Augustus and Divus Augustus: Roman Copper-Alloy Asses

Historical Context

Asses bearing Augustus's portrait belong to more than one political period. Lifetime issues name the living princeps, whereas memorial coins identify Divus Augustus and were produced under successors. Portrait identity and issuing authority therefore answer different questions. An as showing Augustus is not necessarily a coin made during his reign, and a later ruler's name may be essential to its attribution.

The lifetime coinage was not confined to a single design. Aimee Turner's study discusses an as dated to 22 BCE with Augustus on the obverse and Numa Pompilius on the reverse. The familiar Rome moneyer series and the altar issues of Lugdunum provide further, distinct settings for the imperial portrait. Their diversity cautions against treating one administrative arrangement as the explanation of every Augustan bronze.

After Augustus's death in AD 14, the portrait continued on commemorative currency. Tiberian PROVIDENT asses are one documented group. Still later, Titus revived earlier designs on restoration asses. The selected issues discussed here extend from the late first century BCE to AD 80-81; these are examples of the series' chronological breadth, not certified dates for its first and last production. The conventional catalogue term bronze is used here as an umbrella for copper-alloy currency, without implying a measured alloy composition for every issue.

Obverse Iconographic Composition

Portrait type must be read together with the reverse and inscriptions. A right-facing head occurs on Rome asses naming the moneyer Marcus Maecilius Tullus. Other lifetime issues, including the checked Lugdunum altar group, show a laureate head. A bare head and a laurel wreath are different attributes; neither should be silently supplied where the design or surviving evidence does not establish it.

The distinction becomes especially important on posthumous coinage. The Tiberian PROVIDENT group presents a radiate head of Augustus facing left. In this setting the rays accompany an explicit DIVVS legend and belong to the presentation of the deified ruler. They do not turn the denomination into a dupondius: the institutional catalogue identifies this group as asses.

Later restoration issues require their own description rather than a portrait template borrowed from Tiberius. Marshall discusses both a bare-headed Augustus with an altar reverse and a radiate portrait with an eagle on asses issued under Titus. Reuse of an imperial image can preserve the identity of the portrait subject while changing the date and political authority of the coin.

Obverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The Rome moneyer formula CAESAR AVGVST PONT MAX TRIBVNIC POT combines Augustus's name with priestly and tribunician titles. PONT MAX abbreviates pontifex maximus, or chief priest; TRIBVNIC POT refers to tribunician power. Abbreviated words are normal features of coin legends, not defects to be repaired into an assumed uniform inscription.

The short CAESAR PONT MAX formula is documented on the Lugdunum altar asses dated 10-6 BCE. Its wording differs from the Rome example even though both belong to Augustus's lifetime. Comparison therefore depends on the actual formula rather than simply finding the word CAESAR or a similar head.

DIVVS AVGVSTVS PATER means 'Deified Augustus, Father'. It distinguishes the deceased, consecrated portrait subject from a living emperor. It is not an issuing ruler's reign statement. The formula also survives on later restorations, where the reverse names Titus. Obverse and reverse must be read as a pair: the former identifies the honored Augustus, while the latter can identify the administration reviving his image.

Reverse Iconographic Composition

The large S C and surrounding moneyer's name form one characteristic Rome reverse arrangement. The letters are conventionally expanded as senatus consulto, 'by decree of the Senate'. They are separate initials, not a monogram, and their presence does not by itself establish that the Senate managed an independent monetary system.

The Lugdunum ROM ET AVG family offers a different composition: an altar decorated with a civic wreath and other relief motifs, with Victories at the sides. Its sanctuary imagery belongs to a lifetime dedication to Roma and Augustus. It should not be conflated with the later PROVIDENT enclosure merely because both reverses depict altars.

The PROVIDENT design presents an enclosed altar with closed doors and S C at its sides. It is conventionally associated with Augustus's providentia, or foresight. The distinction between an image of a monument and a measured architectural record matters: the coin does not establish dimensions, construction materials or every detail of the building's appearance.

Figural reverses also belong in the survey. The Numa issue shows that an imperial head could be paired with a figure drawn from Rome's royal past, not only with lettering or a sanctuary. Together these families demonstrate a range of civic, religious and commemorative imagery without constituting a complete catalogue.

Reverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

On a Rome moneyer as, M MAECILIVS TVLLVS IIIVIR A A A F F surrounds S C. The personal name identifies Marcus Maecilius Tullus; IIIVIR and the following initials refer to the monetary magistracy concerned with making coinage in bronze, silver and gold. The magistrate's name is part of the coin's administrative language, distinct from Augustus's portrait and titles.

