The post-reform radiate (the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

name, like many

Roman coins Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction to the Republic, during the third century BC, well into Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, denom ...

of this time, is unknown), was a Roman coin first issued by Diocletian during his currency reforms. The radiate looked very similar to the

antoninianus The ''antoninianus'' or pre-reform radiate, was a coin used during the Roman Empire thought to have been valued at 2 denarii. It was initially silver, but was slowly debased to bronze with a minimal silver content. The coin was introduced b ...

(pre-reform radiate), with a

radiate crown A radiant or radiate crown, also known as a solar crown, sun crown, Eastern crown, or tyrant's crown, is a crown, wreath, diadem, or other headgear symbolizing the sun or more generally powers associated with the sun. Apart from the Ancient ...

, similar to the one worn by the Roman deity,

Sol Invictus Sol Invictus (, "Unconquered Sun"), sometimes simply known as Helios, was long considered to be the official sun god of the later Roman Empire. In recent years, however, the scholarly community has become divided on Sol between traditionalists ...

. It is different from the Antoninianus because of the absence of the "XXI" that existed on pre-reform radiates, a symbol believed to have indicated a consistence of 20 parts bronze to 1 part

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

. The post-reform radiate had little or no silver content. The weight can vary between 2.23 and 3.44 grams.http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/diocletian/_cyzicus_RIC_015a.txt There also exists radiates of Maximian,

Constantius I Flavius Valerius Constantius "Chlorus" ( – 25 July 306), also called Constantius I, was Roman emperor from 305 to 306. He was one of the four original members of the Tetrarchy established by Diocletian, first serving as caesar from 293 t ...

, and

Galerius Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus (; 258 – May 311) was Roman emperor from 305 to 311. During his reign he campaigned, aided by Diocletian, against the Sasanian Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 299. He also campaigned across th ...

, Diocletian's co-rulers, in the same style.

References

Bibliography

Radiate on Forumancientcoins
Accessed on 13 September 2006

Accessed on 13 September 2006 290s establishments in the Roman Empire Coins of ancient Rome Diocletian Sol Invictus {{Ancient-Rome-stub

See also

References

Bibliography