Claudius II Gothicus 268AD Ancient Roman Coin Ares Mars War God Cult i40810

Description: Item: i40810 Authentic Ancient Coin of: Claudius II - Roman Emperor : 268-270 A.D. Bronze Antoninianus 21mm (2.06 grams) Rome mint: 268-270 A.D. Reference: RIC 66 rad,cuir; Cohen 160; Sear5 11350. IMP C CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right MARS VLTOR, Mars walking right, holding spear and trophy . You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity. Mars (Latin: Mārs, Martis) was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome . He was second in importance only to Jupiter , and he was the most prominent of the military gods in the religion of the Roman army . Most of his festivals were held in March, the month named for him (MartiusLatin ), and in October, which began and ended the season for military campaigning and farming. Under the influence of Greek culture , Mars was identified with the Greek god Ares, whose myths were reinterpreted in Roman literature and art under the name of Mars. But the character and dignity of Mars differed in fundamental ways from that of his Greek counterpart, who is often treated with contempt and revulsion in Greek literature .[2] Mars was a part of the Archaic Triad along with Jupiter and Quirinus , the latter of whom as a guardian of the Roman people had no Greek equivalent. Mars' altar in the Campus Martius , the area of Rome that took its name from him, was supposed to have been dedicated by Numa , the peace-loving semi-legendary second king of Rome . Although the center of Mars' worship was originally located outside the sacred boundary of Rome (pomerium), Augustus made the god a renewed focus of Roman religion by establishing the Temple of Mars Ultor in his new forum . Although Ares was viewed primarily as a destructive and destabilizing force, Mars represented military power as a way to secure peace , and was a father (pater) of the Roman people.[4] In the mythic genealogy and founding myths of Rome , Mars was the father of Romulus and Remus with Rhea Silvia . His love affair with Venus symbolically reconciled the two different traditions of Rome's founding; Venus was the divine mother of the hero Aeneas , celebrated as the Trojan refugee who "founded" Rome several generations before Romulus laid out the city walls. The importance of Mars in establishing religious and cultural identity within the Roman Empire is indicated by the vast number of inscriptions identifying him with a local deity, particularly in the Western provinces . Birth Although Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera ,[5] Mars was the son of Juno alone. Jupiter had usurped the mother's function when he gave birth to Minerva directly from his forehead (or mind); to restore the balance, Juno sought the advice of the goddess Flora on how to do the same. Flora obtained a magic flower (Latin flos, plural flores, a masculine word ) and tested it on a heifer who became fecund at once. She then plucked a flower ritually using her thumb, touched Juno's belly, and impregnated her. Juno withdrew to Thrace and the shore of Marmara for the birth. Ovid tells this story in the Fasti , his long-form poetic work on the Roman calendar .[6] It may explain why the Matronalia , a festival celebrated by married women in honor of Juno as a goddess of childbirth , occurred on the first day of Mars' month, which is also marked on a calendar from late antiquity as the birthday of Mars. In the earliest Roman calendar, March was the first month, and the god would have been born with the new year.[7] Ovid is the only source for the story. He may be presenting a literary myth of his own invention, or an otherwise unknown archaic Italic tradition; either way, in choosing to include the story, he emphasizes that Mars was connected to plant life and was not alienated from female nurture.[8] Consort The consort of Mars was Nerio or Nerine, "Valor." She represents the vital force (vis), power (potentia) and majesty (maiestas) of Mars.[9] Her name was regarded as Sabine in origin and is equivalent to Latin virtus , "manly virtue" (from vir, "man").[10] In the early 3rd century BC, the comic playwright Plautus has a reference to Mars greeting Nerio, his wife.[11] A source from late antiquity says that Mars and Nerine were celebrated together at a festival held on March 23.[12] In the later Roman Empire , Nerine came to be identified with Minerva.[13] Nerio probably originates as a divine personification of Mars' power, as such abstractions in Latin are generally feminine . Her name appears with that of Mars in an archaic prayer invoking a series of abstract qualities, each paired with the name of a deity. The influence of Greek mythology and its anthropomorphic gods may have caused Roman writers to treat these pairs as "marriages."