Julia Domna Silver Denarius RIC IV Caracalla 373A

Monetary Context and Severan Silver Policy

The denarius issue RIC IV Caracalla 373A was struck during the sole reign of Caracalla between AD 211 and AD 217, a pivotal era of financial transformation across the Roman Empire. Following the death of Septimius Severus at Eboracum (York) in early AD 211 and the assassination of Caracalla's brother and co-ruler Geta in late AD 211, Caracalla assumed complete control of the state apparatus. To secure the loyalty of the legions, Caracalla enacted substantial military pay increases, which placed intense fiscal strain on the treasury. In response, imperial mint administrators maintained the debased silver fineness established in the mid-Severan period, hovering between approximately 50 and 55 percent silver purity with a theoretical target weight near 3.1 to 3.2 grams. In AD 215, Caracalla introduced the double denarius (antoninianus), yet regular denarii continued to be produced in high volume to service ongoing state payments, civilian transactions, and dynastic propaganda. Striking denarii under the name and authority of the Augusta Julia Domna, who managed extensive state correspondence and petitions in Rome and Antioch, reinforced the legitimacy of Caracalla's solitary rule by visually reminding the Roman populace and military of Severan lineage and continuous imperial authority.

Mint Production and Technical Execution

RIC IV Caracalla 373A was manufactured exclusively at the primary imperial mint in Rome. Mint operations under Caracalla functioned with specialized officinae capable of producing millions of silver flans each year to meet expanding state expenditure. Blanks were cast in spherical or round moulds, typically producing slightly irregular flans with beveled edges, before being heated and struck between hand-carved iron dies. Die engraving for the obverse portrait of Julia Domna at this date shows remarkable refinement and anatomical consistency, capturing her distinctive Late Severan coiffure with precision. Reverse dies featuring Diana Lucifera demonstrate balanced spatial composition, rendering the deity with a fluidly draped chiton, slender proportions, and carefully proportioned transverse torch attributes. Surviving specimens from this type reveal characteristic Severan striking traits, including light die axis rotation (predominantly aligned close to 12 or 6 o'clock), occasional flow lines radiating from the periphery, and minor striking cracks along the brittle outer borders caused by high striking pressure on debased alloy blanks.

Obverse Portraiture and Style

The obverse of RIC IV Caracalla 373A presents a draped bust of the empress Julia Domna facing right. In contrast to her youthful issues under Septimius Severus, this portrait displays the mature, refined profile characteristic of her final years under Caracalla's reign. The central iconographic hallmark is her elaborate Severan helmet-like hairstyle: the hair is meticulously waved horizontally in tight, undulating parallel ridges across the crown of the head, drawn backward over the ears, and gathered low at the nape of the neck into a broad, braided chignon that turns upward against the back of the cranium. Fine details include gentle facial modeling with prominent almond-shaped eyes, an aquiline nose, and delicate drapery gathered over the shoulder. This formal stylistic presentation conveyed dignity, gravitas, and imperial majesty, visually positioning the Augusta as the venerable mother of the emperor, the camps, and the Roman state.

Reverse Iconography of Diana Lucifera

The reverse design depicts the goddess Diana Lucifera standing draped, facing left, holding a long, lighted torch horizontally or transversely in both hands. Diana in her guise as Lucifera ('Light-Bringer') served as a celestial divinity identified with the moon and nocturnal illumination, frequently associated with female deities, childbirth, and imperial health. On Severan coinage struck for empresses, Diana Lucifera carried multilayered ideological symbolism. Beyond her traditional role as a protector of women and facilitator of safe delivery, she embodied steady illumination dispelling darkness, metaphorically signaling security, celestial guidance, and renewed hope for the dynasty. The posture of holding the torch across her body with both hands is a classical sculptural idiom adapted into imperial coinage, visually balancing the vertical axis of the standing figure against the diagonal line of the lit torch, which often features small engraved flames or flaring contours at its upper terminus.

Epigraphy and Titulature

The legends on RIC IV Caracalla 373A are concise, formal, and rendered in classic Roman monumental capital lettering. The obverse legend reads IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG (Iulia Pia Felix Augusta). The adoption of the epithets 'Pia' (Dutiful/Pious) and 'Felix' (Fortunate/Blessed) in the empress's titulature was a development instituted after the death of Septimius Severus in AD 211, echoing the traditional honorifics granted to Roman emperors and underscoring Domna's extraordinary constitutional and familial prominence during Caracalla's reign. The reverse legend reads DIANA LVCIFERA, naming the deity directly in the nominative case. The lettering on both faces is neatly executed with subtle serifs, encircling the central devices within a dotted peripheral border, though slight die-crowding or off-center strikes occasionally result in the loss of individual letters near the rim.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the framework of Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham's Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC IV, Part 1), type 373A designates the specific denarius pairing Julia Domna's IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG legend with Diana Lucifera standing left holding a torch in both hands. This issue is dated firmly between AD 211, when the PIA FELIX obverse formula was introduced following Septimius Severus's death, and AD 217, the year Caracalla was assassinated and Domna subsequently died. The type must be distinguished from earlier denarii struck under Septimius Severus (AD 193-211) that also depict Diana Lucifera but carry the earlier obverse legend IVLIA AVGVSTA without the Pia Felix titles (such as RIC IV Caracalla 373, or under Septimius Severus RIC IV 548). Furthermore, other reverse variants of Diana Lucifera struck for Domna feature the goddess riding a biga (chariot) or standing with a torch held vertically, which constitute separate typological entries in the Severan corpus.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Evidence

Denarii of Julia Domna struck under Caracalla circulated widely throughout the provinces of the Roman Empire, from the military garrisons along the Rhine and Danube frontiers to Roman Britain, Gaul, Hispania, and the eastern Mediterranean. Hoard evidence from across the empire, such as the Shapwick and Dorchester hoards in Britain and numerous continental deposits, shows that debased Severan denarii remained in active commercial use for decades following their production. Even after Caracalla's introduction of the antoninianus in AD 215 and the subsequent monetary reforms of the mid-third century, Severan denarii continued to pass through local market exchanges until the systemic hyperinflation of the AD 250s and 260s drove them out of circulation or into hoard caches. Extant specimens of RIC IV Caracalla 373A regularly exhibit mild to moderate wear from sustained hand-to-hand handling, attesting to their functional utility within the Severan cash economy.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. 431-433
2. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan Decius. pp. 560-575
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Caracalla 373A. RIC IV Caracalla 373A
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part I: Pertinax to Geta. p. 273, no. 373A