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<p>[QUOTE="Gavin Richardson, post: 4587260, member: 83956"]And here is my FIL AVGG from Siscia, along with my write-up. I think the write-up owes a lot to [USER=44316]@Valentinian[/USER]'s fine site.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1135946[/ATTACH] </p><p>Upon first glance, a collector of late Roman imperial bronzes would not see anything remarkable about this coin–it looks like (quite literally) a million other Constantine coins of the fourth century, with “the genius of the Augustus” celebrated on the reverse. But it’s the last seven letters of the obverse legend that make this coin quite interesting: “FIL AUGG,” which stand for “filius augustorum,” or “son of the Augusti.” The Augusti were the emperors of the western and eastern Roman empires. The Augustus in the East, Galerius, essentially invented this title “filius augustorum” as a means of placating a 36-year-old Constantine, who was gaining power in the West against Galerius’s hand-picked successor, Severus II. This title was somehow designed to be flattering–perhaps a step above the typical title of “caesar” often given to the Augustus-in-waiting. But Constantine rejected the bogus title and called himself the full-fledged Augustus of the West in 307 A.D. Indeed, Constantine never struck coins with the “filius augustorum” title, and the legend “CONSTANTINVS FIL AVGG” was used only at eastern mints controlled by Galerius, whence the coin in the photo, struck ca. 309-310 A.D. at Siscia (present-day Sisak, in Croatia). Thus, this coin is scarce, if not rare, due to the limited and short-lived striking period with this obverse title. Constantine would continue to amass power–power which culminated, of course, in his triumph at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 A.D., cementing his status as Augustus, a title he would not relinquish until his death in 337.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Gavin Richardson, post: 4587260, member: 83956"]And here is my FIL AVGG from Siscia, along with my write-up. I think the write-up owes a lot to [USER=44316]@Valentinian[/USER]'s fine site. [ATTACH=full]1135946[/ATTACH] Upon first glance, a collector of late Roman imperial bronzes would not see anything remarkable about this coin–it looks like (quite literally) a million other Constantine coins of the fourth century, with “the genius of the Augustus” celebrated on the reverse. But it’s the last seven letters of the obverse legend that make this coin quite interesting: “FIL AUGG,” which stand for “filius augustorum,” or “son of the Augusti.” The Augusti were the emperors of the western and eastern Roman empires. The Augustus in the East, Galerius, essentially invented this title “filius augustorum” as a means of placating a 36-year-old Constantine, who was gaining power in the West against Galerius’s hand-picked successor, Severus II. This title was somehow designed to be flattering–perhaps a step above the typical title of “caesar” often given to the Augustus-in-waiting. But Constantine rejected the bogus title and called himself the full-fledged Augustus of the West in 307 A.D. Indeed, Constantine never struck coins with the “filius augustorum” title, and the legend “CONSTANTINVS FIL AVGG” was used only at eastern mints controlled by Galerius, whence the coin in the photo, struck ca. 309-310 A.D. at Siscia (present-day Sisak, in Croatia). Thus, this coin is scarce, if not rare, due to the limited and short-lived striking period with this obverse title. Constantine would continue to amass power–power which culminated, of course, in his triumph at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 A.D., cementing his status as Augustus, a title he would not relinquish until his death in 337.[/QUOTE]
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