Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 502 20 Oct 2021
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Divus Commodus. Died AD 192. AR Antoninianus (23mm, 3.00 g, 6h). Consecration issue. Rome mint, 5th officina. 8th emission of Trajan Decius, mid AD 251. DIVO COMMODO, radiate head right / CONSECRATIO, lighted altar. RIC IV 94 (Decius); RSC 1010. Porosity, flan crack. VF. Rare.
Intriguingly, not all deified Caesars are honored in the "Divi" issues of the mid-3rd century AD. The series lacks Julius Caesar, Claudius, Lucius Verus, Pertinax and Caracalla, all of whom had been raised to Olympus by a vote of the Senate. To further confuse matters, the series does include one emperor who never seems to have been "officially" deified, Severus Alexander, although it is likely our surviving records are incomplete in this instance. The most curious inclusion is Commodus, a widely reviled ruler whose deification by Septimius Severus was widely regarded as a sham, if senatorial historians are to be believed.
Intriguingly, not all deified Caesars are honored in the "Divi" issues of the mid-3rd century AD. The series lacks Julius Caesar, Claudius, Lucius Verus, Pertinax and Caracalla, all of whom had been raised to Olympus by a vote of the Senate. To further confuse matters, the series does include one emperor who never seems to have been "officially" deified, Severus Alexander, although it is likely our surviving records are incomplete in this instance. The most curious inclusion is Commodus, a widely reviled ruler whose deification by Septimius Severus was widely regarded as a sham, if senatorial historians are to be believed.