AURELIAN shaking hands with Concordia Harmony Cult Ancient Roman Coin i39979

Item: i39979

 Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Aurelian – Roman Emperor: 270-275 A.D. –

Bronze Antoninianus 21mm (3.27 gtams)   Struck at the mint of
Mediolanum 272-274 A.D.
Reference: RIC 120f, C 61
IMPCAVRELIANVSAVG – Radiate, cuirassed bust right.
CONCORDIAMILITVM Exe: *S – Aurelian standing right on left, shaking hands
with Concordia to right.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

Marriage in ancient Rome had mythical beginnings, starting with the
abduction of the Sabine Women
.
Romulus
and his band of male immigrants were
rejected conubium, the legal right to intermarriage, from the
Sabines.
According to
Livy,
Romulus
and his men abducted the Sabine
maidens, but promised them an honorable marriage, in which they would enjoy the
benefits of property, citizenship, and children. These three benefits seem to
define the purpose of marriage in ancient Rome.

The word matrimonium, the root for our own word for
marriage,
matrimony, defines the institution’s main function. Involving the mater (mother),
it carries with it the implication of the man taking to woman in marriage to
have children. It is the idea conventionally shared by Romans as to the purpose
of marriage, which would be to produce
legitimate children
; citizens producing new
citizens.

Consortium is a word used for the sharing of property, usually
used in a technical sense for the property held by heirs, but could also be used
in the context of marriage. Such usage was commonly seen in
Christian
writings. However, the sharing of water and fire (aquae et ignis
communiciatio) was symbolically more important. It refers to the sharing of
natural resources. Worldly possessions transferred automatically from the wife
to the husband in archaic times, whereas the classical marriage kept the wife’s
property separate.

In order for the union of a man and woman to be legitimate, there needed to
be consent legally and morally. Both parties had to be willing and intend to
marry, and both needed their fathers’ consent. If all other legal conditions
were met, a marriage was made.

 Conventions
of Roman Marriage

The lives of elite Roman women were essentially determined by their
marriages. We are best informed about families with both wealth and political
standing, whose largely inherited money would follow both their sons and their
daughters. In the earliest periods of Roman history,
Manus Marriage
meant that a married woman would
be subjugated by her husband, but that custom had died out by the 1st century
BCE, in favor of Free Marriage which did not grant a husband any rights over his
wife or have any changing effect on a woman’s status.

Elite young men would usually marry in their mid-twenties, after a year or
more of
military service and some initial experience attending cases and even
pleading in the criminal or civil courts. Their brides, however, would be
markedly younger women, between fifteen and twenty years of age. This was in
part because the family felt no need to retain the daughter at home in order to
give her a full education, and partly from fear that once into the flush of
adolescence the girl might throw away her virginity or lose the reputation for
chastity, which was a prerequisite for marriage. So betrothal tended to follow
as soon as possible after puberty, even when the girl’s physique suggested
postponement of consummation in marriage, because she seemed insufficiently
developed to carry a healthy pregnancy or survive the high risks of childbirth.
The young wife would learn some of the complexities of running a large household
by observing her mother, and her training would be supplemented by the
slave staff
of her new household.

The more prominent her family, the less it was likely that the girl would
have much choice in the age, appearance or character of her first husband.
Through high status marriages (even imperial ones), women were able to gain
associative power from their husbands’ prominent positions in society. Women who
gained power in this way could even then legitimize the power positions of their
sons (such as with Livia
and
Tiberius)
as their symbolic status influenced Roman society.

While upper class girls married very young, there is evidence that lower
class women –
plebeians
, freedwomen etc. – often married in
their late teens or early twenties. Women were not seen as likely to marry after
thirty. Marriage for them was not about economic or political gain, so it was
not as urgent.

In a sense, the lives of all women in
antiquity
were defined around their expectation
and achievement of marriage: first as young girls, then as wives and, if all
went well, as mothers. In their later years, it was statistically probable that
they would survive their husbands and live as
widows
. From day to day, on a larger scale,
their obligations and opportunities depended on the man or men to whom they were
married.

 Patria
Potestas

Fathers of legitimate children alone had
patria potestas
over their children. Patria
potestas was the lifelong subjugation of a child to his or her father’s will
and, to the horror of the Greeks and other outside observers of the time,
applied to sons as much as daughters.^{[citation
needed]}

A man or woman whose legitimate father was still alive required his consent
for marriage. No paternal consent was required for illegitimate children or
those whose fathers had died. This gave the father of legitimate children a very
substantial say in at least the first marriage of his children. He had no right
to prevent a divorce by one of his children. Though a father could deny the
right to marriage by refusing a prospective son- or daughter-in-law, he could
not legally force his children into marriage.

