Julian II Copper-Alloy AE3

Monetary Context and Denominational Role

The fourth century AD experienced significant instability in Roman base-metal coinage following the phased breakdown of Diocletian's tetrarchic currency system. By the reign of Constantius II, bronze denominations had been repeatedly tariffed, reduced in module, and recalled or restruck, leaving small base-metal pieces known in modern numismatic typologies as AE3 and AE4 to handle everyday retail exchanges. When Julian was elevated to the rank of Caesar in AD 355 to govern Gaul, the prevailing small bronze denomination was dominated by reduced variations of the Fel Temp Reparatio types alongside the newly introduced Spes Reipublice type. These issues contained minimal silver, functioning as heavily fiduciary token bronze. After assuming sole power as Augustus in late AD 361, Julian sought to restore stability and ideological coherence to the currency. While his major reform in late AD 362 introduced the heavy AE1 bull series, the medium-module AE3 remained an essential fractional component of the monetary ecosystem, facilitating petty market transactions, bread purchases, and military rations throughout the empire without overburdening silver siliquae or gold solidi.

Production and Mint Organization

Julian's AE3 coinage was manufactured across an extensive network of imperial mints operating in both the Latin West and the Greek East. During his tenure as Caesar, production of Julian's base-metal coinage was concentrated in mints under direct western control, including Lugdunum (Lyon), Arelate (Arles), and Treveri (Trier), though eastern workshops controlled by Constantius II also issued small bronzes in Julian's name to maintain dynastic solidarity. Following his succession as sole Augustus, mints across the entire imperial territory participated in striking his AE3 denominations. Active mints included Rome, Aquileia, Siscia, Sirmium, Thessalonica, Heraclea, Constantinople, Nicomedia, Cyzicus, Antioch, and Alexandria. Imperial workshops designated their output through standardized mintmarks located in the exergue, frequently accompanied by officina letters (such as P, S, T, or Greek numerals A through Delta) and field control marks such as stars, palm branches, or wreaths to track production quotas and bullion allocations.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Image

The obverse imagery of Julian's AE3 coinage displays a pronounced evolution corresponding to his changing political and religious status. During his period as Caesar (AD 355-360), Julian is depicted strictly in accordance with Constantinian dynastic convention: youthful, clean-shaven, bareheaded, or wearing a simple pearl-diademed or cuirassed bust facing right. This imagery underscored his subordinate position to the senior Augustus, Constantius II. Following his elevation to Augustus by his troops in Paris in AD 360 and his emergence as sole ruler in late AD 361, Julian deliberately broke with decades of Constantinian visual tradition. On his imperial AE3 issues, particularly the votive series of AD 362-363, he is rendered with a prominent philosopher's beard, wearing a pearl or rosette diadem, draped and cuirassed. This distinctive portraiture signaled his adherence to classical Hellenic culture, Neoplatonic philosophy, and pagan religious traditions, distinguishing him sharply from his Christian predecessors.

Reverse Types and Symbolism

The reverse designs of Julian's AE3 coinage fall into two distinct chronological phases. The first phase, spanning his rank as Caesar and the earliest months of his imperial title, is characterized by active martial and dynastic imagery. The most pervasive reverse type was SPES REIPVBLICE, portraying the emperor or Virtus standing left, holding a globe and spear. Certain western mints also struck residual Falling Horseman varieties of the FEL TEMP REPARATIO series for Julian as Caesar, though these were rapidly phased out. The second phase, coinciding with his administrative and fiscal consolidation as sole Augustus, replaced allegorical and martial figures with aniconic civic vows. The primary reformed AE3 reverse type presents the imperial vota inscribed inside a laurel wreath, usually as VOT X MVLT XX (votis decennalibus multis vicennalibus). By choosing traditional votive formulae over overtly Christian emblems, such as the Chi-Rho monogram favored by Constantius II, Julian returned to traditional Roman civic and secular expressions of imperial longevity and state piety.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The epigraphy of Julian's AE3 issues follows standard late Roman administrative Latin. As Caesar, the typical obverse legend reads D N IVLIANVS NOB CAES (Dominus Noster Iulianus Nobilissimus Caesar) or slight variants such as D N CL IVLIANVS N C, reflecting his status as Claudius Julianus, Most Noble Caesar. As Augustus, his obverse legends shifted to assert full imperial authority, reading D N FL CL IVLIANVS P F AVG (Dominus Noster Flavius Claudius Iulianus Pius Felix Augustus). Reverse legends are concise: the Caesar-period issues carry SPES REIPVBLICE (The Hope of the Republic) or occasionally FEL TEMP REPARATIO (Restoration of Happy Times). The reformed AE3 bronze issues contain votive vows inside the wreath, reading VOT / X / MVLT / XX on four lines, meaning vows undertaken for ten years of rule and multiplied for twenty. Exergual inscriptions identify the mint and workshop, such as CONST for Arelate, LVG for Lugdunum, ASIRM for Sirmium, or ANTB for Antioch.

Typology and Chronological Phasing

Julian's AE3 coinage can be chronologically divided into three successive horizons. The first horizon (AD 355-360) spans his appointment as Caesar through his military campaigns in Gaul, characterized by Spes Reipublice and rare Fel Temp Reparatio AE3 issues struck on weight standards of approximately 2.0 to 2.5 grams. The second horizon (AD 360-362) represents the transitional phase between his acclamation as Augustus by the Gallic legions and his entry into Constantinople following the death of Constantius II; during this period, several mints briefly continued the Spes Reipublice type but revised Julian's title to Augustus, depicting him with an emerging beard. The third horizon (AD 362-363) encompasses the currency reform decreed at Antioch and Constantinople, which standardized the base-metal fraction as an AE3 VOT X MVLT XX module struck around 2.8 to 3.2 grams. This third series ceased abruptly upon Julian's death on campaign against the Sasanian Empire in June AD 363, after which Jovian briefly adopted the wreath-and-vota type.

Circulation, Hoards, and Archaeological Context

Archaeological excavations and site finds across Britain, Gaul, the Danube frontier, the Balkans, and the Levant confirm that Julian's AE3 bronzes circulated extensively alongside earlier Constantinian base-metal coins. Because Julian's sole reign lasted only twenty months, his bronze issues constitute a smaller fraction of fourth-century hoards than the voluminous issues of Constantine the Great or Constantius II, making them valuable chronological markers (termini post quos) for stratified destruction layers and mid-fourth-century occupation phases. Hoard evidence indicates that Julian's VOT X MVLT XX AE3 bronzes circulated freely alongside older, worn AE3 and AE4 nummi, often remaining in circulation well into the reigns of Valentinian I and Valens. Site finds from military fortresses along the Rhine and limes frontiers demonstrate high concentrations of his earlier Gallic issues, while Eastern hoards reflect the rapid dissemination of his reformed votive bronzes across Syria and Asia Minor prior to his Persian expedition.

References

1. Roman Imperial Coinage: Volume VIII. Introduction and Mint Catalogues
2. Roman Coins from the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. pp. 220-238
3. The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Coinage. pp. 601-628
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume VIII: The Family of Constantine I, A.D. 337-364. pp. 110-542