Constantine I "son of Augustus"

[Victor]

Shortly after the conference at Carnuntum in A.D. 308 and the elevation of Licinius to Augustus; a new title was seen on coinage for Maximinus and Constantine I which proclaimed that they were sons (filius) of Augusti. This was an attempt by Galerius to placate them; which failed as they both rejected the title. 

Constantine I
A.D. 308- 310
24x25mm    6.7gm
FL VAL CONSTANTINVS FIL AVG; laureate head right with divergent ties.
GENIO CAESARIS; Genius standing left, tower on head, loins draped, r. holding patera, l. cornucopiae; left field K, right field A over P.
In ex. ALE
RIC VI Alexandria 99b

[Victor]

here is an example from Siscia


Constantine I
A.D. 309- 310
26mm    6.4gm
CONSTANTINVS FIL AVGG; laureate head right.
GENIO AVGVSTI; Genius standing left, modius on head, naked but for chlamys over l. shoulder; right holding patera, l. cornucopiae; in left field crescent, right field A.
In ex. SIS
RIC VI Siscia 200b

[Nikko]

I have a few in my collection.

[Victor]

this nice example just sold for EUR 300.00

23mm  6.7gm

[Genio popvli romani]

Why is he sometimes called filius augusti and some other filius augustorum (genitive plural)?

[Victor]

there is probably not agreement or just confusion over what the abbreviations stand for. Barnes in The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine uses filius Augustorum and gives several ancient references; but I don't know if it is spelled out completely in the sources or if it is Barnes merely giving his preferred spelling.

[Genio popvli romani]

Thank you Victor.
I assume that there is a consensus about the filius augustorum legend (see https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/10.1484/J.AT.2.300081)

[Victor]

That is a good question. Nicomedia and Antioch also use the FIL AVG legend, like Alexandria; while Siscia and Thessalonica use FIL AVGG. So since three mints use FIL AVG, it might be a different legend, rather than just a mispelling. Or, perhaps just the way those mints abbreviate it.

[Gavin]

I’d like to resurrect this thread for interested parties, though I may be a party of one. ;-)

I still a couple of questions about the FIL AVGG designation for Constantine. I hope to get a hold of the Revue Internationale d'Histoire et d'Archeologie article, though it will test my reading knowledge of French. First, a comment, and then a question.

I shouldn’t think FIL AVG and FIL AVGG are accidental variants or spellings. Our options are:

FIL AVG: filii augusti: “sons of the augustus”
FIL AVG: filius augusti: “son of the augustus”
FIL AVGG: filii augustorum: “sons of the augusti”
FIL AVGG: filius augustorum: “son of the augusti”

So much depends on how fil is expanded. Filius singular or filii plural? I’m not sure that can be resolved. Might the titles have been affected by mints Maximinus controlled? We know he didn’t like the title for himself. Did he strike it for Constantine as the singular filius? Was he not inclined to recognize Licinius as augustus, thus preferring the singular –G ending for only one proper Augustus (Galerius)? I suppose all this speculation is moot if Galerius, not Maximinus, controlled the mint at Alexandria. I just don’t know enough.

I’m also wondering in what basic way were Constantine and Maximinus Daia “sons of the Augusti”? Obviously Constantine was, indeed, the biological son of an Augustus, Constantius Chlorus. But Maximinus Daia was not, though he was a son of Galerius’s sister. Is it reasonable, then, to assume that “sons of the Augusti” were figurative sons of Licinius and Galerius? Or was the designation even more generic; i.e., were Constantine and Maximinus Daia next in line and thus figurative sons of augusti in general, not necessarily of the particular augusti Licinius and Galerius? I make this last distinction because, if Maximinus Daia is already angry at being subordinated to Licinius, designating him as a figurative son of Licinius might be especially galling.
But I’ve asked too many questions at once. My query, in its most basic form, is in what way were Constantine and Maximinus Daia “sons of the Augusti”?
Thanks for indulging my rambling.

[Victor]

Might the titles have been affected by mints Maximinus controlled?

The FIL issues were struck after the Conference at Carnuntum, between A.D. 308- 310. Egypt was under the control of Maximinus, so the Alexandrian issue must surely refer only to Constantine, as none (usurprisingly since as you already mentioned, Maximinus did not like the title) were even struck for Maximinus. Antioch was also under the control of Maximinus and only struck FIL coins in the name of Constantine, though there is one issue (Antioch 105) that has an obverse of FL VAL CONSTANTINVS FIL AVG and a reverse of GENIO FIL AVGG, but there are no known coins of Maximinus II as FIL AVG. The mints of Siscia and Thessalonica use FIL AVGG and were under the control of Galerius then Licinius I during this time and struck coins for both Constantine and Maximinus II. No FIL coins were struck in Western mints.

So neither Constantine I nor Maximinus II liked the title FIL AVG. They were struck in Eastern mints for only Constantine, surely as a shot at Constantine. Licinius struck for both, maybe trying to put each in their proper places. Constantine, in his mints, ignored FIL completely and continued to strike coins as Augustus.

  what way were Constantine and Maximinus Daia sons of the Augusti?

Galerius, the uncle of Maximinus, adopted his nephew in A.D. 305 and made him a Caesar.

I think it is interesting that Maximinus II, though originally named Daia, never had Daia in his official name, like coin legends.

Sorry for the posting issues...hopefully I have someone that will fix it this weekend.

[Gavin]

Well, maybe that adoption suggests that Constantine and Maximinus were indeed literal sons of Augusti and that the coin legend was every bit as genealogical as it was symbolic--perhaps more so.

And yes, I've had trouble posting on the few times I've tried recently. The offending element this time was an accented -e in the French title of that reference work on the FIL AVGG designation.

[Nikko]

Ones more from my collection.

GENIO FIL AVGG from Antiochia mint.