Galerius Antoninus

Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus († before 138) was a son of the emperor Antoninus Pius and the elder Faustina .

Little is known about Galerius Antonius. He was one of four children of Faustina the Elder and Antoninus Pius. He had a brother, Marcus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus , and two sisters, Aurelia Fadilla and the future Empress Faustina the younger .

Although the Historia Augusta reports that Antoninus Pius had two sons (whose names are known from inscriptions on Hadrian's tomb), Cassius Dio claims that Pius had no sons when he was adopted by Hadrian in 138. This scant information leaves two options open: Either Galerius Antoninus died before Pius took office or he was born between 138 and 140/1. Since early biographers never report on the boy, he must have died before his father came to power. Some early scholars, including Cohen, believed that Galerius Antoninus lived on after his father's rise until AD 145, as coins depict a near-adult portrait of the young Galerius.

numismatics

Image of a coin with a portrait of Galerius Antoninus - son of Antoninus Pius (left), the side of the coin depicted on the right shows his mother Faustina

Galerius Antoninus is only depicted on copper coins that were in circulation in the provinces (mainly in the Balkan regions). Its coinage was split into two denominations , comparable to the Imperial Sesterce , Dupondius or As . Although these coins only have Greek inscriptions, they were probably minted in Rome and then transported to the respective provinces. They must have been minted after Faustina's death, as she was already "diva". The lack of the title Caesar and the designation "divo" is an indication of the early death before 138, since his family obviously had no imperial rank during his lifetime.

literature

• David L. Vagi: Coin history of the Roman Empire, 82 BC Chr. - 480 AD
• Arthur Stein : Galerius 5 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume VII, 1, Stuttgart 1910, Col. 598 f.