Notes on the Coinage of Julian the Apostate

Author(s): Frank D. Gilliard

Source: The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 54, Parts 1 and 2 (1964), pp. 135-141
Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
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 NOTES ON THE COINAGE OF JULIAN THE APOSTATE
By FRANK D. GILLIARD
(Plate X)

Julian the Apostate is one of the best-known figures of Roman imperial history. Perhaps
for this very reason, what is not known about him is all the more tantalizing. Some of the
gaps in our knowledge of his life may be filled by analysis of the coins struck between 355
and 363, the eight years during which he was either Caesar or Augustus. The study of his
coinage is in its infancy, but it is to be hoped that the forthcoming publication of the relevant
volume of Roman Imperial Coinage will present to students a satisfactory corpus of coins,
without which any study must be provisional.1

I. THE BEARD

The relationship of Julian's beard to the chronology of his reign has long been recog-
nized, particularly by numismatists.2 Some sixty years ago Babelon published a study in
which he dealt in detail not only with the relevance of beardless versus bearded portraits of
the emperor, but also with the chronological implications of the length of the beard.3
There is a large amount of primary information about the emperor's whiskers, which allows
a degree of certainty one might prefer on other, more vital topics.
Troublesome affairs throughout the empire required Constantius to seek the aid of his
cousin Julian, whose brother Gallus Caesar had only recently been executed ignominiously
after serving in the East for three years.4 Constantius was interested in sending to Gaul a
Caesar who would apparently stand in loco imperatoris in the eyes of the army and the
barbarians, while being in fact merely a figurehead. So Julian was recalled to Milan from
Athens, whence he came wearing a Greek mantle (pallium) and a beard.5 Some years later
Julian himself described the ensuing preparation of his person which enabled him better to
act as a representative of the emperor: ' For when I firmly declined all intercourse with the
palace, some of them, as though they had come together in a barber's shop, cut off my beard
and dressed me in a military cloak [X;acvia = paludamentum] and transformed me into a
highly ridiculous soldier, as they thought at the time .6 Julian was well aware of the role he
was to play, for he went on to say concerning Constantius that ' . . . about the summer
solstice he allowed me to join the army and to carry about with me his dress and image. And
indeed he had both said and written that he was not giving the Gauls a king but one who
should convey to them his image'.7 There is no reason to doubt Julian when, in the same
letter, he protests that he had been a loyal Caesar and acted deferentially toward Constantius,
'as I would have chosen that my own son should behave to me '.8 Such deference would
require that Julian remain clean-shaven.
After Julian was proclaimed Augustus against his will in the late winter of 359/360 9
he adopted, at least publicly, a subordinate attitude to Constantius and attempted to reach
a peaceful settlement regarding the empire's division between the two Augusti.10 During
this time, however, it became increasingly clear to him that conflict was inevitable,11 and he
1 This paper is based on the coins of the American 8
28oD; cf. Wright, op. cit. (above, n. 6) vol. i,
Numismatic Society, augmented by the Society's xiv, also cf. Julian, op. cit., 27iD for his comparison
collection of photographs from auction catalogues. of his own attitude with that of Gallus.,
2 See, for example, E. Babelon, ' L'iconographie 9Amm. Marc. 20, 4; cf. Julian, op. cit., z84C.
mon6taire de Julien i'Apostat', RN ser. 4, vol. 7 Perhaps the best proof that Julian was reluctant to
(1903), I30-I63 ; Comte de Castellane, ' Sou d'or accept the army's acclamation is that the Christian
de Julien l'Apostat frappe a Antioche en 363 ', RN historian Sozomen (5, 2)-no friend of the pagan
ser. 4, vol. 27 (I924), 29-32. emperor-accepted the tradition of his unwillingness
3 op. cit. in this regard.
4 Amm. Marc. I 5, 8, i. 10 Julian, op. cit., 28oD, 285D ; Amm. Marc.
5ibid. 20, 4, i6; 20, 8, 4-i8, and passim ; cf. Julian Au-
6 Ep. ad Ath., 274C. This and following transla- gustus coins of this time, (P1. X, no. i), with legend
tions of Julian and Ammianus are from the Loeb VICTORIA DD NN AVG (sic); the VICTORIA
editions of Wilmer C. Wright, The Works of the AVGVSTORVM coins do not refer to Julian and
Emperor Julian, 3 vols. (London, I9I3-23) and Constantius, but to the general concept of Augusti.
John C. Rolfe, Ammianus Marcellinuts, 3 vols. This is based on the fact that coins with this legend
(London, I935-39). are found for Julian Caesar, struck at Antioch. They
7 Op. cit., 278A ; cf. J. Bidez, La vie de l'Empereur must have been approved by Constantius.
3'ulien (Paris, I930), I30-82. " Amm. Marc. 2I, i, i and 6.

