Item: i118415 Authentic Ancient Coin of:Licinius I - Roman Emperor 308-324 A.D. Bronze AE3 17mm (3.06 grams) Cyzicus mint, struck circa 317-320 A.D. Reference: RIC VII 9 IMP LICINIVS AVG,  laureate draped bust left holding mappa, orb and sceptre. IOVI  CONSERVATORI AVG G /(Palm Branch)/S/SMK, Nude Jupiter standing left, holding  Victory on a globe and scepter. You are  bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a  Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity. In  Roman mythology, Jupiter or Jove was the king of the gods,  and the god of sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in  the Greek pantheon. He was called Iuppiter (or Diespiter) Optimus Maximus ("Father God the Best and Greatest"). As the patron  deity of ancient Rome, he ruled over laws and social order. He was the  chief god of the Capitoline Triad, with sister/wife Juno. Jupiter is  also the father of the god Mars with Juno. Therefore, Jupiter is the  grandfather of Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome.  Jupiter was venerated in ancient Roman religion, and is still venerated  in Roman Neopaganism. He is a son of Saturn, along with brothers Neptune  and Pluto. He is also the brother/husband of Ceres (daughter of Saturn  and mother of Proserpina), brother of Veritas (daughter of Saturn), and  father of Mercury.Licinius I - Roman Emperor 308-324 A.D.| Husband of  Constantia | Father of Licinius II | Son-in-law of Theodora and (posthumously) Constantius I | Uncle of Delmatius, Hanniballianus, Constantius Gallus, Julian II and Nepotian | Half-brother-in-law of Constantine the Great | Licinius I (Latin: Gaius  Valerius Licinianus Licinius Augustus; c. 263-325) was a Roman  emperor from 308 to 324. For most of his reign he was the colleague and  rival of Constantine I, with whom he co-authored the Edict of Milan that  granted official toleration to Christians in the Roman Empire. He was  finally defeated at the Battle of Chrysopolis, before being executed on  the orders of Constantine I. Sculptural portraits of Licinius (left) and his rival Constantine I  (right). Born to a Dacian peasant family in Moesia Superior,  Licinius accompanied his close childhood friend, the future emperor  Galerius, on the Persian expedition in 298. He was trusted enough by  Galerius that in 307 he was sent as an envoy to Maxentius in Italy to  attempt to reach some agreement about the latter's illegitimate  political position. Galerius then trusted the eastern provinces to  Licinius when he went to deal with Maxentius personally after the death  of Flavius Valerius Severus. Upon his return to the east Galerius  elevated Licinius to the rank of Augustus in the West on November 11,  308. He received as his immediate command the provinces of Illyricum,  Thrace and Pannonia. In 310 he took command of the war against the  Sarmatians, inflicting a severe defeat on them and emerging victorious.  On the death of Galerius in May 311, Licinius entered into an agreement  with Maximinus II (Daia) to share the eastern provinces between them. By  this point, not only was Licinius the official Augustus of the  west but he also possessed part of the eastern provinces as well, as the  Hellespont and the Bosporus became the dividing line, with Licinius  taking the European provinces and Maximinus taking the Asian. An  alliance between Maximinus and Maxentius forced the two remaining  emperors to enter into a formal agreement with each other. So in March  313 Licinius married Flavia Julia Constantia, half-sister of Constantine  I, at Mediolanum (now Milan); they had a son, Licinius the Younger, in  315. Their marriage was the occasion for the jointly-issued "Edict of  Milan" that reissued Galerius' previous edict allowing Christianity to  be professed in the Empire, with additional dispositions that restored  confiscated properties to Christian congregations and exempted Christian  clergy from municipal civic duties. The redaction of the edict as  reproduced by Lactantius - who follows the text affixed by Licinius in  Nicomedia on June 14 313, after Maximinus' defeat - uses a neutral  language, expressing a will to propitiate "any Divinity whatsoever in  the seat of the heavens". Daia in the meantime decided to attack  Licinius. Leaving Syria with 70,000 men, he reached Bithyniaa, although  harsh weather he encountered along the way had gravely weakened his  army. In April 313, he crossed the Bosporus and went to Byzantium, which  was held by Licinius' troops. Undeterred, he took the town after an  eleven-day siege. He moved to Heraclea, which he captured after a short  siege, before moving his forces to the first posting station. With a  much smaller body of men, possibly around 30,000, Licinius arrived at  Adrianople while Daia was still besieging Heraclea. Before the decisive  engagement, Licinius allegedly had a vision in which an angel recited  him a generic prayer that could be adopted by all cults and which  Licinius then repeated to his soldiers. On 30 April 313, the two armies  clashed at the Battle of Tzirallum, and in the ensuing battle Daia's  forces were crushed. Ridding himself of the imperial purple and dressing  like a slave, Daia fled to Nicomedia. Believing he still had a chance to  come out victorious, Daia attempted to stop the advance of Licinius at  the Cilician Gates by establishing fortifications there. Unfortunately  for Daia, Licinius' army succeeded in breaking through, forcing Daia to  retreat to Tarsus where Licinius continued to press him on land and sea.  