Constantius Gallus, Caesar, 351-354. Solidus (Gold, 21 mm, 4.39 g, 5 h), Antiochia. D N CONSTANTI-VS NOB CAES Bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust of Constantius Gallus to right. Rev. GLORIA REI PVBLICAE / SMANB• Roma, helmeted, seated facing on the left, and Constantinopolis, turreted, seated to left with her right foot on prow on the right, holding between them a shield inscribed OT/TIS / V (sic!). Depeyrot 7/4 note. RIC 90 note. Very rare and with an interesting reverse spelling error. A wonderful piece with a superb portrait. Minor scratch in the right obverse field, otherwise, good extremely fine.


When Constantius II marched west in 351 to combat the usurper Magnentius (see above, lots 1775-1776), the need arose to appoint a Caesar to represent the dynasty in the East during his absence. The choice fell on Constantius Gallus, a son of Constantine's half-brother Julius Constantius and thus a cousin of the emperor. Gallus was appointed to Caesar in Sirmium on 10 March 351 and married off to Constantius' older sister Constantina, before being sent to Antiochia to mark imperial presence in the eastern part of the empire during the absence of the senior Augustus. However, the Caesar and his wife were not willing to accept their subordinate role and acted increasingly independent from Constantius II in the following years, engaging in conflicts both with local magistrates as well as with the praefectus praetorio per Orientem, Thalassius. In 354, Gallus was invited to a meeting with Constantius II in Mediolanum, but he was arrested in Poetovio (Ptuj) by command of the emperor and brought to Flamona near Pietas Julia (Pula), where he was executed.

Gallus' character is painted in dark colors by the contemporary historian Ammianus Marcellinus, who describes him as cruel, ungrateful and arrogant. However, it has to be noted that Marcellinus was a friend of the magister militum Ursicinus, the supreme commander of the Syrian army, who had been a close associate of Gallus and was hence also charged with high treason in late 354. The highly decorated general was pardoned by Constantius II in 355 and sent to Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) to deal with the usurpation of Silvanus, but in the aftermath of these events, Marcellinus had every reason clear his friend's name. Characterizing Gallus as a ruthless bully not only lived up to the classical topos of a cruel and a hubristic tyrant, but also took away blame from the historian's patron and hero.