New hole in my madman's quest to attain one of every emperor, caesar, empress, and major usurper of Rome.
Hostilian, July - November (?) 251
Radiate, draped bust right, pellets below, C OVAL OSTIL MES COVINTVS AVG
ROMAE AETERNAE, Roma seated left, holding Victory and spear
RIC 204
Rare
Born in about 230, Hostilian was the youngest son of Trajan Decius and Herennia Etruscilla. Virtually no details are recorded of his life, as he spent the duration of his father's short reign in the shadow of his older brother Herennius Etruscus. Seeking to establish a lasting dynasty, Decius raised Herennius to co-emperor in 251, and granted Hostilian the title of Caesar. Hostilian was left behind in Rome when the two emperors embarked on their disastrous campaign against the Goths, leading to both of their deaths in the Battle of Abritus in June 251. The legions proclaimed the nearest general, Trebonianus Gallus Augustus, despite the fact that as the sitting caesar, Hostilian had the legal right to the purple. The situation was defused when Gallus opted to adopt Hostilian and allow him to rule as co-emperor. This was all moot, as Hostilian was dead no later than November of that year, ostensibly because of the plague which was ravaging Rome at the time. He was about 21 years old. Aside from his adoption, history does not mention a single thing that Hostilian did as emperor.
While the coins of Hostilian as Caesar are scarce, those as Augustus are rare; arguably the rarest of any official, Senate-recognized emperor of the Crisis period, despite the fact that both Aemilian and Florian had shorter reigns. There are some interesting points to ponder on the reign of Hostilian:
- Despite his purported age of 19-21 during the reign of his father, the actions of denying Hostilian the opportunity to serve in the military, coupled with the generally very youthful portrait seems to beg the question of his age - Perhaps he was not a young adult, but rather a child or very young teenager?
- It is not of relevance on these coins, but the majority of Hostilian's issues as emperor seem to indicate sole reign, e.g. RIC 202, AEQVITAS AVG, not AVGG. It is, in my opinion, worthy of pondering whether the relationship between Gallus and Hostilian was as amicable as recorded in history. Perhaps Gallus was either treated as a usurper for some months, or maybe Hostilian was killed before the adoption ever took place, and history was modified to erase that black smudge from Gallus' record?
*Counterpoint to the above - there are coins of Gallus' son Volusian which give his title as Caesar, which does support the claim of several months of Hostilian and Gallus as co-emperors with Volusian as Caesar.
Posted 10/04/2018 9:35 pm