The war between them only ended with Daia's death in August 313. Given that Constantine had already crushed his rival Maxentius in 312,  the two men decided to divide the Roman world between them. As a result  of this settlement, Licinius became sole Augustus in the East, while his  brother-in-law, Constantine, was supreme in the West. Licinius  immediately rushed to the east to deal with another threat, this time  from the Persian Sassanids.Conflict with Constantine I In  314, a civil war erupted between Licinius and Constantine, in which  Constantine used the pretext that Licinius was harbouring Senecio, whom  Constantine accused of plotting to overthrow him. Constantine prevailed  at the Battle of Cibalae in Pannonia (October 8, 314). Although the  situation was temporarily settled, with both men sharing the consulship  in 315, it was but a lull in the storm. The next year a new war erupted,  when Licinius named Valerius Valens co-emperor, only for Licinius to  suffer a humiliating defeat on the plain of Mardia (also known as Campus  Ardiensis) in Thrace. The emperors were reconciled after these two  battles and Licinius had his co-emperor Valens killed. Over the  next ten years, the two imperial colleagues maintained an uneasy truce.  Licinius kept himself busy with a campaign against the Sarmatians in  318, but temperatures rose again in 321 when Constantine pursued some  Sarmatians, who had been ravaging some territory in his realm, across  the Danube into what was technically Licinius's territory. When he  repeated this with another invasion, this time by the Goths who were  pillaging Thrace, Licinius complained that Constantine had broken the  treaty between them. Constantine wasted no time going on the  offensive. Licinius's fleet of 350 ships was defeated by Constantine's  fleet in 323. Then in 324, Constantine, tempted by the "advanced age and  unpopular vices" of his colleague, again declared war against him and  having defeated his army of 170,000 men at the Battle of Adrianople  (July 3, 324), succeeded in shutting him up within the walls of  Byzantium. The defeat of the superior fleet of Licinius in the Battle of  the Hellespont by Crispus, Constantine's eldest son and Caesar,  compelled his withdrawal to Bithynia, where a last stand was made; the  Battle of Chrysopolis, near Chalcedon (September 18), resulted in  Licinius' final submission. While Licinius' co-emperor Sextus  Martinianus was killed, Licinius himself was spared due to the pleas of  his wife, Constantine's sister and interned at Thessalonica. The next  year, Constantine had him hanged, accusing him of conspiring to raise  troops among the barbarians.Character and legacy After  defeating Daia, he had put to death Flavius Severianus, the son of the  emperor Severus, as well as Candidianus, the son of Galerius. He also  ordered the execution of the wife and daughter of the Emperor  Diocletian, who had fled from the court of Licinius before being  discovered at Thessalonica. As part of Constantine's attempts to  decrease Licinius's popularity, he actively portrayed his brother-in-law  as a pagan supporter. This was not the case; contemporary evidence tends  to suggest that he was at least a committed supporter of Christians. He  co-authored the Edict of Milan which ended the Great Persecution, and  re-affirmed the rights of Christians in his half of the empire. He also  added the Christian symbol to his armies, and attempted to regulate the  affairs of the Church hierarchy just as Constantine and his successors  were to do. His wife was a devout Christian. It is even a possibility  that he converted. However, Eusebius of Caesarea, writing under the rule  of Constantine, charges him with expelling Christians from the Palace  and ordering military sacrifice, as well as interfering with the  Church's internal procedures and organization. According to Eusebius,  this turned what appeared to be a committed Christian into a man who  feigned sympathy for the sect but who eventually exposed his true  bloodthirsty pagan nature, only to be stopped by the virtuous  Constantine. Finally, on Licinius's death, his memory was branded  with infamy; his statues were thrown down; and by edict, all his laws  and judicial proceedings during his reign were abolished.Frequently Asked Questions Mr. Ilya Zlobin, world-renowned expert numismatist, enthusiast, author and dealer in authentic ancient Greek, ancient Roman, ancient Byzantine, world coins & more.Who am I dealing with? You are dealing with Ilya Zlobin, ancient coin expert, enthusiast, author and dealer with an online store having a selection of over 15,000 items with great positive feedback from verified buyers and over 10 years experience dealing with over 57,000 ancient and world coins and artifacts. Ilya Zlobin is an independent individual who has a passion for coin collecting, research and understanding the importance of the historical context and significance all coins and objects represent. Most others are only concerned with selling you, Ilya Zlobin is most interested in educating you on the subject, and providing the largest selection, most professional presentation and service for the best long-term value for collectors worldwide creating returning patrons sharing in the passion of ancient and world coin collecting for a lifetime. How long until my order is shipped? Orders are shipped by the next business day (after receipt of payment) most of the time. 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