Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 502 20 Oct 2021
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Divus Severus Alexander. Died AD 235. AR Antoninianus (21mm, 3.75 g, 12h). Consecration issue. Rome mint, 6th officina. 8th emission of Trajan Decius, mid AD 251. Radiate bust right, slight drapery / Lighted altar. RIC IV 98 (Decius); RSC 597. Some porosity, minor edge defect. VF. Rare.
No official records survive stating that Severus Alexander was ever deified by the Roman Senate, making his inclusion in the 'Divi' series of coins struck by Trajan Decius circa AD 251 rather problematic. Still, the coin type's existence points to a deification that somehow went unrecorded. The Scriptores Historia Augusta is contradictory on the issue; the title of his biography (supposedly by Aelius Lampridius) does not call him deified, as it does with other rulers so honored, but one passage does assert that "the Senate raised him to the ranks of the gods " (book 63, verse 3). It provides no clue, however, when this occurred. Alexander was overthrown in a military coup by Maximinus I Thrax, who would certainly not have sought deification for his predecessor - indeed some sources claim Maximinus ordered a damnatio memoriae against him. This was likely revoked as part of the Senate's revolt against Maximinus during the Year of the Six Emperors in AD 238 (Alexander had been notably deferential to the Senate). The deification of Alexander could plausibly be assigned to the Senatorial rulers Balbinus and Pupienus, or the mild Gordian III (AD 238-244). By AD 251 it would have been widely known, and the favorable view of his reign carried over into subsequent centuries.
No official records survive stating that Severus Alexander was ever deified by the Roman Senate, making his inclusion in the 'Divi' series of coins struck by Trajan Decius circa AD 251 rather problematic. Still, the coin type's existence points to a deification that somehow went unrecorded. The Scriptores Historia Augusta is contradictory on the issue; the title of his biography (supposedly by Aelius Lampridius) does not call him deified, as it does with other rulers so honored, but one passage does assert that "the Senate raised him to the ranks of the gods " (book 63, verse 3). It provides no clue, however, when this occurred. Alexander was overthrown in a military coup by Maximinus I Thrax, who would certainly not have sought deification for his predecessor - indeed some sources claim Maximinus ordered a damnatio memoriae against him. This was likely revoked as part of the Senate's revolt against Maximinus during the Year of the Six Emperors in AD 238 (Alexander had been notably deferential to the Senate). The deification of Alexander could plausibly be assigned to the Senatorial rulers Balbinus and Pupienus, or the mild Gordian III (AD 238-244). By AD 251 it would have been widely known, and the favorable view of his reign carried over into subsequent centuries.