Maxentius Gold Aureus

Monetary Context and Weight Standards

The gold coinage of Maxentius was issued during a period of acute political fragmentation and monetary experimentation within the Roman Empire. Following the abdication of Diocletian and Maximian in AD 305 and the sudden death of Constantius I at York in AD 306, the administrative cohesion of the Tetrarchic system unraveled. Elevated to power in Rome on October 28, AD 306, Maxentius operated outside the legitimate consensus of the reigning Augusti and Caesares. In response to this lack of collegial recognition, his fiscal apparatus prioritized ideological conservatism and monetary fidelity. While his northern rival Constantine began striking a lighter gold denomination at Trier around AD 310, setting the theoretical standard of the solidus at 1/72 of a Roman pound (approximately 4.54 grams), Maxentius maintained the heavier Diocletianic aureus standard struck at 1/60 of a pound (approximately 5.40 to 5.45 grams) throughout his entire reign. Metallurgical analyses confirm that these coins were composed of exceptionally refined gold, regularly exceeding 98 to 99 percent purity. Maxentius also issued rare ceremonial gold multiples, including biones (double aurei) and quaterniones (four-aurei medallions), adhering strictly to increments of this 1/60 pound metric. This uncompromising fidelity to the Diocletianic gold standard served an important political function. While fiscal realities compelled Maxentius to progressively reduce the weight of the billon nummus (follis) produced in his mints from roughly 10 grams down to below 6 grams, the gold aureus remained uncompromised in intrinsic value. By upholding the weight and purity of imperial gold, Maxentius presented his regime as financially sound, legitimate, and capable of honoring its obligations to the senatorial elite and military garrisons.

Mints and Production Organization

Gold aurei of Maxentius were produced across a shifting network of mints reflecting his shifting territorial control between AD 306 and AD 312. Early in his usurpation, Maxentius controlled five mint cities: Rome, Carthage, Aquileia, Ticinum, and later Ostia. However, gold striking was strictly confined to a select few high-security urban workshops directly tied to the imperial court and central treasury. Carthage was active in striking gold for Maxentius during the opening phases of his rule (AD 306 to 307). Operating with exergual marks such as PK, the Carthage mint produced prestigious early aurei before being closed by late AD 307. The subsequent revolt of Domitius Alexander in AD 308 severed North Africa from Maxentian control entirely until the province was reconquered around AD 310 to 311. In northern Italy, Aquileia produced an extremely limited volume of gold issues, while Ticinum focused almost exclusively on base-metal production. The mint of Rome served as the primary operational hub for gold coinage during the first half of the reign, utilizing mint signatures such as PR or R in the exergue. Around late AD 308 or early AD 309, Maxentius established a new imperial mint at the port of Ostia, transferring experienced personnel and equipment. Numismatic scholarship, notably by Vincent Drost, has demonstrated that after Ostia became fully functional, gold and silver production was largely centralized there, while Rome focused heavily on base-metal billon. Ostian aurei carry the distinctive exergual signature POST (or occasionally POSTS), exhibiting exceptionally high artistic engraving and careful die alignment.

Obverse Portraiture and Iconography

The obverse imagery of the Maxentian aureus departs significantly from the rigid, cubistic uniformity that characterized the First and Second Tetrarchies. Under Diocletian and his colleagues, imperial portraiture had adopted a standardized, block-like appearance where individual facial features were subordinated to an image of collegiate solidarity. Maxentius, governing in political isolation, reintroduced veristic and expressive portrait styles. The most prevalent obverse design features a profile head or bust turned to the right or left, adorned with a laurel wreath. The emperor is depicted with a compact, neatly cropped beard, deep-set eyes, and pronounced facial contours that emphasize both maturity and military vigor. Variants show the bust in full armor (cuirassed), draped in a paludamentum, or presented bare-headed without imperial insignia. Among the most remarkable achievements of the series are the rare facing-bust aurei struck at Ostia and Rome. On these pieces, Maxentius is depicted in a full three-quarters or direct frontal view, bare-headed or cuirassed. Facing portraits had appeared only on exceptional donative occasions earlier in the third century, such as under Postumus or Carausius, and required extraordinary skill from the die-sinker to balance perspective and relief. Other specialized obverses present Maxentius wearing consular robes (the trabea) holding an eagle-tipped scepter, or wearing the lion skin of Hercules tied beneath his chin, directly referencing his connection to the Herculian dynasty founded by his father, Maximian Herculius.

Reverse Iconography and State Ideology

The reverse designs of Maxentius' gold aurei reflect an ideological campaign focused on urban renewal, traditional Roman religion, and dynastic legitimacy. While the legitimate Tetrarchs stationed their mints in peripheral border cities like Trier, Sirmium, and Nicomedia, Maxentius centered his political identity on the city of Rome, adopting the title Conservator Urbis Suae ('Preserver of His City'). This civic priority is reflected on multiple aureus issues. The type CONSERVATOR VRBIS SVAE (and its abbreviated variant CONSERV VRB SVAE) depicts the goddess Roma seated within a hexastyle or tetrastyle temple, or seated upon a shield decorated with the Lupercal scene of the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus. Roma holds a globe and scepter, often extending the globe to Maxentius himself, symbolizing the restoration of universal power to the ancient capital. Other prominent reverses celebrate divine companions and military virtues. The type HERCVLI COMITI AVG N depicts Hercules standing resting his right hand on his club, with the Nemean lion skin draped over his arm, directly affirming the Herculian protective mantle. Mars is featured on types inscribed MARTI CONSERVATORI or MARTI PROPVGNATORI, advancing in full battle armor with spear and shield. At Carthage, early aurei bore the reverse FELIX KARTHAGO, presenting the personification of Carthage holding fruits, celebrating North African abundance. At Ostia, dynamic reverses including VICTORIA AETERNA AVG N depict Victory advancing right or presenting a globe to the seated emperor, while PAX AETERNA AVG N emphasizes domestic tranquility during the regime's final years.

