Exercitus Coins

"Exercitus" translates as "army," and Exercitus coins reflect the reliance of Roman emperors on their armies to keep their increasingly far-flung empire in check. Hadrian (mid 2nd century) issued many coins praising the army for its Gloria (glory), Fides (faith), and Virtus (virtue). Described by Jocelyn M. Toynbee in THE HADRIANIC SCHOOL, A CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF GREEK ART (previewed at GoogleBookSearch), Hadrian truly understood the concept of empire. His wide travels were memorialized in a huge series of "provincial" coins, showing the emperor with soldiers in Africa, Britain, Syria, Gaul and all the other regions comprising the empire.

As control of this huge territory became more difficult, "Gloria Exercitus" became more a reminder to soldiers of the empire's reliance on them and to subjects of the army's power. By the late 3rd century, the "Gloria Exercitus" stamp on the back of coins
qualified as something between a plea and propaganda.