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Roman Empire

Ruler: Constantius II as Caesar
Reigned: Caesar 324-337 AD: Augustus 337-361 AD
Denomination: Billon Centenionalis
Mint: Antioch
Date of Issue: 324-5 AD
Obverse: Laureate bust left, draped and cuirassed. No inscription.
Reverse: "CONSTAN/TIVS/CAESAR" in three lines, star above.
Mint marks:
 
SMANTΔ
Reference: RIC VII Antioch 55, RCVM 17614
Weight: 2.0 gms
Nominal Weight: 3.2 gms
Diameter: 17.1 mm

CONSTANTIUS II (Flavius Julius Constantius)

  • Flavius Julius Constantinus was the second son of Constantine I and Fausta.
  • He was raised to the rank of Caesar in 324.
  • Constantine died on 22nd May 337, and his surviving sons, Constantine II, Constantius II and Constans succeeded him, each with the title Augustus (9th September 337).
  • Constantius was given the eastern provinces of the Empire.
  • For most of his reign, he was involved in wars with Shapur II, Sassanid king of Persia.
  • When Constans was murdered by a usurper, Magnetius, in 350, Constantius took his army to the Balkans, where he defeated Magnentius at the Battle of Mursa (Osijek, Croatia) and so in 351 became the sole ruler of the empire.
  • In 361, on hearing that his cousin, Julian, had been declared Emperor by his troops in Paris, he marched his army west but in Cilicia, was struck down by a fever and died at Mopsucrene on 3rd November 361.

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R23806