LONDON IN A.D. 296.
ROMAN COIN FOUND. While digging in war ruins near Arras, a French workman has found a Roman coin of extraordinary interest to the antiquarian and student of history (reports “Science Service”). It is a gold coin, one and a half inch in diameter, and in value the Roman equivalent of the English sovereign, or the American five-dollar gold piece. It commemorates the relief of London from an invasion of Frankish barbarians by the Roman general Constantins in the year 296 A.D. The coin shows the Roman general, who was the father of Constantine the Great, being received in grateful homage by the city of London, following its deliverance. The town is shown as a fortified place, with a. gate and waff, and is identified by name underneath. The coin carries the curious legend, “Redditor Lucis Aeternae;” “Restorer of Eternal Light.” This may be a symbolic expression of restoration to the blessings of civilisation, but byq some it is thought to refer to the cult of Mithras, then popular throughout the Empire, and of which the Roman general was a devotee.
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Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIV, Issue 197, 29 July 1924, Page 7
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184LONDON IN A.D. 296. Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIV, Issue 197, 29 July 1924, Page 7
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