#hostilian

[in-sempiternam]

[in-sempiternam]

Sims and Textposts pt.09

[twofielder]

Coin of the Day #274 (2/2/2025)

A scarce type of a scarce ruler…

Roman Province - Phrygia

AE25.5 - 7.45g

Hostilian as Caesar 250-251 AD

Apamea Mint

Obverse ΜΕCCΙΟΝ ΚΟΥΙΝΤΟΝ Κ

Bust of Hostilian right, draped, cuirassed, from front

Reverse Π CΤΡΑΤΟΝΙΚΙΑΝ ΠΑΝΗΓ ΑΠΑΜΕΩΝ

Athena standing left, holding shield and spear

RPC IX 816A

[romegreeceart]

Detail of Gande Ludovisi Sarcophagus depicting Decius’s younger son and caesar Hostilian,  who was left in Rome and consequently didn’t participate in a disastrous campaign against the Goths. New ruler, Trebonianus Gallus elevated Hostilian to augustus and co-emperor, but the youngster died just a couple of months later in November 251. The cause of his death is uncertain, plague is mentioned but it has been also speculated that Trebonianus Gallus had him murdered.

Source: I, Sailko [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0  (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

[theancientwayoflife]

~Pendant mounted with aureus of Hostilian. Culture: Roman Period: Imperial Period Date: about A.D. 250–251 Mint: Rome

[katarhema]

Day 33: Herennius Etruscus & Hostilian

The two sons of Decius, neither Herennius Etruscus nor Hostilian made any individual name for themselves. 

Herennius Etruscus was raised by Decius to be co-emperor with him not too long before they both died in battle.

Hostilian was back in Rome at the time, sitting around being the heir, so naturally when his father and brother died, the Senate confirmed him as emperor. Unfortunately for him, the army thought that its post-Decius leader, a guy called Trebonianus Gallus, should be the new emperor.

It just goes to show the balance of power at work here that the arrangement found was that Gallus would adopt Hostilian, even though Hostilian was the rightful emperor. Hostilian at the time was over 20 years old, so it's not like he was a little boy or anything.

In any event, Hostilian ostensibly became co-emperor with Gallus, but who knows how long that would have lasted had a plague not come through and made it a non-issue by killing off Hostilian. 

My favorite thing about Herennius Etruscus and Hostilian is that they are two legitimate emperors of Rome who are together so insignificant that you would essentially lose nothing by skipping over them entirely. But I didn't want to do that.