Late Roman Bronze Coins

Coin talk => Late Roman Bronze coins => Topic started by: Victor on June 19, 2012, 12:02:06 PM

Title: Eleven hundredth anniversary of the founding of Rome-- Fel Temp
Post by: Victor on June 19, 2012, 12:02:06 PM
A.D. 348 marked the eleven hundredth anniversary of the founding of Rome and the “Felix Temporum Reparatio” (Fel Temp) coins were struck to commemorate this event. The reverse on this coin translates as "good times restored" or "happy times are here again" The Fel Temp slogan was used with six different reverse types in bronze - Fallen horsemen, Phoenix on a pyre/globe, Emperor leading a barbarian from a hut, Emperor on a galley steered by Victory (maybe a nod to Constantinople), Emperor with two captives/one captive and Emperor on horseback spearing enemy.


Constantius II
A.D. 352-7
17x18mm   2.1gm
D N CONSTANTIVS P F AVG, pearl diademed, draped & cuirassed
FEL TEMP RE-PARATIO Soldier spearing fallen horseman
In ex. RQ palm branch
RIC VIII Rome 282/304

Title: Re: Magnentius Fel Temp
Post by: Victor on December 01, 2012, 10:05:48 PM
I just got this one and while it is rated common in RIC, this type is not actually that common.


Magentius
A.D. 350- 351
20mm   4.5gm
IM CAE MAGNENTIVS AVG, draped bust right with A behind.
FEL TEMP REPARATIO, Emperor in military dress standing left on galley, holding Victory on globe and standard with Chi-Rho onbanner; in stern sits Victory, steering the ship.
In exergue TRP, A in left field.
RIC VIII Trier 260
Title: Re: Eleven hundredth anniversary of the founding of Rome-- Fel Temp
Post by: otlichnik on December 05, 2012, 10:35:37 AM
And of course there is the famous small FTR type with an M as the reverse mark (actual an M with three dots).  A photo of the example from the Ashmolean is shown in RIC-VIII which also lists another example in "C" which might be Copenhagen.  I have never seen another photo of that type nor heard of another example.  It does not look like an imitative coins but is clearly extremely rare.

Shawn
Title: Re: Eleven hundredth anniversary of the founding of Rome-- Fel Temp
Post by: Victor on December 05, 2012, 02:02:53 PM
Quote from: otlichnik on December 05, 2012, 10:35:37 AM
And of course there is the famous small FTR type with an M as the reverse mark

Thank you for reminding me about this type. I have attached the plate picture from RIC VIII.
Title: Re: Eleven hundredth anniversary of the founding of Rome-- Fel Temp
Post by: otlichnik on December 07, 2012, 09:56:38 AM
I'd be really curious if anyone has ever seen another image or heard of another example of this.

Shawn

Title: Re: Eleven hundredth anniversary of the founding of Rome-- Fel Temp
Post by: Genio popvli romani on February 17, 2013, 07:32:42 AM
Considering Fel Temp Reparatio coinage with galley on reverse, I was wondering if it is absolutely certain that is Victoria which is seated on stern or if it could be Fortuna. I see a rudder, a prow, and Fortuna is sometimes represented seated and also winged.

(https://www.lateromanbronzecoinforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dirtyoldcoins.com%2Froman%2Fid%2Fconstan2%2Fcs2208.jpg&hash=624e717edd237efe5e9f5864a2e9cf4cd6d36e98)
From dirtyoldcoins.com

Is there any historical or iconographical element that insures that is Victoria seen on these coins?
Title: Re: Eleven hundredth anniversary of the founding of Rome-- Fel Temp
Post by: Victor on February 17, 2013, 10:55:15 AM
It seems most likely that all the galley types depict victory, below is a LIBERTAS PVBLICA from Constantine with a nautical theme. The FTR seems to be a descendant of this coin. I don't even know of an LRB that depicts Fortuna, but many that depict Victory.


The FTR Galley types seems to be a reference to a visit Constans made to Britain in A.D. 343., and it seems he was celebrating some sort of a victory on these coins. Some of the mints issued medallic coins alongside the FTR with similar galley themes with very specific images of Victory. For example, RIC VIII Rome 338 is BONONIA OCEANEN with Emperor on a galley and Victory with a wreath and palm. Trier 121 (TRIVMFATOR GENTIVM BARBARARVM) is Emperor with foot on prow being crowned by Victory.
Title: Re: Eleven hundredth anniversary of the founding of Rome-- Fel Temp
Post by: Nikko on February 17, 2013, 11:17:17 AM
Fortuna was depicted on tetarchic coins from Treveri mint  but is completely absent in RIC VII ecept for an unique coin (unlisted in RIC and elsewhere) struck by Constantine at Rome.

Title: Re: Eleven hundredth anniversary of the founding of Rome-- Fel Temp
Post by: Victor on February 17, 2013, 05:55:23 PM
Quote from: Nikko on February 17, 2013, 11:17:17 AM
Fortuna was depicted on tetarchic coins from Treveri mint  but is completely absent in RIC VII ecept for an unique coin (unlisted in RIC and elsewhere) struck by Constantine at Rome.

