Eugenius, 392-394. Siliqua (Silver, 18 mm, 2.07 g, 1 h), Lugdunum. D N EVGENI-VS P F AVG Pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Eugenius to right. Rev. [VR]BS ROMA / [L]VGPS Roma seated left on cuirass, holding Victory on globe in her right hand and inverted spear in her left. Bastien 230. RIC 46. RSC 18A. Struck on excellent silver and with beautiful iridescent toning. Small flan crack and with tiny scratches on the obverse, otherwise, extremely fine.


Contemporary sources accused the magister militum Flavius Arbogast of Emperor Valentinian II’s death on 15 May 392, though evidence suggests suicide, as Arbogast gained nothing and seemed taken by surprise. Afterward, he urged Theodosius I to appoint a successor, but the eastern emperor hesitated, unwilling to entrust his sons to the powerful Frankish general.

Barred from claiming the throne himself, Arbogast elevated Flavius Eugenius, a noble-born teacher of rhetoric and grammar, as Augustus on 22 August 392. Despite conciliatory gestures - such as coins and inscriptions honoring Theodosius and his sons - reconciliation failed, and Theodosius prepared for war.

At the bloody Battle of the Frigidus (5-6 September 394), Eugenius was defeated and executed, while Arbogast took his own life. Theodosius briefly reunited the empire, but his death soon after brought its permanent division into eastern and western halves.