378-383 AD., Gratian, Lugdunum mint, Æ 2, RIC 28a3.
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Gratian, Lugdunum (Lyon) mint, officina 1, 378-383 AD.,
Æ 2 / Maiorina(?) (23-25 mm / 3,04 g), bronze, axes coin alignment ↑↓ (180°), irregular, small flan,
Obv.: D N GRATIA - NVS P F AVG , pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Gratian right - son buste diadémé, drapé et cuirassé à droite.
Rev.: REPARATIO - R[EIPVB] / S / LVG [P] (in ex.), Gratian standing front, head left, offering right hand to female on left to rise from kneeling position, in other hand he holds Victory on a globe, S in field to r. - Gratien debout de face, tourné à gauche, vêtu militairement, tenant un globe nicéphore de la main gauche, relevant une femme agenouillée de la main droite S dans le champ à droite, LVG [P] à l’exergue.
RIC IX, 48, 28a3 (common) ; Coh. 30 .
The female represents the State (REIPVB) and she is raised from the ground (REPARATIO) by the victorious emperor (he is holding a Victory on globe who is holding a laurel wreath over his head).
Flavius Gratianus Augustus (April 18/May 23, 359 - August 25, 383), known as Gratian, was a Western Roman Emperor from 375 to 383. He was the son of Valentinian I by Marina Severa and was born at Sirmium in Pannonia.
On August 4, 367 he received from his father the title of Augustus. On the death of Valentinian (November 17, 375), the troops in Pannonia proclaimed his infant son (by a second wife Justina) emperor under the title of Valentinian II.
Gratian acquiesced in their choice; reserving for himself the administration of the Gallic provinces, he handed over Italy, Illyria and Africa to Valentinian and his mother, who fixed their residence at Milan. The division, however, was merely nominal, and the real authority remained in the hands of Gratian.
The Eastern Roman Empire was under the rule of his uncle Valens. In May, 378 Gratian completely defeated the Lentienses, the southernmost branch of the Alamanni, at the Battle of Argentovaria, near the site of the modern Colmar. Later that year, Valens met his death in the Battle of Adrianople on August 9.
In the same year, the government of the Eastern Empire devolved upon Gratian, but feeling himself unable to resist unaided the incursions of the barbarians, he promoted Theodosius I on January 19, 379 to govern that portion of the empire. Gratianus and Theodosius then cleared the Balkans of barbarians in the Gothic War (377–382).
For some years Gratian governed the empire with energy and success but gradually sank into indolence, occupying himself chiefly with the pleasures of the chase, and became a tool in the hands of the Frankish general Merobaudes and bishop Ambrose of Milan.
By taking into his personal service a body of Alani, and appearing in public in the dress of a Scythian warrior, he aroused the contempt and resentment of his Roman troops. A Roman general named Magnus Maximus took advantage of this feeling to raise the standard of revolt in Britain and invaded Gaul with a large army. Gratian, who was then in Paris, being deserted by his troops, fled to Lyon. There, through the treachery of the governor, Gratian was delivered over to one of the rebel generals and assassinated on August 25, 383.
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