With the short usurpation of Jovinus, Roman power in Germany came to an end. He was the last Roman ruler to exercise any real control in the parts of the Roman Empire that are now in modern-day Germany, as this rare coin (above, sold by Miller Ancients in September 2025, $3,100) bearing an outstanding portrait was struck at the military city of Trier on the Moselle River. Described as Germany’s oldest city, Trier was founded under Augustus but only rose to prominence in the late 3rd century AD. As the Rhine frontier became increasingly the focal point of Roman military activity in the 4th century, Trier grew in importance as the effective capital of all Roman lands north of the Alps, with many legions of soldiers garrisoned there. Trier consequently became one of the main mints of the fourth century, striking millions of coins to pay the soldiers serving on the Rhine frontier and to support the regional economy, bolstered by the increased imperial and military focus in the area.

Above: Another siliqua of Jovinus, sold by Miller Ancients in January 2025 for $2,500. This coin was struck at Lyon in southern France, the other of Jovinus’s main two mints (along with Trier).

But by Jovinus’ time, Trier was a somewhat isolated outpost in a land that had been overrun by Germanic tribes. The Roman boundary at the Rhine River, firm for four centuries, collapsed on an icy New Year’s Eve in 406 AD as tens of thousands of Germans crossed its frozen surface. Trier was somewhat further back from the Rhine and for a time survived as an island of Roman control, while the surrounding lands in what is now western Germany, Belgium and northern France came under the control of Germanic tribes.

Above: Map of the chaotic events of 411 AD. Credit: Omniatlas

Jovinus came to power in 411 after the defeat of another usurper in Gaul, Constantine III. However, lacking Constantine’s military background, Jovinus was unable to mount a serious challenge to the legitimate emperor in Italy, Honorius. Only three years after they had sacked Rome, the Visigoths under Ataulf shockingly about-faced and allied themselves with Honorius in 413, successfully assisting the imperial army in hunting down and executing Jovinus. Trier nominally remained under Roman control until the 450s, but its glory days were behind her. This siliqua of Jovinus (at the top of the article) was the last coin to be minted in the old capital of the Roman north.