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Nummus - Fausta SALVS REIPVBLICAE, Sirmium
| Issuer | Roman Imperial Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 324-325 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.89 g |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of Fausta, Augusta and wife of Constantine I, facing right, her elaborately waved and plaited hair drawn back and secured with a stephane or diadem, rendered in the refined Constantinian court style. The bust is presented with imperial dignity, the drapery visible at the shoulder and décolletage. The encircling Latin legend reads FLAV MAX FAVSTA AVG, identifying the empress by her full titulature. The portrait is finely modelled in high relief, consistent with the accomplished die-cutting of the Sirmium mint during the early fourth century. |
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| Reverse description | Standing figure of Salus, personification of the health and welfare of the Roman state, depicted facing left in flowing robes and holding two infants — emblematic of Fausta's role as mother of imperial heirs — rendered in the round above a ground line. The composition conveys dynastic continuity and imperial prosperity. The encircling legend SALVS REI PVBLICAE, meaning 'the safety of the Republic', frames the scene. The mint mark SIRM appears in the exergue, identifying the Sirmium mint. The reverse border is formed by a beaded circle. |
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| Additional information |
Fausta's SALVS REIPVBLICAE nummi were struck at Sirmium during the brief window between Constantine's defeat of Licinius in 324 and Fausta's execution in 326, likely by drowning in an overheated bath on Constantine's orders. The precise charge — whether adultery with an unidentified man or a fabricated accusation following her alleged role in the death of Crispus, Constantine's son from a previous marriage — has never been resolved by the surviving sources. Sirmium, as a key Danubian imperial residence, struck relatively few of these issues before the damnatio memoriae effectively ended the type.