Augustus Silver Cistophorus, RIC I (second edition) Augustus 476

Monetary Context

The cistophorus originated during the early second century BC under the Attalid kings of Pergamon, evolving into the dominant silver denomination throughout western Asia Minor. When the Kingdom of Pergamon was bequeathed to Rome in 133 BC and organized into the province of Asia, the Roman administration chose not to impose the denarius directly. Instead, Roman authorities preserved the cistophoric system as a closed currency zone. The denomination was tariffed at three Roman denarii, despite having a physical mass roughly equivalent to four Attic drachms (approximately 11.8 to 12.0 grams of refined silver). This artificial overvaluation discouraged the export of cistophori outside the province while protecting local commercial networks from silver drain. Following the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the formal end of the civil wars, Octavian reorganized eastern provincial administration and its fiscal machinery. RIC I (second edition) Augustus 476 represents one of the initial imperial interventions into this traditional regional coinage, reviving large-scale silver striking in Asia under centralized authority while retaining the familiar denomination and weight standard.

Production and Mints

Early twentieth-century numismatists debated the mint attribution of Octavian's first imperial cistophori, often dividing the emissions between Pergamum and Ephesus. Systematic stylistic analyses and die studies conducted by C. H. V. Sutherland in 1970 firmly established that RIC 476 was struck at Ephesus, the commercial capital and administrative seat of proconsular Asia. The series exhibits a cohesive artistic style characterized by finely modeled portrait dies, crisp epigraphy, and high-relief striking on broad, carefully prepared flans. Sutherland designated this series as Group I, noting that production was organized in a concentrated and intensive burst rather than a lingering, intermittent output. Die links identified across known specimens show an efficient mint operation capable of generating substantial volume to meet military disbursements and provincial administrative expenses in the immediate aftermath of the Ptolemaic defeat.

Obverse Imagery and Iconography

The obverse presents a right-facing, bare head of Octavian. The portrait reflects a distinct stylistic stage between the harsh, agitated realism of the triumviral coinages and the idealized, classicizing Augustan portraiture that would predominate after 27 BC. The facial features are rendered with youthful clarity, a sharp jawline, and naturalistic hair locks brushed forward across the brow. Octavian is depicted without any royal or divine headgear; there is neither a laurel wreath nor a diadem. This deliberate modesty presented the young ruler not as a Hellenistic monarch, but as a traditional Roman magistrate and citizen. The absence of a wreath or celestial attributes emphasized his stated objective of restoring civic norms and the traditional Roman Republic.

Reverse Iconography and Composition

The reverse composition combines Roman political allegories with deeply rooted Greek regional symbols. The central figure is Pax, the personification of peace, standing facing with her head turned to the left. She holds a winged caduceus in her right hand, an emblem of Mercury signifying commerce, abundance, and concord. Directly beside her stands a cista mystica, the sacred basket associated with Dionysian mysteries, with a serpent coiling and rising from its open lid. The entire scene is encircled by an intact laurel wreath. The cista and serpent had served as the central badge on civic cistophori for more than a century. By subordinating this ancient Anatolian emblem beside the figure of Pax, the die engravers visually articulated that local peace and commercial revival in Asia were safeguarded by the overarching order of Octavian's rule.

Epigraphy and Legends

The legends of RIC 476 are among the most programmatically revealing in all of Roman numismatics. The obverse legend reads IMP CAESAR DIVI F COS VI LIBERTATIS P R VINDEX, inscribed continuously around the portrait. This inscription emphasizes Octavian's military authority (Imperator), divine filiation (Divi Filius, through the deified Julius Caesar), and magistracy (Consul for the sixth time). The concluding phrase, Libertatis Populi Romani Vindex ('Champion of the Liberty of the Roman People'), directly mirrors Octavian's ideological claims, which he later reiterated in the Res Gestae Divi Augusti regarding his defense of the state against factional tyranny. The reverse legend consists solely of the word PAX, placed prominently across the upper field. This simple declaration served as a direct ideological promise to the eastern provinces, which had suffered decades of extortionate requisitioning under civil war commanders.

Types and Chronology

The chronological placement of RIC 476 is exceptionally secure due to the explicit consular designation COS VI on the obverse. Octavian served his sixth consulship in 28 BC alongside Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, providing an exact historical window for the striking of this type. Although wider numismatic databases, such as Online Coins of the Roman Empire, group early Augustan cistophori within a general operational span from 28 BC to 20 BC, the epigraphic evidence limits the minting of RIC 476 to 28 BC, prior to Octavian entering his seventh consulship and receiving the supreme title Augustus in January of 27 BC. Subsequent cistophoric issues from Ephesus and Pergamum introduced updated legends featuring AVGVSTVS and substituted the Pax design with other motifs, including sphinxes, capricorn wreaths, the temple of Roma and Augustus, and triumphal arches.

Circulation and Monetary Life

Because cistophori were tariffed at an overvalued rate within Asia Minor, RIC 476 was virtually confined to circulation within the province of Asia and neighboring districts of Phrygia and Caria. Hoard evidence from western Anatolia indicates that these large silver pieces enjoyed extended lifespans, frequently circulating alongside later Julio-Claudian and Flavian cistophori. Because the silver fineness remained relatively high (consistently around 80 to 90 percent pure silver), specimens were rarely demonetized early and often circulated for over a century until they were heavily worn. During the reign of Hadrian, many surviving early Augustan cistophori were formally called in and overstruck with updated imperial designs, leading to a natural attrition of pristine specimens from the currency supply.

References

1. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Augustus 476. ric.1(2).aug.476
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume I: From 31 BC to AD 69 (Revised Edition). page 80, number 476
3. Roman Provincial Coinage, Volume I: From the Death of Caesar to the Death of Vitellius. type 2201
4. The Cistophori of Augustus. pages 25-42