[14] Venus and Mars The union of Venus and Mars held greater appeal for poets and philosophers, and the couple were a frequent subject of art. In Greek myth, the adultery of Ares and Aphrodite had been exposed to ridicule when her husband Hephaestus (whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan ) caught them in the act by means of a magical snare. Although not originally part of the Roman tradition, in 217 BC Venus and Mars were presented as a complementary pair in the lectisternium , a public banquet at which images of twelve major gods of the Roman state were presented on couches as if present and participating.[15] Wall painting (mid-1st century AD) from which the House of Venus and Mars at Pompeii takes its name Scenes of Venus and Mars in Roman art often ignore the adulterous implications of their union, and take pleasure in the good-looking couple attended by Cupid or multiple Loves (amores). Some scenes may imply marriage,[16] and the relationship was romanticized in funerary or domestic art in which husbands and wives had themselves portrayed as the passionate divine couple.[17] The uniting of deities representing Love and War lent itself to allegory , especially since the lovers were the parents of Harmonia . The Renaissance philosopher Marsilio Ficino notes that "only Venus dominates Mars, and he never dominates her".[18] In ancient Roman and Renaissance art, Mars is often shown disarmed and relaxed, or even sleeping, but the extramarital nature of their affair can also suggest that this peace is impermanent.[19] Essential nature Virility as a kind of life force (vis) or virtue (virtus) is an essential characteristic of Mars.[20] As an agricultural guardian, he directs his energies toward creating conditions that allow crops to grow, which may include warding off hostile forces of nature.[21] As an embodiment of masculine aggression, he is the force that drives wars – but ideally, war that delivers a secure peace. The priesthood of the Arval Brothers called on Mars to drive off "rust" (lues), with its double meaning of wheat fungus and the red oxides that affect metal, a threat to both iron farm implements and weaponry. In the surviving text of their hymn , the Arval Brothers invoked Mars as ferus, "savage" or "feral" like a wild animal.[22] Mars' potential for savagery is expressed in his obscure connections to the wild woodlands, and he may even have originated as a god of the wild, beyond the boundaries set by humans, and thus a force to be propitiated .[23] In his book on farming , Cato invokes Mars Silvanus for a ritual to be carried out in silva, in the woods, an uncultivated place that if not held within bounds can threaten to overtake the fields needed for crops.[24] Mars' character as an agricultural god may derive solely from his role as a defender and protector,[25] or may be inseparable from his warrior nature,[26] as the leaping of his armed priests the Salii was meant to quicken the growth of crops.[27] Sacred animals She-wolf and twins from an altar to Venus and Mars The two wild animals most sacred to Mars were the woodpecker and the wolf, which in the natural lore of the Romans were said always to inhabit the same foothills and woodlands.[28] Plutarch notes that the woodpecker (picus) is sacred to Mars because "it is a courageous and spirited bird and has a beak so strong that it can overturn oaks by pecking them until it has reached the inmost part of the tree."[29] As the beak of the picus Martius contained the god's power to ward off harm, it was carried as a magic charm to prevent bee stings and leech bites.[30] The bird of Mars also guarded a woodland herb (paeonia) used for treatment of the digestive or female reproductive systems ; those who sought to harvest it were advised to do so by night, lest the woodpecker jab out their eyes.[31] The picus Martius seems to have been a particular species, but authorities differ on which one: perhaps Picus viridis [32] or Dryocopus martius .[33] The woodpecker was revered by the Latin peoples , who abstained from eating its flesh.[34] It was one of the most important birds in Roman and Italic augury , the practice of reading the will of the gods through watching the sky for signs.[35] The mythological figure named Picus had powers of augury that he retained when he was transformed into a woodpecker; in one tradition, Picus was the son of Mars.[36] The Umbrian cognate peiqu also means "woodpecker," and the Italic Picenes were supposed to have derived their name from the picus who served as their guide animal during a ritual migration (ver sacrum) undertaken as a rite of Mars.[37] In the territory of the Aequi , another Italic people, Mars had an oracle of great antiquity where the prophecies were supposed to be spoken by a woodpecker perched on a wooden column.[38] Mars' association with the wolf is familiar from what may be the most famous of Roman myths , the story of how a she-wolf (lupa) suckled his infant sons when they were exposed by order of their human uncle, who feared that they would take back the kingship he had usurped .[39] The woodpecker also brought nourishment to the twins.[40] The wolf appears elsewhere in Roman art and literature in masculine form as the animal of Mars. A statue group that stood along the Appian Way showed Mars in the company of wolves.