Reece Period attributed: Period 13
Member of the Third Century Emperors dynasty.
Coins for this issuer were issued from 270 until 275.
Lucius Domitius Aurelianus was born ca. 214 in Moesia Inferior (a Danube province). He led a military career and achieved honours under Gallienus; he may have instigated the plot which led to the murder of that emperor. Aurelian did not succeed Gallienus, but allowed the more popular Claudius II to rule.
When Claudius II died of the Plague, Aurelian became the natural choice for a successor. He went to Rome for the winter, but then went back to the Danube to face the threats of various tribes along the border. Recurring invasions by Germanic groups made Aurelian decide that Rome, unwalled since the reign of Augustus, needed a city wall. He accordingly built the Aurelian Wall (finished by Probus).
Probus, Aurelian’s chief general and future successor, reconquered Egypt; Aurelian re-took the separatist Gallic Empire. He celebrated a huge victory in Rome and set off to fight the Persians. On the way, he fell victim to a misunderstanding—his men thought they were sentenced to punishment and revolted, when in reality the rumor was spread by the emperor’s secretary to escape his own punishment. After only five years this beloved and successful emperor died; the Senate immediately deified him and his soldiers gave him a magnificent burial.
We have recorded 144 examples.
Record: SUR-B2B098
Object type: COIN
Broadperiod: ROMAN
Description: A Roman copper alloy radiate of Aurelian d…
Workflow: Awaiting validation
Record: SUR-203BFD
Object type: COIN
Broadperiod: ROMAN
Description: A Roman copper-alloy radiate of Aurelian d…
Workflow: Awaiting validation
Record: BH-F76E74
Object type: COIN
Broadperiod: ROMAN
Description: A complete copper-alloy Roman radiate, pro…
Workflow: Awaiting validation
Record: SUR-533C35
Object type: COIN
Broadperiod: ROMAN
Description: An extremely corroded Roman copper alloy r…
Workflow: Awaiting validation
View all coins recorded by the scheme attributed to Aurelian.
This video has been embedded from Adrian Murdoch's series of podcasts on the Emperors of Rome. Many thanks to him for allowing us to use these podcasts.