Wow I did not think I would win this.

I am shocked and very happy that I won this Julian the apostate in auction.
This guy has a lot of history written about Him. Below is just a tiny bit that I found.

Julian II. Æ Maiorina (9.11 g), AD 360-363. Antioch, AD 361-363. D N FL CL IVLI-ANVS P F AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Julian II right. Reverse: SECVRITAS REIPVB, bull standing right; above, two stars (branch)ANTA(branch). RIC 218; LRBC 2640.

Julian was a staunch and traditionalist pagan. in A.D. 361 Julian himself was elevated to the Roman throne, barely over thirty at the time. That very year he declared himself the public enemy of Christianity. As an interesting sidelight, Julian was so intense about his devotion to paganism that he adopted a radical sort of “pietism.” He wanted to prove that heathenism could inspire a dedication as acute as the teaching of Christ had done among Christians. He abandoned luxury, slept on the ground, allowed himself to go unclean and disheveled, and permitted his body to become host to a variety of vermin. In one of his letters he boasted of his long nails, shaggy head, and dirty hands! He became a bizarre spectacle.He tried to reintroduce the ancestral Roman religion as the state church, and began to persecute Christians once again. For this, he was called “the Apostate”, which is defined as a person who renounces a religion.

In A.D. 363, Julian died in a battle against the Persians,during a disastrous retreat from the walls of Ctesiphon, below modern Baghdad, Julian was wounded by a spear thrown “no one knew whence,” which pierced his liver. He died the next night at age 31, having been emperor for 20 months.

Also this coin was minted in Antioch . Here is some history on Julian with Antioch.

Clash with the Antiochenes
After five months of dealings at the capital, Julian left Constantinople in May and moved to Antioch, arriving in mid-July and staying there for nine months before launching his fateful campaign against Persia in March 363. Antioch was a city favored by splendid temples along with a famous oracle of Apollo in nearby Daphne, which may have been one reason for his choosing to reside there. It had also been used in the past as a staging place for amassing troops, a purpose which Julian intended to follow.[46]

His arrival on 18 July was well received by the Antiochenes, though it coincided with the celebration of the Adonia, a festival which marked the death of Adonis, so there was wailing and moaning in the streets-not a good omen for an arrival.[47][48]

Julian soon discovered that wealthy merchants were causing food problems, apparently by hoarding food and selling it at high prices. He hoped that the curia would deal with the issue for the situation was headed for a famine. When the curia did nothing, he spoke to the city's leading citizens, trying to persuade them to take action. Thinking that they would do the job, he turned his attention to religious matters.

He tried to resurrect the ancient oracular spring of Castalia at the temple of Apollo at Daphne. After being advised that the bones of 3rd-century bishop Babylas were suppressing the god, he made a public-relations mistake in ordering the removal of the bones from the vicinity of the temple. The result was a massive Christian procession. Shortly after that, when the temple was destroyed by fire, Julian suspected the Christians and ordered stricter investigations than usual. He also shut up the chief Christian church of the city, before the investigations proved that the fire was the result of an accident.

When the curia still took no substantial action in regards to the food shortage, Julian intervened, fixing the prices for grain and importing more from Egypt. Then landholders refused to sell theirs, claiming that the harvest was so bad that they had to be compensated with fair prices. Julian accused them of price gouging and forced them to sell. Various parts of Libanius' orations may suggest that both sides were justified to some extent while Ammianus blames Julian for "a mere thirst for popularity".

Julian's ascetic lifestyle was not popular either, since his subjects were accustomed to the idea of an all-powerful Emperor who placed himself well above them. Nor did he improve his dignity with his own participation in the ceremonial of bloody sacrifices. As David S. Potter says:

They expected a man who was both removed from them by the awesome spectacle of imperial power, and would validate their interests and desires by sharing them from his Olympian height (...) He was supposed to be interested in what interested his people, and he was supposed to be dignified. He was not supposed to leap up and show his appreciation for a panegyric that it was delivered, as Julian had done on January 3, when Libanius was speaking, and ignore the chariot races.

He then tried to address public criticism and mocking of him by issuing a satire ostensibly on himself, called Misopogon or "Beard Hater". There he blames the people of Antioch for preferring that their ruler have his virtues in the face rather than in the soul.

Even Julian's intellectual friends and fellow pagans were of a divided mind about this habit of talking to his subjects on an equal footing: Ammianus Marcellinus saw in that only the foolish vanity of someone "excessively anxious for empty distinction", whose "desire for popularity often led him to converse with unworthy persons".

On leaving Antioch he appointed Alexander of Heliopolis as governor, a violent and cruel man whom the Antiochene Libanius, a friend of the emperor, admits on first thought was a "dishonourable" appointment. Julian himself described the man as "undeserving" of the position, but appropriate "for the avaricious and rebellious people of Antioch".

 

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Very nice write-up and congrats for your new coin. At auction, hope you didn't pay a very hefty sum.

 

Wow thats a wonderful coin, congrats.

Better then my Julian.


