551

Roman Emp., Hostilian caesar, Aureus 251

Currency:CHF Category:Coins & Paper Money / Coins: Ancient Start Price:32,000.00 CHF Estimated At:40,000.00 - 50,000.00 CHF
Roman Emp., Hostilian caesar, Aureus 251
The sign-up for this auction will close 48 hours before the auction starts. Please make sure you sign up on time. Also, there is NO ABSENTEE BIDDING for this auction. Please plan to bid live during the sale.
The Roman Empire, Hostilian caesar, 251, Aureus 251, AV 3.95 g. C VALENS HOSTIL MES QVINTVS NC Bare-headed and draped bust r. Rev. PRICIPI IVVE – NTVTIS Hostilian, in military attire, standing l., holding standard in r. hand and spear. C 33 var. (not draped). RIC 181. Calicó 3316. Very rare and in exceptional condition. A lovely portrait, virtually as struck and almost Fdc Ex NAC sale 25, 2003, 554. Life for Hostilian, the youngest of two sons of Trajan Decius and Herennia Etruscilla, was brief and tragic. His is one of the most difficult reigns for historians to reconstruct due to the poor evidence of the period and the great many changes that occurred in the political scenario. As the youngest son of Trajan Decius, perhaps only just beginning his ‘teen’ years, Hostilian remained in Rome with his mother when his father and older brother departed for the Danube, never to return. During the course of his father’s absence, Hostilian was hailed Caesar. This may have occurred as early as 250 when his brother Herennius Etruscus was still Caesar, or more likely it occurred when his brother was raised to the rank of Augustus after the initial defeat of the Goths in the spring of 251. In either case, when his father and brother died in battle in the summer of 251 Hostilian and his mother were still safely residing in Rome. The new emperor, Trebonianus Gallus, soon journeyed to Rome where he was confirmed by the Senate and honoured Hostilian and his mother by sparing them of harm. The widowed empress seemingly retained her title of Augusta, and young Hostilian was actually raised from Caesar to Augustus, a title he shared with his new ‘adoptive father’ Gallus. This was no minor act, for Gallus’ son Volusian (who apparently was older than Hostilian) was given the junior rank of Caesar. As honourable as Gallus’ overture was, it mattered little, for within a few months Hostilian died of the plague that was then ravaging the capital.