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Message:: [QUOTE="Victor_Clark, post: 25520310, member: 10613"]In the category of facts you probably didn't know <or care about> Maximinus Daza was the last person given the title of pharoah...though Maximinus didn't use the title as it was merely honorific. He was famously anti-Christian; which appealed to the priests of Egypt, and in Maximinus, they saw a small glimmer of hope in restoring some of the old greatness of Egypt. Maximinus is most commonly associated with the Great Persecution...even though he was merely a staunch conservative and only wanted to make Rome great again <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> [ATTACH=full]1634365[/ATTACH] Maximinus IIA.D. 310- 311Ӕ follis 23mm 7.5gIMP C GAL VAL MAXIMINVS PF AVG; laureate head right.GENIO EXERCITVS; (Genius of the Army) Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera from which liquid flows over altar & cornucopiae; crescent in left field, Z in right.In ex. ANTRIC VI Antioch 147c The GENIO type is a common reverse and was issued by the Tetrarchic emperors for over a decade, but the seemingly peaceful scene depicted on the reverse was very contentious for many people in the years A.D. 303- 313. During this period, Christians were persecuted and many were killed because of what was depicted on the reverse. The design was modeled after a statue of the Spirit of the Roman People (GENIO POPVLI ROMANI) which used to stand in the Roman forum. The reverse on the coin below depicts Genius holding a patera and pouring a libation over an altar. Diocletian feared that Christians were weakening the Empire and in A.D. 303 declared that everyone must perform public sacrifices to demonstrate their loyalty to the Emperor and Rome. This was really just a conservative move to reaffirm traditional civic virtues. The act depicted on the reverse of the GENIO coin was one that Roman citizens were expected to perform; but many Christians refused and were martyred. The persecution was firmly enforced in the Eastern Empire by Maximinus, less so in the West. The persecution officially ended in A.D. 313. Something to think about the next time that you see a common GENIO coin. [ATTACH=full]1634366[/ATTACH] Anonymous pagan civic coinage under Maximinus IIca. A.D. 312Æ quarter nummus15mm 1.9gGENIO ANTIOCHENI; Statue of the Tyche of Antioch on rock, below the river god Orontes.APOLLONI SANCTO; Apollo, stg.l. holding patera and lyre, in right field Z.In ex. SMAMint of AntiochVagi 2954; Van Heesch 3a[/QUOTE]

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