RJOMAN IMPERIA,L COINS

by
,ZANDER H. KLAWANS

SECOND

EDIT~ON

W.HITMAN

P'U.BLIS,HING
RACINE.,W1SCONSIN

COMP'ANY

CONTENTS
olnage Before the Time of the Empire 8

Rom n Coin Denomination I ra nom n-.\"omenThe Xame Informal bverse Inscription of Emperors as They Appear on Coins

1-4
1

ogn men

zz
28 33 )3i S1

and Formal Narnes e f Emperors

s (Dei Lie' and Personification

Reverse Figur Revers

;\]'i11

1nscri p ti - ns . sketches of Emperors, the Year a. oin 'A'a Pate tate Etc. truck

tMarks

broil lozical Det rrnining

60
101

Dates of the Tribunicia Bibliography

12U
125

The reprinting of thi book presents me with the unanticipated nppnrt unity of m:'lking certain corrections as well a IJ few additions, :\!llny people had h 'en kind enough 1'0 write to 111(' poirning out errors which. ernehow had found their way in to the text despite my best prno,frCl'ading (Forts. In one instance I had cagcrly bestowed til It's of office to an ornperor who had been di.ldsomc liVl' Dr six yearsl The chapter whirh has 110 do, wid, coin d nominations h<15 been enlarged to include. hdef di: .ussioc of rh rel,1li- nship of the coins to each other as well .LS their relative puri-husi ncr power .. -'\11 ind ex, which should have been includ ·d in !h first edition, also has, been added. Much r what J had to say in the introduction to"lh first (!dillion still hold: U'LLe... reappraisal of the subject still leaves me with the same thoughts: that I claim no more lor it U1U:D that it might serve ;1'- an introduction to a V<I t and sometimes complex division of the field or numismatics, And perIMPS the- readerwill !,!O on to [eam for himself why ·".\JI r Mds, led to Rome." \\:e owe so much to lhe.5el)capl~ < ndt.n be ignorant of what they EL<ll¥C ,r-riven to Uti is not at 11Il different thaet taking the part of tho disinterested spectator, wearilv moving Ihrough lifo in a eli. tressing void. These t aesars, with ,111 the-ir fault. were a Iascinating group and their contemof pnraries tcrtainlywerel10fl .the lc 5 so. teem. Brutus, :\Llrc Anthony: S neen, Horace, \ 'irgil; Pompey and Sulki : Plirry, Ovid. 1iartiat.\Yha[ romance in these names: These were the giants who marched across the R(lmall sc~nc and to know nt1thin~ uf what these men thought and did is 1:0 live in too small a world, inde d. 1 think i~is im portan t to restate I ha t One need not he a tudern vi Latin in order [0 read Roman coins: a Iitrle ·I.:'fforr 61

w-I.I pI! Jill !<l1rl'ri:"in~ r -sults, nne til' 1'1.'.1 k-r llli~hL Illlt! himamnzc.l a his .rhilitv l I cla -ih .rml re,rd Ihe 'Uill" " ith II m inim 111111 i pr.ll'li!.'!:. , II is, .d"u \!nml In know I'!:tal RiJl1Mn coin for till' P1 "t ["I. rt, ITl.1Ly be purchase for \ ry lir t le mOI]'Y unless til or happen lu ILl) claim to mrily or tn x raordiunry condiu n. Two or rhr dollars will purchase nINny in, -, rruin c 11 ctnr m y experience dlsappoinunent rh.it fill pnrticalar ph . or another h.rs ll.oi: heen covered in thi book. r apologize t them at th same tim' I'oiintin' out that un tend d dis 'u_ slen of Ruman coina T has nOL h n th purpo. of this writer, Th billie raphy ineorporated h -rein may uide to th 'who wish to pUr9l1l! 11m suhjl:cl

_·n

.Iiw. ys
Dod ha rome down throu to h

the centuries I(J him. La t, I hurnhly express m~ thanks 10 Dick Yeoman .. _not be ause he prevailed upon hi- c mpany to publi h (hi book in til fir-l" I 1.1 __ .1 U l ecau ' [IIi - Con-to Ill, g ncrou -. !i{on I die and. mu -h more irn] rruntly, lrecnus WI:! h.IV became such goud friends. BlLlt mayb . b uks lmve always don lbi fur In n.

Zd1lcl'r

H .KI,lW;iIl

Coinag1e Before the Time 0,£ the ,Empue

Before dis ussing the coins of the Roman and about existence. the: development Empire
jt is of in-

terest to know a little about the background of these coins

which 1 d to their comimr Into

Oneof the Latin W lTd!> for money is PE NI,' hich originates from the shorter Latin word, PEel·, meaning TTLE. It rna} not at once be recognised that th ere is a
connection b tween cattle and money but a brief analysi will show a definite w dding of the two words. Cattle provide sustenance, in one form or another, for humankind. ornerhing with such a universal appeal and of uch vital necessity to almost all mankind ha positive value. Thus, cattle had value in ancient times. \!\ ith tattle a man could buy th other ne eSsities of life and wealth could be measured by the number of

heads of cattle a man po essed,

bviously, such bulky material was an inadequate means of exchange, The problems of transporting hundreds oJ. heads of cartle here and there was. a great one and it becam more intense when the world markets of tho e days. started to blossom; trading in. cattle became cumbersomely impossible. The logical. answer was the crea 'on of a means of exchange, universally rscogniaed, but small in size .. Coinage was the answer .. VVhen Rome first began flo flex her muscle and f. el the urge of a nev horn power she required, and obtained, this

more flexible system. This first coinage wa erode, 811ape],I!!SS, and heavy In all. attempt to approximate the value of the- coin wjth, It actual weight. The first carnage, a cast coinage, was called AES RUDE (rude, Or crude bronze. The Latin word Ior bronze is AES). These fir t coins probably were struck in the
gr

6th centl:l'lry B .. They ha"?e been found in various shapes. reetangular, flat. square, and in lumps . Later, there came Into existence a means of exchange known

as the. ES SIG AT'

i (signatum, a eal)

hieh \\ as a little

more uniform, but still in various shapes. Inscribed upon these pie e were figures of cattle among other thing,s. This \ as tru pecunia! Inanimate and animate objects were also found upon these pie ies and so' we find birds, tridents, shields, and other 6gur~s. These piece date, probah] , from the 5th cen-

tilly B.. There nex came lntD existence the coinage which wa. to be f rerunner of all coinage to come. It ','as call d AES CR \ 'E (Heavy bronze) and while it was still a cast (min, it was circular in shape, cnolars differ as to the approximate date this coinage came into existence but the year 300 B. . or thereabouts should suffice. The AES GRAVE, as cast in various denominations. We' li t them as the AS, the EM! '. the "RIEN the Q ADRANS, the SEXTAN , and the' N lA.
Each of these coins could be distinguished from the other by

the obverse (front) of the cO,i11. The A' alway had the head of the god janus: the SE 'lIS pictured Jupiter; the TRIEN '.
Minerva; the

Q ADRANS,

Hercules:

the

EXT

.. "

.1er-

cury; bh UNCIA, Roma, Tbe reverses were COO1l'llOn to all of the denominations and they were all the same, the prOt of a ship, This reverse undoubtedly was indicative of Rome's newIocnd respect for the. ea and her turning to the sea and to
new lands. Rome' l1'OW had. to accomplish two things i she had to create a coinage which would be recognized in the land she had conquered or in the land with whicl) she was trading. Thus, it was nece sary to emulate the coinage of these countri s, Se ondly, it was necessary to create a less cumbersome coinage. a coinage whi.th couldeasily be transported both aeross the sea and in 1 taly itself. Both these problems were successfuUy resol ed by the coinage of a. silver piece. long lamiliar to the Greek (and the Roman did Inher] '.. from the Grc eks) known as the Dru HtvlA and the coinage of copper coins as r9

AS
Jau,l1$

!ThUS

J~~p.ite.r

'fRIENS
lrBfleroG

10 I

Q ADRA
T:lIUr.11Ies

SEXTANS

UNCIA Roma

REVERSE TYPE
Prow of Ship

Ll1

well Th 280 B.C.).

10"

were the first truck c ins of Rome (about

Lat r. probably about 10 B ... the Romans i u d coins whi 11were peculiarly their own. These w r call d th DE~ ARlU , the SESTERTHf_. and th Ql IN. RIUS. We happ n onto these coins in the time of (he empire. but ill re is no physical resemblance between, the early coins and the Impera erial coins. The DEI }\RIUS was equivalent to ten asses (t:he A being the ·tanda.rd basis of coinage) the ES. TERTI1J to 231 asse • and the 01 I. RJ to 5 asses. The e c ins \\ ere all quit similar having R -1 the guardian of the city. on the obverse and the I L Rl on the re r·. The Di.o cnri were sacred LO Rome (the name is d riv d from the 7reelt meaning, literally, Boys of Zeus) and th two boys are more commonly known a ast r and Pollux.
I
j

Throu bout this transition cast c ins were still in exi te:nc but th }' were con tantly being lowered in weight essentiallv becau e 01 to ioRatioJ1! which accompanied and followed th Punic Wars, a serie f thre war: against the Carthaginian (26.J...~.jl B .. ; 218-2 1 13. _.; 14- -146 B .. ). The end I these war found Rome on the rge of bankruptcy. a rethat the coinage wa In a constant slate of flux, The \V i hts of the c iru wer r duced and all th e il of
man really knew what his

money wa worth. However, the inal victory of Rome over arthage in 146 B.. led to a gradual but determined reorganization of the coinage arid at thi time all coinag \\I~ s truck; th r were no mor cru;'t coins. The d narius em rged a the common coin of the r rum and it remained virtually unchanged un til the time of . h empire. old was also struck, but thi "as in the nature of an em rgency and it did not at thi time, I rm a regular part of the Roman coinage.
It w not long before th coins started 0 take on a at inter t in many ways. Ther was more of an effort to make them more pleasing from an artistic tandpoiut. Til r erses, in particular, became media for a multitude of obj cts oli a reli ious, p litical. histori al. and arehit ctural nature. D ities
:121

aad persorrificaticn app ar d in great number . The coinage had com into it - own! Th re were variances of rvle and t .cture to th e.xt~.t that later-day numi mati t:s\. ould be able to clas ify the coin both chron lugicalJy and g (1graphically.

I J3

Roman Coin Denominations

J n order to possess a reasonable knot l dge of the coin of the Reman Empire it is n Of! ary to know the names by which th ar called and to b able to distinguish th m from one another. Thar wer not a great many denominations struck during th period of th Empire and 50 the beginner should not have too much difficulty In narnin them. rtain denominations, ueh asth e truck in guld and some which appe red I in the history of the Empir areei h r quit- rare or co tJy and, therefor, are infrequently. n y the gr ater majority of colle tor. Other ar xtrernely common and it i these coins which form the background of most c lie ·ti m s, Probably the m Sl common 'oins of the period of the Empire are til
1~EI\AJr D rONDf
.'\

DtmnriliS of 01110 (69 .. )

The standard silver coin of the Empire "'<IS th . ilver (loin known a. the DENARI . Th DEN-I\RI S wa first i ued about 1g B. . and remained in existence uo til about 296 .D. During thi peri d of year: til coin wa ,.1 based rn tl. Irorn th time I th Emperor Xero C4-6 ..) onward. By the time of tJJE~ Emperor C racalla (211-217 , .D.) the DE R1 TS wa about 4ll% silver. It was at tbi time (bat the A r., T IN1.. N U appeared. 'he !lTONtNLAI derived it nam fr In the Emperor aracalla 'l. Aurelius ntoninu aracalla, 211-21 ~ .D.) who fir t introduced it. This coin can be di tinguished from th. DE T. RIUS because ill.' 11'ad of the subject on the .TONI 11'\ . is radiale. This coin, too, had an au pi. ciOLIS b ginning only to b debased to th taws of a copper coin with a il er wa h. Frequently, it is possible to find a coin with the : ilver still present, but this is quit uncommon.

ru

L4 J

The coin , as abolished a the time of

(JO -337 .A.D.). .
.d"I01~iniallfts

on taurine the Great

oJ

TlICil1lS

(27"-276 .0.)

The D :'P 1'\01 1 was coine.d during the Imperatnrial period until the. time of Trajan D tiu (240-251 A.D.). It wa.. truck in bra- and i_ quit f en difficult to distinguiah
[rom the r
DIlPO/lllil1~ IIf A lI~l.ftll$ (29 n.C.-14 .:\.D.)

I Irte mean s IIf d et ermin ing th PO :- IUS and the A.. is b)- th

As 1)/ Domltian ( 1-96 A..D.)

a raih r yell w color, while th , i more reddish. In he later days of th rnpire it was the practice to strike the DUPO ! DrUS showing the head of th emperor radia e and the
with a bare r laureated had.

was the lar e coin of th empire and i known ,as Large Bronze Or Grand Branz. pon the ~ 'TERTl ~. app ar b most magnif It rnanifestations of the mon yer' art. The largenes of the c in perrnitt d the inclosion of the wonderful detail whieh was, of a necesslry,

The'

TERT[·

lacking on th
of a denarius,

mailer coins. The ESTERTI wa originally a ilver coin of til Roman Republic, worth an quarter
115

Sr:sl'erli.ru

of
d.7#OltilL'IIS:

Pi,u (13 -16l A.D.)

The

Emperor
\\'<1.5

iocle lam (2 4-304

FOl.LIS, which

".D.) instituted (he a rather large coin witba . ilver wash,

F"IIi.f

pi

Cr/lls/{1.IlliU$

(305-JII6 A.D.)

titer coins, not quiteas

were tIle:

ccmmon as those mentioned

above

CE1\TENWNAU -. brortze coin which had its inception during the reign of Constantine (30o~JJ7 A.D.). It was bronze with .a silver wash, After the time of Arcadius (395· 'lOS .D.) it sunk into obscurity,

Q ADRA:,\' -The QUINARJ'S--DEARIUS.

fourth part

or the A

. Struck ill copper.

silver coin about one-half the weight of the It waaisstred only at intervals.

SEMIS-These coins were mostly of bronze with very little silver. The coin waa Issued in the later days 0.1 the eDlp.ir, and
appeared in various S:iz;esand types., It was also. used for the half aureus (The aureus Was a gold coin). The term. SEM I SIS was used to. designate the EMIS when used as a half of theaureus or solidus.

LIDU -A

gold coin issued by Ceastannlae the Great Jrnmvn of the Romarrgald coins .. Apaesar (45-44- B. ~.). The

(308-.337 A.D.) ..

ARE" -Tbebelit peared at aboutthe

HI)

time of Julius

weight of tbj - com gradually d· dined until Con tarrtin (08-3 7 . ,D.), it wa abolished

at the tim of to be [ placed

by the th

olid u .

•
r coin, fir t i. ued by on-tan tine I' wa equival nt to 1 U olidus,

ILIQl'A-. Roman sil 'teat (JO - 7 A.D.).

The Relationship of the Coins to Each Other

This 'mall table will help the r ader to di. I ingui h th relationship of til' principal, coins to each QtbC.L H shall al 0 e ihau the lar er coin d not n es arily carry the larz r value, It is also well to ay a word about the purchasin r power of an individual coin. a thou hi which has pass d through tin': III ind of very collector at one time or aneth r, b r pe:r and lucid nalo, ! would be 0 compar the clas i al coinaz with our own and to draw our con 10 i n from uch omparison, While the E ,T RTf, I at one time might have (lUI' hascd a loaf or br ,1 r 11' the Roman bous wife, it might well have b en < n insufficient amount to have done so at • !IT]' other lime in Roman hi tory, Amen ans jestingly have asked each other f r many year "hat bad h ppened to til five-cent cigar. The answer is at" once ohviens: the fiv -cent cigar can no longer b made for five c nts, The cak which required the Am I.:' rica 11, t on tim', to place a fifty-c nt pi ce upon Ih meat ounter now take two of tho e fiJ y- ent pieces. It was no differcn t with h Romans, The • too, went through periods of depres ion and of prosperity ... and prosperity with jllBn ion. Later rnperors added to th confu sion by lowering the silver or gold cont nt in the coinage.
L

sing the denariu

Q'- • D R _~

as a base, the following relationships prevail: r MBER T THE DEl Rl ' ........................ 4 ........................ 8 16 DE

There were. as well, twenty common gold coin.