[41] At the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC, the appearance of the wolf of Mars (Martius lupus) was a sign that Roman victory was to come.[42] In Roman Gaul , the goose was associated with the Celtic forms of Mars , and archaeologists have found geese buried alongside warriors in graves. The goose was considered a bellicose animal because it is easily provoked to aggression.[43] Claudius II (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Valerius Claudius Augustus; May 10, 213 – January 270), commonly known as Claudius Gothicus, was Roman Emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alamanni and scored a crushing victory against the Goths at the Battle of Naissus . He died after succumbing to a plague (perhaps smallpox) that ravaged the provinces of the Empire. Bust of Emperor Claudius II. Life Origin and rise to power Claudius' origin is uncertain. Born on May 10, 213, he was either from Sirmium in Pannonia Inferior or from Naissus Dardania (in Moesia Superior ). Claudius had served with the Roman army for all his adult life, making his way up the military hierarchy until the Emperor Gallienus made him the commander of his elite cavalry force (hipparchos) and subsequently his military deputy.In September 268 he found himself assigned as a military tribune[7] with the Imperial Army besieging the usurper Aureolus in Milan .[8] His troops then proclaimed him Emperor[9] amid charges, never proven, that he murdered his predecessor Gallienus .[10] However, he soon proved to be less than bloodthirsty, as he asked the Roman Senate to spare the lives of Gallienus ' family and supporters. He was less magnanimous toward Rome's enemies, however, and it was to this that he owed his popularity.[11] It is possible Claudius gained his position and the respect of the soldiers by being physically strong and especially cruel. A legend tells of Claudius knocking out a horse's teeth with one punch. When Claudius performed as a wrestler in the 250s, he supposedly knocked out the teeth of his opponent when his genitalia had been grabbed in the match.[12] Claudius, like Maximinus Thrax before him, was of barbarian birth. After an interlude of failed aristocratic Roman emperors since Maximinus' death, Claudius was the first in a series of tough soldier-emperors who would eventually restore the Empire from the Crisis of the third century .[13] The Downfall of Gallienus Antoninianus of Claudius II During the 260s, the breakup of the Roman Empire into three distinct governing entities (the core Roman Empire, the Gallic Empire and the Palmyrene Empire ) placed the whole Roman imperium into a precarious position. Gallienus was seriously weakened by his failure to defeat Postumus in the West, and the ability of Odaenathus to live with his arrangement with Gallienus in the East. By 268, however, the situation had changed, as Odaenathus was put to death, most likely out of court intrigue, and Gallienus fell victim to a mutiny in his own ranks. Upon the death of Odaenathus, power fell to his younger son, who was dominated by his mother, Zenobia .[14] Under threat of invasion by multiple tribes, Gallienus' troubles primarily lay with Postumus , whom he could not attack because his attention was required in dealing with Macrianus and the invading "Skythai." After four years of delay, Postumus had established power, but in 265, when Gallienus and his men crossed the Alps, they defeated and besieged Postumus in an (unnamed) Gallic city. When victory appeared to be near, Gallienus made the mistake of approaching the city walls too closely and was gravely injured, compelling him to withdraw the campaign. In the next three years, Gallienus' troubles would only get worse. The "Skythai" successfully invaded the Balkans in the early months of 268, and Aureolus , a commander of the cavalry, declared himself an ally of Postumus and the new emperor in Milan .[15] At this time, another invasion was taking place. A group called the Herulians navigated through Asia Minor and then into Greece on a naval expedition. Details of these invasions are abstract, as it is nearly impossible to reconstruct the happenings, due to the chain of conflicts initiated by the Herulians in 268. Scholars assume Gallienus' efforts were focused on Aureolus, the officer who betrayed him, and the defeat of the Herulians was left to his successor, Claudius Gothicus. The death of Gallienus is surrounded by conspiracy and betrayal, as were many emperors' deaths. Different accounts of the incident are recorded, but they agree that senior officials wanted Gallienus dead. According to two accounts, the prime conspirator was Heraclianus . One version of the story tells of Heraclianus bringing Claudius into the plot while the account given by Historia Augusta exculpates the would-be emperor and adds the prominent general Marcianus into the plot. The removal of Claudius from the conspiracy is due to his later role as the progenitor of the house of Constantine , a fiction of Constantine 's time, and