Bronze Folles of Maxentius (306-312 CE)

Historical Context

Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius seized imperial power in Rome on 28 October 306 CE, capitalizing on deep urban resentment toward the fiscal policies of Galerius and the proposed dissolution of the Praetorian Guard. Having been excluded from the imperial succession during the abdication of Diocletian and Maximian in 305 CE, and bypassed again following the death of Constantius I in 306 CE, Maxentius assumed the title of princeps before proclaiming himself augustus in the spring of 307 CE. His administrative realm encompassed Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and initially North Africa. Because the imperial conference at Carnuntum in November 308 CE explicitly rejected his legitimacy, branding him an illegitimate usurper and public enemy, Maxentius relied extensively on the Roman Senate, traditional civic religion, and monumental public works in Rome to buttress his authority.

The creation of the mint at Ostia arose directly from geopolitical shifts in mid-308 CE. The governor of Africa, Lucius Domitius Alexander, launched an armed revolt, severing Rome's essential maritime grain supplies and depriving Maxentius of the vital mint at Carthage. In response, Maxentius transferred Carthage mint personnel, dies, and machinery northward to Ostia, Rome's primary sea and river port located at the Tiber mouth. The new workshop opened between late 308 and early 309 CE to maintain the peninsula's coin supply and finance military operations to recover Africa. Following Maxentius' death at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge on 28 October 312 CE, the Ostian officinae were briefly requisitioned by Constantine I before being permanently dismantled in 313 CE, when the staff and equipment were transferred to Arles in Gaul.

Obverse Iconographic Composition

Across standard bronze nummi of Maxentius, the obverse displays a profile portrait of the emperor facing right, crowned with a laurel wreath tied at the back of the head with descending ribbon ties (taeniae). The imperial portrait balances late Tetrarchic stylistic conventions with classicizing elements. The portrait adheres to the compact, blocky proportions, emphasized jawline, and prominent eyes typical of late imperial cubic engraving, yet incorporates refined grooming details reminiscent of Antonine and Augustan models. The hair is rendered in short, parallel locks, complemented by a neatly clipped, trimmed beard that traces the contours of the jaw and chin.

Obverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The obverse legend is executed in monumental Latin capital script, aligned clockwise along the perimeter of the coin inside a continuous beaded border.

• Transcription: IMP C MAXENTIVS P F AVG
• Transliteration: Imperator Caesar Maxentius Pius Felix Augustus
• Translation: Emperor Caesar Maxentius, Pious and Fortunate [or Blessed] Augustus

On issues from Ostia, this expanded imperial titulature represents the standard formulation. Earlier and contemporary emissions produced at Rome, Carthage, Aquileia, and Ticinum frequently omit the letter C, reading instead IMP MAXENTIVS P F AVG.

Reverse Iconographic Composition

While contemporary Tetrarchic mints under eastern emperors predominantly struck the Genius of the Roman People and Constantine emphasized Sol Invictus, Maxentius drew heavily on classic Roman civic and religious mythology. At Ostia, the primary bronze reverse design celebrates the Dioscuri, the divine twin brothers Castor and Pollux.

The twins stand facing each other, heroically nude except for small capes (chlamydes) draped over their outer shoulders, and wear the pointed pileus cap. Each brother holds a vertical sceptre or lance in his outer hand while gripping the reins of a bridled horse with his inner hand, the horses turned inward toward the center of the field. On the earliest issues from Ostia, the Roman she-wolf suckling the twins Romulus and Remus appears between their feet on the groundline; in subsequent main-phase emissions, this central space is left clear. The Dioscuri enjoyed deep civic veneration in Ostia as divine guardians of maritime navigation, equine safety, and safe harbor transit, while simultaneously evoking the legendary battle of Lake Regillus and underscoring Maxentius' role as defender of ancestral Roman tradition.

Reverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The reverse inscription is struck in Latin monumental script arranged circumferentially around the upper perimeter of the design.

• Transcription: AETERNITAS AVG N
• Transliteration: Aeternitas Augusti Nostri
• Translation: Eternity of Our Augustus

The legend is divided across the central field by the heads and spears of the Dioscuri. The primary die break reads AETE-RNITAS - AVG N, with documented secondary variants exhibiting breaks such as AETE-RNITAS A-VG N and AET-ERNITAS A-VG N.

Exergual Mintmark

Below the horizontal exergual groundline, the mint signature identifies Ostia and the specific operating workshop (officina):

• Transliteration: Moneta Ostiensis followed by an officina designation
• Workshop Marks:
  • MOSTP: Moneta Ostiensis Prima (First officina)
  • MOSTS: Moneta Ostiensis Secunda (Second officina)
  • MOSTT: Moneta Ostiensis Tertia (Third officina)
  • MOSTQ: Moneta Ostiensis Quarta (Fourth officina)
• Translation: Money of the mint of Ostia, [first / second / third / fourth] officina

Typology and Documented Variants

Maxentian bronze nummi encompass several major typological groups defined by mint attribution, reverse motifs, and workshop marks:

1. Ostia Dioscuri with She-Wolf (c. late 308 - mid-309 CE):

   • Obverse: IMP C MAXENTIVS P F AVG, laureate head right.
   • Reverse: AETERNITAS AVG N, Castor and Pollux standing facing each other, each holding a lance and leading a horse; between them on the ground, the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus.
   • Exergue: Greek officina numerals MOSTA, MOSTB, MOSTΓ, MOSTΔ (RIC VI Ostia 16).

