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Flavius Julius Constantius (c. 250 – 306 AD), also known as Constantius I, was born of humble Danubian roots and sought his fortune as a Roman soldier. Ambitious and talented, he earned the honorary title of
Protectores Augusti Nostri (meaning "Protector of Our Augustus") under Aurelian and, by the reign of Carus, the governorship of Dalmatia. During this time, his travels took him through the crossroads town of Naissus, where he met a barmaid named Helen. By her he sired a son, Constantine, who would follow in his father’s footsteps and then some.
By the late 280s AD, Constantius had become the protégé of co-Augustus Maximian. In the name of ambition, he left Helen and agreed to marry Maximian’s stepdaughter, Theodora. This arrangement paved the way for Maximian to name Constantius as his Caesar in 293 AD, part of the imperial expansion known as the Tetrarchy. Under this structure, Maximian delegated to Constantius the difficult task of reclaiming Britannia and the Gallic coast from the usurpers Carausius and Allectus. After consolidating his position and building a fleet, Constantius successfully restored Britannia to the Empire and scored military victories along the Rhine against the Alamanni.
It was during this period (c. 297–299 AD) that this coin was struck in the name of the up-and-coming Constantius. The obverse inscription, FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES, proclaims Constantius as the Noble Caesar. More specifically, he served as Tetrarchal Western Caesar under Augustus Maximian. Notably, the attribution is the Cyzicus mint, under the control of Galerius, who served as the Empire’s other Noble Caesar under Augustus Diocletian. Between the two Caesars, a fierce rivalry brewed—a prelude to the struggle for imperial dominance. Galerius constantly sought to undermine Constantius, for example, making known Constantius’ relative leniency regarding Diocletian’s mandate for the Great Persecution of Christians.
Reflecting the quality craftsmanship of Cyzicene engravers, the obverse bust of Constantius conveys a sense of confidence and calm. The head is relatively squared off, set upon an exceptionally thick neck, a proportioning that was very standard among Tetrarchy coinage. This is a conservative portrait, consistent in design and style to coins struck for all the Tetrarchs, strictly following the same rules to project a sense of unchanging order. The intended message: don’t worry, despite the chaos of internal strife and external wars, the Empire’s administration remains solid.
The same theme continues on the reverse, whose inscription references the entire Tetrarchy: the two Augusti denoted by AVGG, and the two Caesars, or Caesarum Nostrorum, denoted by CAESARVM N N. Within the inscription stands Genius, the tutelary spirit of the Roman people and a cornerstone of Tetrarchy propaganda. Depicted as a nude youth holding a patera (libation bowl) and a cornucopia of plenty, Genius represented the duality of the Roman spirit—the pious devotion to the gods and the resulting material prosperity of the state. During the Tetrarchy, this motif served as a visual creed to remind a weary populace that despite having four different rulers, the divine soul of Rome remained unified and vigilant.
In spring 305 AD, just as the Empire seemed to be stabilizing, something rather unexpected transpired. In an unprecedented move, Maximian and Diocletian abdicated. They promoted Constantius and Galerius as the new co-Augusti. Backfilling the two co-Caesars’ positions in the revised Tetrarchy was the prerogative of Galerius, who chose for the West his ally, Severus II, and for the East his nephew, Maximinus II. Galerius intentionally overlooked Maximian’s son, Maxentius, and Constantius’ son, Constantine.
Even though Constantius had a new Caesar assigned to him, it didn’t do him much good. Even if he could have relied on his new Western Caesar for help in maintaining order in Britannia, Severus had another, more urgent assignment: restoring control over Italy in the face of an insurrection launched by Maxentius. Consequently Constantius, whose health was failing by this time, found himself alone in dealing with an uprising of one of Britannia’s most fearsome tribes, namely the Picts. Desperate for help, he called upon Constantine. The latter had been secured for a dozen years in the courts of Diocletian and then Galerius, essentially held hostage to ensure his father’s loyalty to the East. Perhaps caving in to his dedication to the Empire’s well-being, Galerius grudgingly approved the request, though it risked giving his rival’s clan the chance for glory and imperial prestige.
It was indeed a glorious reunion as father and son collaborated to defeat the Picts in battle. This victory earned Constantius the accolade Britannicus Maximus II, the last he garnered before he finally succumbed to illness. On his deathbed, Constantius named his faithful son Constantine as his successor. This declaration, wildly popular with the local troops, was not pre-approved by Galerius. Nonetheless, Constantius secured his dynasty, even if it ultimately meant uprooting the Tetrarchy and altering the very destiny of the Roman Empire.
Coin Details: ROMAN EMPIRE, Constantius I, AD 305-306, as Caesar 293-305, BI Nummus (8.43 g), Cyzicus min, 2nd officina, struck c. 297-299 AD, NGC Grade: MS, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 4/5, Obverse: laureate head right, FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES, Reverse: Genius standing left, holding patera and cornucopia, GENIO AVGG ET CAESARVM N N, KA in exergue, Reference: RIC VI 11a.
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