Portraits Of Power - The Faces Of Imperial Rome

The Gallic Empire

Postumus, 260 - 269


BI Antoninianus
IMP C POSTVMVS PF AVG, Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right
P M TR P COS II P P, Postumus, helmeted and in military garb, standing left, holding globe and spear

As was common with the military emperors, virtually nothing is known about the early life of the first Gallic emperor. He rose through the ranks of the army, and in 259 was entrusted with the command of the armies guarding the Rhine frontier against the marauding Goths. Serving for a time under the young Saloninus, the army mutinied in 260, when, demoralized by the capture of emperor Valerian on the Sassanian front, they were further denied the collection of their war booty from a routed Germanic raiding party in Gaul. Saloninus was assassinated, and Postumus was declared emperor by his troops in competition to Gallienus. He was able to consolidate his hold on the region, and by 261, Gaul, Germania, Hispania, and Britannia had all declared Postumus their emperor. Gallienus was too preoccupied with the invasions on the Danbue to deal with this usurper immediately, and so Postumus was able to establish a capital (Probably at Cologne) where he seems to have put together a senate. He was successful in repelling multiple incursions from the Germans, and was able to stabilize the areas almost to the point that life seemed to be returning to normal. In an unprecedented move, Postumus increased the silver purity of his antoninianii, and reintroduced bronze denominations, including the coveted Double Sestertius which had previously been introduced by Trajan Decius. In 265, Gallienus was finally able to stabilize the rest of the empire enough to attempt to retake the lost provinces by storm, but he was grievously wounded and forced to retreat and cease hostilities. Historians often take this as de facto recognition of the "Gallic Empire" as a separate and independent political entity.

The years 265 - 268 were unusually peaceful for the Gallic empire; however discontent seemed to grow toward the end of 268, possibly due to his subjects' increasing wishes for Postumus to march on Rome to reunite the empire under his rule, which Postumus did not seem keen to attempt. After dealing with a number of ephemeral usurpers (attested only through coinage), Postumus found his first real challenge in the usurper Laelianus, an army commander who had been elevated as a usurper by his troops in Mainz. Postumus marched to meet this challenger in early 269 and was victorious; however, when Mainz fell to the siege, Postumus' troops demanded to be allowed to loot the city as a bonus payment for their loyalty. Postumus refused, and was murdered on the spot by his disaffected troops.

Marius, 269


AE Antoninianus
IMP MARIVS P F AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
SAEC FELICITAS, Felicitas standing left, holding caduceus and cornucopia


The story of Marius is one of my favorite from the Crisis era. Only the Historia Augusta paints a picture of this ephemeral emperor, who would otherwise have been dismissed as a usurper. According to the histories that survive, the untimely death of Postumus at the hands of his own troops was both unexpected and a challenge the Gallic Empire was unprepared for. In the absence of a clear legal successor, the now leaderless troops seem to have simply drawn lots from among their own ranks. From the chaos emerged Marcus Aurelius Marius, an army blacksmith of reportedly huge stature and build. It did not take long before Victorinus, a skilled politician and general under Postumus, rose to challenge Marius, who was summarily executed with a sword of his own manufacture. According to the Historia Augusta, Marius ruled just three days; however numismatics tell us that his reign produced at least a dozen reverse types from two mints - which simply would not have been possible in three day's time. It is likely that he reigned between one and three months.

A lovely collection your displaying Steve!....
This is not an era I'm that up on so have learnt a great deal from your write ups....
Looking around the obverse wear on the Macrianus and Quietus portraits seems to be quite common place so yours are nice examples of the types...But these can get expensive yes?...
Love the detail on the Aureolus!...I'm assuming the reverse legend AEQVIT is what distinguishes these from Postumus?
Great Marius too!...Another tough to find Emperor..


Didn't know this so thanks.

One I see is missing Laelianus VERY expensive!..Do you have plans to add him in the future?

Thanks guys!

@Paul - lots of questions!

- The Quietus and Macrianus were the two best examples I was able to snag, the Macrianus from a large lot from Leu, and the Quietus was a relatively inexpensive purchase from Savoca - they of course come much worse than mine, and much nicer - but nicer examples rapidly go from ~$100 to approaching $500-1,000.

- Coins are attributable to Aureolus on the basis of coming from Milan, which was not part of the Gallic Empire and had no business minting for Postumus otherwise. Stylistically, these are well-struck on tight flans, and the portrait is more squat and angular than from any of the Gallic mints - these also utilize officina marks in the exergue, which Cologne, Trier, and Lyon did not.

