Maxentius Bronze AE2 RIC VI Rome 210

Monetary and Political Context

The monetary system established by Diocletian during the currency reform of AD 294 introduced a high-grade bronze denomination, the nummus (commonly termed the follis), which circulated alongside pure gold aurei and refined silver argentei. By the time Maxentius seized control of Rome in October AD 306, the original weight standard of approximately ten grams had already begun to diminish across several western mints. Maxentius governed central and southern Italy, and temporarily North Africa, in active opposition to the officially recognized Tetrarchic hierarchy. Excluded from the Conference of Carnuntum held in November AD 308, where Licinius was declared Augustus and Maxentius was officially declared an enemy of the state, the Italian regime was forced to rely almost entirely on localized financial structures. To fund an expanding administrative apparatus, military mobilization against Galerius and later Constantine, and vast urban building campaigns across Rome, Maxentius executed controlled reductions in the weight and diameter of the copper-alloy coinage. Struck between AD 308 and AD 310, RIC VI Rome 210 exemplifies the reduced nummus or AE2 standard, which settled into an average range between 6.0 and 7.5 grams. While official Tetrarchic mints under Galerius and Licinius maintained traditional reverse allegiances to Genio Populi Romani or dedicated issues to Jupiter and Hercules, Maxentian coinage was systematically reoriented toward patriotic, city-centered devotion.

Production and Mint Organization

Production of RIC VI Rome 210 occurred exclusively at the Rome mint (Moneta Urbis), which served as the operational core of Maxentian coin manufacturing alongside subordinate western mints at Ticinum, Aquileia, and Ostia. The Rome workshop operated with several active officinae (workshops), conventionally designated in the exergue by Greek numerals (such as Alpha through Delta) or Latin letters, frequently accompanied by mint abbreviations such as R and P, S, T, or Q (standing for Roma Prima, Secunda, Tertia, Quarta). The technical manufacture of these planchets reflects the high-capacity, standardized methods typical of late imperial mints. Circular flans of leaded bronze, occasionally retaining residual trace amounts of silver from alloy preparation, were cast and subsequently struck between hand-carved steel or bronze dies. The high volume of production demanded the engagement of multiple die-cutters, resulting in discernible stylistic variation in facial modeling, temple proportions, and architectural details. The mint operated under tight bureaucratic control to ensure consistency across officina emissions, facilitating rapid dissemination of the issue across the Italian peninsula.

Obverse Iconography and Modeling

The obverse of RIC VI Rome 210 presents the right-facing laureate head of Maxentius, depicted in a compact, naturalistic style that breaks notably from the severe, blocky abstraction characteristic of earlier Diocletianic Tetrarchic portraits. Die engravers at the Rome mint emphasized individual physical features, rendering Maxentius with a short, neatly cropped beard, a strong jawline, a prominent nose, and deeply set eyes, conveying both youthful vitality and civic resolve. The head is crowned by a laurel wreath tied at the nape of the neck with fluttering ribbons (taeniae). In keeping with the specific typology of RIC VI Rome 210, the portrait is executed as a bare-necked head truncated at the base, omitting the military paludamentum or cuirass that appears on other contemporary Maxentian issues. This deliberate iconographical choice presents the ruler in an accessible, civic aspect rather than purely martial attire, complementing the civic-protection motif conveyed on the reverse.

