Aurelian, 270-275, Antoninianus

Aurelian, antoninianus, billon (BI), reign AD 270-275, Tripolis mint, AD 272-275, 4.17 g, 22 mm. The obverse bears a radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Aurelian right, with legend IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG. The reverse carries the legend RESTITVT ORBIS and depicts Aurelian in a restitutor type, holding imperial attributes to signal the restoration of the Roman world. Struck on a billon flan of the Tripolis emission; legends and principal devices clear. RIC V (Aurelian) 389.

The RESTITVT ORBIS reverse type belongs to Aurelian’s program of political messaging during the reconsolidation of imperial control in the later third century AD, advertising the emperor’s role in restoring unity after the fragmentation of authority during the Crisis of the Third Century; issues from eastern mints such as Tripolis are associated with the reassertion of central administration and military power in the eastern provinces following campaigns against breakaway regimes.