Augustus Gold Aureus, RIC I (second edition) Augustus 513

Monetary Context and Political Background

In 20 BC, Augustus achieved a major foreign policy triumph in the eastern Mediterranean through a mixture of military readiness and diplomatic negotiation. Under the command of the young Tiberius, Roman forces advanced into Armenia, deposing the reigning monarch and installing Tigranes III on the throne as a client king loyal to Rome. Simultaneously, Phraates IV of Parthia returned the legionary standards and surviving prisoners captured from Crassus at Carrhae in 53 BC and from Mark Antony in the 30s BC. While Rome did not annex Armenia as a formal province, imperial propaganda presented this resolution as a total conquest. The aureus catalogued as RIC I (second edition) Augustus 513 belongs to the celebrated ARMENIA CAPTA coinage struck between 19 and 18 BC to celebrate this eastern settlement. Gold aurei formed the highest denomination of the reformed Augustan currency system, functioning not for daily market transactions but for high-level state expenditures, military bonuses, and elite gifts, making them primary vehicles for imperial messaging.

Production Standards and Mint Attribution

The aureus adheres to the gold standard instituted in the early Augustan principate, struck at approximately 1/42 to 1/40 of a Roman pound, with standard specimens typically clustering around 7.85 to 7.95 grams and measuring roughly 19 to 20 millimeters in diameter. The precise mint responsible for striking this series has generated substantial scholarly discussion. In the revised edition of Roman Imperial Coinage, C.H.V. Sutherland classified the series under an uncertain mint in Asia Minor, commonly identified with Pergamum. The refined Hellenistic engraving style and high-relief portraiture point strongly to established Greco-Roman workshops in western Anatolia. Alternative hypotheses have suggested Samos, Ephesus, or an administrative mint attached to the imperial entourage touring the East. Despite slight differences in mint attribution, numismatists agree that production was organized under imperial authority rather than local civic magistrates, utilizing high-purity gold and carefully prepared dies.

Obverse Iconography and Modeling

The obverse of RIC 513 features the bare head of Augustus oriented to the left, rendered in a classically restrained Hellenistic style. The modeling exhibits clean facial contours, a firm jawline, and naturalistic waves of hair curling across the brow and nape of the neck. Left-facing portraits on early Augustan aurei are substantially less frequent than right-facing counterparts, giving this specific type a distinctive presence within the broader eastern gold series. The portrait eschews civic crowns or divine attributes, emphasizing modest republican restraint in harmony with the princeps's public image during the 20s and teens BC. Die study comparisons across the series demonstrate that master engravers prepared dies of remarkable technical execution, capturing the idealized features characteristic of the Prima Porta portrait tradition.

Reverse Design and the Imperial Sphinx

The reverse iconography depicts a sphinx seated toward the right with wings elevated and tail curved. The beast rests upon a distinct exergual ground line or directly upon the field. In ancient numismatics, the sphinx held deep associations with mystery, sovereignty, and the East. Crucially, Suetonius and Pliny the Elder record that Augustus used an intaglio seal engraved with a sphinx during the early decades of his career, inheriting the signet from his mother Atia. The presence of the sphinx on the reverse of the ARMENIA CAPTA gold coinage links imperial state policy directly to the person of Augustus. It serves as both an exotic eastern emblem and a personal signature of the ruler who orchestrated the settlement. While denarii of this emission also depict Armenian captives, tiaras, and quivers, the gold aureus pairs this enigmatic mythological creature directly with the declaration of eastern submission.

Epigraphy and Legend Structure

The legends on RIC 513 are terse, powerful, and strictly epigraphic. The obverse carries the single word AVGVSTVS, placed vertically or curved along the margin behind or before the imperial head. This titular designation, voted by the Roman Senate in 27 BC, conveys sacred authority without resorting to complex magistracies or military titles. On the reverse, the legend ARMENIA CAPTA ('Armenia Captured') is disposed around the seated sphinx, traditionally reading along the upper margin or split across the field. The letters are cleanly cut in classical Roman capitals with prominent serifs, characteristic of the finest eastern engravers working under Roman administrative oversight. The phrasing deliberately echoes the language of triumph, directly equating diplomatic hegemony and dynastic manipulation with absolute military conquest.

Typology and Chronological Placement

RIC I (second edition) Augustus 513 is catalogued within the specialized group of eastern ARMENIA CAPTA and ARMENIA RECEPTA emissions dated to 19-18 BC. Sutherland established this catalogue number for the gold aureus featuring the bare head facing left and the seated sphinx facing right. It forms a companion to RIC 510 and RIC 512, which display the bare head facing right, and to corresponding silver denarii and cistophoric issues bearing related triumphal motifs. A parallel emission with the legend ARMENIA RECEPTA exists in the silver denomination, highlighting a subtle nuance in Augustan propaganda between land 'captured' and territory 'recovered'. Because Augustus returned to Rome in the autumn of 19 BC and celebrated the return of the standards, production of this series is firmly dated to the immediate aftermath of the Armenian settlement, terminating before the secular games and monetary reforms of 17 BC.

Distribution and Monetary Function

Due to their high intrinsic value and limited mintages, Augustan aurei did not experience rapid, localized market velocity. Instead, issues like RIC 513 were distributed as major disbursements to veteran commanders, provincial administrators, and imperial legates stationed throughout the eastern provinces and Italy. Hoard evidence indicates that Augustan gold coins circulated for decades, often remaining within private stores or state reserves well into the Julio-Claudian era until Nero's monetary reform of AD 64 reduced the gold weight standard. Surviving specimens are rare, exhibiting varying degrees of wear from extended preservation in ancient hoards rather than intensive commercial friction. Their enduring aesthetic quality and high metallurgical purity made them enduring symbols of Roman geopolitical supremacy throughout the Mediterranean.

References

1. Roman Provincial Coinage, Volume I: From the Death of Caesar to the Death of Vitellius. pp. 379-381
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume I: Augustus to Vitellius. pp. 109-110
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Augustus 513. ric.1(2).aug.513
4. Suetonius, De Vita Caesarum, Divus Augustus. 50.1
5. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume I: From 31 BC to AD 69 (Revised Edition). p. 80, no. 513