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  [Image]                               Item Sold At Auction #7
                                   -----------------------------------
                 Web Product ID: 1468
                 Estimate: $150.00
                 Final Sale Price: $181.50
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                 Denomination: Siliqua
                 Grade: Good VF nice toning
                 Reference: RIC IX 27f, 45c; RSC 86b




  Gratian. 367-383 AD. AR Siliqua (1.91 gm). Trier mint. D N GRATIA-NVS P F AVG,
  diademed bust right / VRBS ROMA, Roma seated left; TRPS below. RIC IX 27f, 45c; RSC
  86b. Toned, good VF, charming portrait. Estimate $150.



  Gratian, the son and successor of the formidable Valentinian I, was a promising young
  ruler who excelled in both soldierly skills and scholarly pursuits. Early in his sole
  reign, which commenced in 375 AD, he made the poet Ausonius his prime minister and
  attempted to establish good relations with the Roman Senate, which had been alienated
  by Valentinian I's purely military rule. Later, he came under the influence of the
  zealous Bishop Ambrose of Milan, who persuaded him to remove the Altar of Victory
  from the Senate chambers, a move which inflamed the largely Pagan aristocracy. He
  campaigned vigorously against the Goths and Alans, but his army arrived too late to
  save his uncle Valens, Emperor of the East, from destruction at the battle of
  Adrianople in 378 AD. He did somewhat recover the situation by appointing the able
  Theodosius I as Valens' successor, and keeping the Goths in check until a settlement
  agreement could be reached. In 383 AD, Magnus Maximus, the Duke of Britain, made a
  bid for the throne, crossing into Gaul with his army. Gratian rushed north to meet
  him in battle, but his army deserted him. Gratian tried to flee to Theodosius, but
  was assassinated in the Alps by one of his officers. The historian Ammianus admired
  Gratian as possessing the qualities of an exceptional ruler, although he noted a
  distressing preoccupation with "sport"--hunting and military display. He also had "an
  innate tendency to play the fool which his intimates made no attempt to check." In
  the end, his soldiers didn't take him as seriously as they did Magnus Maximus, which
  proved fatal.


Used by permission of CNG, www.historicalcoins.com