 Engagement
and Ceremony

The nuptiae was often begun with a celebration, combining legal,
religious, and social features. It brings the two households together, new
property is introduced, and there is the underlying promise of children. The
wedding ceremony no doubt included various customs and religious rites, but it
cannot be assumed such rituals were static or widespread throughout the
centuries.

The typical upperclass wedding in the classical period tended to be a lavish
affair. The expense of the wedding was normally the bride’s family’s
responsibility. The day was carefully chosen, with all sorts of religious
reasons as to why certain days should be avoided. Gifts were given to family and
friends, and sometimes the bride
and
groom
exchanged presents of money before the
wedding. On the wedding day, the bride went with a procession to her new home,
while the bridegroom went ahead of the bride to receive her. With her, the bride
brought a torch lit from her family’s hearth, and was offered another torch and
water, symbolizing the aquae et ignis communicatio. She was then carried
over the threshold by her attendants, not her husband. The words “Ubi tu Gaius,
ego Gaia” may have been exchanged at this point. The actual consummation of the
marriage took place in the bedroom, supposedly in the dark. The day after the
wedding, the groom would hold a dinner party at his house, and it was at this
time that the bride made an offering to the gods of her new home. All of this
was part of publicizing the marriage.

The verbal consent between the bride and groom fulfilled the legal
expectations, the sharing of the water and fire and, perhaps, the clasping of
their right hands (dextrarum iunctio), the religious, and the actual
ceremony and celebration fulfilled the social.

 Dowry

One of the most important aspects of the practical and business-like
arrangement of Roman marriage was the
dowry.
The dowry was a contribution made by the wife’s family to the husband to cover
the expenses of the household. It was more customary than compulsory. Ancient
papyrus
texts show that dowries typically included land and slaves but could also
include
jewelry
,
toilet articles
(used to make women more
attractive, such as
mirrors
), and clothing. These items were
connected with legacy and if the wife died early in the marriage, the dowry
could be returned to her family and buried with her to give a more elaborate
burial than was typical for the time, however that was not always the case.^{[citation
needed]}

The dowry was also how Roman families maintained their social status relative
to each other. It was important to ensure that upon the end of a marriage, the
dowry was returned to either the wife or her family. This was done in order to
improve her chances of remarriage as well as to maintain the family resources.
In ancient Rome, the dowry became the husband’s full legal property. In
actuality, however, the purpose of the dowry often affected the husband’s
freedom to use the dowry. For example, if the dowry was given to help in the
maintenance of the wife, or if a legal provision was made for the wife or her
family to reclaim the dowry should the marriage dissolve, the husband was
restricted as to how he could make use of the dowry.

The fate of the dowry at the end of a marriage depended on its original
source. A dowry of dos recepticia was one in which agreements were made
in advance about its disposal. The agreement made beforehand determined how this
dowry would be recovered. One of dos profecticia was a dowry given by the
father of the bride. This type of dowry could be recovered by the donor or by a
divorced daughter if her
pater
died. A dowry of dos adventicia
was given by the daughter herself, though it came from her pater. This
dowry usually came in non-traditional forms, for example, in lieu of a debt
settlement, instead of being given as a direct charge on the pater’s
estate. The wife usually recovered this dowry. However, if she died, the husband
retained this dowry.

 Old
Age and Marriage

The evidence for rules of age in Augustus’ marriage legislation will be
applied to the information we have in regard to the age of
menopause
in women in
classical times
, and similarly the age up to
which males were considered capable of fathering children. Under the terms of
the lex Iulia, unmarried persons, caelibes (unmarried as defined
by laws), were incapable of taking either inheritances or legacies. Married
persons who had no children, orbi, could take no more than one-half of
either inheritances or legacies. Originally, this basic principle seems to have
applied only to those of a certain age, namely to men between the ages of 25 and
59 years, and to women of 20 to 49 years of age. Apart from questions of age,
others were also exempted from the limitations imposed on the capacity to
inherit, namely relatives, cognati, to the sixth (and in certain
cases to the seventh) degree, as well as those in the manus or
potestas
of such relatives. Under the Augustan legislation a husband and wife could enjoy
complete capacity to inherit if, apart from the rules of age, they were
otherwise related to within the sixth degree, or the husband was absent for a
certain period of time (a temporary privilege), or the couple had a living
communis child or a certain number of children who had survived to certain
ages, or they had otherwise been granted the ius liberorum. If the
married couple could not claim under any of these conditions, then they were
normally capable of taking only one-tenth of the estate of the other.

