Watch List notes:

The Roman Empire
Commodus, 177 – 192. Aureus, Roma 183-184, AV 7.22 g.

Description: M COMMODVS – AN – TON AVG PIVS Laureate head r. Rev. P M TR P VIIII IMP VI COS IIII P P Jupiter standing l., holding sceptre and thunderbolt; at feet, eagle.

References: C 422 var. (laureate and cuirassed)
BMC 116 var. (laureate and cuirassed)
RIC 116 var. (laureate and cuirassed)
Calicó –
Condition:Rare. A coin in extraordinary condition, a simply perfect Fdc
Provenance: Heritage sale 3033, 2014, 23091
The Lexington Collection of Jonathan K. Kern

Note: Few Roman coins excite as much commentary as those of Commodus, which show him possessed of Hercules. Not only do they present an extraordinary image, but they offer incontrovertible support to the literary record. The reports of Commodus' megalomania and infatuation with Hercules are so alarming and fanciful that if the numismatic record was not there to confirm, modern historians would almost certainly regard the literary record as an absurd version of affairs, much in the way reports of Tiberius' depraved behaviour on Capri are considered to be callous exaggerations. Faced with such rich and diverse evidence, there can be no question that late in his life Commodus believed that Hercules was his divine patron. Indeed, he worshipped the demigod so intensely that he renamed the month of September after him, and he eventually came to believe himself to be an incarnation of the mythological hero.