I just won a Diocletian coin to finish out my mini set of GPR's issued by a usurper. I had been looking for one for over a year, so was happy to overpay! Domitius Domitianus was a usurper in Egypt during the reign of Diocletian. Not much is actually known about this rebellion, even the date is disputed, though RIC gives A.D. 295- 296. Other dates include 296- 297 and 297- 298. There has also been speculation that the rebellion was due in part to the monetary reforms of Diocletian. http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/Reform/ Due to the short rule of this usurper, his coins are a bit rare and usually expensive; but one can also get coins struck by Domitianus for the members of the tetrarchy. He actually struck coins in the names of all the rulers at the time-- Diocletian, Maximianus, Constantius I and Galerius [RIC VI Alexandria 18- 21] most likely in an attempt to gain favor and demonstrate that he was not actually rebelling...which did not work so well. It is easier to find coins of Domitianus online than those he issued in the names of the Tetrarchy, in part due to the fact that coins he issued for other rulers are often not attributed to him. Though RIC rates them as common, they seem a bit rarer. These GENIO POPVLI ROMANI have an eagle to the left of Genio and the workshop (three in use at the time-- A B and Γ) is in the right field. Besides the eagle, the left field is empty; while the scarce first issue after the defeat of Domitius has a ✶ over eagle in the left field...maybe after Diocletian retook the city, the old dies were used with the addition over the eagle. Sometimes liquid flows from the patera...on my Diocletian it looks like the eagle is being fed from the patera. Though RIC states the eagles have a wreath in their beak, this is certainly not always the case, as mine are all wreathless. Strangely, Domitius is not mentioned in any literary source of the time though he is mentioned is some papyri; but Aurelius Achilleus was written about. Aurelius may have been the corrector, perhaps even commander of the troops for Domitius and possibly even took over leadership after the death of Domitius. If not for the coinage, the name Domitius Domitianus would probably only be little more than a footnote, instead he is still stirring debate and argument (a little) and his name will be remembered-- a usurper who claimed the purple as an Emperor in Alexandria. Diocletian A.D. 295- 296 26mm 9.2g IMP DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG; laureate head right. GENIO POPVLI ROMANI; Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae, eagle at feet to left (looks like eagle is "drinking"); Γ in right. In ex. ALE RIC VI Alexandria 18a Maximianus A.D. 295- 296 24x26mm 10.0gm IMP C M A MAXIMIANVS P F AVG; laureate head right. GENIO POPVLI ROMANI; Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae, eagle at feet to left; A in right. In ex. ALE RIC VI Alexandria 18b Domitius Domitianus A.D. 295- 296 24mm 10.8g IMP C L DOMITIVS DOMITIANVS AVG; laureate head right. GENIO POPV-LI ROMANI; Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae, eagle to left; A in right. In ex. ALE RIC VI Alexandria 20 Constantius I A.D. 295- 296 26mm 11.7gm FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES, laureate head right. GENIO POPVLI ROMANI, Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae, eagle at feet to left; B in right. In ex. ALE RIC VI Alexandria 21a Galerius A.D. 295-296 26mm 8.6g GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES; laureate head right. GENIO POPV-LI ROMANI; Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae, eagle at feet to left; B in right. In ex. ALE RIC VI Alexandria 21b https://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/Alexandria/
I've been hoping to pick up a Domitius tetradrachm or octodrachm for awhile now. Last one I saw for sale was $8,000 or something like that. Nice selection of coins Victor. It is speculated that Achilleus ruled for a time after Domitius' death, but no coins have been discovered yet. If were one to be found it would be a big deal.
