Caracalla Bronze As RIC IV Caracalla 568B

Monetary Context

The monetary landscape of AD 217 was characterized by deep structural realignments within the Roman currency system. Under the Severan dynasty, the silver denarius experienced severe debasement, culminating in the introduction of the double denarius (antoninianus) around AD 215 to cope with rising military expenditures and fiscal obligations. Amid these alterations to precious-metal coinage, traditional base-metal denominations such as the sestertius, dupondius, and as continued to serve as fractional currency essential for everyday civilian and commercial exchanges. The as maintained its longstanding role as a core unit of daily retail transactions, struck in unalloyed copper or related bronze alloys. By the late Severan era, however, imperial production of middle bronzes had contracted significantly compared to the early principate, concentrating high-volume output primarily in Rome. As an issue produced under these late Severan fiscal conditions, RIC IV Caracalla 568B reflects the sustained administrative requirement to circulate token bronze coinages bearing senatorial sanction even while major state resources were diverted toward financing eastern military operations.

Production and Mints

Production of RIC IV Caracalla 568B took place entirely at the central imperial mint in Rome. During the Severan period, the metropolitan mint maintained centralized control over official base-metal issues destined for circulation across Italy and western provinces. Striking was performed using manual die-pairing techniques, in which cast copper-alloy flans were heated and struck between an engraved lower anvil die and an upper punch die. Flans for middle bronze asses in the early third century AD typically conformed to an approximate target weight between 9.0 and 11.5 grams, although noticeable flan-weight variation was routine due to batch casting rather than individual blank adjustment. Die axes generally show standardized regular alignments, predominantly oriented at 12 o'clock or 6 o'clock, characteristic of the imperial mint's strict workshop practices. Metallurgical analyses of contemporary Severan asses demonstrate a composition of relatively pure copper or low-tin bronze, distinguishing them visually and metallically from the brass (orichalcum) used for sestertii and dupondii.

Obverse Design and Portraiture

The obverse presents a right-facing portrait of Caracalla shown as a mature, maturely bearded emperor wearing a laurel wreath. By AD 217, Caracalla's portraiture had fully transitioned from the juvenile depictions of the joint reign with Septimius Severus into a hardened, martial physiognomy characterized by deep brow furrows, a tense turn of the neck, and an intense facial expression. The laurel wreath rests securely on tight curls of hair, tied behind the nape with ribbons extending downward. This severe portrait style was deliberately formulated to project soldierly toughness, disciplined resolve, and shared identity with the Roman legions. Unlike concurrent radiate issues used specifically to denote the dupondius, the laureate head definitively identifies this coin as an as within the middle bronze category.

Reverse Iconography

The reverse iconography centers on Jupiter (Iuppiter), the supreme protector of the Roman state and imperial authority. The god is depicted seated toward the left upon an ornamental throne, naked to the waist with drapery gathered around his lower limbs. In his outstretched right hand, Jupiter supports a small standing figure of Victory (Victoria), who extends a laurel wreath. His raised left hand holds a tall vertical sceptre, denoting supreme sovereignty and cosmic governance. At his feet to the left stands an eagle, the sacred bird and traditional zoomorphic attribute of the deity, facing right or gazing upward toward its master. This divine imagery served clear propagandistic purposes, linking the emperor's pending or current military campaigns in the East directly to the patronage of Jupiter the Victorious (Iuppiter Victor). Through this composition, the coin affirmed that divine intervention guided the emperor's victories and assured imperial safety.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The obverse inscription reads ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, forming a continuous circular legend beginning at the lower left. Rendered in classical capital lettering, the text records Caracalla's official dynastic and triumphal designations: Antoninus, Pius (denoting filial and religious piety), Augustus (the paramount imperial title), and Germanicus (celebrating his military campaigns on the northern Germanic frontier in AD 213). The reverse inscription reads P M TR P XX COS IIII P P, framing the seated deity, with the formula S C placed across the fields or in the exergue. The titular elements correspond to Pontifex Maximus (chief priest), Tribunicia Potestate vicesimum (holder of tribunician power for the twentieth time), Consul quartum (four-time consul), and Pater Patriae (father of the fatherland). The designation S C (Senatus Consulto) preserves the constitutional convention attributing bronze coin production to senatorial decree.

Types and Chronology

The chronology of RIC IV Caracalla 568B is precisely delimited by its epigraphic formula. Caracalla's twentieth tribunician power (TR P XX) commenced on 10 December AD 216 and would have extended into late AD 217; however, his assassination on 8 April AD 217 abruptly closed the issue window. Consequently, this coin type can be securely dated to the opening four months of AD 217. Within the broader framework of Severan typological development, this reverse composition represents a continuation of Jovian motifs struck across multiple metals, including aurei, denarii, and sestertii, celebrating imperial victory during the Parthian expedition. In the classification scheme of the Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC), 568B specifically catalogues the as denomination of this design, distinguished from sestertii (RIC 568A) by flan module and denomination specifications, and from radiate dupondii by the laureate head on the obverse.

Circulation and Archaeological Context

Because asses produced during the later reign of Caracalla were struck in more limited quantities than earlier second-century equivalents, surviving examples of RIC IV Caracalla 568B in archaeological contexts are comparatively scarce. In circulation, middle bronzes of this period served within mixed currency pools, circulating alongside well-worn Flavian, Trajanic, and Antonine bronze pieces that remained in active commercial use for generations. Excavations of military fortresses, frontier settlements along the Rhine and Danube, and urban deposits in Italy and the western provinces frequently yield third-century aes displaying significant wear, demonstrating extended circulation lifetimes. Find patterns indicate that late Severan asses rarely formed concentrated hoard deposits on their own; instead, they appear as isolated site losses in retail contexts or as minor components within large mixed-denomination aes hoards deposited during the economic disruptions of the mid-third century AD.

References

1. Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700. ch. 6, pp. 125-135
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part I: Pertinax to Geta. pp. 302-303, no. 568B
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Caracalla 568B. ric.4.crl.568B
4. Roman Coins and Their Values, Volume II: The Accession of Nerva to the Fall of the Severan Dynasty (AD 96 - AD 235). Caracalla, Aes Coinages