Restoring the Republic

Flavius Valentinianus accepted the offer of Emperor of the Roman Empire on 26 Feb. 364 after his predecessor Jovian had ruled for the long and eventful reign of 8 months.

One of the first acts he did as Emperor was to appoint a Co-Emperor to manage the Eastern portion of the Empire. He appointed his brother Valens to the job and then set off for the capital of the Western Empire, Mediolanum. Unfortunately trouble soon arouse with a barbarian tribe called the alamanni. The barbarians were used to receiving a nice lump sum of cash each year from the Emperor in exchange for the good will of the two peoples, an incentive for increased trade and blah blah blah. To be terse, it was tribute money.
Valentinian I "insulted" the barbarian envoys and gave them much less than what they were accustomed to receiving. The alamanni promptly began overrunning northern Gaul in retaliation. News of this reached Valentinian the same time that news of Procopius's revolt against Valens had. Valentinian decided not help Valens and focused his efforts on retaking northern Gaul. This decision ended up saving a lot of lives and strengthened his position in Gaul. Valentinian wanted to send a message to Romans in the west that he was not going to abandon them, and to do this he issued number of coins with the phrase RESTITVTOR REIP (Restorer of the Republic).

Valentinian and his generals were eventually successful and by 367 the barbarians had been beaten back across the Rhine. Valentinian was about to launch a massive counter attack against them when he received troubling news from Roman Britain; the Caledonians, Hibernians, and Saxons had completely overrun the entire island except a few cities in the south. Valentinian was forced to postpone his planned punitive expedition until the situation in Britain was resolved.
After numerous failed attempts, Count Theodosius managed to swiftly retake the island and restore order.

In the absence of an Imperial attack during 367, the alemanni sacked Mogontiacum (Mainz). This enraged Valentinian and the next year he personally led a massive army across the Rhine to teach the barbarians a lesson; he quickly scattered them and burned their stored food and villages. Surprisingly the alemanni regrouped and counter attacked Valentinian. The Battle of Solicinium was a bloody affair that lasted for hours and Valentinian himself was almost himself killed in the fighting. The Roman Legions eventually got the upper hand and defeated the barbarians but not without sustaining casualties themselves. Realizing that his army was too seriously depleted to push on, he made a temporary truce with the alamanni and returned to his HQ at Trier. The next few years saw bitter and inconclusive fighting across the Rhine. Valentinian was able to inflict heavy casualties against the barbarians but never could kill their chieftain.
In 374 both sides came to agreement of peace and Valentinian left the Rhine frontier to deal with an invasion of quadi on the Danube. He would never return. In 375 he suffered a burst blood vessel in his skull that killed him while he was berating a quadi peace envoy for insolence and dishonesty.

Valentinian I was a military man who drastically improved the condition of the Legions and restored order and stability to the Western Empire. Though he had to raise taxes very high to pay for this. The fact that he even chose the West should be applauded. The Western Empire at this point in time was much poorer than the East and was beset by many more problems.

Here is a my first Siliqua of Valentinian I!
Valentinian I AR Siliqua
Antioch mint
364-367 CE
2.1 grams.
Price-$120!!!

You would not believe how long it took me to get a Siliqua of his!

What a Legionary in Valentinian's army would have looked like.

 

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Very nice coin MM. I also really liked the writeup.

 

Thanks for the nice writeup!

 

Great write up, great coin. I love it when we get a bit of history to go with a coin.

 

Thanks for the kind words folks!
I bet I threw some of you guys off with the name of this thread

Oh I almost forgot, please post all your coins of Valentinian I!

 

Magnus? Your warrior pictured at the close of your post......he reminds me of a Chinese warrior......the body armor and shield must be throwing me off.

 

I think in terms of cohorts interlocked.......

 

Your thread title threw me off, not what I was expecting. Very good write up - in fact posts like these are my favorites here at CoinTalk. They not only got me seriously interested in collecting ancients but also give my Air Force trade token posts something to aspire too.

 

@green18 The helmet is called the Ridge helmet. The Romans may have not been the most innovative people but they were the masters of imitation and improving. The helmet is of Sassanid origin. The armor is called Lorica Squamata.

 

I have a couple humble bronzes to contribute:


Valentinian I AD 364-375
AW, 2.7g, 18mm; 1h; Siscia mint
Obv.: DN VALENTINI-ANVS PF AVG, pearl diademed, curiassed & draped bust right
Rev.: SECVRITAS REIPVBLICAE; victory advancing left, holding wreath in right and Palm in last hand. Star over A in left field
In Ex.: DASISC


Valentinian I, AD 364-375
AE, 2.2g, 17.5mm; 6h; Siscia mint
Obv.: DN VALENTINI-ANVS PF AVG; pearl diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev.: GLORIA RO-MANORVM; emperor in military garb advancing right, head left, holding labrum, dragging captive behind. M in left field, star overPay in right field.
In Ex.: BSISC

 

Very sharp coins, JW!

 

With a few strokes on the google thingy I'm up to speed my friend.......

 

yet another fine lookin' siliqua and another good write up MK!

i only have a few poor/mid quality AE coins. here's the last one i picked up.



Valentinian I, AD364-375
O: D N VALENTINIANVS P F AVG, pearl diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; R: GLORIA ROMANORVM, emperor dragging captive with right, labarum (standard decorated with chi-rho) in left, TESB, Thessalonica mintRIC IX 16a, 17 mm, 2.6g

 

Thanks!-your write up here really tells their story. Victory and a captive.

If it wasn't for the aid of @dougsmit @green18 and @John Anthony I may have never got a good photo of them. Thanks again guys!

 

I like to think that Roman armor/uniforms became more medieval-looking during the late Roman era (the Middle Ages being right around the corner time-wise). That being said I really like the general look to them.

Oh and nice coin! Its from this one store on vcoins right? Starts with an "I"?

 

Jack? You are most kind.....too kind. Your perseverance to achieve the best final image was of you and you alone. I'm just happy I could lend a hand a bit......

 

Oh yes, I can....since my only siliqua is of Honorius. And you did throw me off a bit as well with the naming of the thread. Terrific historical account and wonderful coin...

MM, I'll try to post any humble bronzes i have tomorrow...

Congrats again!!

 

Wow, ya nailed another winner, eh Mag Max!!? (congrats)

Valentinian I, eh? ... hmmm, I think I have one of those ... let's go check

Oh my => it's my very first ancient purchase!! (man, I love this lil' guy!!)

=> gawd, the first one isn't free, my friends (the ancient-hook was set immediately!!)

 

Possibly
Very nice coins guys.
Interesting to think that some poor Legionnaire might have been paid in our coins. History is amazing!

 

You sure do collect some nice coins, this one included.