The VOT XX MVLT XXX vow legend commemorates Gratian's twentieth regnal anniversary with prayers toward a thirtieth — optimistic numerology given that he was murdered in August 383, almost certainly before completing his twentieth year of rule depending on how one counts from his father Valentinian I's elevation of him as co-Augustus in 367. The Antioch mint was producing these small bronzes in the final months of his reign, as Magnus Maximus's usurpation in Britain gathered momentum westward.
The VOT XX MVLT XXX vow legend commemorates Gratian's twentieth regnal anniversary with prayers toward a thirtieth — optimistic numerology given that he was murdered in August 383, almost certainly before completing his twentieth year of rule depending on how one counts from his father Valentinian I's elevation of him as co-Augustus in 367. The Antioch mint was producing these small bronzes in the final months of his reign, as Magnus Maximus's usurpation in Britain gathered momentum westward.