VALERIAN I 253AD Viminacium mint Billon Silver Roman Coin Virtus Cult i36016

$168.88 $151.99

Availability: 1 in stock

SKU: i36016 Category:

Item

Item: i36016

 

Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Valerian I – Roman Emperor: 253-260 A.D. –

Billon

Silver Antoninianus 20mm (3.74 grams) Viminacium mint 253 A.D.
Reference: RIC 268, C 272
IMPVALERIANVSPAVG – Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
 VIRTVSAVGG – Virtus standing left, holding Victory and spear with shield.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of

Authenticity.

 

Publius Licinius Valerianus

(c. 200 – after 260), commonly known in

English

as Valerian or Valerian I, was the

Roman

Emperor
from 253 to 260.

Origins and rise to power

Unlike the majority of the pretenders during the

Crisis of the Third Centuryy

, Valerian was of a noble and traditional

senatorial

family. Details of his early life are elusive, but for his

marriage to Egnatia Mariniana

, who gave him two sons: later emperor

Publius

Licinius Egnatius Gallienus
and

Valerianus Minor

.

In 238 he was

princeps senatus

, and

Gordian I

negotiated through him for Senatorial acknowledgement for his claim as emperor.

In 251, when Decius

revived the censorship with legislative and executive powers so extensive that

it practically embraced the civil authority of the emperor, Valerian was chosen

censor

by the Senate, though he declined to accept the post. Under Decius he

was nominated governor of the

Rhine
provinces

of Noricum

and Raetia
and

retained the confidence of his successor,

Trebonianus Gallus

, who asked him for reinforcements to quell the rebellion

of Aemilianus

Rule and fall

Valerian’s first act as emperor was to make his son Gallienus

his colleague. In the beginning of his reign the affairs in Europe went from bad

to worse and the whole West fell into disorder. In the East,

Antioch
had

fallen into the hands of a

Sassanid

vassal,

Armenia

was occupied by

Shapur I
(Sapor).

Valerian and Gallienus split the problems of the empire between the two, with

the son taking the West and the father heading East to face the

Persian

threat.

By 257, Valerian had already recovered Antioch and returned

the province of

Syria

to Roman control but in the following year, the

Goths
ravaged

Asia Minor

. Later in 259, he moved to

Edessa

, but an outbreak of

plague

killed a critical number of

legionaries
,

weakening the Roman position in Edessa which was then besieged by the Persians.

At the beginning of 260, Valerian was defeated in the

Battle of Edessa

and he arranged a meeting with Shapur to negotiate a peace

settlement. The ceasefire was betrayed by Shapur who seized him and held him

prisoner for the remainder of his life. Valerian’s capture was a humiliating

defeat for the Romans.

Coin of
Egnatia Mariniana
, wife of Valerian
and mother of
Gallienus
.

 

Gibbon

, in

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

describes

Valerian’s fate:

The voice of history, which is often little more than the

organ of hatred or flattery, reproaches Sapor with a proud abuse of the rights

of conquest. We are told that Valerian, in chains, but invested with the

Imperial purple, was exposed to the multitude, a constant spectacle of fallen

greatness; and that whenever the Persian monarch mounted on horseback, he placed

his foot on the neck of a Roman emperor. Notwithstanding all the remonstrances

of his allies, who repeatedly advised him to remember the vicissitudes of

fortune, to dread the returning power of Rome, and to make his illustrious

captive the pledge of peace, not the object of insult, Sapor still remained

inflexible. When Valerian sunk under the weight of shame and grief, his skin,

stuffed with straw, and formed into the likeness of a human figure, was

preserved for ages in the most celebrated temple of Persia; a more real monument

of triumph, than the fancied trophies of brass and marble so often erected by

Roman vanity.

The tale is moral and pathetic, but the truth of it may very fairly be called in

question. The letters still extant from the princes of the East to Sapor are

manifest forgeries;

nor is it natural to suppose that a jealous monarch should, even in the person

of a rival, thus publicly degrade the majesty of kings. Whatever treatment the

unfortunate Valerian might experience in Persia, it is at least certain that the

only emperor of Rome who had ever fallen into the hands of the enemy, languished

away his life in hopeless captivity.

Valerian’s massacre of 258

According to the

Catholic Encyclopedia

article on

Valerian

:

Pope Sixtus

was seized on 6 August, 258, in one of the Catacombs and was put

to death;

Cyprian of Carthage

suffered martyrdom on 14 September. Another celebrated

martyr was the Roman deacon

St. Lawrence

. In Spain Bishop

Fructuosus of Tarragona

and his two deacons were put to death on 21 January,

259. There were also executions in the eastern provinces (Eusebius, VII, xii).

Taken altogether, however, the repressions were limited to scattered spots and

had no great success..

