Text by Mike Welbourn

The formal entry of a Roman emperor into a city was known as an adventus.

Constantius’ adventus on 28 April, 357 was no mere stroll through the gates. On the contrary, it was a solemn and spectacular occasion, vividly described by the soldier and historian, Ammianus Marcellinus. But why bother to record such an event?

AE15 showing deified Constantine. Issued under Constantine II Junior and Constantius II. Obverse shows Constantine the Great, veiled. DV CONSTANTINVS PT AVGG. Reverse has Constantine riding in a chariot up to heaven, stretching out towards the manus Dei. 15mm, 1.42g, 3 o’clock.

For the first two and a half centuries of the imperial period, Rome was the unquestioned centre of the Roman Empire, just as it had been in the republican period.

But in the third century, a string of military crises required the emperors to spend long periods far to the north or east of Rome. It became increasingly clear that governing from Rome was strategically problematic.

In the late third century, the emperor Diocletian instituted the Tetrarchy, a system whereby four men ruled the Empire as a group.

In apparent recognition of the changing strategic needs of the empire, none based themselves in Rome, but rather in cities closer to the imperial borders and potential trouble spots.

Constantine the Great (father of Constantius II) went further, founding the city of Constantinople and using it as his permanent place of residence.

The changed situation laid bare a further and long unacknowledged truth: that power was centred on the emperor and the imperial court, not in any particular city.

Rome’s long-held position as the capital of the Empire was thus largely based on the assumptions and sympathies of earlier emperors.

Indeed, from the third century onwards most emperors were not natives of Rome, or even of Italy, and probably felt no automatic affinity with the city. This too contributed to the diminution in Rome’s status.

But though by Constantius II’s day Rome had long since ceased to be the political, administrative, and strategic heart of the Roman Empire, it undoubtedly remained its symbolic centre, the revered mother city from which the empire had grown.

For this reason, a visit to the city by an emperor was a significant event. It was designed to convey to his subjects the emperor’s power and lofty status.

According to Ammianus, Constantius’ visit to Rome was also intended as a way to mark his recent defeat of the usurper Magnentius, and so perhaps to emphasize that he remained in full control of the Empire.

Ammianus paints a picture of Constantius’ formal procession into Rome. Soldiers with polished shields and helmets marched ahead of the emperor, as did the heavy cavalrymen (clibanarii) in their expertly-crafted full-body armour.

Constantius himself appeared upon a golden chariot, decked out in robes encrusted with precious gems. Surrounding him were men carrying spears with golden and bejewelled tips to which dragons of purple thread had been attached, fluttering in the breeze.

Ammianus mockingly tells us that the emperor was the very image of imperial composure and dignity: he remained utterly still, even when the route taken was bumpy, and stared fixedly forward at all times. And yet, as the historian scornfully remarks, the emperor, though a diminutive man, would stoop when he chariot went under a high archway.

The emperor subsequently toured the city, and was constantly dazzled by the many sights. He addressed both the senate and people of Rome, and gave public games.

In a letter to some later emperors, the Roman noble and man-of-letters, Symmachus, states that Constantius asked about the origins of Rome’s temples and confessed his admiration for those who had built them.

Constantius soon left Rome, moving north to begin military operations against the tribes along the Danube. His trip to Rome in 357 was the only one he would ever make.

He died of a fever in November, 361 on his way to confront his cousin, Julian, who had recently declared himself emperor.

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Text by Juliet O’Brien

On this day in 44 BC the Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated at a meeting of the senate.

Caesar had first briefly held the dictatorship in early 49. After defeating his great political rival Pompey the Great at Pharsalus in 48 he held that position again in 48 and 47, and was subsequently appointed dictator for ten years in 46.

The famous “Ides of March” denarius. Oberse has L. PLAET. CEST BRVT IMP and head of Brutus r., reverse has a liberty cap flanked by daggers, and EID MAR. Image courtesy Classical Numismatic Group, Inc.

During this period he defeated the remnants of the resistance to him, but frequently showed mercy to his enemies, pardoning them for having stood against him.

With his position at last secured, he was proclaimed dictator perpetuo (dictator for life) in January 44.

Caesar was very popular with the ordinary citizens of Rome, having courted them at all stages of his political career. His conquest of Gaul and his campaigns in Britain in the 50s had also earned him their approval. Consequently, the urban populace mourned his death.

Yet his acquisition of sole power was by no means universally popular. Indeed, there was particular resentment amongst conservative senators who believed that Caesar had destroyed the Republic.

His appropriation of unmatched power and honours had placed him far above his fellow aristocrats, who held firmly to the belief that the Republic was, and should be, based upon open competition for offices and honours between social and political equals. Consequently, his show of mercy to his defeated enemies appeared to them to be a show of arrogance, and the mark of a tyrant.

