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Avidius Cassius\' portrait
#1
Does anybody know whether the portrait of Avidius Cassius, the usurper, has survived? I would have expected coins, but they apparently do not exist.
Jona Lendering
Relevance is the enemy of history
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#2
Quote:I would have expected coins, but they apparently do not exist.
The circumstances of his elevation suggest to me that there would have been no thought of striking coinage. It seems to me that he was a loyal servant of Marcus Aurelius whose "usurpation" was based on the misinformation that Marcus was dead. I would guess that, as soon as he learned the truth, he realised his mistake. His murder may even have been occasioned by the frustration of his subordinates, when they realised that he did not intend to "go all the way". Or have I gone too far in attempting to exonerate him? :wink:
posted by Duncan B Campbell
https://ninth-legion.blogspot.com/
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#3
Quote:have I gone too far in attempting to exonerate him? :wink:
At least Marcus himself wanted to believe this.
Jona Lendering
Relevance is the enemy of history
My website
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#4
In regards to his portrait, I can't remember ever seeing one. He only had a dream of empire for a couple months. Perhaps there were no (or very limited) coins or other images created in that time. I assume Lucius Verus would have gotten the majority of the glory during the triumph, not Cassius, so perhaps he wasn't commemorated for that event either.

In regards to his character: the letter from Fronto to Cassius praises his military skill greatly. Interestingly, less is said about loyalty but perhaps that was assumed.

In regards to a change of subject :wink: :Birley in his biography of Marcus states that Cassius had an extraordinary command of some sort over almost the entire east. Does anyone know any details about this?
David J. Cord
www.davidcord.com
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#5
What I find bizarre is that he ruled a full three months (April-July 175), and did strike coins.

* Otho ruled just as long, and we have coins and busts;
* Didius Julianus (two months), coins, busts, and portraits of his wife and daughter;
* Gordian I (portrait bust); Gordian II (coins) - but these may have been produced during Gordian III
* Pupienus and Balbinus: three months, busts and coins
* Hostilian: one month, busts and coins
* Aemilian: two months, coins
* Quintillus: two weeks, coins
* Florian: three months, coins

And so on. It's remarkable that there are no coins of Avidius Cassius, isn't it?

Quote:Birley in his biography of Marcus states that Cassius had an extraordinary command of some sort over almost the entire east. Does anyone know any details about this?
I only know what Birley writes: that the special command was first given to Lucius Verus and that Pescennius Niger also had special righs. I do not know whether the man in Antioch had some kind of imperium maius, but it sounds plausible.
Jona Lendering
Relevance is the enemy of history
My website
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#6
Quote:Birley in his biography of Marcus states that Cassius had an extraordinary command of some sort over almost the entire east. Does anyone know any details about this?
Dio 71.3: "Marcus ordered Cassius to govern the whole of Asia". He (and his senatorial officers) will have needed special permission to enter Egypt (Dio 71.4).

Quote:It's remarkable that there are no coins of Avidius Cassius, isn't it?
Unless he was half-hearted about the whole thing, which leads me back to my suggestion that it had been a mistake.
posted by Duncan B Campbell
https://ninth-legion.blogspot.com/
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#7
Quote:Unless he was half-hearted about the whole thing, which leads me back to my suggestion that it had been a mistake.
Yup. And this is a remarkable, rare example of "absence of evidence" being useful "evidence of absence" (of intentions).
Jona Lendering
Relevance is the enemy of history
My website
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#8
I asked the Berlin Münzkabinett, which is one of the friendliest academic institutions I know; they told me that there were neither coins of Avidius Cassius in Berlin, nor in other collections. So we here have the first Roman emperor who did not mint coins.

The thought occured to me that it was not a revolt at all, but indeed a mistake, and that he regarded himself as Commodus' steward.
Jona Lendering
Relevance is the enemy of history
My website
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#9
This is indeed interesting. How old was Commodus? 14? If Marcus had died at this time, his wife turning to the most powerful man in the empire to protect her son would make sense.
David J. Cord
www.davidcord.com
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#10
Quote:This is indeed interesting. How old was Commodus? 14? If Marcus had died at this time, his wife turning to the most powerful man in the empire to protect her son would make sense.
This is indeed what Dio writes (here). It would make her act like Trajan's wife Plotina, who saw to the hand-over of power to Hadrian.
Jona Lendering
Relevance is the enemy of history
My website
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#11
Quote:So we here have the first Roman emperor who did not mint coins.

This is indeed a curiosity. Virtually the first act of any claimant to the Roman throne was to strike coins of himself in order to pay the legions for their all-important loyalty. Hence coins have survived even for rebels as ephemeral as Pacatian, Jotapian, Saturninus and Nepotian. In at least one case (Silbannacus), we have coins but no historical record whatsoever of a usurper by that name (at least obviously so... I have my own theory about Silbannacus which I'll be publishing at some point. But I digress...)

Furthermore, when Avidius Cassius made his supposed bid for Empire, he was virtually an autonomous ruler of a vast, wealthy area that had several established mints, including Antioch and Alexandria, and considerable resources of precious metal at his disposal. When Piscennius Niger, who governed the same region, made his bid 17 years later, he struck vast numbers of coins at a variety of mints.