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 I36 FRANK D. GILLIARD

was probably concerned about support for his cause in the extra-Gallic provinces.12 At
such a critical time it is extremely unlikely that Julian would have worn a beard, a symbol
of pagan philosophers and a departure from the precedent set by Constantine the Great.
Nor could he afford to appear other than beardless when he was contesting the empire with
his cousin, whose propitious death finally gave him full control of the state. At last Julian
was freed from fear of exposing himself as a pagan, which he had been since 351.13 Babelon
was right when he wrote that after Constantius' death on 3 November 36I, Julian, universally
recognized as sole emperor, remained beardless for some weeks. Only after his arrival at
Constantinople on i i December 36I did he begin again to let his beard grow as he had when
he studied philosophy.14 From then on Julian wore a beard, which, at least toward the end
of his life, he trimmed to make it pointed.'5
We may therefore draw up a rather exact chronology of the development of Julian's
beard. Julian Caesar was beardless (6 November 355 to ca. February 360); Julian as
co-Augustus also had no beard (ca. February 360 to 3 November 36I) ; shortly after his
entry into Constantinople (i i December 36I), Julian as sole Augustus let his beard grow. It
is probable and also convenient to consider that by about i January 362 Julian was bearded.

11. THE VOTA COINAGE

Since much work remains to be done on the problems surrounding the public vows of
Roman emperors in general,16 it is not surprising that the vota publica of Julian do not
present a clear picture to a student of his reign. Ammianus relates that Constantius named
his younger cousin Caesar' on the sixth of November of the year when Arbetio and Lollianus
were consuls', that is, 355.17 The vota V coinage of Julian Caesar must be assigned to the
period between 6 November 355, when he was named Caesar, and February (?) 18 360, when
he was proclaimed Augustus.
Julian, 'being now an Augustus ', celebrated ' quinquennial games' at Vienne toward
the end of the year 360, probably on the anniversary of his original appointment by Con-
stantius to the purple, 6 November.19 This celebration at Vienne undoubtedly marked the
completion of Julian's five-year vows; it would have been the proper time for a new susceptio,
his first as Augustus. The abundant issue of vota X coinage probably began about this time.
The vota V coinage, therefore, should show beardless representations of Julian Caesar
and Julian Augustus. Furthermore, the Julian Augustus-vota V pieces should be found only
from Gallic mints, since Constantius had control of all the other mints until late in 36I. The
very active mints of Lugdunum and Arelate, controlled by Julian since 355, confirm these
expectations. Neither of these mints shows a vota V legend with a bearded figure, and both
of them issued coins of a beardless Julian Augustus with the legend VOT X. A die-link
from Lugdunum published by Kent and showing a VOT V and a VOT X piece, each
bearing the same beardless portrait, supports the view that the change from vota V to vota X
occurred during the time of the beardless Julian Augustus.20
Siliquae from Treveri and Sirmium may appear to disprove the above chronology, but
they really raise no substantial objections. The obverse of a siliqua from Treveri shows a
bearded Julian with legend FL CL IVLIANVS PP AVG. The reverse has VOTIS V