Here is the coin from Lech's site. This depiction is quite distinct from Victory on later LRB's.
Title: Re: Eleven hundredth anniversary of the founding of Rome-- Fel Temp
Post by: Genio popvli romani on February 18, 2013, 01:15:36 PM
Quote from: Victor Clark on February 17, 2013, 10:55:15 AM
..., below is a LIBERTAS PVBLICA from Constantine with a nautical theme. The FTR seems to be a descendant of this coin.

Highly probable, and what is interesting with Roman sincretism, is that as they were doing, we can make different interpretations. When I see the three previous coins, I am immediatly thinking to the commemorative coinage of the Isis festival, navigivm isidis.



This statue depicts mixed attributes from, Isis, Fortuna, Victoria, Aphrodit,...

Title: Re: Fel Temp revisited
Post by: Victor on August 15, 2013, 04:54:29 PM
A post by Curtis Clay on FORVM reminded me of the article by Konrad Kraft ("Die Taten der Kaiser Constans und Constantius II"), of which I had completely forgotten when I originally made this post. Kraft argues that the FTR type should be assigned an earlier year of issue, maybe as early as A.D. 344 and should not be associated with the anniversary of A.D. 348.

I think that most people would agree that these coins represent actual events that took place. Kraft said that the two captives FTR was issued to celebrate the victory of the Roman Army under the command of Constantius II at the Battle of Singara, which occurred in A.D. 344. The Roman Empire claimed to have defeated the Sassanid Army led by Shapur II, but in reality the Persians left the battle, as Shapur II realized he was spread too thin.

Kraft also argued that the Hut FTR coins were issued to commemorate the A.D. 342 resettlement of the Frankish people within the Roman Empire, on the left bank of the Rhine River, mainly in Toxandria.

RIC VIII even says that the FTR Galley types seems to be a reference to a visit Constans made to Britain in A.D. 343, and it seems he was celebrating some sort of a victory on these coins.

Of course, just because these coins may have been issued earlier than RIC VIII has listed, does not mean that these coin types, with messages of victories over enemies, could not have also been issued as part of an anticipatory celebration for the eleven hundredth anniversary.
Title: Re: Fel Temp revisited
Post by: Genio popvli romani on August 16, 2013, 03:32:17 PM
Quote from: Victor on August 15, 2013, 04:54:29 PM
Of course, just because these coins may have been issued earlier than RIC VIII has listed, does not mean that these coin types, with messages of victories over enemies, could not have also been issued as part of an anticipatory celebration for the eleven hundredth anniversary.

Right, but in the other hand, none of the FTR coins shows a clear reference to Roma or Rome founding. The only issues that could be more "directly" linked to this event, are the phœnix series. I do not know Kraft's article, so, what is his interpretation of the phœnix series?

In my opinion, it could just be some propaganda (it is always  :D ) announcing a new era of peace and  prosperity after some success of Constantius and Constans as the Gratian's reverse Gloria Novi Saecvli.
Title: Re: Fel Temp revisited
Post by: Victor on August 16, 2013, 04:01:25 PM
Quote from: Genio popvli romani on August 16, 2013, 03:32:17 PM
I do not know Kraft's article, so, what is his interpretation of the phœnix series?

It is in German, and unfortunately my grasp of that language is very poor; so I have had to rely on synopses from others. The FTR series needs to be re-organized chronologically, so perhaps the Phoenix was the last type issued and was struck circa A.D. 348, to coincide with the anniversary.
Title: Re: Eleven hundredth anniversary of the founding of Rome-- Fel Temp
Post by: Victor on December 12, 2016, 07:52:04 PM
for those interested in this topic here is an article--

ABSTRACT: “The ‘Barbarian/Hut Centenionalis’ and Vergilian Iconography” offers a Vergilian explanation of the numismatic iconography found on a fourth-century Roman bronze reverse type of Constans and Constantius II. The essay argues that the coin alludes to the Flight from Troy motif in Roman art, relating this iconography to events of the mid-fourth century, including the eleventh centenary of Rome’s founding as well as the resettlement of Franks in Roman territories.

http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/articles/Richardson_Barbarian_Hut.pdf
Title: Re: Eleven hundredth anniversary of the founding of Rome-- Fel Temp
Post by: Gavin on December 20, 2016, 04:32:41 PM
Thanks for the link Victor. Here's a summary of my essay on this coin: “The ‘Barbarian/Hut’ Centenionalis and Vergilian Iconography.” Vergilius 54 (2008): 70-96. 

While this reverse type may indeed signify the resettlement of barbarians within Roman territories, I believe much of the mystery surrounding this reverse type can be explained by reading it as a conscious allusion to the “Flight from Troy” imagery from Virgil’s Aeneid –the foundation myth of the Roman people. The “Flight from Troy” imagery was ubiquitous in the Roman Empire and depicted Aeneas leading his son Ascanius from a burning Troy while carrying his father Anchises.