64 RI.l to the A,RE

,tIle
[II

PRAENOMEN

NOMEN

COGNOM"EN

R fore taking up the discus ion of the Db ers (front) of the" RomaJI1 coins it would be best first to mention the prop r . name and the way they ar found upon the coins. If it i possibl€ to remember two "important fact the reading of the prop r names upon the coin should not present a pr blem,

First: Tb

Roman fir _ name (praenomen) was always regularly abbreviated, not f:rom choice but as a d signation of Roman citizen hip, u

eamd : The abbreviation "ThfP" rnperator) wa regularly d, from the earliest time. in the Empire, iii - a praenomen. Perhaps the bes . and imple t way to de cribe th ~ term o IE ,PRAENOMEN and G OMEN is to look to our own usage in pr nt tim s. The Latin word N ~.EN mean "name." Th pr fi., PRt\E, means "1 fore." Thus. PR,,\Er 0 IE meanst'hefore name" or, the first name. COGOMK i the last name or surname. The Roman name wa not a fixed or absolute farm. I varied through ut the history of Rome, . t the fir t a man wa called by one oam only, radually thl was developed into a combination with the genitive case wher in I was then indicated that. that p rson am under the authority of anoth "r.. daughter wa under the authority of her father; a wife, under the authority of her hu. baud; a sla e wa sub ervient to his master. lid SO We would see a name written ill thi manner; Marcu lard f (Maret!,,'>,. the son of Marcus, Thesingle letter "I" designate' filiu ,th atin word lor son. Th ingle 1 er "I," in the case of a woman would Indlcate the Latin w rd filia, daughter. Many times the letter t'f' i u ed in the broader nse upon the coins indicating the SOlI of a noble family, Entering further upon the ubject 1 t us now be more specific and instead of saying that the praenom n, nomen, and 181

wgliu1men are tile first. niiddle and la t name respectively, the praenomen was the giv n name, the individual name: . he nomen is the name 0:[ the g'ens. or the dan. if you will, and the c gnom.en i the name of the ramily which is. a part of that gen .or' l!aJIJ. Thus: L. Cornelius LpIO. "L" i the abhreviati n of the Latin name LLl Ius, and it i the praenemen, thegivt!l1 name, " ornelius" is the nomen, the aame of tbe gelils or the dan to which this person's lantil}' belongs, eipi ... i~ the Iarnily name. h Is also the engnomen. The -dpjo family i a part of the ornelian gem
I

we shall say that

Ii

Praeuomen
The praenemen, as ha heen before mentiened, was the [nelly per: nnal name, I t was conferred b the parent upon lhe'l;)hild pmbably on the 9th day after birt.h,ln th ca e of boys and the ~th day' aite. birth in the' of girls. Tber has been seme wsagreemellt nil this puint because mainy inscriptions on rombstones have indicared that old r boys and girl- Were nameless and the word "Pupi ., appears on many of the stone in the alb ence or 3. pmenomea. (Pupio, child.) As before tated the praenomen was .regularly abbr viated wh.en usedwith tile II. Olen and oognDmen. This was not a. matter oJ choice but Mil - tahlished custom indicating Roman ei tizenship, This is a v ry gnarl point: to remsmb r when reading coin. Ior the praenomina invariably ar abbreviated. The rouO\\;ng Ij t g.ives the more 1;.'lIllilmon praenornina wllh 'their abbreviations:

........

__ P P (rare) P,

[ 19

ERGI SEXT

R[
0 .. """ 0.· •••••• 0

TIBERILT
0 ••••••••

TIT ... PPIU.I:A M Rl l.

NUMERI:
T

••

••

•••••

AP, AP P (rare) .1\1IAM N

or

Tl

Th patrician families usually used the same praenornina for all members of their family ... th .tis, tine same groap of praen mina, lit which might pn V' to I or ~ m help r()l~ lows, showing til better lmown [amilies and the praenomina which th y u d:

Nomen
The nomen is the name which b longed to aU m mh ers of the same family. At first thi nam was identified with a certain 10 lity. ater, it was indicative of members of the same gens, or 'Ian. TIl noms n usually ended in. "iu ," "alu /' "eius," "eus.' Thus, A milius, ornelius, Furius, Manlius, Pompeius,

Cognomen
The cognom n was, at first a personal name. Later it became a Family name, the name of a family within a particular gens, or clan. Thus, of the gen Cornelius there were the' er:.begi, Lentuli, and the cipiones, Perhaps th cleares way to picLurethe entire subject of Latin names is to give a pre n day analogy. The analogy
20 I

given is a rath r "l'ib ,aJ"'~on • but it shall serve our purpose. Many people Cc'lITY. the maiden name of their mother as a second. or "middle" nam . Thus, John cott Pauley, as an example, would, how his first name" Jobn (pra n men), the family name of hi mother,. cott (nomen) and the flam of his own family, Pauley (cognomen). If thi example i k pt in mind th reading of the name on th COiD b uld Dot
prove difficult.

{ 21

Tb.e Obverse Inscriptions

There are D1<lIJY U1 (hod of collecting Roman coins. orne collections con ist of the reverse t pes: sorn ernphe jz particular rever ryp uch a the variou coins bearing the image. of oncordia (Harmony). r -ide (Faith), or of 0 her personification, and d itie _ L'ndoubtedly. however. mo t 01Iection are portrait collection, portraits of the mpemrs and their ntemp rarie upon the obv r ~ (front) part of the coin. Perhaps the most inter sting is tbat grouping ill which the colle tor ha pecialized in th large bronze c ins 1010\.... 11 as sestertii. Th larg size of this coin en. bled the classical engravers to includ an. abundanc of d toil which wa quite difficul t to impress upon coins of smaller dim n ions. ny collection, of course, 15 a matter of til p rsonal taste of the particular coIl ctor, and a lin collection of portraits. r ardI of th medium used, will mak a mo t a tra tive display. Apparently the greatest diFfi ulty new collectors exp rienc lies in the reading of the coins. Thi is quit interesting becau e many student of Latin are unable to read the inscriptions simply b cau e of th profusion of abbreviations apparing upon them. Yet, many people who po ses fine 001leetions are not students of Latin, and need not be. By remembering cer tain comm nl y used abbre lations, a person of a erage intelligence can read most ·of the coins which he would come across, provided, of course, that the in eription is legible. Essentially, til mo t confu ing thing is the habit the Romans passe 5 d of running the entire inscription. together with no "1 reak between the words.. typical in cription appearing upon a , estertius of ero is an excellent example, FOF the sak of clarity and simplicity . be coin has been subdivided into its logical parts.
!

Thus, we lind we hav L'

22 J

ER P

I[

TR PIMP PP

CAESAR

U the reader will remember th very few common abbreviaLions. abbr viation which appeal" time and time again on almos tall th oin of the earli r empire. the inscription hould pr ~ nt DO dlfficulti '5. Augu. tus (or Augu ta, if feminine). Thi was th most distinctive of all of the imperial ti ties. I t, as us ed b no on" but tJU! r ignil1g emperor or member of ills family. It ap ars with rno t frequent regularit; on the coins.

flF!,

PM Another ery common title of the ernPon. 1\11 per' r. Pontifex Maximus was the emperPan da» or's title as supreme head of the Roman P01'tt'ijex Ma'X etc.r Iigion (Literally, Head prie t), The title wa held by the emperor ugustus and all
subsequen emperor. Tribuni ia Pctestas .. The tribunician power. From earliest tim 51 the tribun s were the repres ntati res of the Roman people Tr'ib Patesl and,a' various time. held tremendous Tribufl Poiest, eic. power. TI:lI.l:; the Tribunieian PO\ er represen the emperor's position in that ligh • although more specifically. it showed him to be the supreme civil bead of the state. The Tr P j quite commonly [23

TR P Tna P Trib Pot

found with Roman numerals following it. This i one ecellent mean of determining the year a particular coin was struck, (A chart Is mrnrporated in thi b ok ~ r the purpose of 0

det rmining uch a da e.) is the abbreviation f r consul, The consul '\":;15 one of two chief magi trate of the Roman state. Th emperor himself quite Irequently was Que of th . consuls: when h W'W not. he usually appointed the p n n to erve ill hi pia e. Th _ 5 a- with the TR P, is quite en rally r 1lowed by Ruman numerals, Inasmuch as 11 con ul hip lasted for but a year, i is here also po sible to determine the elate a particular coin wa truck by reference to the char ineorpor ted in this book.

me

of his country. This inscripcoins ad wa originally a title bestow d upon the ernp ror by th enate. Some emp ron; r [used the 'tide.

PP

PATER

PATRIAE. Father

tion appears on many of

Ili

[Mp· R}\T R. Emper r, generally, although th title was bestowed UPOIl victoriou general in the field during the Republican period and the period of th vel-yearly mpire, From th tim of the amp ror Tiberius onward, it wa a ti Ie used by no one 01 h r than the rnp ror him elf Or his heirs. l 0\\', in looking once more at the ab ve in cription of T ere, ware able to und erstand the logical r reakd \\'11 and the complete meaning of the inscription. IJIl'
J.

no ... Hi name.
The na:meof the gen to which hi

2.. Claltd. .. laudlus, f. mily belonged.

3, Ca sar ... _The inherited name of the Julian family and adopted by the Claudian family .. Also adopted by ubs quem, emperor, and later u d by h irs to th throne. 4. 24 J 'IugWltliS
...

The

rna

distin

. iv

till

of til

mperor.

3. Ger ... Cermanicus, of honor. the Roman religion.

_ her ditary tit! , as well as a title

6. P U ... Pontifex Ma.:cimus. The highest priest. Tl1~ head of

7. TR P ... Tribtmicla Potesras. civil head of tate.

The tribunician power. The

8. l.M P ... Iroperator. Thi us of Imp rater is as a ti tle of acclamation such as {; r i -t ries in tie field or the emp ror or hi uberdinates.

o.

PP ... Parer I' triae. Father of hi

country.

Here 'is another coin, a se tertiu nf the Em eror Titu .. Again, Ior tho sake of con enience, we ha e ubdhride.d th title.

~sp
CAES

AU~~

;p---___
COSVIII~
The complete in cription on the coin llvtP T C E..S E. P A G r TRP PP

TRP

O~ VIII

Let us again analyze the iascription.

I. /lIP ....Irnperator, , T ... Titus Emperor.

h,is cram , or praenomen.

J. Cues .. _Cae ar;

[ 25

'espasian. The name f rh emp ror Ve pa ian, Iath r of Titus. [to. was a comrn n pra ice for an emperor to take as a part of hi nam the narn of his predec 'or, particularly jf Ilia werle csser had adopted him as his legal heir or if he wa rh natural m ir, as to the case of Titu . 5. Jl!x
6. PM 8. p P..

-I. T esp ...

Augustus, Pontifex Iaximu ,. Potestas, Father

f hi

7. TR P .. .Tribunieia Pater _ atri •. 9,

country,

0"' fJi I ... In hi' ighth consulship. This coin was struck during the i zhth con ul hip of Titus. hecking with the hart in this book it is indicated that tile ighth consul hip of Titus o curred in the year 80 AD. 111us, til coin pictur d here was struck in that year, As a final example we. hall take a c in, an ,' ,of" rni ian, Here again the Din has b n stru k off into Its subdivisions .

..CENS,PER

The complete ins rip 'on 1. IP CAE DOMIT A GERM.

XU1

PER PP

1. IkIP ... Impsrator. Emperor. Here, however, there is a litt1le d.lflierent use of the title, for it i used as a praenomea,
or a given name,

2. Cr1E

aesar,
Domitianv

J. DOMIT
26j

His name.

4. AUG. ,. ugustu '. GER.lJf. __ ermanicus .. 6. COS XIII. _. [11 his 13th consulship. UtRg the chart in thi book, we ee that the 13t.h con ulship of 0 mitian occurred m the year 7 AD. 7 . D., th n, wa the 'ye r in which thi coin was truck. 7. CE_~S PER ... Censor Perp uus, The cen r was a chi i magistrate 0'1 t11 Roman tate. Th title was quite frequently h ld by the emper r and was grant d for hi- lifetime. (Thus, h ' . Perp tuu .") . P P ... Pater Parria . Father
f hi

courttr r

121

An Alphabetical Check List of the Names, Qf the Emperors as They Frequen:tly Appear on the Coins,
This section offers, In alphabetical sequence" the names of the emperors a they appear upon the coin with considerable frequency, The second column presents the names of the 'emperors as til r are commonly known. For example, a coin with the came C .' t\ESAR upon it can be. located in the first column. Directly eppo ite, in the seeoad column" t\1{! 6nd that emperor's. common name. ALI ~ L. It should be noted that the alphabetical column lists the names exactly as they would appear upon UJ,ecoin. and .. as iii result, are. abbreviated either in patt orin whole. For the inquisitive reader, it might b of interest. to note some of the grammatical case difference in me of tile names, 10. t of th names are ill thenenainative case and yetwe find, a!' ill the
I

case

the nominative example

emperor Trajan, an ending which would not be in case. TRi\JA' U .i the nominative ending, but \\re ficd the inscription to read, TRAIA" O. This is all
of the dative cas. Thus, instead of reading, THE

or the

ElUPEROR TR .JAN A GUSTUS, etc., as we would expect, it reads. TO .. THE E1\iIPEROR TRAJAN AUGUST ~,etc. IVhlllY times i is difficult to identify' the emperor by name alone for some emp rors possessed identical names, The photographs of til emperors in the s ction of this book which
discusses the biographies should be of some assistance. Gor-

dianus rand Gordianua Ll, fath .. and son, bad identical e. names, yet the ccins reveal that the elder Gordian had hair well do\llIn~pall his forehead while the younge.r Gordian is shown with a bald tor head. Most of the coins of Marcus Au,rellus how portraits which are very similar and this should preclude any confusion with ether emperors wbo bore similar tides, Reference to the plates. contained iII. som.e of the fute vcluna swhich may be Jound upen the shelves of the larger lIb:raries\yili suppJ!y invaluable assistanceilil ideutifieation. A
28·1

Ii 1 of ome of the m.orre ~mJlOTtant wflr:ks appear: ography at th nd of this book. Name as JeF'lI'eq!i1entLy A.ppears on the Goins A A" Itelliue .ermaoi us ...•........• Atn Piusug Alltoninu~ Allg Piu • ntoninus Piu F T
B

in thee bibli-

eomm.DD

Name

Vuefli.us
Cararalla j1nJll1tinus Pitts E'lagabfJI1~

Brittanicu Brut Imp .....••...•.....•............

i3riflaflic'lJs

Brutus

c
C Caesar , Caligulo. aesar .I\ug. . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A U.gUSlllS C Iul Vem ).la.ximLls ..••..•...... Maximus C _if Aur 1\1 rius Marius C" len Hostil 1\rfe Qulntus Hostitifln' Caesar .Jlliius Caesar Caesar Diet .Julius Caesar Constannno13 Ma:.'I<.Aug Crm,rta'ltine t/1e Oreal

n
D Clod pt. . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . .Clodi2lS Alb1.fJ14S D N ARciuGOlybrius .......•...... Ot,y,bl'iu5 D Censtantlns Co'Ml'antius II D Decenbus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Df!GenJifls D N Henori us. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .flonor1A.lS D N Iuliu Maioramts .. " .. , MlJ,joria'n B N lovianu .Jooil),l1 lD. .• fag Maximus , .•......... Magnru Maximru D M.artininianus MarPinis1 Theod ius T.hemlosi1ts I (The Gr,ro/) D N Valentil1ian:U8 .........•...... Vale1t!ilzia.1.t I
[29

Gra't.ianu5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gralia",

Name as It Frequently Appears 00 the Coi:D$ F

Common Name

FI Cl Con tantinus lun PI 0 Iulianus FI Cl Hanniballiano Regi.

FI luI -onstan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

Cnnsta,r.l'ine II .Tulia« II Hanniballia.nus

onsians

Fllu.! Constantiua Fl lui elmatiu

F.1 Iep

Consta:ntius II
Delmaiius . . . . . . . . . . . ..
_

FIVal FIVal
G

onstantinus. on tantius
ever us

eopUa'f/
COtl slanMtus

I (Clrloms)

Seuerus II

Gennanicu aesar Germasucus Gal Val Ifaximlanu. _..•.......... Galervus Gal Val Maximin u . . . . . . .,. . . . . . . . lit! a:.;i1IZimls
H

[J

(Carra)

Hadrianu
I

Aug

Hadrian

Im.pT Ael.Caeaffadrianus Antortinus Anlom;1/"I1S P·hls Imp Caes Aemlllanus _. _.Aendlian

Imp I ep Alb , CloMus Alhimls

Imp Imp Imp 1 mp Imp Imp lmp Imp Imp Imp mp Imp
30J

ev Alexander Antonirrus , Caes I Aur. riton Cae M Aurel .Antoniuus C L Dom Aur lianus. , M Am e Alexander D ael Balbinus Carausius _ _ .. , ~ .1\11 Aur CarU!L , Iaudius aes I epAlb onstantinus................
I

Seue'Y1JS Alexander Etagababus

CaraC(ltla

A![arcl(s A'ltre/li1J.s AnreliaJj

eeerus Alexander Balbinus , . Car(u!-siu,$

Cants

Cla Ildius 11
Clodi1ts Athinus (lnsUr.11:tbize the

Great

Name as It Frequently Appears on tlI,e Coins

Common Name D'idi1~SJ~tl!ia;1tUS Diocletmn

Imp Imp Imp Imp Imp Imp

Caes M Did ever Iulian C Dioclerianus aes omit CI Dornitius Domitianus M 1'1 Florianus .. r . Ta.lba, ug ,
Ta[[ienus ,

D'omitian Domi/.i,(.S D071~itiamt.v

Floriamus

Galba
Gt.dlic1ttls

Imp C D Lie

Imp Cae P. ept Geta. Imp 'ae 1\11 nt Gordjanu

Imp Gordlantr Pius Imp Laelianus Imp at Licin Licinius Imp C Ful Ma rianus Imp 1\1 pel Macrinu

Geta
Gordian 1 and II Gord'ianus Pius (iII) Laelianus

Licinius 1
Macrirvnus J1

MClcrirms
M:agnetJti7lS
"Ma:t.811U"lS

Imp . 'ae M agnen tius Imp 1\Ilaxentiu ,

Imp' C M A Iaximianus Imp Iaximinu Pius Aug .. ,.. ,

Imp Imp

[ero ae rva Cae....

a

' . . .. ..

