Constantius Gallus, Caesar, 351-354. Solidus (Gold, 22 mm, 4.50 g, 6 h), Nicomedia, 351-354. D N FL CL CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES Bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust of Constantius Gallus to right. Rev. GLORIA REI PVBLICAE / SMNS 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 inscribed VO/TIS / V. Depeyrot 5/3. RIC 75. Rare. An exceptionally attractive piece, boldly struck on a full flan and with a particularly individual portrait. Very minor die wear on the obverse and with a few light marks, otherwise, good extremely fine.



When Constantius II marched west in 351 to combat the usurper Magnentius, 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 Caesar in Sirmium on 10 March 351 and married to Constantius’ older sister Constantina, before being sent to Antioch 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 independently of Constantius II in the following years, clashing both with local magistrates and 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) on the emperor’s orders and brought to Flamona near Pietas Julia (Pula), where he was executed.

Gallus’ character is cast in a dark light by the contemporary historian Ammianus Marcellinus, who describes him as cruel, ungrateful, and arrogant. Yet it must be remembered that Ammianus 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 himself 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. In the aftermath of these events Ammianus had every reason to clear his friend’s name. Casting Gallus as a ruthless bully not only conformed to the classical topos of the cruel and hubristic tyrant, but also diverted blame from the historian’s patron and hero.

Against this turbulent political background, the gold coinage of Constantius Gallus itself is quite rare and difficult to find in good preservation. The four specimens offered here rank among the finest to have appeared at auction in recent years.