I have two principal reasons for my Aeneas/Ascanius reading:

1) As Mattingly noted, 348 A.D. was the 1100th anniversary of the founding of Rome, making a Roman foundation theme appropriate, and with numismatic precedent. Just as Antoninus Pius issued Aeneas-themed coinage in preparation for Rome’s 900th anniversary in A.D. 148, so too might Constans and Constantius II have instituted a similar reverse type alluding to Rome’s foundation coinciding with its 1100th anniversary. The legend “FEL TEMP REPARATIO” is quite appropriate for a reverse type alluding to Rome’s blessed (felix) foundation.

2. The visual iconographical parallels are very close and, for me, pass the “eye test.” Indeed, reading the small figure as a type of Ascanius solves one of the mysteries of the coin: what the smaller figure is holding in his hand (in some emissions). If the small figure is based on the traditional imagery of Ascanius, then the object in his hand is a pedum, or stick that was a cross between a hunting stick and shepherd’s crook.

The greatest obstacle to my reading is the absence of an Anchises figure from the centenionalis reverse, but I do go into that a bit in my essay

Below I’ve supplied some iconographical parallels to various coins and reliefs. In the fifth century, a de luxe manuscript of Virgil’s works (the Vergilius Vaticanus, aka, “Roman Vergil”) was illustrated, and its images offer interesting parallels to those of fourth-century coins. To me, the various depictions of Ascanius and Aeneas in the Vatican Vergil resemble certain features of the figures on the coins, suggesting that the die engravers and manuscript illustrators were working with the same iconographical palette.

Here’s the final paragraph of my essay, which sums up my reading:
 
“The images on the “barbarian and hut” reverse, then, are polyvalent: the hut and overhanging tree are, in the words of Caló Levi, “an abbreviation of a whole landscape and indicate the woods and the huts where the barbarians lived,” as well as an allusion to the ancient cypress in Aeneid 2 and possibly to a protective wall. The leggings/trousers of the smaller figure, as well as his shepherd’s crook or hunting stick, may denote the figure’s pastoral/barbarian status, but they also place him in the iconographical tradition of Ascanius, as witnessed by the roughly contemporary Vatican Vergil. Though Ascanius’ costume suggests the distant Roman past, Alessandro Barchiesi notes that in art and literature Ascanius/Iulus represented the future: “As in the Forum Augustum, in the Aeneid Iulus is the individual on whom history depends.”  The same might be said of barbarian youth in the fourth century.  In short, the Aeneas/Ascanius interpretation and the barbarian/hut interpretation are not mutually exclusive. An attractive possibility is that Constans and his propagandists skillfully employed traditional Roman iconography in order to celebrate present triumphs and future possibilities—nothing could be more appropriate to the reverse legend FEL TEMP REPARATIO, a concept embodied by the soldier himself who looks backward while striding forward toward future glory. By placing the youthful barbarian in the traditional position of Ascanius on the centenionalis reverse, the sons of Constantine and their die engravers imply that, like Ascanius, barbarians too have a destiny vital to the interests of the empire.”

Perhaps my both/and reading is wishy-washy. If I were to choose one explanation of this coin, I think the Aeneas/Anchises reading makes better sense than the settlement of Franks in Toxandria, which is Kraft’s view. If the coin reverse alludes to the settlement of the Franks in Toxandria, would we expect that the Roman dwelling in Antioch, or Alexandria, or Constantinople would have any idea where Toxandria is, and why they should care? But any reasonably educated Roman would certainly know who Aeneas is, and for such a Roman, the Aeneid iconography at least would be accessible.

If you wish, you can download my essay here. Even if folks don’t buy all aspects of my reading, I do hope the scholarship review and some aspects of my argument might contribute to a fuller understanding of this coin type. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23980399/AAAA%20Barbarian%20Hut%20and%20Vergilian%20Iconography%20VERGILIUS%20with%20DRAWING.pdf

(By the way, I will be posting this explanation on at least one other list, so please pardon the cross-posting.)

Gavin Richardson

Title: Re: Eleven hundredth anniversary of the founding of Rome-- Fel Temp
Post by: Victor on December 30, 2016, 12:09:44 PM
for those interested in FEL TEMP's, I have been working on my pages of assorted rulers and have added many to the Constantius II page, including a few unlisted --  http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/Rulers/Constantius%20II/

also some on the Constans page-- http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/Rulers/Constans/

and a few examples of a FEL TEMP from Magnentius-- http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/Rulers/Magnentius/





Title: Re: Eleven hundredth anniversary of the founding of Rome-- Fel Temp
Post by: Gavin on January 01, 2017, 07:46:46 PM
I love your Magnentius page, Victor. I'm suprised Magnentius minted as many coins/varieties as he did given his brief (3 years or so?) reign, and a reign that's probably under duress immediately, with Constantius II on his way to avenge Constans.
Title: Re: Eleven hundredth anniversary of the founding of Rome-- Fel Temp
Post by: Victor on January 01, 2017, 08:01:17 PM
I expect that the Magnentius propaganda machine had to pump out coinage full steam in part to convince the population of his right to rule and, in larger part, he needed lots of money to pay his soldiers and it would have been awkward to use money issued by Constantius II.