12 ibid. 21, 2, 3-4.
13
K. J. Neumann, ' Das Geburtsjahr Kaiser
Iulians ', Philologus 50 (I89I), 76I-2.
14 Babelon, op. cit. (above, n. 2), I40: 'Apres la
mort de Constance, le 3 novembre 36I, Julien,
reconnu universellement comme seul empereur,
resta pendant quelques semaines encore imberbe.
Ce fut seulement apres son entree 'a Constantinople,
le ii novembre 36I, qu'il se remit a laisser croitre sa
barbe comme au temps oiu il jouait au philosophe.'
Babelon inadvertently gave the second date as well as
the first in this passage as November, although
Ammianus clearly says iI December 36I (22, 2, 4).
For the dismissal of the palace barbers see Amm.
Marc. 22, 4, 9-10.
15 Amm. Marc.
25, 4, 22.
16 See Harold Mattingly,' The Imperial" Vota"',
PBA 36 (1950), I55-195 and 37 (I95I), 219-268 for a
listing of numismatic and literary information relative
to imperial vota of the first five centuries.
17 I5, 8, 17.
18 Otto Seeck, Regesten der Kaiser und Pdpste
(Stuttgart, 1919), 207.
19 Amm. Marc. 21, I, 4.
20 J. p. C. Kent, 'An Introduction to the Coinage
of Julian the Apostate ', NC ser. 6, vol. i9 (1959),
Plate xi, nos. 5 and 6. If my argument is correct,
however, Kent (pp. i i0ff.) has misdated the vota
issues of Julian. The quinquennial games referred
to in Amm. Marc. 21, I, 4 celebrated the completion,
not the inauguration, of a five-year period. For
example, cf. the vicennalia celebration by Constantine
in 325: Eus., V. Const. 3, 15.

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JRS vol. LIv (I964) PLATE X

I 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13

COINS ILLUSTRATING SOME TYPES OF JULIAN: (I) JULIAN BEARDLESS/VICTORIA DD NN AVG. (2) JULIAN BEARDLESS/
VOTIS V (WITHOUT EAGLE). (3) JULIAN BEARDED/VOT x (WITH EAGLE). (4) JULIAN BEARDED/EAGLE WITH WREATH.
(5-9) THE APIS BULL ON COINISOF: (?) SECOND CENTURY (5), DOMITIAN (6), TRAJAN (7), HADRIAN (8), AND
ANTONINUS PIUS (9). (10) SERAPIS ISSUE OF JULIAN. (I I) RHESCUPORIS VI OF BOSPORUS/EAGLE CROWNING RULER.
(I2) RHESCUPORIS VI/VICTORY CROWNING RULER. (13) JULIAN/EAGLE AND BULL (see pp. 135, 137, 139, 141)
Photographsby courtesyof the AmiericanNumismaticSociety. Copyrighit
reserved

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 NOTES ON THE COINAGE OF JULIAN THE APOSTATE 137
MVLTIS X enwreathed, with TR in the exergue. The coin is not significant, however.
Treveri declined steadily in importance after Magnentius' fall in 353 and issued no coins
under Jovian.21 This decline, the few extant pieces, and the unstable conditions which
surrounded such a frontier-mint suggest that the silver coin here described was anomalous.
The explanation of the Sirmium silver coins depicting a bearded Julian and having as a
reverse legend VOTIS V MVLTIS X must be that they are mules. The mint of Sirmium
did not fall into Julian's hands until at least October 36i.22 Julian had long before celebrated
his quinquennalia, and only the legend VOTIS X was correct. The bearded portrait dates
the coin to no earlier than January 362, SO Sirmium most likely used reverse dies in 362
which had been cut for the years when Julian was Caesar. If the number of extant mules
involving vota coins is any indication, the joining of the correct vota reverse die with its
proper obverse portrait and legend was done cavalierly. The several examples of coins with
Julian on the obverse with a vota XXX reverse legend are undoubtedly a mixture of the dies
of Julian and Constantius.23
The issues of semisses by the mint at Antioch and bearing VOT XX on the obverse
must be placed in another category. Of five specimens, three obverse and three reverse dies
are discernible. One obverse legend reads IVLIA-NVS AVG, while the others read
IVLIAN-VS AVG. No convincing explanation of these coins is apparent. Perhaps they
commemorate special vows undertaken by Julian to inaugurate his fourth consulship.

