Maximian AV Aureus. Rome, AD 286. IMP C M AVR VAL MAXIMIANVS P F AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / IOVI CONSERVAT AVGG, Jupiter standing to left, nude but for drapery over shoulders, holding thunderbolt in right hand and sceptre in left. RIC V.2 492a; C. 348; Depeyrot 2D/3; Calicó 4688. 5.33g, 21mm, 6h.

Near Mint State; previously NGC graded MS 5/5 - 4/5 (#6030744-010), a very attractive example.

Acquired from Numismatica Ars Classica AG.

It would ultimately be religious legitimisation, not military achievements, that would elevate Diocletian above his predecessors. The quasi-republican ideals of Augustus' 'primus inter pares' system were abandoned for all but the tetrarchs themselves. Diocletian took to wearing a gold crown and jewels, and forbade the use of purple cloth to all but the emperors. His subjects were required to prostrate themselves in his presence (adoratio); the most fortunate were allowed the privilege of kissing the hem of his robe (proskynesis). The reverse of this coin further alludes to the quasi-divine aspects of the new 'dominate' system of government. Around 287 Diocletian assumed the title Iovius, and his colleague Maximian assumed the title Herculius; these grandiose new titles not only reflected the working dynamic between Diocletian and Maximian (while the one acted as supreme strategist, the other enforced imperial will by brute force), but more importantly by taking on divine attributes Diocletian intended to make the person of the emperor inviolate as the gods' representative on earth.