Caesar compounded this impression with what was arguably an unforced error in February 44. At the festival of the Lupercalia, Caesar’s closest ally Mark Antony had attempted to place a diadem upon his head. This appeared to be a bid for kingship, and drew jeers from the crowd.

Despite the growing resentment against him, Caesar ignored his friends’ pleas to employ a bodyguard. This attitude reflected his confidence in his political power and a personal preference not to spend his life dreading death but rather to meet a swift end.

A plot to murder Caesar was hatched by a group of senators, led by Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius, who were committed to, as they saw it, killing a tyrant and restoring Republican liberty.

A meeting of the senate was due to take place on 15 March, 44. The venue was the Temple of Venus, a building attached to the grand theatre complex built by Pompey in 55.

Caesar had received warnings of his impending death, but ignored them. The soothsayer Spurinna foresaw danger in a sacrifice Caesar had made and told him to be wary of the Ides  of March (the 15^th). But on the day Caesar chided him that the Ides had arrived and all was well. Spurinna quipped that they had arrived, but were not yet over. And earlier his wife Calpurnia had had a nightmare about his death.

Moreover, Caesar had been passed a note warning him about the plot, but had placed it among his other papers, intending to read it later. He went on to the senate meeting. Mark Antony attempted to do the same, but was deliberately waylaid by one of the conspirators so that he would not be able to come to Caesar’s aid.

At the meeting, one of the conspirators, Lucius Tillius Cimber, approached Caesar as if to present a petition, then grabbed his toga and pulled it down. Caesar exclaimed ‘truly this is violence!’ At that point, another conspirator, Casca, stabbed Caesar in the throat. Caesar attempted to defend himself with his stylus, but in vain. The other assassins began their attack.

Caesar, hemmed in by assassins, covered his face with his toga, seemingly resigned to his fate. It is said that he was stabbed 23 times, with each assassin landing at least one blow. Caesar died beneath the statue of his old rival, Pompey.

After the death, an amnesty was declared for the killers. However, Mark Antony whipped the crowd into a frenzy at Caesar’s funeral by displaying the brutalized corpse during his funeral oration. Caesar had also left 300 sestertii to each citizen in his will, further increasing popular grief and anger at his death.

The result was that the conspirators fled Rome. A civil war ensued between them and the Caesarians (led by Mark Antony and Caesar’s great-nephew and adopted son, Octavian, the future emperor Augustus). The Caesarians would eventually defeat Brutus and Cassius in 42 at the Battle of Philippi.

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Text by Gary Fisher

It was not for Dr Warren’s fashion choices that Bostonians congregated in the Old South Meeting House that day, nor was it the 300 soldiers present and the threat of arrest for attending that drew them there. Instead they had gathered to commemorate a bloody event that had occurred five years prior; the Boston Massacre, in which British soldiers had fired upon a mob of American colonists, killing five and wounding a further six.

An engraving of the 1770 Boston Massacre by Paul Revere.

Each year afterwards Bostonians designated a speaker to deliver an oration to commemorate the event and keep the spirit of resistance to British rule alive. In 1775 that speaker was Warren.

He is recorded to have entered an apothecary opposite the Old South Meeting House, accompanied by a servant carrying a bundle of cloth, and emerged in a Roman-style toga – the symbol of the citizen Roman male – over his more customary breeches. He then proceeded to cross the street, enter the crowded meeting house, and deliver his oration.

Warren’s transformation into Warren togatus was not an isolated example of appeal to ancient authority in the rhetoric of the revolutionary era. From writing under classical pseudonyms, to performing classical plays, and designing classically inspired buildings, the ancient world formed a fundamental component of the revolutionary generation’s toolbox of resistance.

A Roman denarius of Publius Porcius Laeca. The reverse shows a bare-chested male attended by a lictor (demostrating his rank and authority). He holds his right hand over the head of a toga-wearing male figure. The text reads – provoco. Image courtesy Classical Numismatic Group. 

These allusions to the classical past were not taken lightly by the American revolutionary generation. Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Benjamin Rush, once expressed fear concerning Alexander Hamilton’s ‘political principles’ and belief ‘in the necessity of…force…to govern men’ after Hamilton simply remarked that his favourite Roman was Julius Caesar.

Unfortunately, despite the large crowds in attendance, it is difficult to piece together the exact content of Dr Warren’s oration in Boston that day.

Some sources attest to an unsuccessful plot by the British troops present to arrest Warren and the other revolutionary leaders that were in attendance. It is alleged that this plot only failed because the agreed upon signal to arrest Warren, the pelting of him with eggs by a British ensign concealed within the audience, was unable to be given, on account of the ensign having tripped on his way to the meeting and broken the eggs.

