Silvered Bronze - AE Follis, Ancient Rome, c. 310-313 AD
Ruler: Maximinus II (as Augustus)
Obv: Laureate bust of Maximinus II, right
Rev: Genius of the Emperors
Mint: Alexandria, struck 310 AD
Sear R-14852, 25mm, 6.79gm
Exceptional portrait, well struck
Maximinus II, also known as Maximinus Daza, was Roman Emperor from 308 to 313. He became embroiled in the Civil wars of the Tetrarchy between rival claimants for control of the empire, in which he was defeated by Licinius.
Maximinus II was born of Dacian peasant stock to the sister of the emperor Galerius near their family lands around Felix Romuliana, a rural area then in the Danubian region of Moesia, now Eastern Serbia. He rose to high distinction after joining the army.
In 305, his maternal uncle Galerius became the eastern Augustus and adopted Maximinus, raising him to the rank of Caesar (in effect, the junior eastern Emperor), and granting him the government of Syria and Egypt. A committed pagan, he engaged in one of the last persecutions of Christians, before issuing an edict of tolerance near his death. Maximinus was the last Roman emperor, and thus the last individual, to hold the title of pharoah, making his death the end of a 3,400-year-old office.
