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<p>[QUOTE="Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 4187761, member: 99554"]<i>"THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH"</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><b>About the history</b></p><p><b>Martinian</b> the usurper. Emperor for only 3 months in 324 AD. We know nothing about his origins. He was the <i>magister officiorum </i>of Licinius I, in other words his bodyguard. During the civil war between Constantine and Licinius, <b>Martinian</b> was appointed co-emperor by Licinius after the defeat at the battle of Adrianople. He was then sent to Lampsacus with his army to try to stop Constantine's armada, without any success. Licinius had to run away from Byzantium and was soon joined by <b>Martinian</b> for the Battle of Chrysopolis where they finally got crushed. Both Licinius and <b>Martinian</b> were later captured but had their lives spared by the intervention of Constantine's sister (and also Licinius'wife). But Constantine changed his mind and had them executed in 325 AD.</p><p>This is the official version. In fact the only one told by modern historians. It is based on stories written by 2 historians, <i>Zosimus</i> and <i>Aurelius Victor:</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>Zosimus book <i>2 :2.25.2] He flattered himself that another army might be raised in Asia, which would enable him again to contend with his adversary. Arriving therefore at Chalcedon, and, having appointed Martinianus to the command of the court guards, whom the Romans call Magister officiorum, his associate in this dangerous enterprize, he declared him Caesar, and sent him with an army to Lampsacus, to hinder the passage of the enemy from Thrace into the Hellespont. He posted his own men on the hills and passes about Chalcedon.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>2.26.2] Licinius, though he then saw that Bithynia was already in the hands of his enemy, was rendered so desperate by danger, that he sent for Martinianus from Lampsacus, and in order to encourage his men to fight, told them that he himself would lead them. Having said what he thought necessary to encourage them, he drew them up in order of battle, and marching out of the city, met the enemy, who were prepared for him.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>2.28.2] He presumed that he certainly should escape with life, because Constantine had sworn to his wife that he would spare him. But Constantine delivered Martinianus to the guards that they might put him to death, and sent Licinius to Thessalonica, as if he were to live there in security. However, he afterwards broke his oath, which was usual with Constantine, and caused him to be executed.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>Aurelius Victor De Caesarib XLI : <i>Constantine forces the entrenchments of Licinius at night, who flees, and rushes to Byzantium. There, he created Caesar Martinian, head of the palace servants. Constantine, victorious a second time on the battlefield, forced in Bithynia Licinius, to which he undertakes to give life, to give him, by the hands of his wife, the insignia of imperial power. He then relegated him to Thessaloniki, and soon he killed him with Martinian.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Romanorvm_imperatorvm_effigies_-_elogijs_ex_diuersis_scriptoribus_per_Thomam_Treteru_S._Mariae_Transtyberim_canonicum_collectis_%281583%29_%2814765088601%29.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </i></p><p><i>A drawing of Martinian (1583 AD)</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>But is it the <i>whole truth</i>? Let's talk about another possibility: <i>Theophanes the Confessor</i> (758 AD- 818 AD) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy, who became a monk and chronicler. He considers Martinianus as a usurper who would have proclaimed himself emperor shortly <b>AFTER</b> the death of Licinius and whose power would have lasted three months.</p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Image_Theopanes_nicea.png" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>Theophanes the Confessor</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Ammianus Marcellinus</i> was the last great Roman historian, and his writings rank alongside those of Livy and Tacitus.</p><p>According to a fragment of the history of <i>Ammianus</i> <i>Marcellinus</i>, Martinian, named Caesar in Byzantium, would have had, like Licinius, life saved after the lost war in Chalcedon, and Constantine would have killed them only <b>AFTER A NEW REVOLT</b>, Licinius in Thessaloniki and Martinian in Cappadocia:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1075837[/ATTACH]</p><p>By bringing the two stories together, we come to the conclusion that <b>Martinian</b> would have tried to resume the fight, and would even have remained completely independent in his revolt for some time. Can anyone tell me why nobody's considering this hypothesis?</p><p><br /></p><p>About the unknown origins of Martinian, it is interesting to notice that Cassius Dio mentionned a character named Martinianus in his <i>Historicorum Graecorum Fragmenta : "At the news of Carus' revolt, Probus deliberated in council on the course to take. All remained silent; only a tribune named <b>Martinian</b> allowed himself to reproach Probus for his hesitation who put public affairs at risk, and persuaded him by the vehemence of his language to march without delay with his army against the rebel."