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Antoninus Pius, AD 138-161

History of coin subject "Antoninus Pius": Roman emperor from ad 138 to 161. Mild-mannered and capable, he was the fourth of the “five good emperors” who guided the empire through an 84-year period (96–180) of internal peace and prosperity. His family originated in Gaul, and his father and grandfathers had all been consuls.

After serving as consul in 120, Antoninus was assigned by the emperor Hadrian (ruled 117–138) to assist with judicial administration in Italy. He governed the province of Asia (c. 134) and then became an adviser to the Emperor. In 138 Antoninus was adopted by Hadrian and designated as his successor. Hadrian specified that two men—the future emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus—were to succeed Antoninus. Upon acceding to power, Antoninus persuaded a reluctant Senate to offer the customary divine honours to Hadrian. For this, and possibly other such dutiful acts, he was given the surname Pius by the Senate. When his wife, Faustina, died in late 140 or early 141 he founded in her memory the Puellae Faustinianae, a charitable institution for the daughters of the poor.

References to Antoninus in 2nd-century literature are exceptionally scanty; it is certain that few striking events occurred during his 23-year reign. A rebellion in Roman Britain was suppressed, and in 142 a 36-mile (58-kilometre) garrisoned barrier—called the Antonine Wall—was built to extend the Roman frontier some 100 miles north of Hadrian’s Wall. Antoninus’ armies contained revolts in Mauretania, Germany, Dacia, and Egypt.

The feeling of well-being that pervaded the empire under Antoninus is reflected in the celebrated panegyric by the orator Aelius Aristides in 143–144. After Antoninus’ death, however, the empire suffered invasion by hostile tribes, followed by severe civil strife.

For more information about this coin call: Toll Free 1-866-697-4653.

Antoninus Pius, AD 138-161

History of coin subject "Antoninus Pius": Roman emperor from ad 138 to 161. Mild-mannered and capable, he was the fourth of the “five good emperors” who guided the empire through an 84-year period (96–180) of internal peace and prosperity. His family originated in Gaul, and his father and grandfathers had all been consuls.

After serving as consul in 120, Antoninus was assigned by the emperor Hadrian (ruled 117–138) to assist with judicial administration in Italy. He governed the province of Asia (c. 134) and then became an adviser to the Emperor. In 138 Antoninus was adopted by Hadrian and designated as his successor. Hadrian specified that two men—the future emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus—were to succeed Antoninus. Upon acceding to power, Antoninus persuaded a reluctant Senate to offer the customary divine honours to Hadrian. For this, and possibly other such dutiful acts, he was given the surname Pius by the Senate. When his wife, Faustina, died in late 140 or early 141 he founded in her memory the Puellae Faustinianae, a charitable institution for the daughters of the poor.

References to Antoninus in 2nd-century literature are exceptionally scanty; it is certain that few striking events occurred during his 23-year reign. A rebellion in Roman Britain was suppressed, and in 142 a 36-mile (58-kilometre) garrisoned barrier—called the Antonine Wall—was built to extend the Roman frontier some 100 miles north of Hadrian’s Wall. Antoninus’ armies contained revolts in Mauretania, Germany, Dacia, and Egypt.

The feeling of well-being that pervaded the empire under Antoninus is reflected in the celebrated panegyric by the orator Aelius Aristides in 143–144. After Antoninus’ death, however, the empire suffered invasion by hostile tribes, followed by severe civil strife.

For more information about this coin call: Toll Free 1-866-697-4653.

Antoninus Pius, AD 138-161

Roman Empire - Antoninus Pius, AD 138-161 AV Aureus (7.28g) reverse: Antoninus Pius standing holding a globe

History of coin subject "Antoninus Pius": Roman emperor from ad 138 to 161. Mild-mannered and capable, he was the fourth of the “five good emperors” who guided the empire through an 84-year period (96–180) of internal peace and prosperity. His family originated in Gaul, and his father and grandfathers had all been consuls.

After serving as consul in 120, Antoninus was assigned by the emperor Hadrian (ruled 117–138) to assist with judicial administration in Italy. He governed the province of Asia (c. 134) and then became an adviser to the Emperor. In 138 Antoninus was adopted by Hadrian and designated as his successor. Hadrian specified that two men—the future emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus—were to succeed Antoninus. Upon acceding to power, Antoninus persuaded a reluctant Senate to offer the customary divine honours to Hadrian. For this, and possibly other such dutiful acts, he was given the surname Pius by the Senate. When his wife, Faustina, died in late 140 or early 141 he founded in her memory the Puellae Faustinianae, a charitable institution for the daughters of the poor.

References to Antoninus in 2nd-century literature are exceptionally scanty; it is certain that few striking events occurred during his 23-year reign. A rebellion in Roman Britain was suppressed, and in 142 a 36-mile (58-kilometre) garrisoned barrier—called the Antonine Wall—was built to extend the Roman frontier some 100 miles north of Hadrian’s Wall. Antoninus’ armies contained revolts in Mauretania, Germany, Dacia, and Egypt.

