Valerius Licinianus Licinius was of Dacian peasant origin, born in Moesia Superior, Licinius accompanied his close childhood friend, the Emperor Galerius, on the Persian expedition in 297. After the death of Flavius Valerius Severus, Galerius elevated Licinius to the rank of Augustus in the West on November 11, 308. He received as his immediate command the provinces of Illyricum, Thrace and Pannonia. On the death of Galerius, in May 311, Licinius shared the eastern empire with Maximinus Daia. In March 313 he married Flavia Julia Constantia, half-sister of Constantine, at Mediolanum (now Milan); they had a son, Licinius the Younger, in 315. In the following month, on April 30, Licinius inflicted a decisive defeat on Maximinus at the Battle of Tzirallum, after Maximinus had tried attacking him. Then, Licinius established himself master of the East, while his brother-in-law, Constantine, was supreme in the West. In 314, a civil war erupted between Licinius and Constantine, in which Constantine prevailed at the Battle of Cibalae in Pannonia (October 8, 314) and again two years later, when Licinius named Valerius Valens co-emperor, in the plain of Mardia (also known as Campus Ardiensis) in Thrace. The emperors were reconciled after these two battles and Licinius had his co-emperor Valens killed.

Licinius' fleet of 350 ships was defeated by Constantine I's fleet in 323. In 324, Constantine, tempted by the "advanced age and unpopular vices" of his colleague, again declared war against him, and, having defeated his army of 170,000 men at the Battle of Adrianople (July 3, 324), succeeded in shutting him up within the walls of Byzantium. The defeat of the superior fleet of Licinius in the Battle of the Hellespont by Crispus, Constantine’s eldest son and Caesar, compelled his withdrawal to Bithynia, where a last stand was made; the Battle of Chrysopolis, near Chalcedon (September 18), resulted in Licinius' final submission. While Licinius' co-emperor Sextus Martinianus was killed, Licinius himself was spared due to the pleas of his wife, Constantine's sister, and interned at Thessalonica. The next year, Constantine had him killed, accusing him of conspiring to raise troops among the barbarians.

Main Roman Coin Book and Other References:

RIC = Mattingly, Harold    The Roman Imperial Coinage
BMC = Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum
RSC = Seaby, H A    Roman Silver Coinage
RCV = Sear, David R    Roman Coins and Their Values
Cr = Crawford, Michael    The Roman Republican Coinage
SB = Sear, David R    Byzantine Coins and Their Values
S = Coins of England and the United Kingdom
WW = Wildwinds.com (reference & attribution site)