1929 S Standing Liberty Quarter

1930 Standing Liberty Quarter

 Authentic Ancient Coin



Tetricus I   - Gallic  Roman Emperor  : 271-274 A.D. -
Bronze Antoninianus 18mm (2.20 grams)
Struck at the mint of Treveri 273-274 A.D.
CPIVESVTETRICVSCAES - Radiate, draped bust right.
SPESPVBLICA - Spes advancing left, holding flower and raising skirt.

In  ancient Roman religion  ,  Spes   was the goddess of  hope  . Multiple temples to Spes are known, and  inscriptions  indicate that she received private devotion as well as state cult.

Republican Hope





 
Columns from the Temple of Spes in the  Forum Holitorium  were incorporated into the  San Nicola in Carcere  church



During the  Republic  , a temple to "ancient Hope"  (Spes vetus)  was supposed to have been located near the  Praenestine Gate  . It was associated with events that occurred in the 5th century BC, but its existence as anything except perhaps a private shrine has been doubted.

A well-documented temple of Spes was built by  Aulus Atilius Calatinus  along with  Fides  , as the result of vows  ( vota )  made to these goddesses during the  First Punic War  .

At  Capua  in 110 BC, a temple was built to the triad of Spes,  Fides  , and  Fortuna  .

Imperial Hope

Spes was one of the divine personifications in the  Imperial cult  of the Virtues. Spes Augusta was Hope associated with the capacity of the  emperor  as  Augustus   to ensure blessed conditions.

Like  Salus  ("Salvation, Security"),  Ops  ("Abundance, Prosperity"), and  Victoria  ("Victory"), Spes was a power that had to come from the gods, in contrast to divine powers that resided within the individual such as  Mens  ("Intelligence"),  Virtus  ("Virtue"), and  Fides  ("Faith, Fidelity, Trustworthiness").

Greek Elpis

The  Greek counterpart  of Spes was  Elpis  , who by contrast had no formal  cult in Greece  . The primary  myth  in which Elpis plays a role is the story of  Pandora  . The Greeks had ambivalent or even negative feelings about "hope", [10]  the concept was unimportant in the philosophical systems of the  Stoics  and  Epicureans  .

 

 


Caius Pius Esuvius Tetricus  was Emperor of the  Gallic Empire  ( Imperium Galliarum ) from 270/271 to 273, following the murder of  Victorinus  . Tetricus, who ruled with his son, Tetricus II, was the last of the Gallic emperors.

Tetricus was born to a noble family and held the administrative rank of  praeses provinciae   (provincial governor) of  Aquitania  at the time of  Victorinus  ' death. Victorinus' mother,  Victoria  , paid the army heavily to declare Tetricus emperor near Burdigalia ( Bordeaux ,  France  ), which was approved in  Gaul  and  Britain  . Following his appointment, Tetricus repelled Germanic tribes that took advantage of the confusion following the death of Victorinus to invade.

Tetricus installed his capital at  Augusta Treverorum  (present  Trier  ,  Germany  , near the vital Rhine border, hence later seat of a  Tetrarch  ) and appointed his son,  Tetricus II  ,  Caesar  (273). Tetricus made no attempts to expand the Gallic Empire, other than southward, regaining  Aquitania  (which had rejoined the Roman empire during the reign of  Claudius Gothicus  ). In late 273 or early 274,  Faustinus  , provincial governor of  Gallia Belgica  , rebelled against him in  Augusta Treverorum  .

In 273, Emperor  Aurelian  set out to reconquer the western Roman empire, following his victories in the east. Tetricus took his army southward from Trier to meet Aurelian, who was advancing into northern Gaul. The  decisive battle  took place near  Châlons-sur-Marne  , where Tetricus and his son surrendered to Aurelian.

According to literary sources, after being displayed as trophies at Aurelian's  triumph  in Rome, the lives of Tetricus and his son were spared by Aurelian, and Tetricus was even given the title of  corrector  Lucaniae et Bruttiorum , that is governor of a southern region of  Italia  . Tetricus died at an unknown date in Italy; he is listed as one of Rome's  Thirty Tyrants  in the  Historia Augusta  .

