Caracalla Silver Denarius RIC IV Caracalla 185

Monetary and Political Context

The denarius catalogued as RIC IV Caracalla 185 was struck in Rome during AD 211, a pivotal year in the history of the Severan dynasty. On February 4, AD 211, the dynasty's founder, Septimius Severus, died at Eburacum while directing extensive military operations against the tribes of northern Britain. Severus left the imperial purple jointly to his two contentious sons, Caracalla (officially Marcus Aurelius Antoninus) and Geta. The brothers rapidly terminated hostilities, concluded settlements with the Caledonians and Maeatae, and returned to Rome by May AD 211, bringing their father's ashes with them. The imperial coinage of AD 211 was tasked with emphasizing dynastic continuity, military triumph, and parity between the co-emperors, even as intense factional rivalry undermined their shared administration. Both brothers assumed the victory title Britannicus Maximus, shortened on coinage to BRIT, to broadcast the successful conclusion of the protracted northern campaigns. The issue of denarii bearing Victory on a prow directly advertised maritime authority and victorious crossing, reinforcing Caracalla's military standing before his domestic and military audiences.

Production, Minting, and Metrology

Production of RIC IV Caracalla 185 was centralized at the primary imperial mint of Rome. Operating under the oversight of imperial finance officials, the mint maintained multiple officinae striking denarii for Caracalla, Geta, and their mother Julia Domna concurrently. Under Septimius Severus, the imperial denarius had undergone a major debasement in the late 190s AD, stabilizing around fifty to fifty-five percent fine silver. Caracalla maintained this reduced standard during AD 211. Denarii of this emission typically target a theoretical weight range between 3.10 and 3.30 grams, though normal flan variations and strike irregularities cause surviving specimens to range from approximately 2.8 grams to nearly 3.6 grams. The coins were produced by hot striking cast silver flans between hand-engraved bronze or iron dies. Die axes for Rome mint products of this era show a strong tendency toward an upright or inverted alignment (commonly twelve o'clock or six o'clock), reflective of standardized workshop production methods.

Obverse Design and Portraiture

The obverse of RIC IV Caracalla 185 displays the laureate head of Caracalla facing right. At this stage of his reign, Caracalla's portraiture exhibits the transition from the idealized, youthful depictions of his Caesarship and early co-rule toward a more mature, assertive imperial image. The portrait features tightly curled hair bound by a laurel wreath whose ties hang behind the neck, along with short, closely cropped facial hair reflecting his emergence into full adulthood and military leadership. Unlike later bust variants that incorporate drapery or a military cuirass, this specific type standardly presents the head bare of drapery at the truncation of the neck, drawing sharp focus to the imperial facial features and the laureate emblem of victory.

Reverse Iconography

The reverse iconography depicts winged Victory moving dynamically toward the right. Her drapery billows backward to convey motion, and she is supported by a ship's prow beneath her feet. In her outstretched right hand, Victory holds a circular laurel wreath, while her left arm cradles a long palm frond that slopes diagonally over her left shoulder. The prow element is historically significant, denoting naval dominance or successful transit across water. While some scholars interpret the naval imagery as a celebration of the Roman fleet's operations (Classis Britannica) along the coasts and estuaries of Scotland, it also alludes directly to the safe return voyage of the imperial court across the English Channel to the continent en route to Rome. The juxtaposition of the traditional victory attributes (wreath and palm) with the nautical platform transforms a standard martial allegory into a specific commemoration of the northern expedition and the journey home.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The obverse legend reads ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT, running clockwise from the lower left rim. This concise formula combines Caracalla's official dynastic nomenclature (Antoninus), his honorific virtue (Pius), the fundamental imperial title (Augustus), and the newly celebrated victory cognomen (Britannicus). The reverse inscription reads P M TR P XIIII COS III P P, signifying Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate XIIII, Consul III, Pater Patriae. The count of Caracalla's tribunician power as TR P XIIII securely fixes the striking of this issue to AD 211, as his fourteen-term tribunician count began on December 10, AD 210, and concluded on December 9, AD 211. His third consulship (COS III), first entered in AD 208, remained his current consular count during this period. The legend acts as an epigraphic anchor, allowing precise chronological attribution within the Severan sequence.

Typology and Chronological Placement

Within the typology established by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham in The Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC), volume IV, part 1, number 185 represents one of several distinct reverse compositions paired with the TR P XIIII formula for Caracalla in AD 211. Other contemporary issues from the same minting year feature reverse personifications such as Securitas, Fortuna, Serapis, or Victory inscribing a shield. The prow variety explicitly complements parallel denarii struck for Geta (such as RIC IV Geta 79, reading PONTIF TR P III COS II with a related maritime motif) and aurei sharing identical iconographic schemes. The production of RIC IV Caracalla 185 concluded before the close of AD 211, as the emperor assumed his fifteenth tribunician power (TR P XV) in December of that year, shortly before murdering Geta on December 26, AD 211, and restructuring the mint's output to reflect sole rule.

Circulation, Hoards, and Archaeological Evidence

Severan denarii of AD 211 circulated widely throughout the military zones of the Rhine and Danube frontiers, as well as in Britain, Italy, and the civil interior of the western provinces. Because the denarius retained a stable tariffed exchange rate within the empire despite its fifty-percent silver alloy, coins of RIC IV Caracalla 185 entered regular commercial transactions and military payroll streams immediately upon release. Specimens appear consistently in third-century hoard contexts across Britain and the continent, such as the Shapwick hoard in Somerset and numerous frontier garrison deposits. These finds demonstrate that denarii struck during the British campaign remained in circulation well into the mid-third century AD, circulating alongside older Antonine silver and newer debased issues until the wider adoption of the antoninianus (double denarius) gradually displaced them during the reigns of Gordian III and his successors.

References

1. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan Decius. pp. 581-598
2. Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700. pp. 125-132
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part I: Pertinax to Geta. p. 237, no. 185
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Caracalla 185. ric.4.crl.185
5. The Coinage of Roman Britain. pp. 67-74