TRAJAN DECIUS 249AD Tetradrachm Large Silver Roman Coin Eagle Antioch i52662

Description

Item:
i52662
Authentic Ancient Coin of:
Trajan Decius
-
Roman Emperor
:
249-251 A.D. -
Silver Tetradrachm 26mm (12.11 grams) of
Antioch in Seleukis and Pieria
Reference: Sear GIC 4209 var.; B.M.C. 20.222,595 var.; McAlee 1106f; Prieur 500
AYTOK. K. ГAI. MЄ. KVIN. ΔЄKKIOC CЄB, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
ΔHMAPX. ЄΞOYCIAC - Eagle standing facing on palm-branch, head left, wreath in beak; beneath, SC.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
Jupiter is usually thought to have originated as a sky god. His identifying implement is the
thunderbolt
, and his primary sacred animal is the
eagle
, which held precedence over other birds in the taking of
auspices
and became one of the most
common symbols of the
Roman army
(see
Aquila
). The two emblems were often combined to represent the god in the form of an eagle holding in its claws a thunderbolt, frequently seen on Greek and Roman coins. As the sky-god, he was a divine witness to oaths, the sacred trust on which justice and good government depend. Many of his functions were focused on the
Capitoline
("Capitol Hill"), where the
citadel
was located. He was the chief deity of the
early Capitoline Triad
with
Mars
and
Quirinus
. In the
later Capitoline Triad
, he was the central guardian of the state with
Juno
and
Minerva
. His sacred tree was the oak. The Romans regarded Jupiter as the
equivalent
of the Greek
Zeus
, and in
Latin literature
and
Roman art
, the myths and iconography of Zeus are adapted under the name
Iuppiter
.
An
aquila
, or
eagle
, was a prominent symbol used in
ancient Rome
, especially as the
standard
of a
Roman legion
. A
legionary
known as an
aquilifer
, or eagle-bearer, carried this standard. Each legion carried one eagle. The eagle was extremely important to the Roman military, beyond merely being a symbol of a legion. A lost standard was considered an extremely grave occurrence, and the Roman military often went to great lengths to both protect a standard and to recover it if lost; for example, see the aftermath of the
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
, where the Romans spent decades attempting to recover the lost standards of three legions.
Gaius Messius Quintus Decius
(ca. 201- June 251) was the
Emperor of Rome
from 249 to 251. In the last year of his reign, he co-ruled with his son
Herennius Etruscus
until both of them were killed in the
Battle of Abrittus
.
//
Early life and rise to power
Decius, who was born at
Budalia
, now
Martinci
,
Serbia
near
Sirmium
(
Sremska Mitrovica
), in
Lower Pannonia
was one of the first among a long succession of future Roman Emperors to originate from the provinces of
Illyria
in the Danube.
[1]
. Unlike some of his immediate imperial predecessors such as Philip the Arab or
Maximinus
, Decius was a distinguished senator who had served as
consul
in 232, had been governor of
Moesia
and
Germania Inferior
soon afterwards, served as governor of
Hispania Tarraconensis
between 235-238, and was
urban prefect
of Rome during the early reign of Emperor
Philip the Arab
(Marcus Iulius Phillipus).
Around 245, Emperor Philip entrusted Decius with an important command on the
Danube
. By the end of 248 or 249, Decius was sent to quell the revolt of
Pacatianus
and his troops in Moesia and Pannonia
[3]
; the soldiers were enraged because of the peace treaty signed between Philip and the
Sassanids
. Once arrived, the troops forced Decius to assume the imperial dignity himself instead. Decius still protested his loyalty to Philip, but the latter advanced against him and was killed near
Verona
,
Italy
. The
Senate
then recognized Decius as Emperor, giving him the attribute
Traianus
as a reference to the good emperor
Trajan
. As the Byzantine historian
Zosimus
later noted:
Decius was therefore clothed in purple and forced to undertake the [burdens of] government, despite his reluctance and unwillingness.
Political and monumental initiatives
Decius' political program was focused on the restoration of the strength of the State, both military opposing the external threats, and restoring the public
piety
with a program of renovation of the
State religion
.
Either as a concession to the Senate, or perhaps with the idea of improving public morality, Decius endeavoured to revive the separate office and authority of the
censor
. The choice was left to the Senate, who unanimously selected
Valerian
(afterwards emperor). But Valerian, well aware of the dangers and difficulties attaching to the office at such a time, declined the responsibility. The invasion of the
Goths
and Decius' death put an end to the abortive attempt.
During his reign, he proceeded to construct several building projects in Rome "including the Thermae Deciane or Baths of Decius on the Aventine" which was completed in 252 and still survived through to the
16th century
; Decius also acted to repair the Colosseum, which had been damaged by lightning strikes.
