VALENTINIAN II 388AD Ancient Roman Coin Victory w trophy Very Rare i29279

Item: i29279

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Valentinian II – Roman Emperor: 375-392 A.D. –

Bronze AE4 14mm (1.04 grams) Struck at the mint of Cyzicus(?) 388-393 A.D.
Reference: RIC IX, cf. 246, 26a. C. 30.
 DN VALENTINIANVS PF AVG, diademed draped & cuirassed bust right 
SALVS REI PVBLICAE Exe: SMK?A – Victory, draped, advancing left., head turned
right,
holding trophy with her right hand, dragging captive with her left hand.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

In

Roman mythology

, Victoria was the personification/Goddess of victory.

She is the Roman version of the

Greek goddess

Nike

, and was associated with

Bellona

. She was adapted from the

Sabine

agricultural goddess

Vacuna
and had

a

temple

on the

Palatine Hill

. Her name (in Latin) means victory. Unlike the Greek Nike, Victoria (Latin

for “victory”) was a major part of Roman society. Multiple temples were erected

in her honour. When her statue was removed in 382 AD by emperor

Gratianus

there was much anger in Rome. She was normally worshipped by

triumphant

generals returning from war. Also unlike the Greek Nike, who was known for success in athletic games such

as chariot races, Victoria was a symbol of victory over death and determined who

would be successful during war. Appearing on Roman coins, jewelry, architecture, and other arts, Victoria is

often seen with or in a

chariot
. An

example of this is her place upon the

Brandenburg Gate

in Berlin, Germany.

Flavius Valentinianus (371 – 15 May 392), known usually by his

anglicised

name, Valentinian II, was a

Roman Emperor

from 375 to 392.

//

 Early

Life and Accession (371–375)

Flavius Valentinianus was born to Emperor

Valentinian I

and his second wife,

Justina

. He was the half-brother of Valentinian’s other son,

Gratian
, who

had shared the imperial title with his father since 367. He had three sisters

Galla

, Grata and Justa. The elder Valentinian died on campaign in Pannonia

in 375. Neither Gratian (then in Trier) nor his uncle Valens (emperor for the

East) were consulted by the army commanders on the scene. Instead of merely

acknowledging Gratian as his father’s successor, Valentinian I’s generals

acclaimed the four-year old boy

augustus

on 22 November 375. The army may have been uneasy about

Gratian’s lack of military ability, and so raised a boy who would not

immediately aspire to military command.

 Reign

from Milan (375–387)

Gratian, forced to accommodate the generals who supported his half-brother,

governed the trans-alpine provinces (including

Gaul,

Hispania
,

and Britain

), while Italy

, part of

Illyricum

, and

Africa

were under the rule of Valentinian. In 378, their uncle, the Emperor

Valens
, was

killed in battle with the

Goths
at

Adrianople

, and Gratian invited the general

Theodosius

to be emperor in the

East

. As a child, Valentinian II was under the influence of his

Arian

mother, the Empress Justina, and the imperial court at

Milan
, an

influence contested by the

Catholic

bishop
of

Milan, Ambrose
.

Justina used her influence over her young son to oppose the Catholic party

which was championed by Ambrose. In 385 Ambrose, backed by Milan’s populace,

refused an imperial request to hand over the

Portian basilica

for the use of Arian troops. In 386 Justina and Valentinian

received the Arian bishop

Auxentius

, and Ambrose was again ordered to hand over a church in Milan for

Arian usage. Ambrose and his congregation barricaded themselves inside the

church, and the imperial order was rescinded.

Magnus Maximus

used the emperor’s heterodoxy against him, and even his

eventual protector, Theodosius, cast aspersions on his Arianism. Valentinian

also tried to restrain the despoiling of pagan temples in

Rome. Buoyed by

this instruction, the pagan

senators

, led by

Aurelius Symmachus

, the

Prefect of Rome

, petitioned in 384 for the restoration of the

Altar of Victory

in the

Senate

House
, which had been removed by Gratian in 382. Valentinian, at the

insistence of Ambrose, refused the request and, in so doing, rejected the

traditions and rituals of pagan Rome to which Symmachus had appealed.