III. THE EAGLE

An eagle, often with a wreath in his beak, is a not unfamiliar motif on imperial coins.
For example, in the fourth century coins of Thessalonica, whose obverses show either
Licinius or Constantine and whose reverses bear a type of Jupiter holding a Victory, show
also on the reverse an eagle-with-wreath standing on the same level as Jupiter.24 From the
mint at Arelate at about the same time come reverse types and legends similar to those of
Thessalonica, but showing no eagle.25 Later coins of Constantine struck at Thessalonica do
not bear an eagle,26 so probably the eagle in these cases was only an appurtenance of Jupiter,
and not even a necessary one. The vota coinage for Constantine from Arelate gives no indica-
tion of an eagle in the wreaths encircling the vota 27 and apparently there were no eagles on
the coins from Arelate and Lugdunum minted for the successors of Constantine. Further-
more, no eagle appears on Jovian's vota coinage from Arelate.
There are no eagles on vota V silver coins of Julian from Arelate, but all his vota X
silver coins minted there show an eagle.28 The reformed bronze centenionales and maiorinae
of Arelate all show an eagle, except a very few of the latter, which depict only a wreath where
the others show the eagle.29 One issue of Julian's solidi from Arelate shows an eagle in its
full form, i.e. holding a wreath in its mouth.30 No other gold issue depicts an eagle.
The silver issues date the appearance of the eagle at Arelate, while the gold issue reveals
the meaning of the eagle. Since no eagle appears on vota V silver coins of Arelate and since
all vota X silver coins of Arelate show the bird, it seems likely that the eagle was introduced
at the time of Julian's decennial vows, ca. 6 November 360. The significance of the eagle is
especially clear on the one gold issue: it is a symbol of Jupiter proffering the crown to the
conquering hero, Julian.31 It is no mere coincidence that the one gold issue of Arelate which
depicts an eagle is a special issue of Julian Augustus. The reverse legend of this issue,

21
J. W. E. Pearce, The Roman Imperial Coinage 9
(London, I95'), 3.
22 Amm. Marc. 2I, IO.
23 cf. Kent, op. cit. (above, n. 20), III-II2.
24 Patrick Bruun, Studies in Constantinian Chrono-
logy: Numismatic Notes and Monographs No. I46
(New York, I96I), Plate ii, p-u; cf. pp. I8 f.
25 ibid., The Constantinian Coinage of Arelate
(Helsinki, 1953), Plate III, nos. I I-13.
26
ibid., op. cit. (above, n. 24), Plate VIII, no. 317.
27
ibid., op. cit. (above, n. 25), Plates v and vi,
passim.
28 Plate x, nos. z and 3 ; Kent, op. cit. (above
n. 20), Plate xi, no. I2, shows a bearded portrait-
VOT X siliqua of Arelate, which he describes as
without an eagle in the wreath. The upper wreath is
mutilated, however, and the presence or absence of
an eagle is unclear.
29 Georg Elmer, ' Die Kupfergeldreform unter
Julianus Philosophus ', NZ N.F. 30 (I937), 34. I have
not seen any of the maiorinae which show a wreath
vice an eagle-with-wreath.
30 Plate x, no. 4.
31 cf. Soz. 5, I7: 'And on the public images he
took care that next to him should appear Jupiter, as
if coming from heaven and presenting to him the
imperial insignia, the crown and the purple. Or he
would show Mars or Mercury gazing at him as if to
testify that he was skilled in words and warfare.'

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I38 FRANK D. GILLIARD

VIRTVS EX-ERC GALL, is an admission of Julian's debt to the Gallic forces which elected
him. Apparently only Arelate and Lugdunum issued this series, whose bearded portrait
shows it to post-date 36I. It is noteworthy that on the Lugdunum issue of this type a star
appears where the mint at Arelate places an eagle-with-wreath. The Lugdunum mint,
influenced perhaps by the issue of Arelate, felt that something belonged in this area of the
field.
Why Arelate, and not Lugdunum also, should consistently employ the eagle is not clear.
There are, however, indications that the mint at Lugdunum was not considered as important
as that at Arelate. Except for the one commemorative gold issue, VIRTVS EX-ERC GALI,
the mint at Lugdunum seems not to have issued gold coins when Julian was sole Augustus,
although there are gold Lugdunum issues of the vota V-Julian Augustus period. There are
many extant solidi of the bearded Julian-VIRTVS EXERCITVS ROMANORVM type
minted at Antioch, Arelate, Constantinople, Rome, Sirmium, and Thessalonica. If
Lugdunum had been striking gold at this time, some examples of this issue probably would
have survived. The priority of the mint at Arelate also is suggested, though for a slightly
later time, because it alone of the Gallic mints struck for Jovian, Julian's immediate
successor. 32
To summarize: the eagle begins to appear on the coinage of Arelate about November
360 as a reminder that Julian's imperial authority was derived from a heavenly source.
Furthermore, the commemorative issue may imply that the Gallic army was the agent
employed by Jupiter to confer power on Julian.

