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Constantine the Great died in 337 AD, survived by four Caesars: his sons Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans, and his nephew Delmatius. Soon afterward, Constantius II either ordered, or at least sanctioned, the massacre of numerous relatives to consolidate power. This violent purge claimed the lives of two uncles and six cousins, including Delmatius. The three remaining co-Augusti met to decide on the division of the Roman Empire. Constantius II gained the eastern provinces, including Constantinople, Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and Cyrenaica; Constantine II settled on Britannia, Gaul, Hispania, and Mauretania; and Constans, initially under the supervision of his eldest brother, received Italy, Africa, Illyricum, Pannonia, Macedonia, and Achaea.
For the next dozen years, Constantius II battled the Sasanian Empire, led by King Shapur II. Eventually, the Sasanian king agreed to a fragile truce, temporarily withdrawing his forces to deal with nomadic incursions on his own eastern frontier. Yet, the absence of a foreign threat did not bring stability; instead, it only laid bare the fatal dissonance among the heirs of Constantine. While Constantius II was occupied in the East, his eldest brother, Constantine II, sought to aggressively expand his influence over Constans's realm. This bitter territorial dispute rapidly deteriorated into open civil war. In 340 AD, Constantine II was lured into an ambush and killed, leaving only Constans and Constantius II to rule the West and East, respectively, for the next decade.
Near the end of that period, the current coin of Constantius II was struck in Arles located in the province of Gaul, under the governance of Constans. This origin is discerned from the mintmark on the reverse in exergue: PARL. These letters reveal the coin was struck at the
prima (first) mint workshop at Arles.
This particular coin was struck between 348 and 350 AD, after the brothers enacted a major coinage reform. The reform was designed to replace the rapidly declining nummus, which had shrunk from about 12.5 g to 1.5 g in weight (and 30 mm to 15 mm in diameter) during the first half of the 4th century AD. The new standard, colloquially referred to as a centenionalis, weighed in at about 5 g. These coins declared a bold new message on the reverse: FEL TEMP REPARATIO. This corresponds to Felix Temporum Reparatio, translating roughly to “Happy Days are Here Again.”
To meticulously track this new currency as it hit circulation, the mint magistrates at Arles added a prominent control mark: the letter "A" inscribed in the left field of both the obverse and reverse. This letter represents a fascinating piece of numismatic history, serving as the series indicator for the very first major emission (or batch) of the new denomination. Because these coins were heavily relied upon to restore public faith in the economy—echoing the Felix Temporum Reparatio slogan—officials needed to closely monitor their initial rollout. Furthermore, many numismatic scholars believe that the "A" mark may also have served as a confirmatory value indicator for the public. It acted as a highly visible stamp of approval signaling to soldiers and merchants that this was a legitimate, full-weight coin of the new economic standard, clearly distinguishing it from the tiny, worthless bronze fractions that were circulating immediately prior to the reform.
This First Release
Felix Temporum Reparatio coin employs Constantius II's most famous design. This motif has become universally known as the "Fallen Horseman." The sheer scale of its use across all fifteen imperial mints is a testament to its massive appeal in antiquity, an enduring legacy that continues to captivate ancient coin enthusiasts to this day.
The basic concept behind the Fallen Horseman motif is devastatingly kinetic: a Roman soldier spears a barbarian enemy dislodged from his horse. It might represent a return to the glory days for the soldier, but the enemy is meeting his doom at the point of a spear. There are myriad variations of this motif depending on multiple variables, such as the stance and attire of the figures and the horse’s and rider's position. It has been cited that, given all the various permutations, there are over 2,000 possibilities for Fallen Horseman reverse varieties.
According to one analysis, the Fallen Horseman reverse can be broadly grouped into four distinct types, and this particular coin is classified as a Type 2 (FH2). On the FH2 variety, the barbarian has already been dislodged from his steed and is sitting on the ground, turned back to face the Roman soldier. Meanwhile, the horse slumps behind its former rider. On this specific coin, the Roman soldier is launching himself off his enemy's lost shield to gain maximum leverage, his spear's tip mere inches away from impaling the fallen barbarian in the face. The celator (engraver) of this coin also took extra care to express the grim fate of the riderless horse; its head and front legs are twisted at unnatural angles, a stark anatomical detail that highlights the brutal reality of the battlefield.
This coin was minted shortly before the fragile stability of the Empire shattered. By 350 AD, Constans’s reputation for avarice and cruelty resulted in the Western troops declaring the usurper Magnentius as their Emperor. With this news, Constans’s support completely collapsed; he fled, only to be cornered and slain by Magnentius’s assassins. Although his background and social standing officially disqualified him, Magnentius soon secured the endorsement of Britannia, Gaul, and Hispania, and struck his own adaptations of the Fallen Horseman design at Lugdunum and other mints across the Western territories.
Constantius II, however, refused to accept Magnentius’s claim to the throne. He mustered his armies and launched an extensive campaign to deal with the Western usurper. Before his departure, Constantius II appointed his cousin, Constantius Gallus, as Caesar to govern the Eastern provinces, solidifying the alliance by having Gallus marry his sister, Constantina. In 351 AD, the forces of the East and West clashed at Mursa in Pannonia, resulting in one of the bloodiest battles in Roman history. Magnentius was ultimately forced to retreat back to Gaul, which remained the last stronghold of his influence. Acknowledging the inevitable, Magnentius fell on his own sword in 353 AD.
Constantius II was now sole Augustus over the entire Roman Empire from West to East, a feat last accomplished three decades earlier by his father. However, he had to immediately deal with internal threats. After receiving highly critical reports regarding Gallus’s brutal and paranoid mismanagement of the Eastern Empire, an enraged Constantius ordered his Caesar’s arrest and execution in 354 AD. In his place, Constantius declared his cousin and only remaining male relative, Julian, as Caesar in 355 AD, tasking him with defending the West while Constantius returned his attention eastward towards a renewed invasion by Sasanian King Shapur II that had captured several Roman-controlled cities in the far East.
As the Sasanian conflict raged on, Constantius demanded military reinforcements from Julian’s troops. The Western legions fiercely resisted leaving Gaul and boldly elevated Julian from Caesar to Augustus in 360 AD. So preoccupied was Constantius II with Shapur II that he did not have the opportunity to immediately deal with Julian's insurrection. As soon as there was a break in the action in 361 AD, Constantius II gathered up his travel-weary troops and reversed direction to deal with his rebellious cousin. Along the way, however, Constantius II fell gravely ill with a fever. Accepting that his death was imminent, the last remaining son of Constantine arranged to be baptized into the Christian faith. In a final, pragmatic decree, Constantius II reaffirmed his rebellious cousin, Julian, as his rightful successor, ending an era defined by constant war and some of the most dynamic coinage in Roman history.
Additional Reading: D Smith, “FEL TEMP REPARATIO. The common coins of the mid-4th century,” and “Falling Horsemen. A ‘Mint’ set.”
Coin Details: ROMAN EMPIRE, Constantius II, AD 337-361, Pre-Magnentian Revolt, AE Centenionalis (5.24 g), Arles mint, first officina, AD 348-350, NGC GRADE: MS, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 5/5, Obverse: Pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of the Emperor right, DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG, A behind head, REVERSE: Helmeted soldier spearing fallen horseman, FEL TEMP REPARATIO, PARL in exergue, A in field, Reference: Arles 118 (or possibly Arles 120?).
Image: Sony ɑ 7R Ⅴ camera / Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro G OSS lens.