Previous Lot Next Lot

Auction: 23007 - Ancient Coins Including the 'Kyrios' Collection of Greek Coins and featuring the 'Ostorius' Collection of Roman Gold
Lot: 208

Roman Empire, Balbinus (AD 238), AR Antoninianus, Rome, IMP CAES D CAEL BALBINVS AVG radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right rev. FIDES MVTVA AVGG clasped right hands, 4.11g (RIC 11; RSC 6) toned, slight wear to edge but otherwise a lovely portrait, about extremely fine

PROVENANCE

Purchased from Baldwin's by private treaty, Summer 2020 - £820

Roma Numismatics, Auction 67, 6 February 2020, lot 1004



In March AD 235, Severus Alexander, the last of the Severan dynasty was murdered by his own troops in Moguntiacum, modern-day Mainz. The murder of this rather lacklustre emperor brought about the most politically unstable half-century in Roman history, a near complete military anarchy in which the various imperial armies often proclaimed their own generals as emperor with the result being a near perpetual civil war. Maximinus Thrax was the first of these military men to be chosen, a rather vicious man, perhaps even of Gothic ancestry. With Imperial legitimacy now solely dependent on the military, the Imperial senate was exposed as nothing more than a charade.


There was, however, one final senatorial attempt at relevance. Gordian, the 80-year-old governor of Africa, launched a revolt against Maximinus in the Spring of AD 238, crucially with the support of the disgruntled and sidelined senate. His revolt with his son was famously unsuccessful: after a conclusive defeat at the hands of Capelianus, the governor of neighbouring Numidia, his reign lasted a meagre 22 days. The senate however, emboldened by Gordian attempted to nominate the next emperors, a pair of senators prominent in the senatorial commission appointed by Gordian to deal with Maximinus in the west. Pupienus and Balbinus were selected as co-emperors, a curious and unique revival of something that approximated the old senatorial system, albeit with imperial titles. The Historia Augusta remarkably refers to this Imperial duo in republican terms going so far as to liken Pupienus to the stern Cato the Younger and the genial Balbinus to Julius Caesar. Co-emperors had of course existed before but always as an attempt at reinforcing and strengthening the dynasty. Never before had there been a pair of emperors of no relation who were not trying to establish a dynasty together. Such a power-sharing system would foreshadow the Tetrarchic system at the end of the century.


This unique partnership is curiously attested on the coinage of the pair. This particular Antoninianus' reverse attests to this. Clasped hands on reverse types had appeared before usually advertising the concordia or the fides of the army. Thes types highlighted the bond between emperor and his soldiers. Here, however, there is strikingly no reference the army only FIDES MVTVA, the equal bond between the Pupienus and Balbinus themselves.
This bond however was of course in reality rather flimsy. The Historia Augusta remarks "there was dissension, too, between Maximus and Balbinus - unspoken, however, and such as could be surmised rather than seen - for Balbinus scorned Maximus, as being humbly born, and Maximus despised Balbinus for a weakling". In fact, the two were perpetually paranoid that the other would try and usurp. Their supposed fides advertised on this coin was actually non-existent.


Unsurprisingly the pair did not last long. After 99 days of rule, they were ousted by the praetorian guard and the military would choose the successor, the child grandson of Gordian. The senate's impotence and irrelevance was now undeniable, and the Empire sunk into decades of military anarchy where the sole route to imperial legitimation lay exclusively at the head of an army.

Subject to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium. For more information please view Terms and Conditions for Buyers.

Sold for
£500

Starting price
£500