Maxirm:amls I (FJucu.les) Ma:"innimH J rver-o

erva

.. . ..

Imp J\lr Otho

r mp Ti Cl I[ r acatian Imp Caes P H lv Pertinax

Ca 'Pescn.rllus Philippu ug, ., 1 lui Philippus .., C Postumus C Probu a Pupien Imp IV[ 'Iod Pupienus Imp Imp Imp Imp Imp http iger

Otho Pacatias« ,
Pertino» Pescennius Phil£p J HiKer

Imp C Ful Quietu

Imp P Q Regaliauus lrnp 1 Aur ev Alexander ] mp ev Alexander lmp C [CI Ta itu Imp C Tetrlcus

Phibip 1 Postunms Probus Pu.piem:ts PwP.iemlS Qtl/iet~ts Regali.a?luS Seuerus illcx.ander

Seuems Alesxmde»

Tactitus Tetrictf-S I
131

Name as It Frequently Appears on the Coins

Common Name Trojan. Trajan

Imp Traiano Aug Imp Caes [ervae Traiano Imp Traianus Deciu
Imp C.
r bonianu

Trajeu Decius
Trebonmuus Gallus L1U;·i us 1 erus
VespwsiafL

Gallu
iUS ..••.......

Imp
Imp

aes L Aur 1V
aes Vesp ,

Imp T
Imp Imp

aes Vesp Pia Victori.l1tJs

ae ib \ olu iano

Titus
Viclorinu,s

Yolasia»

L
L Aelius Cae ar L. ur I Commodus Af![,:ns COJ/'1l1'1odus Uramius A'~lotlitt1~s

L Iul Aur Sulp ra Arrtoninus L ept ev L eptirnius eta "aes

Licinius Iun M 1VJgnppa M An toni M Aur Anl!on Caes

Se/JtimiJUs euerus Cola: Licinius II

Agr,!:pp.a
Nfarc A ntbon Y CaracaUa.
Cari1ZUs , . Man'l81'iatJ, " .. , Commodus Lepid·IH .. DiadUTllImiall< Decf.mti1ts Pompey the Great Ma"~irminus I

M Aur

arinus ntoninu
, Diadumenianu

1\11 Aur Numedanu

1 ommodus
1 Lepidns M Opel . ntoninu Mag Dec nti us Magnus, Pius

Maximlnus Pius N Nero Nero

era

.ug

Cermanicus

a s Aug laudnrs Cae ar

laud.i.us Dru us

Nero
, ", .. Nero

ero Claudius Drusus

321

Name as It Frequently Appears on the Coins

Common Name

p P ~ept Q

eta. ae.s

•••

Geta
Herennius Eiruscus

Q Her Etr Me D cius

•••••

•••••

s
. er Calba Imp T ae

_ .. Galba

T Cae Imp
Tj

••••

Titus
Tiber-ius
Cl('1IJd-i-ztS

Ti

aes ugu tu' laud aes

__

_.

__

The Informal and Formal Names: of the Eraperors

.-\5 an additional aid. and in order to pro ide additional information, the Iollowing two columns pre ent, first, the informal or common. nann of the emperor and ome of their ontempcrari and, in the second column, the formal names of the emperors,

Full Name Adius .... Lucius Aeliu Veru a' ar Aemilian .. .Marcus Aemllius Aernilianus Agrippa ... M.ar ~s _ipsania Agrippa l1ntO'll'inus Pit-lS .. _Titus Aelius Hadriamn Antoninus ..higuSt1JS alus Julius ae ar Octavianu .1llm~l;ian... Lucius Domitins • urelian u
Ccmmon Name
0 • 0

Balo'iml,s .. _Decimus Ca Iius Balbinus Brutus Mar °U I uniu Brutus Brittanic1tS Tjberius laudius Brittanicus
0 •• 0 ••

Caligula

Cains aesar Caracalla ... Marcus Aurelius Antoninus aJ·ausiu.s o. Iarcus Aurelius Mausaeu Caransiu
0 •• 0

r 33

Common. Name

Full Name

Cams. .. larcns , ureljus arus ClCM!iJius. , .Tfberhr 'laudius rusu taudius II ... i\IJ arcus Aureliu - Claudius Clodius Albinus., ,0 cimus lodiu ionius __ eptirnius Albinus Constans . ,., Flavius Julius Con tan. C011stlmt.i111t the Great. , , ·lavius Valerius Constantinu C01lstIJ.ntille [J ... Flavin laudiu Iul.ius 011 tantinus elmslan/ills I (Clrlor'lls) . , . Flavius \i aleriu onstantius Constantius II. .. Flavius Iuliu Con tantius
DecenI1:US. "

i[agnus Dec ntius

Diadumenianu

"FlaviusW ulius Delmatiu Di(uimucuia'il ... , Marcus p lius Antoninu Didius Julian us .. ,M ar us

.Da-lma.t-iu,s

Domitius

DO?n'il!icmlls, , . Lucius Dom.it.iu

Domitianus

Elagabalus. .. Florian: ..

[arcus

ureliu

toninu

Iarcus Annius Florianus ervius

ulpicius ' ••ilba ius Maximianus Galliewus ... Puhlius Licinius alerianus Egnati allienus Germanicus . .. ermanicu Geta ... Lucius (or Publiu ) ~ ptirnius G_ ta C01'dial1 1 and III (Pius) ... Marcus Antonius Gordianu

Coiba, ...

Galerims . ..

aleriu Val

Gcwaia11 II ... Marcus Antonianus Gratian ... Flavius .7ratianus

ordianus

Hodrien. ... Publius eli us Hadrianus Hasen iballil,tntIS, . ,FI-a vi u Claudi us Hanniball ian LIS Her Imi1Ls Etr'usc.us ... Quinta Herr nius Etrm;cusi'Jle

Htmorius ... Flavius Honerins Hosiilum, .. Caiu ,alens H stilisnus Messius Quintus
J()V'I:a1~.. .Flavius
341

iu Decimu

Iaudius Iovianu

Common Name

Full Name

J7I / iu s Caesar. .. aius Iu ti us a sar Julia» T j\j arcus Aureliu Tulianus Julian II Flavius Claudiu r ulianu Laeiiaen«. .. lpius Corneliu La lianus A alerlus Licinius Licianu Liciniu

Lep·idus ... Marcus . emilius Lepidus L1'dn12{S 1 .... Publiua Fla ius alerius Licinitu II .. .Flavius
Macruuuc: Xlacrianus 'slacrinus

alerius Licinianus

1, .. Marcus Ful -iu 'lacrial1us II ... Titus Fulvia Iuliu Mac:rianus Marcus peliu ev I'll Macrinu Jl[agt1ellt'ius Flavius Iagnu £ nentiu Magnus Maximus ... Magnus lem n Ira.xim~ Mu.7fJrian ... I ulianus Mainrianus Marc ilntllCmy .[arcus Antonius JlJ.(Jrcu$ A nl'eiill.$ ~.. rcusAelius AureliusVerus a Marirls, .. aius Marcus Am Iius Marius Marlil/ian IrarcH ilartlnianus Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Iaxentius Ua.:1;1:m-inuts 1 (Herculius). .. Iarcu til' liu aleriu
Jfax-i1l1iun$ l. .. Caius Iulius '\ rus 1\1 aximinus J\fax'iminus [] (Dw"a). .. aleriu /al rius Iaximinus

Maxi-

\Tepot;.au .... Fla ius opifius Nepotianu onstantin us Sero ... Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Hrittanicus ~"v.'eroGland'ius Drusus ... Nero Iaudius Drusus iVerVlJ ..• Marcus Cocceius Ner a 1 umeriaai ... fare-us. u:r liu Numerianui

Pocatia» Tiberius 'laudius Iarl aca ian Pertina« PubUu Helvius I?elitinax Pescermills iger... aius E escennius Nig r PkilJip 1. .. Marcus I uliue Philippns
[ 35

Full Name PO'tn,pey the Grea; ... oaeu Pomp ius

Common NaJne Pastumus ... Mar
Profltls ...
US"

Iaguus
P turnu

ianus Launu
LlS

1\ Iarcus Aureli
.. Iarcu .Fulviu juliu

Probus

Fttpienus, QJlict1~S.,

1 diu Pupien u Maximua

ui tus Reg lian us

Saturninui
rUS

RegaNG/flllS. , . Publius 'aturninus . "Se..\;tu

Caius luliu

Septi;mins
• t:('t:I'IfS

$(f(ll.lffl.S:

•••

Lucius Septimius S ev

Alesander ., .Mar us Aur lius everu St!.'I.'erusII ... Flavius Valerius • veru Sextus Pompoy ... ' xru .. Pompeius Ia m:l

AI xand

Tacitus ... Marcu Claudius Tacitus Tetricus I. .. aius Piu Esuviu Tetri u Thsedosius 1 (The Gnat) ... Flaviu Theodosius Tiberius.: .Tiberius ~[udiu Nr Titus Titus Flavius abinus V pasianu Trajam Mar u Ulpiu raianus TrajeLrl Derius ... Cain '1 essiu Quintus Traianu Decius Trebanianus Gallus. .. aiu Vibiu Trebonianu Jalluf; Ura'nills Anlonim~s ... Lucius Iulius ureliu ulpicius Uranius
I

Antonlnu

almtinian 1 ... Flavius Valentinianus Ve:spas'iarl, . .Titu Fla. iu abinus \ espa i nus 1;'t()"':m~.s, .. rV[ar 'us Piavvonius ictorinu itallius ... .: ulu Vitelliu ibius elu ianus Trebonianus

-allu

36 J

Tbe Reverse .Figures on Roman Coins

(Deities aua P'e"50IlipcDtiolls) The variety of figur ~ on the reverse 01 the coins is a uhject
or mOL than pas sing int rest Th type' are numerous and a. r a onablj comple e list i included here, Most of coin picture a deity or a per onifieation. A per onificati n is the pel onalizinz of a place or of a hing. on ordia, as an example is the pen onalizing of a thing, concord or harmony: Fortuna is the [I r 'ouL6cation of f rrune, and so n. Man}' of the coins hav n thing on the reverse bn l a per onifrcation or a deity, 1\1051 frequently, tb figur rna h identified b carefully nbs ring it dr ·SS, or th objects held by the fig-lire. or the PI) ition of tJH:": figure it-elf..~ a further e.xample. it will be not cl that opes, the p r onification of "bop ." is usually round walkin ,holding a Hower, nd Ii htly lifting h r skirt. A coin with thi p r nification upon it, would ueed no spelledout de ription for no oth r figure i rep resen ted in a. simi I r manner. H r ules, a deity, appearsas a PO\ erful man, wearing 'L lion kin, and with ~. club i.1l his hand. A uch, l'p should easit I e recognizabl . The render hould be aware that all in criprions appearing

to

on the reverses do not ne e

rily r fer

[0,

or identify. the figure.

\\1./
I·
.

", .~.l' \
.(
:1"

,
C·

Deities
.
lip"

--1"
r

111' I'.. (jJ ..d·

CII~
i

::!:';

JI~'

AES U of haling. He is WID b a serp nt twine. m dical and dental corp • rmy.) He i ornetime small Ligur . Telesphoru:

>utl. of Medicine and holding a • taff about The lin ignia of the of the l.'nited _ tate~ Be ornpanied by a , his attendant.

AcsmJapills

t\P1 lLU >--Th Sun God and G d of Music and the Art , He usually has th tit! Consen-at r, r Palatinu (Protector of th imperial residence 01'] the Palatine 1or Mrmerae (deity Lth mint). He i usu Ily holdin a lyre.

CERE- -The
ally holding tor h.

Gackle

of Agriculture. t: uand frequently a

ars of corn,

C1: RELE-The

mother of the

wears a cr \ nand i in a car drawn or sit. on. a throne betw en li 115.

ds, U owly by li ns

C'.JI7le{~ 381

I HAKA- The Moon- oddess. _ ornetime has a crescent of the moon ab ve h r head, or bos and rrows, a ompanied by hounds or d er, Occa ionally given the title of torch bearer (Lucif ra) and hold a torch .. ther titles are
L

Cons rvatrix. Ephe ia, and Victrix,

HERe -LE.<:;,-T{epr nting trength. R cognizable by hi xcellenr phy ique and the dub and Ii n skin.

JANC

A double-headed d ity infrequ ntly appearing on .imp ratorial coins. He wa the God ofthe past and future (10 king b th ways).

J trPITER-

lso Jo e orptimus

Maximus

JalUlS.

(the Best and Highe. t or real) t). Appears nude or semi-nude, and with a full beard.

Holds a thunderbolt In his right hand and a cepter in his left. Be was the Father of the
ods, The titles are different on the coins, On

snm h _i called Conservator (the Conservator of the emp ror Or of the tat), or Tonans (the thunder r), or tater (th sta r of armies
ab ut to Ilee).
J1lpi'6f

39

tera (a small disll [15 a in Roman days for drinking or for the P uring of libation) and a c pter, Many time she is accornpani c1hy a peacock .... Some of her titl s are R 'gina (Qu n), Lucina (a deity f childbirth), on rvatrix and Victrix,

Jl_; fO- Th witt" of Jupiter. She holds a pa-

Juno

UBER-Bacchus. Liber is his Italian name. -, ually h Ids a wine cup an a taff surmounted by a pine cone or a bunch of grape (thyrsus) and accompanied by a panther,

MRS-The

God of War.

hown, usually,

with ahield and sp ar, and is often nude with

the exceptionof a helmet. . lso, sometimes shown with a trophy instead of a hield, OIDe of hi titles are Propugnator (fighter ..•• for Rome), or . ltor (the Ay nger], With the title Paciler (Pacifyer) he bars the oli e branch representing peace ..

401

R 1-'"rb Messenger of til JOds. Usually wears a winged cap (petasus) and carries a. purse and cadu 'eu.. om of his
titles are Pacifer and
COil

MER

ervator.

_ H.,\"""ER\ A-Godd 55 ol Wisdom. Patrone of the .!\rts. AI 0 th light f men in war. She usually\\' ars a hield and sp art and a him L •orne of her title ar Pacif ra and
Victrix,

rEPT a trid

nt

Ed of the ea. t sually holds and a dolphin. The prow of a

<

galley i coin-types prow ..

rnetime included and many show him with his foot upon the

N,eptfJ<1I1l

(!Ii

110M. -The Goddess of Rome. Usually helmeted and ill. armor, H elds a small figure of \ Icrory a~ times, or a wreath or a parazonium (a small sword or dagger) .
i

.Rom(J;

SOL-The Sim-Cod. T'aually nude with a radiate head, holdinRlI whip or a globe. ometimes he is sh "til in a chariot T. with the horsescf the sun included, His tirles include Comes, Invictus, or, less frequently;
Oriens (!;be rising, or eastern sun ) ,

'ENrS-Th " Geddes of Love. U wally completely clothed or almost so. ' ome of her equipment includes an apple, orthe helmet ofMars and a scepter, ometimes accompanied by upid, H r tides include. Caelestiefl laavealy), Felix.(H.appy), Genetrix end Victrls ..

VEST A:-GoddeSs
as a matron

of "family life. I, hm vn

holding a pat! ra and scepter,

Her titles include am::ta(floly) andI later

(Mother). ' ons cratio sometimes appears
as on !1Ti'scoin.

~21

V L' A-God
Gods.

of Fire and Iron. The Iron-Meager oJ the

trade,

Isually shown \V'ith the tools ef the Blacksmith's

THE THREE GRt\CE - Euphrosyae, ;\glaia,. and Thalia. Le s r deities who Iresided UVEI- the banquet, the dance, and all socinlenjoyments and Iegant arts, The three app ar together,

T!J~' rflr:ee Graa"S

Perso.nifications
AB . :'\ NT] A - ~ bundance, plenty .. H Ids ears of com and cornucopia (Horn

r: Plenty),

Abxwtilmtia

'air dealing, equity. Holds les and cornucopia.

tlequitas

AETER -[TAL-Et rnity, . tability. Holds t rch, globe 01' ept I, or the heads of th lin and the rn on.

