Proculus (?), vir clarissimus, circa 370-393. Weight (Bronze, 16x16 mm, 3.47 g, 12 h). Monogram of V, P, L and C within linear square; all inlaid in silver. Rev. V C inlaid in silver. BM 1995,0601.3. Extremely rare, apparently the second and by far the finest known example. With original silver plug. Some corrosion and traces of cleaning, otherwise, good very fine.


While the interpretation of V C on the reverse as v(ir) c(larissimus) is clear, the monogram on the obverse is considerably more difficult to resolve. The letters R, L, V and C can be recognized, and probably also P. The British Museum proposes the reading Ursinicus for a closely comparable specimen, but this is not convincing: an N can only tentatively be identified, while no S is represented.

A more convincing reading is Proculus. The absence of an S, which would be problematic for the nominative Proculus, is readily explained if the name is read in the genitive, PROCVLI. The complete inscription may therefore be expanded as PROCVLI V(IRI) C(LARISSIMI), '[weight] of Proculus, vir clarissimus.' This reading accounts well for the letters represented in the monogram and is preferable to the proposed Ursinicus.

If this interpretation is correct, a particularly attractive identification is Proculus 6 of PLRE I, 746–747, one of the leading eastern officials under Theodosius I. The chronology accords well with the late fourth-century date suggested by the typology of the group. Proculus, a native of Lycia and son of Flavius Eutolmius Tatianus, served successively as governor of Palestine, governor of Phoenice in 382–383, comes Orientis in 383–384 and comes sacrarum largitionum in 386. The latter office placed him at the highest level of the imperial financial administration and is therefore of particular interest in the present context. In 388 he became praefectus urbi of Constantinople, an office he held until 392. His prefecture is well documented by imperial constitutions addressed to him in the Codex Theodosianus, and he is prominently associated with the erection of the obelisk of Theodosius I in the Hippodrome in 390. Following the fall of his father, Proculus was executed in 393.

The identification cannot be demonstrated, since the monogram gives neither an explicit office nor any further element uniquely identifying its bearer, and Proculus was not an uncommon name. Nevertheless, the combination of the reading PROCVLI, the title V C, the chronology, and the exceptional prominence of Proculus in the administration of Constantinople makes Proculus 6, perhaps during his urban prefecture of 388–392, a very plausible candidate.

Quite apart from the question of attribution, the object is remarkable for the substantial silver plug inserted into it. Comparable silver-filled cavities are known on late Roman exagia. The plug was presumably inserted to bring the object closer to its intended weight, although the deliberate use of precious-metal inserts may also have served as an official control or authentication feature; the two functions need not have been mutually exclusive.

At 3.47 g, the present piece may have been connected with the weighing of late Roman silver currency, possibly the miliarense, although its precise metrological function remains uncertain. The comparable British Museum specimen weighs 3.82 g but lacks a similarly substantial plug; only two very small silver dots occur on the reverse. It may therefore have required little or no significant weight adjustment, in which case these smaller inserts could have functioned primarily as control marks.

Lot 1906 below, however, weighs more than 4 g, making it difficult to interpret all weights of this type as corresponding to a single monetary standard. Surviving exagia can themselves vary considerably in mass, partly as a result of corrosion, metal loss, damage or the loss of inlays. At the same time, such discrepancies raise broader questions concerning the precision of late Roman weight standards, possible local or functional variation, and the extent to which individual weights were adjusted during manufacture or use.