I’ve been interested in the crisis of the third century since listening to Mike Duncan’s History of Rome podcast a few years ago. Gallienus plays an important part at the high point of that crisis and gets a pretty bad rap for incompetency in the primary sources. But I remember Mike Duncan making a decent argument that (broadly - I’m paraphrasing) the negative opinions in the sources are likely simply the gossip of a jilted and thus biased senatorial class, and if one looks instead at what Gallienus achieved in very difficult circumstances, it is probably fair to say that Gallienus was actually quite competent and effective. However, he had the misfortune of being Emperor when merely being competent and effective wasn’t sufficient. Excellence was required and he didn’t have that. I am now reading Gibbons Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. His appraisal of Gallienus is more in line with the sources, and indeed he noted in a footnote that “This singular character has, I believe, been fairly transmitted to us.” He also makes a claim that the sources wouldn’t have had “the most remote interest to misrepresent the character of Gallienus”, which is at odds with Mike Duncan’s opinion on the same topic. What does the forum think? His generals must have rolled him for a reason, but was Gallienus as bad as he is made out? To keep things coiny, here’s Gibbons opinion on one of Gallienus’ aureus, and a picture of it sourced from the great wildwinds.com Gallienus, AV Aureus, 264-267 AD, Rome. GALLIENAE AVGVSTAE, head left wearing wreath of reeds / VBIQVE PAX, Victory in biga right. Cohen 1015; RIC 74. Post your opinions and your crisis coins!
I think he gets a bad rap. If it wasn't him, it would have been someone else. I have many of his. He's one of my favorites, which I have mentioned before on here in the past. Gallienus ( 253 - 268 A.D.) Billon Tetradrachm O: A K Π ΛI OY ΓAΛΛIANOC EY EY C, bearded, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. R: Nike (Victory) walking right, wreath extended in right, palm frond over shoulder in left, L - S flanking across field. Alexandria Mint 258 -259 A.D. 21.6mm 9.13g Savio pl. 271, 10525 (same dies); BMC Alexandria p. 286, 2194; Milne 3995; SNG Cop 768; Kampmann 90.31; Emmett 3736 (R2) Published on wildwinds. Gallienus (253 - 268 A.D.) AR Antoninianus O: IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate and cuirassed bust right. R: IOVI CONSERVA, Jupiter standing left, head turned right, holding scepter in right and thunderbolt in left. 5.1g 24mm RIC 143F (Rome) Sear 10237 Heavy for type. Gallienus (253 - 268 A.D.) AR Antoninianus O: GALLIENVS P F AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust right. R: DEO MARTI, Mars in temple. Colonia Agrippinensis (Cologne) mint, 258-259 A.D. 21mm 3.45g RIC 10 Reverse Die Clash Gallienus (253 - 268 A.D.) AR Antoninianus O: IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG : Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right, seen from behind. R: PIETATI AVGG : Pietas standing facing, head left, left arm leaning on column, vertical long scepter in right. Antioch, 253-255 A.D. 3.95g 22mm RIC V, Part I, 295; Göbl 1563d Published on Wildwinds Gallienus (253 - 268 A.D.) Egypt, Alexandria Billon Tetradrachm O:ΑΥΤ Κ Π ΛΙΚ ΓΑΛΛΙΗΝΟC CΕΒ. Laureate, and cuirassed bust right. R: Homonoia standing left, holding double cornucopia and raising hand; palm in right field, to left, date ΛΙΔ 21.5mm 9.05g Dattari 3816
I think he did everything he could.... but he never got out of "reactionary mode" .... took a real leader like Aurelian to turn the tide.
Whatever the opinions of his personal character are, it cannot be disputed what effect he had on the armies of the Empire. He devised the mobile field calvary force that was instrumental in the defeat of barbarian raiders for years after his death, which was commanded by both the usurper Aureolus and future emperor Aurelian. Later emperors, such as Diocletian and Constantine, also built upon this force and profoundly changed how the Roman Army functioned and operated.
It is thought-provoking why the obverse inscription uses the genitive/dative feminine form of Gallienus' name and the title augusta. There has been a lot of speculation over the years* and I don't think we'll ever know the real answer as to why this coin was issued with this obverse inscription. This use of the feminine conjugation is probably the reason behind Gibbons' characterization of Gallienus as "effeminate." Be that as it may, Gallienus inherited a mess and I'm not sure many others could have done a better job. *See, for example, this listing in Seth Stevenson's Dictionary of Roman Coins. Here are some of my favorite Gallienus coins:
Thanks for the link (and the sweet coin pics). It was an interesting article, and interesting to see that theories of satire aren’t just limited to the coin above. I always thought that the fides militvm type for Gallienus was a tad hopeful and certainly ironic given his track record and ultimate fate but hadn’t thought that it might have been a subtle dig!
I think he is underrated. You have to consider the mess he inherited. The Empire was at its nadir and on the verge of complete collapse. Gallienus turned things around. He did not live long enough to complete the job of reuniting the Empire, but he was the one who got the restoration process started, and he deserves credit (or blame, depending on your opinion of Western influence in world history) for that.
Since collecting his coins, I've come to admire Gallienus - for some of the reasons already posted. He ruled during a horrible time and he lasted a long time, which is quite an accomplishment. Besides, any guy who got his own triumphal arch must've done something right (and non of his successors pulled it down): Wikipedia photo by By FlagUploader (Useranairjdde) - Own work, CC SA 1.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=922010 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_of_Gallienus
Here's my SOLI CONS AVG type from the animals series. One has to admit that he struck a wide variety of types so one could spend all of his/her time collecting his coins as a specialty. I also include another example of VBIQVE PAX which is not holed. (Not in my collection, obviously). The fact that he stayed in power for 15 years meant that he had one of the longest reigns during the tumultuous third century, so he must have been doing something right.
I got a new Gallienus this month - a duplicate for me, but it is the only one in my collection with clear evidence of silvering - my other coins of Gallienus appear to be all bronze or low-grade silver. Different lighting to show the reverse plating (partially worn off): Gallienus Æ Antoninianus (c. 267 A.D.) Antioch (or Asian) Mint GALLIENVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right / SALVS AVG, Apollo standing left, holding laurel branch in right hand, left arm leaning on tripod. PXV in exergue. RIC 610; Göbl 1670k (2.96 grams / 23 x 20 mm)
Gallienus, inept or underrated? How about unfortunate. He did the best an emperor could do being dealt the hand that he was. Had he reigned two centuries earlier he would have been an excellent administrator and Suetonius and Tacitus could have written scandalous stories about him that would have gotten him a TV series.