NK NA- Corn harve t, Hold ears of corn and cornucopiae and i IJ. ually , h wn with the prot of a gaJley symbolizing the o essi of ha ing corn shipp d into Rome
for its u terrance,

tune,

parera

-T -Good lu k, good formasculine pt'!rsani.fJ ati n. H Id v r altar. and cornucopiae.

C LK.\JE.XTV\.-----l\,'lercy, lernen ~.. Holcls Lranch and - pter, und sometirn . leans upon a column.
Clemclllia

L'UNC

sc

r ter,

R L\-Harmony, oncord, Hold pa ter 'f rn ucopia .

CU1Jcnrdia

I ELI ~ITA5-H a ppine s, prosp ri ty, Hold

cornucopias and adrrc u .

I IDES--Good f ith, confiden e. Holds patera and ornucopiae, or ears of rn and bask! t of fruit. As Fides Militum, holds two standards or other evidence of a military nature.

Felicuas

145

r· +-Fortune.

Hold

rudd

rand

eornuc piae. _
globe .. 'Iayal

tim

shown re ling on

0 hold olive branch or pat era,

Fortuna

- Rejoicing, rnirth.H.olds and Ion palm. Sam times two small children are b wn. and frequently one child ..

EHLARITA cornucopia

Oi1(1 ri las

HO~O Honor. A mal culine p J onification. H Ids olive branch or scepter, and corn ucopiae.

Honos

LG E

patera

TI - Indulgen nd cept r,

m r 'y.

] lI:(Jftlgt1lJ.ia

46 J

JUSTITIA-Justice. Hold olive branch, or patera, and epter. Infrequ ntl she
is seen holding scales.

Justitia

Hold. wrath and scepcccasionally a rudder on a globe in pla .e of the pter, he may re t her hand
ter,
OJ:

L"\ETTTL -Joy.

on an aneh r.
LIJc,titia

LrBERALITA
(tessera)

Lib rarity. Holds tablet and corn ucopiae,

UBERT.S-U
pomted ter,

rty, freedom. Holds a cap oflilberty (pileu ) and seep-

Libm~ [47

1'1'1NT-Money mint. Holds cales and corn ucopiae .. ometimes three figure appear, - pictur d,

PATIE2\TLA-l epter.

atience, ndurance. Holds

Pax

p.;lQ{-Peac.e. Holds olive branch and seepter, or ornucopiae,

pIE~r 5- Pi ty,dutifuln . Quite frequently eil d. Holds patera and seep r. ornetim s is shown sa rificing at the altar.
48 ]

PR 'llDEKTIi\.-J ton and sc pter,

appears at her feet.

rovidenc . Holds ba- c a ionally a globe

PI."DlCITlA--(,hastlt·,
, iled holding scepter.

mode

ty,

sually

Pudicitia

~.-\.L{jS--Healtht w Hare, safety. Holds patera from \ rhich she I ed a serp nt c iled around an altar, ometimes h ts
round h lding t.h
erpent

in her arms

and feeding

it.
SallIS

E URITAS-f ecurity, xepter or pat ra.

onfidence,

Holds

( ~9

PES--Hope. H,old flower. Is usually walking. lightly lifting her skirt.

BERlT piae.

-Fertili

y.

1-1 lds 'orOUC{-

lCTORlA-\ i tory, \,-ingecL Holds wreath and palm. May be bearing a hield or may be writing upon a hi ld or erecting a troph- . (The proces of erecring a trophy was an and nt one and yrnbolized victory 0 er th ' enemy in the field.) VIRTU5-A rna culine per nification for coura e. ually shown in cc rnplate armor, holding ictory and a pear, or a sp ar and
Virtu,s a. shield,

so 1

The Reverse Inscriptions ott Roman Coins

.\ny attempr to li tall I the inscriptions found on rh 'oin of the Roman empire would be a ta k bey nd comprehension. The list indud d J1 rc i, pre nted ror he purpose 0( giving tbe r ader a mall cross ction f he rnr nifold varieti <;. in existence, Quite Irequemly 'the value of a particular coin is etermined l y t.h reverse, for om rever es are much rarer than others. Many of the coin are without in cription of any kind with the' cceptiun of til letters ~ (011 coins of the arlv empire) and ligures representing deities or p r onifications. The I rters : . m an S nat.us on ul tLlJJ1 , he enate consulted. Til oat had und r j control the minting of all oin other than tho 'truck in gold. Practicall peaking, lhis was mer I}l pap thrown to the senat b th 'Emperor, [or he wa uprerne in every ense of the word, arul remained ,until the < rrnies r aliz d. only too quickly, that the levation or an mp ror wai ornpletely within their band. Thue.S ~,is a symbol, tru • but a ymbol which should not be tak n too literally d pile its universal U UI n the coin , The various eornbirrations of inscrip ions are exceedingly numerou ., By "combination" Ir is m ant the varioua adj -ctiv which are used to descri the m ny difleren personalities, In th instance of iar ,w lind:
J

Vic r ..... , on ervat ri Marti Pacifer." , iVhrti Propugnatrrri Mars ltor ... , ,
i\ Iarti

Iar

,. Mars the \ ictor , (to) Mars h on rvator ,,(t) lIar th f acily r I to) r MS the Def rrd' r .. Mars the Ave1iilg r

nd :0 on, ,[J1 e same adjectives are used to dcscrib other Deities rr person ifications, Thus, for jupit r we find. t name a (ew:
[5l

Invi

on rvatori..

1ovi ~ ta tori _. ~ . _ ~

(1 ) J uph r th ~lto) J u pi ter th (to)

,~r

Iovi Propugn tori . . .. 1n the lat Among th se of th word sense meaning ymbol D

jupiter th

mpire certain -mbol b cam Qui e common. re the abbreviated C rm. i.ogul:r and plur 1.
001"

rninus N _ter {l ur Lord but in. the Hb ral lord and ruler, of the Roman p ople). Th . therefore. mean IJwnin11S ~oHer, ill· n gramor another. D. N i til plural Ier ),r and rul TS or m r . N ~- would be the plural for the

w rd "aUT."
Thus, Vi ctoria Aeterna
ug );IN

Eternal

1 ry

fOT

Rem)

ron;

n the obverse or th coin < pp arll n th reverse r ". oins, W linn '[ R P, (US, P'lU. PPnJ fJll1 '1"5 appearing ali pa rt of n v -rsc inscription . In many insran CS observe

The sam apply in lh ,. or rulers would lri il1di~a::ted b addtnganolh r jIg" the end fAG. hi w t!ild tb n sho OIl th coin A GG. The same is tnt fur the designati n of Caesar. Two aesars would be shown E -. 1" aaezcellen means of conserving pare on [iii coin. The in criptianswhieb rQIIO\vare exactly as they appear OP certain c in Thi mean tht a11. or part of tb in ripti n i abbreviated. T will be noted thar many words which appear to the eye b the same p different endin . Thi i due to th ract use or the w rd within th inscription itself. The endings are hang d b caus of a. change IOf grammatical a nd so, I om. in Latin, may appear a Rog nitive (p i) case. r as 1 oma, the nominativ case, dependin upon its use. V nus, is th nominative ca whil Veneris, denotes the g nitive (po - . ive) case. Keeping 1.11e exampt . ~in mind hould pre ent a cans iderable asnoun of conf u ion. Finallj man. ( h ins riptions w ar accu [ me I .
I I

ofquiu

521

the ab(,)v€ are carried ever from the obver e in order to compl ' t the inscription. The INSCRIPTIONS Their LIBERAffiANU{C
Inscdption
Advl'ni.

are print d in Italic Type. are printed in Regular Type.

,Liberal Meaning

A Ifg (or A u.gg) ... Arri al of the emperor, or emperors, Ailventlli Aug Fdicisshna .... Ref r to the Jelicitation of til Roman people upon the return of the ernp ror, Aeternac memoriae .. ,(to) Eternal remembrance. Apoltoni sancto ... (to) HoLy, poll . B aula tra,J).(Jltillit4 s. . . Peace and tran quili ty (of the state). 8011,0 Geuia Pid fitI'lPc.l'alo1'is ... The good Genius of th emperor. Bonus Euentns . .. cod events, or happening. Bmtus Imp L. Plaei est ... Brutu impsrator Lucius Plaeterls. Careri FrugiJ ... (to) The fruit-bearing Ceres. elaritas Reipub ... Brightness of the Republic. CI>i!ttle1tliaTemp... lemency of th emperor (at the time). Colowia, Bastra . , .~f>J, colony of Bostra (Arabia). C07~COfd Aeguit. . .Concord of Equity, Concordia A 1,gg. .. oncord of th emperors, 'ollcord l\tI-_ili or oncortUa jtfiHIII'lJ! ... Military co nco rd. Conser» Urb Suae ... -'ons~ver of the city (Rome) ... ·o·l1!·it'i A ugg .. R tinue of the mperors. Dada ... A co un try. Deo V"jllia,/,w (to) The god Vulcan. D'iana Lucifero. Diana the bringer or light. Di« Ge'll'ital·iiJtl.s 1'or having child reno Dtvo l1btJl.··imdano Patri l11a,'umlilJs Aug .. .Divine lVhLximian father of theemp for Maxentius, DN Licini A.ugusl·i... (to) ur lord Liciniu . emperor. Dominor Xosiror Caess . .. aesars. our I rds.

Erc'I(li l'icfod .... '}f th \'i(:'fOl-ie~or rcules, Exsc Db Ciues Semalus , _. Refer- to the good deeds of the itizens, Feauid .i1 ugusia», .. (to) r\,[lgW;jt 'godrl~ " of Iertili: y ..

,.n

Inscription

Libelm Meaning

Res tora tion of the h.appy times, pur emperors. Happiness 01 the RepLlGli.c. FebLt. A.41Jen,t A'~ligg NN; .. Har>PY arrlvul(1)i both our emperODS. INdiis HIxl!rc, or 'F'~fZt«ExertJ.itUm .... Fjdeliq;' of 'the soldiers, or
T(M?lj) R'lixPN!Jtio

Fo{

Fhli'c·iias )1ngg JIll'll FeJ~:t:1.t(ts Reci,pzlbl.i'(;,(lJll.

Happ(nessQf

of the army. F'illes

}/[~!.tW}. A'I!tgg .•.. Redz!(;1: A['ug.g

Mutual love of the twc'empsrcre. NIl'

Fortunate-reenrn oJ our emperor, Fortunate return of 'bot.b of oUt'

FOft''R_'erl1 or Fartf,('lllJ, R:ed·t~x

FortU1'ttM;

€mperors.

Geeio A.1~litiachelJid Genius(G:llardjan~ ...

Grm1:o

of Antibdl.
and

A 'I~g_get Ca!§~CIlr1.'b11~NN .. ,Ceni us of the emperors OU1' Ca.esars.

Gelll,o A t"g,~I:~lii,,celt-i/o Emf/iCiNJta.'1!is... Cenius of the emperer, Ge11ia Pap Ro'm .... Genius of the Roman people, Qe-n'itflS Se'lllm'u,s., .Oenius of tIl€: senate. Gel~11~(l,11.ia;., . A cQlantry, province, • Glo'ri.a NO'IJ'i SGiCtlt"U '" . 'The ,glory 0f the -new age. Glor,ia RfJ11fanorum ... The gloL}' of Rome, (Ofth~ R.Om.·ULS.) R/:lmrita,s A,ugg, , .1Vlirtb, or joy., of our empg:rofs. Hoc. S~gn(!JVir;':orEri'S. , ,By this sign 5l1alit t!J0U be the Vi.c:t0"f

(or, 'shalt thou eanquer).

Hones ..... Honor. Hoeas e: 11:irCibts Honor and virtue, ... 1lZ.du~g(mt·ia A 1lf!.g b~ eMth ... Indulgence 'Of the empe1:10rs to ..ar1ih:ag6. lavi COtl'SCf'f!I.(ttofii A.,I,,:!!g NN .. , (to) Jupiter. COIl$~rvatcw of 'OIH'
@mpe[{lr.s.

Jail J],wsn!?,e{/c"... Ji1)·ve GUIDi·tlff) whoexcels in dll things, [otli FNJpn,gr1atori. _. (l'Q) Ji.11J.tt::er the dafeuder. JO'i.'i Skltori, .. ~J.:O) Jup'lter the s,tah.llize;r, [a,ii [at Sus« Pr« Sal' CadS' AI/It SPOIl. .Vews to jU[.lil.er hy

t,he 'S~'llate and uhetlnr h'eal~h of tire'

RQIDJti:1iJ 'rll1r>~1I·{)r.

peuple Isr the' lIestoTankm ,[

iol ..
j II/I..

,J ullw'i.nr ,T-wHn.

lnno I-'di.\' .... 1L.~Jl~},) u no,

54 I

J Lwirw.

Inscription
[mIG Dllcina .... .Coddess
!'1rJW

Liberal Mea.niog

of li:g'llt. R Itgl1ta. . . J LIn 0 the Quee.n" Iunow: Jl"lart'l:ali, .. (to) th~ war-dike juno,
]I(ppitor Custos ...

Illsa 14:a....

J 11 rice.

In the custody of Jupiter.

IU,UM:l.t.MS A ·/.bgust!l£S, .• The. young Augustus, lS'is Fallia ... Isis, protectress of the Island qt Pharos. Lae/·it F1.m.iZata., Laelitia P:lm,d Well founded rejoicing. Leg I, Leg II, Leg III. etc Th . numbers of the legions. Lib A l~g_. etc ... Liberality ef the: emperor, Libera P Cons Aug ... Liberal father, protectthe emperor. lJ1 Pir'ltS ag Great and pious. Mars Ulsor Mars, the avenger. llfafs Triolor Mars, the victor. J}[arl Pac, .Nlq,rlii PaciJ', 01' Pat;1jel'Q ... Mars, the pacifier. lJlfart'ia D;msm'tlO!f,ori ... (to) Mars, the conserver. M·I1rt-i. Ih--otyi/,gt .. .'~t(')) Mars, the defender, l.Ifanretania ... A province. 11(ikiq,I'1,l,m SacC:'ltT,um ... Commencement of the new era, or age. l1il:;l:rtet Fa'utr ... Minerva who gives favors. N["oinet:£J, ..4. l~g.. ,.1\1(;lDey of theemperer. NI16n.ilice:ntia Aug ... M unificence of th€ emperor. lV.F ... Nobilissirna Femina (Most noble woman), Oriens A'u:g ... Rising sun (of the emperor). Pacater 6Jl'bis ... Pacifier .of the earth. Pece f>.r fJib.ri;g Pa,rt.a Ja.I'HW!l CJu:s,it ... Refers to the porta! 0£ Janu. being closed, indi eating peace. Paci 4. u_gusl4,e ... To the peace or the emperor. Par, A r, A.t1 I e/'c ... Parthia, Arabia, diabenius lwuquerecl

najions).

1)(J..');l't;mdatl1 Cum Pel"s,is ... Firm peaee with thE! Persiarrs. P-il'tns Mllt·lll/, hg.. The mutual pi -lly o.f the ~\\'O :\ LJ~W ·ti. Pirt«, Ramen«, .. R ~nml pi ty. l'rl/)/(l iI/S811 ••. Hy order of the Roman pe )pLe.
PrilJli/;}.(tt"lW1,m/C"S .•.

(o] tlw~ Flrst

period

tJ[

ten y(,~"r:-:" I :15

Inscription

Liberal Meaning xof

Pln~fedio .(1 ••. The emperor setting out for a vi it or '/.Ig pedition. Prof) Deor, Prot/ill Dear. Pro'ilid"eillia Deorum. .... Providence the g ds,

Pro'lliilimtia,e Caess ... 1'h provirlen t aesars, Rector Orliis Master of the wcrl L Regi Artis (T0 the) King of the Ar s. Rglig Aug Religion of the emp ror, Reliqua tretera. II S Navies 11bolita .. Refers to the liberality of the emperor (Hadrian) in remitting debts. Repc"at'io Rtripub Restoration of the Republic, ResflUu!or lJriaa;'e R tinrtor, or ruler of A.frica.

ua:

Restitutor Restiiutor

Orbi«

Rest iru tor

or ruler of the world.

Ilrbis Restitutor, Or ruler of the city. ac M07~ Urb .Augg el Co,'S N'N or Sacra, ~-fonel A ugg el Cass

}\ ostr . ,. aered mon Y" of Rome, 01+r emperors and our Caesars. Saec Ful, .. Happy" ge. Saecul« (or eCIIl1) Felieiias ... Happy" ge (al ,r fers to th secular g-ames). Saecul« !'I"'ltgijcJ"Q .. .Ito) The fruitful age.
Sa£li>:lilum. 'o'i!nm, ..

TIl

new age.

