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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.
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.”
The current
Felix Temporum Reparatio coin was struck by Constantius II in Antioch. This origin is discerned from the mintmark on the reverse in exergue: ANΘ. These letters reveal the coin was struck at the
theta (ninth) mint workshop at Antioch. The fact that Antioch had at least nine mint workshops reflects the size and importance of Antioch as an Eastern center of power. Indeed, Antioch was Constantius II's primary military headquarters and staging ground for his grinding wars against the Sasanian Empire. To constantly pay, feed, and supply the massive Eastern legions fighting King Shapur II, the Antioch mint was pushed to its limits. During the height of the
Felix Temporum Reparatio coinage reform, Antioch was operating as many as ten to fifteen different workshops simultaneously.
This
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 3 (FH3). On the FH3 variety, the barbarian twists around and raises his left arm in a desperate attempt to ward off the soldier's attack. On this specific coin, the celator has captured the very instant that the Roman soldier's spear is about to impale the ill-fated horseman. It is notable that the artistry on both the obverse and reverse of this coin appears distinct compared to the first two Fallen Horseman coins presented, which were struck by Constans at Western mints. The stylistic differences between East and West provide a fascinating study of regional artistic evolution. While Western mints favored the compact, grounded naturalism of traditional Roman portraiture, Eastern mints like Antioch were heavily influenced by Hellenistic and early Byzantine aesthetics. Consequently, the obverse portrait of Constantius II is distinctly Eastern: highly stylized, with elongated features and large, prominent eyes designed to emphasize the Emperor's divine, unapproachable authority rather than his literal physical likeness. Interestingly, while Eastern mints frequently depicted their enemies as Sasanian cavalry, the barbarian on this specific Antioch coin sports a long beard and braided hair. Some numismatic references posit that this specific figure is meant to represent Germanic or Celtic tribal cavalry, showcasing the diverse array of enemies the Roman war machine faced.
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.
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, 337-361 AD. BI nummus (6.42 g, 23 mm), NGC Grade: Pending, Strike: Pending, Surface: Pending, Obverse: Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right, D N CONSTANTIVS P F AVG, Reverse: Helmeted soldier standing left, holding shield and spearing fallen horseman, FEL TEMP REPARATIO / Γ / ANΘ. Reference: RIC 132.
Image: NGC Photo Vision Plus.