Some sources also claim that the meeting ended in disarray after Samuel Adams congratulated Warren on his speech by referring to the massacre of five years prior as being ‘bloody,’ a term that upset the sensibilities of some of the British officers in attendance and prompted them to express their displeasure with that most British of expletives, ‘Fie!’, a word which some of those in the audience mistook for the command ‘Fire!’. Perhaps sensibly, they promptly left.

Despite these uncertainties concerning the precise nature of what occurred on 6 March 1775, Warren’s decision to adopt Roman garb for the commemoration of this event reveals that for dissident Americans the past was not simply a subject of academic interest, but rather served as a medium through which to understand their own circumstances and express their own beliefs.

For those Bostonians gathered in the Old South Meeting House that day, as with other such cases across the continent, the classical past was very much alive.

Sadly, Dr Warren would not himself remain alive much longer. He was killed by a musket ball to the head at the battle of Bunker Hill in June of the same year. His death was immortalised in The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker’s Hill, June 17, 1775 by artist John Trumbull.

The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker’s Hill, June 17, 1775 by John Trumbull.

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Text by Stuart McCunn

On this day in 503 a group of monks got drunk. This news would normally have been about as shocking as hearing that imperial eunuchs were corrupt or taxmen were greedy, but in the year 503 it had grave consequences for the Roman Empire. These particular monks were members of the Amidan monastery of St. John Urtaye, a respected monophysite saint whose current hegemon had left his poor home in Persia and found success in Roman Mesopotamia. These Persian ties were perhaps unfortunate given that his monks were guarding a section of wall against an army of the same people.

In 502 the king of kings Kavad, scion of the Sasan dynasty and ruler of Iran and Not-Iran, led the forces of Persia into Roman Armenia. The attack took everyone by surprise as it was now late August (well outside the normal campaigning season) and Roman forces were poorly placed to repel him. On 5 October this army marched down the Tigris to the fortress city of Amida. Modern Diyarbakır in south-east Turkey, this city is currently under military occupation by the Turkish army as they seek to suppress the Kurds who view it as their unofficial capital. At the time it was the capital of Roman Mesopotamia.

Kavad’s invasion marked the end of almost a century of peace on Rome’s eastern front and the beginning of a century of intense conflict that would end only with the loss of the region to both empires. At the time the return of open warfare came as a considerable shock to the region, marked by a surge in local Syriac chronicles and writings. By the time Kavad reached Amida in early October the city had improvised as much of a defence as it could. There were no army units stationed there but they were able to form volunteers to man the walls and defend the city. The monks of John Urtaye were one of many such groups. They fled inside the city and were given a group of towers known as the tripyrgion to defend.

The tripyrgion (three towers) is a strange feature that is mentioned only in accounts of the siege. The city walls that the Romans built are still intact today but we are given little geographical information from our sources. Based solely on the name, the stretch of wall culminating in what is now called the Evil Beden Tower is the most likely location for the tripyrgion. Isolated on a spike jutting out from the western wall it was difficult to see from the other towers yet provided a superb view of the interior defences of the city, as I can attest from personal autopsy in 2015.

From this location the monks would have watched as Kavad’s army demolished their monastery and used it to construct his siege engines. The siege was a long and bitter one. For three months in the cold Mesopotamian winter the Persians fought against the wall to no avail. Battering rams were tried about the gates of the city, but the defenders used logs to break the ram heads. A mound was raised above the height of the city walls but the Romans tunnelled underneath it and created a cavern propped up only by wooden supports. When the cream of the Persian army climbed on top to try and storm the city the struts were set on fire and the mound collapsed. Attempts to refill this pit and take the walls by siege towers were defeated by effective use of scorpions, a type of Roman artillery piece.

Persian morale plummeted. The Romans grew relieved. They believed that victory was at hand. In an ill-omened example of hubris the women of the city even began mooning the enemy forces, a sign, so it was later said, that just as the Persians had now seen the hidden parts of the inhabitants they would soon see the hidden parts of the city. But if he had such thoughts at the time Kavad kept them well hidden as he negotiated with the governor for a cash payment to get his army to leave. The payment was refused. So confident were the Romans that the council even demanded that Kavad pay them for the destruction he had wrought.

Such was the situation on the night of 10 January, 503, when a small Persian force under the marzban Adhurgundadh encountered the monks of John Urtaye. Chasing a smuggler back to the walls his men were surprised to discover that nobody in the monks’ towers fired at them or even seemed to spot them as they drew close. Conferring with Kavad he received permission to test that stretch of wall more seriously.