Sal Gen Hum ... _ alus

all humans. Salus Dl N N Aug et Caesar, our lords. Salus RI"i1?nblica1e ... Th
'alld

eneris
CCU1S .••

Humani

(Lastin

health

t
and

Toe health. of Augustus

of the Republic, Elagabalus,

It alth

Pe.o Sol] El(tgaQ(£l. .. (to) H ly _un-Cod Sarmatia Dcciaa ... Viet r. over maria.

iecurii In/pen:-i... ecurirv of the empire, Securi« Pcrp. _ .Eternal curity. 'cfapi ComiJi iug ... (ru S erapis, 'nmpanion and god of the emp I'm. Soli IJlt'idn ('o.lI1ili ... (I:() The L1D onqu rable .'Lln-Go.U. . ·I!11.f/iJusP{}lml'll.~q'lu~ RQtnartum ... Thesenate nnd l.hlt Rornrnt

l'eOI~le.

Illsc:~~pt.ion

Liberal Meaning
nate .1f1d the Roman

. FQR OPlilllo. Prill('ipi ... The s

to the h.i !Jest pliille . Spes Perpell/a, .. Eternal Imp .

penr,le

S/J,~s Romallomm ... Hope of the Roman. 'urmnus Scu;trrlo.s .A ug, . ,H ighe I prince (Ol" priest) .-\ugustus, Tempor Feli«. ' . The happy lim '5. Tlberis, , . The Tiber (.,\, perscnlficatinn). Ubertas . , . Fertility. Urui~l1z,e Victf}rf~$", ictory everywher .
Orbs Roma Fcli:.., .. The happy city. Rome. ~Imer'i Victrid ... fto) \:, nU5 the Vic tress, r!!"UIS ('of'1e:rli8 .•. Heavenly \e:nus. T~lUiS Felix" .iHapp)" Venus.

\ietory for Our empernr. l7cleriae DD Alla 'Q \~N., ,lW) Victory Iur our: lord and
Aelcma Aug

l',ctorill

'!'-or" . Eternal

princes,

VtrtnnaIJ Lama« Prin« Perp«.

prince,

(to) \"i:ctory rejoicing

tern

I. 'i,lu:> rul11'oit'i. , . Rderring to the courage of the ar-my. VirU,$ Militml1 .. ,\·ktor:t (\'irrue) [!:h,e ,army., 1~[ll
of tl~ _ Romans, acrifice \-0\\., r~fJli$ Dccmmal.iblls, , . Yow's of the tell y ars, er the tenth year. l'Ola P"blica. .. , Pubtie \'OW5.
RorrUHlOl"llfll,.

I 'il'tm;

,"\ "irtue

Suse OT~~Q(a

liSCeplfJ .. "

sr

M.int Marks
Roman coins began to carry min t marks around the middle of the third cen tLtry AD" \i\fit~b:the Lt.e .of tJif£S€ mint marks the emperor had reasonably strict control ,oVcer E1Je actions of
the mint officials. Coins of inadequate weight (indicating' that

a mint effi tal was filling his personal purse) were then easily traced to the guilty person or persons. The mint mark is found on the exengual (bottom) of the reverse. Generally, it consi t of th ree parts: a letter indicating p cunia (p), money. or M (Sacred money), or M ( iJ.Qneta ' The next letter or letters would indieate th~ placewherethe coin was struck, (ROM, Rome: SIR, Sirmium.: etc.) .. Last,
the symbol, either in Greele Qr Latin, indicating t.heWel'ks}Jop II~ that particular place. As all example, if 1i11e Greek system Was used the first Letters of the Creek alphabet (Alpha, Beta" Gamma, etc.) wouLd be found upon the coin, indicating the particular workshop. Worksbop number 1 would be Alpha;

workshop number 2, Beta: and so OD. The Latin system would be used in exa tly the same manner and so Prima would be workshop number 1; secunda, workshop number 2; tertia, workshop number 3. The symbols, in this instance, would be "P'" fr;>r prima, "S'" for se.c.ullqa, and "T" for tertia. l:he f'o1l0wing' llstis a reasonably complete one andincludes most of the more common mints. The names or modern t~JWIl: appear [11 pa re ntheses,
AJ xandria (E€'YPk) .. .Al, Ale, Alex. Arnbianum ,(Amie'llcs, Frt!J.'naJ) ... Arnb, Ambi, Antioch ULlll·£kiya. Syria], .. An, 1J)t. quilcia ( lquil(1jll" lota7.y), ,.Aq, Aqvi, i\relatTlm Vlrle. .... ,.Franr~J ...• \1", ,\d. amulodumrm (Cokhes.lI.'r. Eng,)"., " Carthage (&'ni'l'kS near nil/is, ~'i,:or/'11 .,JJJ'r1;ra.L .. r.;:,
5&

Karl

Kart.

K\, Kvz, Ky-. Hcradea(E-regli, 1'ud·'key}. .. H, Her, Hexad, Bt, Rtf. LprrQi)1irum (London)" .L, Ll, Ln, L.Q,IJ. LugdullUlH (Lyons,. jf,rff!,),It:e? .• La, Lg, Lug, Lug-d. ,feai01ruIuffl (ll1£ilttrJ., I~(!2)1). , .Md, Med. ]N-Ltro'rtl'erilia (Iz~II.'~i;, n4irke::.v) ... N, Nic,. l\![leo, Nile Na:rQo. (Nl11rl1o'i:NMt,Fmnce), .. Nat Ostia (The pe,re of Rani e) ... Osr, Ravenna (RCL1,HYl'li1UL, Ikb(Y)., .Rav. RfllJ11'e, . ,R, RIl1, Re'Ill, Ranta. nd3 Rom. S€'rdica(Soph?ia, Bulgar.ia) ... ~d., 'Ser,. Ser~L Slrmium (R,uins tut!)r Mit1'.Q'(J.i'cfli, Yugo~'J,a!Uia)." Sit, S.frm. iiscia (Si;&ak, J"1I,gas[,lSwi;a) ..• S,Sis, :lise,. ~11. 1'hl5ssaloailZa CG1i'fJece:)., .TE,. Ties.; Th, TS OilS, Tlcinum (Pa/IJtct', I.taly)., ,"L Treve:r1 (J'r1ier, ]i'f;a.~u;e), .. Tr, Trft
i

Constanrincple (Isla.nb7,~J,. 7iwrkry) .., ,.f ,('-€ln, COliS, :I't.mJ, Kons, Kensr. Cyzicus (lea.p:1/. [Jag?l, Tnr'key), , . Cus, Cusic. c:?~. Cyzi.t~, K,

. I. 1J,1:()'?J.it~ir1i11~t.

struck ill!
CO:lI.ltrmltTllJple

Chronological Sketches of the Emperors,

Their Contemporaries and Families
Any attemp t to tell the story of Roman Emperors .inas brief a mann r as is here presented is obviousl quite inadequate. However, these little sketches should be of benefit for a hurried background to the collector who is not familiar \~Ith the history of Rome. The coins themselves. aft r all; are but little metal manifestations of th greater story .... the story of Romeitself. It is impossible to escap the joy, the tragedy, the violence, mid the monumental egoism of the people wh.ose band guided the d tini of millions of Roman , T/i,f read of the tragedy of th emperor-father w:ho committed suicide lipan learning of the death olhis son in battl . (Gordianus Iricanus.) The moral concept of Our tim for us to cringe e l the profligacy or Tiberius or the insane depravity of CotliguLa, who thought to make his horse consul. The great promis which Dornitian showed in his early years turned into a dtsappcinting performance a£excessi e corruption. Hot did the pupil at the philosopher neca (Nero) learn his lessons to become so imbued with e il that be destroyed almost everyonewho surrounded him including the mother whose wiles had el vatcd him to hi high position (Agrippina), and ~1wife (Poppaea)? Even his t aclrer suffered a imilar fat. Assassination. here. r ached a high artistic
tandard,

Do we understand this woman who was rnother

perm', wife of an emperor, and 51 ter of an emperor? Her ambition brcught her the ul tirnate in ev ry material phase Lut h r action disg'lIstcd even he!' di solute OLl whom she had made emperor. He ord red h r 0 J e poisoned. (Agrippina,

or an

em-

mother ofh'cr,

wile of the emperor Clauelius, sister af the

emperor Cnligula.) How (0\\' til tid ·'S of goveruJllent had unk when that very uvernruen t had to be auctioned 10 th p-TSQn who was the highest I idder. Didiu julianu achieved thi dul ious ill till ition only to meet a violent death she rtly therearter . .-\nd
(;10

tJ1(~ emperor Marius. Little: is known f him because he ruled for abonr TWO or thre days. Th re, was. a child-emperor, toe. YaletJtiwifu:Iu II was proc'laill;re.Be'J'np@rQr at th'e' aa:e f J, not an age to be able to decide, he:!her such a title Was to his' advantage, He was murd red in his tiventietl1 year. We read about the bey-ruler. Emperor at the age of 14 and 4 years later dragg~d dead, through the treets of Rome to' b . thrown into the 'Tiber. De!:1Plte his e.~t:rem.e YOlTl1b h ' rapidly mature4 in the line art a.fvieiens cruelty. (Elagabalus.) ''file wonder about the man" he thought,enough of the throne to wage battle for it but who uporraehieving his ambition, concerned himself IDQie with the luxuries of his table, His Fate was to be sei~ed in, hi~ 1l!'aJaceand to be lgnomiaiously dragged through the streets of Rome to be killed by tbe mob. (Vitell:ius.) \<\ hat do we say of Commodus? Commodus, the son of the noble and ,good Mareus Aurelius: Cemmodus in whom the sons of Rome had implacable faith that the excellent governmeat of his father would be contitrued. He answered this faith placed in him bya rule of terrc.~r!eyil. Wild corruption, Fate kept an accurate record, however, and his last moments were ruthlessly pressed out of him as he died by trangulation at the hands of an underling. Fratricide was the peculiar taJent possessed. hy Caraealla. I t did not please .hira tQ, hav.e to share theempire with his brother Geta although it was his- fMher's expressed wish than he do so. And 5,0 he had his brother murdered. As if this were not enough he ordered, in addition, that all effigies of his brother ..... {)D monuments and coins be destroyed. That this was IJ0t ea,rried [Jut is rndi-Gated by' the existence of an abundance of colas of Geta, Caracalla was himself, murdered. Yet, there ar softer pages as well. There WM a time, a pitifully hart time, indeed, when the' fortunes q£ .men were ,guid d by the. excellent; and wise hands
t.

{,lfa; erv~r Trajan, Hadrian, .• ntrrnimas Pius, ani! M<J;J'CU5 Aureli'us. Thee few 80' same-odd years.saw peace predominate and Sagacity upon th throne, Veur corns will h ve a greater meaning if you pur. ue tlri rnagnificefi.t stor;: of a people, without whom there would J'_ve been fib eoin: ... , and not much uf anything.
oc

Chr,cl,nologic:a1 .Briefs of the Emperors, Theil" Families and Contemporar.ies

AU r:TU5--Ga"ius (or Caius) Julius Cae ar Octavianus. First Romanempe:rdr. Great neph€w of Julius Caesar who adopted him as h ir to the throne. Joined Mark Anthony and Lepidus in lQrm:ingi:he·econd Trium irate. Re eived the titl of . ugustusIrom the Senate, A Ruler of the Roman world [[I, 29 B ,Died ill 14 AD a the age of 77. LIlA-Wife of Tib rius Claudius Xer by whom she had. two ehildren: Tiberius, later emperor, and ro Claudius Drusus, ,:Va: forced by Augustus to divorce her huaband and many him, Died in 29 AD at the probable rip age of S-.

AGRIPPA-lVlarcus Vipsanius Agrlppa, Roman general. -t;,. lose tti nrl of ' ugusrus and
his heir, Predeceased the em perer, in 12 Be at the agrt Dr .51. however,

J r 'LIA-Uaur;b

Fulia
b2 j

tor of Augustus. amm 39 B ~. Her pro:Bi,g'lCiL:::;< fw ed hen father to hWli;:;h her .. She was (,he wirE' or the Inllcwing : )lat"ellus .. _\grirma .. and the ,erttJ~N()r Tiherius. Diecl In I-J, .--\1 at the a e )( 3d.

c r\[ ._ Ai\D L ~ C\ESAI. -. ns of .Agrippa and] ulia. Caiu died 4- AD, Lucius,
2 AD.

TIBERlt.i. =-Tiberius Claudiu J'\ ro. The 2nd Roman emperor, Reign d during th . time
a just and kind ruler at first, (he became emperor at the death of ugu stus who ad pted him after the death of Agrippa) but gradually Lemme base and em 1. Much f thi du t the -il Influence f ejanu. He wa born ill 42 B . became rnp ror in 1-!-AD and di d at apri, where he pent th Las 10 year of hi life, in the year of .n A . of
I

Caiills and Lucius

C(le~ars

·lll'ist. \Va

Twcrius

DRC'U~, JR.-Born 14 Or L'" 13', died 23 .-\D. Oil of emperor Tiberius and \ ipsania. His wif Livilla was seduced by ~ ejarru and S janus and Livilla succe ssfully plotted the d a h. by pois ning, of ru "U.

Drusus, Jr.

:\ERO L Tiberiu and father or rnperor Claudiu . Died in 9 B ,.r putedly a a r ult of being thrown
by his horse,
Nero ClU,fldills Drllms

. ~TO:--'·L\-Dal.lghtw· of Mar'. nth ny aud (klayia. ~randl11 l her [ th mpl;'rnr:\ 1"0. [ uisoned IJY .\"ere's urders in 'd .·W . ..,he was OiIHlul 7i ~.'an; of age at her JC~ld1.

;ER.,\L-\i\"I 1---_ n of :'..J ro Claudius Drusus, X ph II,".l)f the emperor Tib riu .
A great popular favorit . Dled n ar Antioch in ll) A0 quite po sibly by puisoning u nrie!'

ord r lrom Tib rius,

Germrmi(;;us

AGRrpPI~A THE ELDER-Dallglll r of AgriVpu and Julia (daughr r of All U tll ) wif of rmanicus and mather of th rnp ror aligula.. Alter th UI.:;1lh of h r husband shewas banished t( the island of Panda ria where she died in 33.A,. at the probabl
A grippino III EMer
>

aze

or 46.

TD DR' . U. C\E

..•R. -Som::\
Nero died

]i.~ro

a.1I.d;

Drusus Cu.e.J.ors pcror, 37-41 r\[. Youngest son or Gerrrumicus and _ grippina. From hi a OCi.Hti n with the Idler in his youth when he ware th Roman boot called aiigae, he was named Caligula (little bat) .. \ heir to Tiberius, he ruled. with r <150I1ablt:n .5 .at fir. t, I LIt on I ecame excessively deprav rl and ill l. He WG.;' unrlnulneclly ill ane and even t hought to na1111' his horse Consul. HI.: was >l sinutcd In the I 1";1 Lori" n tnrard i nil AD, ,nr I he ~Igl: or 29.
I

ALlGULA-

aiu

aesar. Roman em-

it"

6t!

:\E. (~l,\L\-.Fourth wife of Murdered with h r husbarrd. nRC [LL\-Sl ter of aligula, of ;ermanit:us anti .-\ rippina,

alizu]a,
Daugh t r

LAtl1ll'. - ih riu Claudius Drusus, Roman emperor 4.t-':-\I AD. 011 of N ro laudiu: Dru us nd Antonia. Becarn mperor by acclamation of the legion upon the death of aligula , :\Iarri d I ur irnes, the most prominent wives heinz lVI salina, and then the yotruger .\grippi.na, who was tb mother of the futur emperor Xero, 511 bad 'Ie udiu adopt her . n Xer to the di dvarrtage f Iiis own n, Britt nl· cus, He wa til uncle of Agrippina (his father, Xero laudiu Dru u was a br titer (If Cermanicus, the lather [:\ I~ippin<J. I-I r ruelty r a hed th b i~he t xtreme when . he had Claudiu~ poisoned in the year -J AD. He was 64 year of age. .-\GR IPPL -_..\ HE Y ("_'\ TER- he was T the mother of an emper r C'~ero)', til is-

Drusilla

ter oE an imp ror (Caligula), daught r or Jcrrrwnjcus and :\grlppirli.!. XOLl'd fOT her xcessive r-ruel Li s, she wa vicious dHll~hl r of a noble and line moth r. After poisonin] h r hu I < rtd, th etnperor cr \1dlus, he in tum, wa pois Ii d by her son l'\L'nJ in ,59 ~\D 'It the prnhable ;:1 'e or 4-4.

C,awl:ius

tro·

BRlTT.\:\fL'l"S--TiLeriu" .1:rudius Britrunicus, __m nf "Iaudiw; and ;\.lc-" .liJ1~1. Has ing I, '(lL1 et 11 sidf' a' th logi al heir i (J th' throne due [II the in rerression pi .\~I-ip[lin<l j unior on l n-half !If h 'I' ow n son \'vn), III' \\<1.' ulrse-qucntlv rui~ol1t'd I y \'{'r ill ~5 .\ U a ~ till': aze uf U or 1±.

