emperor in 236), and surrendered to Pupienus in the end of June. Maximinus and his son's corpses were decapitated and their heads carried to Rome. For saving Rome from a public enemy, the soldiers were pardoned and sent back to their provinces. The co-emperor then returned to Rome, only to find the city in riot. Balbinus had not managed to control the situation, and the city had burned in a fire, resulting in mutiny. With both emperors present, the situation calmed down, but the unease remained. Coins from their reign show one of them on one side and two clasped hands on the other to show their joint power, yet their relationship was clouded with suspicion from the start, with both fearing assassination by the other. They were planning an enormous double campaign, Pupienus against the Parthians and Balbinus against the Carpians (Michael Grant says against the Goths and the Persians, respectively), but they quarreled frequently and could not agree or trust each other. It was during one of these heavy discussions, in May or on July 29, that the Praetorian Guard decided to intervene. They stormed into the room containing the emperors, seized them both, stripped them, dragged them naked through the streets, tortured and eventually murdered them. On the same day, Gordian III was proclaimed sole emperor (238-244), though in reality his advisors exercised most of his power. Together Pupienus and Balbinus had ruled for only 99 days.

[DonnaML]

17 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

Here's a draft schedule @CPK and I have come up with that takes us to the end of May, at which point we'd move to the Byzantine subforum beginning with Anastasius.  Feedback solicited!  That is, notes of any sorts of errors would be gratefully received (preferably by pm so as not to clutter the thread), as well as suggestions for substantive changes (preferably in the thread & so open to discussion).

We've tried to keep the variety and number of coins expected in each 2-day slot within a manageable range.  For example, that required dividing up the Valerianic dynasty and the Constantinian dynasty in some way... perhaps you'll like our way, or perhaps not. 😄 Let us have it! 🥊 However, I hasten to add, it will be CPK's decision in the end, as he's the thread Caesar!

Extremely rare personalities are omitted from the list, but would of course be welcome in an appropriate slot.

@Severus Alexander and @CPK, I really don't want to be thought of as contrarian, but I don't think it's  necessary or even the best idea to separate East and West as early as you do, immediately after Jovian, at a time when close familial, historical, and numismatic ties still existed. After all, Valentinian I and Valens were brothers, and appear together on the reverses of various coins -- as did, for example, Valens and Gratian after Valentinian I's death in 376. So it seems rather artificial to me to schedule Valentinian I and Valens 12 days apart. Honorius and Arcadius were brothers as well, the sons of Theodosius I, who reigned over both East and West at least theoretically, and also in actuality for periods of time as when he resided in Milan.

So perhaps you might consider waiting until after Arcadius and Honorius to divide the two, following the post-Jovian order that Sear uses in RCV, ordering the 10 subsequent emperors by the date of the commencement of their reigns -- Valentinian I, Valens, Gratian, Valentinian II, Theodosius I, Magnus Maximus, Flavius Victor, Eugenius, Arcadius, and Honorius -- and only then separating East and West, beginning with Theodosius II (the son of Arcadius) and his successors in the East, followed by Johannes and his successors in the West (or even vice versa!), continuing with the Eastern/Byzantine empire thereafter.

Edited February 17, 2023 by DonnaML

[Jims,Coins]

On 2/15/2023 at 7:10 PM, Jims,Coins said:

Lets go back to the original post, Heres the list of:

 

AGE OF MILITARY ANARCHY 235 - 285 AD

 

*          EA                              MAXIMINUS I                                 AUGUSTUS 235 - 238 AD

            EAW                          PAULINA                                         WIFE

            EAS                            MAXIMUS                                        SON CAESAR 235 - 238 AD

 

            EB                               GORDIAN I AFRICANUS             AUGUSTUS 238 AD

           

            EC                              GORDIAN II AFRICANUS           AUGUSTUS 238 AD

 

            ED                              BALBINUS                                       AUGUSTUS 238 AD

 

            EE                               PUPIENUS                                        AUGUSTUS 238 AD

 

*          EF                               GORDIAN III AFRICANUS          CAES 238 AD AUG 238 - 244 AD

            EFW                           TRANQUILLINA                            WIFE

 

*          EG                              PHILIP I                                            AUGUSTUS 244 - 249 AD

            EGF                            JULIUS MARINUS                         FATHER

*          EGW                          OTACILIA SEVERA                      WIFE

 

*          EH                              PHILIP II                                          CAES 244 - 247 AD AUG 247 - 249 AD

 

            EI                                PACATIAN                                      AUGUSTUS 248 AD missing

 

            EJ                               JOTAPIAN                                       AUGUSTUS 248 AD missing

            EJU                            SILBANNACUS                               UNCLE

 

*          EK                              TRAJAN DECIUS                           AUGUSTUS 249 - 253 AD

*          EKW                          HERENNIA ETRUSCILLA          WIFE

 

*          EL                               HERENNIUS ETRUSCUS             CAES 250 - 253 AD AUG 253 AD

 *          EM                              HOSTILIAN                                     CAESAR & AUGUSTUS 253 AD

*          EN                              TREBONIANUS GALLUS            AUGUSTUS 251 - 253 AD 

 

*          EO                              VOLUSIAN                                       CAES 251 AD AUG 251 - 253 AD

 

*          EP                               AEMILIAN                                       AUGUSTUS 253 AD

            EPW                           CORNELIA SUPERA                     WIFE

 

            EQ                              URANIUA ANTONINUS               AUGUSTUS 253 - 254 AD

 

anybody have these two Emperors:   PACATIAN   JOTAPIAN 

Edited February 17, 2023 by Jims,Coins

[kapphnwn]

