Valentinian III

It was a while since I added a Val III to my collection, and I was in a picky mood, wanting one from the later part of his reign when the Western Roman Empire really decayed (most of the bronzes you find of him are the victory advancing and VOT PVB campgate reverses from the first decade of his reign). RIC dates this CASTRA campgate issue to 440-455 AD (Val III died in 455). It is a whole level cruder than the usual VOT-PVB campgates.

The CASTRA type sometimes has spelling variations and mistakes. Mine is one of these; the first part on my example's reverse spells "CRA" (unfortunately that is the only part of the reverse legend that made it onto the flan).


(attribution in the morning)

History:

Roman Empire (West is in orange), 450 AD:



Valentinian III (Flavius Placidius Valentinianus Augustus) was Western Roman emperor from 425-455 AD (Caesar from 423-455). His early reign under the regency of his mother Galla Placidia saw the loss of most of Roman North Africa to the Vandals, cutting off the most vital source of food and income for the Western Empire. Just a couple of years into his sole rule Carthage was lost. Troops from both halves of the empire were gathered under the general Aetius for the purpose of attacking the Vandals but Hunnic incursions across the Danube put a stop to this plan.

Roman Spain (Hispania) was also under assault, with the Suebi making inroads into the province, and rebels known as Bagaudae harassing what little Spanish territory the Romans still held.

Reduced revenue meant fewer and fewer soldiers for the military, and this exacerbated the problem of adequetly defending remaining Roman territory.

To put a stop to Hunnic attacks on his empire, Valentinian bestowed upon the Hunnic king Attila the honorary title of Magister Militum for the west. Unfortunately for Valentinian, his sister Honoria sent a letter to Attila offering half of the Western empire to him if he could get her out of a marriage forced upon her by Valentinian. In response, Attila invaded Gaul in 450, bringing city after city to ruin. The skilled Aetius gathered a joint Roman-barbarian force, and met Attila and his horde at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (Chalons) in the early part of 451. It was to be the last major victory achieved for the Western empire. The next year Attila turned his sights on Rome itself, but Pope Leo's intervention and an Eastern Roman attack on the Hunnic lands saved Rome and the rest of Italy.

Even with the Huns no longer a threat (Attila died in 453), the empire was struck another blow, this time brought about by Valentinian's own hand. Jealous of Aetius's power and prestige, in 454, Valentinian personally assassinated him at a meeting. So essential was Aetius to the empire that an official told Valentinian that he has "cut off [his] right hand with [his] left."

This action led to Valentinian's downfall in 455. Two of Aetius's barbarian followers (possibly encouraged by a political rival named Petronius Maximus) managed to get close to the emperor as he practiced archery in the Campus Martius in Rome. They struck him down as he dismounted from his horse. Even the guards that had escorted Valentinian held dislike for him, for they did not come to his aid nor apprehend the assassins.

Valentinian did virtually nothing to stop the slow dissolution of his empire; instead he left the management of the state and military to others, notably Aetius. He had a detestable nature; spoiled and only interested in having fun, and intolerant and fearful. His only saving grace was his devotion to his Christian religion, providing for the construction of churches in Rome and Ravenna.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Pretty pathetic Emperor, certainly not worthy of the title Augustus.
Nice little AE of him though.
I think that I will stick to 4th century coinage from here on out ( the 5th gets too damn depressing)
Here is a coin of his slightly more capable cousin

Theodosius II AR Miliarense. Thessalonica mint, 408-423 AD. D N THEODOSIVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right / GLORIA ROMANORVM, Theodosius standing facing, head left, holding spear & shield; star in left field, COM in ex. RIC X 392; RSC 20 var (mintmark), 4.25 grams.

 

Its been forever since you posted this coin

Lol jk Always good to see late Roman silver. Thanks for your comment!

 

Kind of looks like an old rasin that's been stepped on. Awesome seeing some 5th century weakling Emperors. We don't see too much coinage of them on this forum.

 

I edited the title. Please read the rules and do not do such again. Such in titles are no accident.

 

Didn't have to make a scene about it, thanks!

 

Wasn't that your intention also with the original title? Your presentation was good and did not deserve that.

 

My Val III


The 5th century AE4s aren't great, almost barbarous. When I get a chance I'll upgrade to a Val III solidus.

This is my Johannes:



And Libius Severus:

 

*rats* ... I missed the initial title (I always miss the fun stuff!!)

=> Hey you scored another rare & cool coin, Jango (congrats)

... you're buying-up quite a few lately (keep-up the awesome work, becoming the dude that collects that niche-area!!)

 

Now I'm dying to know what was edited... LOL

Nice informative post VK!!

I'm missing most of those LRB's (5th Century) from Val III on...but I should be grabbing a few as the new year arrives.....

Terrific miliarense MM!!!

And cool scarce example Greg!!

 

Put in a "bad" word that sounded similar to "third" (referring to Val III's poor performance as ruler) and apparently that was enough to warrant a gracious visit from management and a public whipping for my unspeakable crime (pun intended). And that is why my title looks weird.

(You have taught me well Steve in the art of getting in trouble )

Thanks to most of you for your comments!

 

Too good for Val III. Oh you mean my coin , yeah its not the best but for 5th AD its pretty decent

 

Oh it gets bad in the 5th century!
When a courtier told of the destruction of Rome to the Emperor , Honorius wept and said "How, when it has just eaten from my hand". After being corrected and told that it was the city of Rome and not his favorite pet chicken(also named Roma) that had been destroyed, Honorius was happy again.

 

There are a few bright spots in the 5th cent, like Aetius, and Majorian (of whom I am fortunate to have a coin of).

 

Neat little coin and history writeup. I dont own any of him.

Amazing these little scraps still survive.

 

I'd love to see the coins you just mentioned--especially of Aetius.

I have a modest Theo II bronze----AE-17, Antioch mint Constantinopolis seated and facing; cuirassed facing bust of Theo holding shield:

 

I wish Val III was appreciative enough of Aetius to have had the mint make coins of him. Give me some time and I'll post Majorian.

 

cool coin and a good write up VK! yeah, i could tell it was a campgate right away. if i can ID the type with a quick glance, it is a good coin from the period usually!

 

Aetus had coins? I'd love to see one.
And this Majorian too

 

Same here but as far as anyone knows they don't exist.

Majorian, Western Roman Empire
AE nummus
Obv: D N IVL MAIORIANVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped bust right
Rev: VICTORI-A AVGGG, Victory advancing right, holding palm branch and trophy
Mint: Milan (Mintmark: MD; struck 457-461 AD)
Ref: RIC X 2642