- Stock: Sold
- Model: Constantine III siliqua Arles
Siliqua, Lugdunum circa 408-411, AR 1.6 g. 16 mm D N CONSTAN – TINVS P F AVG Pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. VICTORI – A AAVGGG Roma seated l. on cuirass, holding Victory on globe and inverted spear; in exergue, SMLD. C 4. RIC 1531. LRC 795. Bastien Lyon 251c.
Very rare.
Constantine III (d. 411). Usurper, proclaimed emperor by Roman troops in Britain. At the beginning of the 5th cent. ad Roman Britain was not heavily defended, Stilicho having withdrawn troops in 401–2 to help defend Italy against German invaders. This attack on Italy and the overrunning of Gaul by Germanic tribes left Britain as an isolated and relatively untroubled area from which came three successive attempts to usurp power. In ad 406 Marcus seized power in Britain, but after a few months was replaced by the equally short-lived Gratian. The new usurper, Constantine III, was more effective, managing to take substantial territories in Gaul and Spain, and enjoying some moderate successes against the Germans. Eventually he was defeated by the forces of the western emperor Honorius: in 411 he was besieged at Arles, captured, and executed.