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Æ24 - Macrianus and Quietus ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ
| Issuer | Nicaea (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 260-261 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 7.04 g |
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| Reverse description | Aerial bird's-eye perspective view of the walled city of Nicaea rendered in detailed architectural relief, depicting the city enclosure with prominent gate structures at the foreground and background, each flanked by tall square towers. The city walls and internal structures are rendered with considerable topographical detail, conveying the celebrated rectangular urban plan of Nicaea. The ethnic legend ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ is inscribed along the lower margin of the reverse field. A central test hole is present, consistent with that observed on the obverse. |
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| Mintage | ND (260-261) |
| Additional information |
Macrianus and Quietus represent one of the more desperate experiments in Roman succession politics. After Valerian's capture by Shapur I in 260 AD — the first Roman emperor ever taken prisoner by a foreign enemy — his son Gallienus was preoccupied with threats on the Rhine and Danube, leaving the eastern provinces effectively ungoverned. The finance minister Macrianus Senior, himself too lame to claim the purple, elevated his two sons jointly. Neither had military credibility; both were dead within a year, defeated by Gallienus's general Aureolus and, separately, by Odaenathus of Palmyra.
Nicaea's decision to strike for this short-lived pair rather than acknowledge Gallienus reflects the genuine administrative vacuum in Bithynia during those months.