Death in captivity

An early Christian source,

Lactantius
,

maintained that for some time prior to his death Valerian was subjected to the

greatest insults by his captors, such as being used as a human footstool by

Shapur when mounting his horse. According to this version of events, after a

long period of such treatment Valerian offered Shapur a huge ransom for his

release. In reply, according to one version, Shapur was said to have forced

Valerian to swallow molten gold (the other version of his death is almost the

same but it says that Valerian was killed by being flayed alive) and then had

the unfortunate Valerian skinned and his skin stuffed with straw and preserved

as a trophy in the main Persian temple. It was further alleged by Lactantius

that it was only after a later Persian defeat against Rome that his skin was

given a cremation and burial.

The role of a Chinese prince held hostage by Shapur I, in the events following

the death of Valerian has been frequently debated by historians, without

reaching any definitive conclusion.

<!–

The Humiliation of

Emperor Valerianrian

Shapur I, pen and ink,

Hans Holbein the Younger

, ca. 1521

Some modern scholars

believe that, contrary to Lactantius’ account,

Shapur I

sent Valerian and some of his army to the city of

Bishapur

where they lived in relatively good condition. Shapur used the remaining

soldiers in engineering and development plans. Band-e Kaisar (Caesar’s

dam) is one of the remnants of Roman engineering located near the ancient city

of Susa
.

In all the stone carvings on Naghshe-Rostam, in Iran, Valerian is respected by

holding hands with Shapur I, in sign of submission.

It is generally supposed that some of

Lactantius

account is motivated by his desire to establish that persecutors of the

Christians died fitting deaths;

the story was repeated then and later by authors in the Roman Near East

“fiercely hostile” to Persia.

Other modern scholars tend to give at least some credence to

Lactantius’ account.

Valerian and Gallienus’ joint rule was threatened several

times by

usurpers

. Despite several usurpation attempts, Gallienus secured the throne

until his own assassination in 268.

Owing to imperfect and often contradictory sources, the
chronology and details of this reign are very uncertain.


Viminacium (VIMINACIVM) was a major city (provincial
capital) and military camp of the
Roman
province of
Moesia
(today’s
Serbia
), and the capital of
Moesia Superior
. The site is located 12 km
from the modern town of
Kostolac
in Eastern Serbia. The city dates back
to the 1st century AD, and at its peak it is believed to have had 40.000
inhabitants, making it one of the biggest cities of that time. It lies on the
Roman road
Via Militaris
. Viminacium was devastated by

Huns
in the 5th century, but was later rebuilt by
Justinian
. It was completely destroyed with the
arrival
of
Slavs
in the 6th century. Today, the
archeological site occupies a total of 450 hectares, and contains remains of
temples, streets, squares, amphitheatres, palaces, hippodromes and Roman baths.

History


 

A XXV the scene of the
Trajan’s Column
, which may have
been accounted for “headquarters” of the Roman Emperor: Viminacium.

The remains of Viminacium, the capital of the Roman province of
Moesia Superior
, are located on territories of
the villages of Stari Kostolac and Drmno, about 12 km from the town of
Kostolac
and about 90 miles southeast of
Belgrade
. Viminacium was one of the most
important Roman cities and military camps in the period from 1st to 4th
centuries. Its exceptional strategic importance was reflected both in the
defense of the northern border of the Roman empire and in turn of communications
and commercial transactions. No less appealing to the Romans was the hinterland
of the Mlava
river valley, which is rich in ore and
grains. In Roman times, the town on the northern side of relying directly on the
branch of the Danube
, while the western side, touching the
walls Mlava rivers. Only in the later period, Viminacium spread to the left bank
of Mlava. Thanks to the location, land and waterways, Viminacium represented one
of those areas where the encounter of cultures between East and West was
inevitable. Although these roads were the primary military and strategic
function, they are taking place throughout antiquity very lively traffic and
certainly contributed to the very Viminacium become prosperous and an important
trading and business headquarters. In Viminacium,
Roman legion VII Claudia
was stationed, and a
nearby civilian settlement emerged from the military camp. In 117 during the
reign of Hadrian
it received city status. In the camp,
6.000 soldiers were stationed, and 30-40.000 lived nearby. In the first half of
the 3rd century the city was in full development, as evidenced by the fact that
at that time it acquired the status of a Roman colony, and the right to coin
local money. Here, in 211,
Septimius Severus
was proclaimed emperor by his
son Caracalla
. In the mausoleum and the excavated
tombs, the Roman emperor
Hostilian
, who died in 251, was buried.

A legion may have been stationed here as early as Augustus (27 BC-14 AD). In
33/34 AD a road was built, linking Viminacium and
Ratiaria
.
Claudius
(41-54) garrisoned Viminacium,
Oescus
and
Novae
as camps for the Moesian legions.

The first legion attested at Viminacium was the VII Claudia that came from
Dalmatia in 52 AD .

Emperor Trajan
(98-117) was headquartered here
during the
Dacian Wars
. It became a colonia with
minting privilege in 239 AD during the rule of
Gordian III
(238-244) and housed the Legion VII
and Legion IV.