Wow ! A most fabulous follis @Victor_Clark, beautiful For the time being I will stick to my octadrachm, Emmett plate coin Domitius Domitianus, usurpateur en Egypte (296 - 297), octodrachme - Alexandrie, Emmett plate coin Octodrachme de l'atelier d'Alexandrie - AD 296-297 ΔOMITI-ANOC CEB, Buste radié de Domitius à droite Serapis allant à droite, branche de palmier dans le champ à gauche, LB dans le champ à droite (2° année de règne) 12.79 gr Ref : Emmett #4241/2 (cet exemplaire) (R1), Kampmann # 126.2, RCV # 12982 (2000), Domitius Domitianus, stationed in Egypt, rebelled against Diocletianus in july 296 AD and was proclaimed emperor. He was defeated during spring 297 AD. Diocletian decided to close the alexandrian mint, so the coins of Domitianus are the last provincial coins from Alexandria. Also, Domitianus was the only ruler to strike octadrachms (in parallel with didrachms, tetradrachms and hexadrachms) For more information, see : http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Domitius Domitianus As far as I know, @TIF has an astounding tetradrachm of his too Q
Great set, Victor! Tagging @Severus Alexander so he won't miss it. I do indeed, thanks to my good friend @Cucumbor . (He alerted me about the coin). EGYPT, Alexandria. Domitius Domitianus RY 2 (297-8 CE) potin tetradrachm/hexagram/othergram; 9.56 gm, 23 mm Obv: ΔOMITIANOCCEB; laureate head right Rev: draped bust of Serapis to right, LB left and palm to right Ref: Dattari 6186; Emmett 4242 Gosh I love that coin
Great coin TIF. I have some great SOLI INVICTO COMITI coins of Constantine that I will trade you for that one.
So that was you!! I saw that coin go for big bucks, sorry you had to dig so deep! But super congrats on completing this difficult set. I love the cute eyes-skyward portrait on your new coin - well worth it overall, I'm sure! Here are my three: Diocletian (ex Dattari) Galerius Constantius (ex Dattari) I'm not sure I've ever seen a wreath on these! Hmm... look at that! And both officina B too! That just happens to be the tetrarch (and officina!) I'm still missing... ( Thanks, @TIF!!)
It's the second highest I have paid for one of these, the highest, of course, was the Domitianus...but I have no regrets...my wife however...
I just picked up workshop Γ for Maximianus Maximianus A.D. 295- 296 26mm 9.4g IMP C M A MAXIMIANVS P F AVG; laureate head right. GENIO POPVLI ROMANI; Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae, eagle at feet to left; Γ in right. In ex. ALE RIC VI Alexandria 18b
Congratulations on completing the set! That's a very interesting write-up. I am not focusing on this area and had no idea that coins struck for Diocletian under Domitius Domitianus were scarce. Mine came in a cheap mixed lot a couple of years ago and unfortunately is in wretched condition: Diocletian (struck under Domitius Domitianus), Roman Empire, AE1 ("follis"), 295–296 AD, Alexandria mint. Obv: IMP C DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG; head of Diocletian, laureate, r. Rev: GENIO POPVLI ROMANI; Genius, wearing modius, nude, chlamys draped over l. shoulder, standing l., holding patera in r. hand and holding cornucopiae in l. hand; at feet to l., eagle holding wreath in its beak; in field r., B; in exergue, ALE. 26mm, 8.96g. Ref: RIC VI Alexandria 18a.
Wow, great coins and great write-up on Domitius Domitianus. I have no hope of ever getting my hands on a coin of Domitianus, especially not in the quality which I am normally after. Here is a recent auction win. Its a follis of Constantius I from Alexandria: Obv.: FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES Rev.: GENIO POPVLI ROMANI Field: S - BP Exergue: ALE Mint: Alexandria Date: AD 302-303 Weight: 10.64g, diameter 26mm RIC VI 35a. I bought the coin for the nice portrait with the curly beard
As I mentioned above... ... I'm missing Maximianus from my set of 4 tetrarachs for this DD issue. Turns out both @Victor_Clark and I tried to get this coin yesterday. As you can see, he thumped me! (Sorry I pushed the bidding up, Victor. ) My disappointment was short-lived, however: being the fine fellow that he is, Victor agreed to sell me one of his duplicates!! This one: So the coin is now on its way to me to complete my set! Not only do I now own a set of all four tetrarchs, but they cover all three officinae too. Bonus! CoinTalk Ancients Board people are the best, yes? Thank you so much, Victor!!! You are an awesome guy, and I'm so very grateful. I look forward to seeing all four of these together!
Congrats on completing that workshop set! Only 3 more workshop sets to go! (Or 4 if you do DD too! ) I am not so ambitious. I should have mentioned that I got the first three within a year, and have been waiting three more to get the Max. So very satisfying. Here's a link to my Imperator entry in 2018 on the Constantius example. I was quite proud of my writeup: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/poll-16-6-jwt708-vs-27-severus-alexander-round-1-cit-2018.321043/