ROM ET AVG abbreviates a dedication to Roma and Augustus. Its concise wording ties the Lugdunum altar image to the two recipients of the dedication. It is not another spelling of PROVIDENT, nor does the existence of this sanctuary formula mean every Augustan as was minted at Lugdunum.

PROVIDENT is an abbreviated reference to providentia. The association is dynastic and commemorative, but the inscription does not contain a calendar year. Dating must therefore come from the catalogue attribution and supporting comparisons rather than a nonexistent dated legend.

The restoration formula REST or RESTITVIT on later issues indicates that an earlier design was revived. When combined with Titus's name, it identifies a Flavian issuing context rather than an act performed by Augustus during his lifetime. Such legends are particularly valuable where an older portrait otherwise makes the coin look earlier than its production.

Typology and Documented Variants

The following are selected documented families, not an exhaustive list of emissions:

1. Numa reverse: Augustus's portrait paired with Numa Pompilius, discussed by Turner as an as of 22 BCE. This example extends the survey beyond the familiar late moneyer designs; no exact catalogue assignment is supplied here.
2. Rome moneyer as: A head of Augustus paired with M MAECILIVS TVLLVS IIIVIR A A A F F around S C, dated 7 BCE. The checked institutional concordance is RIC I, second edition, Augustus 435. This number is not interchangeable with every Tullus bust variant.
3. Lugdunum altar as: Laureate portrait with CAESAR PONT MAX and a ROM ET AVG altar reverse, documented in the checked group dated 10-6 BCE. The group is evidence for the lifetime family, not a boundary for all Lyon production.
4. Tiberian PROVIDENT as: Radiate head left and enclosed altar, conventionally c. AD 22-30; RIC I, second edition, Tiberius 81. The reign heading is Tiberius although the portrait is Augustus.
5. Titus restoration asses: Revivals of Augustus imagery dated AD 80-81 in Marshall's discussion, with the reigning emperor named in the restoration legend. They are later commemorative issues, not surviving lifetime emissions.

Nemausus bronzes with back-to-back Agrippa and Augustus portraits and a chained crocodile are related comparison material. RPC I 522 records a bronze type, not an explicit denomination in its displayed fields. It is not included here as a securely established as merely because its metal and portrait are compatible with the topic.

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

Chronology and denomination involve distinct limits. For the PROVIDENT family, Berlin records the conventional RIC dating around AD 22-30 while also citing a different BnF dating of AD 31-37. A narrow date should therefore be attributed to its catalogue framework rather than presented as a year written on the coin. A survey's selected chronological span is likewise not evidence that issues were produced continuously throughout it.

The Nemausus comparison illustrates another boundary. Its paired portraits, local COL NEM legend and crocodile reverse can be described from RPC, but resemblance to imperial copper-alloy currency is not enough to certify its value as one as. The related colonial series should remain distinct from the securely denominated families above unless a specific denominational argument is provided. No average-weight calculation or interpretation of halved coins is substituted here for that argument.

Catalogue editions introduce a further risk. Revised RIC numbering differs from earlier numbering, and a museum's reference to a type does not make every variant equivalent. The checked Tullus attribution supports one Rome type, not all bust directions, added figures or legend arrangements. Similarly, the appearance of S C, a radiate crown, an altar or an imperial portrait cannot independently settle denomination, mint and date.

Finally, the survival of Augustus's image under Tiberius and Titus separates commemoration from lifetime authority. Restored types belong to the reign in which they were made even when they preserve an older design. The survey describes that continuity selectively, without claiming to enumerate all later commemorations or to infer the scale of production from the examples that survive.

References

1. Berlin Muenzkabinett: Divus Augustus as under Tiberius. 18209819; RIC I (second edition), Tiberius 81; alternative BnF dating recorded
2. Ashmolean Heberden Coin Room: Augustus, Lugdunum altar asses. HCR115229-115232; asses dated 10-6 BC
3. Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien: Augustus as of Maecilius Tullus. ID57074, RO 4964; 7 BC; RIC I (second edition), Augustus 435
4. Roman Provincial Coinage Online: RPC I 522, Nemausus. Type fields: portraits, legends and bronze metal; no explicit denomination field
5. C. H. V. Sutherland, The Roman Imperial Coinage I, revised edition (1984). BnF bibliographic record; From 31 BC to AD 69, London: Spink; metadata only
6. Bruce Marshall, 'Restoration' Coins of the Flavian Emperors, Vespasian and Titus. Journal of the Numismatic Association of Australia 32 (2023), pp. 91-104; especially pp. 91-93
7. Aimee Turner, Kings on coins: the appearance of Numa on Augustan coinage. Iris 28 (2015), pp. 70-83; university record and author abstract, as dated 22 BCE