Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVI 26 Sep 2018
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Caracalla AV Aureus. Rome, AD 204. ANTON P AVG PON TR P VII, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / VICT PART MAX, Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm. RIC 78 (this coin cited); BMCRE p. 249, note * (this coin cited); Calicó 2843a (same dies). 7.55g, 20mm, 6h.
Mint State.
This coin cited in H. Mattingly & E. A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage Vol. IV, Part I (1936);
This coin cited in H. Mattingly, Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum Vol. 5 (1950);
Ex Vicomte Gustave Ponton d'Amécourt Collection, Rollin & Feuardent, 25 April 1887, lot 416, sold with old collector's ticket.
Septimius Severus' Parthian campaign was concluded in 198 with the capture of the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon. On this occasion Septimius was acclaimed imperator for the eleventh time, and he received the title Parthicus Maximus. This victory was celebrated on the Roman coinage over the next few years, and a triumphal arch built in Rome in commemoration of the event that was dedicated in 203. In the wake of his great success, Septimius elevated Caracalla, who had accompanied him on campaign in the east, to co-augustus.
In 204 when this aureus was struck the Imperial family had recently returned from the province of Africa, where Septimius had dramatically expanded and re-fortified the entire southern frontier of the empire along the Limes Tripolitanus. Now focussing on matters other than war, the great event of this year was the celebration of the ancient Etruscan festival, the Saecular Games, which recurred at intervals of 110 years and was commemorated on the coinage struck for both augusti. This event saw Caracalla and Geta associated with the Di Patrii, Hercules and Liber Pater, who were themselves equated with the Phoenician gods Shadaphra and Melqart, the tutelary deities of Septimius' home city of Leptis Magna in Roman Libya (cf. Roma XV, lot 585 for a full discussion of the importance of the Di Patrii to the ideology of Septimius' reign).
Struck at the same time as coinage emphasising the important ideological connection of his sons to the tutelary deities of his regime, the reverse of this stunning aureus attests that Caracalla shared in the celebration of his father's Parthian victory as co-augustus: we find Caracalla bearing the title given to his father, Parthicus Maximus, and a traditional representation of Victory. As Caracalla neither gained the military victory as Emperor or as a military leader, this aureus demonstrates that victory was also an abstract attribute associated with the princeps. The willingness of Septimius to share his victory titles with his son reflects his desire to create a strong and lasting dynasty following the principle of succession by birth, a theme repeated often on the coinage.
Mint State.
This coin cited in H. Mattingly & E. A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage Vol. IV, Part I (1936);
This coin cited in H. Mattingly, Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum Vol. 5 (1950);
Ex Vicomte Gustave Ponton d'Amécourt Collection, Rollin & Feuardent, 25 April 1887, lot 416, sold with old collector's ticket.
Septimius Severus' Parthian campaign was concluded in 198 with the capture of the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon. On this occasion Septimius was acclaimed imperator for the eleventh time, and he received the title Parthicus Maximus. This victory was celebrated on the Roman coinage over the next few years, and a triumphal arch built in Rome in commemoration of the event that was dedicated in 203. In the wake of his great success, Septimius elevated Caracalla, who had accompanied him on campaign in the east, to co-augustus.
In 204 when this aureus was struck the Imperial family had recently returned from the province of Africa, where Septimius had dramatically expanded and re-fortified the entire southern frontier of the empire along the Limes Tripolitanus. Now focussing on matters other than war, the great event of this year was the celebration of the ancient Etruscan festival, the Saecular Games, which recurred at intervals of 110 years and was commemorated on the coinage struck for both augusti. This event saw Caracalla and Geta associated with the Di Patrii, Hercules and Liber Pater, who were themselves equated with the Phoenician gods Shadaphra and Melqart, the tutelary deities of Septimius' home city of Leptis Magna in Roman Libya (cf. Roma XV, lot 585 for a full discussion of the importance of the Di Patrii to the ideology of Septimius' reign).
Struck at the same time as coinage emphasising the important ideological connection of his sons to the tutelary deities of his regime, the reverse of this stunning aureus attests that Caracalla shared in the celebration of his father's Parthian victory as co-augustus: we find Caracalla bearing the title given to his father, Parthicus Maximus, and a traditional representation of Victory. As Caracalla neither gained the military victory as Emperor or as a military leader, this aureus demonstrates that victory was also an abstract attribute associated with the princeps. The willingness of Septimius to share his victory titles with his son reflects his desire to create a strong and lasting dynasty following the principle of succession by birth, a theme repeated often on the coinage.