Severus (II) -- the unfortunate Tetrarch

Upon the Abdication of Diocletian and Maximian Herculius on the first of May 305, Constantius succeeded Maximian Herculius as Augustus of the West and Galerius Maximian succeeded Diocletian as Augustus of the East. Flavius Valerius Severus (Severus), a close friend and military comrade of Galerius Maximian, was appointed Caesar of the West by Constantius (as a result of persuasion by Galerius) and Galerius Valerius Maximinus Daia (Maximinus) was appointed Caesar of the East by Galerius Maximian. The second Tetrarchy was thus created.

Severus was a typically tough and efficient miltary commander in the mold of the other Tetrarchs and had distinguished himself in several battles in the east.

Constantius died at Eboracum (York) in Britain during a campaign against the warlike tribes of the North on 25 July 306. Before he died, Constantius conferred Imperium on his son, Flavius Valerius Constantinus (Constantine). Although the army of Constantius wanted to proclaim Constantine Augustus, Galerius Maximian, the now de-facto senior Augustus, proclaimed him Caesar of the West and elevated Severus to Augustus of the West (in accordance with the rules for succession) thereby creating the Third Tetrarchy.

On 28 October 306, the Citizens of Rome revolted against oppressive taxation and petitioned Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius (Maxentius), son of retired Augustus Maximian Herculius, to assume Imperium. This he did, initially adopting the appellation of Princeps. The army at Rome subsequently proclaimed him Augustus and Maxentius persuaded Maximian Herculius to come out of retirement in order to serve as his "colleague Augustus". Galerius Maximian, now .the de-facto Senior Augustus, rejected these actions as illegal and instructed Severus (because Rome was in his sphere of authority) to engage Maxentius and depose him.

Early in 307 Severus commanded an army that marched south into Italy to engage and remove Maxentius from power. However, Severus was not well served by this army that maintained loyalties to its previous commander, Maximian Herculius, and indeed many soldiers deserted Severus. The forces of Maxentius quickly defeated those of Severus who was captured and subsequently executed in Rome.

RIC VI, Londinium, No. 59a - Severus as Caesar (earliest titulature):


SEVERVS NOBILISSIMVS CAES ........................... GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI


RIC VI, Londinium, No. 46 (variant), Severus as Augustus:


IMP SEVERVS PIVS FEL AVG .................................... GENIO POPVLI ROMANI

Obverse legend variation: PIVS FEL instead of PIVS FELIX.

See the article by Lord Stewartby (Ian Stewart, Baron Stewartby) in the Review Numismatique (Persee): Some rare and unpublished roman coins of the London Mint in the Paris collection (188 - 12) for information relating to a similar inscription variant for RIC, Volume VI, Londinium No. 40.

Due to the somewhat sparse and sporadic output of the London Mint (one officina), and the short duration of his time as a Tetrarch, London Mint coins of Severus (II) have always been hard to come by -- those as Augustus are especially hard to find in my experience.

 

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Nice write-up and coins. He's still a bit high on my want list but have yet to find one I wanted in my price range.

 

Thank you @Mat. They are indeed quite pricey these days.

 

Quarter Follis aren't too bad, but I want a Follis.

 

Yes -- I do understand that.

 

Great post James. This post increased my knowledge of Severus II by about 100%. I really need to read up more on the tetrarchy. Thanks for sharing.

 

@jamesicus - great information, as always, and GREAT coins.

 

If you try to get a set of no-mintmark London-mint emperors, Severus II is hard to find.

28 mm. 9.80grams.
This one has NOBILISSIMVS spelled out.
RIC London 59a "May 305 -Autumn 307"
ex CNG in 2009

 

Yes, and that one, as Caesar, is easier than the coins as Emperor (Augustus). I particularly like your RIC, Londinium, 59a with its great portrait and NOBILISSIMVS (one of the reasons I posted my exemplar above). Incidentally, the companion coin of his co-Caesar (of the East), Maximinus Daia, has the same NOBILISSIMVS in its legend:

RIC VI, Londinium, No. 59b - Maximinus as Caesar:


MAXIMINVS NOBILISSIMVS CAES ........................ GENIO POPVLI ROMANI

 

Thank you @Ajax -- my favorite reads are:

• DIOCLETIAN AND THE TETRARCHY, Roger Rees, Edinburgh University Press Ltd, (2004).
• IN PRAISE OF LATER ROMAN EMPERORS (The Panegyrici Latini), C. E. V. Nixon and Barbara Saylor Rodgers, University of California Press, (1994).
• GALERIUS AND THE WILL OF DIOCLETIAN, William Lewis Leadbetter, Routledge, New York, (2013).

