The FEL TEMP REPARATIO ("happy times are returning") series was launched by Constantius II around 348 AD to mark the 1100th anniversary of Rome's founding, a propagandistic gesture issued across virtually every mint in the empire simultaneously. The Lugdunum mint's contribution to the falling horseman type — which dominates the later phase of this series — is documented under RIC VIII 196, struck during the years when Constantius was consolidating sole rule following the defeat and death of the usurper Magnentius in 353.
Lugdunum had been Magnentius's own stronghold, which lends these post-353 issues a particular political edge.
The FEL TEMP REPARATIO ("happy times are returning") series was launched by Constantius II around 348 AD to mark the 1100th anniversary of Rome's founding, a propagandistic gesture issued across virtually every mint in the empire simultaneously. The Lugdunum mint's contribution to the falling horseman type — which dominates the later phase of this series — is documented under RIC VIII 196, struck during the years when Constantius was consolidating sole rule following the defeat and death of the usurper Magnentius in 353.
Lugdunum had been Magnentius's own stronghold, which lends these post-353 issues a particular political edge.