Roman Empire, Constans, Siliqua

At the age of fifteen, Flavius Julius Constans became sole emperor of the western part of the Roman Empire (337-350). To secure the border on the Rhine River and to drive the Germanic tribes out of Gaul, he moved his court and parts of his army to Treves, today's Trier, in the 340s. This Siliquia was minted in Treves, as the letters TR on the coin's reverse indicate.

Around the mid-4th century, portraiture had developed a new style that would be prevail over the entire late Antiquity. The emperors were depicted as half busts on their coins now, clad in richly ornamented garments held by fibulas. Laurel wreaths were not in fashion any more; instead, the imperial heads wore pearl and rosette diadems.