Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXIII 24-25 Mar 2022
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Septimius Severus AR Denarius. Rome, AD 204. SEVERVS PIVS AVG, laureate head to right / FELICITAS, emperor and sons, togate, seated to right on platform with urn and attendant standing to right, citizen standing to left below; SAECVLI in exergue. RIC IV 263; BMCRE 326; RSC 134. 3.20g, 20mm, 6h.
Good Very Fine; small chip to edge; attractive golden iridescence around devices. Extremely Rare; only three other examples offered at auction in the past 20 years.
From the GK Collection.
The scene on the reverse of this coin depicts the imperial family in a manner characteristic of the coinage of Septimius Severus: united and harmonious. The three togate figures of the emperor and his young sons Caracalla and Geta - already a co-emperor and Caesar themselves respectively - are rendered in a stylised form which only emphasises their homogeneity and similarity. They embody the blessings of a new golden age as proclaimed by the reverse legend FELICITAS SAECVLI, representing the stability offered by a new dynasty to guide and rule over the Roman empire. Ultimately the Severan dynasty would last less than 20 years; Geta would be murdered in his mother's arms at the order of his brother, and Caracalla would be assassinated by a disgruntled soldier, having well and truly grown into a cruel and brutal tyrant.
The iconography of Septimius Severus' early rule features his wife, Julia Domna, and his sons and future heirs to an extent matched only by the dynastic imagery from the period after Augustus came to power and set about establishing a new order following the civil wars. Septimius' rise bore a remarkable similarity to that of Augustus as he emerged victorious from the bloody wars of 193 AD, the 'Year of the Five Emperors' which followed the assassination of Commodus, the last Antonine emperor.
Like Augustus, Septimius heralded the new age of peace by celebrating the ludi saeculares in 204 AD, before which he had been absent from the capital campaigning against the Parthia. This once in a generation religious festival was commonly exploited to mark the inception of new eras and is indirectly referenced on the reverse of this coin. Generally celebrated only once in a hundred years during the Republic, it was overhauled by Augustus in 17 BC and subsequently celebrated by both Claudius in 47 AD and Domitian in 88 AD, co-opted by the emperors to glorify their own reigns. This extremely rare reverse type may represent a ceremony that formed part of the ludi saeculares, wherein the imperial family are portrayed interacting with a togate citizen standing before them.
Good Very Fine; small chip to edge; attractive golden iridescence around devices. Extremely Rare; only three other examples offered at auction in the past 20 years.
From the GK Collection.
The scene on the reverse of this coin depicts the imperial family in a manner characteristic of the coinage of Septimius Severus: united and harmonious. The three togate figures of the emperor and his young sons Caracalla and Geta - already a co-emperor and Caesar themselves respectively - are rendered in a stylised form which only emphasises their homogeneity and similarity. They embody the blessings of a new golden age as proclaimed by the reverse legend FELICITAS SAECVLI, representing the stability offered by a new dynasty to guide and rule over the Roman empire. Ultimately the Severan dynasty would last less than 20 years; Geta would be murdered in his mother's arms at the order of his brother, and Caracalla would be assassinated by a disgruntled soldier, having well and truly grown into a cruel and brutal tyrant.
The iconography of Septimius Severus' early rule features his wife, Julia Domna, and his sons and future heirs to an extent matched only by the dynastic imagery from the period after Augustus came to power and set about establishing a new order following the civil wars. Septimius' rise bore a remarkable similarity to that of Augustus as he emerged victorious from the bloody wars of 193 AD, the 'Year of the Five Emperors' which followed the assassination of Commodus, the last Antonine emperor.
Like Augustus, Septimius heralded the new age of peace by celebrating the ludi saeculares in 204 AD, before which he had been absent from the capital campaigning against the Parthia. This once in a generation religious festival was commonly exploited to mark the inception of new eras and is indirectly referenced on the reverse of this coin. Generally celebrated only once in a hundred years during the Republic, it was overhauled by Augustus in 17 BC and subsequently celebrated by both Claudius in 47 AD and Domitian in 88 AD, co-opted by the emperors to glorify their own reigns. This extremely rare reverse type may represent a ceremony that formed part of the ludi saeculares, wherein the imperial family are portrayed interacting with a togate citizen standing before them.