Austria 20 Euro silver coin 2010 Vindobona Series: Rome on the Danube
A must for all history enthusiasts and coin collectors alike, Vindobona is the second silver 20 euro coin in our Rome on the Danube series. With unparalleled skill our engravers have brought to life the Roman garrison at its outpost on the frontier of the empire – the city known today as Vienna.
Expertly based on an ancient marble relief depicting the Marcomanni wars, the obverse of this impressive coin vividly depicts Emperor Marcus Aurelius being handed a message on horseback outside the fort of Vindobona on a plateau overlooking the Danube. This design’s ragged upper edge represents the frontier of the empire following the course of the mighty river. The fort is shown in greater detail on the coin’s equally intricate reverse where, in the presence of a standard bearer clad in an animal skin, a centurion inspects legionnaires who are dressed for battle.
quality: proof
collection: Rome on the Danube
face value: 20 Euro
date of issue: 08.09.2010
coin design: Thomas Pesendorfer / Mag. Helmut Andexlinger
diameter: 34.00 mm
alloy: Silver Ag 900
fine weight: 18.00 g
total weight: 20.00 g
Around 15 BC, the kingdom of Noricum was included in the Roman Empire. Henceforth, the Danube marked the border of the empire, and the Romans built fortifications and settlements on the banks of the Danube, including Vindobona with an estimated population of 15,000-20,000.
Marcus Aurelius (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; Rome, 26 April 121 AD – Vienna, 17 March 180 AD) was Roman Emperor from 161 to 180. He ruled with Lucius Verus as co-emperor from 161 until Verus' death in 169. He was the last of the Five Good Emperors, and is also considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers.
During his reign, the Empire defeated a revitalized Parthian Empire in the East; Aurelius' general Avidius Cassius sacked the capital Ctesiphon in 164. In central Europe, Aurelius fought the Marcomanni, Quadi, and Sarmatians with success during the Marcomannic Wars, with the threat of the Germanic tribes beginning to represent a troubling reality for the Empire. A revolt in the East led by Avidius Cassius failed to gain momentum and was suppressed immediately.
Marcus Aurelius' Stoic tome Meditations, written in Greek while on campaign between 170 and 180, is still revered as a literary monument to a philosophy of service and duty, describing how to find and preserve equanimity in the midst of conflict by following nature as a source of guidance and inspiration.
The Marcomannic Wars (Latin: bellum Germanicum et Sarmaticum, "German and Sarmatian War") were a series of wars lasting over a dozen years from about AD 166 until 180. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against, principally, the Germanic Marcomanni and Quadi and the Sarmatian Iazyges as well as related conflicts with several other barbarian peoples along both sides of the whole length of the Roman empire's northeastern European border, the river Danube. The struggle against the Germans and Sarmatians occupied the major part of the reign of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, and it was during his campaigns against them that he started writing his philosophical work Meditations, whose book 1 bears the note "Among the Quadi at the Granua".