Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 106 9-10 May 2018
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Septimius Severus augustus, 193 – 211. Aureus 196-197, AV 7.44 g. L SAEPT SEV PERT – AVG IMP VII Laureate head r. Rev. ADVENTVI AVG FELI – CISSIMO Septimius Severus on horseback r., raising r. hand in salute; in front, a soldier advancing r., looking l., leading the emperor's horse. C 5. BMC 150 note. RIC 73 var. (drapery on l. shoulder). Calico 2426 var. (drapery on l. shoulder).
Extremely rare and possibly the finest specimen known. A magnificent portrait and
a very interesting and important reverse type. Virtually as struck and almost Fdc
Despite somewhat obscure equestrian origins in the provincial Libyan city of Leptis Magna, Septimius Severus gained senatorial rank under Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161-180) and worked his way through the cursus honorum until he was appointed governor of Pannonia Superior by Aurelius' son and successor, Commodus, in A.D. 191. At the end of A.D. 192, Commodus was assassinated and the position of emperor was given to Pertinax, the Urban Prefect of Rome. However, when he failed to buy the loyalty of the Praetorian Guard, he too was murdered three months into his reign. When the death of Pertinax became known, the forces under Severus' command proclaimed him the new emperor. Severus immediately marched on Rome in order to consolidate his position in the capital. Meanwhile, the Praetorian Guard auctioned off the imperial title at Rome to the wealthy Didius Julianus. Public outrage at this shameful development caused Claudius Albinus and Pescennius Niger, commanders in Britannia and Syria, respectively, to proclaim themselves as rivals. Thus A.D. 193 became known as the Year of the Five Emperors. As Septimius Severus neared Rome, Julianus was murdered, permitting him to claim the capital without resistance. Concerned about facing simultaneous enemies in the West and the East, Severus negotiated with Albinus, offering him the position of Caesar (junior co-emperor) in return for support against Niger. Albinus agreed and thus freed Severus to defeat Niger at the Battle of Issus in A.D. 194. A military man to the core, in A.D. 195, Septimius Severus made war on the Parthian Empire in response to interference in the Roman client-kingdoms of Mesopotamia. Returning to Rome in triumph, Severus appointed his eldest son, Caracalla, as Caesar (junior co-emperor) before marching against his former ally, Clodius Albinus, who had declared himself emperor and invaded Gaul in A.D. 196. Albinus was defeated near Lugdunum and committed suicide the following year, leaving
Septimus Severus the undisputed master of the Roman world. The business of the Year of the Five Emperors was finally at an end. In A.D. 198, Severus raised Caracalla to the position of Augustus (full co-emperor) and made his younger son, Geta, Caesar before embarking upon a grand new war in the East. This conflict, which continued until A.D. 199, achieved the capture of the western Parthian capital at Ctesiphon and a negotiated relationship with the Arab caravan kingdom of Hatra. At the conclusion of the war, Severus and his family returned to Rome via Syria and Egypt. He spent the next several years celebrating the Saecular Games and settling the affairs of North Africa. Problems in Britannia led Severus and his sons to campaign against the northern tribes of the island in A.D. 208. Together they pushed back the Caledonians and reoccupied the Antonine Wall. Thanks to this northern advance and the gains made in the East, the Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent under Septimius Severus. Unfortunately, the emperor had gained the world at the cost of his family. It became increasingly apparent to Severus that jealousy had deeply poisoned the relationship between Caracalla and Geta. When he fell ill at Eboracum (York) in A.D. 210, he hoped in vain that his sons would carry on and work together for the good of the empire. He died on 4 February A.D. 211. Before the end of the year Geta had joined him in the Underworld, murdered at the order of Caracalla. This wonderful gold aureus celebrates the arrival (adventus) of Severus at Rome following his first Parthian war in A.D. 196. On the reverse of the coin, Septimius Severus, now the undisputed emperor of the Roman world, enters Rome on horseback, raising his hand in greeting and led by a figure often described as a soldier, but who is clearly Roma, the personification of Rome. She is distinguished by her Amazonian dress and bared breast - features not in line the common Roman soldier of the second century. Similar adventus scenes, in which emperors on foot greet or are accompanied by Roma are known from earlier coins of Hadrian (A.D. 117-138) and a relief panel from the Arch of Marcus Aurelius. As such, the reverse type of Severus' aureus casts him in the tradition of the "good" emperors of the second century, but his mounted depiction gives his entry into Rome a somewhat greater triumphal quality than the earlier representations of Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius on foot.
