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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ancient coin hunter, post: 4124476, member: 87200&quot;]I received this in the mail yesterday in the FSR auction. While I had a coin of this emperor it was in very poor condition, so this represents an upgrade. Now I just need a Quietus...</p><p><br /></p><p>Although his father was from an equestrian family, Macrianus&#039; mother was of noble birth and her name, possibly, was Iunia. According to the often unreliable <i>Historia Augusta</i>, he had served as military tribune under Valerian.</p><p><br /></p><p>Macrianus, along with his father and his brother Quietus were in Mesopotamia in 260, for the Sassanid campaign of Emperor Valerian. After the Roman army was defeated by the forces of Shapur, the emperor Valerian was captured in a disaster for the Romans.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, with the help of his father, Macrianus Senior, the trio was able to keep the Imperial treasure. Through the influence of the Praetorian prefect Balista, who had served under Valerian, Macrianus gained the imperial office together with his brother Quietus through the election by the army, whilst Gallienus remained emperor in the West.</p><p><br /></p><p>Macrianus and Quietus were recognized in the eastern part of the Empire, having a strong power base in Egypt, from which they controlled the bulk of the grain supply intended for Rome.</p><p><br /></p><p>After having temporarily secured the Persian frontier, Macrianus Major and Macrianus Minor moved to the West to attack and eliminate their rival Gallienus, commanding an army of 30,000 men. They were however defeated in autumn 261 by Aureolus, Gallienus&#039; former cavalry commander and met their demise. </p><p><br /></p><p>One footnote of interest is that the military formation of Aureolus was the newly created mobile field army intended to quickly react to both barbarian incursions and internal threats, moving much faster than traditional legions. This is one innovation that contemporary historians have posited and credited to Gallienus, who mostly is given a bad rap in the Historia Augusta and also older sources such as Gibbon.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is a passage from the <i><a href="http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Gallieni_duo*.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Gallieni_duo*.html" rel="nofollow">Historia Augusta</a>:</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>&quot;Macrianus and Ballista met together, called in the remains of the army, and, since the Roman power in the East was tottering, sought someone to appoint as emperor. For Gallienus was showing himself so careless of public affairs that his name was not even mentioned to the soldiers. It was then finally decided to choose Macrianus and his sons as emperors and to undertake the defense of the state. And so the imperial power was offered to Macrianus. Now the reasons why Macrianus and his sons should be chosen to rule were these: First of all, no one of the generals of that time was held to be wiser, and none more suited to govern the state; in the second place, he was the richest, and could by his private fortune make good the public losses. In addition to this, his sons, most valiant young men, rushed with all spirit into the war, ready to serve as an example to the legions in all the duties of soldiers.&quot;</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Macrianus</b>, A.D. 260-261</p><p><br /></p><p>Type: AE antoninianus, 22 mm 3.1 grams, Antioch mint.</p><p><br /></p><p>Obverse: IMP C FVL MACRIANVS P F AVG, radiate cuirassed bust right</p><p><br /></p><p>Reverse: APOLINI CONSERVA, Apollo standing left holding branch and resting hand on lyre set on a low column.</p><p><br /></p><p>Reference: RIC 6; RSC 2; Sear 10799.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1068744[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1068745[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Feel free to post your coins of Macrianus and Quietus or anything you deem to be relevant from this interesting and painful moment in Roman History...[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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