Licinius I - AE

Notes: Laureate head right / Genius standing left holding head of Sol, ✶ in left, Δ in right.

Denomination: We really don't know the names by which the Romans called their copper/bronze denominations. Frequently they are simply known by their size (e.g.: AE19 for 19mm copper/bronze coin). A further simplification can be made by stating "approximate" size codes. AE2 refers to 21-25mm. AE3 refers to 17-21mm and AE4 refers to coins smaller than 17mm. Coins larger than 25mm are pretty rare so there is no code for them. Coins smaller than 17mm (AE4's) are pretty common and often poor strikes.

For purposes of this database, if we know a coin is specifically As or a Follis, we state it. Otherwise we lump all the AE's into one category 'AE' which means we don't know what it is but it had the approximate value of an As or a Follis.

Period: Imperial Rome. As the Roman Republic began to implode because of corruption and infighting among powerful members of the Roman Senate, a new type of Roman Republican coinage emerges, that of the military strongmen who dominated and fought among each other before the final fall of the Republic. The drama surrounding the fall of the Roman Republic is a story full of political intrigue, military action, betrayal, murder and sex scandals. Different parts of this story have been told and retold by ancient historians, modern day scholars, dozens of Hollywood movies and even an HBO miniseries. All of the actors in this great drama, Crassus, Pompey, Julius Caesar, Brutus and Cassius, Mark Antony and Cleopatra and the last man standing at the end of it all, Octavian (later known as the first emperor of Rome, Emperor Augustus) all minted coins during this time bearing their names and propaganda images supporting their factions and political ideals.

Culture: Ancient Rome. A famous catch phrase "Rome was not built in a day" definitely applies to the Roman civilization. Rome stated as a series of small villages among the famous seven hills of Rome along the river Tiber. Eventually through conquest, diplomacy, wise policies of indirect rule and assimilation, the Romans were able to not only unify the Italian peninsula, but though a series of brutal wars against regional powers established a great Empire that spanned Europe, Asia and Africa, making the Mediterrean Sea and "Roman Lake."

All Roman coinage can generally be divided into eight time periods as described below. An interesting thing about Roman coins minted during these eight time periods is that you can literally see the "Rise and Fall" of the Roman Empire on its coinage as the sharp imagery and pure silver and gold coins of the Roman Republic and Early Imperial Period gradually devolves into crude, illegible and heavily debased coins of the "Barracks Emperors" and "Barbarian" Period.