Jovian, 363-364. Solidus (Gold, 21 mm, 4.43 g, 12 h), Antiochia. D N IOVIAN-VS PE P AVG Pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Jovian to right. Rev. SECVRITAS REI PVBLICAE / ANTΔ 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 VOT / V / MVL / X. Depeyrot 18/2. RIC 223. Rare. Lustrous and very well centered. Tiny marks and faint scratches on the obverse and with very minor weakness on the reverse, otherwise, good extremely fine.



When Julian died in 363, the command of the empire fell to Jovian, commander of the imperial guard. He inherited an almost hopeless situation: trapped deep in Persian territory with a starving army, the young emperor had no choice but to accept a humiliating peace from Shapur II. Ancient writers – most notably Ammianus Marcellinus and Libanius – branded the treaty a disgrace, as it required the surrender of Nisibis, Singara, and other key strongholds, provoking outrage across the empire. Yet modern historians generally agree that Jovian had little realistic alternative, and that his decision at least secured the survival of the Roman forces.

Once back in the West, Jovian moved quickly to strengthen his position, restoring the Christian orthodoxy that Julian had curtailed and placing the Church once more firmly at the emperor’s side. His reign, however, lasted only a few months: in February 364, while marching toward Constantinople, he died suddenly at Dadastana in Bithynia under circumstances that remain obscure. With his death, the short-lived line of Constantinian successors came to an end, and power passed to the brothers Valentinian I and Valens, founders of a new imperial dynasty.