VIRTVS CONSTANTINI CAES (Leu win)

[Heliodromus]

After the retirement of Diocletian and Maximinan, order briefly ensued and the tetrarchic line-up changed as intended. The existing caesars Constantius I and Galerius were promoted to augustii and appointed their own caesars Severus II and Maximinus II.

Severus II, perhaps under direction of Constantius, focused on the tetrarchic theme on his Italian coinage, issuing a FIDES MILITVM AVGG ET CAESS NN type for the augustii and VIRTVS AVGG ET CAESS NN types for the caesars. The FIDES MILITVM choice would turn out to be unfortunately prescient, reflecting how the true power lay with the army, not with any political tetrarchic schemes of succession!

On the death of Constantius in July 306, Severus was duly promoted to augustus, and should have had his own choice of caesar, but things were already starting to unravel and Constantine had asserted power in Britain and been begrudgingly accepted by Galerius, thereby becoming the western caesar. Having no choice, Severus accepted the situation and now issued his tetrarchic types for this new line-up, with FIDES MILITVM AVGG ET CAESS NN for himself and Galerius, and VIRTVS AVGG ET CAESS NN for the upstart Constantine and the eastern caesar Maximinus II.

Unfortunately for Severus, Constantine's power grab inspired Maxentius to follow (seeing himself similarly entitled as son of an augustus), and only a few months later in October 307 he seized control of Rome. Severus had been stationed in northern Italy in Milan, and was now directed by Galerius to recover Rome from the usurper. When Maxentius heard of Severus' imminent arrival he called for help, and offered co-rule to his father Maximianus who gladly accepted. Here the real FIDES MILITVM played out, with Severus' army in fact proving loyal to their old boss Maximianus (and the gold he no doubt handed out), and Severus was forced to surrender in March or April of 307 (and was killed not shortly thereafter).

This now sets the scene for a new coin I just received from the recent Leu sale ...

With Severus out of the way, Maxentius now expanded his control to northern Italy and in May or June 307 issued his first coinage from Aquileia for himself, Maximianus and Constantine who Maximianus had already formed an alliance with by promising to elevate him to augustus (despite having no legitimate power to do so) and promising his daughter Fausta as wife to Constantine.

Maxentius (perhaps sending a message to Galerius?) issues a FIDES MILITVM type for himself (INV AVG) and Maximianus (SEN INV AVG), an excruciatingly rare FELICITAS PVBLICA type for himself, and adapts Severus' preceding types for Constantine by changing the tetrarchic "AVGG ET CAESS" legend to the honorific VIRTVS CONSTANTINI CAES.

RIC VI Aquileia 108 S, May-June 307 AD
29mm 9.33g

These first Aquileia coins from Maxentius were issued at the satisfyingly large pre-existing 1/32 lb (~10g) standard, which was then reduced for following issues.

Please share anything related to this time period and the Maxentius/Maximianus-Constantine alliance.

 

Edited August 12, 2023 by Heliodromus

[Steppenfool]

Very nice coin, and very cool write up. I only have one different opinion and it's about this:

Quote

On the death of Constantius in July 306, Severus was duly promoted to augustus, and should have had his own choice of caesar

I don't think this this quite right. The power to promote to the Imperial College lay with the Senior Augustus, hence Diocletian before he retired was in charge of the nominations:

An assembly of the soldiers was called. Diocletian, with tears, harangued them, and said that he was become infirm, that he needed repose after his fatigues, and that he would resign the empire into hands more vigorous and able, and at the same time appoint new Cæsars . The spectators, with the utmost earnestness, waited for the nomination. Suddenly he declared that the Cæsars were Severus and Maximinus. The amazement was universal. Constantine stood near in public view, and men began to question among themselves whether his name too had not been changed into Maximinus.

Lactantius: On the Deaths of the Persecutors - Chapter 19

This means that Constantius on his death bed had the absolute right to promote Constantine to Caesar, being the senior Augustus at the time of his death. His seniority is shown in inscriptions, and reconstructions of the timeline also have him entering the Imperial College before Galerius.