IV. THE BULL

By far the most interesting aspect of the coinage of Julian the Apostate is the appearance
on the larger pieces of his reformed bronze coinage of a bull, always with the legend
SECVRITAS REI PVB. The unusual nature of the bull coinage was the subject of even
contemporary remark. As Julian himself said to the Antiochenes, ' . . . you insult your own
sovereign, yes, even the very hairs on his chin and the devices engraved on his coins '33
and both Socrates and Sozomen say that the Antiochenes made fun specifically of the bull
device. Socrates further explains that Julian had the bulls engraved on his coins as a symbol
of the many pagan sacrifices he made.34 Sozomen offers no explanation of the bull coinage,
and Socrates throws his whole theory in doubt by stating that Julian ordered the impression
of a bull and altar to be made on his coins.35 So far no bull coin of Julian has been discovered
which also represents an altar.
The most commonly accepted explanation of the bull device is that it represents the
Apis bull, which Ammianus tells us was discovered in Egypt in 362.36 Among others,
Eckhel,37 Babelon,38 Stein,39 and Mattingly 40 accept the Apis bull explanation, but they
deduce from it nothing of consequence. This is not true, however, in the case of Georg
Elmer, who relied on the device's identification as the Apis bull to date Julian's reform of
the bronze coinage.41
In 1954 Kent openly questioned the Apis bull interpretation, and suggested in its
stead the notion that a passage from a speech of Dio Chrysostom, comparing a good emperor
to a bull guarding a herd, provided the ' philosophical symbolism ' which Julian-' obstinate
and unrealistic to the point of irresponsibility '-accepted for his coins.42 Kent's suspicions
of the Apis bull are well-founded, but his alternative explanation, including its assessment of
Julian's character, is not very tenable. Kent himself saw that this esoteric symbol ' would
have been. . . certainly incomprehensible to most of Julian's subjects, who looked for a
direct message, and not an involved metaphor, on their coinage.'43

32 Pearce, op. cit. (above, n. 2I), 3, 35, 54. 39 Ernst Stein, Histoire du Bas-Empire I (Paris,
33 Misop., 355D. I959), I63.
34 Soc. 3, I7; Soz. 5, I9; cf. Amm. Marc. 40 Harold Mattingly, Roman Coins (London, I960),
22, I2, I6. 240.
35 Soc. 3, I7. Elmer, op. cit. (above, n. 29), 26 ff.
41
36 22,
I4, 6. J. P. C. Kent, ' Notes on Some Fourth-Century
42
37 Joseph Eckhel, Doctrina Numorum Veterum part Coin Types', NC ser. 6, vol. i4 (I954), 2I6-2I7
2, vol. 8 (Vienna, I798), I33. Dio Chrys., Or. 2, 66.
38 Babelon, op. cit. (above, n. 2), I44, I48. 43 Kent, op. cit., 2I7.

