Here's a short 3 minute clip of one of my last hunts deep in the Roman Empire's bread basket. Enjoy!
In the video, I find a fairly rare coin minted under Constantius I - the father of Constantine the Great. The coin dates between 305 and 306 AD. Constantius was only Emperor for two years, so while coins of his son and grandchildren are very popular - his are less common. A good find!
The coin lists as follows:
Constantius I AE quarter follis. 305-306 AD.
Obverse: IMP C CONSTANTIVS PF AVG, laureate head right
Reverse: GENIO POP-VLI ROMANI, Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopia.
Mintmark: SIS (Siscia, now Sisak Croatia)
Size: 16x18mm. Weight: 1.4 g
The full obverse legend “IMP C CONSTANTIVS PF AVG “ translates to “Imperator (commander) C (caesar, prince) Constantius Pius (pious, dutiful, blessed) Felix (happy) Augustus”
The reverse legend “GENIO POPVLI ROMANI” translates to “Genius (guardian spirit) of the Roman People”. The reverse art shows the deity “Genius” with a modius on his head, holding a cornucopia in his left arm, and in the act of making a libation from a patera in his right hand.
Let’s break that down.
In ancient Rome, the genius (plural in Latin genii) was the guiding spirit or tutelary deity of a person or family (gens). The noun is related to the Latin verb genui, genitus, "to bring into being, create, produce". Because the achievements of exceptional individuals seemed to indicate the presence of a particularly powerful spirit, by the time of Augustus the word began to acquire its secondary meaning of "inspiration, talent". The term “genius” today acquired its modern sense in the eighteenth century, and is a conflation of two Latin terms: genius, as above, and ingenium, a related noun referring to our innate dispositions and talents.
The Islamic word “Jinn” comes from this old Latin word, and we know it today as genie. This is closer to what we see on the coin – a genie who’s spirit guides mankind (or in this case, Constantius) to be a good producer good fortune for the Roman empire.
The left hand holds a cornucopia, or horn of plenty. This is a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers or nuts. Probably every child has colored one at some point, usually around autumn, but I suspect most never knew it was much older than the Pilgrims!
The right hand is pouring a libation, or drink offering to the Gods. The libation is poured from a patera, a round shallow dish used by the Romans, (who adopted it from the Etruscans,) at their religious ceremonies, either in making libations of wine to the gods, or in receiving the blood of sacrificial victims.
A small modius sits atop the head of Genius. The modius is a type of flat-topped cylindrical headdress or crown found in ancient Egyptian art and art of the Greco-Roman world. The name was given by modern scholars based on its resemblance to the basket used as a Roman unit of dry measure which was also called a modius (a bushel measure-- of wheat for instance, or any dry or solid commodity). On Roman coins we see the modius represented with corn-ears, and sometimes a poppy hanging or rising from it-- and having reference to distributions of wheat to the people.
So the coin, produced by Constantius 1st, just after he was declared an Augustus (emperor). It shows his genie offering a blessing to the Gods, and he holds a bountiful horn of plenty. By this coin, Constantius was telling his people that he would bring prosperity to the land. When he died a year later his son Constantine (the Great) came to power and it can probably be correct to state that this son did indeed bring prosperity to the Empire.
So who was Constantius?
Constantius I, (Flavius Valerius Constantius) was born sometime in 250 AD in Dacia, and died July 25, 306, Eboracum, Britain [now York, North Yorkshire, England]). He was Roman emperor and father of Constantine I the Great. As a member of a four-man ruling body (tetrarchy) created by the emperor Diocletian, Constantius held the title Caesar from 293 to 305 and Caesar Augustus in 305 to his death in 306.
Of Illyrian descent, Constantius had a distinguished military career before serving as governor of Dalmatia (in modern Croatia). In 289 he left his concubine, Helena, mother of Constantine, and married Theodora, the stepdaughter of the emperor Maximian; with Theodora he had three children, Dalmatius, Constantius and Constantia. On March 1, 293, Constantius was adopted by Maximian and made his caesar. The two men, together with Diocletian and his caesar, Galerius, formed the tetrarchy.
Constantius was assigned to rule Gaul and ordered to subdue Marcus Aurelius Carausius, a usurper in Britain, which he did. Then in 296 Constantius launched a brilliant two-pronged attack on Britain. Constantius then set about restoring frontier defenses. He took strong measures to eliminate Frankish and Saxon piracy, and in 298 he triumphed over the Alemanni (Germanic tribes) in Gaul. His enforcement of Diocletian’s edicts (303) against the Christians was deliberately lax; he demolished some churches but did not execute believers. When Diocletian and Maximian abdicated on May 1, 305, Constantius became the senior emperor in the West. He died the following year just after a victory over tribal people in Scotland, and his troops proclaimed his son Constantine the new emperor.
PS: The music is from Johnny Flynn, and made popular by the wonderful hit BBC TV series - Detectorists.