As a result, Constantine's promotion to Caesar did not contravene the succession policy of the Imperial College. If it did, the combined might of Galerius, Severus and Maximinus would have been waged against Constantine.

Constantine's acclamation by his troops to the role of Augustus was in fact contrary to Tetrarchic policy. Hence the politically shrewd Constantine quickly returned to the role of Caesar for a short period, and Galerius and the others had no choice but to accept this. Constantine would later utilise this acclamation and generally act as Augustus once things kicked off with Maxentius, however. But legally, Constantine did nothing wrong taking the role of Caesar.

Maxentius on the other hand, was never nominated by the Senior Augustus hence his claim was an usurpation, and it's why he avoided the title of Augustus for some time, calling himself Princeps Invictus. He was hoping that the new Senior Augustus, Galerius who was his father in law, would welcome him into the Imperial College. When he didn't, Maxentius opted for usurpation proper, calling himself Augustus.

The fact that each succeeding Augustus didn't get to choose their Caesar is perhaps proven by the fact that Constantius seems to have been landed with Severus as his junior colleague, and the tradition is that Severus was closer to the Jovian side of the Imperial College. You'd think if Constantius was able to choose his own junior colleague, he would have picked his own son who was apparently the candidate expected to be chosen. A possible counter argument to this is that Constantius was following some rule that family dynasties were to be avoided in the Imperial College, but this doesn't seem to be consistent with the sheer amount of marriage alliances that went on the Imperial College, nor the fact that Maximinus was Galerius' nephew.

It also explains why Maxentius felt the need to get his father involved and bump him up to Senior Augustus, as that legitimised Maxentius' entry into the Imperial College as it was coming from a purported Senior Augustus.

 

Anyway, enough of that. Here's some coins:

Retirement issue of Diocletian:

 

 

 

Constantine as Caesar:

Edited August 12, 2023 by Steppenfool

[Heliodromus]

13 minutes ago, Steppenfool said:

I don't think this this quite right. The power to promote to the Imperial College lay with the Senior Augustus, hence Diocletian before he retired was in charge of the nominations:

Thanks for the correction!

13 minutes ago, Steppenfool said:

This means that Constantius on his death bed had the absolute right to promote Constantine to Caesar, being the senior Augustus at the time of his death. His seniority is shown in inscriptions, and reconstructions of the timeline also have him entering the Imperial College before Galerius.

Yes, and Constantius' seniority can also be seen in the officina assignments at Carthage which were updated at each tetrarchic line-up change to reflect seniority (lower officina = higher seniority). This is most dramatically reflected in RIC 50-51 where Maximianus (being senior augustus) gets officina A, and Maxentius (despite being in control) gets officina delta below Constantine!

It hadn't crossed my mind that in this circumstance Constantius was in fact entitled to appoint Constantine as caesar.

 

[Steppenfool]

That coin evidence

1 minute ago, Heliodromus said:

Thanks for the correction!

Yes, and Constantius' seniority can also be seen in the officina assignments at Carthage which were updated at each tetrarchic line-up change to reflect seniority (lower officina = higher seniority). This is most dramatically reflected in RIC 50-51 where Maximianus (being senior augustus) gets officina A, and Maxentius (despite being in control) gets officina delta below Constantine!

It hadn't crossed my mind that in this circumstance Constantius was in fact entitled to appoint Constantine as caesar.

 

The Officina data is incredibly fascinating particularly how Constantine ranks above Maxentius! Thanks for informing me about it!

It certainly seems that Maximian and Maxentius were trying to form a rival college and usurp the whole institution!

[Limes]

Thanks for the write up, and @Steppenfoolfor the additional info. Im still having trouble wrapping my head around all these events, augusti, Caesars, mints, and so on. Let alone being able to identify a legend to a particular augustus/Caesar. I tip my hat to you, Sir! I have only just begun with a few coins, and some research, on the tetrarchy. Much more remains to explore....! 

Here is a lovely nummus of Constantius. 

 

[Al Kowsky]

Constantine I, AD 307-310, London Mint. Billon Nummus: 6.57 gm, 28 mm, 8 h. C & T 5.04.003. Ex Italo Vecchi  Collection; Ex Roma E-Sale 75, lot 805.