Julian II, as Caesar, 355-360. Solidus (Gold, 21 mm, 4.48 g, 12 h), Rome, 355-357. D N CL IVL-IANVS N C Bare-headed and cuirassed bust of Julian II to right. Rev. FEL TEMP RE-PARATIO / RSMS(palm) Roma, helmeted, seated facing on the left, holding spear in her left hand, and Constantinopolis, turreted, seated to left with her right foot on prow on the right, holding scepter in her left hand, supporting between them a shield decorated with an eight-rayed star. Depeyrot 14/3. RIC 295. Rare. A boldly struck, fresh and lustrous piece with an exceptionally attractive portrait. A few tiny die breaks on the obverse and very light die rust on the reverse, otherwise, virtually as struck.


As the last surviving male descendant of Constantine the Great, Julian was appointed Caesar by Constantius II on 6 November 355 and dispatched to Gaul to assert imperial presence in the endangered northwestern provinces. The young prince distinguished himself under the guidance of his advisor Salutius and the magister militum Ursicinus, defeating Frankish tribes on several occasions, most notably in the hard-fought Battle of Argentoratum in 357. The present magnificent solidus was struck in Rome early in Julian’s reign: the portrait remains very close to that of Decentius (Depeyrot 4/3 and 5/1), while the reverse proclaims the ‘restoration of happy times'.