Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction X 27 September 2015
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Septimius Severus AV Aureus. Rome, AD 201. SEVERVS AVG PART MAX, laureate head right / FVNDATOR PACIS, Severus, veiled, standing left, holding branch and scroll. RIC 160; Calicó 2459; C. 202; BMC 189. 7.25g, 19mm, 6h.
Fleur De Coin. Very Rare.
From the Ambrose Collection;
Ex Numismatik Lanz 112, 25 November 2002, lot 598.
Severus' rise to power required him to remove the threats of two others who had been proclaimed emperor, Pescennius Niger in the East and Clodius Albinus in the West. Having routed Niger and pacified the eastern provinces, and after his victory against Albinus at the Battle of Lugdunum, Severus consolidated support in the western provinces and then turned his attention back to increasing the bounds of the Roman Empire eastwards.
In 197 Severus invaded Parthia and captured the Parthian capital Ctesiphon. The sack of Ctesiphon was particularly devastating. Severus gave his soldiers liberty to plunder the city at will and brutal slaughter ensued. According to Cassius Dio, as many as 100,000 women and children were sold into slavery, and an enormous amount of treasure was carried off from the city. Ctesiphon was however not garrisoned, and Severus withdrew from the city. Though he failed to reduce the city of Hatra, which had also held out against Trajan, the northern half of Mesopotamia was annexed to the empire, and for this victory Severus took the title parthicus maximus, as seen on the obverse legend of this type. While he could not claim total victory over the Parthians, he had dealt a severe blow to that kingdom, which endured no more than another twenty seven years before a revolt by the Sassadids overran the weakened empire.
The reverse however reiterates Severus' role as a bringer of peace and stability, who had successfully dealt with both the usurpers within the empire and Rome's external enemies. Indeed, the reign of Severus can be considered to have been a prosperous and largely stable period - a last golden period before the coming of an age of iron and rust.
Fleur De Coin. Very Rare.
From the Ambrose Collection;
Ex Numismatik Lanz 112, 25 November 2002, lot 598.
Severus' rise to power required him to remove the threats of two others who had been proclaimed emperor, Pescennius Niger in the East and Clodius Albinus in the West. Having routed Niger and pacified the eastern provinces, and after his victory against Albinus at the Battle of Lugdunum, Severus consolidated support in the western provinces and then turned his attention back to increasing the bounds of the Roman Empire eastwards.
In 197 Severus invaded Parthia and captured the Parthian capital Ctesiphon. The sack of Ctesiphon was particularly devastating. Severus gave his soldiers liberty to plunder the city at will and brutal slaughter ensued. According to Cassius Dio, as many as 100,000 women and children were sold into slavery, and an enormous amount of treasure was carried off from the city. Ctesiphon was however not garrisoned, and Severus withdrew from the city. Though he failed to reduce the city of Hatra, which had also held out against Trajan, the northern half of Mesopotamia was annexed to the empire, and for this victory Severus took the title parthicus maximus, as seen on the obverse legend of this type. While he could not claim total victory over the Parthians, he had dealt a severe blow to that kingdom, which endured no more than another twenty seven years before a revolt by the Sassadids overran the weakened empire.
The reverse however reiterates Severus' role as a bringer of peace and stability, who had successfully dealt with both the usurpers within the empire and Rome's external enemies. Indeed, the reign of Severus can be considered to have been a prosperous and largely stable period - a last golden period before the coming of an age of iron and rust.