</i></p><p>This anecdote happened around 282 AD, about 42 years before the lost Battle of Chrysopolis. If we consider that the title <i>Tribunus Militum </i>was given to soldiers at the age of 25 years old and exceptionally sometimes at the age of 20, is it possible that the man who dared to advise an emperor was the same individual who later became co-emperor? The age of 20 or 25 years old that he would have had at the time, added to the 42 years since, gives that of sixty years, most certainly compatible with the high grade he had before his elevation to the title of Augustus, and which, moreover, happens to be about the same as that of Licinius at the same time. So maybe I'm crazy, but I like to think that we're talking about the same guy...</p><p><br /></p><p><b>About the coinage</b></p><p>All known folles of Martinian's coinage have the same reverse:</p><p>IOVI CONS-ERVATORI</p><p>Jupiter standing left, chlamys across left shoulder, holding Victory on globe and eagle-tipped sceptre;eagle with wreath at foot left, captive right. X over II Mu in right field.</p><p>Two cities were minting coins for this emperor; Nicomedia and Cyzicus (less than 10% of Martinian's coins are from Cyzicus). The mintmark are SMN (+ the officinae letter) and SMK ( + the officinae letter) for Cyzicus. Here are the 4 different issues of the usurper according to the RIC:</p><p><br /></p><p>RIC VII Nicomedia 45 : with the obverse legend DNM MARTINIANVS PF AVG</p><p>RIC VII Nicomedia 46 : with the obverse legend DNM MARTINIANO PF AVG</p><p>RIC VII Nicomedia 47 : with the obverse legend DN MARTINIANVS PF AVG</p><p>RIC VII Cyzicus 16 : with the obverse legend IM CS MAR MARTINIANVS PF AVS</p><p><br /></p><p>Let's talk now about this last Cyzicus issue. The RIC, most of Museums and auction's houses had <b>misread</b> its obverse legend. The error AVS instead of AVG has been noticed a long time ago. But carefully examine those examples and try to find where a mistake is make 99% of the time.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1075853[/ATTACH] </p><p>Collection Münzkabinett Wien</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.numisbids.com/sales/hosted/leu_winterthur/e8/image01482.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>Leu Numismatik AG June 2019</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.numisbids.com/sales/hosted/cng/107/image00853.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>CNG Triton XXI January 2018</p><p><br /></p><p>Did you find it ? The legend should read : MARTINIANVΓ not MARTINIANVS ! Even Cohen misread it and catalog it as MARTINIANV. Also in the last few years, some specimen from Cyzicus (SMK...) have been sold with what seem to be Nicomedia's obverse legend. Can we call them mules ?</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1075863[/ATTACH] </p><p><img src="https://www.numisbids.com/sales/hosted/roma/018/image01230.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>Roma numismatics Sep 2019</p><p>DNM MARTINIANO PF AVG but...SM<b>K</b>A</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1075864[/ATTACH] </p><p>MDC Monaco Nov 2018</p><p>Maybe the first "<i>real" </i>Cyzicus IM CS MAR MARTINIANV<b>S</b> PF AVS</p><p><br /></p><p>Sadly I can't afford one of <b>Martinian's</b> examples when they come in auctions. At least I had a Licinius with the same reverse. But please show us your own specimen or tell us what you think about this mysterious and unknown usurper !</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1075875[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 4187761, member: 99554"][I]"THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH" [/I] [B]About the history Martinian[/B] the usurper. Emperor for only 3 months in 324 AD. We know nothing about his origins. He was the [I]magister officiorum [/I]of Licinius I, in other words his bodyguard. During the civil war between Constantine and Licinius, [B]Martinian[/B] was appointed co-emperor by Licinius after the defeat at the battle of Adrianople. He was then sent to Lampsacus with his army to try to stop Constantine's armada, without any success. Licinius had to run away from Byzantium and was soon joined by [B]Martinian[/B] for the Battle of Chrysopolis where they finally got crushed. Both Licinius and [B]Martinian[/B] were later captured but had their lives spared by the intervention of Constantine's sister (and also Licinius'wife). But Constantine changed his mind and had them executed in 325 AD. This is the official version. In fact the only one told by modern historians. It is based on stories written by 2 historians, [I]Zosimus[/I] and [I]Aurelius Victor: [/I] Zosimus book [I]2 :2.25.2] He flattered himself that another army might be raised in Asia, which would enable him again to contend with his adversary. Arriving therefore at Chalcedon, and, having appointed Martinianus to the command of the court guards, whom the Romans call Magister officiorum, his associate in this dangerous enterprize, he declared him Caesar, and sent him with an army to Lampsacus, to hinder the passage of the enemy from Thrace into the Hellespont. He posted his own men on the hills and passes about Chalcedon. 2.26.2] Licinius, though he then saw that Bithynia was already in the hands of his enemy, was rendered so desperate by danger, that he sent for Martinianus from Lampsacus, and in order to encourage his men to fight, told them that he himself would lead them. Having said what he thought necessary to encourage them, he drew them up in order of battle, and marching out of the city, met the enemy, who were prepared for him. 2.28.2] He presumed that he certainly should escape with life, because Constantine had sworn to his wife that he would spare him. But Constantine delivered Martinianus to the guards that they might put him to death, and sent Licinius to Thessalonica, as if he were to live there in security. However, he afterwards broke his oath, which was usual with Constantine, and caused him to be executed.