TRAJAN DECIUS 249AD Tetradrachm Large Silver Roman Coin Eagle Antioch i52662

Item: i52662

 Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Trajan Decius
–

Roman Emperor
:
249-251 A.D. –

Silver Tetradrachm 26mm (12.11 grams) of

Seleukis and Pieria
Reference: Sear GIC 4209 var.; B.M.C. 20.222,595 var.; McAlee 1106f; Prieur 500
AYTOK. K. ГAI. MЄ. KVIN. ΔЄKKIOC CЄB, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
ΔHMAPX. ЄΞOYCIAC – Eagle standing facing on palm-branch, head left, wreath in
beak; beneath, SC.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

Jupiter is usually thought to have originated as a sky god. His identifying
implement is the
thunderbolt
, and his primary sacred animal is
the eagle, which held precedence over other birds in the taking of
auspices
and became one of the most

common
symbols of the
Roman army
(see
Aquila
). The two emblems were often combined to
represent the god in the form of an eagle holding in its claws a thunderbolt,
frequently seen on Greek and Roman coins. As the sky-god, he was a divine
witness to oaths, the sacred trust on which justice and good government depend.
Many of his functions were focused on the
Capitoline
(“Capitol Hill”), where the
citadel
was located. He was the chief deity of
the
early Capitoline Triad
with
Mars
and
Quirinus
. In the
later Capitoline Triad
, he was the central
guardian of the state with
Juno
and
Minerva
. His sacred tree was the oak. The
Romans regarded Jupiter as the
equivalent
of the Greek

Zeus, and in
Latin literature
and
Roman art
, the myths and iconography of Zeus
are adapted under the name Iuppiter.

An aquila, or eagle, was a prominent symbol used in

ancient Rome, especially as the
standard
of a
Roman legion
. A
legionary
known as an
aquilifer
, or eagle-bearer, carried this
standard. Each legion carried one eagle. The eagle was extremely important to
the Roman military, beyond merely being a symbol of a legion. A lost standard
was considered an extremely grave occurrence, and the Roman military often went
to great lengths to both protect a standard and to recover it if lost; for
example, see the aftermath of the
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
, where the
Romans spent decades attempting to recover the lost standards of three legions.

Gaius Messius Quintus Decius (ca. 201- June 251) was

the

Emperor of Rome

from 249 to 251. In the last year of his reign, he co-ruled

with his son

Herennius Etruscus

until both of them were killed in the

Battle of Abrittus

.

//

 Early

life and rise to power

Decius, who was born at

Budalia

, now

Martinci
,

Serbia
near

Sirmium
(Sremska

Mitrovica), in

Lower Pannonia

was one of the first among a long succession of future Roman

Emperors to originate from the provinces of

Illyria
in

the Danube.^[1].

Unlike some of his immediate imperial predecessors such as Philip the Arab or

Maximinus

, Decius was a distinguished senator who had served as

consul
in 232,

had been governor of

Moesia
and

Germania Inferior

soon afterwards, served as governor of

Hispania Tarraconensis

between 235-238, and was

urban prefect

of Rome during the early reign of Emperor

Philip the Arab

(Marcus Iulius Phillipus).

Around 245, Emperor Philip entrusted Decius with an important

command on the Danube

. By the end of 248 or 249, Decius was sent to quell the revolt of

Pacatianus

and his troops in Moesia and Pannonia^[3];

the soldiers were enraged because of the peace treaty signed between Philip and

the

Sassanids

. Once arrived, the troops forced Decius to assume the imperial

dignity himself instead. Decius still protested his loyalty to Philip, but the

latter advanced against him and was killed near

Verona
,

Italy
. The

Senate

then recognized Decius as Emperor, giving him the attribute Traianus as a

reference to the good emperor

Trajan
. As the

Byzantine historian

Zosimus
later

noted:

Decius was therefore clothed in purple and forced to

undertake the [burdens of] government, despite his reluctance and

unwillingness.

 Political

and monumental initiatives

Decius’ political program was focused on the restoration of

the strength of the State, both military opposing the external threats, and

restoring the public piety

with a program of renovation of the

State religion

.

Either as a concession to the Senate, or perhaps with the

idea of improving public morality, Decius endeavoured to revive the separate

office and authority of the

censor

. The choice was left to the Senate, who unanimously selected

Valerian

(afterwards emperor). But Valerian, well aware of the dangers and

difficulties attaching to the office at such a time, declined the

responsibility. The invasion of the

Goths

and Decius’ death put an end to the abortive attempt.

During his reign, he proceeded to construct several building

projects in Rome “including the Thermae Deciane or Baths of Decius on the

Aventine” which was completed in 252 and still survived through to the

16th

century
; Decius also acted to repair the Colosseum, which had been damaged

by lightning strikes.

 Persecution

of Christians

In January 250, Decius issued an edict for the suppression of

Christianity

. The edict itself was fairly clear:

All the inhabitants of the empire were required to

sacrifice before the magistrates of their community ‘for the safety of the

empire’ by a certain day (the date would vary from place to place and the

order may have been that the sacrifice had to be completed within a

specified period after a community received the edict). When they sacrificed

they would obtain a certificate (libellus) recording the fact that they had

complied with the order.

