Welcome to another edition of Coin Relief. In this issue, Andrew Brown discusses the coinage of Trajan Decius and his family.

Trajan Decius and family, AD 249-251

In an effort to restore stability along the Danube, particularly as a result of Gothic incursion, Philip I placed the legions there under the command of Quintus Decius Valerianus as governor of the provinces of Moesia and Pannonia. Decius was a native of Pannonia Inferior, from near Sirmium (in modern day Serbia), and had held office as a senator, consul in AD 232, and as governor of Moesia, Germania Inferior, and Hispania Tarraconensis, as well as urban prefect in Rome under Philip. While Philip’s plan to resolve the issue of invading Goths was a success in that Decius was able to restore a little stability and quell potential rebellion brought about by the likes of Pacatianus, the trade-off was that the legions on the Danube put their support behind Decius and declared him emperor. The armies of the two men apparently met at Beroea in Macedonia during the autumn of AD 249, with Philip killed in battle and Decius assuming the purple – if we are to follow Zosimus this seems to have been with some reluctance though (Zosimus I.22).

Upon becoming emperor, Decius adopted the name Traianus (Trajan) rather than using his full name of Gaius Messius Quintus Decius Valerianus. This was in part a recognition of his own origins and support base in the Danube region, but more importantly to create a link to, and out of respect for, the emperor Trajan who a century earlier had been instrumental in this region being incorporated into the Roman empire. Indeed, is it fascinating to see reflections of this in Decius’ coinage, where his links to Dacia, Pannonia, and Illyria generally are often reiterated on the reverse types issued. In one issue of coins at Rome (see below), eleven of the deified emperors that preceded him are honoured, potentially providing him an important association to Rome and the empire. These strong links created in particular with one of the greatest of Roman emperors and with the legions and peoples of the Danube region who brought him to power were no doubt designed to secure his position.

Decius’ rule was not just confined to him as emperor, but was also shared with his immediate family through the creation of an Imperial dynasty that ultimately lasted little more than two years. Alongside Decius was his wife Herennia Etruscilla, a member of the Italian aristocracy, and with them two sons, Quintus Herennius Etruscus Messius Decius (Herennius
Etruscus) and Gaius Valens Hostilianus Messius Quintus (Hostilian).

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