 

The  Gallic Empire  ( Latin :  Imperium Galliarum ) is the modern name for a breakaway part of the  Roman Empire  that functioned  de facto  as a separate state from 260 to 274.It originated during the  Crisis of the Third Century  .





The Gallic Empire under  Tetricus I  by 271 A.D. (in green)

 

It was established by  Postumus  in 260 in the wake of  barbarian  invasions and instability in  Rome , and at its height included the territories of  Germania  ,  Gaul  ,  Britannia  , and (for a time)  Hispania  . After Postumus' assassination in 268 it lost much of its territory, but continued under a number of emperors and usurpers. It was retaken by  Roman emperor   Aurelian  after the  Battle of Châlons  in 274.

History

Origins

The Roman  Crisis of the Third Century  continued as Emperor  Valerian  was defeated and captured by the  Sassanid Empire  of  Persia  , leaving his son  Gallienus  in very shaky control. Shortly thereafter, the  Palmyrene Empire  , which came to encompass  Egypt  ,  Syria  ,  Judea  , and  Arabia Petraea  also broke away.

The governors in  Pannonia  staged unsuccessful local revolts. The Emperor left for the Danube to attend to their disruption. This left  Postumus  , who was governor of  Germania Superior  and  Inferior  , in charge at the Rhine border. An exeptional administrator, Postumus had also protected the Germania Inferior against an invasion led by the Franks in the summer of 260 very well. In fact, Postumus defeated the Frankish forces at Empel so decisively, that there would be no further Germanic raids for 10 years. This all would have combined to make Postumus one of the most powerful men in the west of the Roman empire.

The imperial heir  Saloninus  and the praetorian prefect Silvanus remained at Colonia Agrippina ( Cologne ), to keep the young heir out of danger and perhaps also as a check on Postumus' ambitions. Before long, however, Postumus besieged Colonia Agrippina and put the young heir and his guardian to death, making his revolt official. Postumus is thought to have established his capital at Cologne or Trier, [2]  with Lugdunum also becoming an important city in the empire.

The Gallic Empire had its own praetorian guard, two annually elected consuls (not all of whose names have survived) and probably its own senate. According to the numismatic evidence, Postumus himself held the office of consul five times.





 
Coin of  Tetricus  , last emperor (271–274) of the Gallic Empire



Postumus successfully fended off a military incursion by Gallienus in 263, and was never challenged by him again. However, in early 268 he was challenged by  Laelianus  , probably one of his commanders, who was declared emperor at Mogontiacum ( Mainz ) by his  Legio XXII Primigenia  . Postumus quickly retook Mogontiacum and Laelianus was killed. Postumus himself, however, was overthrown and killed by his own troops, reportedly because he did not allow them to sack the city. [3] [4]

After Postumus

After the death of Postumus, the Gallic Empire began to decline. Roman Emperor  Claudius Gothicus  re-established Roman authority in  Gallia Narbonensis  and parts of  Gallia Aquitania  , and there is some evidence that the provinces of Hispania, which did not recognize the subsequent Gallic Emperors, may have re-aligned with Rome then. [5] [6]

Marius  was instated as Emperor upon Postumus' death, but died very shortly after; ancient sources writing much later state that he reigned only two days, though it is more likely, as displayed through the numismatic record, that he reigned for a few months. [7]  Subsequently  Victorinus  came to power, being recognized as Emperor in northern Gaul and Britannia, but not in Hispania. [5]  Victorinus spent most of his reign dealing with insurgencies and attempting to recover the Gaulish territories taken by Claudius Gothicus. He was assassinated in 271, but his mother  Victoria  took control of his troops and used her power to influence the selection of his successor. [5]  With Victoria's support,  Tetricus  was made Emperor, and was recognized in Britannia and the parts of Gaul still controlled by the Empire. [8]  Tetricus fought off Germanic barbarians who had begun ravaging Gaul after the death of Victorinus, and was able to re-take Gallia Aquitania and western Gallia Narbonensis while Roman Emperor  Aurelian  was engaging Queen  Zenobia  's  Palmyrene Empire  in the east. He established the imperial court at  Trier  , and in 273 he elevated his son,  also named Tetricus  , to the rank of  Caesar  . The following year the younger Tetricus was made co-consul, but the Empire grew weak from internal strife, including a mutiny led by the usurper  Faustinus  . [8]  By that time Aurelian had defeated the Palmyrene Empire and had made plans to re-conquer the west. He moved into Gaul and defeated Tetricus at the  Battle of Châlons  in 274; according to some sources, Tetricus offered to surrender in exchange for clemency for him and his son before the battle. [8]  This detail may be later propaganda, but either way, Aurelian was victorious, and the Gallic Empire was effectively dismantled. [8]

