Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIII 23 March 2017
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Septimius Severus AV Aureus. Rome, AD 193-194. IMP CAE•L•SEP• SEV•PERT•AVG, laureate head right / VIRT•AVG TR P•COS, Virtus standing left, holding Victory and reversed spear. RIC 24; Calicó 2570; BMCRE 32; Biaggi 1114. 7.27g, 19mm, 12h.
Mint State. A stunning example.
Struck as part of the first issue to be produced for Septimius Severus in AD 193, the reverse type of the present piece is understandably military in flavour. Following the assassination of Commodus, and the swift removal of his successor Pertinax by the Praetorian Guard, Severus was still challenged by three rival claimants to the throne: Didius Julianus, whom Herodian (ii.6.4) tells us bought the emperorship at an auction organised by the Praetorian Guard; Pescennius Niger in Syria, whose legions had proclaimed him emperor; and the powerful governor of Britannia, Clodius Albinus. Condemned to death by the Senate, Julianus posed no threat to Severus and he was able to enter Rome unopposed, an event likely the specific catalyst for this reverse type where Severus is hailed as the 'Virtuous (or Courageous) Emperor'.
Securing his power-base in Rome and keeping Albinus closely allied by raising him to the rank of Caesar, Severus travelled to the East to quell the revolt led by the other claimant Niger and routed his army at the Battle of Issus. However once back in Rome, and having proclaimed his son Caracalla his successor, Albinus' troops revolted and declared their leader emperor: meeting Albinus' army near Lugdunum in 197, a great battle ensued after which, with Albinus dead and his army defeated, Severus had cemented his control over the whole Empire.
Mint State. A stunning example.
Struck as part of the first issue to be produced for Septimius Severus in AD 193, the reverse type of the present piece is understandably military in flavour. Following the assassination of Commodus, and the swift removal of his successor Pertinax by the Praetorian Guard, Severus was still challenged by three rival claimants to the throne: Didius Julianus, whom Herodian (ii.6.4) tells us bought the emperorship at an auction organised by the Praetorian Guard; Pescennius Niger in Syria, whose legions had proclaimed him emperor; and the powerful governor of Britannia, Clodius Albinus. Condemned to death by the Senate, Julianus posed no threat to Severus and he was able to enter Rome unopposed, an event likely the specific catalyst for this reverse type where Severus is hailed as the 'Virtuous (or Courageous) Emperor'.
Securing his power-base in Rome and keeping Albinus closely allied by raising him to the rank of Caesar, Severus travelled to the East to quell the revolt led by the other claimant Niger and routed his army at the Battle of Issus. However once back in Rome, and having proclaimed his son Caracalla his successor, Albinus' troops revolted and declared their leader emperor: meeting Albinus' army near Lugdunum in 197, a great battle ensued after which, with Albinus dead and his army defeated, Severus had cemented his control over the whole Empire.