The Revolt of Poemenius and the mint of Trier

[justus]

The Revolt of Poemenius and the mint of Trier

 

Portraits on roman coins often offer us a deep insight into the complex aspects of Roman society and make it clear, that coins didn't serve only as currency, but also as a contribute to the dissemination of political messages that appeal to all segments of the population and should strengthen the bonds between emperor and people. Such a historically extremely interesting coin, which refers to a political event that can be dated quite precisely, is the following bronze coinage minted by Poemenius.

 

 

Edited November 29, 2024 by justus

[justus]

Poemenius was a late antique Roman officer. Ammianus Marcellinus (15,6,4) reports, that Poemenius led the city's defense against Decentius, the brother of the usurper Magnentius, on behalf of the residents of Augusta Treverorum (now Trier).

 

Amm. 15,6.4

After him Poemenius, doomed like evil doers, was haled to execution and perished; he was the man (as we have told above)* who was chosen to protect his fellow-citizens when Treves closed its gates against Decentius Caesar.**

* In one of the lost books.

** Decentius had been given the rank of Caesar by his brother Magnentius.

 

Poemenius minted bronze coins at the mint of Trier, the reverse motif of which had been introduced with the large christogram by Magnentius, but which showed the portrait of Constantius II on the obverse, thereby expressing his support for the regular emperor Constantius II. The evaluation of the coins showed that this “Revolt of Poemenius” in Trier probably took place in July 353 at the earliest. Ammianus Marcellinus further reports that Poemenius was executed after the failed usurpation of Silvanus in 355.

 

In hope of more beautiful specimens with the large christogram at the reverse side from your collections, I would like to introduce you some pieces from my own collection from this series with obverse sides of Constantius II, Magnentius and Decentius.

 

Magnentius

Æ maiorina or centenionalis, mint of Trier (1^st offizina) 350 – 353 AD.

Obv. DN MAGNEN-TIVS PF AVG, bare-headed, draped, cuirassed bust right.

Rev. SALVS DD NN AVG ET CAES around large chi-rho, flanked by A-ω across fields. Mintmark TRP.

Weight: 6.78 g. Diameter: 27-28 mm. Axis: 11 o'clock.

Ref. RIC VIII Trier 318,P. From my own collection (Sammlung Jost).

 

[justus]

Decentius

Æ maiorina or centenionalis, mint of Trier (2^nd offizina) 353 AD.

Obv. D N DECENTI-VS FORT CAES, bare-headed, draped, cuirassed bust right.

Rev. SALVS DD NN AVG ET CAES, large chi-rho flanked by A-ω across fields. Mintmark TRS1.

Weight: 5.29 g. Diameter: 24-25 mm. Axis: 7 o'clock

Ref. RIC VIII 324,S. (R) From my own collection (Sammlung Jost).

[justus]

Magnentius

Æ maiorina or centenionalis, mint of Trier (2^nd offizina) 350 – 353 AD.

Obv. DN MAGNEN-TIVS PF AVG, bare-headed, draped, cuirassed bust right.

Rev. SALVS DD NN AVG ET CAES around large chi-rho, flanked by A-ω across fields. Mintmark TRS1.

Weight: 6.27 g. Diameter: 23-24 mm. Axis: 5 o'clock.

Ref. RIC VIII Trier 318ff. From my own collection (Sammlung Jost).

[justus]

Constantius II

Æ maiorina or centenionalis, minted by Poemenius in the mint of Trier (1^st offizina) 351 – 352 AD.

Obv. DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG, pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right.

Rev. SALVS AVG NOSTRI, large chi-rho flanked by A-ω across fields. Mintmark TRP.

Weight: 6.65 g. Diameter: 24-26 mm. Axis: 12 o'clock.

Ref. RIC VIII Trier 332, S. From my own collection (Sammlung Jost).

According to Kent (NC 1959, pp. 105–108), this coin was minted by Poemenius in anticipation of the emperor's reconquest of the city.

 

 

Literature on this topic:

(1) Walter Coler Holt, Usurping a Usurper: the Revolt of Poemenius at Trier, in: Journal of the Numismatic Association of Australia, vol. 7, 2005, p. 8.

https://numismatics.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Vol-17-Article-10.pdf

 

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Very interesting. I had not heard of the coins of Poemenius. Here is an AE2 of Decentius Caesar

 

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Here is an AE1 (?) of Magnentius

 

[Roman Collector]

Interesting write-up and lovely coins, @justus! I have only one coin of Maxentius and none of Decius. You know how it is.

Magnentius, AD 350-353.
Roman billon heavy maiorina, 4.68 g, 20.1 mm, 6h.
Arles, AD 352.
Obv: D N MAGNEN-TIVS P F AVG, bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust; A behind.
Rev: VICTORIAE DD NN AVG ET CAE, two Victories holding wreath inscribed VOT/V/MVL/X and surmounted by chi-rho; I//PAR.
Refs: RIC viii, p. 217, 184; RCV 18823; LRBC II 441; Bastien 272.

[Heliodromus]

Here'a my Magnentius, RIC VIII Lyons 154, issued c.353 AD. 26mm 7.5g

This was the first nice coin that I bought myself. I really started collecting in 12-2003, when I bought my second coin a Constantine SOLI INVICTO from Ticinum, with cross + star, conceiving of my collection as the changing religious symbolism on the coins of Constantine. A nice Chi-Rho was obviously a must-have, so having spent $14.50 and $26.75 on my 1st (VRBS ROMA) and 2nd coins respectively, in 3-2004 I splurged $370 on eBay for this Magnentius! In retrospect I'm not sure what I was thinking - a slippery slope indeed - although I do like the coin!