In 383, Magnus Maximus, commander of the armies in Britain, declared himself

Emperor and established himself in Gaul and Hispania. Gratian died while fleeing

him. For a time the court of Valentinian, through the mediation of Ambrose, came

to an accommodation with the usurper, and Theodosius recognized Maximus as

co-emperor of the

West

. However, in 386 or 387, Maximus crossed the

Alps into the

Po

valley and threatened Milan. Valentinian II and Justina fled to

Theodosius in

Thessalonica

. The latter came to an agreement, cemented by his marriage to

Valentinian’s sister

Galla

, to restore the young emperor in the West. In 388, Theodosius marched

west and defeated Maximus. Although he was to appoint both of his sons emperor (Arcadius

in 383, Honorius

in 393), Theodosius remained loyal to the dynasty of Valentinian I.

After the defeat of Maximus, Theodosius remained in Milan until 391.

Valentinian took no part in Theodosius’

triumphal celebrations

over Maximus. Valentinian and his court were

installed at

Vienne

in Gaul, while Theodoisus appointed key administrators in the West,

and had coins minted which implied his guardianship over the 17 year old.

Justina had already died, and Vienne was far away from the influence of Ambrose.

Theodosius’ trusted general, the

Frank

Arbogast

, was appointed

magister militum

for the Western provinces (bar Africa) and guardian of

Valentinian. Acting in the name of Valentinian, Arbogast was actually

subordinate only to Theodosius.

While the general campaigned successfully on the Rhine, the young emperor

remained at Vienne, in contrast to his warrior father and his older brother, who

had campaigned at his age. Arbogast’s domination over the emperor was

considerable, and the general even murdered

Harmonius

, a friend of Valentinian suspected of taking bribes, in the
emperor’s presence.

The crisis reached a peak when Arbogast prohibited the emperor from leading

the Gallic armies into Italy to oppose a barbarian threat. Valentinian, in

response, formally dismissed Arbogast. The latter ignored the order, publically

tearing it up and arguing that Valentinian had not appointed him in the first

place. The reality of where the power lay was openly displayed. Valentinian

wrote to Theodosius and Ambrose complaining of his subordination to his general.

In explicit rejection of his earlier Arianism, he invited Ambrose to come to

Vienne to baptize

him.

However, on 15 May 392, Valentinian was found hanged in his residence in

Vienne. Arbogast maintained that the emperor’s death was suicide. While our main

source, Zosimus

writing in the early sixth century from Constantinople, states that the Frank

had Valentinian murdered,

ancient authorities are divided in their opinion.

The young man’s body was conveyed in ceremony to Milan for burial by Ambrose,

mourned by his sisters Justa and Grata. The bishop’s eulogy is the only

contemporary Western source for Valentinian’s death.

It is ambiguous on the question of the emperor’s death, which is not surprising,

as Ambrose represents him as a model of Christian virtue. Suicide, not murder,

would make Ambrose dissemble on this key question.

At first Arbogast recognized Theodosius’s son Arcadius as emperor in the

West, seemingly surprised by his charge’s death.

After three months, during which he had no communication from Theodosius,

Arbogast selected an imperial official,

Eugenius
,

as emperor. Theodosius initially tolerated this regime but, in January 393,

elevated the eight year old Honorius as augustus to succeed Valentinian

II. Civil war ensued and, in 394, Theodosius defeated Eugenius and Arbogast.

 Significance

Valentinian himself seems to have exercised no real authority, and was a

figurehead for various powerful interests: his mother, his co-emperors, and

powerful generals. Since the

Crisis of the Third CenturyDiocletian

and his collegiate system. While

Constantine

and his sons had been strong military figures, they had also

re-established the practice of hereditary succession, adopted by Valentinian I.

The obvious flaw in these two competing requirements came in the reign of

Valentinian II, a child.

His reign was a harbinger of the fifth century, when children or nonentities,

reigning as emperors, were controlled by powerful generals and officials.