Causes

The Gallic Empire was symptomatic of the fragmentation of power during the third-century crisis. It has also been taken to represent autonomous trends in the western provinces, including proto-feudalistic tendencies among the Gaulish land-owning class whose support has sometimes been thought to have underpinned the strength of the Gallic Empire, and an interplay between the strength of Roman institutions and the growing salience of provincial concerns. [10]  One of Postumus' primary objectives as emperor was evidently the defence of the Germanic frontier; in 261 he repelled mixed groups of  Franks  and  Alamanni  to hold the Rhine  limes   secure (though lands beyond the upper Rhine and Danube had to be abandoned to the barbarians within a couple of years). In so doing, Postumus positioned himself avowedly as not only the defender and restorer of Gaul, but also as the upholder of the Roman name.

The usurpation of power over Britain and northern Gaul by  Carausius  just twenty years later reflects a continuing trend by which local loyalties from the landed aristocracy and deteriorating morale in the legions enabled Carausius to seize power in Britain. [ citation needed ]  Similarly with the withdrawal of legions after 408, many Britons desired a localized Roman authority rather than nationalist revolt. The desire for Roman order and institutions was entirely compatible with a degree of national or regional separatism.

Gallic Emperors

The Gallic Emperors are known primarily from the  coins  they minted. The political and military history of the Gallic Empire can be sketched through the careers of these emperors. Their names are as follows:


Postumus  260–268


( Laelianus  268, usurper)


Marius  268
Victorinus  268–270

( Domitianus  271? usurper)


Tetricus the elder   [14]  270–274

Tetricus the younger  270–274 (son of Tetricus;  caesar  )




Consuls of the Gallic Empire




Year
Consul
Consul


260
Postumus  (second time)
unknown


261
Postumus (third time)


262
unknown


263


264


265
Postumus (fourth time)


266


267
unknown


268
Postumus (fifth time)
Victorinus  (first time)


269
unknown
unknown


270
Victorinus (second time)
Sanctus


271
Tetricus  (first time)
unknown


272
Tetricus (second time)


273
Tetricus (third time)


Year and sequence unknown:


 ?
Censor (twice)
Lepidus (twice)


 ?
Dialis
Bassus


 ?
"Apr."
"Ruf."




 

Constantius II  -  Roman Emperor : 337-346 A.D.
Bronze AE3 15MM  Struck circa 337-361 A.D.
DNCONSTANTIVSPFAVG - Diademed (pearls), draped and cuirassed bust right.
SPESREIPVBLICE - Helmeted and cuirassed emperor standing left,
holding globe and spear. Star in left field.

 


Constantius II  -  Roman Emperor : 337-346 A.D.  _ Caesar, 324-337 A.D.

Son of  Constantine the Great  and  Fausta  _ Brother of  Constantine II ,  Constans , Constantina (wife of  Hanniballianus  and  Constantius Gallus ) and Helena the Younger (wife of  Julian II ) _ Half-brother of  Crispus  _ Half-cousin of  Delmatius ,  Hanniballianus ,  Constantius Gallus ,  Julian II ,  Licinius II  and  Nepotian  _ Grandson of  Constantius I 'Chlorus' ,  Helena ,  Maximian  and Eutropia _ Father of Constantia (wife of  Gratian ) _

 

Flavius Iulius Constantius , known in English as  Constantius II  (7 August 317 - November 3 361) was a Roman Emperor (337-361) of the Constantinian dynasty.