2. Ostia Dioscuri without She-Wolf (c. mid-309 - October 312 CE):

   • Obverse: IMP C MAXENTIVS P F AVG, laureate head right.
   • Reverse: AETERNITAS AVG N, Castor and Pollux standing facing each other, each holding a lance and leading a bridled horse; groundline unadorned.
   • Exergue: Latin officina letters MOSTP, MOSTS, MOSTT, MOSTQ (RIC VI Ostia 35; Sear RCV IV 14975).

3. Rome Temple of Roma Series (c. 307 - 312 CE):

   • Obverse: IMP C MAXENTIVS P F AVG or IMP MAXENTIVS P F AVG, laureate head right.
   • Reverse: CONSERV VRB SVAE, Roma seated facing within a hexastyle temple, holding a globe and sceptre (RIC VI Rome 202a, 210, 258).
   • Exergue: RP, RS, RT, RQ with varying field symbols.

4. Aquileia and Ticinum Temple Issues (c. 307 - 310 CE):

   • Obverse: Laureate head right or consular bust left.
   • Reverse: CONSERV VRB SVAE, Roma seated within a tetrastyle or hexastyle temple, presenting a globe to Maxentius in military dress (RIC VI Aquileia 113; RIC VI Ticinum 100, 108).

5. Memorial and Consecration Series (Rome and Ostia, c. 309 - 311 CE):

   • Divus Romulus: Commemorating Maxentius' deceased son (died 309 CE). Obverse DIVO ROMVLO N V BIS CONS, bare head right with veil; reverse AETERNAE MEMORIAE, domed hexastyle rotunda surmounted by an eagle (RIC VI Ostia 34, 56; RIC VI Rome 207).
   • Divus Maximianus and Divus Constantius: Consecration issues honoring Maxentius' deceased father and father-in-law to assert dynastic continuity.

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

Origin and Mechanics of the Ostia Mint

Early twentieth-century numismatists interpreted Ostia as an entirely new creation established late in Maxentius' reign. Subsequent die studies and metallurgical comparisons, notably by Cathy E. King and Vincent Drost, demonstrated that Ostia was established by relocating the Carthage mint infrastructure following the insurrection of Domitius Alexander in mid-308 CE. Typological styles, letterforms, and die continuity confirm that Ostia functioned directly as the institutional successor of Carthage, operating between late 308 or early 309 CE until its closure under Constantine in 313 CE.

Grammatical Resolution of the Reverse Legend

Older catalogues occasionally expanded the reverse legend AETERNITAS AVG N as Augustorum Nostrorum (genitive plural), positing an accommodation with other Tetrarchic rulers. Modern scholarship unanimously rejects this interpretation. Maxentius governed outside the formal recognition of the Tetrarchy, and Tetrarchic epigraphic convention strictly used duplicate consonants (AVGG NN) to designate multiple Augusti. The single letters denote the singular genitive Augusti Nostri ('of our Augustus'), explicitly directing divine perpetuity to Maxentius alone.

Metrology and Denominational Terminology

While modern collectors and museum records universally employ the term follis, fourth-century legal and literary texts indicate that follis originally designated a sealed purse containing a predetermined quantity of coins. The contemporary legal name for the individual coin was nummus. Diocletian's 294 CE reform introduced the silver-washed bronze nummus at a standard of 1/32 of a Roman pound (approximately 10 grams). In mid-307 CE, Maxentius lowered the weight standard to 1/48 of a pound (approximately 6.5 to 6.8 grams), which subsequently declined to roughly 5.5 to 6.0 grams toward the end of his reign in 311-312 CE.

References

1. Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE): RIC VI Ostia 35. Type record ric.6.ost.35
2. The Art Institute of Chicago: Follis (Coin) Portraying Emperor Maxentius. Accession 1920.843
3. Numista: Nummus / Follis, Maxentius (Ostia, RIC VI 35). Coin type 53286
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume VI: From Diocletian's Reform (A.D. 294) to the Death of Maximinus (A.D. 313). pp. 89-95, 338-344, 400-406
5. Antichthon: Maxentius, the Dioscuri, and the Legitimisation of Imperial Power. Antichthon 52 (2018), pp. 161-180
6. Le monnayage de Maxence (306-312 après J.-C.). Vincent Drost (2013), Schweizer Studien zur Numismatik 3 (further reading)
7. The Maxentian Mints. Cathy E. King (1959), Numismatic Chronicle 19, pp. 47-78 (further reading)