may serve to guarantee that the original version from which these two accounts spring was current prior to the reign of Constantine. It is written that while sitting down at dinner, Gallienus was told that Aureolus and his men were approaching the camp. Gallienus rushed to the front lines, ready to give orders, when he was struck down by a commander of his cavalry. In a different and more controversial account, Aureolus forges a document in which Gallienus appears to be plotting against his generals and makes sure it falls into the hands of the emperor's senior staff. In this plot, Aurelian is added as a possible conspirator. The tale of his involvement in the conspiracy might be seen as at least partial justification for the murder of Aurelian himself under circumstances that seem remarkably similar to those in this story.[16] Whichever story is true, Gallienus was killed in the summer of 268, and Marcus Aurelius Claudius was chosen by the army outside of Milan to succeed him. Accounts tell of people hearing the news of the new Emperor, and reacting by murdering Gallienus' family members until Claudius declared he would respect the memory of his predecessor. Claudius had the deceased emperor deified and buried in a family tomb on the Appian Way . The traitor Aureolus was not treated with the same reverence, as he was killed by his besiegers after a failed attempt to surrender.[17] The Campaigns of Claudius At the time of his Claudius' accession, the Roman Empire was in serious danger from several incursions, both within and outside its borders. The most pressing of these was an invasion of Illyricum and Pannonia by the Goths .[18] Although Gallienus had already inflicted some damage on them at the Battle of Nestus,[19] Claudius, not long after being named Emperor, followed this up by winning his greatest victory, and one of the greatest in the history of Roman arms. The Roman Empire in 268 A.D At the Battle of Naissus , Claudius and his legions routed a huge Gothic army.[20] Together with his cavalry commander, the future Emperor Aurelian , the Romans took thousands of prisoners, destroyed the Gothic cavalry as a force, and stormed their laager (a circular alignment of wagons long favored by the Goths).[dubious – discuss ] The victory earned Claudius his surname of "Gothicus" (conqueror of the Goths),[21] and that is how he is known to this day. More importantly, the Goths were soon driven back across the Danube River by Aurelian, and nearly a century passed before they again posed a serious threat to the empire.[22] At the same time, the Alamanni had crossed the Alps and attacked the empire. Claudius responded quickly, routing the Alamanni at the Battle of Lake Benacus in the late fall of 268, a few months after the battle of Naissus.[23] For this he was awarded the title of "Germanicus Maximus."[24] He then turned on the Gallic Empire , ruled by a pretender for the past fifteen years and encompassing Britain , Gaul, and the Iberian Peninsula . He won several victories and soon regained control of Spain and the Rhone river valley of Gaul.[25] This set the stage for the ultimate destruction of the Gallic Empire under Aurelian.[26] However, Claudius did not live long enough to fulfill his goal of reuniting all the lost territories of the empire. Late in 269 he had traveled to Sirmium [27] and was preparing to go to war against the Vandals , who were raiding in Pannonia .[28] However, he fell victim to the Plague of Cyprian (possibly smallpox ), and died early in January 270.[29] Before his death, he is thought to have named Aurelian as his successor, though Claudius' brother Quintillus briefly seized power.[30] The Senate immediately deified Claudius as "Divus Claudius Gothicus".[31] The Empire and Foreign Affairs Under Claudius Claudius was not the only man to reap the benefits of holding high office after the death of Gallienus . Before the rule of Claudius Gothicus, there had only been two emperors from the Balkans , but afterwards there would only be one emperor who did not hail from the provinces of Pannonia , Moesia or Illyricum until the year 378, when Theodosius I from Hispania would take the throne. To comprehend the structure of government during the reign of Claudius, we must look at four inscriptions that deepen our understanding of a new, truncated empire. The first is a dedication to Aurelius Heraclianus , the prefect involved in the conspiracy against Gallienus, from Traianus Mucianus, who also gave a dedication to Heraclianus ' brother, Aurelius Appollinaris, who was the equestrian governor of the province of Thracia in 267-68 AD.[32] Because these men shared the family name, Marcus Aurelius, a name given to those made citizens by the constitutio Antoniniana , we can understand that these men did not come from the imperial élite. The third inscription reveals the career of Marcianus , another leading general by the time that Gallienus died. The fourth honors Julius Placidianus, the prefect of the vigiles . While we cannot prove that Heraclianus, Appollinaris, Placidianus , or Marcianus were of Danubian origin themselves, it is clear that none of them were members of the Severan aristocracy, and all of them appear to owe their prominence to their military roles. To these men must be added Marcus Aurelius Aurelianus (the future emperor Aurelian ) and Marcus Aurelius Probus (another emperor in waiting), both men of Balkan background, and from families enfranchised in the time of Caracalla .