Sneaking a small force of Persian soldiers into the tower through the same tunnel that served the smuggler, the marzban slaughtered the sleeping monks and seized the section of wall. Isolated as it was from the other towers, the Romans took a while to notice the takeover and were slow to respond. By the time the governor came charging in with a force of defenders the tower was already filled with Persians. His torchbearers made him an easy target and he was struck by an arrow and forced to make a hasty retreat. Since the tripyrgion is on a sharp corner of the wall it commands a clear view of the local fortifications and is impossible to sneak up on from the inside. With it in Persian hands (and rapidly filling up with Persian soldiers) the city was doomed. While the Romans managed to contain them for another day and a night, the Persians were eventually able to seize one of the gates and let in the rest of the army. All because some monks celebrated a bit too hard.

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Text by Juliet O’Brien

Lucius Aelius Sejanus was not from an aristocratic Roman family, but was born at Volsinii in Etruria (modern-day Tuscany). He was the son of the knight L. Seius Strabo, and was of equestrian rank.

AE as of Tiberius. Obv. has laureate head of the emperor r., TI CAESAR DIVI AVGVSTI F AVGVSTVS. Reverse has laurel wreath surrounding COS. Around, MVN AVGVSTA BILBILIS TI CAESARE V L AELIO SEIANO; Sejanus’ name appears around 3 o’clock. Image courtesy Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com

The emperor Augustus established the Praetorian Guard in 27 BC as a bodyguard for himself and the imperial family. At some point Sejanus’ father Strabo was made Prefect, and from AD 14 he held the post jointly with Sejanus until he was sent to Egypt as governor. Sejanus remained in sole command of the Guard.

He worked to become one of the closest of Tiberius’ friends and advisors, amassing great power and influence in the process, which he used to further his own ambitions. He made sure to display devotion to the emperor personally, for example shielding him with his own body when the roof of a villa collapsed on them during a dinner party in AD 26. Tiberius had described Sejanus in apparently affectionate terms as his adjutor imperii (imperial assistant) in speeches.

He began to orchestrate the removal of members of the imperial family, who were a threat to his own power. It seems that in AD 23 he poisoned Tiberius’ son Drusus with the connivance of Drusus’ wife Livilla, who had become his lover.

His next move came in AD 25 when he sought Livilla’s hand in marriage from Tiberius, in order to tie himself even more closely to the emperor. This request was refused, which seems to have panicked Sejanus. Perhaps it was a sign that he did not yet fully control Tiberius. As a result, in AD 26, Sejanus convinced Tiberius to permanently leave Rome and retire to his villa at Capri. This move allowed Sejanus to exert greater control over both Tiberius and events at Rome.

Now administering affairs from the capital, Sejanus controlled the Senate through fear of prosecution (for treason) on the one hand, and the awarding of sought-after offices and governorships on the other.

Sejanus is particularly notorious for his role in the deaths of the family of Germanicus, a popular Julio-Claudian prince and Tiberius’ adopted son. He died in AD 19, possibly poisoned by an agent of Tiberius himself.

In AD 29 Sejanus orchestrated the trial of Germanicus’ widow, Agrippina the Elder, and her sons Drusus and Nero, on a charge of plotting against Tiberius. They were exiled to various islands from which they were never released. All were dead by AD 33.

Sejanus’ career peaked in AD 31 when he began the year as consul with the emperor himself. That same year he was at last given permission to marry Livilla (or possibly her daughter Julia, the sources are not clear).

Unfortunately for Sejanus, 31 was also the year his plans unravelled. The events surrounding his downfall are unclear. Josephus suggests that Tiberius turned against Sejanus when he learned through a letter from Antonia (Germanicus’ mother) that Sejanus’ was planning to overthrow Tiberius.

Cassius Dio says that Tiberius had eventually become aware of how much power Sejanus had amassed and sought a way to have him executed. He tested the degree of Sejanus’ support by sending contradictory letters to Rome, some claiming he was dying, others that he would soon be in Rome.

The confusion persuaded many of Sejanus backers to remove their support until they knew where they stood. This convinced Tiberius to strike. He sent a letter to the Senate denouncing Sejanus. At a meeting of the Senate on 18 October, AD 31 the letter was read out and Sejanus was condemned to death. Sejanus was led away to prison, and in the evening of the same day he was executed by strangulation. His body was flung down the Gemonian Steps.

Sejanus’ execution was followed by bloody purges of his supporters and family. Even his young children were not spared, including his teenage daughter who was supposedly raped before her death, since virgins could not lawfully be killed under Roman law.

It is far from clear what Sejanus’ ultimate ambitions were; yet it is certain is that they ended in failure.