All three are excellent references -- the Panegyrics are sometimes a little difficult to follow, but the historical commentaries of Profs. Nixon and Rogers that accompany each one are very useful.

 

Awesome, I'll have to check them out. Thank you.

 

WOW, @jamesicus , I really enjoy your write-ups and coins. I regret that I do not have the depth of knowledge here, but I really enjoy the education and the great History...

I have a couple Severus II's, both QUARTER Follles', but one is minted in Siscia and I am not sure of the other (looks like Siscia too):

Segestica Mint

RI Severus II 306-307 CE AE18 Quarter Folles Siscia mint


RI Severus II 306-307 CE AE18 Quarter Folles

 

Thank you, @Alegandron -- I like your quarter folles -- a great way to include coins of this not often encountered Tetrarch in your collection.

 

I found myself searching for coins the other day using the terms "PLON" and "Londinium" for some reason. I really enjoyed this post and I continue to learn from you James so I hope you'll post more.

 

Informative and readable post! Great looking coin to. This is a ruler that I'm lacking.

 

Previously I wrote:

There has been a great deal of speculation on the part of historians as to why Constantius was influenced in this way by Galerius Maximian (with whom, I gather, he didn't have a particularly warm relationship). I think the majority opinion is that Constantius, unlike Galerius Maximian, was not much of a political mover and shaker -- i.e. he was more a warrior at heart and not much into court affairs. For instance, he was the only Tetrarch who did not persecute Christians, in fact, he supported and encouraged his current wife, Helena (mother of Constantine) when she became the first "Imperial member" to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

It appears then that Constantius was willing to accommodate Galerius Maximian in the interest of Tetrarchic harmony. The appointment of Severus as his Caesar did present some problems for Constantius. For instance, the familial affiliations of Severus were with Diocletian and Galerius Maximian which meant, like them, he was a Jovian and Constantius (along with his adoptive father, Maximian Herculius) was a Herculean. It was therefor necessary for Constantius to adopt him whereupon Severus assumed the name form Flavius Valerius Severus. Quite a lot of machination involved in all that!

 

Thank you, @dadams for those nice comments.

 

Helena -- wife of Constantius, mother of Constantine -- a great lady of Imperial Rome:

• Killingholme Hoard (Trier Mint) - 324 to 325
• O: Helena diademed bust right - FL HELENA AVGVSTVA
• R: Securitas standing left - SECVRITAS REIPVBLICE

 

He may not have had the option to disagree with the arrangement. Galerius had great influence over Diocletian, and moreover, Constantius's son, Constantine, was a "guest" in Galerius's court at the time. Constantius did get the last laugh so to speak, when he designated Constantine his successor on his death bed.

Great post on Severus II, who really was an unfortunate bit player. I only have one follis of his (Antioch), but I don't seem to have it photographed. I'll have to pull it out and put it in my photography queue.

 

Nice coin. I have two from Siscia:

SEVERUS II
Quarter Follis
OBVERSE: SEVERVS NOB C, laureate head right
REVERSE: GGENIO POPVLI ROMANI, Genius standing left, modius on head, with chlamys over l. shoulder, patera & cornucopiae; SIS in ex.
Struck at Siscia 305-6 AD
2.3g, 20mm
RIC VI Siscia 171a

SEVERUS II
Quarter Follis
OBVERSE: FL VAL SEVERVS NOB C, laureate head right
REVERSE: GENIO POP-VLI ROMANI, Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae. Mintmark SIS.
Struck at Siscia 305-6 AD
2.2g, 18mm
RIC VI Siscia 170a