Austria 20 Euro silver coin 2012 Lauriacum

Austria 20 Euro silver coin 2012 Lauriacum, Series: Rome on the Danube

Both a strategic Roman garrison on the Danube and the site of the martyrdom of St Florian, Lauriacum is the penultimate coin in six-coin Rome on the Danube series. This marvellous 20 euro silver coin celebrates both historical moments in the wonderfully intricate fashion typical of this splendid series.
Christian Emperor Gratianus, who visited Lauriacum in AD 378, is depicted in profile on the coin’s obverse. Behind him stands St Florian, the patron saint of Austrian firefighters, holding a flag, a millstone and a palm of martyrdom. A Roman military commander, Florian refused to renounce his Christianity during Christian purges in AD 304 and paid the ultimate price when he was drowned in the River Enns at Lauriacum, which can be seen in the background of the coin’s reverse. In the foreground, a Roman ‘agrimensor’, or surveyor, involved in the construction of a bridge takes measurements with the help of a ‘groma’, while his plans and other geometrical tools lie on a table at his side.

quality: proof
collection: Rome on the Danube
face value: 20 Euro
date of issue: 11.04.2012
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

Gratian (Latin: Flavius Gratianus Augustus; 18 April/23 May 359 – 25 August 383) was Roman emperor from 375 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, during his youth Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. Upon the death of Valentinian in 375, Gratian's brother Valentinian II was declared emperor by his father's soldiers. In 378, Gratian's generals won a decisive victory over the Lentienses, a branch of the Alamanni, at the Battle of Argentovaria. Gratian subsequently led a campaign across the Rhine, the last emperor to do so, and attacked the Lentienses, forcing the tribe to surrender. That same year, his uncle Valens was killed in the Battle of Adrianople against the Goths – making Gratian essentially ruler of the entire Roman Empire. He favoured Christianity over traditional Roman religion, refusing the divine attributes of the Emperors and removing the Altar of Victory from the Roman Senate.