.lgriPPi/1ll

1ft.'

rOTIIIj!t'f

_ ER()-~-ero
-;etmanicU5,

Ron:n1.O empernr .-4-()' An,

at

.laudius

Caesar

Drusu

eameeruperur

the death .of Claudius,

',,"'as a pupiJof the philosopher . encca whom h subseqnently had commit suicide. The very lirst partof his reign wasuneverrtful, hut he learned b:t crueltie easily and

soon becamea
of

tavia murdered. poisoned his mother Agrippina who was in trurnental, through 11r great capacity for evil, in placing him upon the thron e. He was accused or setting th great fire at Ramee. Needing' scapegoats fer his heinous crimes hie persecuted the Christians_ He was fin.a.ny for ed La ·om.m.i't

R me .. H poisoned Brittanicus,

tenor to the noble families

had Oc-

suicide in 68 AD at the age of :U. POPpAEA-Poppa:ea . abina, ~he was the wife of Crispinus and the mistress of Othu. 'he subsequ [)tly divcre d rispinus to marry 01".0. Upon this, auspicious occasion she became the mistress of the emperor
K ero,
0

Poppoea

he divorced

Otho

and rnarri d

Nero, Her ultimate reward wa a violent kick by ] era which resulted in her death. probably in 65 AD.

CLuDr 5 MA ER-Lucius

lodius 1\Ifa-

cer, He was propraetor in Africa during the: re:ign of Keto .. Refused to reccgnize Calha

as the new emperorafter Xern's daathand, as a result, was captured by alba's troops
and .k.il.l.ed.

c,,-\LB \-Roman

mperur far 7 months 68-59 .~\l). Pn'kinimt'ciempl'rnr by the praetorian guard .JJ-L~- Ken:n's suicide, Hi h.11·Sl! cljsl"ipline '\\ a.. re", n ted h~- h il> • ,I·

diers <Inti he \\<15 kiJt~>d (')3 yl'~m; of agcr,

66 I

uy them. He

~"1.5

11TH ·)-3:1 a reus . alviu Otho, Emperor fnr thr - months in the year 69 . D. En"LOU becau e 11 wa not named Calba' 1reir. h led an insurrection and aha!" the death of -all a was proclaimed emp ror, l le was ·clef ated in haul by \ itellius and committed . uicide at th age of 7, YITELL[ '5-. uilus \ i tellius. Emperor, Jan. t De., 6!U\D. His legions pr laimed folr h imaf ter the d a th of Ga..! a at the b "arne time Otho's lin declared for him. l Ii E r es d feared OU,o in battl and h ~ wa ole emperor for the brief time. tat d al ave. The l llyrian legi n , meanwhile, deelan d for Vespasian. "e-pa ian" forces def ·ated him and he suffer d all. iguorninlou d ath, aft rwards bing dragged through the streets hy th mob. Hi banquets, at which he gor ed himself, w re known far and wide and it wa 'lid that if he had paid more attention taffairsof state than to his exploi ts in ea "ing. he rnigh t have urvived. H was" -1 at his dea th. \ ~ P. IAN-Titus Flavin abinu Vepasianus, The first of theJi1a ian. emper,"T , Ruled 69-79 AD. Held vari LIS 1£ and becarn procon iii I in Africa under K ro, His legions declar d lor him while other I-gion d dared for )tho or Vitelliu . _ Iter tho' death Vit lIiu wa dispos d of and \-e,;pasiaI1 assumed tb complete power. II was a competen I emp r r. He died in ill AaL the ag of iO. 1)( I},fl ,1LLA-f7ir r wif or Vc pasian, I )ic-d IwFprc' he became empr-rnr. ':--h was II~ moth 'r the future rnperors irus 110..1 Uumi tiuu.

OthfJ

or

D,nll;/i!fj,

r oi

TITl-S--Emp-rar,
pasian and Demitilla,

79-81 AD. ~ on of Yes1.{(lQ.wnfm' his sub-

[ection judaea in the year '70. He led a rather proiligare liE bel re becoming emperor, but uprm asoending thedtron(lbf'l-

or

came an
TiuIS

'fficient ernp ror, He died in 81

.AD at the age of 41.

JULIA. TITI-Daugh(er

of Titus.

DOlVl]TIAN- Titus FI.<IIlVlU5 omitianus, S cond son of Vespasian. Emperor' 81-96 1\D. The early pad of his r igu was UDeven tful. the latter I art found him to be insatiably cllJelaucl tyrannical. If was finally murdered, to the obviom relief of
all ooncerned. His wife Dornitia
WaS

was one

of the eonspiraters, He

45 at his death,

KERV.-!i.-l'vlurcu. Care ius r erva. Em6-98 AD. Held responsible ailE es under Yespasian, 1 h.1J5. and Demitian, \YascI'l115L:il with Domitian in the year 90 LUl. He \\':1S the first of I he f'J';.l'f!nen1 emperor pernrs wh •• were W rule for the 11l! l~ighty .. xt serne odell years. He dled ill yg _AD at the ag If on.
68 I

TR.\.JAK-).rl.arcu.: L'lpius Trajanus. Ernper-or 9 -117. Adopt d a 1\ erva's heir in lj/, L-I1J;ler him the Roman Empir reach d its great text n t. He wa an xc lien t mperor, H wa6S at 11i d a th in 111.
Trlljall,

PL TI:'\f\-\Hfe

of Trajan.
Plotina.

\1_\RC'l.-\SA.-

ister of Trajan.

\L-\TIDIA-D<

ugh r of =.'.lar lana.

MfI·,ldill

I-L\DRl.-'\I\-Pulliuf

.A Iius Hadrianus.

Lmp('rm' II - -l.l '. 1\ nil \\' of Trajr n and Ids h if. Ere ted many fine lniildin . in l'om and elsewhere. He ('(lntinLl,d the fine ~I\\"l'nunellt 111' hi. t wu preclecess 1':5. I iL'lI
II }3,

at

the

iJLT

of ~J'.

I b'l

.-\BIX}\-\:ViJe
him In Uf.

of Hadrian.

Predeceased

Sabina

AELIU5----LuciU$ Aelius "\ erus Cae ar, Adopted by Hadrian as his .hei.r, but he died In 138..

Al',TONINUS PIUS--- Ti.ttiS AeliuEi H~drianus Antoninus. (Or.igirralty, b for his

adoption by Hadrian after the death of Acllus his name: was Titus Aurelius .'UIVU5

Beionius Arrius.) Emperor

joyed a peaceful and

1:8-161. Enreiga,

prosperous

Because of this, history has little to record of his rule. Be adopted his nephew JVJ arous _ll.lI.reJiu whom hi' dal1~hcer Faustina had married. 7.:;years of a, e at death. F.. ·TI::\.\ TH E ELDER~\Yii' of .\11-\F
tonlnus Pius, Her full name w.ts Anniu Gill .rin Faustina. Sh ... ;mtl her dtllJgllll!!r were both noted fc'r their luck of morals, uh hough l he (:i<Wg;IHN , wife of ~ r,LlT'U" .\LIrl·liLl'. bel Lefi.'d hl't moLiH'rin thl resper-t .. ."1 He' tlilC I in 141 .n 1111: .1 ~c ur 3;.

~L\'R AU~ LIV i\larcu>, _\ lius Aurelius \" rus, Emr eror, 161-.1O. Had I een adopted hv ;\1]tOlliIJU~ Pius as hi h if. atong"'jth Lu iu Verus. "eru wa his coli ague in g vern men t. He was a phiI sopher and wa a step towards th Plat nic concept of the phil soph ~r king, Hi, "Meditations" ari stU! extant .. He wa: 69 at hi death in t. O.

rs

A_ TI S 'VE RUS-Son
lius,

of Marcus _ ure-

FA

TfN

THE YO NGER-\I

ile of

:\farcus. ur [ill. noted for h r prom acy. Her irregularitieswere said to have been known hy verybody except Marcu him:;~1I. he died in 175 at the probable age of -0.

~Luciu Aur Iius . ert! . riginally u iu eionius C mm lus. -, 1league of 1\1 reus Aureljus.Had bn adopted by ~ .ntoninu Pius as had heen Mar u Aurelius, Died in 1 9 at the age of 39.

U'

ILL-\-Wiie

oi Luciu. Verus,

Di d III 18.3,

I iI

.....,..;..-

__

.\ liu Aurelius hart to a J) ppy era. The dissolute son 01: zr noble father, he was emperor from l80-1CJo2.Hi r ign wa a r trogre ion to all of the vii which exi t d before. Nerva, ruel, intemp rat. and prodi al, he was finally tran I d to L..CJII'I'IIIG,atl.sdath while ina drunken tupnr, He was 1 y aI's of age at his d ath.

· l\r:\wlJ

.~.-

Lu iu

ommodus, The abrupt

RT PIN.-\-\rife

of

omrnodus,

1ERTr '~-\x-Pu liu Helvius Pertinax. Emp rOI- in year 1 3. H \1;i1!!eho en emper r agains hi will after the death of C rnmodu . Certain reforms ill tituted by him met with di favor and th . rea tionary
I -m III of tb praetoriai L zuard rnurd red him in 193. He was 67 at Jli death. Dl Dll Jl-LL XL' -l\lan.:us Didiu Salvius j nlianu (or:; I:UI' julianus). Ruled about zhr month in tb yes r 193. The 1]1J lllCltalJI€ thin .... bout this mpcror was ih fact tha t h purcha: ed the thrnn at Didius Jurilwrrs auction all indication uf how low th tid of empire bad fallen. H was almost imrnedi tely unpopuls r <111<1 was slain. Hit \HI."
i

o y rs fir aze

<It

his death.

1\1. \):L L SC\i\TILL. \-\\'ire of LJitLi lf c Juli~tllu s,

7_

J ulianu

DTOL\

CL-\~4 --- Daughter

.

of

Didius

PE CE;'\!KIV Pe cennius 2\ig r. Pr claimed empen r b the .. yrian legion . The annie. r _'everu d Ieated him nd h ned only [0 be sub UD tly captured and. put to death along with all th m mber of hi Iarnily, in 1CJ.,l·. CLODI

Didia Clara.

onius
under

Xiger
I til lie

LBI" C5-Dec:.imus lodiu Ceiptimius Albinus, Elevated to Caesar .; everu but after everus d feared h had the enate declare Albinu a nemy. _ fter a battle near Lyons,
I

Albinu

W:a5

defeated

and slain in 197"

. EPTIl\IlC E\ Eln'~-Ludu. ptimiu . evorus, Emperor. 11)3-211. H ld important pos ts un dar Iarcu . urelius, Declared azainst
L

julianus

il. sumed

and "iger, as well a \Ibiml and th upreme COil LroLHe \'"1I'S 65 at his death ill 111.

of the emperor ·YC'"ar,'U'1111j '<Inc! c ~,·t,1. \\";.J:" n IWD- n of C nsid 'r, I I~ intellect. SIlL'rnmmir.red uic kl~' after 'I he ut:>.lth oj' antII'UA DO}'I.KA~\\,ii
I"US,

mnth r of the emperors .tl

all.r, ln 217 .• he

\I'lL

out 5U

:11

'I"

rlcaih.
Jul'ill f)"rlllr,t
I ;-~

Aurelius Arrtoninus. Bassianus, Emperor 2(1-217, on of the emperor. everus, Caracalla was a nickname ghren to him because of the Iong coat known by that name which he introduced to Rome Prom Gaul. He was, at fir t, joint emperor with his brother Cera, but he con:. vinced the prae orian guard [0 eame him sole emperor. He had his brother murdered and, according to some sources, some twenty thousand others as, well. He was a treacherous, worthless pmEl:igate who was finallymurdered by Ma·cdnlJs. He was 29 years o.f age at his
riginal name, death in 11 t.

CAR

rALLA-1\Jarus

Pla,!lltUtl

PL,j\UTJLLA-Wife

of

araoalla,

GETA-Lucill>s·eptimIu5 eta. Younger on .of Severns, Joint ruler W.itJl his brother Caracalla. (209-212'). However, the desire on the
I.

part of Caracalla [,01- , upreme and

ole power

caused him to have Geta murd red, and. all effigies, coins, and other permanent works with th image DC Geta destroyed. G ta was 23 years of age when he was murdered.

ThL\' RI::\ft·~~l\larcu'S Op6'lius S~V rus ).l'acrinus, E:mperor 217-2.1', l nsrrurnental in the

death of
defeated

araealla, Tile Parthian ..; in revolt,

!J3m, He b carne unpopular
W<IS

with the

army and

subsequently

slain in 2'IH at

be age 0.:1: 54.

7-11

I A·I U rE~ LA -~lUQrtJ aT eliu Antoninus Diadunrenjauu . 'Son of Macrinus, Killed in th rev It which res ulted in his father' death,

E.L! .GAB· LUS or BELI 0"

cus ureliusntonjnu.

HL
riginally,

-.

IarDiadu,me7tian

\ ariu

Avitus Bassianus. Emperor 218-222. He wa a priest in the temple of the. sun-god at Emesa, and thus his nam , Deieated Ma rinus in battle and th n went on to practice e.x rtrerne debaucheries and cruelties. He was slain by
the praetorian guard at th age of 1
l

dragged
Elagabalus
OT

along the streets with his mother who also had been slain, and thr wn uncerem niously into the Tiber.

IlelillgabcJlus

LJ PK LA-Fir t wif of Elagabalus, He divorced her after a. year of marriage .

. unLl. Eo Efu -Second wile of Elagabalus, He divorced h r. but returned t her after d.ivardngbis third wife. ania Faustina.
0

f!.~t1.lt Ius. Divorced

FAUSTI \lA-ThinJ \\ iJe of Elaher and returned u his ,;('l'l.nd wile, .-\quillu. Scv ra,

':'\[\1\L-\

rLJ.'\ S .-\E:lIH.i\S---Mother of Elagahalu ...

J urd red wi th him.

Jttfia. Soaemia«

Ll '\ l\lAE i\-Graodmother balus,

of

Elaga-

ALEXANDER-M arcus Aurelius S verus ' 1 xander. Adopted by his cousin Elagabalus as his heir, Ruleclfrorn 22~-235. He was a just and wi e ruler, but was slain by orne mutinous oldler on his way to Germany to subdue. a revolt. Hi moth r was slain with him, He wa prcbably 27 years of age at hi d ath.

RB1. :\.-\-Third

wif

fSe\"(\'rll.

Alexand r.

()r/)'i,J 1/,1

JULIA l\L ~"lAEA-)"1 ther of everus . I xander. Murdered by -roll tinous aoltliers along
with her son in 235.

fRI\)fI

urelius u urper around 235,

r IN . - Lucius julius Sulpiciu:s, Uranius Antoninus, A

,NT

IIAXIMIN S I---Caius Julius Verus ' Iaximinus. Had the surname, The Thracian, Emp ror 2J--238. Was supposed to. have be n of great siz and strength. \' as d lared emperor
b_ the legions of the Rhine after the death of verus AI exander , 1'T e was cruel and tyran-

nical and wa slain by his own soldier .

PAULINA-\iVif

of Maximinus L

ORDI:AN ,AFRICAN'. I-Mat:cus Antonius Gordianu L Ruled 36 days in the year 23 . '~'as pr con ul in Africa ulldel· e crus Alexander. \Vas proclaimed emperor b) hls followers in Air; a and was c nfirmed by the senati\'lte,[q[\,[~u.:iminuswas declared to be a publi enemy by that arne body. H commi ted. uicide when he I arned of the death f hi!" son in battle with one of th of 1\1 aximinus, He \ratO'l) y at' at hi death .. G~lrdt(llmJ;

Afp·U:ll.lllf.1

I tt

G)1t 1.\)\[1 .\FRI ::\U Il-M~cu • ntonianus .ordianu n.. n O( Gordianus 1. As ociared with his Icther a co-emperor. Kill d in battJ at artha e L r apellianus, the go\' rnor of urnidia,
CfJrdro.nm 1frimtl1JS Il

B.I\LBI T 5-0ecimus' 'aelius Balbintrs ... rnperor Ior abou two month in ·he year 23 . He was reclaimed joint emp roc b the senate alon,7 with Pupienu Iaxirnus, 'Sse:lltially to oppose Maximinu who was threat 11ing Rom, .i\i:.a;dminu wa lain, however, and Balbinus was murd red by Pra torian uard,

too

B'a/oi lifts

P' PIE1\ S-- ;fa-reu Cledius lupienu ,I(aximus Appointed joint mperor with Balbmu to oppo.c;:e Masiminus \ no threat ned Rome. Pupienus was ] in b the Pta t rian guard,
along with Balbirnn two meno.IS. after a reign of about

L-\X'

-MarCil

Antonius

ordia:nu s, Hie w randson of -;nrdianu L Proclaim d Ca sar during the reign of Balbinus and Pupienus, At their c:l aLl')"pr claimed -rnp ror by the Pra torian guard at th ,a~ uf 14 r 1.-" He ruled for six y ars tl.i'-2-!-l) and thruu"h th manipulations {J Philippu, all alti!: r of the gu rd, he wa murde-red at th ;l:!J> of _ 1. I hilippus succ Irtl
",',I,did/l1U

I TI (Pili.)

him to 111 thrunr-,

1,

TR.:\.:\W

~n..LIXA -

Wife

of

;ordlallUs

III.

r - larcus Julius Philippu . officer of U]· Pra torian gu rd during the r: ign of Gordiaau Pill' As are. tdt of his madUnati ns, . rdianus was lain. Phillp \\"<LS him If killed banlill the Ie ion f Trajan D ciu . He \\<5 ernp r r from
PHILIP
• 11

2·14-2-1:9.

