The coin is a fairly common late-empire bronze that seems to have been popular with the Valentinian Dynasty, as Valentinian I, Valens, and Gratian all issued the type; so did successors Theodosius I and Arcadius. The coins were issued at a time when the Roman Empire faced tremendous pressure from barbarians along the Danube frontier. In 378 AD, the Romans lost an entire army against the Goths at the battle of Adrianople, not to mention the eastern emperor Valens, who's body was never found after the battle. So the "Gloria Romanorum" type is a superb piece of Roman propaganda just as the empire was under siege from barbarian invasions.
As for Gratian, thought he didn't share the same ignominious fate as his uncle Valens, he was eventually assassinated after a fairly undistinguished reign. Gratian, not known to be particularly adept or even interested in military affairs (Ammianus Marcellius says he preferred to study the humanities rather than the art of war), probably wasn't the best choice as Valentinian's successor, as he wasn't well liked by the army.
Gratian's reign is, however, noteworthy for two things, in my opinion. First, the equation of Christianity with the office of the emperor, begun under Constantine, continued during the reign of Gratian. And second, Gratian continued the assimilation of barbarians into the empire. He even had barbarians as members of his court and army, which was a trend that would continue into the fifth century.
Technorati Tags: Gratian, barbarians, Valentinian, Valens, Adrianople, Theodosius, Arcadius, numismatics, coins, numismatics, Rome, Siscia, Roman Empire, history
1 comments:
I have a similar coin with Gratian - Gloria Romanorum. Any idea if it is worth something? I have bought some 50 small roman coins uncleaned and I managed to identify about 30, but most are Constantine and Constans and those are not really worth much.
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