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Text by Lydia Kilbey

Well known from Robert Graves’ novels and television drama (I, Claudius and Claudius the God), and one of the most well-known Julio-Claudians, Claudius is remembered for his conquest of Britain, physical disability and his unfortunate luck with women.

AE sestertius of Claudius. Obv. has laureate head of emperor r., TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG PM TR P IMP PP. Rev. has Spes left holding flower; SPES AVGVSTA, SC in ex. Image courtesy Lauren Cole. 

Tiberius Claudius Drusus (later Ti. Claudius Nero) was born at Lugdunum (modern day Lyon, France) in 10 BC. Through his maternal grandmother, Octavia Minor, he was a great-nephew of Augustus. His father, Drusus, and older brother, Germanicus, both had great military reputations.

Despite being a member of the imperial family, Claudius’ physical disability and the ill-will he had generated by attempting to write an unvarnished account of the civil wars that had brought his great-uncle to power meant that efforts were made to hide Claudius from the public eye. He was denied the chance to pursue a public career or hold any political office until his nephew Caligula (who was emperor at the time) made him his co-consul in AD 37.

After the assassination of Caligula in AD 41, Claudius was proclaimed emperor by the Praetorian Guard. He paid them the huge sum of 15,000 sesterces each. He was the first to offer such a donative and in so doing set a precedent his successors were obliged to follow.

Although he lacked the necessary political experience, upon his accession Claudius proved himself to be a capable administrator of the Roman Empire. He set about improving the city through public works. These included three aqueducts: the Aqua Claudia, the Anio Novus and repairs to the Aqua Virgo. He also built up the port at Ostia, in order to prevent grain shortages in Rome.

Claudius’ greatest success was his conquest of Britain in AD 43. The Senate had been reluctant to accept Claudius as emperor in AD 41 and tensions continued between the two, especially due to Claudius’ insistence on using freedmen in his administration.

The emperor was under pressure to improve his political and military image. Despite Augustus’ wishes that the empire should not be extended further, Claudius sent four legions to conquer Britain. It was a successful campaign: Claudius created the province of Britannia and was awarded a triumph. To further commemorate the event, he changed his son’s name to Britannicus.

One of the main ancient criticisms of Claudius is that he was easily manipulated, especially by his wives. Each marriage ended with divorce and Claudius had four wives during his lifetime: Plautia Urgulanilla, Aelia Paetina, Valeria Messalina and the younger Agrippina.

Marrying his niece, Agrippina, was considered highly immoral and Claudius was obliged to change the law so that it was no longer illegal. They married in AD 49. The historian Tacitus states that before they were even married, Agrippina “already possessed a wife’s power”, and that she manipulated Claudius into adopting her son, the future emperor Nero. Shortly afterwards, Nero was named Claudius’ successor, rather than his own son Britannicus.

Most of the ancient sources believe that Claudius died through poisoning, though the culprit/s are unknown. One story is that Agrippina, in her desperation for Nero to become emperor, poisoned a dish of mushrooms, which happened to be the emperor’s favourite. Claudius’ taster and doctor have both been accused of administering poison. On the other hand, others such as Seneca the Younger, believe he died of natural causes.

Whatever the precise cause, Claudius died at Rome on 13 October AD 54, aged 63 and was succeeded by Nero. He was deified after his death. One of Claudius’ main critics, Seneca, wrote an unflattering satire about the emperor’s deification, called the Apocolocyntosis (the ‘Pumpkinification’ of Claudius).

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Text by Owain Williams

Germanicus was born in 15 BC. He was the son of Drusus the Elder (brother of the future emperor Tiberius) and Antonia Minor, youngest daughter of Marc Antony. He was a very popular member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, and apparently a favourite of Augustus himself. Indeed, he was married to Agrippina the Elder, granddaughter of Augustus.

Gold aureus Caligula, son of Germanicus. Caligula appears on the obverse, with a portrait of his father on the reverse. Image courtest Classical Numismatic Group, Inc., www.cngcoins.com 

Furthermore, when, in AD 4, Augustus adopted Tiberius as his son and intended heir, he obliged Tiberius to adopt Germanicus as his son. The plan seemed to be that Germanicus would eventually become emperor. His adoption into the Julian clan led to a name change: he became Germanicus Julius Caesar.

His power and popularity would only grow. Between AD 7 and 9 he served in Pannonia under the command of his uncle Tiberius. He served again in Germania in AD 11, before being chosen consul for AD 12. In AD 13 he commanded the legions in Gaul, pushing back an invasion of Germanic tribes and was acclaimed imperator (general) by the troops.

In AD 14 Germanicus was given sole command of the legions on the Rhine. Germanicus’ reputation as a capable general and his popularity with the troops would turn out to be vital.

