It ended in 272 CE with the capitulation of Zenobia and her son and the victory of Aurelian. Confronting what appeared to be an illegitimate power, Aurelian led a military operation against the Palmyrenes. At the same time, Zenobia’s son, Vaballathus, was invested with numerous Roman titles such as that of imperator and consul, without Roman consent. In 271 CE, it extended from Egypt to Asia Minor. Zenobia led an aggressive policy of extension of Palmyra’s territory. While under the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, the Syrian city of Palmyra had been a helpful ally of Rome, the murder of Odaenathus in 267 CE and the advent of Zenobia, who acted like the regent for her young son, disrupted the relationship between Rome and Palmyra. The second crisis Aurelian was confronted with was an external one. After this, a new province of Dacia located between the former provinces of Upper and Lower Mesia was created. Due to the incessant barbarian raids (Dacians, Carpi and Goths) that affected the province of Dacia at its limits established by Trajan, between 271 and 273 CE Aurelian must have ordered the withdrawal of the Roman presence to the south of the Danube. Then, he focused his efforts on the Danubian frontier. First, in 271 CE Aurelian had to fight against various barbarian raids that affected Pannonia (Vandals) and Northern Italy (Alamanni, Iuthungi). The second letter A refers to the fact that it had been produced in the first officina (workshop) of Serdica.Ĭonsidering the context in which this coin was produced, one should remember that from the beginning of his reign onwards, Aurelian had been confronted with various threats that took place in opposite regions of the Empire. Actually, the mark XXI or KA in Greek (K for 20 and A for 1) were here to prove that the coin was one of the reformed radiates. The weight of the coin presented here and the mark KAA appearing in the exergue of the reverse prove that it was minted after this monetary reform of Aurelian. The aurelianus was introduced to all the imperial mints during the spring of 274 CE (see Corbier, “Coinage and taxation,” p. 332-335 Estiot, “The Later Third Century,” p. 540-546). He ordered an increase in the percentage of silver contained in the radiate (fixed at around 5 %), to improve its weight (fixed at around 4 g, against 2.6 g for the denarius), but also to improve the quality of its manufacture. His aim was to go back to the system initially established by Caracalla. In 274 CE, Aurelian undertook a monetary reform in order to reverse the debasement process of the various denominations, and especially of the radiate, which then became the aurelianus. During that period, its silver content was reduced to pretty much nothing. The debasement reached its lowest point between 260 and 274 CE. Since Caracalla, the weight and silver content of the antoninianus were reduced, but the process then accelerated after 250 CE. Although its production was stopped by Elagabalus in 219 CE, Pupienus and Balbinus ordered that it should be produced again in 238 CE. Many specialists think that its value was that of two denarii, but this remains debated. It had the same silver content as the denarius, but it was heavier (it weighed around 5 g). The antoninianus was a new silver coin that had been introduced by Caracalla in 215 CE. However, ‘radiate’ is a general denomination that can refer both to the antoninianus and to the aurelianus. Many Anglo-Saxon scholars used to call this denomination a ‘radiate’ as it is characterised by the fact that on its obverse there is a radiate imperial portrait.
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