Constantine The Great - His Life Seen Through His Coins

Nice coins, @travelcoin. That campgate imitation is really interesting, well made.

Coin #6:

313-16? AD, Treveri. 3.6 g, 20 mm. (RIC 885 - see Note.)
Obv: Constantine I, laureate, draped, cuirassed.
CONSTANTINVS P F AVG
Rev: Mars, helmeted, cuirassed.
MARTI CONSERVATORI (To Mars, the Protector)



Another Mars coin. This type was minted in Trier only, from 310 (see Note). Even with Sol as his new "partner," Constantine didn't cut the bonds with Mars. He relied heavily on his armies for his continued success: Fighting off his former ally Maximian in 310, Maxentius in 312 (culminating with the victory at the Milvian bridge) and then Licinius from 316 and on. In between fighting the other emperors, he had to use his army to protect the borders of the empire. So demonstrating a good relation with the war god Mars, who was of course the patron god for the soldiers, was of great importance.

An interesting detail on the coin is the eight-pointed star on Mars's helmet, which Constantine at least later used as a symbol (for Sol?). A coincidence perhaps, maybe it is just an arbitrary decorative element.

Note:
This coin is from the Chitry hoard, nr 949. It is classified as struck to a weight of 1/96 of a Roman pound, not 1/72 as the 310-13 AD RIC 885. I have marked the time span for its minting as uncertain, as there is discussion about when exactly minting of such coins was performed in Trier.

My companion to one of your coins, @travelcoin:

Coin #7:

319 AD, Treveri (2nd officina). 3.5 g, 18 mm. RIC 221.
Obv: Constantine I, laureate, helmeted, cuirassed.
IMP CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG
Rev: Two Victories holding a shield inscribed VOT PR.
VICTORIAE LAETAE PRINC PERP | VOT PR (Joyous victory to/of the eternal Prince | Vows of the Roman people)



The eternal prince (that is, leader in the Roman meaning of the word) is of course Constantine. Here he wears armor and helmet with a laurel, clearly to show him in his role as a great and victorious military leader. Possibly the coin is a celebration of Constantine's victory over Licinius at Mardia in 317, after a campaign where Constantine's army had chased Licinius far into his Eastern part of the Roman Empire. The victory gave Constantine control over the provinces Pannonia and Macedonia, which was about half of Licinius's possessions. He now controlled more than half of the Roman Empire and surely was convinced (I believe) that his fate is to lead all of it.

The VOTA P[opuli] R[omani] inscription should perhaps be interpreted as the Roman people's prayers for further Constantinian victories? Or at least Constantine's expectation that that was the case?

The altar between the Victories has an eight-pointed star, which by this time is a symbol (possibly for Sol) that appears on many of Constantine's coins. It is used on many, but not all, coins of this type - other ornamentations are also used. My guess is the significance of the star is known at the mint, but its inclusion is up to the mint master or celator.

Note:
PRINC PERP can be read either as Principis Perpetui - the Eternal Prince - or Principum Perpetuorum - the Eternal Princes - in which case also Constantine's newly appointed caesars, his sons Crispus and Constantine II, would be included.

Thank you @Victor. That makes sense.

Coin #8:

320 AD, Treveri (1st officina). 3.2 g, 18 mm. RIC 266.
Obv: Constantine I, helmeted, cuirassed.
CONSTANTINVS AVG
Rev: Standard and two captives, VOT XX on the standard.
VIRTVS EXERCIT | VOT XX (Virtue/Strength of the Army | Vows for the 20th)



The years that followed on Constantine's victory over Licinius in 317 were relatively peaceful. Still, people needed to be reminded of Constantine's greatness, and the soldiers needed to be reassured of his esteem for them. So, coins praising the army were minted regularly and this type - most of them with Constantine in military attire - was favored by him around 320 AD and issued by many mints. Noteworthy is that Constantine also issued this type with Licinius's portrait, as befits a virtuous ruler.

At the same time it is a VOTA coin: It is issued in conjunction with Constantine taking his imperial vows for 20 years as emperor. That happened in 326, but vows were usually taken several years ahead of their fulfilment. What the vows were we don't know, but we can assume they included keeping the empire safe, not least from barbarians like the two captives beside the standard. One of them seems to be contemplating the vota message, and its implications for the future of his people perhaps. (You can read more about VOTA coins here: VOTA coins of the Roman Empire.)

Note:
I am not aware of an exact translation of the Latin word virtus to English. From the original meanings of valor, courage, worth, etc it developed in later Roman times to also include prudence, justice, and self-control (source: Wikipedia). Perhaps virtue is the closest translation?

Coin #10:

323 AD, Lugdunum (1st officina). 3.5 g, 19 mm. RIC 222.
Obv: Constantine I, laureate.
CONSTANTINVS AVG
Rev: Victory with a trophy, foot on a captive.
SARMATIA DEVICTA (Sarmatia vanquished)



Calm did not last long in the Roman Empire. Along the Danube, Pannonian frontier river, the Sarmatians repeatedly made assaults into Rome. Constantine defeated them in 322 and again in 323, when he killed many, including the Sarmatian king, and took many prisoners. Constantine earned the title Sarmaticus Maximus - "Great victor of the Sarmatians" - and issued coins like this to commemorate the successful event.