 Adultery
and Julian Marriage Laws

In 18 BC, the
Emperor Augustus
turned his attention to social
problems at Rome. Extravagance and
adultery
were widespread. Among the upper classes, marriage was increasingly infrequent
and many couples who did marry failed to produce offspring. Augustus, who hoped
to thereby elevate both morals and the numbers of upper classes in Rome and to
increase the population of native Italians in
Italy,
enacted laws to encourage marriage and having children, including provisions
establishing adultery as a crime. The
law
against adultery made the offence a crime
punishable by exile
and confiscation of property. Augustus
assessed heavier taxes on unmarried men and women without husbands, and by
contrast offered awards for marriage and childbearing.

The Augustan adultery law permitted a father to kill his daughter and her
adulterer only if he caught them in his own domus (house) or that of the
daughter’s husband and the husband can kill an adulterer of low status if
discovered in the husband’s house. The language of pollution and violation
underlines the sacred nature of the domus and the honorable duty to
protect it.

Less serious offenses than adultery and
rape
could diminish the honor of the household. Domus in the sense of human
households, as well as physical house was a focus of honor for Romans: the honor
of the pater familias (father of the family) depended on his ability to
protect his household, and in turn the virtue of the household contributed to
his prestige. Augustus himself was obliged to invoke the law against his own
daughter,
Julia
, and relegated her to the island of
Pandateria
.

The
Augustan social
laws were badly received and
were modified in AD 9 by the

Lex Papia Poppaea, named after the two bachelor consuls of that
year. The earlier and later laws are often referred to in juristic sources as
the lex Julia et Papia. In part as a result of Christian opposition to
such policies, the laws were eventually nearly all repealed or fell into disuse
under
Constantine
and later emperors, including
Justinian
.

 Divorce

 Divorce
from Manus Marriage

Divorce, like marriage, changed and evolved throughout Roman history. As the
centuries passed and ancient Rome became more diversified, the laws and customs
of divorce also changed and became more diversified to include the customs and
beliefs of all the different people. Divorce had always been a common occurrence
in Rome and from the beginning of ancient law in Rome men have always had the
possibility of divorcing their wives. Although this custom was usually reserved
for serious marital faults, such as adultery, making copies of the household
keys, consuming wine, or infertility
, it could be employed by a husband
at any time. For many centuries only husbands had this privilege but wives were
finally included in this process and given permission to divorce their husbands
as Rome entered into the classical age.

Since marriage was often used as a political tool in ancient Rome, especially
in the upper classes, divorces were common when new political opportunities
presented themselves. Anytime a new opportunity arouse, a man or woman would
divorce their current spouse and marry a new one. A man or woman could form
valuable family ties through their various marriages and divorces to different
families. A motivated man or woman might marry and divorce a couple times in
their lifetime if they thought it to their advantage.

One of the main reasons for divorce, besides serious marital fault, was a
desire to no longer remain married to a spouse. Since one of the defining
characteristics of marriage was a will to be married and an attitude of
regarding one another as husband or wife, the marriage ended when the will or
attitude ended. A husband or wife would notify their spouse that they no longer
desired to be married and the marriage would end. It is interesting to note that
only one spouse’s will was required for a divorce and that a divorce was still
final even if the other spouse did not receive the notice of divorce. All that
mattered was that one spouse wanted it to end, and it ended.

Divorce in ancient Rome was usually a private affair and only the parties
involved were notified of it. A divorce did not have to be recognized or
ratified by the
church
or
state
and no
public record
was kept of a divorce. The lack
of divorce records often led to some confusion with the numerous marriages and
divorces going on.

One of the main components of a marriage was the exchange of the dowry
between the husband and the wife or the wife’s guardian. This would sometimes
lead to disputes when the marriage ended because both parties wanted to claim
the dowry. It became an established custom that if the wife were not at fault
for the ending of the marriage, then she was able to reclaim her dowry. This
would often happen if the husband had committed offenses during the marriage,
such as adultery. Since either a husband or a wife could initiate a divorce, it
became understood that if the wife wanted the divorce and there were children
involved, then a husband could have some claim on the dowry based on the
children.