Constantius joins the lengthy list of emperors whose career was marked by a seemingly endless series of wars both domestic and foreign. He served as Caesar from 324 until his father's death in 337 at which time he shared the title of Augustus with two other brothers, Constantine II and Constans. To make sure no more Johnny-come-latelies in his family would try their hand at being emperor too it is thought that he engineered a bloodbath that left nary a relative. Constantine II died in battle and Constans was murdered by the men of Magnentius, the first of several usurpers. This left Constantius finally as sole legitimate emperor and he moved quickly to suppress Magnentius, an endeavor he eventually accomplished. The strife didn't end there, however, as he still had to deal with other revolts and wars on every corner of the empire. Caught in these never-ending battles he died while on his way to battle Julian II. 

Flavius Iulius Constantius  was born at Sirmium (now Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia) in province of Pannonia, the third son of Constantine the Great, and second by his second wife Fausta, the daughter of Maximian. Constantius was made Caesar by his father on 13 November 324. 

When the elder Constantine died at Constantinople on 22 May 337, Constantius was nearest of his sons to that city, and despite being on campaign in the eastern provinces, immediately returned to the city to oversee his father's funeral.

 The Massacre of 337

The role of Constantius in the massacre of his relatives (those descended from the second marriage of his paternal grandfather Constantius Chlorus and Theodora) is unclear. Zosimus, writing 498-518 claims that Constantius " caused " the soldiers to murder his relatives, as opposed to actually ordering the action. Eutropius, writing between 350 and 370, writes that Constantius merely sanctioned " the act, rather than commanding it ". However, it must be noted that both of these sources are hostile to Constantius - Zosimus being a pagan, Eutropius a friend of Julian, Constantius' cousin and, ultimately, his enemy.

Whatever the case, Constantius himself, his older brother Constantine II, his younger brother Constans and three cousins, Gallus, his half-brother Julian and Nepotianus, son of Eutropia, were left as the only surviving males related to Constantine.

 Division of the Empire

Meeting at Sirmium not long after the massacre, the three brothers proceeded to divide the Roman Empire among them, according to their father's will. Constantine II received Britannia, Gaul and Hispania; Constans (initially under the supervision of Constantine II) Italia, Africa, Illyricum, Thrace, Macedon and Achaea; and Constantius the East.

 Reign in the East

There are few details of the early years of Constantius' sole reign in the East. He seems to have spent most of his time defending the eastern border against invasions by the aggressive Sassanid Empire under Shapur II. These conflicts seem to have been mainly limited to Sassanid sieges of the various fortresses (Nisibis, Singara, Constantia and Amida) of Roman Mesopotamia, which achieved little for either side. Although Shapur II seems to have been victorious in most of the confrontations - except the Battle of Narasara, where one of Shapur II's brothers, Narses, was killed - the overall result must be considered a victory for Constantius because Shapur failed to make any significant gains .

In the meantime, Constantine II's desire to retain control of Constans' realm had lead Constantius' two surviving brothers into open conflict; resulting in the death of the elder in 340. As a result, Constans took control of his deceased elder brother's realms and became sole ruler of the Western two-thirds of the Empire. This division lasted until 350, when Constans was killed in battle by forces loyal to the usurper Magnentius.

 War against Magnentius

This new state of affairs proved unacceptable to Constantius, who felt that, as the only surviving son of Constantine the Great, the position of Emperor was his alone. As such, he determined to march west to enforce his claims. However, feeling that the east still required some sort of imperial control, he elevated his cousin Constantius Gallus to Caesar of the East. As an extra measure to ensure the loyalty of his cousin, he married the elder of his two sisters, Constantina, to Gallus.

