ROMAN EMPIRE
GALLIENUS 253-268 AD
BI DOUBLE DENARIUS
Roman Age of Chaos
CERTIFIED BY NGC
Obverse:
Gallienus facing right, wearing a military style drape and a radiate
crown, framed by the inscription "GALLIENVS AVG," which simply means "Emperor
Gallienus."
Reverse :ABVNDANTIA AVG B .Abundantia standing right, pouring out
cornucopia
Abundantia was the Roman goddess of good
fortune, abundance and prosperity.
Abundantia (ca. 1630) by Rubens
Within Roman mythology , the figure of Abundantia (also known as Annona ) was
considered to be a minor deity: the personification of luck, abundance and
prosperity, and was also the guardian of the cornucopia – the horn of plenty. It
was with this that she distributed food and money. The main version of the
origin of the cornucopia is similar in both the Greek and the Roman mythology,
in which the king of the gods, having accidentally broken the horn of the
mystical goat in play, promised that the horn would never run empty the fruits
of her desire. The horn was then later to be passed into the keeping of
Abundantia.
While there are few temples or signs of worship for Abudantia to be found within
Rome , she has also been described in the past as 'the beautiful maiden of
success', and as such is largely featured in art. Often portrayed as holding the
cornucopia and sheaves of corn, while allowing the contents to fall to the
ground, Abundantia's form has graced Roman coins in ages past.
Abudantia has withstood the tests of time, taking on the form of the French 'Olde
Dame Habonde'; also known as Domina Abundia , and Notre Dame d'Abondance, a
beneficial fairy figure found throughout Teutonic mythology , and poetry of the
Middle Ages.Within texts related to this figure it is said that she would bestow
the gift of plenty and of good fortune to those she visits, and in modern
society is the patron of gamblers – the revered Lady Fortune .
Gallienus was Emperor of the Roman Empire
from AD 253-268, sharing the throne with his father Valerian until AD 260, then
as sole ruler until his death in AD 268. Based upon the inscriptions, this
Billon Double-Denarius of Gallienus was struck during his solitary reign, AD
260-268. The Romans typically used doubled letters to indicate plurality.
Coinage of Gallienus minted during his joint reign are inscribed "AVGG" (two
emperors), while later coins bear the inscription "AVG."
Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus ( c. 218
– September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and
alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that
nearly caused the collapse of the empire. He won a number of military victories
against usurpers and Germanic tribes, but was unable to prevent the secession of
important provinces. His 15-year reign was the longest in half a century.
Born into a wealthy and traditional senatorial family, Gallienus was the son of
Valerian and Mariniana. Valerian became Emperor in September 253 and had the
Roman senate elevate Gallienus to the ranks of Caesar and Augustus. Valerian
divided the empire between him and his son, with Valerian ruling the east and
his son the west. Gallienus defeated the usurper Ingenuus in 258 and destroyed
an Alemanni army at Mediolanum in 259.
The defeat and capture of Valerian at Edessa in 260 by the Sasanian Empire threw
the Roman Empire into the chaos of civil war. Control of the whole empire passed
to Gallienus. He defeated the eastern usurpers Macrianus Major and Lucius
Mussius Aemilianus in 261–262 but failed to stop the formation of the breakaway
Gallic Empire under general Postumus. Aureolus, another usurper, proclaimed
himself emperor in Mediolanum in 268 but was defeated outside the city by
Gallienus and besieged inside. While the siege was ongoing, Gallienus was
assassinated, stabbed to death by the officer Cecropius, as part of a
conspiracy.
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