Hapless Quintillus

I was the lucky winner of this one in @Severus Alexander 's first Ancient and Medieval Coins Canada auction and I just couldn't wait to post about it. Up until now, I had only had a "space-filler" example and this one is quite nice for the type -- the obverse legend, while partially off the flan, has a clear QVINTILLVS and it's pleasing to the eye.

We don't know a whole lot with certainty about Quintillus. He and his older brother Claudius II Gothicus came from a low-born family from Illyricum (the green area along the Adriatic in the map, below).


Quintillus rose to prominence when his brother became emperor in 268. Some ancient sources report he served as Procurator of Sardinia during his brother's reign. He was acclaimed as emperor by his soldiers immediately following his brother's death, then confirmed by the Senate. However, the legions campaigning along the Danube were either unaware or disapproved of Quintillus' elevation. They instead elevated their general Aurelian as emperor. Outnumbered by Aurelian's troops and seeing the handwriting on the wall, Quintillus' troops deserted him.

The few records of Quintillus' reign disagree on the cause of his death. The notoriously unreliable Historia Augusta reports that he was murdered by his own soldiers in reaction to his strict military discipline. Jerome implies that he was killed in conflict with Aurelian. John of Antioch and Joannes Zonaras report Quintillus committed suicide by bleeding himself to death. John reports his suicide was assisted by a physician. All records agree he died at Aquileia.

These ancient sources also disagree on the length of his reign, variously reported to have lasted as few as 17 days and as many as 177 days. However, there is good reason to believe his reign lasted 77 days.* In any event, "a few months" seems reasonable. While coins of Quintillus are not plentiful, they aren't hard to come by, either, and there were too many different types issued to suggest a reign of only a few weeks' duration.

*See Banchich, note 4, here.

But on to the coin! Post your coins of Quintillus!


Quintillus, AD 270.
Roman billon antoninianus, 2.95 g, 20 mm.
Rome, 11th officina, issue 1, end AD 270.
Obv: IMP C M AVR CL QVINTILLVS AVG, bust right, radiate, cuirassed and draped with paludamentum, seen from the front.
Rev: SECVRIT AVG, Securitas standing left, legs crossed, holding short scepter in right hand, leaning on column with left elbow; officina mark XI in right field.
Refs: RIC 31; MER/RIC temp 1194; Cohen 63; RCV 11451; Normanby 1197; Hunter 17.
Notes: MER/RIC lists 10 varieties of this coin, differing somewhat in bust type and presence or absence and placement of the officina mark.

 

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That is a nice one, nice catch.

Here is mine. Ex: E.E. Clain-Stefanelli

 

Quintillus (270 A.D)
Æ(S) Antoninianus
O: IMP CM AVR CL QVINTILLVS AVG, radiate, draped bust right.
R: FORTVNA REDVX, Fortuna standing left with rudder and cornucopiae. Z in exergue.
Rome Mint, 270 A.D.
2.65g
18mm
Appleshaw hoard 305; RIC 19 var (cornucopiae)

 

One of the missing emperors in my collection. Nice coins !

 

Nice examples, @Orfew and @Mat ! Orfew's coin has an amazing portrait! You can really appreciate the emperor's Don-Henley-style fro and beard!

 

My choice:


Kevin’s choice:

 

Perfect portrait !

 

Congrats on the new acquisition! Nice portrait I really enjoyed the write up. Thanks for sharing.

Quintillus
270 CE AE Antoninianus (19
mm, 2.88 g), Roma (Rome).
Obv. IMP C M AVR
QVINTILLVS AVG, radiate,
draped and cuirassed bust
right.
Rev. AETERNIT AVG Sol
standing left, raising right
hand and holding a globe; N
in left field.
RIC V, 7

 

Nice write-up and great coin @Roman Collector !

QUINTILLUS:

RI Quintillus 270 CE Ant - Rome mint - Radiate-Victoria RIC Vi 33

 

the quintessential Quintillus...if you're trying to get'em all, ya gotta have him...^^

 

Nice coin and writeup! Quintillus is one of my favorite of the ephemeral emperors, oddly a bit reminiscent of Otho's tragic end. A couple odd things about his reign:
1) We don't know how long he actually ruled because Aurelian backdated his reign to the death of Claudius II, essentially removing Quintillus' legitimacy as emperor.
2) I've seen some passing references to a deification issue of Quintillus, which of course doesn't make any sense if Aurelian saw fit to erase his predecessor. If they actually exist (I have yet to see a photo of one) there is a good chance that they are "barbarous" issues made by his few loyal soldiers.

I feel lucky to be the keeper of this Quintillus, plucked from a higher end Naumann lot about a year ago


Here's an odd example of a Rome mint DIVO CLAVDIO minted under Quintillus and accidentally paired with one of his reverse dies

 

I have about 2 dozen of Quintillus. My son shares his name, and he refers to him as "another 3 month wonder". This is my best of the bunch.

 

very nice coin there jc..and kool name for a son too, welcome to CTA...

 

Nice!

 

How'd you get away with that?! I have a toddler and another on the way... I keep trying to slide ancient names into the list and keep getting rejected. The eye-rolls from my wife are a regular part of our baby name brainstorming sessions. Haha... I'll get one to stick eventually.

 

I've shown this one quite a few times here but... here it is again. My best Quintillus.

@Roman Collector That's a nice Quintillus. I really like that reverse type!

 

This is my only one:
Antoninianus; Mediolanum, Aug./September-November 270 AD, mintmark T (3rd officina)
18 x 19 mm, 2.64 g
Ref.: RIC V Quintillus 45; Sear 3242A; Cohen 8;
Obverse: IMP QVINTILLVS AVG radiate and draped bust right
Reverse: CONCO EXER Concordia standing l. with standard and cornucopiae. T in ex.