PllilifJ I

s yera.\I\·i,(e

Ti\.

n.r,

E', ER

Iar ia Uta ilia

of Phil'ip 1.

OIDciJia Sccua

PHILIP ippus.

OIl

Il-s-Marcu . Julius ~everus Philof J hilip 1. \Ya murd red sonn

aher hi rather.

PAC.1Th\::,\-.
little i known

usurper about wh rn \.I!tJ' (149).

:PMN" II

1\

lUTA' L-\.'\ - .-':~·ii IU ur] 11 horn littl is knu\\ n (UI};' I.

about

JUIIIflill11

I ,"

TR. j.xx
tus

UECll-~-Ctliu_
Decius, reign

Traianus the

:\lc ius ( uinEmp eror .1J·9-2Sl.

"-as
during

omrnander of the tr

ps rtf Danul e

.r volted again t I to b eeme ernperer

H d I ated Philip kill d .. Decius was

. f I hilip 1. His oldiers hilip and he was .for d hy them against his will. in hattl and Philip was lain ill Thrace I attling

the .oths. He death.

I\"<L

53 year. of ag_

at

hi

ETRL'
Elru.>eilla

lLL\-\\'iitt

of Trujnn

LlU.

HEkE -XIr- ETR(rSCL-:-Qu.intu 1-11:'renniu Etru ell - Messius De ius. on 01 Trajan Decius and killed at the arne time a hi fa ther,
&,e,millS Etrusrus HO.-TIL1A ... \-aiu Val n Hostilianu IVle. iLLS Quintu . ~-\.younger on of Trajan ciu about whom little is known,
Ilosti!
ill II

Caiu: Vibius Tr 1)011 ianus .a.llu., ..mperor 15.[~15J._.\ p p lin t d to rvc as H ostilian's associate. [l elrected a peace with tln- Gr'rhs whi ·b was rolt In lu= degrading lry tilt' Ronw.115. IT\· was subs -'qLI!:'11 tly rnurd red lJY hi" 11\\ 11 !' 1'ldi~'IT"_

TREROKL\Sl-

,I)

\ ( U-'-IA. ~ ail! \ ibius Volusianu Trehonian u- • siniu ' .. Son of Tr bonianu allu . Killed at th same rime hi father.

AK\UU S - Marcus Aerniliu Aemilianus, (2S~-2-4.)}\ overnor of Pann nia

and IV! sia during the reign of Gallu . He

wa hail damp for by his troop" and d of ated th for s of allu in battle. He wa murdered by his wn soldier.
l;;m·iUaJl,

COR).!El.L\·

PERA-Wife of A milian,

Cornelia !'hlp fa

\. LERI:\~Puliu Liciniu: Val rianu . Emp rer r.~-160.Of noble birth, be was loyal to Callus but could giv him un help in Jill battle with Aemilian, arriving too lute. ~\t the death f ; all u wa proclaimed rnperor and < "ociatl' I hi5, 'on ~al1i0nu5
wuh him. Trouble
0

(111

him into

m:l11Y

battles.

the Porsian. '-;1.1<lTJIlI-i, til hi" doa rh.

th borders for ell \\O,LS fiuf:11 1 Ir and h rlu rapriv lI'n-

GALLIE::\T

..~PubHus

Licinius

Valerian

U'"

Egnatius GalJienllS. Son DEValerian. Emperor 253-268. Became sole ernperer aft r the capture I?Jf his father by the Persians. He. was obliged to deal with disintegration from within the empireand from without, 1 t proved to be tong-mat a task. He was killed by his ewn oldi rs at the age of 50.

"."'i..LO.. J.:\rs-Son of Callienus, Killed by Po turnus in 259 AD.

·ALOKIN.-\"A"i.Ee

of Gal,'liel1U'.

\,"ALERL\~ 11-

OIl

or! ~alfi nus. Died about

I'll II

rilw f1

~_I

1\1 R L\;\T' 1- Marcus Fulvius i\u crianus. [200-261.) Ir was due tc.> hi" incompetcnc that the Roman army of Valerian wa defeated, re ulting in. the capture of th mperor. Xeverthel ss, Ma rianus was declared emp eror I y his troops. On his \ aj back to Italy 11 wa m t in I attle I y on f Valerian's general and was defeated and slain,

Macriml:/l$ I

RL'V rl-'ituFL1LviusJuliu:5 I).[acriavu •.. (260-261.). ·11 of Macriarrus. 'lain at tb same time as his father. M
llacriamls

Q IEl'l -Fulviu Julius Quietus. (16 ~261.) Younge ton of Macrianus 1. 'Wh n hi . Iather left lor Rome after ill Ea tern campaign, he wa left to administer affairs. He was attack d by the Icing of the alrnyrans, d feared, captured, and killed.

RE ... 261.) A h s iz hartly

l! y\'L S-Publiu aiu Regalianus, (260general under Valerian, At \ aterian' death, d the. power in Pannonia but was killed ther after,
-\Yif of R galianus,

l1RA~TTLL

Tl :\11 5---: 1arcus [ ~1,si nus Latin us Emperor 2.-1)-167. .over1l1 r o'l Caul under Valerian. AIL r d clarin him'It'Ll' emperor during the l'e.ig'n ,of \ "alorian , IIf" nil J in 136t a in <111d ;11(;~lltl. He was a wise rLI11'f hut \\"a,.,killecl ill [,,:lull' 1.1';; a result ,r hi" usurputiuns .. P

I osturnus,

Pt,." u /U us

L\.ELL

)., (_.
t

Upilll'

. rnelius

Led a revol

ngain

Po

TU11111"

Laelianus {lni ,. and \\<'15 kiIh··d.

VI TORL:\U ,..-l\'larcu. Pia vveni u Victorinus, (2(1:-liO!) • nl ruler of aut aft r having be 11 rnp I' r with P tumu... Assa sinat d by hi own

oldi rs,

:;,\L\RIC aius Marcus .\ure.liu' l\larius (268). Proclaimed him If m ror at the d ath of P [Um.U5, ut was killedalrrrost immediately, probably

within a ~ \\
J/UrfUS

ays,

i Piu, li!'u\"ius Tetri u. (267273.) Declar d bim eU emper rand a. ociat d hi n with him. He finnll}' abdicated and. it rn. , was .aJJQ\' d t Iiv rr It hi - day Teirian L TETRI (_i2-27 T' II~ <lIUS I ius E uvitrs Tctrieus, ,) n f Teiricu The Eld 1'<1[1 1associat d
wml

T1:.

nr

-c

with hi father in his la her' rul . He

T(I'I",

rr

d -ath upon lit, bdi arion oi hi (.uhe r and him. .llrer hein dch:at('d bv _\urdian al lHtlU115,

:::j}nr d It

CUmli1l' 11
I,mllln!."

'-,

(,,() Ill·[ .... -)l1alf'lI" Aureliu mp r r 16;,-!-2TIl, [In:E'1 -;;: d ~111 excelk-nt military record under I )t!cllI", Valerian lInd C<llIiIlU~, FH(]' III t \0 cre.n h .•trk-s: H LLinsl 111(' Alarnnnni in nnrrhern hrll~ and rho (;nth,. in i\.lu -sia ir"l11 ,hidl 111' '["aim d lin' ti t h- " ,or[hiru,.," TIl.: eli. I lurine a pl,uwl' in IIw~' xu: 170 ;11 ~I", ,1:0.' orr -(I.
t

, L\l IHL': II
'Jaml
ill,

'

aiU5 laudius Quintillus. .mp TOr ~1Il•. UppUI" d 3_' mperor at th death f Iaudiu .• but th L-gion d dar d for Aurelian. He ultimate] uicid .
QuintilirlS

~ ( ·ELL-\I'\-Luciuf' Dornitiu Aur Iianu . Em.. p rur 170-.21,5. Knowu a R., titutor rhi (I·. torer of th Empire), upled high military po itions und r \ al ian and laudiu J L Pu h -oths an- . th Danube: d feat rl almyra and hrnught the queen, Z n ia, back to R m ,r onq d E~Yj1t; f rtified Rome, He was murdered as a resu]] fa J1 pira l' at rhe e f (',

A nrelitlll

~ YERL'\.\-\i\lfe

of J\UIl lian,

Swnimt

\'.\J:t\L. TH I" '-~OJl

myr<l. Ruler
IUt

that

of Zenobia, qu 'en of Palstate under hi. morh r's

"
1 rWlliaJh
III

/'[\:U13L-\-)u n nf Palmyra. CO.[HLIrl·d IJ~AuI' . n an I brought to Rome. S~I WH. ventually rrdnn d ami allnw Ii to liv in I I" Iy.
I

2"11111';£1

i .!j

TA -JTCS--?lIar'us Claudius Tacitu. Emperor ~75-21(i_ Elect d by the enate aft r the d ath r AU[ lian. laim d d cent from 111 [am u historian, RUled for al out six nl.OI!llhs.\-\ as kiIled by 11i5 soldi rs at the age of 76.

FJmia1l1t:s

FL RIA -US~Marcus ~ rmiu Florianus, Emp ror for a fe, weeks in 276. Seized power at the d ath of hi half brother Tacitu . pp sed by Pn bus and killed in l atrle,

PROS ~Marcu AUI-e1iu Probus. Emp ror 276-2 2. Wa governor f th ast under Tacitus aft r rving in a distinguished manner in the armies of Valerian, laudius and" urelian. Initialed many benial impr vemenrs in go ernrrten t, but he was killed by mutinous soldiers.

en

Probus

ARt'S-}\Jarru Aurelius aru. Emj C[! r 2~2-2 '3. Prefect of til I fa t rian uard und .r I rnbu . At the dea th of Pmbus cho. n emperur by the soldier .. Appoint d his sons, Cc rinu and Numerian, as aesars, '~'hile Aghting: the Persians he was killed. either in bat rle, or. ac 'ordin to, slime ver-

. ion',
." I

uru k

)' Iight nln .

CARIX(-S-l\larclls Aurelius Carinus. Emperor 18.3-2 S. Ride t SOil0' arus. Appoinu d governor

of the western

provinc s while his

fatlilEF

and

brother Nt!1'11I'Tia'l1 proceeded Defeated Diocletian in battle, on- of his own officers.

agairu t the Persians, but was murdered. by

1\lAGNTA RBI:CI\-\~'[fe of

arimis.

lIGRINIAN-Possibly

a son of Carina.

NUVIERL

peror 283-!8-h, jo~ntly with hi. brother He died shor ly after his father, Caruso

N-.Ilan:us A.Llr~liLls umerian us. Em~ K ~arinus.

Numerian.

n-LIAX-I\larru

Aurelius

julianus. .. rel elli(j~ls • \

emperor arinus, He

gen eral who served under th \\-;IS slain in 2M.

III/I<w

L'~I

LETL --CaiU5 Aurelius V~tle.rilt Diacler::niptJr~[284-30:S. Born at Dioclca In 0:;1[1rnutia fram whence his name was derived, Held commands under Probus, Aurelian, and Carus,

D I,

tianus,

W~lS[1'0 lairned emperor ar the-death of !'\ umeriaa. ,ras a soeiaterl with . Iaximianus I, and Iter also Galer-ius art I Constnntius Clrrlorw5. Viciously persecured the Christians, but 00 tJH~other hand. he did much to reform the internal affairs of the 'IT1pire. He abdi ated in 05 and lived out .his lae in retiremnnt. He was 68 at his death,

.1laxilllian1l-S
(Jl1mmli
liS

J (HERe LI' . )-l\.faJ·CUS Aureliu 'ale rius Maxirnianus. Emperor 2 6- 0:- .. Born in Paanonia of humble oda:in, Was associated wi th the €lmperor Diocletian. He abdicated, with Dio-

l\IIA... "",\_lHAI\

eletian (305) but returned to champion the cause

of bin SOIl. Maxentius, who had clalrnsd the thren in (i)PP sidon to alerius and cnstantias. B-ecause of complicity in a plot against 'onsta.tltine,he was ordered to end his own Iife.

advantage of his position. he crrmmai plunder and fell into Britain and proclaim d himself d Ieated by the fleet of Maxirnian his chiE"E minister Allectus. He

AR.r~ \H. ~~Marm5 Aurelius Mausaeus Carausius, Tsurper in Britain (287-293). Was in 1>0111mand of the Be t in northernaul, bU1:, taking
turned to indis-

disfavor. Fled to
emperor. He was and was slain by was prolJahly -1:8

year

oldat

h.i ·death .

• 111, rtu«

Caius .JJt'(;t.u-,,·n,e chief minister of CarauSiius. he \\·~b the CalISI:' (J[ the latter's de.Hh. fJl.:dar d himself emperor after this andl;'H a1.1i.;lh ..rl u rule lIf t'"tn:llll' cruel (y l][)J-_!l'tJ(j), The legions ~,f Cnn,.lI1.JltiLl;;' killed him in a battle in Britain .

• U.E. 'TL

C< .xs TA)'TI T I (CHlORL' ~)-FlavLu \ alerins OIl tan ti us, Ca~.sa[ 29'5-302i __ URU ru
JOZ-J06. , on-in-law of Maxirnian, father of J1..taurine th reat. Adopted as aesar by Maximian, Upon abdication of Diocl tian and Maximian a umed full p wer .. H ~ di d in 306, at the age of 56,

e'JII,.'all/i'II'

\ ClLlortls>

IIELE~. -"

ife f nstanriu

DS

ntiu

J.[\

roth r of

the ~r at.

Cr.-\LEl{ U 'S-Caiu~ 'aled us Valerius _ daximianu - ._ae ar 29J- '0 -; A ugus tu • ,30- -311. reared aesar by Di [ 'an, 'Was beaten by Lh Persian. htrt subsequen tly inflict d a gr at deleat upon them. Extremely inimical to the .hristians and 1 robably had much t do with per. uading t iocl dan to p rse ure them. emperor he elevated Liciniu to the rank of a sar, FIe died in ~11.
I

Calerius

, LERL\ '\ AL· RV\-Daugnter

econd wife of ._~alerius.

o:f Diocletian:

Gukriu I'u!eriu

E\'ERL,_ l.l-e-Flnvius Valeriu, ,ePfUS, 'a ·-ar. 30,~-30n: Augusrus .. 3n-307. .reated Caesar by Galerius wh J als named him .-\UI!U_'tllS, He "'::IS lIlbIIC('c;",,41Ii in lmtr I wi tiT :\ I axentius and rlln 'ed ttl ('IIJllItli t sulrirle.

w. '"
I

'0

l\L-l.J(ESTI-Man:iJs Aurelius Yalerius Xla.:!:endus, _ ern of Maximian. Emperor Jt)()-3T 1. Not being a parnicularly admirabl person he was passed over when his father and Diculetiauappointed the new .aesars, Led an upri.sin,g and was proclaimed aesar by the praeteriaa guard. He ov rthrew Severns and drove Galerius from Italy, Attacked Constantine and suffered a COJiTIpl te delieat. He drowned while fleeing across
I

the Tiber.

-San

of i\ Iaxen bus.

1?OTIIlllllS

A.LEX.l\.NDER-· -f\ usurper in, Africa. Governor of that province under Ma:."'e.ntius. Proelasmed himself rnperor, but was crushed almest irnmediately.

ucrxu:
Licianus

T-Publiu' Flavius ialeriu Valedu~ Lielnius. Emperor JOl- U. Given til

rank

f Au uscus by

al(~rius.He

married a.

half-sist r of Constantine the. Great and with him i ued theedict of Milan recogniaing Clui,;rianity. He and Maximinus Da21a agreed to rule joimly .. 1\ Iaximiuus, hnwever, artacleed him and

was defear d. There was

not

lasting amity be-

tween Licinius and Constantine artd in [11< king wur uprur l-nruhlntinE. I.ic;l1iu:'< \\'<1" ~e;zed OI1U sluin. FIt: wa~ probably 35 Yt'ors "f ,fl.A"l' at his

dpufil.

