Constantius Gallus (Caesar)  351 - 354  A.D.

By clicking on the pictures you'll be linked to a more complete description of the coin. At the bottom of this page there is a more elaborate biography of the emperor.

	Obverse: DN CONSTANTIVS NOB C
	Reverse: FEL TEMP REPARATIO
	Fieldmarks: a Δ on the left site of the obverse
	Exergue: SMHA

Constantius Gallus (Caesar)  351 - 354  A.D.

      Gallus was born in 325 or 326 AD at Massa Veternensis his father was Julius Constantius the half-brother of the emperor Constantine I. Gallus had a sister (who would be married to Constantius II) and an older brother, both their names are not known. He also had a half-brother named Julian. The historian Ammianus describes Gallus as handsome, with blonde hair, but "differing from the temperate character of his brother Julian". When Constantine the Great died one of the first things his three sons (Constantius II, Constantine II and Constans) did was to get together and murder all of their relatives who were considered a threat to the security of their thrones. The only male family members who survived were their cousin Julian and his half-brother Gallus. They where probably spared because of their young age or perhaps, and more likely, their young age in combination with the fact that they where brother and half brother of the wife of Constantius II. Both brothers were brought up in a manner befitting their status learning science, languages and education in the military arts.

      When Magnentius revolted in the west Constantius II raised his 26 year-old cousin Gallus to the rank of Caesar on the 15th of March 351 at Sirmium. He did this in order to have him (a trusted family member) take charge of the administration of the east and the minor troubles there so he could concentrate solely on defeating his last rival to the throne (he had by that time defeated both his brothers). Gallus was renamed Flavius Claudius Constantius Gallus and married Constantia, Constantius' sister and daughter of Constantine the Great. Gallus was not allowed to select his own ministers and Constantius' appointed Thallasius as his praetorian prefect and Montius Magnus as quaestor sacri palatii (responsible for the judicial organization and the passing of laws). Gallus moved to Antioch where he put up his headquarters. He immediately went to work and his generals successfully dealt with rebellions in Syria (Saracens), Palaestina (a Jewish revolt which was ruthlessly crushed, several thousand men and boys were killed and their principle city Dio Caesarea was burned to the ground), Isauria (mountain tribes from the Taurus mountains plundered ships and several towns, they where defeated and fled back to the mountains) and the Persians were held in check.

      Unfortunately having abilities as a military leader did not mean Gallus possessed governmental skills and while he was in charge of the east he behaved as a ruthless tyrant. He once ordered the execution of the entire senatorial class of Antioch because they opposed him when he proposed to lower the price of grain which was in short supply. They were only saved by the intervention of the comes Orientis Honoratus. When famine threatened the city he didn't order extra grain to be imported but simply blamed the shortages on the consularis Theophilus who was promptly murdered by an angry mob. Gallus had spies and shady informants everywhere and soon started to accuse innocent people of conspiracies against the throne, the use of illegal magical practices and other vague accusations. They were either executed or banished without a decent trial and all their possessions were confiscated. The praetorian prefect Thallasius meanwhile didn't intervene but reported all these cruelties back to Constantius II at Rome. Upon Thalassius' death in 353, by natural causes, Constantius appointed Domitianus as praetorian prefect and sent him to Antioch with instructions to convince Gallus to come to Italia. Constantius also, according to Ammianus, began to reduce the number of troops actually with Gallus (he only left him in command of the household troops). Constantius feared that Gallus' cruel behavior could lead to a rebellion in Antioch at a time when Constantius still faced a difficult situation in the west. Domitianus didn't think to much of Gallus and completely ignored him when he entered Antioch. When finally he came before Gallus he haughtily commanded him to depart for Italia or face an embargo of supplies for the palace at Domitianus' order, he then left the palace without awaiting a reply. Gallus was of course furious about this treatment and ordered his guardsmen to arrest and kill Domitianus, the quaestor sacri palatii Montius tried to prevent this and spoke on Domitianus' behalf. Reaching boiling point Gallus ordered his soldiers to kill both men, they bound them together and dragged them trough the streets until they died then they trampled on their death bodies and threw them in the river. Gallus then started to see conspiracies everywhere and several people were accused and executed based on vague rumors and confessions extracted under extreme torture.

      In the mean time Constantius II had dealt with all his enemies in the west and realized he had to get rid of Gallus. He summoned him to come to Italia under false pretenses. Gallus was aware that something was wrong but he was persuaded and started to move to Italia. On his way there his wife Constantia died. To prevent the suspicious Gallus from getting help Constantius ordered all troops along his route to be moved out of the way. When Gallus reached Petovio in Pannonia he was arrested, his captors assured him that no harm would come to him, and transferred him under guard to Pola. There he was interrogated about all the executions that had taken place at Antioch but when Gallus started to blame his wife Constantia (Constantius' sister) Constantius got furious and ordered his execution. His hands were tied behind his back and Constantius Gallus was summarily beheaded in the winter of 354 AD.

For this biography I've used the text from the following website:
http://www.roman-emperors.org/
And from: Gibbon's Decline and fall of the Roman empire.
Most of this biography however is based on the texts of the Historian Ammianus Marcellinus (330 - ca 392 A.D.) I used a Dutch online translation at:
http://www.ammianus.info/