In the video, I find a fairly rare coin minted under Constantius I - the father of Constantine the Great. The coin dates between 305 and 306 AD. Constantius was only Emperor for two years, so while coins of his son and grandchildren are very popular - his are less common. A good find!
The coin lists as follows:
Constantius I AE quarter follis. 305-306 AD.
Obverse: IMP C CONSTANTIVS PF AVG, laureate head right
Reverse: GENIO POP-VLI ROMANI, Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopia.
Mintmark: SIS (Siscia, now Sisak Croatia)
Size: 16x18mm. Weight: 1.4 g
The full obverse legend “IMP C CONSTANTIVS PF AVG “ translates to “Imperator (commander) C (caesar, prince) Constantius Pius (pious, dutiful, blessed) Felix (happy) Augustus”
The reverse legend “GENIO POPVLI ROMANI” translates to “Genius (guardian spirit) of the Roman People”. The reverse art shows the deity “Genius” with a modius on his head, holding a cornucopia in his left arm, and in the act of making a libation from a patera in his right hand.
Let’s break that down.
In ancient Rome, the genius (plural in Latin genii) was the guiding spirit or tutelary deity of a person or family (gens). The noun is related to the Latin verb genui, genitus, "to bring into being, create, produce". Because the achievements of exceptional individuals seemed to indicate the presence of a particularly powerful spirit, by the time of Augustus the word began to acquire its secondary meaning of "inspiration, talent". The term “genius” today acquired its modern sense in the eighteenth century, and is a conflation of two Latin terms: genius, as above, and ingenium, a related noun referring to our innate dispositions and talents.
The Islamic word “Jinn” comes from this old Latin word, and we know it today as genie. This is closer to what we see on the coin – a genie who’s spirit guides mankind (or in this case, Constantius) to be a good producer good fortune for the Roman empire.
The left hand holds a cornucopia, or horn of plenty. This is a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers or nuts. Probably every child has colored one at some point, usually around autumn, but I suspect most never knew it was much older than the Pilgrims!
The right hand is pouring a libation, or drink offering to the Gods. The libation is poured from a patera, a round shallow dish used by the Romans, (who adopted it from the Etruscans,) at their religious ceremonies, either in making libations of wine to the gods, or in receiving the blood of sacrificial victims.
A small modius sits atop the head of Genius. The modius is a type of flat-topped cylindrical headdress or crown found in ancient Egyptian art and art of the Greco-Roman world. The name was given by modern scholars based on its resemblance to the basket used as a Roman unit of dry measure which was also called a modius (a bushel measure-- of wheat for instance, or any dry or solid commodity). On Roman coins we see the modius represented with corn-ears, and sometimes a poppy hanging or rising from it-- and having reference to distributions of wheat to the people.
So the coin, produced by Constantius 1st, just after he was declared an Augustus (emperor). It shows his genie offering a blessing to the Gods, and he holds a bountiful horn of plenty. By this coin, Constantius was telling his people that he would bring prosperity to the land. When he died a year later his son Constantine (the Great) came to power and it can probably be correct to state that this son did indeed bring prosperity to the Empire.
So who was Constantius?
Constantius I, (Flavius Valerius Constantius) was born sometime in 250 AD in Dacia, and died July 25, 306, Eboracum, Britain [now York, North Yorkshire, England]). He was Roman emperor and father of Constantine I the Great. As a member of a four-man ruling body (tetrarchy) created by the emperor Diocletian, Constantius held the title Caesar from 293 to 305 and Caesar Augustus in 305 to his death in 306.
Of Illyrian descent, Constantius had a distinguished military career before serving as governor of Dalmatia (in modern Croatia). In 289 he left his concubine, Helena, mother of Constantine, and married Theodora, the stepdaughter of the emperor Maximian; with Theodora he had three children, Dalmatius, Constantius and Constantia. On March 1, 293, Constantius was adopted by Maximian and made his caesar. The two men, together with Diocletian and his caesar, Galerius, formed the tetrarchy.
Constantius was assigned to rule Gaul and ordered to subdue Marcus Aurelius Carausius, a usurper in Britain, which he did. Then in 296 Constantius launched a brilliant two-pronged attack on Britain. Constantius then set about restoring frontier defenses. He took strong measures to eliminate Frankish and Saxon piracy, and in 298 he triumphed over the Alemanni (Germanic tribes) in Gaul. His enforcement of Diocletian’s edicts (303) against the Christians was deliberately lax; he demolished some churches but did not execute believers. When Diocletian and Maximian abdicated on May 1, 305, Constantius became the senior emperor in the West. He died the following year just after a victory over tribal people in Scotland, and his troops proclaimed his son Constantine the new emperor.
PS: The music is from Johnny Flynn, and made popular by the wonderful hit BBC TV series - Detectorists.
great video and BEAUTIFUL coin! You find, in my opinion, the coolest stuff on here! (but that could just be the Latin/Roman History nerd in me 
)