Julian II, The Apostate (355 - 363 A.D.)
Æ3
O: D N CL IVLIANVS NOB CAES, Bare head, draped and cuirassed right.
R: FEL TEMP REPARATIO. Helmeted soldier to l., shield on l. arm, spearing falling horseman; shield on ground r. Horseman turns head to soldier and extends l. arm. M in l. field, BSIRM star in exergue.
Sirmium Mint, 355-61 A.D.
19mm
2.24g
RIC 78

Scarce

 

Beautiful coin! The best I've seen. Here's my humble example:

I recently finished the book Julian by Gore Vidal, and found it to be an interesting look at the early days of Christianity from the eyes of a traditional Roman. I'd recommend it highly.

 

Excellent coin!!! And nice to think back to how close we were to getting the empire back on track before the squares took back over.
Here's to one of the only well educated, enlightened and innovative, of, and my few favorite late Roman Emperors:

 

Beautiful example, love the portrait and beard on your coin, one of the best I’ve seen of this type.


Julian II, AE1, Arles circa 361-363, (26mm,10.49g). Pear-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. Bull standing r., head facing; above, two stars; in r. field, eagle, standing r. on wreath, head l., holding another wreath in its beak. In exergue SCONST. RIC 320.

 

Just noticed that the bull almost has the same hair style as Julian !

Also looks like there is a lot of Julian the apostate collectors on here. All nice coins in my opinion! I only have this one that I won but would like to add more to the collection like the ones posted.

One of the biggest reasons I love collecting is to read the history that comes along with the coin.

 

Ditto!!! That's an amazing example bcuda, congratulations and thanks for sharing! Definitely raises the bar relative to most other 4th century bronze out there.

 

Congratulations!!! That is one heck of a beautiful coin.
I have been watching these for quite a few months.. someday!
You certainly grabbed a winner!

 

Nice, @bcuda



RI Julian II CE 360-363 AE1 maiorina Diademed R - SECVRITAS REIPVB 2 stars Apis Bull stg R ANT-Gamma 2 palms ANTIOCH RIC 217 LRBC 2641

 

Very nice @bcuda

 

Great coin and very interesting emperor. There is a neat paperback book called The Emperor Julian by Robert Browning , 1976 which I found to be a good biography and study of his times.
I have always been partial to Decius, Maxentius , and Julian. Does this make me a Pagan too???

 

Stunning coin and an informative write-up! That's what ancient numismatics is all about! Here's one from Antioch:


Julian II, 361-363.
Roman Silvered AE 3 Centenionalis; 3.16 g. 18.3 mm.
Antioch mint, AD 362-363.
Obv: D N FL CL IVLIANVS P F, helmeted and cuirassed bust, left, holding spear and shield.
Rev: VOT X MVLT XX, legend within wreath; in exergue: ANTA between two palm fronds.
Refs: RIC 220; Cohen 151; RCV 19181; LRBC 2642.

 

Hi @bcuda,

Wow, that is a phenomenal looking coin! Congrats on your new friend. The write up was great too. Here's my Julian II VOT X from Alexandria




19x20mm; 3.02g; 5:00 hr
OBV: Diademed helmet and cuirassed bust l., holding shield and spear. DN FL CL IVLI-ANVS P F AVG
REV: VOT/X/MVLT/XX within wreath. In ex. palm branch ALEA palm branch
RIC VIII Alexandria, 90 (Officina A); LRBC 2853

- Broucheion

 

Thank you everyone for all the replies. Love all the pictures of the Julian coins keep them coming and post away.

Ill start with another one, I bid on this one in the same auction and did not win it.

 

Very nice addition @bcuda !

Here are mine:

 

What a fantastic example of the type, @bcuda! Wonderful writeup too .

I'm also drawn to pagan emperors and themes. It's just more fun to read about religions and beliefs that are not currently in vogue .

Speaking of non-mainstream religious things, today while shopping for an energy provider I came across a surprisingly worded passage in Infinite Energy's terms of service:



How unexpected! Also, it is significant that in this passage "God" is singular and while the female counterpart is plural?

 

Hi @TIF,

I bet they never thought anyone would read that far into the fine print

- @Broucheion

 

Splendid example of this important type, @bcuda ! It's especially intriguing to me that the meaning of the bull reverse is somewhat mysterious. @Curtisimo recently did a very informative write-up summarizing the different theories.

@TIF , that's hilarious! I'm currently imagining the lawyers drafting these terms having a fierce theological debate about the necessity of specifically mentioning possible interventions by female polytheistic deities...

Here is my example of Julian's bull coin:

Julian II, Roman Empire, AE1, 361–363 AD, Antioch mint. Obv: DN FL CL IVLIANVS PF AVG; ldiademed, draped, cuirassed bust of Julian II r. Rev: SECVRITAS REIPVB; bull standing r., two stars above; mintmark (branch) ANT (branch). 27.5mm, 8.54g. RIC VIII Antioch 216. Ex Savoca London, 2nd Blue Auction, lot 1715.

 

JULIAN II
Majorina
OBVERSE: D N FL CL IVLI-ANVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right
REVERSE: SECVRITAS REIPVB• dot, bull right, two stars above, •palm branch-CONSPA-palm branch in ex.
Struck at Constantinople 3 Nov 361 - 26 June 363 A.D
7.95g, 29.48mm
RIC VIII 164