Silver Coin
Brigantium

Built as it was in the twilight years of the Roman Empire, the port of Brigantium is a fitting subject with which to conclude our historic Rome on the Danube series. Rome’s naval prowess may be a somewhat overlooked cog in the empire’s military machine, but this handsome 20 euro silver piece illustrates it in typically splendid fashion.

While the Roman camp of Brigantium, on the eastern shore of Lake Constance, had been a municipality since  AD 50, it was not until the second half of the fourth century that the port was constructed by Emperor Valentinian I, who features on the coin’s obverse. Born in Croatia in AD 321 and emperor for just over a decade until his death in AD 375, Valentinian was the last Roman emperor to engage in military campaigns across the Rhine and Danube rivers. In order to provide protection to those natural borders it is believed that he built the harbour at Brigantium (present-day Bregenz) and equipped it with navis lusoria, the fast and streamlined troop carrying vessels typical of the late Roman Empire, which feature on the coin’s reverse. Only discovered and excavated some 40 years ago, the ancient harbour can be seen in reconstruction in the background.

Superbly struck in Proof quality with a maximum mintage of 50,000 pieces, each coin comes in a protective transparent acrylic capsule and a presentation box containing a numbered certificate of authenticity. For those keen to complete the whole six-coin collection a superb wooden case is also available for purchase.