Caracalla Bronze As, RIC IV Caracalla 553A

Monetary Context and Severan Currency Structure

By AD 215, the Roman monetary system was experiencing substantial structural shifts driven by escalating fiscal demands, primarily imperial military expenditures and donatives. Under Caracalla, the denarius suffered another reduction in fineness, dropping to approximately fifty percent silver content, and the imperial administration inaugurated a new double-denarius denomination, the antoninianus. In contrast to these disruptions in the precious-metal system, base-metal coinage continued to follow the denominational framework established during the Augustan monetary reform, comprising the orichalcum sestertius, the orichalcum dupondius, and the copper or bronze as. The as, valued at one-quarter of a sestertius and one-sixteenth of a silver denarius, provided essential small change for daily retail transactions throughout Italy and the western provinces. However, the production volume of imperial bronze fractions had declined noticeably under the Severan dynasty compared to the prolific output of the Antonine era. Striking the as required considerable institutional resources while yielding negligible profit from seigniorage compared to the overvalued base silver issues. The survival of well-struck asses in AD 215, such as RIC IV Caracalla 553A, confirms that the imperial treasury still recognized the vital necessity of supplying fractional base metal to ensure liquidity in urban market economies, even as the empire focused heavily on funding extensive military campaigns in the East.

Production Standards and Mint Organization

The issue RIC IV Caracalla 553A was produced exclusively at the imperial mint of Rome, which handled virtually all regular senatorial base-metal coinage bearing the senatorial formula S C (Senatus Consulto). Although Caracalla himself was physically absent from the capital throughout AD 215, conducting administrative and military business in the Danubian and eastern provinces, the urban mint operated continuously under the direction of the procurator monetae, striking base-metal and precious-metal issues in accordance with imperial directives sent to the Senate. Copper-alloy asses of the early third century AD typically weighed between 9.5 and 12.0 grams with a flan diameter ranging from 24 to 27 millimeters, though individual specimens exhibit significant variations arising from batch-casting of flans rather than precise individual adjustment. Metallurgical analyses of Severan aes coinage indicate that while earlier Imperial asses were struck on relatively pure red copper, third-century strikings frequently incorporated varying proportions of lead, tin, and recycled bronze scrap. The mint operated an organized system of officinae (workshops), where skilled die-engravers rendered the imperial portrait in the characteristic vigorous, muscular Severan style, balancing realistic features with standard ideological iconography.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portrayal

The obverse of RIC IV Caracalla 553A bears the mature portrait of Caracalla, depicted as a laureate head facing right. In numismatic portraiture of this stage of his reign, Caracalla is rendered with a short, tight, curling beard, cropped hair, a thick neck, and a stern, furrowed brow. This distinctively martial portraiture departed radically from the serene, philosophical countenance championed by the Antonine emperors and the youthful depictions of Caracalla under Septimius Severus. The laurel wreath (corona triumphalis) encircling his head served as an unambiguous badge of supreme imperium and victorious generalship, bound at the back of the neck with ribbon ties flowing downward. On aes denominations of the Roman mint, portrait conventions consistently distinguished denominations: the as and the sestertius invariably bore a laureate head or bust, whereas the dupondius was systematically marked by a radiate crown representing Sol, facilitating immediate identification of the denomination despite occasional ambiguities in flan size and metal color. The die-engraving on RIC IV Caracalla 553A exhibits the high plastic relief and crisp linear detail characteristic of the Rome mint's prime workshop engravers.

Reverse Iconography: Asclepius and Divine Healing

The reverse of RIC IV Caracalla 553A depicts the Greek healing god Asclepius (Aesculapius in Latin) standing frontally with his head turned left. The deity is shown nude to the waist, with a himation draped across his left shoulder and wrapped securely around his lower body and limbs in the traditional classical manner derived from Hellenistic cult statues. In his right hand, Asclepius holds his iconic serpent-wreathed staff (baculus), which extends vertically to the ground line. The coiled serpent symbolizes rejuvenation, health, and subterranean wisdom. Positioned on the ground to the right of the deity is a small globe (or spherical object), a symbolic attribute representing cosmic order, universal authority, or the terrestrial realm over which the deity's restorative powers extended. Across the lower field, flanking the god, appear the bold letters S and C, denoting Senatus Consulto. The prominent appearance of Asclepius across Caracalla's coinage in AD 214 and 215 directly reflects the emperor's intense preoccupation with his failing physical health and mental distress. Ancient literary sources, notably Cassius Dio and Herodian, record that Caracalla visited major therapeutic sanctuaries throughout the empire, including the famous Asklepieion of Pergamon, praying for relief from debilitating sickness and tormenting dreams.