I'm still not clear on why Magnentius chose to so prominently feature the Chi-Rho, obviously an at least nominally Christian symbol, on his coins. It's not clear whether Magnentius himself was a Christian (if such a question really makes sense at this early date), since apparently he relaxed nighttime sacrifices by pagans, so at least had some sympathies there.

It's potentially relevant that at this time there was a major disagreement in the church between the doctrines of Arianism (Jesus having been created by god, and therefore lesser than him), of which Constantius II was a proponent, and the Catholic/Orthodox alternative of Trinitarianism, more prevalent in the west, that believed that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, while distinct, were all of the same substance. Was Magnentius somehow trying to play into this west vs east doctrinal divide?

The A-w (alpha, omega) field marks on Magnentius' Chi-Rho type are a biblical reference to Relevation 1:8, 21:6 and 22:13 where Jesus refers to himself as the alpha and omega, the beginning and end, which might be construed as an anti-Arian position, but on the other hand Constantius' Poemenius revolt type also feature the alpha-omega marks, so any such intended distinction does not appear to have resonated.

An alternate theory, a bit radical perhaps (but not necessarily wrong because of it!), is that Magnentius was perhaps using the Chi-Rho as more of a universal religious symbol, acceptable to both pagans (who may have viewed it as a solar symbol of sorts) and Christians, which may have been Constantine's original intent in adopting it. In this way, Magnentius may have been trying to project himself as a more moderate "emperor for all" as opposed to the anti-pagan Constantius II.

Magentius earlier Victoria Avg Lib Romanor types, from when he had won Rome in 350 AD, could be interpreted as supporting both pagan and Christian views given his use of a Chi-Rho standard on one type, but an eagle (symbol of Jupiter) on others.

 

 

Edited November 28, 2024 by Heliodromus

[Orange Julius]

Great coins. I’ve always wanted a good example of one of those chi-rho coins. I do have one of Decentius but is so ugly I haven’t even bothered to photograph it. What I like about the coins of Magnentius and Decentius is the Beatle/Oasis-esque hair.

[galeriusmaximinus]

Nice and interesting coins.

It seems that there are several variations of portrait style for these “Poemenius” double maiorinae. The portraits come with pearl diadem (common) or laurel & rosette diadem (rare) and have variations of wreath-ties, two-band (common) vs three-band (rare).

I attach 3 different portrait styles of “Poemenius” from my collection.

[Alegandron]

POEMENIUS:


RI Poemenius in name of Constantius II summer 353 Trier XP RIC VIII Trier 332 RARE
(mixes bust of Constantius II with Chi Rho of Magnentius - enemy of CII)
Ex: @seth77

[Anaximander]

Among my Late Roman Bronze Coins (LRBCs), I have Magnentius and Decentius, but no coins of Poemenius' Revolt. 

Magnentius. 350-353 AD. Æ2 Maiorina (4.87ᵍᵐ 22.5ᵐᵐ 1ʰ) Happy Empire Type of Trier, 2ⁿᵈ series, 350 AD. Bare headed, draped and cuirassed bust right, IM CAE MAGNENTIVS AVG. / Emperor standing left in military attire holding Victory on globe and labarum with ⳩. FELICITAS REIPVLICE. A|TRPᴗ. nEF. Pegasi Numismatics Auction VI #580. RIC VIII p.158 (Trier) #266; Cohen 5; LRBC II (Trier) #51; SRCV V #18791.

  

Magnentius. 350-353 AD. Æ2 Maiorina (6.85ᵍᵐ 26.2ᵐᵐ 6ʰ) Chi-rho Type of Trier, 3ʳᵈ series, 353 AD. Bare-headed, draped, and cuirassed bust right. D N MAGNENTIVS P F AVG. / Large ⳩, 𐤠-ω in fields, SALVS DDNN AVG ET CAES. ex: TRP•. VF. Bt. Herakles Numismatics, 2014.  RIC VIII p.164 (Trier) #323; Cohen 31; LRBC II (Trier) #66; SRCV V #18779.

  

Decentius. As Caesar, 351‑353 AD. Æ Maiorina (5.41ᵍᵐ 21.8ᵐᵐ 1ʰ) Two Victories Type (wreath without cippus) of Lugdunum 351-352. Bare head and cuirassed bust right, DN DECENTIVS NOB CAES. / VOT V MVLT X in wreath held between two Victories. • SV in field below. VICTORIAE DD NN AVG ET CAE. ex: RS LG. nEF. Pegasi Numismatics Auction XVIII #600.  RIC VIII p.187 (Lyons) #131; Cohen 33; LRBC II #224; SRCV V #18882. The most common coin type for Magnentius and Decentius.

 

Shawn Caza, in his recent work "A Handbook of Late Roman Bronze Coin Types, 324-395" (Spink, 2021) covers Magnentius' usurpation well, providing historical context and coinage.  There's a wealth of information about the various types and subtypes and there's some coverage of Poemenius' issues and various imitations.

 

Using the standard references, RIC VIII and LRBC, can be a bit challenging. I've made cheat-sheets to help me. Here's my current effort on LRBC.

PS: And here's my effort on RIC VIII.

 

Edited December 4, 2024 by Anaximander
Added RIC VIII how-to-read cheat-sheet.

[Tejas]

Here is a coin from my collection, which may have been minted by Poemenius. The coin has a rather short, ragged but thick flan, which could support the view that it was minted under siege conditions.

Obv: D N CONSTANTIVS P F AVG.
Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Rev: SALVS AVG NOSTRI // TRP✷.
Large Christogram; A - ω across field.

RIC 332.

Weight: 6,74 g.
Diameter: 22 mm.

Edited December 6, 2024 by Tejas