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Avidius Cassius\' portrait
#16
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.

There are, in fact, some coins convincingly attributed to the revolt of Civilis: Sear 2086-2088, one gold aureus and two silver denarii. The aureus has an obverse bust of Salus (health) with the legend SALVTIS; the reverse depicts Concordia holding a branch and cornucopia, with the legend CONCORDIA (Concord or Harmony). One of the denarii has the obverse legend GALLIA, with a draped female bust representing Gaul, and a reverse of clasped hands holding a caduceus and grain ears, with the legend FIDES (loyalty). The other, even more directly, has an obverse bust of Libertas and the legend LIBERTAS RESTITVTA (Liberty Restored), and a reverse of Mars holding vexillum and shield, MARS ADSERTOR (Mars the Helper / Assister). These seem to have been struck at a mint in lower Germany, possibly a mobile mint accompanying an army camp. Again, these coins do not name Civilis in any way, but instead support a general concept of liberation and freedom for Gaul (and presumably Roman Germany?). There was apparently no mint city under his imemdiate control (the most prominent one in Gaul would be Lugdunum).

Which makes it all the more puzzling that there are no surviving coins whatsoever that can be attributed to Cassius' revolt.
T. Flavius Crispus / David S. Michaels
Centurio Pilus Prior,
Legio VI VPF
CA, USA

"Oderint dum probent."
Tiberius
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#17
Quote:There are, in fact, some coins convincingly attributed to the revolt of Civilis: Sear 2086-2088, one gold aureus and two silver denarii. ... these coins do not name Civilis in any way, but instead support a general concept of liberation and freedom for Gaul (and presumably Roman Germany?). There was apparently no mint city under his imemdiate control (the most prominent one in Gaul would be Lugdunum).
There is also this coin in the Ashmolean Museum, commemorating that XV Primigenia had now sided with the Gallic Empire.
[Image: surrender.jpg]
However, I think it is better to separate the insurrection of Civilis (which was anti-Roman in nature) from the rebellion of the Gallic Empire, where Julius Sabinus -as we can also see on the coins you describe- acted as if he were a Roman. Why are there no coins with the portrait of Sabinus?
Jona Lendering
Relevance is the enemy of history
My website
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