Constans, 337-350, AE2

Constans, AE2, bronze, reign AD 337–350, struck at Antioch c. AD 348–350; 5.52 g; 22 mm. Obv. D N CONSTANS P F AVG; diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right. Rev. FEL TEMP REPARATIO; soldier spearing fallen horseman; ANΓ in exergue denoting Antioch, officina Γ. Struck under the FEL TEMP REPARATIO bronze reform series of AD 348. RIC VIII Antioch 128.

The FEL TEMP REPARATIO series, introduced by Constans and Constantius II in AD 348, reorganized the bronze denominations and conveyed a program of renewed stability and military success. The fallen horseman reverse is a generalized depiction of Roman victory over external foes during ongoing frontier conflicts. Antioch, a principal eastern mint, issued this type in significant volume for regional circulation in the closing years of Constans’s reign, immediately preceding his deposition by Magnentius in AD 350.