While Decius himself may have intended the edict as a way to

reaffirm his conservative vision of the Pax Romana and to reassure Rome’s

citizens that the empire was still secure, it nevertheless sparked a “terrible

crisis of authority as various [Christian] bishops and their flocks reacted to

it in different ways.” Measures were first taken demanding that the bishops
and officers of the church make a sacrifice for the Emperor,

a matter of an oath of allegiance that Christians considered offensive.

Certificates were issued to those who satisfied the

pagan

commissioners during the persecution of Christians under Decius. Forty-six such

certificates have been published, all dating from 250, four of them from

Oxyrhynchus

.

Christian followers who refused to offer a pagan sacrifice for the Emperor and

the Empire’s well-being by a specified date risked torture and execution.

A number of prominent Christians did, in fact, refuse to make a sacrifice and

were killed in the process including

Pope

Fabian
himself in 250 and “anti-Christian feeling[s] led to pogroms at

Carthage and Alexandria.”

In reality, however, towards the end of the second year of Decius’ reign, “the

ferocity of the [anti-Christian] persecution had eased off, and the earlier

tradition of tolerance had begun to reassert itself.”

The Christian church though never forgot the reign of Decius whom they labelled

as that “fierce tyrant”.

At this time, there was a second outbreak of the

Antonine Plague

, which at its height in 251 to 266 took the lives of 5,000 a

day in Rome. This outbreak is referred to as the “Plague of

Cyprian
” (the

bishop of Carthage

), where both the plague and the

persecution of Christians

were especially severe. Cyprian’s biographer

Pontius

gave a vivid picture of the demoralizing effects of the plague 

and Cyprian moralized the event in his essay De mortalitate. In Carthage

the “Decian persecution” unleashed at the onset of the plague sought out

Christian scapegoats. Decius’ edicts were renewed under Valerius in 253 and

repealed under his son,

Gallienus
,

in 260-1.

 Military

actions and death

The

barbarian

incursions into the Empire were becoming more and more daring and frequent

whereas the Empire was facing a serious economic crisis in Decius’ time. During

his brief reign, Decius engaged in important operations against the

Goths
, who

crossed the Danube to raid districts of Moesia and

Thrace
. This is

the first considerable occasion the Goths — who would later come to play such an

important role — appear in the historical record. The Goths under King

Cniva
were

surprised by the emperor while besieging

Nicopolis

on the Danube; the Goths fled through the difficult terrain of the

Balkans
, but

then doubled back and surprised the Romans near Beroë (modern

Stara

Zagora
), sacking their camp and dispersing the Roman troops. It was the

first time a Roman emperor fled in the face of Barbarians. The Goths then moved

to

Philippopolis attack

(modern

Plovdiv
),

which fell into their hands. The governor of Thrace,

Titus Julius Priscus

, declared himself Emperor under Gothic protection in

opposition to Decius but Priscus’s challenge was rendered moot when he was

killed soon afterwards.

The siege of Philippopolis had so exhausted the numbers and

resources of the Goths that they offered to surrender their treasure and

prisoners, on condition of being allowed to retire.^[

neededcitation] Decius, who had succeeded in surrounding them and hoped to

cut off their retreat, refused to entertain their proposals. The final

engagement, in which the Goths fought with the courage of despair, under the

command of Cniva, took place during the second week of June 251 on swampy ground

in the Ludogorie

(region in northeastern Bulgaria which merges with Dobruja plateau

and the Danube Plain to the north) near the small settlement of Abrittus or

Forum Terebronii (modern

Razgrad
): see

Battle of Abrittus

.

Jordanes

records that Decius’ son

Herennius Etruscus

was killed by an arrow early in the battle, and to cheer

his men Decius exclaimed, “Let no one mourn; the death of one soldier is not a

great loss to the republic.” Nevertheless, Decius’ army was entangled in the

swamp and annihilated in this battle, while he himself was killed on the field

of battle.

As the historian

Aurelius Victor

relates:

The Decii (ie. Decius), while pursuing the

barbarians across the Danube, died through treachery at Abrittus after

reigning two years….Very many report that the son had fallen in battle

while pressing an attack too boldly; that the father however, has

strenuously asserted that the loss of one soldier seemed to him too little

to matter. And so he resumed the war and died in a similar manner while

fighting vigorously.

One literary tradition claims that Decius was betrayed by his

successor

Trebonianus Gallus

, who was involved in a secret alliance with the Goths but

this cannot be substantiated and was most likely a later invention since Gallus

felt compelled to adopt Decius’ younger son, Gaius Valens Hostilianus, as joint

emperor even though the latter was too young to rule in his own right.

It is also unlikely that the shattered Roman legions would proclaim as emperor a

traitor who was responsible for the loss of so many soldiers from their ranks.

Decius was the first Roman emperor to die in battle against a foreign enemy

<span class="mw-headline" id="Conflict_in_the_Balkans_and_EgyptConflict

in the Balkans and Egypt

<span class="mw-headline" id="Invasion.2C_counterinvasionInvasion,

counterinvasion