 Divorce
from Free Marriage

The Manus Marriage custom ended in the 1st century BCE and the Free Marriage
divorce emerged. With this, the reasons for any divorce became irrelevant.
Either spouse could leave a marriage at any point. Property during a marriage
was kept separate under Roman Law, and this left only the dowry in common. In
cases of adultery, husbands got to keep a portion of the dowry, but without the
involvement of adultery women would take most if not all of their dowry with
them, as well as their personal property. However, the woman had to get
permission from the government to have a divorce while the man could simply just
kick the woman out of the house.

 Remarriage
and Widowhood

Remarriage was very common in ancient Rome society and many men and women
were usually married at least twice in their lifetimes. This is due to the fact
that there was a high
infant mortality rate
, high
death rate
, and low average

life expectancy in ancient Rome. Men and women did not live very
long. This high mortality rate plus the high
divorce rate
, common in ancient Rome, lead to
many instances of remarriage. Since children were expected in marriage, each
spouse usually brought at least one child to the new marriage. Remarriages thus
created a new blending of the family in ancient Roman society, where children
were influenced by
stepparents
and some instances where
stepmothers
were younger than their
stepchildren
.

Most wives were encouraged to remarry after either the death of the husband
or a divorce. Ancient
physicians
believed that a woman was liable to
get very sick if she was deprived of
sexual activity
and it could even lead to a
woman getting ‘’hysteric uterine constriction.’’ There was even legislation
passed during the rule of Augustus that required widows and widowers to remarry
to be able to fully inherit from people outside of their immediate family.

In

Roman religion

, Concord (Latin:

Concordia, “harmony”) was the

goddess of agreement, understanding, and marital harmony. Her Greek version is

Harmonia

, and the Harmonians and some

Discordians

equate her with

Aneris

. Her opposite is Discordia (or the Greek

Eris
).The

cult of Concordia

(“Majestic Harmony”) was of special importance to the

imperial household

. Dedicatory inscriptions to her, on behalf of emperors

and members of the imperial family, were common. The oldest

Temple of Concord

, built in

367 BC
by

Marcus Furius Camillus

, stood on the

Roman

Forum
. Other temples and shrines in Rome dedicated to Concordia were largely

geographically related to the main temple.

Lucius Domitius Aurelianus

(September

9, 214

or 215 –September or October 275), known in English as

Aurelian,

Roman

Emperorr
(270–275), was the second of several highly successful

“soldier-emperors” who helped the

Roman

Empire
regain its power during the latter part of the third century and the

beginning of the fourth.

During his reign, the Empire was reunited in its

entirety, following fifteen years of rebellion, the loss of two-thirds of its

territory to break-away empires (the

Palmyrene Empire

in the east and the

Gallic Empire

in the west) and devastating barbarian invasions. His

successes started the end of the empire’s

Crisis of the Third Century

.

//

Aurelian was an upwardly-mobile soldier who was eventually appointed
commander of the cavalry by Claudius II. With the aid of a sympathetic army he
revolted against the accession of Quintillus and a civil war was avoided when
the latter committed suicide following the growing popularity of his rival.
Aurelian was then hailed as emperor by the Senate and the rest of the legions
alike. His first mission was to strengthen the army by the introduction of the
strictest reforms and discipline as well as quelling the various uprisings that
had broken out over the last two decades. He thus spent the next five years
until cut down by his own Praetorian Guard at the height of his glory. It seems
Aurelian’s personal secretary, after being reprimanded by the emperor for
attempted extortion, felt an execution would follow. To guard against this
possibility, he concocted a story about Aurelian intending to execute his
personal guard and then rushed to share with them this manufactured evidence.
Naturally, afraid for their lives, they entered the emperor’s quarters and
effected a preemptive strike. Somehow or other it was soon afterward found out
that the formerly beloved emperor had no such motives and his secretary himself
was swiftly executed for treason. When news reached Rome of what had happened
Aurelian’s wife seems to have actually been left nominally in power while a new
emperor was selected, a period that may have lasted several months. Although
history is a little hazy in this matter, it would mark the first and only time a
Roman empress explicitly ruled the empire.

Rise to power

Aurelian was born in

Dacia ripensis

or

Sirmium
(now

Sremska Mitrovica

,

Serbia
),

to an obscure provincial family; his father was tenant to a senator named

Aurelius, who gave his name to the family.

Aurelian served as a general in several wars, and his success ultimately made

him the right-hand man and dux equitum (cavalry commander) of the army of

Emperor Gallienus

. In 268, his cavalry routed the powerful cavalry force of the

Goths
at the

Battle of Naissus

and broke the back of the most fearsome invasion of Roman

territory since Hannibal

. According to one source, Aurelian participated in the

assassination of Gallienus (268), and supported

Claudius II

for the purple.

