Publius Quinctilius Varus

This is a coin that was included in a lot of mostly Seleucid coins I purchased. The Seleucid's were really what I was after and I didn't recognize this one so I assumed it was some sort of Roman provincial that in all likelihood was a common coin. It turned out to be more interesting given the issuer (assuming I have this right and its not a fake) - Varus was the not-so-good general who lost the XVII, XVIII and XIX legions in an ambush set up by Arminius in what we now call "The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest" in 9 AD. The Romans were so traumatized by this loss that these numbers were never used by any legion again.

Varus was a fairly high level ranking politician under Augustus who acted as governor of both Africa and Syria. He didn't set out on his ill-fated German expedition until he returned to Rome from Syria.

It was a nice tie in to Tacitus' Annals which I am slowly working my way through as there is a description in there of Germanicus finding the remains of the massacred legions and giving them a proper burial. He also recovered two of the legionary eagle standards (c. 14 - 16 AD), with the last one being recovered some 25 years later.

Publius Quinctilius Varus
AE 7.74g 19mm
Laureate head of Zeus right /
Tyche seated right holding palm branch, Orontes (river god) swimming below
ΑΝΤΙΟΧΕΩΝ ΕΠΙΟΥΑΡΟΥ
EK in right field - year 25 of reign of Augustus I think 7/6 BC



Let's try a theme of high ranking officials who lost their lives in battle. How about a nice Valerian (pre throne room ornament)?

 

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Great coin and a wonderful find all together.

 

Hey TT, that is an excellent example with the name complete. It is nice enough to have been an individual lot and you are lucky to have gotten it in a group. Congratulations!

 

That's a handsome coin with some excellent history attached to it!

 

I share the opinion that this is not a bulk lot specimen. Were the others this attractive? I'm sure we would enjoy seeing more from the group.

Dating on these coins is called the Actian era based on a system starting with the defeat of Antony in 31 BC. There has been discussion of the exact date for 'New Years' under some of these systems but something on the order of late August has good arguments. That would make the year 25 coin late August 7 to late August 6 BC as you list. More commonly we see the silver tetradrachms of Antioch of the period bearing this date system.

Compare:
https://www.cngcoins.com/Search.asp...1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_4=1&VIEW_TYPE=0

 

I think some of you will appreciate this. I went to the battle site from 9ce in Northern Germany, where they have a nice museum. Among the artifacts were a long case of Republican and early imperial coins left behind by the decimated legions. They first found the site by discovering Roman lead sling shot bullets, and until excavations the location of true site remained a mystery for almost 2000 years. The history channel had a decent deception of the battle in "barbarians rising".

Placard showing the route Arminius took that led to the ambush.

Only a sampling of the thousands of coins found along the route. Great for dating, as none were minted later than 9CE.

 

Excellent coin!

VERY nice piece of history. My Professor did a great job virtually acting out this story when I was in University in the 70's. I still remember the lecture to this day...

I have one similar to yours, struck in 5-4 BCE, Year 27, ZK


Roman Imperial
Publius Quinctilius Varus
Tetrachalkon
5-4 BCE AE20 8-0g
Zeus
Tyche Orontes
Antioch Yr ZK
RPC 4252 SNG Cop 92

 

Not a coin you see very often, and a beautiful example. Nice score!

 

And it still is a mystery. We do not know for sure where that battle took place. It is obvious that Kalkriese was the location of a military conflict, and yes, we also know that none of the coins found there was minted after 9 CE (some bits in German here). So Kalkriese is a good guess, but another "true site" may be found later ...

Christian

 

Wonderful OP!!!

I thought the site (Kalkriese) was finally established beyond reasonable doubt...???

 

Maybe my opinion doesn't count for much, but I'll rely on the archaeologist whom say it is. From my understanding it was guerrilla style warfare, attacking the Roman's on a narrow path and retreating over several days. I imagine there was a final stand somewhere and I'm unsure if that was excavated? I don't have any doubt that the area around Kalkriese was at least the spot of some of the ambushes involving Arminius.

 

Not really. Blame Tacitus and the other Roman sources who failed to provide precise geodetic data about the location of the battle, hehe.

The Kalkriese area is the most likely place but mostly because of a lack of plausible alternatives. They did find coins, some tools and human bones there, and there is no doubt that this was the location of some military conflict. However, no ceramics (terra sigillata) have been found there so far, and while there were several pits with human bones, it seems that those bones could be assigned to 17 individuals only.

In 2009 there was a major exhibition about the bimillennium of the Varus Battle, at three different locations: Haltern (possibly Aliso, definitely a major military camp used as a starting point of the Varus campaign), Detmold (near the "Hermann" monument), and Kalkriese. A wise combination, I think. What we do know is that the battle, wherever it was, changed the Roman plans regarding the annexation of the territories between the Rhine and Elbe rivers.

To some extent, that is. Just a few years ago, for example, another Roman-Germanic battlefield was discovered in the Harzhorn area, roughly halfway between Hannover and Göttingen. That battle was more than two hundred years later, around 235 CE, when emperor Maximinus Thrax and several thousand Roman soldiers went from Mogontiacum (today Mainz) up north, to "secure" the empire. Anyway, maybe another Varus Battle location will be found some day.

Christian

 

interesting thread!

that's a lovely coin, what a sweet lot score.

i'll answer the call for a valerian...


Valerian antoninianus , AD 257

O: Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, IMP VALERIANVS AVG, R: Valerian and Gallienus standing facing one another, each holding shield set on ground; two spears between in background, P M TR P V COS IIII P P RIC V, 277. Antioch mint. 5th emission. 21 mm, 3.2 g

 

LOL, GREAT Idea! @chrsmat71 I will answer with a couple Valerians...

@TTerrier I did not see your all-call for Valerian... But I did match up with my Varus in a prior post.


RI Valerian I 253-260 CE AR Ant Felicitas stndg Caduceus and Cornucopia Obv-Rev.jpg


RI Valerian I 253-260 CE AE 20mm Alexandria Troas mint Horse Grazing Obv-Rev.jpg

 

LOL I was wondering what @chrsmat71 was up to LOL

 

Great coins everyone - I really like the unusual reverse style in yours chrsmat71.

Don't limit your coins to poor old Valerian - any Roman politician on a coin who made some fatal battlefield choices will do. I think we should exclude Romans being killed in battle by other Romans which will limit our choices. Off the top of my head I think maybe Trajan Decius (and his son) killed by the Goths?

 

With that in mind, Valens is an obvious choice....

 

Well, @TTerrier brought up Thrax and Mikey is laying down a great coin from Valens... so, here are a couple...


RI Maximinus Thrax 235-238 CE AR Denarius Victory stndg Obv-Rev.jpg


RI Valens AD 364-378 AE Red Follis Siscia Mint Obv-Rev.jpg

 

How about I up the ante with Valerian, who was captured and killed by Shapur I of Parthia?


RI Valerian I 253-260 CE AR Ant Felicitas stndg Caduceus and Cornucopia Obv-Rev.jpg


RI Valerian I 253-260 CE AE 20mm Alexandria Troas mint Horse Grazing Obv-Rev.jpg

 

The museum in Kalkriese currently has an exhibition about the gold coins (eight aurei) that were found nearby earlier this year. See the flyer, in German. The exhibition ends in mid-January 2017.

And no, the coins are not this big. Those are plastic models and replicas, made with professional scanners and 3D printers ...

Christian