ROMAN EMPIRE (Imperium Romanum, Impero Romano, Römisches Reich)
SPQR Commemorative Issue
Professionally designed and printed set of 7 beautiful banknotes enhanced with security features, watermark and running serial nos.
Security features: pattern watermark, running and fluorescent serial numbers and paper with tiny red and blue fibres embedded throughout which fluoresce under ultraviolet light.
Roman Empire - 1 Sesterce / One Sestertius 2007
Front: Augustus - Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus; Roman coin; Coat of arms of Roman Senate;
Back: Capitoline She-Wolf feeding Romulus and Remus; Roman coin; Pax Romana; Roman Forum; Watermark: repeated pattern.
Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, who ruled from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD. The young Octavius was adopted by His great uncle, Julius Caesar, and came into his inheritance after Caesar's assassination in 44 BC. Augustus legacy was the peace and prosperity the Empire enjoyed for the next two centuries under the system he initiated. Every emperor of Rome adopted his name, Caesar Augustus, which gradually lost its character as a name and eventually became a title. In many languages, caesar became the word for emperor, as in the German Kaiser and in the Bulgarian and subsequently Russian Tsar. The name of the month "August" in English and most other European languages originates from him.
The Roman Forum is an area of the city of Rome which the ancient city developed around. It is the place where commerce, business, prostitution, cult, and the administration of justice took place. Romulus and Remus were the legendary founders of Rome. In Roman mythology they were twin brothers, children of Rhea Silvia and the god Mars. Romulus and Remus were found by a wolf who suckled them. The brothers were later found by a farmer who raised them. Pax Romana was the time when there was peace in the Roman Empire. So, "Pax Romana" means "Roman peace". The Pax Romana lasted from 27 BC until 180 AD. It started when Augustus Caesar was the emperor (ruler) of the Roman Empire.
QUOTE: Proverb Iustitia Omnibus translates as “Justice for All”, since Augustus was such a just ruler. He is also known for saying at his deathbed: "I found Rome of clay; I leave it to you of marble".
Texts: The Roman Empire Treasury; Aerarium Imperium Romanum; One Sesterce; Unus Sestertius; Iustitia Omnibus.
Roman Empire - Two Sesterces = One Quinarius Argentus 2007
Front: Vespasian - Imperator Caesar Vespasianus Augustus; Roman coin; Coat of arms of Roman Senate;
Back: Roman frescoes; Roman coin; Gladiators; Roman Colosseum; Watermark: repeated pattern
Vespasian was emperor of Rome from 69 to 79 A.D. Vespasian was the founder of the short-lived Flavian dynasty, and was succeeded as emperor by his sons Titus and Domitian. Vespasian's reign is best known for his campaign against Judaea and for starting the construction of the Colosseum.
The Colosseum or Coliseum , originally capable of seating 45000-50000 spectators, it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. It was built on a site just east of the Roman Forum, with construction starting between 70 and 72 A.D. under the emperor Vespasian. The amphitheatre, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire, was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign.
QUOTE: Ave Caesar! Morituri te Salutant! translates as “Hail, Caesar, those who are about to die salute you". That is traditionally the Latin phrase that the gladiators addressed to the emperor before the beginning of a gladiatorial match. Vespasian is known by another Latin proverb - "Pecunia non olet" which means "Money does not smell"; and it is said that it has been created when he had introduced a urine tax on public toilets.
Texts: The Roman Empire Treasury; Aerarium Imperium Romanum; Two Sesterces; Duo Sestertii.
Roman Empire - Four Sesterces = One Denarius 2007
Front: Trajan - Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus; Roman coin; Coat of arms of Roman Senate;
Back: Triumphal arche; Aquaduct; Roman coin; Tropaeum Traiani; Roman Empire map. Watermark: repeated pattern.
Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 98 A.D. until his death in 117 A.D. He is best known for launching military campaings, such as Dacian Wars (101-102, 105-106 A.D.), two brief wars between the Roman Empire and Dacia, and expansion to the east. It is under his rule, that the Empire reached its greatest territorial extent.