- And yeah, Laelianus is on the horizon, but I haven't been able to snag one yet, and probably won't until the current market frenzy dies down.

@Finn235, that is an awesome collection of Gallic Emperors you have there!

I find the double sestertii of Postumus especially interesting, I haven't really seen a good explanation to why he chose to revive those. Finding them in good condition is not easy (they were often overstrikes of old coins), but I would like to share this one, recently acquired, and in decent condition:



Double sestertius, 261, Postumus, Trier. RIC V 123.
Obv: IMP C M CASS LAT POSTVMVS P F AVG.
Rev: FIDES MILITVM.

It is a sturdy piece of copper, especially compared to the slim antoninianii - 22.6 g, 34 mm, 4.5 mm thick at the high reliefs. Radiated to indicate the double value, like the antoninianus.

Tetricus I, 271 - 274


AE Antoninianus
IMP C TETRICVS P F AVG, Radiate draped bust right
SPES PVBLICA, Spes walking left, holding flower and raising hem of robe


AE Antoninianus
IMP TETRICVS P F AVG, Radiate, cuirassed bust right
HILARITAS AVGG, Hilaritas standing left, holding palm and cornucopia


IMP C TETRICVS P F AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
VIRTVS AVGG, Virtus standing left, holding spear and shield


AE Barbarous Radiate, uncertain reverse type


AE barbarous radiate, reverse possibly Apollo holding lyre?



After the sudden death of Victorinus in 271, Victoria seems to have enlisted Tetricus, who at the time was serving as the governor of Gallia Aquitania. His reign was deeply troubled, as the raids from the Germanic peoples had increased in frequency and ferocity, and Tetricus struggled to keep his troops paid--officially minted antoninianii dipped down to 1% silver or even less, and were supplemented by a massive wave of unofficial token coinage, today called barbarous radiates, which are about as common as official coins. In 273 to bring some measure of political stability, Tetricus elevated his young son Tetricus II to the position of Caesar. The new Roman emperor, Aurelian, however, had just succeeded in bringing the Palmyrene empire back under imperial control, and was now poised to reclaim Gaul and Britannia. Their forces met at the Battle of Chalons, and surrendered without much fight. Some historians claim that the battle was just a show by Tetricus - he knew he would not win, and negotiated a surrender with Aurelian prior to the battle--if he surrendered, his troops would have surely murdered him and set up another in his place. Tetricus and his son were paraded through Rome in Aurelian's triumph, but afterward pardoned and allowed to retire to obscurity.

For reasons unknown, the provincial citizens selected Tetricus' antoninianii as their small change of choice, and the overwhelmingly vast majority of unofficial "barbarous radiates" are modeled after Tetricus and his son. Archaeological studies have revealed that the later crude barbarous radiates were being produced as late as the 280s and likely circulated until Constantine was able to provide a suitable small coin of official minting.

Tetricus II

As Caesar


AE Antoninianus
C P E TETRICVS CAES, Radiate draped bust right
PIETAS AVGG, Priestly implements


AE Antoninianus
C PIV ESV TETRICVS CAES, Radiate draped bust right
SPES AVGG, Spes walking left, holding flower and raising hem of robe


AE Antoninianus, probably barbarous
(...) TETRICVS CAES, Radiate bust right
SALVS (AVGG?) Salus standing left, holding patera to snake rising from altar
*This coin is of convincing style, but is too small and Tetricus II did not produce unambiguously official coins depicting Salus*


AE Antoninianus, Barbarous made with stolen official die?
CA (PIV?) ESV TETRICVS (?), Radiate draped bust right
Illegible, Hilaritas-type figure standing with palm

This fascinating piece is either the most skilled barbarous obverse ever made, or else it was made from a presumably official obverse that was looted from the mint and paired with a homemade reverse. It is notable that the obverse legend does not seem to match any known official examples, and the final letters are indistinct, leaving the title unknown but presumably still CAES.

"As Augustus"

AE Barbarous Radiate
(...)ETRICVS PF AVG, Radiate head right
PAX AVG, Pax standing left holding scepter and branch


Tetricus II was the young son of Tetricus I, elevated to the office of Caesar in 273. He is scarcely mentioned in contemporary histories, and based on the portrait on his coinage, he was probably about 8-14 years old. He shared a consulship with his father in 274, may have briefly been raised to Augustus in that year. Numismatic evidence for this elevation is at best dubious, as unofficial emissions are just as plentiful as the official, and can sometimes be of convincing style. Following their defeat, Tetricus was paraded with his father in Aurelian's triumph, and was allowed to return to life as a private citizen. The Historia Augusta claims that he went on to become a senator in his later years.