Maximian, First Reign (AD 286-310). AV aureus (19mm, 5.36 gm, 6h). NGC Choice AU S 5/5 - 4/5, Fine Style. Trier, AD 295-305. MAXIMIA-NVS P F AVG, laureate head of Maximian right / HERCVLI CON-SERVATORI, head of Hercules right, wearing lion skin headdress, paws tied at neck; T-R below. Calicó 4655. RIC VI 47. Struck on broad flan from dies of superb style. Hints of light lilac toning. Extremely rare - only one example in sales archives. Among the grand designs of Diocletian was an effort to restore the Roman religion to its former prominence. Toward this end, each of the ruling Tetrarchs was assigned to a "house" corresponding to the Roman deities Jupiter and Hercules, with Diocletian himself representing the former and his co-Augustus Maximian as the latter. Diocletian thus became the supreme ruler, while Maximian became his facilitator and "man of action." This obverse portrait of this astonishing aureus of Maximian from the mint of Trier gives him the blunt, manly look of a Roman Hercules, while the reverse depicts the hero himself, linked forever with the emperor.

HID09801242017

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