Watch List notes:

The Roman Empire
Commodus, 177 – 192. Bimetallic medallion, Roma 185, Æ 56.94 g.

Description: M COMMODVS ANTO – NINVS AVG PIVS BRIT Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. P M TR P X IMP VII COS III P P Naked Hercules crowning himself with r. hand and holding club with l., standing facing between tree and lighted altar.

References: C 393
BMC Medallions p. 24, 15 and pl. 30, 2
Gnecchi p. 60, 79 and pl. 83, 6
MIR 1023-I/36
Condition:Very rare. A wonderful portrait of fine style struck in high relief and a very interesting reverse composition masterly engraved. A lovely untouched green patina and extremely fine
Provenance: Tkalec sale February 2008, 482
Astarte sale XX, 2009, 132

Note: Marcus Aurelius was the first emperor since Vespasian to have a surviving biological son, and unlike his immediate predecessors who had adopted a suitable heir to succeed them, he intended for his son Commodus to rule after his own death. Thus in A.D. 177 he gave Commodus the rank of Augustus, formally sharing the imperium and attempting to groom him in the responsibilities of leadership. However, after Commodus became sole ruler of the Roman world upon his father's death in March A.D. 180, it became apparent that he was thoroughly unsuited to the task. Preferring the pleasures of leisure over the hard work of managing a vast empire, Commodus entrusted the administration of the government to a succession of favourites, and this soon led to rampant corruption at the highest levels of state. Cleander, a freedman from Phrygia, was the last of these favourites and the most audacious in his concentration of powers and greed. He fell from grace in A.D. 190 due to riots caused by a food shortage, and Commodus handed his head to the mob.
Since the beginning of his reign Commodus had presented himself in the guise of the hero Hercules, thus claiming divine lineage from Jupiter, the supreme god of the Roman pantheon. Innumerable statues of the emperor were set up throughout the Roman Empire, and show him with a splendid physique and in possession of the demi-gods attributes, the lion's skin headdress and club. These images even appeared frequently in various forms on the coinage, such as on this wonderful bimetallic medallion struck in A.D. 185. Here Commodus is shown in the guise of Hercules, crowning himself with a wreath and holding a club. To the left of him is a tree, his quiver hanging from one of its many branches, and to the right a garlanded altar shown in perspective. Although the precise meaning and purpose of the types chosen for this medallion are not certain, they illustrate Commodus' association with Hercules a half decade before his megalomania had truly manifested during the final two years of his reign.