Ar Denarius of Pupienus 238 AD Obv Bust right laureate draped and cuirassed Rv. Pax seated left holding olive branch and scepter RIC 4 3.11 grms 19 mm Photo by W. Hansen

[Severus Alexander]

4 hours ago, DonnaML said:

@Severus Alexander and @CPK, I really don't want to be thought of as contrarian, but I don't think it's  necessary or even the best idea to separate East and West as early as you do, immediately after Jovian, at a time when close familial, historical, and numismatic ties still existed. After all, Valentinian I and Valens were brothers, and appear together on the reverses of various coins -- as did, for example, Valens and Gratian after Valentinian I's death in 376. So it seems rather artificial to me to schedule Valentinian I and Valens 12 days apart. Honorius and Arcadius were brothers as well, the sons of Theodosius I, who reigned over both East and West at least theoretically, and also in actuality for periods of time as when he resided in Milan.

So perhaps you might consider waiting until after Arcadius and Honorius to divide the two, following the post-Jovian order that Sear uses in RCV, ordering the 10 subsequent emperors by the date of the commencement of their reigns -- Valentinian I, Valens, Gratian, Valentinian II, Theodosius I, Magnus Maximus, Flavius Victor, Eugenius, Arcadius, and Honorius -- and only then separating East and West, beginning with Theodosius II (the son of Arcadius) and his successors in the East, followed by Johannes and his successors in the West (or even vice versa!), continuing with the Eastern/Byzantine empire thereafter.

Thanks for the excellent feedback, @DonnaML! While I like making the earlier fork in the road obvious by doing the split at Valentinian/Valens (the west steadily declines after that, while the east weathers the storm much better) your suggestion seems at least as good.  Here's how I'd be inclined to implement it, let me know what you think:

I'm sure @CPK would be open to this schedule too, if people prefer it. Please let us know! 🙂

Edited February 17, 2023 by Severus Alexander

[DonnaML]

43 minutes ago, Severus Alexander said:

Thanks for the excellent feedback, @DonnaML! While I like making the earlier fork in the road obvious by doing the split at Valentinian/Valens (the west steadily declines after that, while the east weathers the storm much better) your suggestion seems at least as good.  Here's how I'd be inclined to implement it, let me know what you think:

I'm sure @CPK would be open to this schedule too, if people prefer it. Please let us know! 🙂

Looks good!

[CPK]

Looks good to me as well! Thanks @DonnaML for the suggestion.

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Great idea in planning a posting calendar. I imagine we won't get to Constantine Palaelogus until August or September!

 

[DonnaML]

13 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

Thanks for the excellent feedback, @DonnaML! While I like making the earlier fork in the road obvious by doing the split at Valentinian/Valens (the west steadily declines after that, while the east weathers the storm much better) your suggestion seems at least as good.  Here's how I'd be inclined to implement it, let me know what you think:

I'm sure @CPK would be open to this schedule too, if people prefer it. Please let us know! 🙂

@Severus Alexander: Looking at your schedule again, would it make sense to move Johannes down under the "The West Falls" heading? I guess Constantine III and Jovinus should stay under Honorius, since their "reigns" occurred during Honorius's. 

[Severus Alexander]

19 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

@Severus Alexander: Looking at your schedule again, would it make sense to move Johannes down under the "The West Falls" heading? I guess Constantine III and Jovinus should stay under Honorius, since their "reigns" occurred during Honorius's. 

That would be OK, I think, though I do worry a bit about having too many personalities in that single 2-day slot. Johannes was an awkward one to fit in!

[DonnaML]

4 minutes ago, Severus Alexander said:

That would be OK, I think, though I do worry a bit about having too many personalities in that single 2-day slot. Johannes was an awkward one to fit in!

I know it's a lot, but how many people have coins of anyone of that group other than maybe Valentinian III? Or, if you really do think it's too many, you could divide them up into Johannes + Valentinian III, and then all the others.  For whom I doubt you'd need two days!

[CPK]

The grandson of Gordian I, and the nephew of Gordian II, Gordian III was proclaimed Emperor by the Praetorian Guard - after the murder of Balbinus and Pupienus - at the ripe old age of 13. He was the youngest Emperor to assume control of united Rome.

Gordian III enjoyed the close loyal support of the Praetorian Praefect Timestheus, who was also his father-in-law; but when Timestheus died, he was replaced as Praefect by a less loyal and more ambitious man named Marcus Julius Philippus - better known to us as Philip the Arab. Philip arranged Gordian III's murder in February of 244.

Gordian III's reign of 5+ years was not a long one, but in that time he managed to have struck an enormous quantity of coinage. His coins are some of the most common and affordable of all Roman Imperial coins.

So...you'd think I would have one, but I don't! 😮 Maybe someday. In the meantime, Let's see your very best/favorite portrait coins of this young Emperor!

[Octavius]

 A selection of Gordian III - the boy emperor who, all things considered, managed to live for a decent length of time for this century.

Three Antoniniani,  four sestertii , and one denarius...

my favorite portrait is the first...

[Severus Alexander]

Favourite denarius portrait, and probably my favourite overall:

My favourite antoninianus portrait is because he looks so timid, due not only to the engraving but also the flow lines (actually, maybe this one is my favourite overall? it's very close!):

And my favourite AE portrait (sestertius):

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Here are my offerings:

 

 

 

Edited February 18, 2023 by Ancient Coin Hunter

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

Sestertius  RIC 298a 15.80 g. Green-aqua patina.