U Il\Il[l-FJaYIU5 Valerius Licinius Licirrius, on of Licinius L He was pu l to d eath, hortly aft r hi Iather, at th age or Q,

\ ALEN5-_

ureliu

Valerius Valens,
but murdered

teared
sh rtly

Augustus (, 14) by Lidniu. thereafter.

Mr\.RTINI :'{-I"r arcus Martinian us, reated ugustus b Lieinius (323). ieized and put to
d ath with the latter,
VaJl:lU

\ al .riu ureliu Constantinus, .aesar, 06-.0 ; ugustus, 30 -337. on of Con tanrius ChI rus, At the' [me he wa proclaime I Caesar by his fath r there wer five claimants to U] throne, D efeated IIax ntius and h n Lieinius to secure authority, Devoted rnuen time to inr mal administration. s rengthening f th b rd r . elimination of abuses, By the Edict of Milnn he re ognizcd Chri tianity, Called th . aea (.'L5) wb ere the J\ icene C r ed was i adopted. ( host" Byzantium a th new apical f III ernpir and ren rned it (I1:LilI1Linop[C'. l le \H1S pmlJnlJ!Y 57 YIWJ'S of age at Jti~ death.

T1IEunUR.-\-Flm·i, :\[';l,jLU.1 Theodora. ,mel wife rtf (', mstanl ius { lib 'nl:'.

- '("-

Constantin» 1
(fill (;"ill)

I (II

Eo\, -. T.'\.--Fla.,·ia :\!a...;ima Fi1usra.\Yife of 'onstantineThe (~I"eat and daughter of 1\[ax.imia.l!1u· Hereul iu .

CRT P ~.FI.n'iU5 ]Lllli.us rISPU5. SOil of onstantine The 'Great. He Was a grsat popular favorite and t:h:is undoubtedly wa.... in part, the cause of his death, by hi.s fatH r' orders, He was Caesar from Sl r":H6.
Cris,/n.r$_

DELMATIlTS-Fla\iius

Jt!lius Delmatius,

eph-

~\V of Constantine The Great. Caesar ,U5-337. Murdered alter the deathnf on 'tan tine.

D~tfl1l1rius

HA).JNIB..\LU

ballianus,
hi brother C onstanfine.
l1w!ln.iilallj,mw·

aesar,

Taudius Hanni~~5-33,7. Iurdered along with Delmntius. They were nephews of Nl, -Flavill~

COt\~T_\:'\TI:\:J[ [[~Fla\'iu'lau [ill [ullus onstan tlnu '. Son of' on .. tantine The C,rf!lI't. Ems pt'rnr .t'!;-.'.,I:!'l. [oirrt. emperor with !tis lJ!'·otlwr.. 'onstanflus ;Llld. Con stuns ar his Iarhers death, In warriJ.lg with t"{lll~!all:" ht' \\,;'19 killl"ll.

333-33; .• mpir a.

O~STA_'\S-Fla'du5 Juliu Constans. aesar, ugustus, ·~i'·ro.HL hare of the

the d ath of oustantiue The
rear

onsisted Qf J taly, Africa. and Illyri urn. In war with hi brother he defeated and kin d Con stantine JI. Lat r, iVlagnentius attack d him and -onstans wa overtaken while Heeing and was killed. ITI _ lI-Flaviu Iuliu onstantius, a ar.r--"37: Augu tUS, 137- 61. Son I 'onstan tine and Fausta. Defeat d ?'JagnentiD~ after

ha in becorn sol rul r a th d ath of onstans, The empir enj yed a few rear of [lea during his reign. How Vet, he learned that hi cousin ] lilian had proclaimed him elf emp rot: and in moving to crush this nsurpation he died at the a;gc IQf .J,4.
~FlavillS tan Lin I'll
t,

~ n tao tius. ~ nephew oppres .on r rought cut d. ( --t.)

011

-reat,

u urpcd the p wer in the ea

1-1 i rule

Canstuntius Gallus

him to tria I and h ~ was e..xe-

~EPOTIA~-FtaviU5
tantiu . Emperor
"01

Popilius Nepctiauus
f<)r a brief timc

ConJn 3.50.
it

nephew of

stan tine Th

reat, He seized the

irnrnedi-

thrnn uf nstan " but wa killed almo atuly in a b ttl with i\·I. gnentiu •

NepolhJII

<

\ '£T R_\:-- r Prnclaimed emp -rur by his troops L th death )I C nstans, :\ft r a re i~n (1[ I > s than a y 'elr (.l~{l-.;:lJ he re ired and lived nut his)' ars in PCdt:L'.

1,/1"111':"

1L\ J~EKTn-':--J71, viu- Popiliu:Iazrrentius. Emp rnr ,~50-353. L1f barburian birth, h wa in c mrnand of th troop of tb Rh ine, <lUF!:'U the death 01 on tan" and wa: pr claim d ern -rnr. H wa d eared hy '. nsiaruiu - IT and tie I tl (~aul where he eurnrnitted suicide,

-l\la nus I ntiu. Broth r \Jf lagnerrtiu . Upon hearing of the suicide of his broth r he. too, nnrnl tt rI . uicid (.r:;

DECENTIl-

n.

Decentius

Julian (1

Il-Flayius Iaudius [ulianu , Emp rnr .~Ol-3GJ. l<.nOWTI a Julian The .po [in 1 caus of his pag-anism and (.IV rsion to Christianity. \\' .11 educated. He wa: lh broth r of Julius Constantiu: who wa a half-brother of on atantin Tile t ~rf'at. Proclaim d emperor by his troops in a revolt again t til latter. A the datil f 11tantius h be me le ruler. I> was killed durin one of his battles with th Persians. H was 31 ye r I ace at hi' d -ath. I-IEL!oj -.A-I iauzluer of
'OJ!l

.rn-1AK

and wifr

tantlne The (~rMl

Julia.n 1.1.

JiIl'I,w

JOVU\\f-Fh:rviu. Claudius j nvianLIS. EnW I'm 30.I-JO·t, Cell ral r army und r Julian. Proclalmed emp rnr try hi- soldier Iter lilt death of the lat ter. ~ I. de ,111 un he I PY pta re \\ it h the Persians lJY ivi n t up I he pruvinres beyond the T] ri-, ">uJ1(1l1rtvd 1 he ~jLI'n' Cn'I..:,J: r stllr" I privilege-s tu the l'111'i"'li<III~, I )il·d [Ill ()h"{'~l1 !It·atll ill r ~alutiiL, Ill' 11':1" lW'11 I,lhl,l. .t{ r .. Ilf ,Igl' ,II hi,; rbLlh. tr=

"~

\ ..\LEl\"TI:X-I:\::,\ [-F'la\-ju V<.leutinianus, Em· pcrur .1(i-t-.~fS. ( f poor parentage, he enr red the army and moved .swiftly thruugh th ranks, Held in disfavor I ' hoth t n rarniu and Julian (th ratter bani led him), At th death 01' J "ian cho u urnp -ror; ap pf'lin red YalerT t his brother, as • ('I teo His reign kn w the. .ncroach men ts of mao)' harbariau tril es, Died in 'li5 at the-age of --1.

rluilfllliJI,lcUI

Younger I rother of Valentini n 1. Made 1:111[l ror f the ea t I y his brother. Waged war unsucc s f Lllly against the (~Odl ,1\,1 ade a diszracef ul

treaty with

the Persians, HI:! was subsequently

ra.l!!I)S

dcf ated and . lain by th G th , Was emp ror (.-om 36+-3i . He was ab out 50 y ars uf a e ar hi death.

PRO

PI 'S-;

Valen . He wa

usurp r who x cured ('6 ),

rebel] d

against

Pracopius

GR.\TL t\-Fhwiu ratianus, Emperor 37;\-3 .3• .... n uf Val ntini n 1. He and a I r h r. \ len inian It. w rc join t . \u usti of the we t, Ar th defeat of Valens also beam cmp nIT in th E, st, with Theodosius as hi olleague. Killed in battle with \laLTnu !\[a,'I::imus at the aze of 2·t
Gra(l<1t1

II-:on of Valentinlan I and of (~ra'i ian. Emperor, joinlly with 11i:: IlrOU1"1·(.)7:~38.l)" Emp ror unt il 31,11. IJ \\lL '~f'~1 [If llg'v \ 'h"n proclaimed .mperor. under Ill" guar lian=hip of llll;' Ernpr ,_ j ustinu. J h· \\<1 murd-red [,) Imp of his g nerals Arbogasr, a r die
\'[11111

\'_\L£:\ Tl

x r.vx

brother

I.!t"

iJi zo,

[-"II'II/II,m I '1.)

II

J1

Theodosius I (The Grerl.l)

THE D su: r (THE GREAT)-Flaviu. Theodosius, . rnp ror 3- - !r. ·'umm.oD d to erve as a iate by Cratian, at th death of V 1 n..• cruel rill r, h di I at Milan, aft . ha ing made hi. son. Honorius and rcadius, a sar . He was about :;0 at hi death.

AELIA FLA

lLU\-1'\'ire of Tlreodosiu

1.

A. eli« Pta;(i~ilta

M ' •.K
Cratian
Mllgll'lts

r._IIAXIMUSragnus Clern ns Maxirnus, Empemr J 3-38 . Declared emperor by his

oldiers who did not favor Gratian. He clef ted

in battle. but subs quently met

with

Theodo ius who had him executed.

Jl.[fI~;ntUS

FLAVI VI T R-~u of Magnus Maximu . He wa defeat d fighting the Franks in .1.11"aken t pri. on r and executed,
F1rJuills

Victor

El

E:,\1'

Pr

la1111 d rnp ror afr r the murII.

<

der {\·<ll.enLini-arl Thl!uJo'iu;; l.39.+),

.KM~I'lri/l.9

ptured

arul slain

by

9(, I

RIL'5--Flav;l.l5. Honoriu . Emperorof th u f Theodosius the Crea . Hi reign was one of com t nt [Urman due to attaoks by the Visigoth under Alaric. Roman power uff r d a severe d dill" under this inept. rule, He wa .39 at hi death,
J!,\,'

wes 1. 395-42 ,. econd

AR' I,\Dru~Em.peror (39-·408.) Son o:f TllCOdo ius I. Aff irs of tate did n [ int re t him and the government w s ruled by others. laric,." he Goth, ruled at this time in what i n w th Balkan r ion. He died in 40 at the age ofSt.,
A.rcadiu5

TANTI S rII-Eimpernr 421. Roman genera! raised to rank of r.\ugu tus by Honorius. Reigned only seven month ..
C01l.JtaPLtifl$

III

GALLA PLACIDA-Daug'bter
G.r at,

of Theodo

illS

the

co~

TA1\T1XE

TlI-l'sLlrp

r in .aul' and Brit-

ain. (407-4J 1.)

llillSlrllt/

JII,'

III

I r}j

MA..t",(Il\~r by Honorius,

Usurp r in _ pain. Publi .1)' exe uted (.:J,09-4ll.)

Ma«i1Pltls

JOVIN
(411-413.)

S-

urper in Gaul. Killed by th

,0ths.

Jouinus

EB~ TI NU -Brother
him.

of Jovin

. Killed with

PRJ

U ATTALU-L'su1"per-

in Gaul. (409·-410.)

HA,:,'N~.

Pro I irned

himself

ernp ror

the death of Honorius. Deleat d b

(423 -'!-2S.)
JoI1IJ'PmllS

The do ius.

rut

.:\L£:\ IXL-'L,\ Lll-s-Son Murdered, (HS-l 5.)

of

on tantlu

IlL

ETROXIC' &fAXL\ilrs----.-Xam d rrrperor after the d nth of Valencinian [l I. 'lurder d within a f \V munth . (4 -:.)

L[CINI El UXrA-Daughter I.I. \~'if,e of Valenti.nian HI.

of Theodosius

Petmniu«
Ma,:'lOiIllIlS

.\ \ IT 'S-Emp ror aft r 01 dea h I P rronius, ·1----F6. D posed in a little OYer a. year.
AuilliS

]\1 J RIAN-Emperor

after J\. Itu As a sinat d • y one of his general .

(4-7-461) ..

. £\'ERl

IU-Emp

ror alt r Majorian (-l 1who assassi-

40-). Poi orted b_ the arne general nat d M jorian (Ricimsr}.

Majoria'j

IU IlVIERgeneral iu the R man army who made and deposed (or xecuted) emperor .. H~ was til . real head of h governmcn ,but ruled it through 0111 . J-Ie di d in 472. B cau 'I" r his Su dan birth he himself had 11 de ire n rule.

AXTIl

E !ll ::;-A

genera]

in 1b

f'rl1l'iHllll" I emperor by the Roman a sa sinul.er] L'r Ricinier. (.,Iii 7 -:l-71.)

'a tern rrrrv, ~l;nple, but

~I rllltt'lIIir,.i"

tiN

E PHEMIA-Wjfe

of Anthernius,

OL YBRI S- on-in-law of Valentinian II L ent to Italy to kill Richner hut Ricimer made him emperor. He died shortly thereafter .. (412..)

.L _CERI S-Emperor at Ravenna (473-474). D thron d by J ulius epos, Died a few years later.

JUl.Y

posrng Glyc:eriLls.

EP 5-Emperor of the west after d Was murdered by Orestes. (474 ..)

A 11.gllst'tll'lts

lu,nll'l,],m

RO 11: LUS UGUSTULUS-La t emperor of the west (4750-476). on of reste but ruled in name only. Deposed by Od acer, king of the Herculi, Retired and died at arnpania,
I

100

The U se of the Inscription in Determining the Year A Coin Was Struck

, , car ful con 'deration of rtain parts of the in crip ions on
the .oins of the empire, up until about the b ginning of the third century, will reveal lite dat that parti ular coin was

struck. The thre

are by;

mo

prominent means of such a determin .tion

1. The TR: 2. The COS 3. Tho> IMP

It must be remembered. a explained els wher in this book, that the tribunician power was grant d t til mperor I r hi lifetime, but that it was r nev ed annually. When it was so renewed each r, n wal would be indicated by the placing of a numeral after the TR P. Thus, TR P III would lndlcate that the coin wa struck during the third year the emperor It Id such a title, sing a more pecific example, a coin of the emperor Nerva upon which R P II was in cribed would first indicate that the coin wa struck during th second year h beld (he tide. iflg the chart which follows, it would be indicated that his second TR P wa in the ear 97'. As Iurth r confirmation and in order to deal with excep ions to thi proc dur
I

we would al

examine the date

of his consuls hip and

th dates, or y ars, in which h re -eived the title Imp rater by acclamation .. :. is tbabbreyiadon of on ul. The rnp ror, rna, t normally, serv d as one of th two COD ul of the R man ta t , Frequ ntly, how v r, he de ignated another to ., rve jJl his tad. J nasmurh as any and ull consul 'hlp' were for 1)11 ~"ar only, and, Fur-ther, inasmuch th Romans used th

Ill"

1101

same syt m of u ing numerals after the CU,~ a they did with the TR P, it is ohell possible te dererminetbe date of a coin by the 0, The outstanding difficulty ill using' the COS, by itself, ho);\', ver, lies in the alorementioned rut that
'quite frequently a period of years passedbefore anemperor would pick up the consulship again, A gccdexarnple would be' indicated in examining th consulships of the mperor Augustus, The chart shows us that he served his XI in

the year 23 Be and his COS XII in 5 B· . As, Further demon-tration, a coin of the emperor - espasian bearing the title ,0 nII ( TE: Roman coins show the numeral four wcitten a above, not as r ) could have been struck either in the y ar 72 or the year 73, for his CO~ V was l1Qt served until lei-and his CO nr was erved in the year 71. On the other hand, a ooin of the emperor Demitian bearing C ,~.X upon it WOUld, have bad to have' been struck in the year 84 because his COS VII II was served in the year 83 and his 0 Xl was served in the ear 8S, And yet a th:ird means 'Of Eindll1,gthe date of your' coin may be found ill the J:MP part of the ins "ription. The IMP here referred to [s that titlewhich we have called the 1M::?byaclamatirai, It should be recalled that the emperor added numbers after this' title, also, to designate extraordinary events, or victories i.n the field by ills commanders, Thus, in examining' a particular coin of the emperor Mar us Aur Iius we find, as part of the inscription, the Iollowing: TR P XXIX, IMP ; H, COS TlI. StUdying the chartswe lind this information:
1. If his TR P II was in the year 147, his TR P XXIX DC urred '1.7. years Iater, or: ill the year n,~,

cos

2, His third consulship (CO -. In) was served in the year

~61. Apparently, we have a discrepancy, but careful observation '\\.iII indicate that rIO JUC:Jre consulships appea r upon the chart. The next step, then, is to turn to the

11\1'1 part ali the in nription . P •), n.1

\.[1 appear in the I::ha.rt under the year of 174, Uur CUill-1llsion, then , is that the coin was struck [n ~11laL year. The above example will indicate why irt is nee ssary

trill