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Constans - Roman Emperor: 337-350 A.D. -
Bronze AE4 14mm (1.32 grams) Rome mint 337-350 A.D.
Reference: RIC 11 (VIII, Rome), LRBC 588
DNFLCONSTANSAVG - Diademed (rosettes), draped and cuirassed bust right.
SECVRITASREIP Exe: palm/Γ
- Securitas standing left, leaning on column and with legs
crossed, holding scepter.
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Securitas - Security, as a goddess worshipped by the Romans, is delineated in
a great variety of ways on their imperial coins. She appears for the most part
under the form of a woman in matronly costume; though in some few instances she
is but half clothed, having a veil thrown over the lower extremities. Sometimes
she is quietly seated, as if perfectly at her ease and having nothing to fear.
That is to say, her right or her left elbow rests on her chair, and the hand
supports her head, as in Nero. Or else one of her arms is placed above the head;
an attitude which ancient artists regarded as characteristic of repose. She
holds in one or other of her hands either a sceptre, or a scipio, or the hasta
pura, or a cornucopia, or a patera, or a globe. On some medals there is near her
a lighted altar; on others she stands leaning against, or with her arm upon, a
column or cippus, having sometimes the legs crossed in a tranquil, easy posture,
carrying one of the above-mentioned symbols, or otherwise holding before her a
branch or a crown of olive, or a palm branch. The meaning of these various
attitudes and attributes is on the whole too evident to require explanation.
There are medals of nearly all the emperors (with flagrant inappropriateness to
most of the reigns) from Otho and Vitellius to Constans and Constantius jun.,
which have for the type of their reverses this figure of Security, and present
for their legend the word SECVRITAS, with the addition of the words, AVGVSTI, or
AVGVSTORVM (security of the emperor or of the emperors); ORBIS (security of the
world) ; PVBLICA (public security) ; PERPETVA (perpetual security) ; POPVLI
ROMANI (security of the Roman people) TEMPORVM (of the Times) ; IMPERII (of the
empire) SAECVLI (of the age) ; REPVBLICAE (of the republic), etc.
Flavius
Julius Constans (320-350) was a
Roman Emperor
who ruled from 337 until his death. Constans was the
third and youngest son of
Constantine the Great
and
Fausta
,
Constantine's second wife.
On 25 December 333 Constantine elevated Constans to Caesar.
In 337 he succeeded his father, jointly with his older
brothers
Constantine II
and
Constantius II
, receiving
Italy
,
Pannonia
and Africa
as
his portion. Constantine II, who ruled over Gaul, Spain and Britain, attempted
to take advantage of his youth and inexperience by invading Italy in 340, but
Constans defeated Constantine at
Aquileia
,
where the older brother died. The invasion was the effect of brotherly tensions
between the two emperors. Constantine II was, at first, Constans's guardian. As
Constans grew older, Constantine II never relinquished that position.
In 341-2, Constans led a successful campaign against the
Franks
and in
the early months of 343 visited
Britain
. The source for this visit,
Julius Firmicus Maternus
, does not give a reason for this but the quick
movement and the danger involved in crossing the
channel
in the dangerous winter months, suggests it was in response to a
military emergency of some kind, possibly to repel the
Picts
and
Scots
.
Regarding religion, Constans was tolerant of Judaism but
promulgated an edict banning pagan sacrifices in 341. He suppressed
Donatism
in Africa and supported
Nicene orthodoxy
against
Arianism
,
which was championed by his brother Constantius the latter. Constans called the
Council of Sardica
, which unsuccessfully tried to settle the conflict.
In 350, the general
Magnentius
declared himself emperor with the support of the troops on the
Rhine
frontier,
and later the entire Western portion of the Roman Empire. Constans lacked any
support beyond his immediate household, and was forced to flee for his life.
Magnentius' supporters cornered him in a fortification in Helena, southwestern
Gaul, where he was
killed by Magnentius's assassins.
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