From political to religious militantism: Constantius II and Gracian.

From political to religious militantism: Constantius II and Gratian.

I find it interesting to ponder the change in iconography in the small bronzes from Constantius II to Gratian.

These coins aren't in the best condition, but they're mine, so I'm referring to them as examples. The "falling horseman" motif represents a complete defeat for the enemy. Notice that the Roman soldier isn't depicted in the same scale as the barbarian: he is larger-than-life, towering over the toppled cavalryman, stepping on his shield, and delivering a decisive, final blow. There is nothing more to the symbolism than the utter defeat of the enemy.

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With Gratian, however, we see the Emperor dragging a captive, wielding a labarum, or sceptre, on which is mounted the ancient Christian symbol Chi-Rho. The enemy will not be utterly destroyed, but WILL be lead forward in the name of the church whether he likes it or not.

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This symbolism makes perfect sense in light of Gratian's history: he was considerably influenced by St. Ambrose, he wholeheartedly espoused Christianity, and decreed that everyone should adhere to the tenets of the Nicene Creed. Furthermore, he was the first Emperor to renounce the title of pontifex maximus, or "supreme priest" of traditional Roman paganism. It's certainly no surprise that those actions eventually lead to his assassination, but what I do find surprising is that although he wasn't canonized by the Catholic Church, he was in fact posthumously deified by his pagan detractors!

What's striking about the reverse of the latter coin is the blatant expression of religious militantism. I wonder if any other coin does it with such swashbuckling bravado?

 

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I guess I never thought about it in that way.

 

I thought I was the only one who thought/cared about that!

I really need to get some examples to show this off though...
Too many coins, not enough money!
I've got time though... Good thing about being a YN

 

I didn't collect those pieces for the sake of their symbolism. I'm just not that astute. But the more I looked at the coins and studied the history of the period, the more striking the symbolism became.

 

The theory might suffer from the fact that Constans and Constantius II also had types with living captives. The common explanation of the 'hut' series is that barbarians were removed from their homes and resettled in other places, usually to provide a buffer between real Romans and the nastier barbarians on the other side.

 

Of course, taking captives was nothing new to the Romans, whether they used them as a buffer, or for slave labor. (I'll venture most of the coins we own were produced by slaves.) Maybe I'm reading too much into the symbolism though. But I do wonder if this appearance of the Chi-Rho is the earliest example of Christian symbolism on a coin. My example is muddy, but this one is better...

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I don't know if I agree that he was assassinated because of his actions against paganism or his refusal to accept the title of Potifex Maximus as much as the fact that he lost the support of his troops because of his favoritism to his Alan Mercenaries as well as the usual political struggles, particularly in his case, Magnus Maximus who was the one who supposedly sent the assassin. Although he was certainly Christian as were all emperors after Julian, this was very near the time when Theodosius would announce Christianity (and only one form of Christianity) to be the only acceptable religion so his rejection of paganism might not have been that terribly unpopular save for people like the old guard senators who were of little consequence in Roman politics by this time anyway...or be the underlying cause of his murder. Its difficult to say how much actions and symbolism such as this are political in nature.

Also, the captive motif (in all its forms) IS quite a common motif at this time and I would think he was just rehashing an old motif and simply adding the symbolism to let it be known he was Christian which would become common practice after Constantine.

 

Here is a pre-Gratian emperor (Valens 367-370 AD) draging a captive with Chi-Rho. (RIC 16b)-

 

Not even close. It always amazed me that Constantine had so few Christian symbols and I don't have the rare first ones. Shortly after his death, the sons started placing an occasional chi-rho on coins. The early highlight is the Constantius (and Vetranio) HOC SIGNO VICTOR ERIS with chi-rho on standard and the Magnentius/Decentius/Constantius full reverse types.

 

The Chi Rho looks very much like the ancient Greek Karosthi. Here is a Bactrian example , Karosthi lower right of Athena circa 125 BC -


Alexander the Great circa 330 BC -

 

First of all, let me say that I enjoy the Roman history discussions, although I may have different interpretations.

I don't want to be ff-topic:, so I'll be brief.

Most students of Rome's transformation to an empire-wide Christianity know about the Battle of the Milvian Bridge (AD 312) or the death of Julian the Apostate Emperor (AD 363). Possibly of equal significance to this transformation was the Battle of Frigidus (AD 394).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Frigidus

This battle occurred more than a decade after Gratian's death.

The Battle of Frigidus was barely won by Theodosius, but assured the continued brutal persecution of Pagans, Manicheans, and non-Trinitarian Christians. Had Theodosius lost (and he barely won the battle, possibly after a freak windstorm), Rome's later history would potentially have been one more diverse in religious beliefs.

Sorry. I didn't want to hijack this interesting thread.


guy

 

You may be right Bart although I believe Diocletian and later Julian found that it was rather difficult to stem that tide. Julian was a devout pagan and there can be no doubt he was no fan of Christianity as is revealed by his own writing such as 'Against the Galilean' where he disparages Christianity and laments that their tactics are what causes them to be popular with the people and even suggests that pagans should adopt such tactics. Because it was the masses that filled the ranks of the early Christians. While he did not persecute Christians, he attempted to revive Paganism that, by this time, had faltered and their temples were in disrepair. This did not go over well in Antioch (Julian and the people of that city did not hit it off) and I question the idea many put forth that if he had lived longer, he would have been able to check the rise and dominance of Christianity. I think that movement, the growing popularity of that religion, happened quite on its own and without any imperial help and by the time of Constantine it was already a force that may have caused a smart man like Constantine to see the wisdom in courting them. I think the emperors, in the end, did not make Christianity the force it became but instead they simply saw the train leaving and got on board.

 

Ripley, is there another name for the symbol on the Bactrian coin you posted? When I search "karosthi" I get references to the ancient Indic script, but nothing about a specific symbol.


BTW, can someone help me with the legend on the obverse of my Gratian:

DN GRATIANVS PF AVG

What does it signify? Is AVG an abbreviation of Augustus?

GLORIA ROMANORVM on the reverse is self-explanatory.

 

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/abb.html

The above link might help.
Dominus Noster name Pius Felix Augustus
Our lord name dutiful and fortunate emperor

 

Thank you Doug!

 

Doug, if you don't mind me saying...your website helped me quite a bit when I was attmpting to learn what means what on coins...While I don't need such help much anymore, its a very valuable resource for people starting out. To be honest it just has interesting information that is good for anyone wanting to delve deeper in to these coins and their meanings...thanks

 

Sure John Anthony. Its sandskrit the Athena coin means something like this "Fighting Athena with grapes" The Alexander means "Eagle looking back"
Here is a good link -
http://www.snible.org/coins/hn/bactria.html

 

Thanks! That's one long, complicated read. It's going to take me some time to digest it all.

 

Thank you. I am most pleased when I hear from people who tell me that my pages were helpful to them when they were beginners but now they have posted sites of their own usually on their specialty an much more in depth than mine. The intent of my site is to provide an ancient coin kindergarten in the hope that some readers will decide they also should share what they know about our hobby.

 

Geez. Although I am not a "coin collector," I do some research requiring more than a basic knowledge about numismatics. I frequently refer back to many poorly-written books or obscure articles. That said, your site is one where anyone can quickly get much of the same information written in a clear and concise manner.

It is hardly an " ancient coin kindergarten" just for beginners. It is more like an essential ancient coin primer that is both accessible and informative.

guy