Caracalla: Gold Aureus of the Roman Empire

Historical Context

Caracalla, originally Lucius Septimius Bassianus and officially Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, was the elder son of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. He became Caesar in 196 and Augustus in 198. Gold in his name therefore begins before he exercised full imperial rank.

He ruled jointly with Septimius Severus, and later also with Geta. After Severus died in 211, the brothers briefly shared power. Geta's murder left Caracalla as sole Augustus until his own assassination in 217. His citizenship grant of 212 and military policies belong to this sole-rule phase, but a single fiscal motive should not be presented as a complete explanation of the citizenship measure.

Around 215 the gold aureus was reduced from the earlier nominal forty-five to fifty pieces to the Roman pound. This monetary context must be distinguished from the separate introduction of the silver radiate, conventionally called the antoninianus. Gold multiples also existed, but they should not be conflated with the ordinary aureus.

Obverse Iconographic Composition

Caracalla's portraits change from a youthful dynastic prince to a mature military emperor. Earlier gold can present smooth, idealized features; later portraits emphasize short hair, a closely trimmed beard, and a forceful expression. Busts can be draped, cuirassed, or both, with orientation and details varying by issue.

These contrasts communicate changes in rank and public presentation, but they do not define four universally dated portrait stages. A particular die cannot be dated solely by beard length or a scowling expression. The portrait must be compared with the legend, reverse, and issue sequence.

Obverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

Obverse inscriptions use Latin capitals and abbreviated imperial titles. Caesar issues identify Caracalla's junior rank through CAES, Caesar, while Augustus issues use AVG, Augustus.

A documented late formula is ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM: Antoninus Pius Augustus Germanicus, "Antoninus, Pious Augustus, Germanicus." The victory title Germanicus refers to imperial claims associated with warfare against the Germans.

Other issue-dependent formulas include ANTONINVS PIVS AVG and legends incorporating BRIT, Britannicus. These titles should not be assigned a rigid date range or an exact aureus catalogue number without checking the individual issue. Caracalla is a modern conventional name for the ruler, not the name written in these legends.

Reverse Iconographic Composition

Reverse imagery ranges from dynastic legitimacy and imperial piety to victory and divine protection:

• Dynastic themes: Family gold can combine portraits of members of the Severan house. A related coin naming Septimius Severus is evidence of family representation, not automatically an aureus issued in Caracalla's own name.
• Military themes: Victory, trophies, and captives express imperial success. An exact reverse must be checked before connecting it with a particular campaign.
• Serapis: Late aurei depict the god wearing a cylindrical headpiece and holding a sceptre. The 216 Rome issue belongs to Caracalla's lifetime sole rule.
• Radiate lion: A lion carrying a thunderbolt occurs under Caracalla and later emperors. The motif is not restricted to gold. Its solar, military, and religious interpretations remain debated.

Reverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

Reverse legends combine imperial offices with slogans. In the dated sole-reign series, the formula P M TR P XVIIII COS IIII P P records:

• P M: Pontifex Maximus, "Chief Priest."
• TR P XVIIII: Tribunicia Potestate for the nineteenth time, conventionally associated with the 216 issues.
• COS IIII: Consul for the fourth time.
• P P: Pater Patriae, "Father of the Fatherland."

The next tribunician numeral, XX, belongs to the final issue sequence conventionally dated 217. Tribunician terms and calendar years are not identical periods, so these conventional issue dates should not be presented as exact annual renewal boundaries.

VICT PART MAX abbreviates Victoria Parthica Maxima, "Greatest Parthian Victory." FELICITAS SAECVLI means "Happiness of the Age"; the named issuing authority and full design must be established before classifying a dynastic type under Caracalla.

Typology and Documented Variants

The broad aureus series should distinguish status and authority as well as reverse design:

1. Caesar issues, 196-198: Gold in Caracalla's name presents the junior prince under Septimius Severus. These are not sole-rule issues.
2. Joint-Augustus issues, 198-211: Portraits and titles reflect Caracalla's place beside his father and, during the final joint phase, Geta. Related family gold must be distinguished from coins with Caracalla as the named obverse authority.
3. Sole-Augustus Serapis issue, 216: A late imperial portrait accompanies the standing god and dated titulature. This issue supplies an example within the wider 196-217 series, not its overall date range.
4. Lion reverse family: The radiate lion carrying a thunderbolt is documented under Caracalla across 215-217 and on several denominations. Gold classification requires independent confirmation of metal and type.
5. Related gold multiples: Double aurei belong to the wider monetary context. Their existence does not convert every radiate portrait or heavy gold piece into a securely identified double denomination.

No exact gram range, fineness, die variant, or catalogue concordance is implied by these groupings.

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

Three questions require restraint:

1. Reform chronology: The reduction of the aureus around 215 is part of the wider monetary changes of the reign. An unusually light coin does not prove experimental striking, and no legislative text has been established here that formally codified a new gold standard on a precise date.

2. Religious interpretation: Serapis and the lion motif can be studied in relation to imperial protection and religious representation. A reverse cannot by itself diagnose the emperor's mental or physical health, prove a personal motive, or establish a policy of combining particular divinities.

3. Mint attribution and authority: Rome is documented for the 216 Serapis aureus. Earlier eastern gold is often assigned to a Syrian mint traditionally called Laodicea ad Mare, but the precise organizational attribution needs specialist evidence. Neither the closing of every eastern operation in 202 nor the exclusive Roman origin of all later gold should be asserted without that evidence.

References

1. Stellenbosch University, Caracalla. Institutional coin teaching catalogue; chronology and titles. The illustrated coin is a silver denarius, not evidence for gold type attribution.
2. Aila de la Rive, The Aureus: A Golden Newspaper. MoneyMuseum (2010), printed p. 10; Rome aureus of Caracalla dated 216 with Serapis reverse
3. Sylviane Estiot, L'or romain entre crise et restitution, 270-276 ap. J.-C., I. Aurélien. Journal des savants (1999), no. 1, pp. 51-165; introductory discussion of third-century gold and Caracalla's weight reduction
4. David Woods, From Caracalla to Carausius: The Radiate Lion with Thunderbolt in its Jaws. British Numismatic Journal 88 (2018), pp. 189-192; lion motif under Caracalla and later emperors
5. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Pendant de collier, aureus de Caracalla. Catalogue record Inv.56.152; mounted double aureus attributed to Rome, 215-217. Used only for existence of related gold multiples.
6. Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln, Septimius Severus, Aureus, 200-201. Institutional record ID156; dynastic aureus naming Septimius Severus, with Caracalla and Geta portraits. Related family coinage, not a Caracalla-obverse type.