This issue dates to a moment of acute dynastic crisis. In January 350, the general Magnentius proclaimed himself emperor at Autun, and Constans — Constantius II's brother and co-ruler of the West — was murdered within weeks. Constantius, then engaged on the eastern frontier, spent the next three years fighting to reclaim the western provinces. The Siscia mint, caught in contested territory, produced coinage under both claimants during this period, making attribution to the correct authority and precise phase of production a genuine specialist exercise for RIC VIII issues from this workshop.
This issue dates to a moment of acute dynastic crisis. In January 350, the general Magnentius proclaimed himself emperor at Autun, and Constans — Constantius II's brother and co-ruler of the West — was murdered within weeks. Constantius, then engaged on the eastern frontier, spent the next three years fighting to reclaim the western provinces. The Siscia mint, caught in contested territory, produced coinage under both claimants during this period, making attribution to the correct authority and precise phase of production a genuine specialist exercise for RIC VIII issues from this workshop.