It is also very unlikely that coins were struck for Cassius, but immediately suppressed, recalled and melted down after his revolt failed. This is recorded to have happened on several occasions with earlier and later Roman usurpers, yet in each case coins have survived, sometimes in great quantities. In fact the issuance of such a "damnatio moneta" order is thought to cause the hoarding of such coins, ensuring their survival. It is virtually impossible to imagine that, after a revolt of some three months, Cassius' coinage could have been so effectively suppressed that it disappeared entirely from history.

We have one possible parallel for a provincial revolt occurring, which did not result in any coinage in the name of the rebelling officer. That would be the revolt of Julius Vindex in Nero's reign. Vindex claimed he was rebelling against Nero on behalf of the Senate and People and apparently did not claim the title of Imperator or Augustus for himself (indeed he later apparently offered to back Galba). But for some weeks or months, he was the head of a rebelling province, and yet struck no coins in his own name (as Clodius Macer did in Africa some months later). It is clear coins were struck in Gaul during this period, the so called "Civil War" issues, which strike an interestingly noncommital tone, depicting generic images of Roman military loyalty and the safely dead and deified Divus Augustus.

If there were a similar class of "neutral" coins struck in the East during Cassius' tenure, it might indicate he saw himself as another Vindex. But no such coinage exists that I am aware of. And there are surviving documents that name Cassius as Augustus, so it doesn't seem likely that he started a revolt in the manner of Vindex-- i.e. as a Roman officer acting on behalf of the Senate and People, without claiming the purple for himself. It is clear something withheld Cassius from going "all the way" and striking coins of himself. Did he see himself as protecting the "legitimate" regime of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus against other powerful Romans who might be tempted to seize the throne (say, Claudius Pompeinus)? Was he hoping to marry the widow Faustina (and had she given some indication of willingness to do this?), thus legitimizing himself as Marcus' successor?

In the absence of any further discoveries, the missing coinage of Cassius must remain an intriguing mystery.
T. Flavius Crispus / David S. Michaels
Centurio Pilus Prior,
Legio VI VPF
CA, USA

"Oderint dum probent."
Tiberius
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#12
Great information indeed, Also, to speak of another rebellion which did not mint coins, the uprising of Flavius Civilis also has no coins in his or other tribal name, while the Jewish revolt almost immediately led to new coins.

M.VIB.M.
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Katte Kabuto no O wo shimeyo!

H.J.Vrielink.
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#13
Quote:We have one possible parallel for a provincial revolt occurring, which did not result in any coinage in the name of the rebelling officer. That would be the revolt of Julius Vindex in Nero's reign. Vindex claimed he was rebelling against Nero on behalf of the Senate and People and apparently did not claim the title of Imperator or Augustus for himself (indeed he later apparently offered to back Galba). But for some weeks or months, he was the head of a rebelling province, and yet struck no coins in his own name (as Clodius Macer did in Africa some months later). It is clear coins were struck in Gaul during this period, the so called "Civil War" issues, which strike an interestingly noncommital tone, depicting generic images of Roman military loyalty and the safely dead and deified Divus Augustus.

If there were a similar class of "neutral" coins struck in the East during Cassius' tenure, it might indicate he saw himself as another Vindex. But no such coinage exists that I am aware of. And there are surviving documents that name Cassius as Augustus, so it doesn't seem likely that he started a revolt in the manner of Vindex-- i.e. as a Roman officer acting on behalf of the Senate and People, without claiming the purple for himself. It is clear something withheld Cassius from going "all the way" and striking coins of himself. Did he see himself as protecting the "legitimate" regime of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus against other powerful Romans who might be tempted to seize the throne (say, Claudius Pompeinus)? Was he hoping to marry the widow Faustina (and had she given some indication of willingness to do this?), thus legitimizing himself as Marcus' successor?

This is simply speculation, but is it conceivable that Cassius struck coins as Commodus as Emperor and they haven't been recognised for what they are?
David J. Cord
www.davidcord.com
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#14
Quote:This is simply speculation, but is it conceivable that Cassius struck coins as Commodus as Emperor and they haven't been recognised for what they are?

It's a good thought, but there seems to be no coinage in the name of Commodus that can be attributed to Eastern mints from the time in question (mid-AD 175). In fact, Marcus named Commodus as Caesar in reaction to the Cassius revolt, and his coinage as Caesar commences in Rome and other mints shortly thereafter. There just doesn't seem to be any surviving coinage that could plausibly be attributed as Cassius striking for Commodus.

The whole Avidius Cassius episode is a curious one, leaving more questions than answers. Faustina the Younger seems to clearly have had some role in it, and her death in mid-AD 175 seems too suspiciously timed to be entirely a coincidence.
T. Flavius Crispus / David S. Michaels
Centurio Pilus Prior,
Legio VI VPF
CA, USA

"Oderint dum probent."
Tiberius
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#15
Quote:to speak of another rebellion which did not mint coins, the uprising of Flavius Civilis also has no coins in his or other tribal name, while the Jewish revolt almost immediately led to new coins.
Good point, but would we recognize them? The coins commonly attributed to the Batavians, look - to me - very hard to date.
Jona Lendering
Relevance is the enemy of history
My website
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