Gold Aureus of Diocletian 4.94g
Title
Gold Aureus of Diocletian 4.94g
Creator
Diocletian
Date
285-293 CE
Description
Obverse: Laureate draped profile bust of Diocletian. IMP(ERATOR) C(AESAR) C(AIVS) VAL(ERIVS) DIOCLETIANVS AVG(VSTVS): Imperator Caesar Gaius Valerius Diocletian Augustus
Reverse: Jupiter facing left with thunderbolt in left hand and scepter in right. IOVI CONSERVAT(ORI) AVG(VSTVS): Jupiter, Conservator Augustus
Style/Period: Roman Empire
The obverse of this coin depicts the emperor Diocletian, who was proclaimed emperor in 284 CE and ruled until 305 CE, when he abdicated the throne. He came to power at the end of a great political upheaval known as the crisis of the third century. In order to help manage the sprawling empire, he made his colleague Maximian co-Augustus. To project as much power as possible the two emperors deified themselves. Diocletian made Jupiter, king of the heavens, his patron god, and Maximian made Hercules, king of the earth, his patron. This helped justify their actions and showed the world their strength, as the two emperors claimed to be living incarnations of the gods. Thus the statue of Jupiter on the reverse reads “IOVI CONSERVATOR AVG,” and implies that Jupiter is conserving, or protecting, the emperor and the empire as a whole. Therefore, due to this deification, Diocletian is only carrying out the desire of the gods.
The reverse has a portrait of Diocletian. He wears a laurel crown and is draped in imperial garb. His face is in a transitional style of Roman coinage. At this time the individualizing characteristics of emperors were disappearing in order to show unity. His head is small and circular, with a long neck in the tradition of the military emperors who came before him during the crisis. The lack of any individually identifying characteristics and heavily incised neck-line shows this coin’s place in a transition from the instability of the past to the more stable future that Diocletian hoped to build.
--McKinley Breen, LU `21
The reverse has a portrait of Diocletian. He wears a laurel crown and is draped in imperial garb. His face is in a transitional style of Roman coinage. At this time the individualizing characteristics of emperors were disappearing in order to show unity. His head is small and circular, with a long neck in the tradition of the military emperors who came before him during the crisis. The lack of any individually identifying characteristics and heavily incised neck-line shows this coin’s place in a transition from the instability of the past to the more stable future that Diocletian hoped to build.
--McKinley Breen, LU `21
Bibliography: D. Kleiner, Roman Sculpture (New Haven 1992), 400-401; C. Foss, Roman Historical Coins (London 1990), 250-251; J.P.C Kent, Roman Coins (New York 1978), 46-48; L. Breglia, Roman Imperial Coins: Art and Technique (New York 1968), 201- 202.
Source
Former collection of Ottilia Buerger. Purchased from Coin Galleries, July 24, 1959.
Identifier
91.235
Files
Citation
Diocletian, “Gold Aureus of Diocletian 4.94g,” Lawrence University Classics Department & Ottilia Buerger Coin Collections, accessed November 5, 2026, https://thor.lawrence.edu/omeka/buerger/items/show/579.