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<p>[QUOTE="Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 4853206, member: 99554"]Today, September 9th, it's the birthday of the Emperor <b>Aurelian</b>. Lucius Domitius Aurelianus is probably born from modest origin in Sirmium (Serbia) around 214 AD. He had a successful military career before he became Emperor. When Gallienus was assassinated, Claudius II became Augustus and <b>Aurelian</b> his Commander of the Cavalry. However, his reign was very brief; in January 270 AD, he fell victim to the Plague of Cyprian and died shortly after that. Quintillus aspired to the throne, but <b>Aurelian</b> gained support of the army and was raised to the throne over Quintillus, who later committed suicide. Aurelian inherited a sinking Empire with enormous political and economic difficulties. Here are the challenges he faced :</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><ul> <li>Anarchy reigns in the capital, Rome, and the city is very poorly protected.</li> <li>The empire is threatened in the North by Barbarians' tribes, in the East Palmyra is revolting, Gaul in under Postumus power and Tetricus was proclaimed in the West...</li> <li>For decades the monetary system has been in ruins and inflation has reached unprecedented levels. In addition, he must take action against the monetary workshop, guilty of fraud on the issue of coins.</li> <li>The Roman empire is completely divided, and it must find a way to unite all the provinces and territories.</li> </ul><p>Let us now see how he settled during the five years of his reign the many problems which seemed to announce the collapse of Rome.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1171934[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><ul> <li>When Aurelian returned to Rome in 271 AD, he had to pacify a terrified city. He immediately stopped the rioting and restored law and order to the capital. The attacks of Barbarians had made a profound impact on the population of Rome. It was the first time in history they saw their city as being vulnerable. Aurelian thus authorized the construction of new defense walls (the Aurelian Walls) to encircle and protect Rome itself, although they were not fully completed until the reign of Probus; the great walls of Rome still remain largely intact today.</li> </ul><p>[ATTACH=full]1269437[/ATTACH] </p><ul> <li>He managed to repel all the invaders and defeated in Pavia in 271 the Vandals and the Juthunges who were ravaging northern Italy (Battle of Pavia). A small part of Goths are allowed to settle in the Roman Empire. Aurelian then turned his attention to Thrace, which had been invaded by the Goths. He invaded with his usual determination and reconquered the region while chasing the Goths back over the Danube. <b>Aurelian</b> realized that the imperial frontiers were proving impossible to defend, and as a result, the province of Dacia, the conquest of Trajan, was entirely abandoned. With the northern borders reestablished, Aurelian then turned his attention to the Palmyrene Queen, Zenobia. A battle near the Orontes River ended the revolt of Palmyra. After that, Aurelian campained into Gaul to attack the usurper Tetricus and his Gallic supporters. At the battle near Chalons, Tetricus abandoned his troops and surrendered. In 274, the Emperor can celebrate a triumph in Rome, where the defeated captives appear, including Zenobia and her son, as well as Tetricus. After this demonstration, the loosers will be treated with clemency: Zenobia and her son would have lived in Tibur, the former queen would have married a Roman senator. While Tetricus himself became a senator and administrator in Italy.</li> <li>The responsable of the mint in Rome began a revolt over the monetary reforms laid out by <b>Aurelian</b>. He ordered that all the debased currency be purchased back and replaced with a new currency of higher content in silver. It seems that those who had been in charge of the workshop were embezzling the intended silver and issuing the debased coinage at least in part on their own authority. Obviously, any reform to the monetary system that called for an increase in silver content would have been unprofitable for those running the mint for personal gain. In the rebellion, as many as 7,000 soldiers died when Aurelian was forced to trap and execute them and their allies, some of senatorial rank, in a terrible battle on the Caelian Hills.</li> <li><b>Aurelian</b> wanted to stabilize a decaying monetary system since the 240s, by rigorously fixing the weight and the title of the different denominations: for gold, a return to 1 / 50th of a pound established by Caracalla; for silver, an <i>aurelianus</i> at 1 / 80th of a pound, with 5% pure silver as indicated by the mark XX-I (or K-A in the east), associated with a fraction, a denarius, labeled VSV for VSV (alis); for bronze, two kind minted in small quantity and without mark of value, the first laureate, the second radiate weighing twice the previous one.</li> <li><b>Aurelian</b> tried to somehow unify society so he also attempted to reform religion. From the East, Aurelian's goal was to encourage religious devotion to the sun god, Sol Invictus. He wanted to develop a universal deity that would unite the pagan world. In the process he began the persecution of the Christians once again in an effort to create social unity.</li> </ul><p><b>Now time to show off : please present us your Aurelian's examples !