Two years later, when Claudius died his brother

Quintillus

seized power with support of the Senate. With an act typical of the

Crisis of the Third Century

, the army refused to recognize the new emperor,

preferring to support one of its own commanders: Aurelian was proclaimed emperor

in September 270 by the

legions

in Sirmium. Aurelian defeated Quintillus’ troops, and was recognized emperor by

the Senate after Quintillus’ death. The claim that Aurelian was chosen by

Claudius on his death bed

can be dismissed as propaganda; later, probably in 272, Aurelian put his own

dies imperii the day of Claudius’ death, thus implicitly considering

Quintillus a

usurper

.

With his base of power secure, he now turned his attention to Rome’s greatest

problems — recovering the vast territories lost over the previous two decades,

and reforming the res publica.

Conqueror and reformer

In 248, Emperor

Philipp

had celebrated the millennium of the city of Rome with great and

expensive ceremonies and games, and the empire had given a tremendous proof of

self-confidence. In the following years, however, the empire had to face a huge

pressure from external enemies, while, at the same time, dangerous civil wars

threatened the empire from within, with a large number of usurpers weakening the

strength of the state. Also the economical substrate of the state, the

agriculture and the commerce, suffered from the disruption caused by the

instability. On top of this an epidemic swept through the Empire around 250,

greatly diminishing manpower both for the army and for agriculture. The end

result was that the empire could not endure the blow of the capture of Emperor

Valerian

in 260: the eastern provinces found their protectors in the rulers

of the city of Palmyra

, in

Syria

Palmyrene Empire

, a separate entity from the Roman Empire, successful

against the Persian threat; the western provinces, those facing the

limes
of the

Rhine
seceded,

forming a third, autonomous state within the territories of the Roman Empire,

which is now known as

Gallic Empire

; the emperor, in Rome, was occupied with the internal menaces

to his power and with the defence of

Italia

and the Balkans. This was the situation faced by Gallienus and

Claudius, and the problems Aurelian had to deal with at the beginning of his

rule.

Reunification of the empire

The first actions of the new emperor were aimed at strengthening his own

position in his territories. Late in 270, Aurelian campaigned in northern

Italia

against the

Vandals
,

Juthungi
,

and Sarmatians

, expelling them from Roman territory. To celebrate these

victories, Aurelian was granted the title of Germanicus Maximus.

The authority of the emperor was challenged by several

usurpers

—

Septimius

,

Urbanus

,

Domitianus

, and the rebellion of

Felicissimus

— who tried to exploit the sense of insecurity of the empire

and the overwhelming influence of the armies in Roman politics. Aurelian, being

an experienced commander, was aware of the importance of the army, and his

propaganda, known through his coinage, shows he wanted the support of the

legions.

Defeat of the Alamanni

The burden of the northern barbarians was not yet over, however. In 271, the

Alamanni

moved towards Italia, entering the Po plain and sacking the villages; they

passed the

Po River

, occupied

Placentia

and moved towards Fano
.

Aurelian, who was in Pannonia to control

Vandals
‘

withdrawal, quickly entered Italia, but his army was defeated in an

ambush near Placentia

(January 271). When the news of the defeat arrived in

Rome, it caused great fear for the arrival of the barbarians. But Aurelian

attacked the Alamanni camping near the

Metaurus River
,

defeating them in the

Battle of Fano

, and forcing them to re-cross the Po river; Aurelian finally

routed them at

Pavia

. For this, he received the title Germanicus Maximus. However,

the menace of the German people remained high as perceived by the Romans, so

Aurelian resolved to build the walls that became known as the

Aurelian Walls

around

Rome.

The emperor led his legions to the Balkans, where he defeated and routed the

Cannabaudes

, and assuming the title of Gothicus Maximus. However, he

decided to abandon the province of

Dacia
,

on the exposed north bank of the Danube, as too difficult and expensive to

defend. He reorganised a new province of Dacia south of the Danube, inside the

former Moesia
,

called Dacia Ripensis, with

Serdica

as the capital.

Conquest of the Palmyrene Empire

In 272, Aurelian turned his attention to the lost eastern provinces of the

empire, the so-called “Palmyrene

Empire” ruled by Queen

Zenobia
from

the city of Palmyra

.

