The coinage of Valerian and Gallienus refers to all the coins issued by Rome during the reigns of Emperors Gallienus (253-268) and Valerian (253-260).
Historical context
The period called military anarchy had begun with the assassination of Severus Alexander (last heir of the Severan dynasty), at the instigation of the military officer Maximinus Thrax, who then succeeded him in 235. Maximinus had then been succeeded by a dozen emperors, until Aemilianus in 253. The latter, however, did not last more than three months, also dying at the hands of his own soldiers near Spoleto. He was succeeded in 253 by Valerian, (captured by the Sasanians in 260), and his son Gallienus until 268.
Valerian (253-260)
Emperor Trebonianus Gallus asked Valerian for help, appointing him governor of Rhaetia, when Aemilianus, proclaimed emperor by the Danubian troops, marched against Italy. Valerian then marched from Rhaetia, taking the Rhenish troops with him, but he was not in time to save Gallus, who was defeated by Aemilianus and killed by his own men; Valerian's troops, however, refused to recognize the victor and hailed their own general as emperor.
In late July/mid-September 253, the armies of Valerian and Aemilianus clashed, but Aemilianus' soldiers decided to abandon him and killed him near Spoleto, at a bridge called the Sanguinarii, between Oricolum and Narnia. At the same time, a new wave of Goths, Borani, Carpi and Heruli had brought destruction as far as Pessinus and Ephesus by sea, and then by land to the territories of Cappadocia.
It was under these circumstances that Valerian was raised to the purple (October 22, 253). The Roman Senate ratified his appointment as emperor of the troops of Rhaetia. Thus he succeeded Aemilianus. Continued invasions in the north and east forced the new emperor to partition the administration of the Roman state, as had been done in the past by Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus; Valerian took jurisdiction over the eastern part of the empire and entrusted the western part to his son Gallienus (253-268).; ; Imperial titleNumber of timesDateTribunicia potestas8 years:from 253 and renewed annually on December 10 of each year until 260 nine times..Consulate4 times:238? (I), 254 (II),BCTH-1955/56-108. 255 (III), . and 257 (IV). (p 1248).Victory titlesGermanicus Maximus, Parthicus (?)RIC Licinius Valerianus, V, 262; MIR 847d; cf. RSC 255. and Restitutor Galliarum, in 254;; ; ; ; . Restitutor Orientis, ca. 253-260Roman Imperial Coinage, Licinius Valerianus, V 287; MIR 36, 1685e; RSC 189. Restitutor orbis, in the period 254-259 (?)..Salutatio imperatoriaAt least 3 times:the first when he became Augustus in 253, the second when he assumed the title Germanicus Maximus in 254, and the third in 256.ILJug-1, 361.Other titlesPius, Felix, Pater Patriae and Pontifex Maximus in 253.BCTH-1909-CCXVIII.
Main themes
Concord When Valerian was raised to the purple (Oct. 22, 253), the Roman Senate ratified the appointment of the troops of Rhaetia as emperor, at the same time elevating his son Gallienus to the rank of Caesar. After Valerian arrived in Rome, he decided to raise his son to the rank of co-augustus, while his grandson Cornelius Valerianus or his other son, Valerianus Minor,; . to that of Caesar. In the Roman Empire at the time of the crisis of the third century, the practice of associating a son with the throne was usual, as in the case of Maximinus Thrax and Maximus, Philip the Arab and Philip II, Decius and Herennius Etruscus, Trebonianus Gallus and Volusianus. In the case of Valerian and Gallienus, in addition to dynastic advantages, the association of the adult son with his father's throne allowed for two emperors perfectly capable of governing, thus giving double force to imperial rule. This was something more akin to what had happened in the mid-2nd century, when, on the death of Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius associated his adopted brother Lucius Verus with the throne. And so father and son divided the administration of the empire and departed as soon as possible for their respective destinations - Gallienus, after being appointed ordinary consul in 254, to the West along the Limes Germanicus, and Valerian to the East. The concord of the two emperors was celebrated in the coinage of the years 253 and 254.
Concordia Augustorum and of the Roman armiesImageValueObverseReverseDateWeight; diameterCatalogingAntoninianusIMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG, head of Gallienus with radiate crown toward right, the bust with drapery and cuirass;CONCORDIA AVGG(ustorum), hands clasping in sign of agreement.253/2543.05 g (Mint of ancient Rome);RIC, Gallienus, V pt. 1, 131; Göbl 13t; RSC 125.AntoninianusIMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG, head of Gallienus with radiate crown toward right, the bust with drapery and cuirass;CONCORDIA EXERCIT, Concordia standing toward left, holding a patera and a double cornucopia.253/2543.05 g (Mint of ancient Rome);RIC, Gallienus, V pt. 1, 132, Göbl 15v; RSC 131a.N.B.: Above are some examples.