Upon Tiberius’ accession, there was a mutiny amongst the thousands of legionaries stationed on the Rhine, in response to their terms of service. Germanicus was able, with difficulty, to quell the rebellion and thereby proved his loyalty to the new emperor at a time when some were muttering that Germanicus would be a better choice.

Later in AD 14 Germanicus led these same troops on a three year campaign across the Rhine. The aim was to avenge the massacre at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, when three legions and their commander, Quinctilius Varus, had been wiped out by an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius, chief of the Cherusci. Roman pride would thereby be restored.

There were numerous battles during the successful campaign. In AD 15 he attacked the Bructeri and recovered the standards (to which the Romans attached great and grave importance), which had been lost by Varus seven years earlier.

Perhaps the most notable was the Battle of Idistavisus in AD 16, where Germanicus and his legions faced Arminius with an army of over 50,000 warriors. The battle was a decisive victory for the Romans who inflicted heavy casualties amongst the barbarians. For his victory over Arminius, Germanicus received a triumph in AD 17.

In AD 18 Germanicus was consul for the second time. In addition, Tiberius sent him to govern the eastern provinces, granting him maius imperium (supreme control) over that portion of the empire.

But it was here that things began to turn sour. It seems that Tiberius mistrusted Germanicus and resented his popularity. He thus dispatched a certain Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso to govern the province of Syria. His role was ostensibly to assist Germanicus, but in reality he was there to keep an eye on him.

Germanicus and Piso frequently butted heads and relations between the two deteriorated dramatically when Piso cancelled the various provincial arrangements Germanicus had made in the east. In response, Germanicus ordered Piso to quit his province, a demand Germanicus had no power to make.

In the midst of the feud, Germanicus suddenly fell ill at Antioch. He died there on 10 October, AD 19, aged only 33, of unknown causes. It seems that he was himself convinced that Piso had poisoned him, and the rumour quickly spread that it was ultimately Tiberius’ doing. In an attempt to quash these rumours, Piso was put on trial for Germanicus’ murder in AD 20, but committed suicide before the end of the proceedings.

And as for Germanicus – while he never became emperor himself, his son Caligula, his brother Claudius, and his grandson Nero would all come to occupy the imperial throne.

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Text by Harry Tanton

The staff at Mint Imperials extend their thoughts and condolences to those affected by the earthquake which today struck central Italy. We turn our thoughts back to a disaster which struck ancient Italy. 

Vesuvius stands few miles inland from the Bay of Naples, with a portion of the city of Naples lying close to it. For the eruption of 79, we are fortunate to have the eyewitness account of the Roman senator and man of letters, Pliny the Younger.

AU aureus of Titus, emperor at the time of the eruption. Obverse has laureate head of the emperor r., T CAESAR IMP VESPASIANVS. Reverse has bare-buttocked Venus leaning on column holding a helmet aloft, TR POT VIII COS VII. Image courtesy Classical Numismatics Group. 

His friend and fellow senator, the historian Tacitus wished to write about the event and asked Pliny to tell him what he remembered. Pliny wrote twice to Tacitus.

Pliny reports that for several days before the eruption there had been regular earthquakes. Unfortunately nobody seems to have taken much notice because, so he says, such tremors were a frequent occurrence in the area.

As Pliny states, Vesuvius’ initial explosion came in the early afternoon of 24 August, throwing up a huge column of smoke and ash. The ash subsequently began to fall thickly over the nearby fields and towns, as did the lumps of molten rock and pumice thrown out by the eruption. At this point many are said to have begun evacuating the area.

That afternoon, Pliny the Younger’s mother called the cloud to the attention of Pliny’s uncle, her brother Pliny the Elder (author of the Natural History).

The elder Pliny was stationed at Misenum, some 22 miles across the Bay of Naples from Vesuvius, in command of the Roman fleet. Initially, as his nephew tells us, he greeted the sight of the cloud rising above the bay not with horror but with curiosity.

He ordered a small craft to be prepared so that he could examine the phenomenon up close. It was only when he received news that a friend of his was trapped in the bay by unfavourable winds that he ordered the whole fleet to be dispatched to evacuate the populace.

The elder Pliny and his friend Pomponius retired to the latter’s house at Stabiae, where Pliny affected to be unconcerned by events in order to calm his frightened friend. He even had a bath and dinner.

Pliny the Younger and his mother had meanwhile evacuated Misenum, along with many of the other residents. He describes seeing a huge black cloud emanating from the mountain and plumes of fire rising out of it.

The elder Pliny had slept at Pomponianus’ house before being woken at some point on the morning of the 25^th. There were now tremors occurring and the group were obliged to decide whether to stay indoors and risk being crushed in the event of the house collapsing, or take a chance outside in the ash- and pumice-filled atmosphere.