Epigraphy and Titular Legends

The inscriptions on the gold aurei of Maxentius trace the careful evolution of his constitutional positioning and political claims throughout his reign. Upon seizing control in October AD 306, Maxentius adopted cautious phrasing to avoid provoking immediate war with the senior Augustus Galerius. Early gold pieces struck at Carthage bear the obverse legend MAXENTIVS NOB C (Nobilissimus Caesar), acknowledging the traditional subordinate Tetrarchic rank. Concurrently at Rome, early gold was issued with the novel obverse MAXENTIVS PRINC INVICT (Princeps Invictus, or 'Undefeated Leader'). This unique designation, previously unused as a primary imperial title on gold coinage, allowed Maxentius to project supreme authority in Italy without directly assuming the contentious title of Augustus. By spring AD 307, following the failed invasion of Italy by Severus II and an alliance with his father Maximian, Maxentius permanently assumed the supreme title. From this point onward, his aurei employed full Augustus formulas, such as IMP MAXENTIVS P F AVG, IMP C MAXENTIVS P F AVG, or the expanded IMP C M VAL MAXENTIVS P F AVG, incorporating his imperial gentilicium Marcus Valerius. Reverse legends consistently emphasize personal protection and divine patronage through the addition of AVG N (Augusti Nostri, 'Of Our Augustus'). Examples include VICTORIA AETERNA AVG N, HERCVLI COMITI AVG N, and ROMAE AETERNAE AUCTRICI AVG N. The exergues feature clean abbreviations denoting the mint city, such as POST for Ostia or PR for Pecunia Romae, typically omitting the officina (workshop) numerals that were ubiquitous on contemporary bronze coins.

Typology and Chronological Classification

The typological sequence of Maxentian aurei is categorized chronologically into four distinct phases, as established by modern scholars such as C.H.V. Sutherland and Vincent Drost. The first phase encompasses the accession period from late October AD 306 through spring AD 307. Production during this interval was shared between Rome and Carthage. Gold issues were modest in volume, characterized by the titles MAXENTIVS NOB C at Carthage (bearing FELIX KARTHAGO) and MAXENTIVS PRINC INVICT at Rome (pairing with Mars and military loyalty types). The second phase spans spring AD 307 to late AD 308. Marked by Maxentius' assumption of the title Augustus and his joint consulship with his father in AD 308, Rome functioned as the principal gold workshop. Aurei from this period celebrate consular ceremonies (FELIX PROCESS CONSVLAT AVG N) and the physical restoration of Roman monuments, alongside the production of heavy multi-aurei medallions commemorating the dedication of the rebuilt Temple of Venus and Roma. The third phase, covering AD 308 to 310, was marked by mounting geopolitical pressure. At the Council of Carnuntum in late 308, the Tetrarchic leaders declared Maxentius a public enemy. In North Africa, the governor Domitius Alexander rebelled, cutting off Rome's grain supply and ending gold production at Carthage. Maxentius closed his northern mints at Aquileia and Ticinum and initiated the establishment of the Ostia facility. The fourth phase covers the period from AD 310 until Maxentius' death in October AD 312. During this final epoch, the Ostia mint served as the supreme workshop for precious metal emissions. Ostia produced exquisite aurei featuring facing portraits, seated imperial presentations, and allegorical figures celebrating everlasting victory and peace (VICTORIA AETERNA AVG N and PAX AETERNA AVG N), struck up to the eve of Constantine's invasion of Italy.

Circulation, Hoards, and Survival

Unlike the widespread issues of Diocletian or Constantine, which circulated throughout Western Europe, the Balkans, and the East, the gold aurei of Maxentius had a highly restricted geographic distribution. Their formal circulation was confined to the Italian peninsula, the central Mediterranean islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica, and, prior to AD 308, parts of North Africa. Within these territories, aurei were rarely used for everyday market commerce; instead, they served as donatives distributed to military officers, the Praetorian Guard, and high-ranking civil officials during imperial accessions, consulships, and seasonal anniversaries. The modern survival rate of Maxentius' aurei is exceptionally low. Following Constantine's victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge on October 28, AD 312, Maxentius suffered damnatio memoriae. His public monuments were erased or rededicated, and his financial assets in Rome and Ostia were seized. Because Maxentian aurei were struck to the heavy 1/60 pound standard, they offered an immediate and profitable source of high-purity bullion for Constantine's administration, which recoined them into lighter 1/72 pound solidi. Consequently, the majority of surviving specimens owe their preservation to isolated hoards buried outside Rome's urban core during the tumultuous years of the civil war. A prominent example is the Parthenico hoard discovered in western Sicily, which contained exceptionally well-preserved aurei and multi-aurei medallions of Maxentius that had escaped the melting pots of the victorious Constantinian regime. Today, every surviving aureus of Maxentius is considered an important numismatic document of the twilight of the Roman aureus denomination.

References

1. The Roman Avrei: An Exhaustive Historical and Typological Catalogue of the Roman Gold Coins, Vol. II. pp. 838-845
2. Le monnayage d'or de Maxence à l'atelier d'Ostie : à propos de l'aureus au type Pax Aeterna Aug N. Revue Numismatique, 6e série, tome 164, pp. 269-296
3. Le monnayage de Maxence (306-312 après J.-C.). Études Suisses de Numismatique 3, Zurich
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. VI: From Diocletian's Reform (A.D. 294) to the Death of Maximinus (A.D. 313). pp. 367-385, 400-405, 430-435