ROMAN.Gallienus AD 253-268 BI Double-Denarius / Rev. Providentia NGC (014)

ROMAN EMPIRE

GALLIENUS 253-268 AD

BI DOUBLE DENARIUS

Roman Age of Chaos 

CERTIFIED BY NGC

Obverse: 
Gallienus  facing right, wearing a military style drape and a radiate
crown, framed by the inscription "GALLIENVS AVG," which simply means "Emperor
Gallienus."

Reverse : PROVIDAVG - Providentia standing left, holding wand over globe and scepter.

In Roman mythology, Providentia was the
goddess of forethought. Providentia (Providence). With all their vices, follies,
and gross superstitions (indeed, in spite of them), the Romans still appear to
have cherished a belief in the perpetual and direct interposition of the gods
with respect to human affairs. Among the various monuments which attest this
religious feeling, or at leas this profession of religion, on the part of both
princes and people, none are more conspicuous than those to be found on their
imperial coins, for it is to be observed that previous to the substitution of
the monarchical for the republican form of government, that allegorical divinity
whose name is derived from providere (to foresee) is not seen either on metal or
on marble. In ancient Roman religion, Providentia is a divine personification of
the ability to foresee and make provision. She was among the embodiments of
virtues that were part of the Imperial cult of ancient Rome. Providentia thus
figures in art, cult, and literature, but has little or no mythology as such.



Providentia was an important moral and philosophical abstraction in Roman
discourse. Cicero says it is one of the three main components of prudentia, "the
knowledge of things that are good or bad or neither," along with memoria,
"memory," and intellegentia, "understanding." The Latin word is the origin of
the Christian concept of divine providence.

Gallienus was Emperor of the Roman Empire
from AD 253-268, sharing the throne with his father Valerian until AD 260, then
as sole ruler until his death in AD 268. Based upon the inscriptions, this
Billon Double-Denarius of Gallienus was struck during his solitary reign, AD
260-268. The Romans typically used doubled letters to indicate plurality.
Coinage of Gallienus minted during his joint reign are inscribed "AVGG" (two
emperors), while later coins bear the inscription "AVG."

Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus ( c. 218
– September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and
alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that
nearly caused the collapse of the empire. He won a number of military victories
against usurpers and Germanic tribes, but was unable to prevent the secession of
important provinces. His 15-year reign was the longest in half a century.



Born into a wealthy and traditional senatorial family, Gallienus was the son of
Valerian and Mariniana. Valerian became Emperor in September 253 and had the
Roman senate elevate Gallienus to the ranks of Caesar and Augustus. Valerian
divided the empire between him and his son, with Valerian ruling the east and
his son the west. Gallienus defeated the usurper Ingenuus in 258 and destroyed
an Alemanni army at Mediolanum in 259.



The defeat and capture of Valerian at Edessa in 260 by the Sasanian Empire threw
the Roman Empire into the chaos of civil war. Control of the whole empire passed
to Gallienus. He defeated the eastern usurpers Macrianus Major and Lucius
Mussius Aemilianus in 261–262 but failed to stop the formation of the breakaway
Gallic Empire under general Postumus. Aureolus, another usurper, proclaimed
himself emperor in Mediolanum in 268 but was defeated outside the city by
Gallienus and besieged inside. While the siege was ongoing, Gallienus was
assassinated, stabbed to death by the officer Cecropius, as part of a
conspiracy.

 Please check out my other listings and we will be happy to combine in one package !

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