TYPE Roman Empire, Volusian (251-3 AD), brass sestertius, Rome mint DESCRIPTION . Obv: Laureate bust to right, legend: IMP CAE C VIB VOLVSIANO AVG Rev: Cult image of facing in shrine of two columns, legend: IVNONI MARTIA[LI] / S C REFERENCE: SR 2839, VM 51, Coh 46 GRADING: F+, bit encrusted dark green patina, scarce ORDER INFO: R3098, $78 Juno Martialis was considered the patron goddess of Perusia, and the present type apparently refers to the public rituals seeking a divine remedy for the plague epidemic that had befallen the empire - taking among the rest the life of Gallus' co-emperor Hostilian, whom Volusian had just replaced. The beseeched gods may have been placated in that respect, but Volusian was nonetheless to soon meet a premature death, this time from a mutinous human hand. And still - as some vindication - the usurpation of Aemilian was soon to be ended by Valerian, in the name of the memory of the slain co-emperors Trebonnianus Gallus and Volusian, thus restoring a certain dynastic stability by the standards of the day.