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Jovian – Roman Emperor: 363-364 A.D. –
Bronze Æ3 20mm (3.26 grams) Struck at the mint of Aquileia circa 363-364 A.D.
Reference: RIC 247 (Aquileia), LRBC 960
DN IOVIANVS PF PP AVG – Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Wreath with VOT/ V / MVLT / X within, AQVILS in exergue.
Rare type.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
A laurel wreath is a circular
wreath
made of interlocking branches and leaves
of the
bay laurel
(Laurus nobilis), an aromatic
broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher’s broom (Ruscus
hypoglossum) or cherry laurel (Prunus
laurocerasus). In
Greek mythology
,
Apollo
is represented wearing a laurel wreath
on his head. 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),[1]
(sc. at
Olympia
) and in poetic meets; in
Rome
they were symbols of martial victory,
crowning a successful commander during his
triumph
. Whereas ancient laurel wreaths are
most often depicted as a
horseshoe
shape, modern versions are usually
complete rings.
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” means to be careful of losing rank to competition.
Academic use
Ovid
with laurel wreath, common in
poets.
In some countries the laurel wreath is used as symbol of the
master’s degree
. The wreath is given to young
masters in the
graduation ceremony
of the university. The word
“Laureate”
in ‘poet
laureate‘ refers to being signified by the laurel wreath. The
medieval Florentine poet and philosopher
Dante Alighieri
,[dubious
–
discuss
] a graduate of the
Sicilian School
, is often represented in
paintings and sculpture wearing a laurel wreath.
Laureato[3]
is the term used in Italy
to refer to any graduated student. In
some italian regions (Veneto,
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
and
Trentino
), right after the graduation ceremony
(in Italian: laurea), the student receives a laurel wreath and is allowed
to wear it for the rest of the day. This tradition was born in the
University of Padua
and since the end of the
19th century is common to all
northeastern Italian
universities.
At
Connecticut College
in the United States,
members of the junior class carry a laurel
chain
, which the seniors pass through during
commencement. It represents nature and the continuation of life from year to
year. Immediately following commencement, the junior girls write out with the
laurels their class year, symbolizing they have officially become seniors and
the cycle will repeat itself the following spring.
At
Mount Holyoke College
in
South Hadley, Massachusetts
, United States,
laurel has been a fixture of
commencement
traditions since 1900, when
graduating students carried or wore laurel wreaths. In 1902, the chain of
mountain laurel
was introduced; since then,
tradition has been for seniors to march across campus, carrying and linked by
the chain. The mountain laurel represents the
bay laurel
used by the
Romans
in wreaths and crowns of honor.[4]
At Reed College
in
Portland, Oregon
, United States, members of the
senior class receive laurel wreaths upon submitting their senior
thesis
in May. The tradition stems from the use
of laurel wreaths in athletic competitions; the seniors have “crossed the finish
line,” so to speak.
At
St. Mark’s School
in
Southborough, Massachusetts
, students who
successfully complete three years of one classical language and two of the other
earn the distinction of the Classics Diploma and the honor of wearing a laurel
wreath on Prize Day.
In Sweden
, those receiving a Doctorate or an
Honorary Doctorate
at the Faculty of Philosophy
(meaning Philosophy, Languages, Arts, History and Social Sciences), receive a
laurel wreath during the ceremony of conferral of the degree.
Architectural and decorative arts motif
“Victory, A Knight Being Crowned With A Laurel Wreath” by
Frank Dicksee
.
The laurel wreath is a common motif in
architecture
,
furniture
, and
textiles
. The laurel wreath is seen carved in
the stone and decorative plaster works of
Robert Adam
, and in
Federal
,
Regency
,
Directoire
, and
Beaux-Arts
periods of architecture. In
decorative arts, especially during the
Empire period
, the laurel wreath is seen woven
in textiles, inlaid in marquetry, and applied to furniture in the form of gilded
brass mounts.
Alfa Romeo
added a laurel wreath to their
logo after they won the inaugural Automobile World Championship in
1925 with the
P2
racing car.