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 NOTES ON THE COINAGE OF JULIAN THE APOSTATE I39
In his recent article on the Apis bull, Hermann implies that he, too, is unwilling to
accept Julian's bull as the Apis bull. Obviously aware of the application of numismatic
material to his topic,44 Hermann maintains that the Apis bull of Ammianus is the last Apis
bull on record, but he finds it unnecessary even to mention the coinage of Julian in this
regard.
The Apis bull thesis has been accepted only because of the account in Ammianus of
Julian's receiving a letter ' from the governor of Egypt, reporting that after a laborious
search for a new Apis bull, they had finally, after a time, been able to find one, which (in the
belief of the people of that region) is an indication of prosperity, fruitful crops, and various
blessings.'45 Ammianus' words, ' ut earum regionum existimant incolae', imply that
public awareness of the importance of the Apis bull was geographically limited. Indeed, he
even thought it necessary to explain just what an Apis bull was.46
It is unlikely that Julian would have been so impractical as to mint throughout the
empire coins whose symbolism was unintelligible to the majority of his subjects. Apis bulls
had long before been represented on Roman imperial coinage. At least from the time of
Nero, perhaps as early as Gaius, down into the reign of Antoninus Pius the type of the Apis
bull was consistent and easily recognizable.47 It comprised a bull facing right or left, almost
always showing the crescent moon on its side, a disc between its horns, and an altar before
it.48 Invariably the mint was Alexandria. Why would Julian have made such marked
deviations from precedents established so early and so definitively ?
Veneration of the Apis bull was a subordinate aspect of the large and important cult of
Serapis-Osiris.49 Julian certainly knew of the Serapis cult, but it is significant that, of all his
writings, only letters to Egypt mention Serapis.50 Although this Ptolemaic cult spread
widely outside Egypt, its greatest effect was in Rome and Italy.5' It is understandable, then,
that the small bronze Serapis coins of Julian's reign were limited to the mints of Alexandria
and Rome.52 If he had the restraint to limit in such a way his Serapis coinage, he would not
have so widely struck and distributed money impressed with the image of a minor figure of
the cult.
Even less likely is the possibility that the bull on the coins was intended to represent a
Mithraic bull. The bull of Mithra was not an heroic or auspicious figure, and there is no
iconographic connection between the bull of the coins and the Mithraic bulls, which almost
without exception are depicted as being slain or carried by the god Mithra.53
The best explanation of the bull coinage would be one which (i) can be supported by
Julian's own writings; (2) can explain not only the bull but also the two stars, whose
unvarying position and number almost demand that they have a specific connotation;
(3) can connect the legend and type directly with Julian, just as most reverse types and
legends of the fourth century are connected with the person of the emperor; 54 and
(4) would have been intelligible to a wide audience.
To my mind, the most attractive solution to the problem is that the bull was intended
as an astrological representation of the emperor, who was (it seems likely) born under the
zodiacal sign of Taurus. The precise date of Julian's birth is not absolutely certain, but in
i 89I Neumann, with as much precision as the sources allow, established that it fell some time
in May 332.55 If this is accepted, pure chance would give odds of better than two to one
that Julian was born before 22 May, and was, consequently, a ' Taurus .'56
44 Alfred Hermann, 'Der letzte Apisstier ', JbAC 51 J. Toutain, Les cultes paiens dans l'empire romain
3 (ig60), p. 36, notes 29 and 30, and p. 37, notes 32, 2 (Paris, 19I'), 33.
35, and 39. 52 Plate x, no. Io.
22, 14, 6. 5 Especially for these reasons Hermann Thieler,
46 22, 14, 7. 'Der Stier auf den Gross Kupferm{unzen des
47 Plate x, nos. 5-9. Julianus Apostata (355-360-363 n. Chr.) ', Berliner
48 Amm. Marc. 22, 14, 7 notes that the Apis bull, Numismatische Zeitschrift 27 (i 962), 49-54, is not
sacred to the moon, was distinguished most con- convincing with his argument that the bull of the
spicuously by a crescent moon on its right side. coins is a Mithraic bull. See Franz Cumont, Textes
49 Pietschmann, 'Apis', P-W, RE I (1894), et monumentsfigures relatifs aix mysteres de Mithra 2
2807-2809; Cyril Bailey, Phases in the Religion of (Brussels, i899), fig. 8o, for a bowl showing both the
Ancient Rome (Berkeley, 1932), i98 ff. ; Franz tauroctonous and taurophorous Mithra.
Cumont, The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, 5 cf. Kent, op. cit. (above, n. 42), 2I7.
trans. Grant Showerman (New York, 1956), 73-102. 55 Neumann, op. cit. (above, n. 13), 762, which is
50 Epp. 6, 376A; 10, 378D-380D; 51, 432D- based on the heading to Anth. Pal. 14, 148 and Amm.
435A. (I have followed the numbering system of Marc. 25, 3, 23. There is room for disputation about
Hertlein's Teubner edition, Leipzig, 1875-6.) Julian's birthday. Just how much room can be