[33] Although we see a rise in Pannonian, Moesian and Illyrian marshals, and foreigners become notable figures, it would be impractical to think the government could function without help from the traditional classes within the empire. Although their influence was weakened, there were still a number of men with influence from the older aristocracy . Claudius assumed the consulship in 269 with Paternus, a member of the prominent senatorial family, the Paterni, who had supplied consuls and urban prefects throughout Gallienus' reign, and thus were quite influential. In addition, Flavius Antiochianus , one of the consuls of 270, who was an urban prefect the year before, would continue to hold his office for the following year. A colleague of Antiochianus, Virius Orfitus, also the descendant of a powerful family, would continue to hold influence during his father's term as prefect. Aurelian's colleague as consul was another such man, Pomponius Bassus, a member of one of the oldest senatorial families, as was one of the consuls in 272, Junius Veldumnianus.[34] In his first full year of power, Claudius was greatly assisted by the sudden destruction of the imperium Galliarum. When Ulpius Cornelius Laelianus, a high official under Postumus , declared himself emperor in Germania Superior , in the spring of 269, Postumus defeated him, but in doing so, refused to allow the sack of Mainz , which had served as Laelianus ' headquarters. This proved to be his downfall, for out of anger, Postumus' army mutinied and murdered him. Selected by the troops, Marcus Aurelius Marius was to replace Postumus as ruler. Marius' rule did not last long though, as Victorinus , Postumus' praetorian prefect, defeated him. Now emperor of the Gauls, Victorinus was soon in a precarious position, for the Spanish provinces had deserted the Gallic Empire and declared their loyalty to Claudius, while in southern France , Placidianus had captured Grenoble . Luckily, it was there that Placidianus stopped and Victorinus' position stabilized. In the next year, when Autun revolted, declaring itself for Claudius, the central government made no moves to support it. As a result, the city went through a siege, lasting many weeks, until it was finally captured and sacked by Victorinus.[35] It is still unknown why Claudius did nothing to help the city of Autun , but sources tell us his relations with Palmyra were waning in the course of 270. An obscure passage in the Historia Augusta life of Gallienus states that he had sent an army under Heraclianus to the region that had been annihilated by Zenobia . But because Heraclianus was not actually in the east in 268 (instead, at this time, he was involved in the conspiracy of Gallienus' death), we can see that this can not be correct. But the confusion evident in this passage, which also places the bulk of "Skythian" activity during 269 a year earlier, under Gallienus, may stem from a later effort to pile all possible disasters in this year into the reign of the former Emperor. This would keep Claudius' record of being a descendant of Constantine from being tainted. If this understanding of the sources is correct, it might also be correct to see the expedition of Heraclianus to the east as an event of Claudius' time.[36] The victories of Claudius over the Goths would not only make him a hero in Latin tradition, but an admirable choice as an ancestor for Constantine , who was born at Naissus , the site of Claudius' victory in 269. Claudius is also held in high esteem by Zonaras , whose Greek tradition seems to have been influenced by Latin . For Zosimus , a more reasoned contemporary view shows him as less grand. Claudius' successes in the year 269 were not continued in his next year as Emperor. As the "Skythai" starved in the mountains or surrendered, the legions pursuing them began to see an epidemic spreading throughout the men. Also, Claudius' unwillingness to do anything at the siege of Autun likely provoked a quarrel with Zenobia .[37] Although it is not proven that the invasion of Gaul was the breaking point between Claudius and Zenobia, the sequence of events point to the siege as an important factor. The issue at hand was the position that Odaenathus held as corrector totius orientis. Vaballathus , the son of Zenobia, was given this title when Zenobia claimed it for him. From then on, tension between the two empires would only get worse. Heraclianus ' fabled arrival might have been an effort to reassert central control after the death of Odaenathus, but, if so, it failed. Although coins were never minted with the face of Odaenathus, soon after his death coins were made with image of his son. Under Zabdas , a Palmyrene army invaded Arabia and moved into Egypt in the late summer. At this time, the prefect of Egypt was Tenagino Probus, described as an able soldier who not only defeated an invasion of Cyrenaica by the nomadic tribes to the south in 269, but also was successful in hunting down "Skythian" ships in the Mediterranean . However, he did not see the same success in Egypt, for a Palmyrene underground, led by Timagenes , undermined Probus , defeated his army, and killed him in a battle near the modern city of Cairo in the late summer of 270.