Caracalla: Silver denarius Coinage

Coinage Scope and Selected Issues

The Silver denarius coinage issued in the name of Caracalla includes issues distinguished by their portraits, inscriptions, reverse designs and mint attribution. This study concentrates on the INDVLGENTIA AVGG IN ITALIAM issues, rather than presenting one design as the entire denomination.

The issue dates and detailed iconographic descriptions below apply to the discussed groups, not automatically to every coin bearing the ruler's name. Other types and mints require their own catalogue comparison. An individual gallery coin must be assessed from its own inscriptions and institutional record; its measurements and provenance do not define the whole coinage.

Historical Context

Following the conclusion of the civil wars of 193-197 CE and the subsequent eastern campaigns against Parthia, Emperor Septimius Severus (reigned 193-211 CE) moved decisively to secure dynastic stability through the elevation of his two sons. His elder son, Lucius Septimius Bassianus, renamed Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and known historically by the nickname Caracalla, was elevated to Caesar in 196 CE and crowned co-Augustus in 198 CE. From that point forward, administrative governance emanated from collegiate Augusti, an institutional reality highlighted in official numismatic inscriptions by the doubled consonant in the title AVGG (Augustorum).

The years between 201 and 205 CE represented an intensive phase of dynastic consolidation, monumental building, and civic munificence. Having settled eastern frontiers, the imperial court returned to Rome in 202 CE to celebrate the decennalia of Septimius Severus and the imperial marriage of Caracalla to Fulvia Plautilla. The imperial family subsequently undertook a journey through North Africa between 202 and 203 CE, returning to Rome for the celebration of the Secular Games (Ludi Saeculares) in 204 CE.

Throughout this period, the mint of Rome issued coordinated ideological series emphasizing themes of dynastic harmony (Concordia), public prosperity (Laetitia Temporum), and imperial indulgence (Indulgentia). The concept of Indulgentia conveyed an emperor's personal favor or administrative benevolence, frequently materializing as tax remissions, civic subsidies, legal dispensations, or regional infrastructure grants.

Selected Issues: Obverse Iconographic Composition

The obverse presents a right-facing portrait of the youthful Caracalla. Across the initial phase of this series (c. 201-206 CE), he is rendered as an adolescent or young adult characterized by smooth, beardless facial features, a slightly curved nose, and compact, curly Severan dynastic hair.

He wears an imperial laurel wreath tied at the nape of the neck, with twin ribbon ties trailing downward across the neck. The bust is draped, showing soft folds of the mantle or paludamentum gathered across the shoulders and upper chest, occasionally over hints of a cuirass at the shoulder. This idealized, youthful presentation deliberately reflects Severan dynastic stability before yielding to the mature, short-bearded portraiture that characterized his coins from c. 206 CE onward.

Selected Issues: Obverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The obverse legend encircles the portrait along the outer flan border, separated at the apex by the laurel wreath:

• Latin Script: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG
• Transliteration: Antoninus Pius Aug[ustus]
• English Translation: "Antoninus Pius, Augustus"

The epigraphy consists of standard Roman serif capitals reading clockwise from the lower left to lower right. Caracalla adopted the prestigious Antonine moniker as part of his father's fictitious self-adoption into the Antonine dynasty, accompanied by the epithet Pius (dutiful or pious) and the supreme imperial title Augustus.

Selected Issues: Reverse Iconographic Composition

The reverse depicts an allegorical personification of Italia, towered and draped, seated facing left atop a terrestrial globe. Upon her head rests a mural crown, rendered with architectural crenellations or miniature towers symbolizing the fortified municipalities and civic communities of the Italian peninsula.

In her extended right hand, Italia holds an upright cornucopiae (horn of plenty), conveying agricultural bounty and economic plenty. With her left arm, she cradles a long upright or slightly inclined sceptre, signifying lawful governance and territorial sovereignty. The globe beneath her seat serves as a cosmic symbol of universal authority and order under Roman imperial hegemony.

Selected Issues: Reverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The reverse inscription is disposed across two distinct compositional zones:

• Latin Script:
  • Arc: INDVLGENTIA AVGG
  • Exergue: IN ITALIAM
• Transliteration: Indulgentia Augg[ustorum] in Italiam
• English Translation: "The indulgence [benevolence/favor] of the two Augusti toward Italy"

The peripheral legend INDVLGENTIA AVGG runs clockwise along the upper flan perimeter. The exergual phrase IN ITALIAM is placed horizontally below the baseline of the globe. The doubled terminal consonant in AVGG indicates the genitive plural Augustorum, explicitly confirming that the civic benefaction was conferred jointly under the shared authority of Septimius Severus and Caracalla.

