- Stock: Sold
- Model: Legionnary issue Lion
GALLIENUS (253-268). Antoninianus. Mediolanum.
Obv: GALLIENVS AVG.
Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust left, holding shield and spear over shoulder.
Rev: COHH PRAET VI P VI F.
Radiate lion advancing right.
MIR 979q; RIC 370.
Rare
Condition: Near very fine.
Weight: 2.57 g.
Diameter: 21 mm.
The extensive legionary series of coins struck by Gallienus commences with this issue, honoring the Praetorian Cohorts, the elite unit of soldiers stationed in a purpose-built fortress in Rome. Composed of nine enlarged cohorts of 1,000 men apiece, for a total theoretical strength of 9,000, the Praetorian "Guard" served as the emperor's personal fighting force both in Rome and on campaign. Praetorians received triple the pay of ordinary soldiers and had to serve only 16 years instead of the 20 required for regular legionaries. They were consequently greatly resented both by the regular soldiery and by the civilians of Rome, who they were often called upon to suppress. Estimates of their fitness as a fighting force in the field vary; they seem to have accounted themselves well enough in the campaigns of Trajan, Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus, but when called upon to fight regular units in Rome's numerous civil wars, they almost always suffered defeat. The Praetorians had two totemic symbols which appear on coins and monuments: A lion (seen here) and a scorpion, the latter being the birth sign of Tiberius, who built the first Praetorian camp.
