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- Barbarians, Captives & Enemies on Roman Coins (to this coin);
- Provenance Glossary (to Private Collections, to E.E. Clain-Stefanelli)
Constantius II AE Maiorina (21.5mm., 4.49g). Cyzicus mint, 5th officina, 348-351 CE.
Obverse: DN CONSTANTIVS PF AVG. Pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust left, holding globe in right hand.
Reverse: FEL TEMP REPARATIO / SMKB (exergue). Constantius II in military garb standing left, spurning a captive with foot while holding standard, a chi-rho decorating its banner, and resting hand on shield set on ground. To left, two captives kneeling, wearing pointed helmets, hands bound behind their backs.
References: RIC (VIII) 70, B; Wildwinds “Digital Plate Coin” (Constantius II Page) RIC VIII Cyzicus 70, B (since cleaned); NBD 74742 (this coin illustrated on Nummus-Bible Database).
Provenance: Ex Elvira Clain-Stefanelli (1914-2001) Collection, w/ old dealer tag; Naville Numismatics (London) Auction 25 (24 Sep 2016), Lot 571 [prof. cleaned since] = Naville 64 (3 Mar 2020), 720 [their photo].
Hist. Notes: Though not a rare coin, a remarkable and important scene, depicting Constantius, triumphant with a standard bearing Christian symbolism standing over two defeated and bound captives of distinctively Eastern/Persian appearance (Sassanid or Parthian). Not only does it represent the conquest of the Empire over its Eastern enemies — typical of the FEL TEMP REPARATIO series as well as the previous century and a half of Roman Imperial coinage — but also the triumph of the newly-favored Christian religion over non-Roman, non-Christian Pagans.
Constantius II’s father Constantine was famously the first Christian Emperor of Rome. But the popularity and political supremacy of the new religion were not yet achieved. Over time, though, the Byzantine concept of the “barbarian” came to connote not only an uncivilized foreigner, but a religious outsider, especially Pagan. Here we see that process taking shape in the visual medium of coinage.
In the long history of European Imperial propaganda using Christianity to justify attacking foreigners and political enemies, these coins are surely among the first.