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Delmatius – Roman Caesar: 335-337 A.D.
Bronze AE4 15mm (1.64 grams) Constantinople mint, struck circa 335-337 A.D.
Reference: RIC VII 153; Sear 16898
FL DELMATIVS NOB C, laureate, draped & cuirassed bust right.
GLORIA EXERCITVS / CONS•, two soldiers standing, holding spears and shields, one standard between them, O on banner.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
 The military of ancient Rome, according to Titus Livius, one of the more illustrious historians of Rome over the centuries, was a key element in the rise of Rome over “above seven hundred years” from a small settlement in Latium to the capital of an empire governing a wide region around the shores of the Mediterranean, or, as the Romans themselves said, ”mare nostrum”, “our sea.” Livy asserts
“… if any people ought to be allowed to consecrate their origins and refer them to a divine source, so great is the military glory of the Roman People that when they profess that their Father and the Father of their Founder was none other than Mars, the nations of the earth may well submit to this also with as good a grace as they submit to Rome’s dominion.”
Titus Flavius Josephus, a contemporary historian, sometime high-ranking officer in the Roman army, and commander of the rebels in the Jewish revolt, describes the Roman people as if they were “born ready armed.” At the time of the two historians, Roman society had already evolved an effective military and had used it to defend itself against the Etruscans, the Italics, the Greeks, the Gauls, the maritime empire of Carthage, and the Macedonian kingdoms. In each war it acquired more territory until, when civil war ended the Roman Republic, nothing was left for the first emperor, Augustus, to do except declare it an empire and defend it.
The role and structure of the military was then altered during the empire. It became less Roman, the duties of border protection and territorial administration being more and more taken by foreign mercenaries officered by Romans. When they divided at last into warring factions the empire fell, unable to keep out invading armies.
 During the Roman Republic, the function of the military was defined as service to the ”Senatus Populusque Romanus” – an agency designated by ‘SPQR’ on public inscriptions. Its main body was the senate, which met in a building still extant in the forum of Rome. Its decrees were handed off to the two chief officers of the state, the consuls. They could levy from the citizens whatever military force they judged was necessary to execute such decree. This conscription was executed through a draft of male citizens assembled by age class. The officers of the legion were tasked with selecting men for the ranks. The will of the SPQR was binding on the consuls and the men, with the death penalty often assigned for disobedience or failure. The men were under a rigorous code, known now for its punitive crucifixion.
The consular duties were of any type whatever: military defense, police work, public hygiene, assistance in civil disaster, health work, agriculture, and especially construction of public roads, bridges, aqueducts, buildings, and the maintenance of such. The soldiers were kept busy doing whatever service needed to be done: soldiering, manning vessels, carpentry, blacksmithing, clerking, etc. They were trained as required, but also previous skills, such as a trade, were exploited. They brought to the task and were protected by the authority of the state.
The military’s campaign history stretched over 1300 years and saw Roman armies campaigning as far east as Parthia (modern-day Iran), as far south as Africa (modern-day Tunisia) and Aegyptus (modern-day Egypt) and as far north as Britannia (modern-day England, south Scotland, and Wales). The makeup of the Roman military changed substantially over its history, from its early history as an unsalaried citizen militia to a later professional force, the Imperial Roman army. The equipment used by the military altered greatly in type over time, though there were very few technological improvements in weapons manufacture, in common with the rest of the classical world. For much of its history, the vast majority of Rome’s forces were maintained at or beyond the limits of its territory, in order to either expand Rome’s domain, or protect its existing borders. Expansions were infrequent, as the emperors, adopting a strategy of fixed lines of defense, had determined to maintain existing borders. For that purpose they constructed extensive walls and created permanent stations that became cities.
Delmatius – Roman Caesar: 335-337 A.D.
| Grandson of Constantius I ‘Chlorus’ and Theodora | Brother of Hanniballianus | Brother-in-law and half-cousin of Constantina (wife of Hanniballianus & Constantius Gallus) | Nephew of Licinius I and Constantia | Cousin of Constantius Gallus, Julian II, Licinius II and Nepotian | Half-nephew of Constantine the Great | Half-cousin of Crispus, Constantine II, Constantius II, Constans and Helena the Younger (wife of Julian II)
Flavius Delmatius (died 337), also known as Delmatius Caesar, was a Caesar (335-337) of the Roman Empire, and member of the Constantinian dynasty.
Dalmatius was son of another Flavius Dalmatius, censor, and nephew of Constantine I. Dalmatius and his brother Hannibalianus were educated at Tolosa (Toulouse) by rhetor Exuperius.
On 18 September 335, he was raised to the rank of Caesar, with the control of Thracia, Achaea and Macedonia. Dalmatius died in late summer 337, killed by his own soldiers. It is possible that his death was related to the purge that hit the imperial family at the death of Constantine, and organized by Constantius II with the aim of removing any possible claimant to the throne.
Division of the Roman Empire among the Caesars appointed by Constantine I: from west to east, the territories of Constantine II, Constans I, Dalmatius and Constantius II. After the death of Constantine I (May 337), this was the formal division of the Empire, until Dalmatius was killed and his territory divided between Constans and Constantius.
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