Typology and Documented Variants

Struck at the metropolitan mint of Rome, this issue forms part of a cohesive group of ideological emissions. Metallurgical investigations of contemporary Severan silver indicate that denarii struck during the joint reign were produced on a nominal weight standard of approximately 3.0 to 3.5 grams, with an alloy debased to roughly 45-55 percent fine silver balanced by copper.

Documented typological counterparts and regional companion issues include:

• Caracalla Denarius (Standard Issue): Obverse ANTONINVS PIVS AVG with youthful laureate draped bust right; reverse INDVLGENTIA AVGG / IN ITALIAM with Italia seated left on globe (RIC IV.1 132; BMC RE V 278; Cohen IV 98; OCRE ric.4.crl.132).
• Septimius Severus Parallel Collegiate Denarius: Obverse SEVERVS PIVS AVG with laureate head of Septimius Severus right; reverse INDVLGENTIA AVGG / IN ITALIAM with identical composition (RIC IV.1 268; BMC RE V 334; OCRE ric.4.ss.268).
• Caracalla African Companion Issue: Obverse ANTONINVS PIVS AVG; reverse INDVLGENTIA AVGG / IN CARTH, showing Dea Caelestis riding a lion galloping right over water, celebrating imperial benefactions to Carthage following the African journey (RIC IV.1 130a; BMC RE V 279; OCRE ric.4.crl.130A_denarius).

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

The specific historical measure commemorated by Indulgentia Augustorum in Italiam remains an open question in Roman numismatics:

• Fiscal Remission and Debt Forgiveness: Harold Mattingly suggested that Indulgentia denoted a substantial fiscal concession, such as the cancellation of accumulated tax debts, the remission of the aurum coronarium (crown gold), or relief from extraordinary requisitions levied during the civil conflict with Clodius Albinus.
• Civic and Infrastructural Subsidies: Rossella Pera examined the parallel emissions IN ITALIAM and IN CARTH within the context of the imperial journeys of 202-203 CE. While the Carthaginian type clearly refers to public water engineering (such as the Zaghouan aqueduct) or the grant of ius Italicum, the Italian issue may celebrate imperial support for the municipal road transport system (vehiculatio / cursus publicus) or centralized distributions of olive oil (oleum gratuitum).
• Broad Dynastic Virtue: Erika Manders has emphasized that Severan reverse types often functioned beyond narrow administrative decrees, projecting programmatic virtues. In this framework, Indulgentia served as an ideological complement to Liberalitas, articulating the active paternal care of the collegiate emperors toward the Italian homeland alongside the provinces.
• Chronological Precision: Because the legends omit explicit tribunician counters (TR P), dating within the c. 201-206 CE window relies on stylistic portrait progression, hoard associations, and thematic links with the African return (202/203 CE) and the Secular Games of 204 CE.

References

1. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part 1: Pertinax to Geta. pp. 86-87, 125 (no. 268), 212, 231 (nos. 130a, 132)
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum (BMC RE), Vol. V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. cl-cli, 206-207 (nos. 278-279), 228 (no. 334)
3. Description historique des monnaies frappees sous l'Empire romain, Vol. IV. p. 150, no. 98
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE): RIC IV Caracalla 132. ric.4.crl.132
5. A Study of the Chemical Composition of Roman Silver Coinage, A.D. 196-197. American Journal of Numismatics (Second Series), Vol. 9 (1997), pp. 17-36
6. Probabili significati della scritta «Indulgentia Augg in Carthaginem» ed «Indulgentia Augg in Italiam» su alcune monete di Settimio Severo e Caracalla. Rivista Italiana di Numismatica e Scienze Affini, Vol. LXXXI (1979), pp. 103-114
7. Coining Images of Power: Patterns in the Representation of Roman Emperors and Dynasties, AD 193-284. pp. 132-134
8. Numista: Denarius - Caracalla (INDVLGENTIA AVGG IN ITALIAM; Italia). Record 273204
9. The Art Institute of Chicago: Denarius (Coin) Portraying Emperor Caracalla. Accession 1923.1282