Ended up getting not one but two Vrbs Roma Felix. While not as good as the first two I was considering, they come kind of close imo and for the price they were each ($17 as opposed to the $45 and $51 the other two were), I think I didn't do too bad. While Honorius coins are generally common, the Vrbs Roma Felix is among the scarcer types for him.
The thread title refers to how, while this type proudly declares Rome a happy city ("VRBS ROMA FELIX": Happy City of Rome), it was anything but, considering what happened to the Eternal City during this time: it's sieges and later, sack by the Visigoths under their leader, Alaric. In 408 AD, they surrounded the former Roman capital and threatened to attack. The Roman Senate was able to get the Visigoths off their backs with much gold, silver, and other valuable items. All seemed well until negotiations between Alaric and Emperor Honorius (safely in the capital Ravenna) broke down and the discovery of a Roman force attempting to sneak south towards Rome lead to a second siege. Alaric and the Senate entered negotiations and had a rival emperor put into place, the city prefect Priscus Attalus, with the hope that he could end up deposing Honorius and giving the Visigoths what they wanted.
The relationship between Alaric and Attalus soured, leading to the usurper's deposition and Alaric's desire of renewed talks with Honorius. But a wrench was thrown into the works in the form of a failed ambush on the Visigoths by a Roman force under the command of Sarus, a Goth who despised Alaric and his brother Ataulf. It has been said that Honorius had no hand in this and that Sarus acted alone, but nonetheless, this attack gave Alaric an excuse to besiege Rome a third time in 410 AD. This time however, luck would not be on the city's side. Slaves managed to let the Visigoths in by opening one of the city's gates, and for three days, the city was pillaged and burned, the first time in approximately eight centuries that Rome was attacked and conquered by an enemy. Even the dead were not spared; tombs of past great emperors such as Augustus and Hadrian were ransacked and the ashes thrown to the winds. After it was all said and done, Rome was a shattered city. Among the many prizes taken by the Visigoths was Honorius's sister, Galla Placidia.
This event was without doubt a huge shock to the inhabitants of the empire, erasing the belief that Rome was unconquerable. St. Jerome summed it up fairly accurately: "The City which had taken the whole world was itself taken."
The Sack of Rome of 410 would be followed up 45 years later by a more terrible sack by the Vandals, and ultimately, the Western Empire's fall 66 years later in 476 AD.
Honorius, Western Roman emperor 395-423 AD
AE3
Obv: DN HONOR-IVS PF AVG, pearl-diademed, draped bust right
Rev: VRBS RO-MA FELIX, Emperor standing right, holding trophy and Victory and globe, OF to left, (Q to right for first coin, and epsilon to left for second coin), mintmark SMROM in ex
Rome mint, struck 404-408 AD
Ref: Both are RIC X 1280, rated Scarce
Posted 09/27/2013 12:18 pm