What an amazing thread this is turning out to be. Very informative, and some super specimens being shared.

@Victor, an interesting point about the mappa/parazonium. I hadn't heard that before.

@erafjel, your coin #10 sparked something in my memory. I have a few Constantine coins, but mostly not in very good condition. I looked through the Constantines and found this one which is similar to your #10, but with the Trier mint mark.

Constantine AE follis. 323-324 AD.
Obverse: CONSTANTINVS AVG, laureate head right. Reverse: SARMATIA-DEVICTA, Victory advancing right, holding trophy on right arm, branch in left hand, spurning captive seated on ground right, head turned back. Mintmark: PTR crescent. Trier mint.
Reference: RIC VII 435

This thread is certainly evoking some memories, @erafjel. I have neglected the Romans for too long, so here is a similar coin of Helena.

When I was stationed in the Falkland Islands in the 1980s and 1990s I met a few "saints", people from the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, the island where Napoleon was exiled to in 1815. The island had been named after Saint Helena of Constantinople. I was intrigued by the fact that a Roman empress had been sanctified and had an island named in her honour. Her story was quite remarkable.

Born Flavia Julia Helena in around 246/248 AD in Drepanum, Bithynia, of humble Greek parents, Helena was to become the consort of the future Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus, and the mother of the future Emperor Constantine the Great. Helena was an important figure in the history of Christianity due to her influence on her son. During her religious tour of of Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem, ancient tradition says that Nicene Christian Helena discovered the True Cross. She is revered as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Roman Catholic Church, and is commemorated by the Lutheran Church. When Helena died around 330 AD, she would have been in excess of 80 years old.

Helena AE Follis. Obverse: FL HELENA AVGVSTA, diademed and draped bust right. Reverse: SECVRITAS REIPVBLICE, Securitas standing left, holding branch in right hand. Mintmark PTR dot in crescent. Trier mint.
Reference: RIC 481; LRBC 35; Sear 16593.

Thank you @Palouche, glad you enjoy the thread! And thank you and @Novicius for the Helenas, they are both real nice examples. It is interesting that her hair style seems to vary a bit between mints - I wonder what they had to base the portrait on?

Another relative now:

Coin #12:

323 AD, Lugdunum (1st officina). 3.2 g, 19 mm. RIC 216.
Obv: Crispus, Constantine's first son, laureate, draped, cuirassed.
FL IVL CRISPVS NOB CAES
Rev: Laurel wreath, VOT X.
CAESARVM NOSTRORVM | VOT X (Our Emperors' Vows for the 10th)



Crispus was Constantine's first son and was made caesar in 317 at the same time as his brother Constantine II and Licinius's son Licinius II. About five years into their reign it was time for their 10 year vows and VOTA coins were minted for all three caesars. 326 AD, the year the vows were to be fulfilled, was however an unfortunate year for Crispus. Following allegations of misconduct with his stepmother Fausta, Constantine had his own son Crispus executed. Fausta was to meet the same fate, but more about that in my next post.

Ok, thanks @maridvnvm, that is good information. The paper seems to deal mostly with Sol coins; for unsigned Mars coins like RIC 885 it shows strong evidence for minting also in Aquileia (die match with a signed coin), for the other mints I think it is more open-ended.

Coin #13:

326 AD, Treveri (2nd officina). 3.5 g, 18 mm. RIC 483.
Obv: Fausta, Constantine's second wife.
FLAV MAX FAVSTA AVG
Rev: Salus (or Fausta?), standing holding two children.
SALVS REIPVBLICAE (Welfare of the State)



Constantine married emperor Maximian's daughter Fausta in 307 to seal the bonds of power within the tetrarchy. For this he had to divorce his first wife, Minervina, with whom he had his first son, Crispus. In 324, shortly after the downfall of Licinius and Constantine becoming sole emperor, Fausta was made augusta. As for Constantine's mother Helena, who was also made augusta soon after, coins were minted for Fausta. On her coins, she was associated with Salus (goddess of welfare, health and prosperity) or Spes (goddess of hope). On the coins, Salus/Spes is depicted holding two children, and it can be interpreted as showing Fausta as a living personification of the goddesses, holding two of her children with Constantine (which ones of the five they had is unclear). In any event, she represented the future of the Constantinian dynasty and thus the (bright) future of Rome.

Her own future was not too bright, however. Exactly what happened in 326 is not clear and is poorly documented. According to some accounts Fausta accused Crispus, Constantine's son with his first wife, of having approached her inappropriately. Constantine, holding Fausta in very high esteem, then had Crispus executed. When the allegations were found to be false - speculations are that Fausta wanted Crispus out of the way in favor of her own sons - he had Fausta executed too.