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Tacitus – Roman Emperor: 275-276 A.D.
Silvered Bronze Antoninianus 22mm (3.11 grams)
Struck circa 275-276 A.D.
Reference: RIC 167
IMPCMCLTACITVSAVG – Radiate, draped bust right.
SPESPVBLICA Exe: P – Tacitus standing left on right, holding spear, receiving wreath from
Victory to left, holding palm.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
 In ancient Roman religion, Victoria or Victory was the personified goddess of victory. She is the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Nike, and was associated with Bellona. She was adapted from the Sabine agricultural goddess Vacuna and had a temple on the Palatine Hill. The goddess Vica Pota was also sometimes identified with Victoria.
Unlike the Greek Nike, the goddess Victoria (Latin for “victory”) was a major part of Roman society. Multiple temples were erected in her honor. When her statue was removed in 382 CE by Emperor Gratianus there was much anger in Rome. She was normally worshiped by triumphant generals returning from war.
Also unlike the Greek Nike, who was known for success in athletic games such as chariot races, Victoria was a symbol of victory over death and determined who would be successful during war.
Victoria appears widely on Roman coins, jewelry, architecture, and other arts. She is often seen with or in a chariot, as in the late 18th-century sculpture representing Victory in a quadriga on the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany; “Il Vittoriano” in Rome has two.
Winged figures, very often in pairs, representing victory and referred to as “victories”, were common in Roman official iconography, typically hovering high in a composition, and often filling spaces in spandrels or other gaps in architecture. These represent the spirit of victory rather than the goddess herself. They continued to appear after Christianization of the Empire, and slowly mutated into Christian angels.
 The wreath was a symbol of victory in ancient Greek and Roman times, and references to it are still used in modern English language, as some may term it to be a “victory wreath.” A laurel wreath, oak wreath or wreath is a circular wreath made of interlocking branches and leaves of the bay laurel (as in laurel wreath) (Laurus nobilis, Lauraceae), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen; or branches and leaves of other plants. In Greek mythology, Apollo is represented wearing a laurel wreath on his head. A wreath made of oak has connections to Jupiter, the Roman equivalent of Zeus, as his sacred tree was the oak. In ancient Greece wreaths were awarded to victors, both in athletic competitions, including the ancient Olympics made of wild olive-tree known as “kotinos” (κότινος), (sc. at Olympia) and in poetic meets; in Rome they were symbols of martial victory, crowning a successful commander during his triumph.
The wreath symbol was used often on ancient Greek and Roman coins. The wreath on ancient Roman coins is often depicted being held by Jupiter’s (Zeus’) sacred bird, the eagle, and also Victory (Nike) and by other deities less often; and many coins with emperors depicted wearing it; and at times, entire designs being surrounded by a wreath.
In common modern idiomatic usage it refers to a victory. The expression “resting on one’s laurels” refers to someone relying entirely on long-past successes for continued fame or recognition, where to “look to one’s laurels” encourages an individual to take inspiration from past achievements to conquer a fresh task.
 Marcus Claudius Tacitus (ca. 200 – June 276) was a Roman Emperor from September 25 275, to June 276.
He was born in Interamna (Terni), in Italia. He circulated copies of the historian Gaius Cornelius Tacitus’ work, which was barely read at the time, and so we perhaps have him to thank for the partial survival of Tacitus’ work; however, modern historiography rejects his claimed descent from the historian as forgery. In the course of his long life he discharged the duties of various civil offices, including that of consul in 273, with universal respect.
After the assassination of Aurelian, he was chosen by the Senate to succeed him, and the choice was cordially ratified by the army. His first action was to move against the barbarian tribes that had been gathered by Aurelian for his Eastern campaign, and which had plundered the Eastern Roman provinces after Aurelian had been murdered and the campaign cancelled. His half-brother, the Praetorian Prefect Florianus, and Tacitus himself won a victory against these tribes, among which Heruli, which granted the emperor the title Gothicus Maximus.
Tacitus probably died of fever (according to Aurelius Victor, Eutropius and the Historia Augusta) – though Zosimus claims he was assassinated – at Tyana in Cappadocia in June 276.
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