Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Auction 123 23-24 May 2023
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Septimius Severus. AD 193-211. AV Aureus (21mm, 7.35 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 201. SEVERVS PIVS AVG, laureate head right / RESTITVTOR VRBIS, Roma, helmeted, draped to feet, seated left on small, round shield, holding palladium on extended right hand and scepter, nearly vertical, in left, resting feet on stool. RIC IV 288; Calicó 2529a; BMCRE 358; Biaggi 1101; Jameson –; Mazzini –. In NGC encapsulation 4938386-016, graded Ch AU, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 3/5, edge scuff.
Flush with plunder from his eastern conquests and cash forcibly extracted from his political enemies, Septimius Severus engaged in a prodigious building campaign in the city of Rome, including the arch that bears his name and still survives in the Roman Forum. He also built the Septizodium, an elaborately layered colonnade that served as a public gathering place and alternate forum, which survived until demolished by Pope Sixtus V in 1588. These and other improvements were celebrated on coinage naming Severus as "Restitutor Urbis," or "Restorer of the City," including this aureus.
Flush with plunder from his eastern conquests and cash forcibly extracted from his political enemies, Septimius Severus engaged in a prodigious building campaign in the city of Rome, including the arch that bears his name and still survives in the Roman Forum. He also built the Septizodium, an elaborately layered colonnade that served as a public gathering place and alternate forum, which survived until demolished by Pope Sixtus V in 1588. These and other improvements were celebrated on coinage naming Severus as "Restitutor Urbis," or "Restorer of the City," including this aureus.