Before facing Magnentius, Constantius first came to terms with Vetranio, a loyal Constantian general, who had previously accepted the position of Augustus in order to retain the loyalty of his troops, and probably to stop Magnentius from gaining more support. This action may have been carried out at the urging of Constantius' own sister, Constantina, who had since traveled east to marry Gallus. Constantius for his own part had previously sent Vetranio the imperial diadem and acknowledged the general's new position. However, when Constantius arrived, Vetranio willingly and gladly resigned his position and accepted Constantius' offer of a comfortable retirement in Bithynia.

The following year, Constantius finally met Magnentius in the Battle of Mursa Major, one of the bloodiest battles in Roman history. The result was a defeat for the usurper, who withdrew back to his Gaulish domains. As a result, the cities of Italy switched their allegiance to Constantius and ejected all of Magnentius' garrisons. Constantius spent the early months of 352 on a campaign against the Sarmatians, before moving on to invade Italy.

When Constantius and Magnentius finally met again, at the Battle of Mons Seleucus in southern Gaul, Constantius once again emerged the victor. Soon after, Magnentius, realising the futility of continuing his revolt, committed suicide 10 August 353.

 Sole Ruler of the Roman Empire

Constantius spent much of the rest of 353 and early 354 on campaign against the Alemanni on the Danubian borders. The exact details of this campaign are uncertain, though it seems to have ended with victory for Constantius.

 The Downfall of Gallus

In the meantime, Constantius had been receiving some disturbing reports regarding the actions of his cousin, Gallus. Possibly as a result of these reports, Constantius concluded a peace with the Alemanni, and withdrew to Milan.

Once there, he decided to first call Ursicinus, Gallus'  magister equitum , to Milan for reasons that remain unclear. Constantius then requested the presence of Gallus and Constantina. Although at first Gallus and Constantina complied with this order, when Constantina died in Bithynia, Gallus begun to hesitate. However, after some convincing by one of Constantius' agents, Gallus continued his journey west, passing through Constantinople and Thrace to Petobio in the province of Noricum.

It was there that Gallus was arrested by the soldiers of Constantius under the command of Barbatio. He was then moved to Pola, and interrogated. Once there, Gallus claimed that it was Constantina who was to blame for all the trouble that had been caused while he was in charge of the east. Apparently, at first, this so greatly angered Constantius that he immediately ordered the death of Gallus. However, soon after, he changed his mind, and recanted his execution order. Unfortunately for Gallus, this order was delayed by Eusebius, one of Constantius' eunuchs, and, as a result, Gallus was executed.

 More Usurpers and Julian Caesar

On 11 August 355, the magister militum Claudius Silvanus revolted in Gaul. Silvanus had surrendered to Constantius after the battle of Mursa Major. Constantius had made him magister militum in 353, with the purpose of blocking the German threats, a feat that Silvanus achieved by bribing the German tribes with the money he had collected. A plot organized by members of Constantius' court led the emperor to recall Silvanus. After Silvanus revolted, he received a letter by Constantius that recalled him to Milan, but which made no reference to the revolt. Ursicinus, who was meant to replace Silvanus, bribed some troops, and Silvanus was killed.

However, Constantius realised that too many threats still faced the Empire, and he could not possibly handle all of them by himself, so on 6 November 355, he elevated his last remaining relative, Julian, to the rank of Caesar. A few days later, Julian was married to Helena, the last surviving sister of Constantius. Not long after Constantius sent Julian off to Gaul.

 Constantius in the West and Return to the East

Constantius spent the next few years overseeing affairs in the western part of the Empire primarily from his base at Milan. However, he also visited Rome - for the first and only time in his life - in 357, and, in that same year, he forced Sarmatian and Quadi invaders out of Pannonia and Moesia Inferior, then led a successful campaign across the Danube against the Sarmatians and the Germanic Quadi tribe.

Around 357/8, Constantius received ambassadors from Shapur II, who demanded that Constantius restore the lands surrendered by Narseh. Despite rejecting these terms, Constantius still tried to avert war with the Sassanid Empire by sending two embassies to Shapur II.

As a result of Constantius' rejection of his terms, Shapur II launched another invasion of Roman Mesopotamia. When news reached Constantius that Shapur II had not only invaded Roman territory, but taken Amida, destroyed Singara and taken Bezabde he decided to return to there to face this re-emergent threat in 360.

