Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Auction 123 23-24 May 2023
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Elagabalus. AD 218-222. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.17 g, 6h). Uncertain eastern mint. Struck AD 218-219. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Slow quadriga right, bearing the sacred stone of Emesa on which is an eagle, surrounded by four parasols. RIC IV 195; Thirion 360; RSC 268. Lustrous, rough edges. EF.
Ex Nilus Coins inventory 006-50 (ND).
At the age of fourteen, Varius Avitus Bassianus (better known as Elagabalus or Heliogabalus) inherited the office of high priest of the sun god El-Gabal at Emesa in Syria. The deity was worshipped in the form of a conical sacred stone, or baetyl, likely a large meteorite. When an unlikely coup made him emperor in June of AD 218, Elagabalus determined to take the stone with him to Rome and introduce its worship to the whole empire. During his reign, the emperor was devoted to promoting the cult of El-Gabal, building a lavish temple on the Palatine Hill to house the stone. For a brief period, the exotic eastern deity nearly came to dominate the Roman Pantheon.
This issue, struck in AD 218-219, likely refers to the journey from Emesa to Rome. The procession was repeated every year in the transfer of the stone from its principal temple in Rome to its "summer home," a large and richly decorated temple in the suburbs. Describing the transfer, Herodian (V.6.7) writes:
A six-horse chariot bore the sun god, the horses huge and flawlessly white, with expensive gold fittings and rich ornaments. No one held the reins, and no one rode in the chariot; the vehicle was escorted as if the sun god himself were the charioteer. Heliogabalus ran backward in front of the chariot, facing the god and holding the horses' reins. He made the whole journey in this reverse fashion, looking up into the face of his god.
Ex Nilus Coins inventory 006-50 (ND).
At the age of fourteen, Varius Avitus Bassianus (better known as Elagabalus or Heliogabalus) inherited the office of high priest of the sun god El-Gabal at Emesa in Syria. The deity was worshipped in the form of a conical sacred stone, or baetyl, likely a large meteorite. When an unlikely coup made him emperor in June of AD 218, Elagabalus determined to take the stone with him to Rome and introduce its worship to the whole empire. During his reign, the emperor was devoted to promoting the cult of El-Gabal, building a lavish temple on the Palatine Hill to house the stone. For a brief period, the exotic eastern deity nearly came to dominate the Roman Pantheon.
This issue, struck in AD 218-219, likely refers to the journey from Emesa to Rome. The procession was repeated every year in the transfer of the stone from its principal temple in Rome to its "summer home," a large and richly decorated temple in the suburbs. Describing the transfer, Herodian (V.6.7) writes:
A six-horse chariot bore the sun god, the horses huge and flawlessly white, with expensive gold fittings and rich ornaments. No one held the reins, and no one rode in the chariot; the vehicle was escorted as if the sun god himself were the charioteer. Heliogabalus ran backward in front of the chariot, facing the god and holding the horses' reins. He made the whole journey in this reverse fashion, looking up into the face of his god.