On the back, main motive is the "Tropaeum Traiani", a monument in town Adamclisi, today Romania, which was built in 109 A.D. in then Moesia Inferior, to commemorate Roman Emperor Trajan's victory over the Dacians, in 102 A.D., in the Battle of Tapae. Coin for 1 denarius has depicted a Trajan column on it, while in the back there is the map of Roman Empire, showing it's greatest territorial extent made under his rule. Also, we can see two sketches in the back, one of many Roman triumphal arches built during his reign, and secondly an aquaduct, which were constructed in order to convey water from one location to another.
Texts: The Roman Empire Treasury; Aerarium Imperium Romanum; Four Sesterces; Quatuor Sestertii; One Denarius.
Note: South Carolinians (SC) may be interested in the fact that the "Dum Spiro Spero"
(While I breathe, I hope) is also a South Carolina state motto. This quote is also found on the Citadel Ring
(The Military College of South Carolina) in the state Seal for South Carolina.
Roman Empire - Eight Sesterces = One Antoninianus 2007
Front: Hadrian - Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus; Roman coin; Coat of arms of Roman Senate;
Back: Senatus Populusque Romanus; Roman coin; Roman Trireme; Watermark: repeated pattern.
Hadrian was the first emperor to extensively tour the provinces, donating money for local construction projects as he went. In Britain, he ordered the construction of a wall, the famous Hadrian's Wall as well as various other such defenses in Germany and Northern Africa. His domestic policy was one of relative peace and prosperity.
Trireme refers to a class of warships used by the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean, especially the Phoenicians, ancient Greeks and Romans. The trireme derives its name from its three rows of oars on each side, manned with one man per oar.
On the coin we can see soldiers holding banners. Most coins found from the reign of Hadrian showed military images almost as often as peaceful ones, since Hadrian's policy was peace through strength, even threat. And roman triremes then presented same kind of threat like modern warships do today.
QUOTE: Dura Lex, Sed Lex - "The law is harsh, but it is the law."
Texts: The Roman Empire Treasury; Aerarium Imperium Romanum; Eight Sesterces; Octo Sestertii.
Roman Empire - Twenty Sesterces = Five Denarii 2007
Front: Marcus Aurelius Antonius Agustus; Roman coin; Coat of arms of Roman Senate;
Back: Map of the Roman Empire; Roman coin; Roman Legion; Watermark: repeated pattern.
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus was a Roman Emperor from 161 to his death in 180. He was the last of the "Five Good Emperors", and is also considered one of the most important stoic philosophers. His rule was marked by wars in Asia against a revitalized Parthian Empire, he also fought against Germanic tribes along the Limes Germanicus into Gaul and across the Danube. During the wars against the Marcomanni under his rule several combats took place on the Danube and the Tisza river. That is why coin chosen for this banknote is a silver denarius depicting a warship.
On the back we see a roman legion which consisted of several cohorts of heavy infantry known as legionaries. It was almost always accompanied by one or more attached units of auxiliaries, who were not Roman citizens and provided cavalry, ranged troops and skirmishers to complement the legion's heavy infantry.
The size of a typical legion varied widely throughout the history of ancient Rome, with complements of 5500 legionaries in the imperial period of Rome, split into 10 cohorts of 480 men each, with the first cohort at double strength: the remaining 220 being cavalry and technical staff. The coin shows signa militaria, which were the Roman military ensigns or standards (flags).
QUOTE: Fortes fortuna Iuvat - "fortune favours the brave". The phrase means that Fortuna, the Goddess of luck, is more likely to help those that take risks and take action, than those who don't.
Texts: The Roman Empire Treasury; Aerarium Imperium Romanum; Twenty Sesterces; Viginti Sestertii.
Roman Empire - Fifty Sesterces = One Gold Quinarii 2007
Front: Diocletian - Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus; Roman coin; Coat of arms of Roman Senate;
Back: Diocletian Palace; Roman coin; Quid Pro Quo; Watermark: repeated pattern.
