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<p>[QUOTE="Blake Davis, post: 26024369, member: 91820"]In my reading of Roman Emperors and usurpers I have noticed that no matter how long the head start those fleeing after either a coup or a lost battle seem never to escape. Despite running head starts no one manages to get wherever they are fleeing - the assassins always get their man...or child. After Macrinus lost to Maesa and Elagabalus, Diadumenian was sent to Parthia but, of course, was caught even though Parthia was literally next door. Same with Caesarion after the death of Mark Antony - same as everyone else - I'll see if I can supplement with other examples.</p><p><br /></p><p>Diadumenian, born in 208 AD, was the son of Macrinus and served as Augustus for a less than a month in 218. Diadumenian became C<i>aesar </i>in May 217, shortly after his father's accession to the imperial throne. Julia Maesa used her nephew Elagabalus to support a revolt in May of the following year. After Macrinus was defeated in battle on June 8, 218, Diadumenian was sent to the court of Artabanus IV in Parthia; however, he was captured and executed before reaching the nearby kingdom. I do not believe that any imperial bronze coins of Diadumenian as Augustus have ever been discovered.</p><p><br /></p><p> When I first started collecting ancient coins in 1999, Diadumenian's sestertii seemed almost never to appear, but I have noticed - purely anecdotal - that his sestertii, although not common, appear for sale much more often than previously. Acsearch lists approximately 180 sestertii. RIC lists two major varieties - the PRINC IVVENTUTIS with legionary standards, and Spes - inscribed either as SPES PUBLICA and SPES - walking left. Only approximately 16 of the sestertii listed on Acsearch are of the SPES PUBLICA type - with not one example inscribed only "SPES." I have never seen an example inscribed just with Spes, but I have not searched all of the major databases. </p><p><br /></p><p>I had some suspicions about the recently purchased first coin below but after studying it at length I am satisfied it is authentic. It came with information that indicated sales since 1975. Because roughness on the obverse it is almost impossible to photograph which is probably why I won the coin despite what I thought was a low opening bid which was all that was put on it. This seems to happen more often these days as auction houses put opening prices on coins that seem to be more consistent with purchase price than bidding, especially in view of additional fees that are charged that now are typically 20% - or more. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1654571[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1654572[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>The SPES PUBLICA type seem to be very few dies - I will take a closer look and report back - and will also put in the weights and sizes. The Spes type also seem to more commonly have flans similar to this - although this may be due to the small number of examples. The Historia Augusta claimed that Diadumenian was an extremely beautiful child - but there is no way to tell from these examples and in any event the source isn't exactly credible.</p><p><br /></p><p>Being emperor may have been dangerous but it sure wasn't any bargain for the children!</p><p><br /></p><p>As for Macrinus, here he is - the coin was purchased in 2008 from Dianacoins and is among my favorites despite the roughness:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1654575[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Blake Davis, post: 26024369, member: 91820"]In my reading of Roman Emperors and usurpers I have noticed that no matter how long the head start those fleeing after either a coup or a lost battle seem never to escape. Despite running head starts no one manages to get wherever they are fleeing - the assassins always get their man...or child. After Macrinus lost to Maesa and Elagabalus, Diadumenian was sent to Parthia but, of course, was caught even though Parthia was literally next door. Same with Caesarion after the death of Mark Antony - same as everyone else - I'll see if I can supplement with other examples. Diadumenian, born in 208 AD, was the son of Macrinus and served as Augustus for a less than a month in 218. Diadumenian became C[I]aesar [/I]in May 217, shortly after his father's accession to the imperial throne. Julia Maesa used her nephew Elagabalus to support a revolt in May of the following year. After Macrinus was defeated in battle on June 8, 218, Diadumenian was sent to the court of Artabanus IV in Parthia; however, he was captured and executed before reaching the nearby kingdom. I do not believe that any imperial bronze coins of Diadumenian as Augustus have ever been discovered. When I first started collecting ancient coins in 1999, Diadumenian's sestertii seemed almost never to appear, but I have noticed - purely anecdotal - that his sestertii, although not common, appear for sale much more often than previously. Acsearch lists approximately 180 sestertii. RIC lists two major varieties - the PRINC IVVENTUTIS with legionary standards, and Spes - inscribed either as SPES PUBLICA and SPES - walking left. Only approximately 16 of the sestertii listed on Acsearch are of the SPES PUBLICA type - with not one example inscribed only "SPES." I have never seen an example inscribed just with Spes, but I have not searched all of the major databases. I had some suspicions about the recently purchased first coin below but after studying it at length I am satisfied it is authentic. It came with information that indicated sales since 1975. Because roughness on the obverse it is almost impossible to photograph which is probably why I won the coin despite what I thought was a low opening bid which was all that was put on it. This seems to happen more often these days as auction houses put opening prices on coins that seem to be more consistent with purchase price than bidding, especially in view of additional fees that are charged that now are typically 20% - or more. [ATTACH=full]1654571[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1654572[/ATTACH] The SPES PUBLICA type seem to be very few dies - I will take a closer look and report back - and will also put in the weights and sizes. The Spes type also seem to more commonly have flans similar to this - although this may be due to the small number of examples. The Historia Augusta claimed that Diadumenian was an extremely beautiful child - but there is no way to tell from these examples and in any event the source isn't exactly credible. Being emperor may have been dangerous but it sure wasn't any bargain for the children! As for Macrinus, here he is - the coin was purchased in 2008 from Dianacoins and is among my favorites despite the roughness: [ATTACH=full]1654575[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
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