Inscriptions and Epigraphic Analysis

The inscriptions on RIC IV Caracalla 553A provide concise, chronologically precise documentary evidence. The obverse legend reads ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, running clockwise around the rim from the lower left. This epigraphic formula reflects the official nomenclature adopted by Caracalla: Antoninus Pius Augustus, honoring his declared dynastic affiliation with the Antonines, alongside the victory cognomen Germanicus (abbreviated GERM). The title Germanicus was formally assumed in AD 213 following his successful military campaigns against the Alamanni on the northern frontier, becoming a staple element of his obverse titulature from late 213 onward. The reverse legend reads P M TR P XVIII COS IIII P P, framing the top and sides of the reverse composition, with S C situated in the lower field. This imperial titular formula decodes as Pontifex Maximus (chief priest), Tribunicia Potestate XVIII (exercising his eighteenth annual tribunician power), Consul IIII (holding his fourth consulship, assumed in AD 213), and Pater Patriae (father of his country). The inclusion of S C confirms formal senatorial sanction for the issue of bronze coinage in Rome.

Typological Classification and Chronological Placement

The chronological assignment of RIC IV Caracalla 553A is firmly anchored to the year AD 215 by the iteration of Caracalla's tribunician power. The imperial tribunician power was renewed annually; Caracalla's eighteenth renewal (TR P XVIII) commenced in late AD 214 or on 1 January 215, running through the conclusion of AD 215. The Asclepius motif was introduced to the imperial coinage in TR P XVII (AD 214) following the emperor's visit to Pergamon and continued into TR P XVIII (AD 215) across all metals, appearing on gold aurei, silver denarii, sestertii, dupondii, and asses. In the Roman Imperial Coinage typology compiled by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham, type 553A specifically designates the bronze as carrying the laureate head right on the obverse paired with the reverse composition of Asclepius standing facing with head left, serpent-staff, and globe on the ground to the right. It is closely related to sestertius types bearing identical reverse iconography (such as RIC IV Caracalla 538a) and dupondii bearing radiate busts (such as RIC IV Caracalla 545). Variant dies within type 553A may show minor artistic nuances, such as slight variations in the drape of the cloak or the exact position of the globe, but the essential heraldic and epigraphic elements remain strictly consistent.

Circulation, Monetary Use, and Archaeological Context

Bronze asses of Caracalla circulated primarily within the western provinces of the Roman Empire, including Italy, Gaul, Britain, the German frontiers, and Hispania, where base-metal sestertii, dupondii, and asses formed the core small-denomination currency for daily retail commerce. In contrast, the eastern Mediterranean provinces relied predominantly on local civic provincial bronzes struck under autonomous civic authorities. Because the volume of newly minted asses struck during the Severan period was considerably smaller than that of the first and second centuries AD, Severan bronze coins circulated alongside large quantities of heavily worn Flavian, Trajanic, Hadrianic, and Antonine bronze pieces that remained in circulation for generations. Archaeological site finds and hoards from military castra along the Rhine and Danube frontiers demonstrate that third-century soldiers and camp followers utilized imperial asses for routine purchases of provisions, tavern goods, and personal supplies. Due to persistent monetary velocity and decades of continuous handling, surviving specimens of RIC IV Caracalla 553A frequently exhibit substantial surface wear, patination, and corrosion characteristic of prolonged soil immersion in European findspots.

References

1. Roman History, Book LXXVIII. Book 78, Chapter 15
2. Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700. pp. 125-132
3. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. 484-486
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Caracalla 553A. ric.4.crl.553A
5. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part I: Pertinax to Geta. p. 302, no. 553A