 The usurpation of Julian and Problems in the East

In the meantime, Julian had won some victories against the Alemanni tribe, who had once again invaded Roman Gaul. As such, Constantius requested reinforcements from Julian for his own campaign against Shapur II. However, when he requested reinforcements from Julian's Gaulish army, the Gaulish legions revolted and proclaimed Julian Augustus.

However, on account of the immediate Sassanid threat, Constantius was unable to directly respond to his cousin's usurpation other than by sending missives by which he tried to convince Julian to resign the title of Augustus and be satisfied with that of Caesar.

By 361, Constantius saw no alternative but to face the usurper with violent force; and yet the threat of the Sassanids remained. Constantius had already spent part of early 361 unsuccessfully attempting to take the fortress of Bezabde. After a time, he had withdrawn to Antioch to regroup, and prepare for a confrontation with Shapur II. However, as it turned out, the campaigns of the previous year had inflicted such heavy losses on the Sassanids that they did not attempt another round of engagements in 361. This allowed Constantius to turn his full attention to facing the usurpation of Julian.

 Death

As such, Constantius immediately gathered his forces and set off west. However, by the time he reached Mopsuestia in Cicilia, it was clear that he was fatally ill and would not survive to face Julian. Apparently, realising his death was near, Constantius had himself baptised by Euzoius, the Semi-Arian bishop of Antioch, and then declared that Julian was his rightful successor. Constantius II died of fever on 3 November 361.

 Marriages and Children

Constantius II was married three times:

First to a daughter of his half-uncle Julius Constantius, whose name is unknown. She was a full-sister of Gallus and a half-sister of Julian. She died c. 352/3.

Second, to Eusebia, a woman of Macedonian origin from the city of Thessaloniki, whom he married before Constantius' defeat of Magnentius in 353. She died in 360.

Third and lastly, in 360, to Faustina (empress), who gave birth to Constantius' only child, a posthumous daughter named Flavia Maxima Constantia, who later married Emperor Gratian.

 Religious Issues

Constantius seems to have had a particular interest in the religious state of the Roman Empire. As a Christian Roman Emperor, Constantius made a concerted effort to promote Christianity at the expense of Roman polytheism ('paganism'). As such, over the course of his reign, he issued a number of different edicts designed specifically to carry out this agenda (see below). Constantius also took an active part in attempting to shape the Christian church.

 Paganism under Constantius

In spite of the some of the edicts issued by Constantius, it should be recognised that he was not fanatically anti-pagan - he never made any attempt to disband the various Roman priestly colleges or the Vestal Virgins, he never acted against the various pagan schools, and, at times, he actually even made some effort to protect paganism. Also, most notably, he remained pontifex maximus until his death, and was actually deified by the Roman Senate after his death. The relative moderation of Constantius' actions toward paganism is reflected by the fact that it was not until over 20 years after Constantius' death, during the reign of Gratian, that any pagan senators protested their religion's treatment.

 Christianity under Constantius

Although often considered an Arian, Constantius ultimately preferred a third, compromise version that lay somewhere in between Arianism and the Nicaean Creed, retrospectively called Semi-Arianism. As such, during his reign, Constantius made a concerted attempt to mold the Christian church to follow this compromise position, and to this end, he convened several Christian councils during his reign, the most notable of which were one at Rimini and its twin at Seleuca, which met in 359 and 360 respectively. "Unfortunately for his memory the theologians whose advice he took were ultimately discredited and the malcontents whom he pressed to conform emerged victorious," writes the historian A.H.M. Jones. "The great councils of 359-60 are therefore not reckoned ecumenical in the tradition of the church, and Constantius II is not remembered as a restorer of unity, but as a heretic who arbitrarily imposed his will on the church."