Emperor Hostilian
was the son of the emperor
Decius
, who was killed in the ambush near the
ancient city of Abrutus located in present day Bulgaria. According to the old
manuscript, emperor Hostilian and his mother came to Viminacium to supervise the
organization of defense of northern borders, but both of them died of the
plague. Because of the distance and the fear of spreading the plague, he was
buried with all honors in Viminacium

Viminacium was the provincial capital of
Moesia Superior
. In the late spring of 293-294,
Diocletian
journeyed through his realm and he
re-organized Viminacium as the capital of the new province of Moesia Superior
Margensis
. He registered that the people wrote in Latin, as opposed to Greek
in the southern provinces. Viminacium was the base camp of
ClaudiaLegio VII
,
and hosted for some time the
Flavia FelixIIII
.
It had a Roman amphitheatre with room for 12,000 people.

In 382 the city was the meeting place between
Theodosius
and
Gratian
amidst the
Gothic Wars
.

Viminacium was destroyed in 441 by the
Attila the Hun
, but rebuilt by
Justinian I
. During
Maurice’s Balkan campaigns
, Viminacium saw
destruction by the
Avars
in 582 and a
crushing defeat
of Avar forces on the northern
Danube bank in 599, destroying Avar reputation for invincibility.[3]

Location and
excavation


Valerian
AD 253-260. AR
Antoninianus. Viminacium mint. 1st emission, 1st phase, AD 253.

Viminacium is located in
Stari Kostolac
(Old
Kostolac
) a
Serbian
town on the
Danube
river, east of
Belgrade
. Viminacium is the location of the
first archaeological excavation in Serbia, which started in 1882, by
Mihailo Valtrović
, an architect by profession
and the first professor of archeology at the college in
Belgrade
. The only help he received was from 12
prisoners, because the state did not have enough resources to provide him with a
better work force. His research was continued by
Miloje Vasić
, in the 1970s[clarification
needed
]
. It has intensified in the last ten years in
the area of the Roman city of the Roman legionary camps and cemeteries. Many
studies suggest that the military camp at Viminacium had a rectangular plan,
measuring 442 x 385 meters, and that is not far from its western wall of
civilian settlement in an area of approximately 72 acres. Legionary camp in
Viminacium is now in a layer of arable land, so that wealth Viminacium easily
accessible to researchers, but, unfortunately, and the robbers.The National
Museum in Belgrade
and
Požarevac
kept some 40,000 items found in
Viminacium, of which over 700 made of gold and silver. Among them are many
objects that represent the European and world rarities invaluable.

It has been discovered and more than 13,500 graves. Tombstones and sarcophagi
are often decorated with relief representations of scenes from mythology or
daily life. We have found numerous grave masonry construction. Especially
interesting are the frescoes of the 4th-century tombs.
Fresco
with the notion of young women in
artistic value of the extreme range of late antique art. During the excavation,
an amphitheater, which with its 12,000 seats was one of the largest in the
Balkans
.

 

 


Frequently Asked Questions

How long until my order is shipped?:
Depending on the

volume of sales, it may take up to 5 business days for shipment of

your order after the receipt of payment.

How will I know when the order was shipped?:
After your

order has shipped, you will be left positive feedback, and that date

should be used as a basis of estimating an arrival date.

After you shipped the order, how long will the mail take?

USPS First Class mail takes about 3-5 business days to arrive in the

U.S., international shipping times cannot be estimated as they vary

from country to country. I am not responsible for any USPS delivery

delays, especially for an international package.

What is a certificate of authenticity and what guarantees do

you give that the item is authentic?
Each of the items sold

here, is provided with a Certificate of Authenticity, and a Lifetime

Guarantee of Authenticity, issued by a world-renowned numismatic and

antique expert that has identified over 10000 ancient coins and has

provided them with the same guarantee. You will be quite happy with

what you get with the COA; a professional presentation of the coin,

with all of the relevant information and a picture of the coin you

saw in the listing.

Compared to other certification companies, the certificate of

authenticity is a $25-50 value. So buy a coin today and own a piece

of history, guaranteed.

Is there a money back guarantee?

I offer a 30 day unconditional money back guarantee. I stand

behind my coins and would be willing to exchange your order for

either store credit towards other coins, or refund, minus shipping

expenses, within 30 days from the receipt of your order. My goal is

to have the returning customers for a lifetime, and I am so sure in

my coins, their authenticity, numismatic value and beauty, I can

offer such a guarantee.

Is there a number I can call you with questions about my

order?

You can contact me directly via ask seller a question and request my

telephone number, or go to my

About Me Page to get my contact information only in regards to

items purchased on eBay.

When should I leave feedback?
Once you receive your

order, please leave a positive. Please don’t leave any negative

feedbacks, as it happens many times that people rush to leave

feedback before letting sufficient time for the order to arrive.

Also, if you sent an email, make sure to check for my reply in your

messages before claiming that you didn’t receive a response. The

matter of fact is that any issues can be resolved, as reputation is

most important to me. My goal is to provide superior products and

quality of service.

  • Selection Required: Select product options above before making new offer.
  • Offer Sent! Your offer has been received and will be processed as soon as possible.
  • Error: There was an error sending your offer, please try again. If this problem persists, please contact us.

Make Offer

To make an offer please complete the form below:
$
Please wait...
YEAR

Year_in_description

DENOMINATION

Denomination_in_description

Shopping Cart