An extensive account of the decay and ultimate downfall of one of the world’s mightiest powers, I am delighted to present to you the next coin the ‘Galerius (305-311AD) Bronze Coin’. A key player in the Tetrarchy – the Roman system of rule created by Emperor Diocletian comprising two senior and two junior emperors in the east and west respectively – Galerius has gone down in history as one of the truly ‘bad’ Emperors. His reign is best remembered for his conflict with and malicious persecution of Christians, and it is not surprising that Christian historians have sought to paint the darkest possible portrait of Galerius. Not that he was exactly a saint! Born in Serdica (modern Sofia, capital of Bulgaria), Galerius started his working life as a shepherd. It wasn’t long before he abandoned the fields of the Balkans for the battlefields of the Empire, and his belligerent nature saw him march quickly through the ranks of the Roman military. He served with distinction under the emperors Aurelian (270-275AD) and Probus (276-282AD), and when the Tetrarchy was established in 293AD by Diocletian, Galerius was appointed Caesar (junior emperor) in the East. As Diocletian had hoped, the Tetrarchy was much better able to deal with crises and usurpers than a single or even two emperors, and the Crisis of the 3rd Century gave way to a period of relative stability. Indicative of this stability, the two Augustii (senior emperors) Diocletian and Maximianus actually decided to retire in 305AD – a virtually unprecedented event in the brutal world of Roman politics. Galerius was raised to the rank of Augustus in the East, with Constantius (father of Constantine the Great) becoming Augustus in the West. The stability engendered by the Tetrarchy could never last, however, and the political situation quickly became very complicated. By 308AD, there were no less than six senior and junior emperors, and Galerius called an emperors’ conference at Carnuntum. This resolved nothing, and although Galerius ruled as ‘first amongst equals’ until the end of his life, he never secured the ultimate power he desired. And Galerius did want power – and money. Although most of what we know of Galerius is from fiercely biased, highly critical Christian sources, he does seem to have been a rather repellent person. His thirst for a life of luxury saw him strip the Roman Empire’s population of their wealth in whatever way he could. This included making false accusations against the rich, and confiscating their property, as well as inflicting a brutal tax regime upon everybody else. He was no less heavy-handed with Christians. Having encouraged Diocletian to launch what is known as the last great Christian persecution of the Roman Empire in 303AD, Galerius was pitiless in his repression of the group after his elevation to Augustus in 305AD. Destroying Christian houses of assembly, imprisoning churchmen and executing Christians at random, Galerius did everything possible to snuff out the illegal religion. The nature of his death was seen by the Christians – and, indeed, by Galerius himself – as the Wrath of God. In about 310AD, Galerius became extremely ill with what was, from all descriptions, a truly horrific malady. Whether the affliction was bowel cancer, or genital gangrene, Galerius spent the last year of his life screaming in pain, with many of the doctors who tried to cure him executed for their failure. The descriptions of his demise penned by Christian historians are vivid, to say the least!
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