 Judaism under Constantius

Judaism faced some severe restrictions under Constantius, who seems to have followed an anti-Jewish policy in line with that of his father. Early in his reign, Constantius issued a double edict in concert with his brothers limiting the ownership of slaves by Jewish people and banning marriages between Jews and Christian women. A later edict (issued by Constantius after becoming sole Emperor) decreed that a person who was proven to have converted from Christianity to Judaism would have their entire property confiscated by the state. However, it should be noted that Constantius' actions in this regard may not have been so much to do with Jewish religion as Jewish business; apparently, it was often the case that privately-owned Jewish businesses were in competition with state-owned businesses. As such, Constantius may have sought to provide as much of an advantage to the state-owned businesses as possible by limiting the skilled workers and the slaves available to the Jewish businesses.

 Religious Edicts Issued by Constantius

Pagan-related edicts  issued by Constantius (by himself or with others) included:



The banning of sacrifices;


The closing of pagan temples;


Edicts against soothsayers and magicians.



Christian-related edicts  issued by Constantius (by himself or with others) included:



Exemption from compulsory public service for the clergy; * Exemption from compulsory public service for the sons of clergy;


Tax exemptions for clergy and their servants, also later for their family;


Clergy and the issue of private property;


Bishops exempted from being tried in secular courts;


Christian prostitutes only able to be bought by Christians.



Jew-related edicts  issued by Constantius (by himself or with others) included:



Weaving women who moved from working for the government to working for Jews, must be restored to the government; Jews may not marry Christian women; Jews may not attempt to convert Christian women;


Any non-Jewish slave bought by a Jew will be confiscated by the state; if a Jew attempts to circumcise a non-Jewish slave, the slave will be freed and the Jew shall face capital punishment; any Christian slaves owned by a Jew will be taken away and freed;


A person who is proven to have converted from Christianity to Judaism shall have their property confiscated by the state.



 Reputation

Constantius II is a particularly difficult figure to judge properly, mainly as a result of the hostility of most every source that mentions him.

A.H.M Jones writes that Constantius "appears in the pages of Ammianus as a conscientious emperor but a vain and stupid man, an easy prey to flatterers. He was timid and suspicious, and interested persons could easily play on his fears for their own advantage."

However, Kent & M. and A. Hirmer suggest that Constantius "has suffered at the hands of unsympathetic authors, ecclesiastical and civil alike. To orthodox churchmen he was a bigoted supporter of the Arian heresy, to Julian the Apostate and the many who have subsequently taken his part he was a murderer, a tyrant and inept as a ruler". They go on to add, "Most contemporaries seem in fact to have held him in high esteem, and he certainly inspired loyalty in a way his brother could not".

The Story Behind Silver Certificates


Originally issued for the redemption of silver on demand, Silver Certificates were originally authorized by two Acts of Congress in 1878 and 1886 and in denominations ranging from $1 to $1,000. The notes underwent a series of changes over the years, including designs, physical sizes, and legal tender obligations (as declared on the obverse of the notes).

The obligation on the Series 1957 $1 Silver Certificate states,  “This certifies that there is on deposit in the Treasury of the United States of America [one dollar] in silver payable to the bearer on demand… This certificate is legal tender for all debts public and private.”

When these notes were originally issued, someone with these notes could have walked into a typical bank and would expect to receive silver coins amounting to the face value of the Silver Certificates surrendered in that transaction. So, in the late 1950s or early 1960s, that may have meant trading in a Series 1957 $1 Silver Certificate for a Morgan Dollar or Peace Dollar, large silver coins that were still readily available for face value during that time.

However, around 1963 the price of silver increased to the point that 90% silver Dimes, Quarters, Half Dollars, and Dollars were suddenly worth more for their intrinsic bullion value than for their face value. This led many people to begin hoarding silver coins, removing them from circulation in massive numbers and resulting in a nationwide coin shortage.

The United States government acted quickly in response to the rapidly changing situation. On June 4, 1963, Congress abolished the production of Silver Certificates. Five years later, on June 24, 1968, an Act of Congress stopped any further redemption of Silver Certificates for silver bullion. Silver Certificates were eventually replaced with Federal Reserve Notes, which remain in use today. However, Silver Certificates still retain legal tender status for obtaining Federal Reserve Notes of the equivalent value.