Lot 3917

Description

Romulus, son of Maxentius, (died A.D. 309), AE follis, Rome mint, issued A.D. 309-310, (6.63 g), obv. bare head of Romulus to right, around DIVO ROMVLO N V BIS CONS, rev. temple with domed roof surmounted by eagle, around AETERNAE MEMORIAE, in exergue RBQ, (S.15046, RIC 207, C.6). Even dark tone, weak in parts of the legend, otherwise fine and scarce.

Ex D.J.Foster Collection and previously from Noble Numismatics Sale 47 (lot 2182).
Romulus was deified by his father and this interesting type belongs to a series of commemorative folles issued by Maxentius to honour, in addition to Romulus, three other `Divi' with whom he could claim kinship (Maximian, Constantius and Galerius). By so doing he hoped to bolster his prestige and thereby strengthen his precarious political standing within the empire. At the Carnuntum Congress he had been unanimously declared a public enemy, and his realm was bordered by the hostile territories of Constantine and Licinius.