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By the turn of the 4th century AD, the crisis-ridden Roman Empire should have collapsed. But it didn’t. Instead, it experienced a resurgence, bolstered by a new, expanded imperial hierarchy known as the Tetrarchy. Seemingly, Rome was poised for a new Golden Age. But the Tetrarchy, like the monarchy that preceded it, had no formal succession rules—at least not for the sons of the powerful.
The succession question was put to the test upon the 305 AD surprise announcement that the senior Eastern Augustus, Diocletian, and the junior Western Augustus, Maximian, were retiring. Diocletian’s Caesar, Galerius, moved up to the senior role in the East, and in a parallel move, Constantius took the lead in the West. This left the two Caesar positions open. The world presumed the contenders were the natural heirs: Maximian’s son, Maxentius, and Constantius’ son, Constantine. Instead, Galerius pulled a political maneuver that stunned the empire. He bypassed the sons of the elite and appointed his own loyalists. In the East, to hold Egypt and Syria, his dubious choice was a nephew with minimal experience or formal education. In the West, to govern Italy and Africa, his choice was at least equally surprising: a low-born soldier and a lifelong military colleague, Flavius Valerius Severus, also known as Severus II.
From Galerius’ point of view, Severus II was the perfect candidate. As the army’s faithful paymaster and purveyor, he was well-versed in the Tetrarchy’s bureaucracy. He was also a known commodity who can perhaps be best described — based on historical records — as Galerius’ “drinking buddy.” Most importantly, Severus II was controllable, and his ascension helped secure Galerius's grip on both halves of the Empire. To seemingly everyone else, the choice was highly questionable. Reportedly, even Diocletian initially objected, asking: “
What! That dancer, that habitual drunkard who turns night into day and day into night?”
Regardless of popular opinion, Galerius insisted on his protégé's ascension. The choice was well-timed; scarcely a year later Constantius died, and according to Tetrarchy rules, Severus II moved up in rank to junior Western Augustus. At least, that was the view from the Eastern perspective. The local troops in Britannia begged to differ and — ignoring the Tetrarchy rules — immediately acclaimed Constantine as Augustus. In a desperate attempt to avoid total civil war, Galerius brokered a compromise: he recognized Constantine not as Augustus, but as junior Caesar under Augustus Severus II. While this arrangement maintained the formal structure of the system, it put Severus II in a precarious situation. Supported by loyal troops who had years of experience serving under him, Constantine had firm command over a large territory including Britannia, Gaul, and Hispania. Conversely, Severus II’s domain was limited to portions of Italy and western Africa, where he was thrust onto the scene as a stranger to the local legions who felt no personal ties to him.
It was during this period of high-stakes political maneuvering, circa 306–307 AD, that this well-preserved nummus was struck in Londinium, the capital of the Britannia province. The obverse depiction of Severus II is distinct from the blocky, standardized types usually seen in Tetrarchy coinage. Here, the portrait is vertically elongated with softer, more individualistic features. Encircling the bust is the inscription IMP SEVERVS PIVS FEL AVG. Interestingly, the mint artisans under Constantine’s control omitted the cognomens Flavius and Valerius, effectively disallowing Severus II’s claim to the official dynasties of the Tetrarchy’s founders. While he is acknowledged as Imperator and described as Pius (dutiful) and Felix (happy, or lucky), the engravers notably chose the abbreviation FEL rather than FL, as if to avoid any accidental acknowledgment of Severus II's inclusion in the Flavian clan.
The reverse features Genius standing left, holding a patera and cornucopia, encircled by GENIO POPVLI ROMANI. In Roman theology, the Genius was the divine spirit of a person or group — a protective, guiding force akin to a guardian angel for the collective Roman state. Notably, this scene is a celebration of the Roman people and their divine protector, not the Emperor. Unlike the previous coin from Cyzicus, which invoked the "Genius of the Augusti," the London mint workers here seem to be paying mere
pro forma lip service to Severus II. They produced a coin that nominally supports him as the new Augustus, but they did so in a minimalistic fashion that prioritizes the abstract State over the man supposedly leading it.
The irony of this coin is staggering. The obverse depicts Severus II with the senior title of Augustus, yet he was an emperor in name only within the very province that struck it. Severus II was anything but feeling Felix, given his volatile situation. While the London mint officials dutifully engraved Severus II's portrait to maintain a façade of legality, the city and its barracks were already the beating heart of Constantine’s revolution. The coin’s history as a cited specimen from the Falmouth Hoard (noted in the research of Lord Stewartby) anchors it to this moment of collapse. Buried in the Cornish soil shortly after Severus II's fall, it represents a regime that was being discarded by the Western populace as quickly as its coins were being minted.
The situation rapidly devolved from a political crisis to a military catastrophe. While Constantine sat in the North, Maxentius launched a revolt in Rome, seizing Italy and Africa. Galerius made a fatal miscalculation: he ordered Severus II to march on Rome and oust the popular usurper. It was a mission for which Severus II was vastly outmatched. He arrived at the walls of Rome with an army that had formerly served Maxentius’s father, Maximian. The troops had no loyalty to a Danubian paymaster and defected to the enemy in droves.
Severus II, playing the bureaucrat to the end, fled back to Ravenna and surrendered on the false promise that his life would be spared if he abdicated. He believed that the rules of the system would protect him and that Galerius would eventually bail him out. He was wrong. When Galerius finally moved his own army into Italy to rectify his mistake, Maxentius realized Severus II was a liability and had him executed.
The death of Severus II was not the end of the Tetrarchy, but it was the end of its legitimacy. The system would linger for years in a state of slow, violent decay—fracturing into a patchwork of rival emperors and short-lived truces. However, watching the carnage from Britain, Constantine had already learned the ultimate lesson: the Tetrarchy’s attempt to divide power was a death trap that invited betrayal. He realized that in a world of ambitious dynasts, legitimacy was found in the hearts of the legions, not in a compromise brokered at a conference. Severus II’s fall signaled that the resurgence of Rome could no longer be sustained by a committee; it would eventually require a return to the rule of one.
Coin Details: ROMAN EMPIRE, Severus II, AD 306-307, Æ Nummus (27mm, 9.79 g, 7h), Londinium (London) mint, Struck 26 July AD 306-spring 307, NGC Grade: AU, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 2/5, Obverse: Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, IMP SEVERVS PIVS FEL AVG, Reverse: Genius standing left, holding patera and cornucopia, GENIO POPV- LI ROMANI, References: RIC VI –; RML 165 (this coin cited); C&T 4.04.004; cf. Lord Stewartby, “Roman Coins of London from the Falmouth Hoard” in BNJ 81 (2011), pp. 1-8 (for discussion of the hoard and catalog of the Fox portion thereof).
Image: NGC Photo Vision Plus.