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Banner Artemide LVIII
Charming Majorianus
Lot # 559 - Majorian (457-461). AE 13 mm. Mediolanum mint. Obv. [DN] MAIORIANVS PF A[VG] Pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev. [VIC]TORIA [A]VGGG. Victory standing left, holding wreath and palm branch; in exergue, MD. Cf. RIC X 2641-2644. AE. 1.77 g. 13.00 mm. RR. Very rare. In excellent condition for issue, sharply struck and well centred on unusually regular flan. Untouched green patina. Good VF. Julius Valerius Majorian owned his name to his maternal grandfather, who had been magister militum in Illyricum in the 370s. He had himself served with distinction under Aetius, and in 455 he was considered a possible successor of Valentinian III. Presumably, when he and Ricimer deposed Avitus in October 456, it was intended that he should succeed him, but according to Sidonius Apollinaris, who knew him personally, he was reluctant to assume the burden, and an interregnum of six months followed during which he and Ricimer were in fact masters of the West but the Emperors were nominally Marcian and, after January 457, Leo. Even after he had been proclaimed emperor by the army outside Rome on 1st April 457, he continued to call himself no more than magister militum, and he was not proclaimed at Ravenna until 28 December 457. Just as Avitus had not been acceptable in Italy, so Majorian was not acceptable in Gaul. In 458 he led an army of German mercenaries into the Rhone valley, made himself master of Lyon, which had accepted a Burgundian garrison, and having defeated the Visigoths outside Arles, he compelled them to come to terms. But his Gallic successes in 458/9 were followed by misfortunes in Spain in 460/1. Two naval expeditions planned against Gaiseric met with disaster, and he was forced to return to Italy with no accomplishment to his credit. Such successes as he had had, however, aroused the suspicions of Ricimer: Majorian, who had deserved better things, was seized by treachery at Tortona on 2 August, deposed, and beheaded five days later. AE4 were struck under Majorian at Milan, Ravenna and Rome […] The coins of all three mints are larger and substantially heavier than any Western bronze coins had been since the reign of Honorius. Lacam (1988, 220) has suggested that these unusually high weights are to be explained by Ricimer's need for betterc coin to offer Gundobald's mercenaries when preparing for his campaign against the Vandals, but it is difficult to immagine any troops being satisfied with such miserable scraps of metal. (Grierson-Mays 'Catalogue of Late Roman Coin in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection', Washington, 1992, pp. 250-252).
Rome Mint Anthemius Solidus
Lot # 560 - Anthemius (467-472). AV Solidus. Rome mint, 471-472 AD. Obv. DN ANTHEMI - VS PF AVG. Pearl-diademed, helmeted, and cuirassed bust facing slightly right, holding spear over shoulder and round shield decorated with soldier on horseback riding right. Rev. SALVS REI - PV - BLICAE. Anthemius and Leo I standing facing, supporting filleted globus cruciger inscribed PAX between them, with the latter also holding Victory on globe; R - M in field; COMOB in exergue. RIC X 2804 and pl. 62, 2804; Depeyrot 70/1; Lacam 30 and pl. CXI. AV. 4.43 g. 21.00 mm. RR. A choice example of this very rare and historically important issue. From a slightly worn reverse die, otherwise. about EF. After the death of Libius Severus, the western half of the Roman Empire was without an emperor for over a year. The power was wielded de facto by Ricimer, and Leo was either too busy or did not feel there was a need to nominate an emperor. Matters changed, however, probably as a result of a Vandal raid into Greece, and Leo designated Procopius Anthemius emperor of the western provinces to deal with the Vandal menace issuing from Africa under their king, Gaiseric. The expedition against Gaiseric was a total failure from the start due to the incompetence of the joint commander from the East, Leo's brother-in-law Basiliscus. With the failure to defeat the Vandals and anti-Greek feelings in Rome, Anthemius was not well liked and eventually Olybrius, with the aid of Ricimer, usurped power. Anthemius was killed by the barbarian soldier Gundobald as he attempted to flee Rome. (CNG 73,1029 note). The gold coinage of Anthemius reflects his origins by following the convention for frontal portraiture found on East Roman and later Byzantine coins. The reverse of this incredible Rome-mint gold solidus celebrates the supposed unity of East and West empires by showing Anthemius and Leo together supporting a long cross, on which rests, according to the legend, the 'Health of the Republic.' (Heritage 3033, 23100 note).