The feeling of well-being that pervaded the empire under Antoninus is reflected in the celebrated panegyric by the orator Aelius Aristides in 143–144. After Antoninus’ death, however, the empire suffered invasion by hostile tribes, followed by severe civil strife.

For more information about this coin call: Toll Free 1-866-697-4653.

Constans II, AD 641-668

Gold solidus, SBCV 956; Constantinople mint, 4.40g, 20mm, AD 651-654; obverse d N CONSTANTINUS PP AV, crowned bust facing, long beard and mustache, wears chlamys, globus cruciger in right; reverse VICTORIA AVGU E, cross potent on three steps, CONOB in ex.

History of coin subject "Constans II": Constans II Pogonatus,Byzantine emperor, born November 7, 630, Constantinople [now Istanbul] died September 15, 668, Syracuse, Sicily

The son of the emperor Constantine III, Constans came to the throne in September 641, at age 11, after his father’s death; during his minority the regency was under the control of the Senate of Constantinople. The Muslim Arabs seized Egypt from Byzantium in the second year of his reign and invaded Armenia in 647. In 655 he fought the naval battle of Phoenix (modern Finike, Turkey) off the coast of Asia Minor; his fleet was routed, and he escaped death only through the heroism of one of his soldiers. The murder of the in June 656 touched off a civil war among the Arabs that prevented them from attacking Constantinople, and in 659 Constans was able to secure a nonaggression treaty with the Arab governor of Syria. In 658 he successfully attacked the Slavs of Sclavinia and resettled captives in Asia Minor.

Constans’s internal policy was marked by an attempt to force unity on the church, after theological disputes had divided the empire; in 648 he issued an edict, the Typos, forbidding argument about the controversial question of the divine and human natures of Christ. Pope Martin I condemned the Typos, and Constans, holding to the old conception of a single Roman Empire comprising East and West, had the pope arrested and exiled in 653. A similar punishment was meted out to the theologian Maximus the Confessor in 655. The following year he made his son Constantine co-emperor, excluding his brother Theodosius from the succession and ordering his murder in 660.

Detested as a fratricide by his subjects in Constantinople, Constans in 663 left the capital and traveled westward, passing through northern Italy to Rome and then settling at Syracuse in Sicily. In 668 he alienated Pope Vitalian by declaring Ravenna independent. His plans to make the city a permanent capital and a strategic centre for the defense of the West against the Arabs were cut short by his assassination.

For more information about this coin call: Toll Free 1-866-697-4653.

Constans II, AD 641-668

Byzantine Empire, Gold Solidus, Constantinople mint, 4.39g, 20.1mm, A.D. 611-654; obverse: d N CONSTANTINUS PP AV, crowned bust facing, long beard and mustache, wears chlamys, globus cruciger in right; reverse: VICTORIA AVGU, cross potent on three steps, CONOB in ex;

History of coin subject "Constans II": Constans II Pogonatus,Byzantine emperor, born November 7, 630, Constantinople [now Istanbul] died September 15, 668, Syracuse, Sicily

The son of the emperor Constantine III, Constans came to the throne in September 641, at age 11, after his father’s death; during his minority the regency was under the control of the Senate of Constantinople. The Muslim Arabs seized Egypt from Byzantium in the second year of his reign and invaded Armenia in 647. In 655 he fought the naval battle of Phoenix (modern Finike, Turkey) off the coast of Asia Minor; his fleet was routed, and he escaped death only through the heroism of one of his soldiers. The murder of the in June 656 touched off a civil war among the Arabs that prevented them from attacking Constantinople, and in 659 Constans was able to secure a nonaggression treaty with the Arab governor of Syria. In 658 he successfully attacked the Slavs of Sclavinia and resettled captives in Asia Minor.

Constans’s internal policy was marked by an attempt to force unity on the church, after theological disputes had divided the empire; in 648 he issued an edict, the Typos, forbidding argument about the controversial question of the divine and human natures of Christ. Pope Martin I condemned the Typos, and Constans, holding to the old conception of a single Roman Empire comprising East and West, had the pope arrested and exiled in 653. A similar punishment was meted out to the theologian Maximus the Confessor in 655. The following year he made his son Constantine co-emperor, excluding his brother Theodosius from the succession and ordering his murder in 660.

Detested as a fratricide by his subjects in Constantinople, Constans in 663 left the capital and traveled westward, passing through northern Italy to Rome and then settling at Syracuse in Sicily. In 668 he alienated Pope Vitalian by declaring Ravenna independent. His plans to make the city a permanent capital and a strategic centre for the defense of the West against the Arabs were cut short by his assassination.

For more information about this coin call: Toll Free 1-866-697-4653.