CONSTANTIUS I FOLLIS : GENIO POPVLI ROMANI
PERIOD: 300 - 305 AD LOCATION: LINCOLNSHIRE, UK MATERIAL: BRONZE / COPPER ALLOY
Our biggest Roman Coin yet.
Even after almost three years of searching at our local permission the fields still like to throw us a curveball at just the moment when we are starting to think it’s all digged out. There really is such truth to that old saying ‘a field is never done’. Roman coins in particular are one of metal detectings greatest enigmas seemingly hidden in the most unexpected of places, just waiting for that tantalising moment you walk right over them.
It’s once again that rather feral time of the digging year where crops have taken deep root across much of our permission making it quite inaccessible unless we fancy some bush whacking with the metal detector and one very unhappy farmer. Not sounding very ideal. So we find ourselves hitting one of our favourite pasture fields that we have had several Roman discoveries from in previous visits. But unlike some of the other fields on our permission (all of them under crop!) this pasture field seems to pick and choose when it deems us worthy of finding the next hidden Roman relic. So it’s time to settle in and engage in what this time of year for detecting is all about … patience.
Thankfully after almost four hours of a rather slow dig (Roman Found only has so much patience, sometimes more stubborness than anything else) and with only items of curiosity and a growing collection of musket balls to show for it we were deemed worthy enough by the pasture field gods to come across possibly the best Roman find from here yet. A large Roman AE1 Follis of Constantius I and measuring at 27 mm in diameter, it trumps all other Roman coins we have uncovered.
So it’s time to settle in and engage in what this time of year for detecting is all about … patience.
Both faces of this coin, yes even the crusty reverse, reveal a different piece and layer to the story that is the rather turbulent period of Roman Empire history during the rule of Constantius I. CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES is the inscription of the obverse depicting the bearded portrait of Constantius I in his finest laurel wreath and this inscription can actually tell us a lot about Constantius’s importance and position in power at the time. The abbreviated latin of NOB CAES included into the title inscription translates to ‘Most Noble Caesar’ the title given to the junior in the Roman Emperor structure, usually a son or the heir to the throne.
But during the time of Constantius I there was a rather interesting structure to the Roman ruler system. Diocletian and Maximian ruled as the Senior Augustii with Constantius I and Galerius the Junior Caesars appointed under them forming the first Tetrarchy, a new system combining four separate rulers to govern the two sides of the Roman Empire, East and West, jointly. This system was brought in to try and stabilise the Roman Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century where there were over 26 claimants alone as heir to the Roman Throne, uprisings around every corner and the Empire constantly threatening to fragment when it was already dangerously split into three separate parts.
Both faces of this coin, yes even the crusty reverse, reveal a different piece and layer to the story that is the rather turbulent period of Roman Empire history during the rule of Constantius I.
Constantius I was actually Caesar for most of his time as ruler, right from 293 - 305 AD, and jointly governed the Western Roman Empire. He led several successful military campaigns regaining fracturing sections of the Roman Empire such as in Gaul and right here in Britain however it was one of these military campaigns that saw his downfall after he had risen to the rank of Augustus in 306 AD.
The Picts were uprising against Roman Rule in Britain and during a victory against this uprising in York Constantius I died with his son who had been at his side proclaimed the new Emperor by the Sixth Legion Soldiers stationed there. A son, Constantine I who went on to become Constantine the Great, uniting the Roman Empire back under one ruler and bringing a level of stability back to the Empire that hadn’t been seen in over 80 years.
A tale of difficult reigns and a troublesome period in Roman History, a tale that is only added to by the choice of reverse to our Constantius I Follis.
‘To the Genius of the Roman People’ is the choice of design hidden underneath the crust and it depicts the Roman God of Genius standing mostly naked but for a cloak draped over his left shoulder.
The Genius to the Roman public represents a protecting, godly, spirit who protects mortals, produces life and helps guide man through life, be it for better or worse. To choose this god as the imagery upon Constantius’s coin is quite a powerful symbol especially when taken in the context of the turbulent Roman Empire and new Tetrarchy brought in to try and save it from collapse. Roman propaganda at its finest, a choice to associate Constantius with the protecting spirit of the Genius of the Roman people to give hope and faith in a ruler during this difficult and fragmentary time for the Roman public.
Each and every Roman Coin always transports us back into a different time in Roman History unlocking new layers to the Empire and educating us on the sometimes complex and fascinating tales that are locked into their often quite propagandic designs. We simply cannot wait for the next Roman story to unveil itself in the next discovery.
