WHEN GENERALS BECOME TYRANTS, DICTATORS, USURPERS & EMPERORS

[ominus1]

In thinking about even those emperors/dictators who we view with reverence who came to power using armies supplied by the republic, empire to maintain peace and fight enemies of, used to acquire (or attempt to) the purple,killing Roman rivals along the way, who had just as much right to become top dog as any .....this happened all the way to the leaving Rome and establishing a new empire in Byzantium, i think of them sometimes as grasshoppers turning into locust...

..ok...lets post some coins of these winners and losers...i'll start with coins of Sulla, the 1st time a general/commander took dictatorial power by violent means against fellow Romans..  Post your coins & thoughts Peeps!...:D 

L Manilius Torquatus/ L Cornelius Sulla denarii, Military mint 82BC  16mm, 3.44 & 3.57 gms respectively 

[CPK]

I've got the same type, and it's one of my favorite coins:

 

And of course we have the most famous Dictator of all, Julius Caesar himself. This particular coin was struck as Caesar was moving toward Rome in flagrant defiance of law and custom:

[ominus1]

...very good...now i reckon next would be Galba....with Nero's death, there's was a vacuum of power and while Galba proclaimed himself emperor  (with the senates approval), it was to be contested by the other generals and Romans would die at the hands of other Romans..

[ominus1]

..well now i might be getting ahead of meself....Octavius didn't just step up to the throne(because there wasn't one:P) with everyones approval....there was civil war then also(.....so here's denarii of Octavius early on and then one of him as Augustus

[Dafydd]

I'll revert with a Sulla I am fond of.

 

 

L. Cornelius Sulla. Denarius mint moving with Sulla 84-83, AR 18.5mm., 3.77g. Diademed head of Venus r.; in Sydenham 761a. Crawford 359/2.
 r.; in r. field, Cupid standing l., holding palm branch; below, L·SVLLA. Rev. IMPER Jug and lituus between two trophies; below, ITERV. Babelon Cornelia 30.

Ex Gorny & Mosch sale 176, 2009, 1864.

[Cinco71]

I'll throw Vespasian (and his son, Titus) into the mix.  Vespasian is of course the one who came out on top after the year of the four emperors and his quelling the rebellion in Judea.

[ominus1]

...well, i guess we better throw Marc Antony in there too cause he was master of half the empire for a bit..

military mint Marc Antony denarius, battle of Actium, 32-30BC  16mm 2.93gms

[ominus1]

4 hours ago, Cinco71 said:

I'll throw Vespasian (and his son, Titus) into the mix.  Vespasian is of course the one who came out on top after the year of the four emperors and his quelling the rebellion in Judea.

that's a fine lQQking coin! 🙂

Edited February 8, 2023 by ominus1

[Octavius]

 Decius was proclaimed emperor by his troops after a victory in Moesia, then killed the reigning emperor , Philip, in battle near Verona.

[ominus1]

29 minutes ago, Octavius said:

 Decius was proclaimed emperor by his troops after a victory in Moesia, then killed the reigning emperor , Philip, in battle near Verona.

marvelous coin! 🙂

[Magnus Maximus]

Victor Magnus Maximus Perpetuus Triumphator Semper Augustus.

Born from a humble family in Gallecia on the estates of Count Theodosius in the 330’s, Maximus joined the Roman army and was a a junior officer in the Western Roman Army during the reign of Valentinian I.  By 368, Maximus was attached to the command of Count Theodosius, in an attempt to retake Britain from the “Great Conspiracy.” After their successes in Britain, Maximus and Count Theodosius were deployed to Africa to put down the revolt of Firmus. Maximus personally worked with the Romano-Moor, Gildo, to help rout out corruption in the diocese that had led to the revolt. When Count Theodosius was executed in Carthage in 376, Maximus would have still been present in the diocese. The death of his patron did not halt Maximus’s rise through the ranks however, and by 380 Maximus was leading a field army in Britain. In 381/2, Maximus defeated a large incursion of Picts and Scots near Hadrian’s wall. By autumn of 383 Maximus was declared Emperor by the soldiers in Britain and marched against the Western Emperor, Gratian and into annals of history.

Edited February 8, 2023 by Magnus Maximus

[ominus1]

20 minutes ago, Magnus Maximus said:

Victor Magnus Maximus Perpetuus Triumphator Semper Augustus.

