Julian II, as Augustus (AD 360-363). AV solidus (22mm, 4.47 gm, 5h). NGC XF 5/5 - 4/5. Antioch, 1st officina, AD 361-363. FL CL IVLIA-NVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Julian II right, with aquiline features and long beard, seen from front / VIRTVS EXERCI-TVS ROMANORVM, Roman soldier in full military dress advancing right, without cloak, helmeted head downward left, trophy in left hand over shoulder, grasping with right hand the hair of a small captive kneeling right, hands bound behind back; ANTA in exergue. RIC VIII 197. Depeyrot 15/2. A handsome specimen bearing a fine portrait of this fascinating ruler. Julian's "philosopher's beard" can be taken as a deliberate break with his clean-shaven, Christian predecessors and a throwback to stoic emperors of the Antonine age. It became the subject of much derision among the wags of Antioch and Julian, with mixed success, attempted to satirically rebut them with a pamphlet in Greek, Misopogon ("Beard Hater") that survives to this day.

HID09801242017

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