Persecution of Christians
In January 250, Decius issued an edict for the suppression of
Christianity
. The edict itself was fairly clear:
All the inhabitants of the empire were required to sacrifice before the magistrates of their community 'for the safety of the empire' by a certain day (the date would vary from place to place and the order may have been that the sacrifice had to be completed within a specified period after a community received the edict). When they sacrificed they would obtain a certificate (libellus) recording the fact that they had complied with the order.
While Decius himself may have intended the edict as a way to reaffirm his conservative vision of the Pax Romana and to reassure Rome's citizens that the empire was still secure, it nevertheless sparked a "terrible crisis of authority as various [Christian] bishops and their flocks reacted to it in different ways." Measures were first taken demanding that the bishops and officers of the church make a sacrifice for the Emperor, a matter of an oath of allegiance that Christians considered offensive. Certificates were issued to those who satisfied the
pagan
commissioners during the persecution of Christians under Decius. Forty-six such certificates have been published, all dating from 250, four of them from
Oxyrhynchus
. Christian followers who refused to offer a pagan sacrifice for the Emperor and the Empire's well-being by a specified date risked torture and execution. A number of prominent Christians did, in fact, refuse to make a sacrifice and were killed in the process including
Pope Fabian
himself in 250 and "anti-Christian feeling[s] led to pogroms at Carthage and Alexandria." In reality, however, towards the end of the second year of Decius' reign, "the ferocity of the [anti-Christian] persecution had eased off, and the earlier tradition of tolerance had begun to reassert itself." The Christian church though never forgot the reign of Decius whom they labelled as that "fierce tyrant".
At this time, there was a second outbreak of the
Antonine Plague
, which at its height in 251 to 266 took the lives of 5,000 a day in Rome. This outbreak is referred to as the "Plague of
Cyprian
" (the bishop of
Carthage
), where both the plague and the
persecution of Christians
were especially severe. Cyprian's biographer
Pontius
gave a vivid picture of the demoralizing effects of the plague  and Cyprian moralized the event in his essay
De mortalitate
. In Carthage the "Decian persecution" unleashed at the onset of the plague sought out Christian scapegoats. Decius' edicts were renewed under Valerius in 253 and repealed under his son,
Gallienus
, in 260-1.
Military actions and death
The
barbarian
incursions into the Empire were becoming more and more daring and frequent whereas the Empire was facing a serious economic crisis in Decius' time. During his brief reign, Decius engaged in important operations against the
Goths
, who crossed the Danube to raid districts of Moesia and
Thrace
. This is the first considerable occasion the Goths — who would later come to play such an important role — appear in the historical record. The Goths under King
Cniva
were surprised by the emperor while besieging
Nicopolis
on the Danube; the Goths fled through the difficult terrain of the
Balkans
, but then doubled back and surprised the Romans near Beroë (modern
Stara Zagora
), sacking their camp and dispersing the Roman troops. It was the first time a Roman emperor fled in the face of Barbarians. The Goths then moved to
Philippopolis
attack
(modern
Plovdiv
), which fell into their hands. The governor of Thrace,
Titus Julius Priscus
, declared himself Emperor under Gothic protection in opposition to Decius but Priscus's challenge was rendered moot when he was killed soon afterwards.
The siege of Philippopolis had so exhausted the numbers and resources of the Goths that they offered to surrender their treasure and prisoners, on condition of being allowed to retire.
[
needed
citation
]
Decius, who had succeeded in surrounding them and hoped to cut off their retreat, refused to entertain their proposals. The final engagement, in which the Goths fought with the courage of despair, under the command of Cniva, took place during the second week of June 251 on swampy ground in the
Ludogorie
(region in northeastern Bulgaria which merges with Dobruja plateau and the Danube Plain to the north) near the small settlement of Abrittus or
Forum Terebronii
(modern
Razgrad
): see
Battle of Abrittus
.
Jordanes
records that Decius' son
Herennius Etruscus
was killed by an arrow early in the battle, and to cheer his men Decius exclaimed, "Let no one mourn; the death of one soldier is not a great loss to the republic." Nevertheless, Decius' army was entangled in the swamp and annihilated in this battle, while he himself was killed on the field of battle. As the historian
Aurelius Victor
relates:
The Decii (ie.
Decius
), while pursuing the barbarians across the Danube, died through treachery at Abrittus after reigning two years....Very many report that the son had fallen in battle while pressing an attack too boldly; that the father however, has strenuously asserted that the loss of one soldier seemed to him too little to matter. And so he resumed the war and died in a similar manner while fighting vigorously.
One literary tradition claims that Decius was betrayed by his successor
Trebonianus Gallus
, who was involved in a secret alliance with the Goths but this cannot be substantiated and was most likely a later invention since Gallus felt compelled to adopt Decius' younger son, Gaius Valens Hostilianus, as joint emperor even though the latter was too young to rule in his own right. It is also unlikely that the shattered Roman legions would proclaim as emperor a traitor who was responsible for the loss of so many soldiers from their ranks. Decius was the first Roman emperor to die in battle against a foreign enemy
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