I have this coin coming. I'm pretty excited to get a coin with a Centaur on it! Sounds like Gallienus lived in some tough times in the Roman Empire. Interesting History and time period. Gallienus AE Antoninianus Obverse: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right. Reverse: APOLLINI CONS AVG, Centaur walking right, drawing bow; letter Z below. Rome mint 267-268 AD References: RIC V-I 163 Weight: 3.11 g Diameter: 20.7 mm Name commonly known as: Gallienus *** Latin Roman Name: Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus *** Reigned as Roman Emperor / Caesar: 253-260 with Valerian and from 260-268 alone *** Dynasty / Historical Period: Crisis of the Third Century (235 - 284). Era of the Barracks Emperors (238 - 268) *** Date of Birth: Born c. 218 *** Name of previous Emperor: His predecessor or the Emperor before Gallienus was Aemilian Family connections / Genealogy *** Name of Father: Valerian *** Name of Mother: Egnatia Mariniana *** Married: Cornelia Salonina *** Children: Valerianus, Saloninus, Egnatius Marinianus Place and Date of Death: Died September 268 in Milan *** Name of next Emperor: The successor to Gallienus was Claudius II (Gothicus) Valerian the father of Gallienus seized power via a military coup. His first act as emperor was to make his son Gallienus his co-emperor. Both Gallienus and his father sought to repel the attacks of innumerable enemies on every side of the empire including the Goths, the Franks, the Scythians and the Persians. In 259AD a campaign against the Persians culminated in a humiliating Roman defeat at the Battle of Edessa. Valerian was taken prisoner and his entire 70,000 strong Roman force was killed or captured. Gallienus made no attempt to free his father and Valerian languished for nine years in captivity until his death. Interesting facts about the life of Gallienus The Allemanni, meanwhile, had entered Italy, ravaged its northern territory and even threatened Rome. They withdrew, loaded with plunder. To gain allies among the barbarians, Gallienus married the daughter of the king of the Marcomanni. Every part of the empire was been laid open to the invaders. Greece was ravaged by the Goths; the famous Temple of Diana at Ephesus was burned by them, together with the city. Sapor, king of the Persians, overran Syria and Asia. He was, however, finally repelled by the brave Odenatus, who, with his queen Zenobia, ruled at Palmyra. Gallienus - Threat by Usurpers, the 'Thirty Tyrants' A crowd of usurpers rose in arms against the weak Gallienus. There were nineteen pretenders to the throne according to Gibbon, but this period is usually known as that of the 'Thirty Tyrants'. In order to reduce the threat of usurpers Gallienus forbade senators from becoming military commanders. This policy undermined senatorial power, as more reliable military commanders rose to prominence. This terrible period was also marked by the plague, which continued for fifteen years in every province. Five thousand people died daily at Rome for some time. Roman cities were depopulated and the number of Romans declined. A famine preceded and attended the plague and earthquakes were common. The Death of Gallienus Gallienus made his greatest achievements during at the end of his reign. Having lost the greater part of the Gallic empire he repelled an invasion of Goths and defeated the Alamanni. Gallienus then moved on to lay siege to Mediolanum (Milan). During the siege Gallienus' authority was challenged and Gallienus was murdered in mysterious circumstances in September 268. The death of Gallienus ended the era of the Thirty Tyrants and the Barracks emperors. Gallienus was officially succeeded by Marcus Aurelius Claudius (Claudius II), who was suspected of being involved in the conspiracy to murder Gallienus. Claudius II started the rule of the Illyrian Emperors (268 - 285).Copyright@Linda Alchin. Feel free to post your Gallienus or Centaur coins, I would love to see them.
Yes, indeed! I, too, find Gallienus to be a fascinating historical figure with interesting coins. Here's one from my collection which also depicts a centaur: Gallienus, AD 253-268 Roman AE Antoninianus; 19 mm, 2.7 g. Rome, AD 267-268 Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right Rev: APOLLINI CONS AVG, Centaur walking left, holding globe and trophy*; H in exergue Refs: RIC 164; Cohen 73; RCV 10178 *RIC calls this object a trophy; Sear calls it a rudder; Cohen calls it arrows.
Great coin and write up, here's my gallenius- Gallienus AR Antoninianus. Rome mint, GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right / DIANAE CONS AVG, Stag walking left, officina mark XII below. Cohen 160; Goebl 0744b; Sear 10201. Thanks, Jacob
Whoa! Centaurs! That's something I've never had! Cool! This is the Gallienus I had in my first Roman Imperial collection. (It was a nice, bright, fully silvered-piece with lovely hints of orange toning, but looks rather flat in these old images done on a flatbed scanner)
Very cool posts everyone!! The OP is a terrific example and I always love a bit of historical background And here's mine.....plus a couple of 'animal' friends to keep him company
Wow. So much variety. I'm beginning to see how some people can collect coins of just one single reign or dynasty and still have an amazing assortment. These are rather late in the game, chronologically speaking, to have been on my radar, but I can definitely see the appeal.
Thanks for sharing your great coins and feedback everyone! The Zoo series seems like a good theme to check out, I will have to add some more Gallienus coins. I almost bid on a Pegasus, but the obverse was a mess. I will keep a lookout for the other animal types and add more as i find decent examples. This Hobby is addictive!
Great Gallienus centaur coin Old49er!! Gallienus did indeed live during an interesting time in the Empire. Here is a Gallienus centaur that I have:
Well done @old49er ! Nice Centaur! Here is my Gallienus: Gallienus Silvered Æ Ant CE 263-264 AVG rad cuiras R Hercules R lion skin club star RIC 673 And, my only Centaur: Frentani - Larinum AE 18mm Quadrans 210-175 BCE Herakles - Centaur SNG COP 272 The Frentani were related to the Samnites, and were the coastal cousins to them.
Gallienus AE antoninianus - reverse Pegasus or one of Sol's horses that drove his quadriga, not exactly sure. Obverse: GALLIENVS AVG Reverse: SOLI CONS AVG
Each zoo coin ears a legend honoring a god as conservator of the emperor. In the various post above we have seen several different. I'll add a hippocamp for Neptune, a panther for Liber and a gryphon for Apollo all of which were in Bing's unlabeled group but my most rare offering is a barbarous radiate copying a zoo series deer of Diana.
here are two coins of Gallienus of my collection: GALLIENVS. Radiate bust r. “GALLIENVS AVG”, Rev.: “DIANAE CONS AVG”, antilope walking l., in exerg, “”, Mint: Rome (?). AE Ant. (21mm.) 253-268. Ref.: Sear 2853, C.165, RIC 181(s). GALLIENVS. Radiate bust r. "GALLIENVS AVG", Rev.:Centaur walking l. "APOLLINI CONS" in exerg. "CST"AEAnt. (),Mint:Constantinople.Sear 2844,C.72, RIC.162(s). Interesting discovery: Found in a hoard in Britanny (north of France) in 1955.
