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Monthly Auction 271726 25 Jun 2017
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Elagabalus (AD 218-222). AR denarius (3.18 gm). NGC MS 4/5 - 4/5. Rome, AD 221. IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, laureate and draped bust of Elagabalus right / SVMMVS SACERDOS AVG, Elagabalus standing left, sacrificing over tripod, holding patera and branch; star in left field. RIC 146b. RSC 276. Crisp, detailed strike.
Without doubt, the four-year reign of Elagablus stands as the strangest interlude in all Roman history. His rise to power was engineered by his grandmother, Julia Maesa, the sister of the powerful Roman Empress Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus and mother of Caracalla. In A.D. 218, the Severan dynasty's fortunes were at a low ebb; Septimius was long dead, Caracalla had been murdered and replaced by the dull civil servant Macrinus, and Julia Domna had been compelled to return to her Syrian hometown of Emesa, where she starved herself to death in grief. Maesa, determined to avenge her sister and restore the Severan-Emesan dynasty to power, seized upon her 13-year-old grandson, Varius Avitus Bassianus, as the means. The boy, who was the hereditary high priest of the god Elagabal, greatly resembled a young Caracalla, and Maesa had it put about to the soldiers that he was the emperor's natural son and true successor. That, plus a liberal sprinkling of gold from Maesa's fortune, induced the troops to revolt and proclaim Avitus (now renamed Antoninus, but widely known as Elagabalus after his god) as emperor. Improbably, Macrinus was defeated and killed, and Elagabalus and his retinue made their way to Rome, where the people greeted their new ruler with mixed bafflement, amusement, and horror. For in addition to his Syrian birth, Elagabalus was also what would today be called transgendered, an exotic dancer, and totally committed to the orgiastic rites of his cult. He married three times in rapid succession, including a scandalous union with a Vestal Virgin. Athletes, dancers, actors and charioteers reached high office based on their sexual prowess. The populace and soldiery soon became disgusted with this un-Roman behavior. Though Julia Maesa ably held the reigns of government from behind the scenes, she failed in restraining her grandson's wilder impulses, and finally decided that he must be replaced to save the dynasty. She persuaded Elagabalus to adopt his more docile cousin Alexander as Caesar, then cooly arranged for the Praetorians to murder their oddball emperor along with his mother, Julia Soaemias, in March, AD 222. Maesa continued to rule as emperor in all but name behind the throne of Alexander, who proved a much more obedient figurehead than Elagabalus, until her death in late AD 225 or early 226, after which she was replaced by her daughter Julia Mamaea.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 120-160 USD
Elagabalus (AD 218-222). AR denarius (3.18 gm). NGC MS 4/5 - 4/5. Rome, AD 221. IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, laureate and draped bust of Elagabalus right / SVMMVS SACERDOS AVG, Elagabalus standing left, sacrificing over tripod, holding patera and branch; star in left field. RIC 146b. RSC 276. Crisp, detailed strike.
Without doubt, the four-year reign of Elagablus stands as the strangest interlude in all Roman history. His rise to power was engineered by his grandmother, Julia Maesa, the sister of the powerful Roman Empress Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus and mother of Caracalla. In A.D. 218, the Severan dynasty's fortunes were at a low ebb; Septimius was long dead, Caracalla had been murdered and replaced by the dull civil servant Macrinus, and Julia Domna had been compelled to return to her Syrian hometown of Emesa, where she starved herself to death in grief. Maesa, determined to avenge her sister and restore the Severan-Emesan dynasty to power, seized upon her 13-year-old grandson, Varius Avitus Bassianus, as the means. The boy, who was the hereditary high priest of the god Elagabal, greatly resembled a young Caracalla, and Maesa had it put about to the soldiers that he was the emperor's natural son and true successor. That, plus a liberal sprinkling of gold from Maesa's fortune, induced the troops to revolt and proclaim Avitus (now renamed Antoninus, but widely known as Elagabalus after his god) as emperor. Improbably, Macrinus was defeated and killed, and Elagabalus and his retinue made their way to Rome, where the people greeted their new ruler with mixed bafflement, amusement, and horror. For in addition to his Syrian birth, Elagabalus was also what would today be called transgendered, an exotic dancer, and totally committed to the orgiastic rites of his cult. He married three times in rapid succession, including a scandalous union with a Vestal Virgin. Athletes, dancers, actors and charioteers reached high office based on their sexual prowess. The populace and soldiery soon became disgusted with this un-Roman behavior. Though Julia Maesa ably held the reigns of government from behind the scenes, she failed in restraining her grandson's wilder impulses, and finally decided that he must be replaced to save the dynasty. She persuaded Elagabalus to adopt his more docile cousin Alexander as Caesar, then cooly arranged for the Praetorians to murder their oddball emperor along with his mother, Julia Soaemias, in March, AD 222. Maesa continued to rule as emperor in all but name behind the throne of Alexander, who proved a much more obedient figurehead than Elagabalus, until her death in late AD 225 or early 226, after which she was replaced by her daughter Julia Mamaea.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 120-160 USD