Reverse Iconography and Architectural Elements

The reverse design centers upon a monumental hexastyle (six-columned) temple enclosure. Within the central intercolumniation, the goddess Roma sits enthroned, facing forward with her head turned gracefully to the left. She is draped in traditional stola and wears a crested military helmet. In her extended right hand she supports a globe, symbolic of universal celestial and terrestrial power, while her raised left hand holds an upright sceptre, an attribute of divinely ordained authority. At her side rests a round or oval shield, occasionally rendered leaning against the imperial throne. The architectural composition provides significant insight into the monumental building program executed by Maxentius, including his restoration of the Temple of Venus and Roma near the Roman Forum. The temple facade displays six columns supporting a classical triangular pediment. Inside the pediment, engravers consistently engraved an open civic wreath (corona civica). The roofline is embellished with acroteria, which manifest across individual dies either as small winged Victories or as stylized spherical knobs. The entire architectural monument rests on a delineated ground line or podium, beneath which lies the exergual space reserved for mint and officina signatures.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The obverse inscription reads IMP C MAXENTIVS P F AVG, expanding the Latin formula Imperator Caesar Maxentius Pius Felix Augustus. This titulature directly asserts the complete constitutional and dynastic titles claimed by Maxentius, who had initially adopted the transitional rank of Princeps Invictus upon his initial elevation before assuming the supreme title of Augustus in early AD 307. The lettering is cleanly cut in square Roman capitals with sharp serifs, encircling the portrait clockwise along the outer bead-and-reel border. The reverse inscription is the celebrated patriotic formula CONSERV VRB SVAE, reading Conservator Urbis Suae ('To the preserver of his own city'). The legend is interrupted across the architrave or divided by the upper pediment of the hexastyle temple, typically split as CONSERV on the left and VRB SVAE on the right. In contrast to standard imperial slogans referencing the Roman people or universal peace (Pax Aeterna, Genio Populi Romani), this legend specifically identifies Maxentius as the singular champion and savior of Rome, an explicit critique of the previous Tetrarchic shift away from the city toward frontier administrative centers such as Nicomedia, Milan, Trier, and Sirmium.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the structural sequence established in Roman Imperial Coinage Volume VI by C. H. V. Sutherland, RIC VI Rome 210 represents a distinct stage in the progressive evolution of the Conservatores and Conservator Urbis Suae series. Earlier emissions struck in late AD 306 and AD 307 featured heavier flans (often exceeding ten grams), four-columned or tetrastyle temples, or alternative reverse legends such as CONSERVATORES KART SVAE for Carthage and variations addressing the Dioscuri. By AD 308, the hexastyle temple layout became the standardized template at Rome for the intermediate weight class. RIC VI Rome 210 is chronologically delimited by Sutherland to the bracket of AD 308 to AD 310, positioned immediately following the heavier early issues and preceding the severely reduced, smaller-module bronzes produced toward the conclusion of Maxentius's reign between AD 310 and the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD 312. Within this catalogue type, minor internal varieties are noted based on the workshop marks in the exergue and the specific acroterial decorative elements (Victories versus knobs) depicted on the temple roof.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Distribution

The circulation of RIC VI Rome 210 reflects the regionalized and politically partitioned monetary economy of late Roman Italy and the Western Mediterranean during the Tetrarchic civil wars. Hoard evidence demonstrates that while Constantine's issues from Gaul and Britain rarely circulated in Maxentian domains, and Maxentian issues were actively rejected or demonetized in areas controlled by Licinius and Galerius, issues bearing the Conservator Urbis Suae reverse circulated intensively throughout the Italian peninsula, Sicily, and Sardinia. Substantial numbers of these hexastyle temple types appear in Italian hoard contexts, such as those recovered from Central Italy and suburban Roman deposits, exhibiting moderate to heavy wear consistent with several years of rapid domestic circulation. Following the defeat and death of Maxentius in October AD 312, Constantine issued an imperial decree condemning the memory of his fallen rival (damnatio memoriae). While Maxentian inscriptions in stone were systematically chiselled away, his bronze coinage was not systematically recalled; instead, specimens of RIC VI Rome 210 remained in localized circulation or were gathered and melted down into bullion for Constantine's newly reorganized bronze issues struck at the Rome mint.

References

1. Conservator Urbis Suae: Studies in the Politics and Propaganda of the Emperor Maxentius. pp. 45-68
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC VI Rome 210. ric.6.rom.210
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume VI: From Diocletian's Reform (A.D. 294) to the Death of Maximinus (A.D. 313). pp. 377-380, no. 210
4. The Denomination of the Post-Reform Folles of Diocletian and His Colleagues. Journal of Roman Studies 51, pp. 94-97