Antoninianus - Maximianus VIRTVTI AVGG, Hercules

Maximianus co-ruled as Augustus under Diocletian's Tetrarchic system from 286 AD, and the VIRTVTI AVGG legend — invoking the virtue of the two Augusti — belongs squarely to the period before the full Tetrarchy was formalized in 293. Hercules was not incidental to Maximianus: Diocletian had assigned him the divine patron deliberately, styling him "Herculius" to complement his own Jovian identity, a theological justification for shared imperial power that was entirely novel in Roman political thought.