</b></p><p><br /></p><p>RESTITVTOR ORBIS</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1171936[/ATTACH]</p><p>An example of the XX-I mark</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1171935[/ATTACH]</p><p>VIRT MILITVM Rome with a rare gamma mintmark</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1171933[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 4853206, member: 99554"]Today, September 9th, it's the birthday of the Emperor [B]Aurelian[/B]. Lucius Domitius Aurelianus is probably born from modest origin in Sirmium (Serbia) around 214 AD. He had a successful military career before he became Emperor. When Gallienus was assassinated, Claudius II became Augustus and [B]Aurelian[/B] his Commander of the Cavalry. However, his reign was very brief; in January 270 AD, he fell victim to the Plague of Cyprian and died shortly after that. Quintillus aspired to the throne, but [B]Aurelian[/B] gained support of the army and was raised to the throne over Quintillus, who later committed suicide. Aurelian inherited a sinking Empire with enormous political and economic difficulties. Here are the challenges he faced : [LIST] [*]Anarchy reigns in the capital, Rome, and the city is very poorly protected. [*]The empire is threatened in the North by Barbarians' tribes, in the East Palmyra is revolting, Gaul in under Postumus power and Tetricus was proclaimed in the West... [*]For decades the monetary system has been in ruins and inflation has reached unprecedented levels. In addition, he must take action against the monetary workshop, guilty of fraud on the issue of coins. [*]The Roman empire is completely divided, and it must find a way to unite all the provinces and territories. [/LIST] Let us now see how he settled during the five years of his reign the many problems which seemed to announce the collapse of Rome. [ATTACH=full]1171934[/ATTACH] [LIST] [*]When Aurelian returned to Rome in 271 AD, he had to pacify a terrified city. He immediately stopped the rioting and restored law and order to the capital. The attacks of Barbarians had made a profound impact on the population of Rome. It was the first time in history they saw their city as being vulnerable. Aurelian thus authorized the construction of new defense walls (the Aurelian Walls) to encircle and protect Rome itself, although they were not fully completed until the reign of Probus; the great walls of Rome still remain largely intact today. [/LIST] [ATTACH=full]1269437[/ATTACH] [LIST] [*]He managed to repel all the invaders and defeated in Pavia in 271 the Vandals and the Juthunges who were ravaging northern Italy (Battle of Pavia). A small part of Goths are allowed to settle in the Roman Empire. Aurelian then turned his attention to Thrace, which had been invaded by the Goths. He invaded with his usual determination and reconquered the region while chasing the Goths back over the Danube. [B]Aurelian[/B] realized that the imperial frontiers were proving impossible to defend, and as a result, the province of Dacia, the conquest of Trajan, was entirely abandoned. With the northern borders reestablished, Aurelian then turned his attention to the Palmyrene Queen, Zenobia. A battle near the Orontes River ended the revolt of Palmyra. After that, Aurelian campained into Gaul to attack the usurper Tetricus and his Gallic supporters. At the battle near Chalons, Tetricus abandoned his troops and surrendered. In 274, the Emperor can celebrate a triumph in Rome, where the defeated captives appear, including Zenobia and her son, as well as Tetricus. After this demonstration, the loosers will be treated with clemency: Zenobia and her son would have lived in Tibur, the former queen would have married a Roman senator. While Tetricus himself became a senator and administrator in Italy. [*]The responsable of the mint in Rome began a revolt over the monetary reforms laid out by [B]Aurelian[/B]. He ordered that all the debased currency be purchased back and replaced with a new currency of higher content in silver. It seems that those who had been in charge of the workshop were embezzling the intended silver and issuing the debased coinage at least in part on their own authority. Obviously, any reform to the monetary system that called for an increase in silver content would have been unprofitable for those running the mint for personal gain. In the rebellion, as many as 7,000 soldiers died when Aurelian was forced to trap and execute them and their allies, some of senatorial rank, in a terrible battle on the Caelian Hills. [*][B]Aurelian[/B] wanted to stabilize a decaying monetary system since the 240s, by rigorously fixing the weight and the title of the different denominations: for gold, a return to 1 / 50th of a pound established by Caracalla; for silver, an [I]aurelianus[/I] at 1 / 80th of a pound, with 5% pure silver as indicated by the mark XX-I (or K-A in the east), associated with a fraction, a denarius, labeled VSV for VSV (alis); for bronze, two kind minted in small quantity and without mark of value, the first laureate, the second radiate weighing twice the previous one. [*][B]Aurelian[/B] tried to somehow unify society so he also attempted to reform religion. From the East, Aurelian's goal was to encourage religious devotion to the sun god, Sol Invictus. He wanted to develop a universal deity that would unite the pagan world. In the process he began the persecution of the Christians once again in an effort to create social unity. [/LIST] [B]Now time to show off : please present us your Aurelian's examples ![/B] RESTITVTOR ORBIS [ATTACH=full]1171936[/ATTACH] An example of the XX-I mark [ATTACH=full]1171935[/ATTACH] VIRT MILITVM Rome with a rare gamma mintmark [ATTACH=full]1171933[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
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