They chose the latter, with Pliny the Elder going down to the bay to check if the seas would now allow an escape – but they were too choppy. He sat down on a blanket and there Pliny the Elder is said to have died from the noxious fumes given off by the volcano. However, he is known to have suffered from asthma, so it is likely that the ash-filled air triggered a fatal attack.

It was during the night of the 24 or the early morning of the 25 August that the eruption moved into its second phase, when Vesuvius began throwing out deadly pyroclastic flows in several directions. They moved down the slopes of Vesuvius at terrifying speed, a dense cloud of boiling ash and rock.

It was this that, when it hit, destroyed Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae and covered it in a thick layer of ash and debris. Those who had stayed behind were killed by the hot, choking clouds. Their bodies were covered over in a layer of pumice where they lay, preserving for us the melancholy and tragic casts which captured their final moments.

The eruption had subsided by the 26 August, when, according to Pliny the Younger, the sun could be seen again during the day, having been blotted out by the sheer quantity of ash thrown into the atmosphere.

The eruption occurred a mere two months into the reign of the emperor Titus. Suetonius and Cassius Dio praise him for his reaction to the disaster: they agree that he chose two ex-consuls to coordinate the relief efforts as well as diverting a large amount of money from the imperial coffers to aid the survivors.

Nevertheless, in the aftermath of the eruption of Vesuvius the towns that suffered most – Herculaneum, Pompeii – were abandoned and forgotten until rediscovered via excavations which began in the 1730s and 40s.

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Text by Mike Welbourn

Image by Sarah Jordan

Trajan became emperor in 98 and seems to have been keen to win military glory; earlier in his reign he had mounted two successful wars against the Dacians (a tribe living in the area of modern day Romania) and their king Decebalus.

AE dupondius of Trajan. Obv. has radiate, draped bust of Trajan right, [IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AV]G GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P. Rev. has Abundantia standing with cornucopia and wheat, over modius, SC in fields, [S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI S C]. 27mm, 10.96g, 6 o’clock.

By defeating the Dacians Trajan had expanded Roman power, brought great wealth into the state coffers (Dacia had exploitable gold and silver mines), some of which he used to build the famous Forum of Trajan in Rome, and had won military renown for himself.

But his ambitions did not, it seems end there. In 113 he undertook the invasion of the Parthian Empire, Rome’s great eastern rival.

The Greek historian and senator Cassius Dio tells us that the ostensible reason for the campaign was that the Parthians had unilaterally placed upon the throne of Armenia an unacceptable candidate, Axidares.

At this time Armenia was a client and buffer state between the two empires and it had been established under Nero that while the throne of Armenia was in the gift of the Parthians, the Romans were to be consulted so that candidates were acceptable to both great powers.

This had not been done in the case of Axidares and Trajan used this as his pretext for invasion. For Dio, Trajan’s real motive was the winning of yet more territory and personal glory.

Trajan began with an invasion of Armenia itself. It seems the Parthian king Osroes I had taken steps to avoid a war by deposing Axidares and replacing him with his brother Parthamasiris.

At the city of Elegeia Trajan met with Parthamasiris, who offered obeisance and fully expected to be formally re-crowned as king of Armenia by Trajan. But having secured the kingdom, Trajan forced the former king into exile and turned Armenia into a Roman province.

In 115 came the invasion of Parthian territory. The campaign seems to have been relatively easy; the Parthian Empire was at the time weakened by internal unrest and Trajan swept through northern Mesopotamia capturing many cities, often without a fight. In the aftermath of these successes he established the Roman province of Mesopotamia.

In 116 Trajan undertook the conquest of the rest of Mesopotamia, moving south and eventually reaching the Tigris river. He crossed it and captured the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon. For this feat he earned the honorific title Parthicus (‘conqueror of the Parthians’) and the right to celebrate an unlimited number of triumphs.

Trajan had thus accomplished what no previous emperor had, and the Roman Empire stood at its greatest extent.

But he had little time to enjoy his great success: returning to the city of Babylon he was told that almost all the territories he had so recently conquered had exploded into open rebellion.

He sent his generals to attempt to recapture some cities, and managed to take back Nisibis and Edessa. The city of Seleucia was recaptured and then sacked and burned but Trajan seems to have realized that direct Roman rule had to be curtailed if not abandoned.

His stop-gap solution was to depose Osroes I and replace him with a Parthian puppet king, one Parthamaspates.

Trajan returned north to attempt to secure his newly minted provinces of Armenia and Mesopotamia. The Jewish communities of the conquered territory also turned to revolt at this time.