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I40 FRANK D. GILLIARD

' The fourth century was an age in which everyone, pagan and Christian alike, dabbled
in astrology.'57 The pervasive influence of this pseudo-science, remarkable in our own day,
must have been even more powerful in the years before a well-founded scientific scepticism
existed to test the postulates on which astrology is based.58 It is not surprising, therefore,
that the early-fourth-century neo-Platonist lamblichus, whom Julian especially revered,
wrote a book entitled Concerning the All-powerful Chaldaean Theology.59 Of lamblichus,
Julian himself says, ' I arrived at the threshold of philosophy to be initiated therein by the
teaching of one whom I consider superior to all the men of my own time.' 60
The tenor of the times and the educational background of Julian obviate any surprise at
the large number of astrological references in the emperor's writings.61 Two passages in
particular give clues to his acquaintance with astral doctrines. In the first he says: ' From
my earliest years I abandoned all else without exception and gave myself up to the beauties
of the heavens; nor did I understand what anyone might say to me, nor heed what I was
doing myself. I was considered to be overcurious about these matters and to pay too much
attention to them, and people went so far as to regard me as an astrologer when my beard
had only just begun to grow. And yet I call heaven to witness, never had a book on this
subject come into my hands; nor did I as yet even know what that science was.' 62 Here
Julian clearly implies that he did delve into astrological treatises, but only after attaining
young manhood. These works obviously affected him, especially those of his master
lamblichus. In the second passage, we get some indication of his respect for the writings of
one of the early empire's most famous astrologers, Thrasyllus.63 In a letter to Themistius he
says, 'Thrasyllus by becoming intimate with the harsh and naturally cruel tyrant Tiberius
would have incurred indelible disgrace for all time, had he not cleared himself in the writings
he left behind and so shown his true character. .' 64 Further, Ammianus indicates that
Julian may have been capable of casting horoscopes,65 and we may infer that the emperor
had more than a layman's knowledge of such a chart: ' Again at Vienne ... when he went to
sleep . . . a gleaming form appeared and recited to him plainly . .. the following heroic
verses . . . and trusting to these, he believed that no difficulty remained to trouble him
'When Zeus the noble Aquarius' bound shall reach,
And Saturn come to Virgo's twenty-fifth degree,
Then shall Constantius, king of Asia, of this life
So sweet the end attain with heaviness and grief.' 66
Regardless of his personal commitment to astrological beliefs, however, Julian would
certainly have taken advantage of astrology's wide influence to spread his religious pro-
gramme of Hellenism. This is not the place to attempt any sort of comprehensive examina-
tion of his own religious convictions and aims, but some general remarks are in order.
Julian, who was an adherent of the neo-Platonic school of philosophy, which was increasingly
tinged by mysticism, endeavoured to strengthen the state by stressing his subjects' common
heritage of ' Hellenism '. He surely did not believe in the old Olympic pantheon, but he
would gladly employ the Homeric gods and myths in his programmes.67 One scholar has
ascertained from Norman Baynes, ' The Early Life 59 TrEpi- &riS
-rEjEoTjs XaM8aiKis NoXoyiaS,on which
of Julian the Apostate ', JHS 45 (1925), 251-254 and see Kroll, s.v., ' Iamblichos', P-W, RE 9 (1914),
Eberhard Richtsteig, 'Einige Daten aus dem Leben 645-651.
Kaisers Julians', PhW 51 (I93I), 428. I think, 60 Julian, Or. 7, 235A; cf. Or. 4, 146A and 5,
however, that Neumann's conclusions are valid, for I72D.
they alone reconcile the bulk of our most explicit 61For example: Or. I, ioC, 13D; 4, I3oD,
and trustworthy information, i.e. Ammianus, Julian, 135B, 139B, 140A, 143B, 146C, 148C, 1s6B; 5, I6ID,
and the Palatine Anthology. 172D, 173A; Ep. ad Them., 265C; Frag. ep., 295A.
56 It can be plausibly argued, however, that we 62 Or. 4, I 30D (my italics): o08i hiTrIaTTaIIXV 6 TriTrOrE
cannot know for sure whether Julian thought of T T6 XpiWj&rrco -r6TrE.Cf. Or. 4, I3IB and 5, I72D.
himself as a ' Taurus ' because at his birth the sun 6 See W. Gundel, P-W, RE 6A (1936), 581-584,
was in Taurus, the moon was in Taurus, or the rising s.v., where Thrasyllus is called a ' Forscher und
sign was Taurus. (Cf. J. G. Smyly, 'The Second Philosoph '.
Book of Manilius ', HermathenaI7 (I913), 150-9.) 6 4265C.
Nevertheless, Julian's neo-Platonism and his im- 6
2I, I, 6.
passioned praises of Helios lead one to believe that he 66 Amm. Marc. 21, 2, 2.
would have considered himself a solar Taurus. 67 cf. Julian, Or. 5, s7oB, where he says: 'For
57 Kenneth M. Setton, Christian Attitude Towards I think ordinary men derive benefit enough from the
the Emperor in the Fourth Century (New York, 1941), irrational myth which instructs them through symbols
6I . alone.' Also cf. ibid., Frag. ep., 293A.
58 cf. Lynn Thorndike, A History of Magic and
ExperimentalScience I (New York, 1923), 513.