Extremely rare and possibly the finest specimen known. A magnificent portrait and
a very interesting and important reverse type. Virtually as struck and almost Fdc
Despite somewhat obscure equestrian origins in the provincial Libyan city of Leptis Magna, Septimius Severus gained senatorial rank under Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161-180) and worked his way through the cursus honorum until he was appointed governor of Pannonia Superior by Aurelius' son and successor, Commodus, in A.D. 191. At the end of A.D. 192, Commodus was assassinated and the position of emperor was given to Pertinax, the Urban Prefect of Rome. However, when he failed to buy the loyalty of the Praetorian Guard, he too was murdered three months into his reign. When the death of Pertinax became known, the forces under Severus' command proclaimed him the new emperor. Severus immediately marched on Rome in order to consolidate his position in the capital. Meanwhile, the Praetorian Guard auctioned off the imperial title at Rome to the wealthy Didius Julianus. Public outrage at this shameful development caused Claudius Albinus and Pescennius Niger, commanders in Britannia and Syria, respectively, to proclaim themselves as rivals. Thus A.D. 193 became known as the Year of the Five Emperors. As Septimius Severus neared Rome, Julianus was murdered, permitting him to claim the capital without resistance. Concerned about facing simultaneous enemies in the West and the East, Severus negotiated with Albinus, offering him the position of Caesar (junior co-emperor) in return for support against Niger. Albinus agreed and thus freed Severus to defeat Niger at the Battle of Issus in A.D. 194. A military man to the core, in A.D. 195, Septimius Severus made war on the Parthian Empire in response to interference in the Roman client-kingdoms of Mesopotamia. Returning to Rome in triumph, Severus appointed his eldest son, Caracalla, as Caesar (junior co-emperor) before marching against his former ally, Clodius Albinus, who had declared himself emperor and invaded Gaul in A.D. 196. Albinus was defeated near Lugdunum and committed suicide the following year, leaving
Septimus Severus the undisputed master of the Roman world. The business of the Year of the Five Emperors was finally at an end. In A.D. 198, Severus raised Caracalla to the position of Augustus (full co-emperor) and made his younger son, Geta, Caesar before embarking upon a grand new war in the East. This conflict, which continued until A.D. 199, achieved the capture of the western Parthian capital at Ctesiphon and a negotiated relationship with the Arab caravan kingdom of Hatra. At the conclusion of the war, Severus and his family returned to Rome via Syria and Egypt. He spent the next several years celebrating the Saecular Games and settling the affairs of North Africa. Problems in Britannia led Severus and his sons to campaign against the northern tribes of the island in A.D. 208. Together they pushed back the Caledonians and reoccupied the Antonine Wall. Thanks to this northern advance and the gains made in the East, the Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent under Septimius Severus. Unfortunately, the emperor had gained the world at the cost of his family. It became increasingly apparent to Severus that jealousy had deeply poisoned the relationship between Caracalla and Geta. When he fell ill at Eboracum (York) in A.D. 210, he hoped in vain that his sons would carry on and work together for the good of the empire. He died on 4 February A.D. 211. Before the end of the year Geta had joined him in the Underworld, murdered at the order of Caracalla. This wonderful gold aureus celebrates the arrival (adventus) of Severus at Rome following his first Parthian war in A.D. 196. On the reverse of the coin, Septimius Severus, now the undisputed emperor of the Roman world, enters Rome on horseback, raising his hand in greeting and led by a figure often described as a soldier, but who is clearly Roma, the personification of Rome. She is distinguished by her Amazonian dress and bared breast - features not in line the common Roman soldier of the second century. Similar adventus scenes, in which emperors on foot greet or are accompanied by Roma are known from earlier coins of Hadrian (A.D. 117-138) and a relief panel from the Arch of Marcus Aurelius. As such, the reverse type of Severus' aureus casts him in the tradition of the "good" emperors of the second century, but his mounted depiction gives his entry into Rome a somewhat greater triumphal quality than the earlier representations of Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius on foot.