It seems, however, that Trajan viewed all of these difficulties as mere setbacks, and fully intended to attempt a second invasion of Parthian territory in 117. But early in that year his health took a serious turn for the worse and he decided to return to Italy.

It was during this return journey that he stopped at the city of Selinus in the province of Cilicia (a southern region of modern day Turkey) where his condition grew worse. He died there around the 8 August, 117 aged 60.

He lived just long enough to see Parthamaspates deposed by the Parthians. In addition, the territory still under Roman rule at his death was soon abandoned by his successor, Hadrian, who sought to rationalize and consolidate the borders of the empire.

Thus Trajan’s great campaign came ultimately to naught.

The post On this day in AD 117, the Roman emperor Trajan died appeared first on Mint Imperials.

Text by Rob Stone

Jovian was born in AD 331 in Singidunum (modern day Belgrade, Serbia). His father, Varronianus, was the commander of the bodyguards (comes domesticorum) of Constantius II. Jovian himself would join this group and prior to his accession he had risen to the same position as his father, commanding the guard for the emperor Julian.

AR siliqua of Jovian. Obverse has diademed, draped bust r., D N IOVIANVS PF AVG. Reverse has wreath, VOT V MVLT X, SMN in ex. 12 o’clock, 2.2g. Image courtesy CNG coins (http://www.cngcoins.com)

Jovian played a very minor role in the history of the Roman Empire and is often forgotten in favour of other, more successful or controversial emperors in Late Antiquity. He ruled for just 8 months and was related to the emperors who came before and after him through neither blood nor marriage, thus both beginning and ending his dynasty with his reign.

According to Ammianus’ history, even the soldiers who cheered for Jovian’s accession didn’t want him to be emperor; instead they were cheering because they believed that Julian had recovered from his injuries, an indication of just how underwhelming this emperor appears to have been. However, Jovian actually played a small but important role in shaping both the history of Late Antiquity and the world we know today.

The key to understanding the importance of Jovian’s reign is to recognise the previous emperor Julian’s efforts to reform the worship of the pagan gods.

Julian, reacting to the adoption and growth of Christianity as the official religion of the empire during the reigns of his uncle Constantine I and cousin Constantius II, attempted to restore the traditional worship of the gods through a combination of introducing Christian concepts (such as charity) into the pagan religions to make them more appealing and promoting pagans above Christians in both the military and civil spheres.

Julian hoped that these measures would reverse the movement of both the common people and the elites towards Christianity over the course of his reign.

However, Julian also recognised that to secure his rule against Sassanid and Gothic invasions and potential usurpers and to prove publicly that he had divine support from his gods he would need to win a decisive campaign.

Thus, at the beginning of 363, Julian marched into Persia seeking to assert his dominance and secure the empire from both external and internal threats. Unfortunately, his campaign would end in disaster: he was mortally injured during a Persian ambush.

Jovian was raised to power after the death of the emperor Julian. According to Ammianus, who was a great supporter of Julian, he was not the unanimous choice of the generals but he and his allies took advantage of their debating to present Jovian as the new emperor.

He took control of a demoralised army stranded deep within enemy territory and an empire in the midst of a religious crisis. Given these issues, Jovian acted quickly.

He negotiated a peace deal with the Sassanid Empire that granted free passage for his army in return for the surrender of a series of boundary forts and an agreement to withdraw all support for the Armenian king (effectively surrendering it as a vassal to the Persians).

While these were large concessions for the Romans, they paled in comparison to the potential loss of the entire army and its leadership as would happen at Adrianople under the reign of one of Jovian’s successors, the emperor Valens. Jovian’s peace deal allowed the Roman army to return home and to once again secure their borders with the Germans, Goths and Persians, staving off a military crisis.

The other key act in Jovian’s short reign was the reestablishment of Christianity as the main religion of the empire. Julian’s financial support for paganism was revoked, imperial funds were once again used for the building of churches rather than temples and the promotion of pagans above Christians was reversed.

Jovian’s position as a Christian emperor rather than a pagan one stopped the potential growth of paganism and guaranteed that, from Late Antiquity to the present day, Christianity was the major religion of the Western world.

However, Jovian was never able to enjoy the religious and military security he began to establish. On his return to the empire, he rushed towards Constantinople to quickly establish himself in the eastern capital and to prevent any usurpers capitalising on his humiliating peace treaty by seizing the city.

He would never reach the city, falling ill en route and dying overnight in the town of Dadastana, aged just 32. He was succeeded as emperor by Valentinian I, who split the empire in two and appointed his brother Valens as emperor in the East.

The successes and failures of their joint reign, and that of the rest of their dynasty, would quickly push the short-lived Jovian out of the minds of the citizens of the empire.

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