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 NOTES ON THE COINAGE OF JULIAN THE APOSTATE I4I
said that Julian ' sought to co-ordinate every national and local cult, so as to make a pagan
mythology which would be the historical foundation of religion.'68 Astrological symbolism,
with its close connections with Mithraic and other pagan worship, would be eminently
suited to deliver his message to diverse groups.
I therefore conclude that the bull of the coins is a zodiacal representation of Julian.
The connotations of the bull symbol must have been much as Kent suggested when
he called attention to Dio Chrysostom's comparison of a good ruler to a bull guarding
his herd.69 The invariable legend of these coins, SECVRITAS REI PVB, must refer
to the security which results from the guardianship of the emperor. It seems certain that the
two stars above the bull have a zodiacal reference. The constellation Taurus, which is
represented as only the forepart of a bull, is composed of two major star clusters, the Hyades
(in the face) and the Pleiades (in the neck). The star between the horns of the bull on the
coin probably stands for Aldebaran (a constituent of the Hyades and the only first magnitude
star in the constellation Taurus), while the other star represents the entire group of the
Pleiades. In the fourth century, as today, the easiest method of locating the constellation
Taurus would have been to find the Hyades and Pleiades.70
Convincing confirmation that the bull of the coins refers directly to the person of the
emperor is found in the coins of Arelate. There the mint began to symbolize Jupiter's role
in Julian's election by including an eagle on most of its coinage; and on the gold coinage the
full eagle with a wreath in its beak is clearly offering a victory wreath to the conquering
Julian.71 The symbolism is the same on the bull coinage of Arelate: an eagle, using its beak,
is offering a wreath to the bull, whom the Gauls must have considered as representing the
emperor.72 (Such symbolism was, of course, unique neither to Julian nor to the Mediter-
ranean basin, as is shown by coins of Rhescuporis VI of Bosporus. One series of his, dated in
322, shows an eagle crowning a Roman emperor with a wreath, while another series, of 326,
shows a Nike in the same attitude.73)
An acceptance of the zodiacal explanation of the bull coinage of Julian has implications
beyond the mere correct attribution of a peculiar symbolic device of the pagan emperor.
Two points, in particular, come to mind. First, one of the limits of Julian's birthday may
(see note 56) be set with increased accuracy, since the last day of Taurus is the twenty-first of
May (with slight annual variations). Second and more important, the reform of bronze
coinage effected by Julian can no longer be tied to the discovery of the Apis bull.74 The
reform may now perhaps be dated earlier in the year 362 to coincide more nearly with the
numerous reforms, many of them economic, initiated during Julian's first few months as
sole Augustus.75
The foregoing conclusions, especially those involving dates of emission, are obviously
provisional. Study of the coinage of Julian the Apostate promises large rewards to the
historian, but he must remain wary until he is guided by a corpus of trustworthy size.
American Academy in Rome.

68 Edward J. Martin, The Emperoryulian (London, 74Elmer, op. cit. (above, n. 29), 26 ff. But see
I9I9), 82. Glanville Downey, A History of Antioch in Syria
Gg Kent, op. cit. (above, n. 42), 2I7. (Princeton, i961), 384, note 27, for a correction to
70
Ptolemy, Alm. 7, 5 and Tetrabiblos 2, II ; cf. Elmer's date. I do not understand why Thieler, op.
Encyclopaedia Britannica (I4th ed., I929), S.V. cit. (above, n. 53), 52, would date the finding of the
'Taurus . Apis bull in 363.
7
1Plate x, no. 4. 75 Axnm. Marc. 22,4. Cf. the decrees of the period
72 Plate x, no. I3. of January-March 362 in Cod. Theod. 2, 29, I'
7 Plate x, nos. II and I2. 8, i, 6-7 ; 8, 5, I2 ; and i I, i6, iO.

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