Acquired A Rarity

I managed to work out a deal for another of the extremely rare final Western Roman emperors for my 5th century Roman collection. This time its a coin of the Emperor Majorian, who was one of the most able Roman emperors/generals you've never heard of. The acquisition of this coin (all of his coins are extremely hard to find) basically means I'll be on the wagon for a long while, but I'm really passionate about this era and its coinage so for me its worth it

In the 450s AD, things looked bleak for the western part of the Roman Empire. Even though the Huns had been stopped in Gaul, the barbarian tribes were pressing down further onto Rome's remaining territories, and with the death of the powerful Magister Militum Flavius Aetius, there was seemingly no one to keep the tribes at bay and hold the crumbling empire together.

Two puppet emperors and another sack of Rome later, Majorian (full name: Flavius Julius Valerius Majorianus Augustus) and his friend and ally Ricimer came to power in 457 AD, becoming emperor of the west and Magister Militum respectively. Ricimer sought to control Majorian as simply another puppet, but Majorian proved himself powerful and independent. With his years of army experience aiding him, he took the fight to Rome's barbarian enemies; defeating Vandal and Alamanni raiders, taking back parts of Gaul and most of Hispania, and forcing several defeated tribes back to a federated status. Majorian also introduced reforms to more efficiently run the Western empire.

But fate turned against him. Treachery resulted in the destruction of the fleet he had assembled to invade the Vandals in North Africa. This and his reforms made Majorian very unpopular with the Roman Senate. Ricimer took advantage of this, and after Majorian had disbanded most of his loyal army, Ricimer had him arrested, tortured, and later executed in 461 AD. Majorian was 40 years old. The Western Roman Empire would fall just 15 years after his death.

http://www.roman-empire.net/collapse/majorian.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majorian

Roman Empire in 460 AD during the reigns of Majorian (purple), and Leo I (light purple):


Majorian, Western Roman Empire
AE Nummus
Obv: DN IVL MAIORIANVS PF AVG, pearl-diademed, draped bust right
Rev: VICTORI-A AVGGG, Victory advancing right, holding palm branch and trophy
Mint: Milan (DM in ex), struck 457-461 AD
Ref: RIC X 2646



(on coins of this type you can tell its Majorian due to the Os in the legends replaced by dots instead)