Wreath of Service
The “wreath of service” is located on all
commissioner
position patches in the
Boy Scouts of America
. This is a symbol for the
service rendered to units and the continued partnership between volunteers and
professional Scouter
. The Wreath of Service
represents commitment to program and unit service.[5]
Flavius Iovianus,
anglicized
to Jovian, (331 – 17 February 364) was a
soldier
elected
Roman
Emperor
by the army on 27 June 363 upon the death of Emperor
Julian the Apostate
during his
Sassanid
campaign. Jovian reestablished
Christianity
as the favored religion of the Empire.
Rise to
power
Jovian was born at
Singidunum
(today Belgrade
,
Serbia
) in 331,
son of (Flavius?) Varronianus, the commander of
Constantius II
‘s imperial bodyguards (comes domesticorum). He also joined
the guards, and by 363 had risen to the same command that his father had once
held. In this capacity, Jovian accompanied the Roman Emperor
Julian
on the
Mesopotamian campaign of the same year against
Shapur II
,
the
Sassanid
king. After a small but decisive engagement the Roman army was
forced to retreat from the numerically superior Persian force. Julian was
mortally wounded during the retreat and died on 26 June 363. The next day, after
the aged Saturninius Secundus Salutius
,
praetorian prefect
of the Orient, declined the purple, the choice of the
army fell upon Jovian. His election caused considerable surprise, and it is
suggested by
Ammianus Marcellinus
that he was wrongly identified with another Jovianus,
chief notary (primicerius notariorum), whose name also had been put forward, or
that during the acclamations the soldiers mistook the name Jovianus for Julianus,
and imagined that the latter had recovered from his illness.
Restoration
of Christianity
Jovian, a
Christian
,
reestablished
Christianity
as the favoured religion of the
Roman
Empire
ending the brief revival of paganism under his predecessor Julian.
Upon arriving at Antioch, he revoked the edicts of Julian against the
Christians. The Labarum
of
Constantine the Great
again became the standard of the army.
He issued an edict of toleration, to the effect that, while the exercise of
magical rites would be punished, his subjects should enjoy full liberty of
conscience.
However, in 363 he issued an edict ordering the Library of
Antioch to be
burnt
down
,
and another on 11 September subjecting the worship of ancestral gods to the
death penalty
, which, on 23 December, he also applied to participation in
any pagan ceremony (even private ones).
Jovian entertained a great regard for
Athanasius
, whom he reinstated on the archiepiscopal throne,
desiring him to draw up a statement of the Orthodox faith. In
Syriac
literature Jovian became the hero of a Christian romance. From
Jovian’s reign until the 15th century Christianity remained the dominant
religion of both the Western and Eastern Roman Empires, until the fall of
Constantinople
to the
Turks
in 1453.
Rule
Jovian continued the retreat begun by Julian, and,
continually harassed by the Persians, succeeded in reaching the banks of the
Tigris, where Jovian, deep inside Sassanid territory, was forced to sue for a
peace treaty on humiliatingly unfavourable terms. In exchange for his safety, he
agreed to withdraw from the five
Roman provinces
conquered by
Galerius
in
298, east of the Tigris, that
Diocletian
had annexed and allow the Persians to occupy the fortresses of
Nisibis
, Castra Maurorum and
Singara
. The
Romans also surrendered their interests in the
Kingdom of Armenia
to the Persians and the Christian king of Armenia,
Arshak II
,
was to stay neutral in future conflicts between the two empires, and was forced
to cede part of his kingdom to Shapur. The treaty was widely seen as a disgrace
and Jovian rapidly lost popularity.
After arriving at Antioch, Jovian decided to rush to
Constantinople to consolidate his political position there.
He died on 17 February 364 after a reign of only eight
months. During his return to Constantinople, Jovian was found dead in bed in his
tent at
Dadastana
, halfway between
Ancyra
and
Nicaea
. A surfeit of mushrooms or the poisonous
carbon monoxide
fumes of a charcoal warming fire has been assigned as the
cause of death.
Jovian was buried in the
Church of the Holy Apostles
in Constantinople.
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