Germanic campaigns (253-260)
Continued raids by barbarians in the two decades following the end of the Severan dynasty had brought the economy and trade of the Roman Empire to its knees. Numerous farms and crops had been destroyed, if not by barbarians, then by bands of brigands and by Roman armies seeking sustenance during military campaigns fought against both external and internal enemies (usurpers to the imperial purple). Moreover, food shortages generated a demand that exceeded the supply of foodstuffs, with obvious inflationary consequences on basic necessities. Added to all this was a constant forced recruitment of soldiers, to the detriment of the manpower employed in the agricultural countryside, resulting in the abandonment of many farms and vast areas of fields to be cultivated. This pressing demand for soldiers, in turn, had generated an implicit race to raise the price of obtaining the imperial purple. Each new emperor or usurper was forced, therefore, to offer his army increasing donations and ever more profitable wages, to the serious detriment of the imperial treasury, which was often forced to cover these extraordinary expenses with the confiscation of huge estates of private citizens, victims in these years of "partisan" proscriptions. These difficulties forced the new emperor, Valerian, to partition the administration of the Roman state with his son Gallienus, entrusting the latter with the western part and reserving the eastern part for himself, as had previously been the case with Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus (161-169).
Towards the end of 253 a new incursion of Goths devastated the region of Thessalonica: the Germanic people failed to conquer the city, which, however, only with difficulty and much effort was liberated by the Roman armies of the new emperor Valerian (see coin below from the mint of Viminacium). The panic was so great that the inhabitants of Achaia decided to rebuild the ancient walls of Athens and many other Peloponnesian cities.;
At the same time the Franks and Alemanni were stopped in their attempt to break through the Roman limes by the young Caesar Gallienus, who earned for these successes the appellation "Restitutor Galliarum" and "Germanicus maximus."; ; ; ; ; ; MiliariHispanico 562. His merit was that he had at least partially contained the dangers, thanks to an agreement with one of the leaders of the Germanic peoples, who undertook to prevent other barbarians from crossing the Rhine and thus oppose new invaders.
In 257 the Rhine front of Germania Inferior was disrupted by new Frankish attacks, who managed to push as far as Mogontiacum, where they were stopped by the advancing Legio VI Gallicana, of which the future emperor Aurelian was military tribune.; Gallienus, who had quickly left Illyricum, hurried to the West, succeeding in beating the Frankish hordes near Cologne and after liberating the entire left bank of the Rhine from the barbarian armies (see coins below from the Colonia Agrippinensium mint). Military campaigns along the Rhine and DanubeImageValueObverseReverseDateWeight; diameterCatalogingAntoninianusIMP P LIC VALERIANO AVG, head with crown, wearing cuirass;VICTORIA GERMANICA, Victory facing left, holding a shield and a palm tree.25321 mm, 3.90 g (mint of Viminacium);RIC Licinius Valerianus, V, 264; MIR 36, 793d; RSC 253.AntoninianusGALLIENVS AVG, head of Gallienus with radiate crown toward right, the bust with drapery and cuirass;VICT G-ERMANICA, victory above an orb toward right, holds a trophy on the shoulders and a crown between two captives seated on the ground.257/258 to celebrate the victory over the Germanic peoples;22 mm, 3.72 g, 6 h (Colonia Agrippinensium mint, first issue);RIC, Gallienus, V 49; MIR 36, 874l; RSC 1062.AntoninianusIMP GALLIENVS PIUS AVG, head of Gallienus with radiate crown toward right, the bust with drapery and cuirass;FIDES MILITUM, an eagle facing left sitting on top of an orb, head to the right, holding a crown in its beak; a vexillum to the right and left.257/258 to celebrate the victory over the Germanic peoples;21 mm, 3.98 g, 12 h (Colonia Agrippinensium mint, first issue);RIC, Gallienus, V 11; MIR 36, 871b; RSC 253.AntoninianusGALLIENVS PF AVG, head of Gallienus with radiate crown toward right, the bust with drapery and cuirass;GERMANICUS MAX V, a trophy, at the base of which are two prisoners sitting on either side, their hands tied.258 to celebrate the victory over the Germanic peoples and the victory title of Germanicus Maximus for the fifth time;21 mm, 3.22 g, 12 h (Colonia Agrippinensium mint, first issue);RIC, Gallienus, V 18; MIR 36, 872l; RSC 308.AntoninianusGALLIENVS PF AVG, head of Gallienus with radiate crown toward right, the bust with drapery and cuirass;VICT G-ERMANICA, victory advancing to left, holding a trophy and crown, trampling on a Germanic captive.258/259 to celebrate the victory over the Germanic peoples;3.43 g, 6 h (Colonia Agrippinensium mint, second issue);RIC, Gallienus, V 44; MIR 36, 893h; RSC 1061a.N.B.: Above are some examples.
Persian campaigns (254-260) Valerian, after leaving early in his reign for the eastern front, succeeded in driving the Sasanians out of the imperial territories, recapturing Antioch, which had been besieged and then conquered, and then concentrated on reorganizing the entire eastern limes in the following years. However, he had to arrange every possible resistance against the Barbarians from the north, through his generals, when from 254 to 256 new incursions of Goths devastated much of the territories of Thrace, Macedonia, and Pontus, generating panic in the inhabitants of Achaia, so much so that he arranged to rebuild the ancient walls of Athens and many other cities in the Peloponnese.; ; The lowest point was reached in 260, when Valerian was defeated in battle and taken prisoner by the Sasanians, dying in captivity without the possibility of a military expedition to free him.