In order to solve the problem of succession, and to answer the question of who would be Emperor of the newly divided East and West, Diocletian created what has become known as the system of "tetrarchy", or "rule of four", whereby a senior emperor would rule in the East and another senior emperor would rule the West, and each would have a junior emperor. Among the many titles traditionally bestowed on Roman emperors, the most important was that of Augustus and therefore only the two senior emperors took this title, with the junior emperors receiving the lesser title of Caesar. Diocletian intended that when the senior emperor retired or died, the Caesar would take his place and choose a new junior emperor Caesar, thus solving the problem of succession. That is why the emperor is depicted twice on the 50 Sesterces banknote. And because of the monetary reforms Diocletian took, as a sign of his actions, another coin is depicted next to his bust.
At the end of the third century AD, the Roman Emperor Diocletian built his palace on the bay of Aspalathos. Here, after abdicating on the first of May in A.D. 305, he spent the last years of his life in peace, mostly enjoing in his garden. The bay is located on the south side of a short peninsula running out from the Dalmatian coast into the Adriatic, four miles from the site of Salona, the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. The Palace is built of white local limestone of high quality, most of which was from quarries on the island of Brac. It is the same quality stone from which the White House in Washington was built of.
The Palace is one of the most famous and integral architectural and cultural constructs on the Adriatic coast and holds an outstanding place in the Mediterranean, European and world heritage, and that is why in 1979 UNESCO, in line with the international convention concerning the cultural and natural heritage, adopted a proposal that the historic Split inner city, built around the Palace, should be included in the register of the World Cultural Heritage.
QUOTE: Quid pro quo - "something for something" indicates a more-or-less equal exchange or substitution of goods or services.
Texts: The Roman Empire Treasury; Aerarium Imperium Romanum; Fifty Sesterces; Quinquaginta Sestertii.
Roman Empire - One Hundred Sesterces = One Aureus 2007
Front: Constantine - Gaius Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus; Roman coin; Coat of arms of SPQR;
Back: "Edict of Milan"; The Arch of Constantine; Roman coin; Border walls of the Roman Empire;
In Hoc Signo Vinces; Watermark: repeated pattern.
Constantine I, born in Naissuss in 272 A.D. was a powerful Emperor who reigned over the Roman Empire until his death. He made the previously named city Byzantium (now Istanbul, Turkey) capital of the whole Roman Empire in 330 A.D. As emperor, he named the city Constantinople, which means "City of Constantine" in Greek.
Before Constantine became Emperor, he was fighting for the throne at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. When he saw a cross in the sky with the words in hoc signo vinces (Latin for "in this sign you shall conquer"), he changed his deity from Apollo to Jesus and won the battle. In pagan Rome before this, it had been against the law to believe in Christianity, and Christians had been tortured or killed, but Constantine made sure that this stopped, and that they were given their property back. During his reign, Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. He went on to organize the whole Catholic Church at the Council of Nicea, even though he himself did not get baptised until near the end of his life.
The Arch of Constantine is a triumphal arch in Rome, situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It was erected to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312. It is the latest of the extant triumphal arches in Rome.
The Constantine arch is 21 m high, 25.7 m wide and 7.4 m deep. The decoration of the arch heavily uses parts of older monuments, which are given a new meaning in the context of the Constantinian building. As it celebrates the victory of Constantine, the new "historic" friezes illustrating his campaign in Italy convey the central meaning: the praise of the emperor, both in battle and in his civilian duties. Other decoration is taken from the "golden times" of the Empire under Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius places Constantine next to these "good emperors", and the content of the pieces evokes images of the victorious and pious ruler. Constantine legalized Christianity definitively in 313 A.D. as evidenced in the so-called Edict of Milan.
QUOTE: “In hoc signo vinces” - "By this sign you will conquer" and it is addressed to Constantine's vision before the Battle of Milvian Bridge. That sign from his vision is called Labarum, and is shown on the back of the banknote in the middle of the Constantie arch. Later on, Labarum was used as a military standard which displayed the first two Greek letters of the word Christ ( Greek: ???S??S or ???st?? )—Chi (?) and Rho, (?).
Texts: The Roman Empire Treasury; Aerarium Imperium Romanum; One Hundred Sesterces; Centum Sestertii.
Source: http://www.banknotes.com
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