[38] Generally when a Roman commander is slaughtered it is taken as a sign that a state of war is in existence, and if we can associate the death of Heraclianus in 270, as well as an inscription from Bostra recording the rebuilding of a temple destroyed by the Palmyrene army, then these violent acts could be interpreted the same way. Yet they apparently were not. As David Potter writes, "The coins of Vaballathus avoid claims to imperial power: he remains vir consularis, rex, imperator, dux Romanorum, a range of titles that did not mimic those of the central government. The status vir consularis was, as we have seen, conferred upon Odaenathus ; the title rex, or king, is simply a Latin translation of mlk, or king; imperator in this context simply means "victorious general"; and dux Romanorum looks like yet another version of corrector totius orientis" (Potter, 263). These titles suggest that Odaenathus' position, not unlike a king in the Semitic world, was inheritable. In Roman culture, the status gained in procuring a position could be passed on, but not the position itself. It is possible that the thin line between office and the status that accompanied it were dismissed in Palmyrene court, especially when the circumstance worked against the interests of a regime that was able to defeat Persia , which a number of Roman emperors had failed to do. Vaballathus stressed the meanings of titles, because in Palmyrene context, the titles of Odaenathus meant a great deal. When the summer of 270 ended, things were looking very different in the empire than they did a year before. After its success, Gaul was in a state of inactivity and the empire was failing in the east. Insufficient resources plagued the state, as a great deal of silver was used for the antoninianus , which was again diluted.[39] Religion An account written by Aurelius Victor states that Claudius consulted the Sibylline Books prior to his campaigns against the Goths . Hinting that Claudius "revived the tradition of the Decii", Victor illustrates the senatorial view, which saw Claudius' predecessor, Gallienus , as too relaxed when it came to religious policies.[40] Links to Constantinian dynasty The unreliable Historia Augusta reports Claudius and Quintillus having another brother named Crispus and through him a niece, Claudia, who reportedly married Eutropius and was mother to Constantius Chlorus .[41] Some historians suspect this account to be a genealogical fabrication, however, intended to link the family of Constantine I to that of a well-respected emperor.[42] Saint Valentine Claudius Gothicus has been linked to Saint Valentine since the Middle Ages . Contemporary records of his deeds were most probably destroyed during the Diocletianic Persecution on early 4th century[43] and a tale of martydom was invented in Passio Marii et Marthae, a "fanciful" work published in the 5th or 6th century.[43][44] 20th-century historians agree that the accounts from this period are not historically accurate.[43][44] The legend refers to "Emperor Claudius" but Claudius I did not make any persecution against Christians, so people assigned him to be Claudius II even although this emperor spent most of his time warring outside of his territory.[43] Furthermore, there is no evidence, outside of St. Valentine's legends, for Claudius II reversing Gallienus 's policy of toleration for Christians.[45][43] The legend was retold in later texts. In the Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493 AD, the emperor martyred the Roman priest during a general persecution of Christians. The text states that St. Valentine was beaten with clubs and finally beheaded for giving aid to Christians in Rome.[43] The Golden Legend of 1260 AD recounts how St. Valentine refused to deny Christ before the "Emperor Claudius" in 270 AD and as a result was beheaded.[44] Since then, February 14 marks Valentine's Day , a day set aside by the Christian church in memory of the Roman priest and physician.[46] Frequently Asked d Questions How long until my order is shipped?:: Depending on the volume of sales, it may take up to 5 business days for shipment of your order after the receipt of payment. How will I know when the order was shipped?: After your order has shipped, you will be left positive feedback, and that date should be used as a basis of estimating an arrival date. After you shipped the order, how long will the mail take? 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