Zenobia had carved out her own empire, encompassing

Syria

, Palestine

, Egypt

and large parts of

Asia Minor

. In the beginning, Aurelian had been recognized as emperor, while

Vaballathus

, the son of Zenobia, hold the title of rex and

imperator (“king” and “supreme military commander”), but Aurelian decided to

invade the eastern provinces as soon as he felt strong enough.

Asia Minor was recovered easily; every city but

Byzantium
Tyana

surrendered to him with little resistance. The fall of Tyana lent itself to a

legend; Aurelian to that point had destroyed every city that resisted him, but

he spared Tyana after having a vision of the great 1st century philosopher

Apollonius of Tyana

, whom he respected greatly, in a dream. Apollonius

implored him, stating: “Aurelian, if you desire to rule, abstain from the blood

of the innocent! Aurelian, if you will conquer, be merciful!” Whatever the

reason, Aurelian spared Tyana. It paid off; many more cities submitted to him

upon seeing that the emperor would not exact revenge upon them. Within six

months, his armies stood at the gates of Palmyra, which surrendered when Zenobia

tried to flee to the

Sassanid Empire

. The “Palmyrene Empire” was no more. Eventually Zenobia and

her son were captured and forced to walk on the streets of Rome in his triumph.

After a brief clash with the Persians and another in Egypt against usurper

Firmus
, he was

forced to return to Palmyra in 273 when that city rebelled once more. This time,

Aurelian allowed his soldiers to sack the city, and Palmyra never recovered from

this. More honors came his way; he was now known as Parthicus Maximus and

Restitutor Orientis (“Restorer of the East”).

Conquest of the Gallic Empire

In 274, the victorious emperor turned his attention to the west, and the “Gallic

EmpireeTetricus

was willing to abandon his throne and allow Gaul and Britain to return to the

empire, but could not openly submit to Aurelian. Instead, the two seem to have

conspired so that when the armies met at

Châlons-en-Champagne

that autumn, Tetricus simply deserted to the Roman camp

and Aurelian easily defeated the Gallic army facing him. Tetricus was rewarded

for his part in the conspiracy with a high-ranking position in Italy itself.

Aurelian returned to Rome and won his last honorific from the Senate —

Restitutor Orbis (“Restorer of the World”). In four years, he had secured

the frontiers of the empire and reunified it, effectively giving the empire a

new lease on life that lasted 200 years.

Reformations

Aurelian was a reformer, and settled many important functions of the imperial

apparatus, including the economy and the religion. He also restored many public

buildings, re-organized the management of the food reserves, set fixed prices

for the most important goods, and prosecuted misconduct by the public officers.

Religious reform

Aurelian strengthened the position of the Sun god,

Sol

(invictus)

or Oriens, as the main divinity of the Roman pantheon. His intention was to give

to all the peoples of the Empire, civilian or soldiers, easterners or

westerners, a single god they could believe in without betraying their own gods.

The center of the cult was a new temple, built in 271 in

in Rome, with great decorations financed by the spoils

of the Palmyrene Empire. Aurelian did not persecute other religions. However,

during his short rule, he seemed to follow the principle of “one god, one

empire”, that was later adopted to a full extent by

Constantine

. On some coins, he appears with the title deus et dominus

natus (“God and born ruler”), also later adopted by Diocletian.

Lactantius

argued that Aurelian would have outlawed all the other gods if he had had enough

time.

Felicissimus’ rebellion and coinage reform

Aurelian’s reign records the only uprising of mint workers. The

rationalis

Felicissimus

, mintmaster at Rome, revolted against Aurelian. The revolt

seems to have been caused by the fact that the mint workers, and Felicissimus

first, were accustomed to stealing the silver used for the coins and producing

coins of inferior quality. Aurelian wanted to erase this practice, and put

Felicissimus under trial. The rationalis incited the mintworkers to

revolt: the rebellion spread in the streets, even if it seems that Felicissimus

was killed immediately, possibly executed. The Palmirene rebellion in Egypt had

probably reduced the

grain supply to Rome

, thus disaffecting the population with respect to the

emperor. This rebellion also had the support of some senators, probably those

who had supported the election of

Quintillus
,

and thus had something to fear from Aurelian. Aurelian ordered the urban

cohorts, reinforced by some regular troops of the imperial army, to attack the

rebelling mob: the resulting battle, fought on the

Caelian hill

, marked the end of the revolt,
even if at a high price (some sources give the figure, probably exaggerated, of
7,000 casualties). Many of the rebels were executed; also some of the rebelling
senators were put to death. The mint of Rome was closed temporarily, and the
institution of several other mints caused the main mint of the empire to lose
its hegemony.