[/I] Aurelius Victor De Caesarib XLI : [I]Constantine forces the entrenchments of Licinius at night, who flees, and rushes to Byzantium. There, he created Caesar Martinian, head of the palace servants. Constantine, victorious a second time on the battlefield, forced in Bithynia Licinius, to which he undertakes to give life, to give him, by the hands of his wife, the insignia of imperial power. He then relegated him to Thessaloniki, and soon he killed him with Martinian.[/I] [I] [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Romanorvm_imperatorvm_effigies_-_elogijs_ex_diuersis_scriptoribus_per_Thomam_Treteru_S._Mariae_Transtyberim_canonicum_collectis_%281583%29_%2814765088601%29.jpg[/IMG] A drawing of Martinian (1583 AD) [/I] But is it the [I]whole truth[/I]? Let's talk about another possibility: [I]Theophanes the Confessor[/I] (758 AD- 818 AD) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy, who became a monk and chronicler. He considers Martinianus as a usurper who would have proclaimed himself emperor shortly [B]AFTER[/B] the death of Licinius and whose power would have lasted three months. [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Image_Theopanes_nicea.png[/IMG] Theophanes the Confessor [I]Ammianus Marcellinus[/I] was the last great Roman historian, and his writings rank alongside those of Livy and Tacitus. According to a fragment of the history of [I]Ammianus[/I] [I]Marcellinus[/I], Martinian, named Caesar in Byzantium, would have had, like Licinius, life saved after the lost war in Chalcedon, and Constantine would have killed them only [B]AFTER A NEW REVOLT[/B], Licinius in Thessaloniki and Martinian in Cappadocia: [ATTACH=full]1075837[/ATTACH] By bringing the two stories together, we come to the conclusion that [B]Martinian[/B] would have tried to resume the fight, and would even have remained completely independent in his revolt for some time. Can anyone tell me why nobody's considering this hypothesis? About the unknown origins of Martinian, it is interesting to notice that Cassius Dio mentionned a character named Martinianus in his [I]Historicorum Graecorum Fragmenta : "At the news of Carus' revolt, Probus deliberated in council on the course to take. All remained silent; only a tribune named [B]Martinian[/B] allowed himself to reproach Probus for his hesitation who put public affairs at risk, and persuaded him by the vehemence of his language to march without delay with his army against the rebel."[/I] This anecdote happened around 282 AD, about 42 years before the lost Battle of Chrysopolis. If we consider that the title [I]Tribunus Militum [/I]was given to soldiers at the age of 25 years old and exceptionally sometimes at the age of 20, is it possible that the man who dared to advise an emperor was the same individual who later became co-emperor? The age of 20 or 25 years old that he would have had at the time, added to the 42 years since, gives that of sixty years, most certainly compatible with the high grade he had before his elevation to the title of Augustus, and which, moreover, happens to be about the same as that of Licinius at the same time. So maybe I'm crazy, but I like to think that we're talking about the same guy... [B]About the coinage[/B] All known folles of Martinian's coinage have the same reverse: IOVI CONS-ERVATORI Jupiter standing left, chlamys across left shoulder, holding Victory on globe and eagle-tipped sceptre;eagle with wreath at foot left, captive right. X over II Mu in right field. Two cities were minting coins for this emperor; Nicomedia and Cyzicus (less than 10% of Martinian's coins are from Cyzicus). The mintmark are SMN (+ the officinae letter) and SMK ( + the officinae letter) for Cyzicus. Here are the 4 different issues of the usurper according to the RIC: RIC VII Nicomedia 45 : with the obverse legend DNM MARTINIANVS PF AVG RIC VII Nicomedia 46 : with the obverse legend DNM MARTINIANO PF AVG RIC VII Nicomedia 47 : with the obverse legend DN MARTINIANVS PF AVG RIC VII Cyzicus 16 : with the obverse legend IM CS MAR MARTINIANVS PF AVS Let's talk now about this last Cyzicus issue. The RIC, most of Museums and auction's houses had [B]misread[/B] its obverse legend. The error AVS instead of AVG has been noticed a long time ago. But carefully examine those examples and try to find where a mistake is make 99% of the time. [ATTACH=full]1075853[/ATTACH] Collection Münzkabinett Wien [IMG]https://www.numisbids.com/sales/hosted/leu_winterthur/e8/image01482.jpg[/IMG] Leu Numismatik AG June 2019 [IMG]https://www.numisbids.com/sales/hosted/cng/107/image00853.jpg[/IMG] CNG Triton XXI January 2018 Did you find it ? The legend should read : MARTINIANVΓ not MARTINIANVS ! Even Cohen misread it and catalog it as MARTINIANV. Also in the last few years, some specimen from Cyzicus (SMK...) have been sold with what seem to be Nicomedia's obverse legend. Can we call them mules ? [ATTACH=full]1075863[/ATTACH] [IMG]https://www.numisbids.com/sales/hosted/roma/018/image01230.jpg[/IMG] Roma numismatics Sep 2019 DNM MARTINIANO PF AVG but...SM[B]K[/B]A [ATTACH=full]1075864[/ATTACH] MDC Monaco Nov 2018 Maybe the first "[I]real" [/I]Cyzicus IM CS MAR MARTINIANV[B]S[/B] PF AVS Sadly I can't afford one of [B]Martinian's[/B] examples when they come in auctions. At least I had a Licinius with the same reverse. But please show us your own specimen or tell us what you think about this mysterious and unknown usurper ! [ATTACH=full]1075875[/ATTACH] [B][/B] [I][/I] [B][/B][/QUOTE]
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