Born from a humble family in Gallecia on the estates of Count Theodosius in the 330’s, Maximus joined the Roman army and was a a junior officer in the Western Roman Army during the reign of Valentinian I.  By the 368, Maximus was attached to the command of Count Theodosius, in an attempt to retake Britain from the “Great Conspiracy.” After their successes in Britain, Maximus and Count Theodosius were deployed to Africa to put down the revolt of Firmus. Maximus personally worked with the Romano-Moor Gildo, to help rout out corruption in the diocese that had led to the revolt. When Count Theodosius was executed in Carthage in 376, Maximus would have still been present in the diocese. The death of his patron did not halt Maximus’s rise through the ranks however, and by 380 Maximus was leading a field army in Britain. In 381/2, Maximus defeated a large incursion of Picts and Scots near Hadrian’s wall. By autumn of 383 Maximus was declared Emperor by the soldiers in Britain and marched against the Western Emperor Gratian, and into annals of history.

that coin commands attention...very fine! 🙂

[mc9]

Traianus Decius going to the after party:

 

IMP C M Q TRAIANUS DECIUS AVG : bust rad., drap., cuir. r.

Adventvs avg : Traianvs Decivs on horse pacing l., raising r. hand and holding short scptre

Antoninianus, A.D. 249 – 251, Rome, RIC IVc 11b p.121

[Octavius]

 This case is not so clear cut - that is the accession of Philip in 244. It seems he became Praetorian prefect by the machinations of his brother Priscus. Later , Gordian III winds up dead. It is not absolutely certain Philip was involved, but very suspicious none the less, so I'm listing him...

 selection of Philip sestertii...

[ominus1]

..i guess we oughta have Otho in here...he did commit suicide in the pretense of bringing peace to the land,  but only after he thought he was gonna get killed anyway...

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Tyrants and Usurpers to be certain!!!

I have a GENIVS EXERC ILLYRICIANI type of Trajan Decius which hails the legions that defeated Phillip! (It was nice to get paid in coins that recognized your accomplishment)

Trajan Decius, 249-51 C.E.

AR Antoninianus, Rome mint, 23mm 5.2 grams

Obverse: IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right

Reverse: GENIVS EXERC ILLYRICIANI, Genius wearing polos on head, standing left holding patera and cornucopiae; to right, standard

Note: coin is basically of horn silver meaning it is a bit crystallized.

Reference RIC 16c

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Ancient Coin Hunter

[Cinco71]

On 2/9/2023 at 3:13 AM, Octavius said:

 This case is not so clear cut - that is the accession of Philip in 244. It seems he became Praetorian prefect by the machinations of his brother Priscus. Later , Gordian III winds up dead. It is not absolutely certain Philip was involved, but very suspicious none the less, so I'm listing him...

 selection of Philip sestertii...

Each of these Philips looks like a different, but similar looking guy, with that same facial hair.

 

🙂

 

[ominus1]

...ole Trajan Decius seems to b a favorite here..and some very fine and interesting coins...imma gonna throw in my denarius, such as it is, of Vitelilus last to die in the year of the 4..he was the 1st to use Germanicus in his name on coins...not to mention hes wearing a bun on my coin ^^

 

Vitellius denarius  69AD, 17mm, 2.59gms

[Octavius]

49 minutes ago, Cinco71 said:

Each of these Philips looks like a different, but similar looking guy, with that same facial hair.

 

🙂

 

 The last "Pax" sestertius looks suspiciously like his predecessor Gordian III. Perhaps a speedily re engraved die after the latter's death?

[Hughie Dwyer]

Here's a Septimius Severus. He fought in the civil war after the death of Commodus. It is known as the Year of the 5 emperors. 

Pertinax was murdered. Didus Julianus was killed. Albinus given title of Caesar to buy his support. Niger Defeated.

Severus back-stabbed Clodius Albinus and claimed the throne. He made his son Caracalla heir and Caesar.

 

[Hughie Dwyer]

Then you had his two sons - Geta and Caracalla. Long story short: they hated eachother. Caracalla murdered Geta "in his mother's arms".

Caracalla-

 

[Hughie Dwyer]

Geta-

 

[Hughie Dwyer]

After Caracalla's death, Macrinus became emperor, his time was short and was soon desposed of. Elagabalus came to the throne. 

He is said to have been a horrible emperor and not many people liked him. He is said to be one of (if not THE) worst emperor.

 

As my final coin for the day, we have Postumus. Formerly an army commander, he rose up against the emperor Gallienus and created his own empire - The Gallic Empire.

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

On 2/9/2023 at 2:47 PM, Octavius said:

 The last "Pax" sestertius looks suspiciously like his predecessor Gordian III. Perhaps a speedily re engraved die after the latter's death?

Good point. More likely an emission where they had some idea what Phillip looked like but no official bust to work from yet, so it ends up looking like Gordian III. Same thing happened with early coinage of Claudius II, some looked more like Gallienus.