Hostilian, As Caesar, AD 251, Antoninianus

Hostilian (as Caesar), Antoninianus, AR, AD 250–251, Rome mint, 2.4 g, 22 mm.

Radiate, draped bust of Hostilian right; C VALENS HOSTIL MES QVINTVS N C. Mars advancing right, holding spear and shield; MARTI PROPVGNATORI. Struck at Rome during Hostilian’s caesarship under Trajan Decius, in the standard mid-third-century fabric for the denomination. RIC IV Trajan Decius 177B. Issued while Hostilian held the junior title of Caesar, this type reflects the military posture of Decius’s regime during the Gothic war that culminated in the defeat at Abrittus in AD 251. After the deaths of Decius and Herennius Etruscus, Hostilian was elevated to Augustus by Trebonianus Gallus but died later that year, reportedly of plague; coins naming him as Caesar therefore belong to a narrow window immediately preceding his brief reign.