Eugenius, 392-394. Solidus (Gold, 21 mm, 4.46 g, 7 h), Lugdunum, 22 August 392-September 394. D N EVGENI-VS P F AVG Pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Eugenius to right. Rev. VICTOR-IA AVGG / L - D / COM Two emperors, crowned, seated facing on double-throne, holding a globe together; behind, Victory standing facing with wings spread; below, small palm branch. Depeyrot 18/1. RIC 45. Very rare. A beautiful example of this important issue with a magnificent portrait. Light traces of mounting, otherwise, about extremely fine.


Contemporary sources blame the magister militum Flavius Arbogastes for the murder of Valentinian II on 15 May 392, but the fact that the general had nothing to gain from the passing of the emperor and was apparently taken completely off guard by his demise indicates that Valentinian actually committed suicide. Arbogast requested a successor from Theodosius I, but the eastern emperor hesitated, perhaps because he was not willing to hand over one of his underage sons, Arcadius and Honorius, to the power holder in the West. As a Frankish officer, Arbogast could not hope to ascend to the throne himself, and he eventually appointed Flavius Eugenius to Augustus in Lugdunum on 22 August 392. Although of noble descent - he is attested for the first time in 385 as a vir clarissimus - Eugenius was certainly among the most unlikely pretenders to the throne in Roman history: he was a rhetor and grammar teacher and entirely dependent on the support of his powerful protector Arbogast. Even after his enthronement, the usurper and the Frankish general actively sought to come to a compromise with Theodosius, striking coins with his and his sons' portraits and naming them in public inscriptions. However, Theodosius was not interested in an agreement and prepared for war. The two armies met on 5-6 September 394 in the Battle of the Frigidus, one of the bloodiest battles of Roman history, which saw the defeat of Eugenius and Arbogast, who were executed and committed suicide, respectively. The Theodosian victory reunited the Roman Empire for a last time under the rule of a sole emperor, but when Theodosius died a few months later, the imperium was once again - and this time permanently - split into a western and an eastern half.