Commodus Bronze Sestertius, RIC III Commodus 613

Monetary Context and Economic Environment

The sestertius had long served as the fundamental accounting unit and the premier large bronze denomination of the high Roman Empire since the monetary reforms initiated by Augustus. Struck in orichalcum, a golden-toned copper-zinc alloy that contemporary Romans valued above pure red copper, the sestertius occupied a crucial intermediary position within the imperial economy. Valued at four asses, two dupondii, or one-quarter of a silver denarius, it facilitated substantial everyday civilian transactions, local market trading, and tax payments. In the closing decade of the second century AD, economic pressures began to strain the Roman monetary framework. Decades of military expenditure under Marcus Aurelius, coupled with the disruptive consequences of the Antonine Plague, had created structural fiscal deficits. Although the silver denarius suffered gradual reductions in weight and metallic fineness to stretch treasury reserves, the mint of Rome maintained the traditional production of base-metal denominations to satisfy commercial demand for petty currency and imperial distributions. By AD 192, the year RIC III Commodus 613 was issued, the sestertius remained an essential tool for state expenditure, providing soldiers and Roman citizens with physical money while functioning simultaneously as a visible vehicle of state communication.

Mint Operation and Technical Production

All official imperial sestertii of Commodus dating to AD 192 were manufactured exclusively at the central urban mint in Rome. Operating under the administrative oversight of the rationalis and executed by departmental moneyers, the Rome mint was organized into specialized workshops or officinae capable of massive outputs of precious-metal and aes coinage. Production of the sestertius involved casting thick, heavy planchets from carefully prepared copper-alloy batches. Although numismatic literature often refers generically to these pieces as bronze, metallurgical analyses show that second-century sestertii were traditionally composed of orichalcum, though recycling practices and varying supply lines during the late Antonine era frequently produced leaded brass or ternary bronze alloys with reduced zinc content. Heated or cold planchets were positioned between manually engraved steel or iron dies and struck with heavy handheld sledgehammers. The physical characteristics of RIC III Commodus 613 conform to the established Antonine sestertius standard, displaying broad flans typically measuring between 29 and 32 millimeters in diameter, with mean weights centering near 20 to 25 grams, though individual surviving specimens exhibit wide variance resulting from batch-weighting techniques rather than strict individual planchet adjustment.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC III Commodus 613 presents a right-facing portrait of Commodus adorned with a laurel wreath. By AD 192, imperial portraiture on Roman coinage had developed into a mature, highly stylized likeness characterized by deeply carved, undulating curls in the emperor's hair and a full, articulated beard. This late portrait tradition deliberately recalled the philosophical imagery of his father Marcus Aurelius, even as Commodus increasingly recast his public persona in the guise of divine protection and superhuman heroism. The laurel wreath rests securely upon his temples, its ties trailing downward across the nape of his neck, symbolizing enduring military victory and sacral authority. While some contemporary issues of AD 192 depicted Commodus clad in the pelt of the Nemean lion as the Roman Hercules, this specific sestertius retains the classical imperial laureate head without extra-human attributes. The rendering demonstrates the exceptional skill of the principal die-cutters at the Rome mint, who balanced deep plastic relief with fine engraving to convey the majesty and presence of the sovereign.

Reverse Design and Iconographic Program

The reverse of the coin depicts Commodus standing to the right, dressed in the voluminous folds of the civil toga, engaged in placing a winged figure of Victory atop a dedicated column. The statuette of Victory is herself depicted in motion, draped, and holding a celebratory wreath along with a palm branch. Situated in the upper field of the reverse is a distinct multi-pointed star. This intricate scene synthesizes several layers of Roman political and religious symbolism. The togate posture emphasizes the emperor's traditional role as civil leader, magistrate, and pious restorer of the commonwealth, contrasting with purely martial depictions in military cuirass. Placing the statuette of Victory onto a column commemorates monumental acts of dedication in the city of Rome, evoking architectural monuments erected to celebrate imperial triumphs and stable governance. The inclusion of the celestial star is particularly notable. In Roman iconographic language, the star could indicate divine favor, cosmic renewal, or an association with the deified status of the ruling house and auspicious planetary alignments. By uniting civil piety, dedicated victory, and astral blessing, the design proclaims that the prosperity and military success of the Roman world were directly anchored in the divinely guided actions of the princeps.

Epigraphy and Epigraphic Analysis

The inscriptions on RIC III Commodus 613 provide essential chronological anchors and communicate the revised imperial titulature adopted late in the reign. The obverse legend reads L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL, an abbreviation of Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus Augustus Pius Felix. This formulaic sequence reflects the radical renaming undertaken in AD 191, when Commodus severed his primary public nomenclature from Marcus Aurelius Antoninus to embrace Lucius Aelius Aurelius, evoking descent from Lucius Aelius Caesar while combining it with the titles Pius and Felix. On the reverse, the legend encircles the field with P M TR P XVII IMP VIII COS VII P P, standing for Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate septimum decimum, Imperator octavum, Consul septimum, Pater Patriae. The seventeenth tenure of the tribunician power alongside his seventh consulship securely dates the authorization of the dies to AD 192. Grounding the reverse composition are the prominent letters S C, signifying Senatus Consulto, by decree of the Senate. This customary formula reaffirmed the constitutional fiction of senatorial authority over the coinage of base metals, serving as an official guarantee of public value and legal tender status across the empire.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the standard classification established by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham in The Roman Imperial Coinage, volume three, this type is catalogued as number 613 among the bronze issues of Commodus. It is cross-referenced in Henry Cohen's nineteenth-century corpus under entry 588. Chronologically, the type was struck within a tightly constrained window during the year AD 192, the final year of the emperor's life, which ended abruptly with his assassination on December 31. Typologically, RIC III Commodus 613 forms part of a thematic group of sestertii produced during his seventeenth tribunician year that emphasized divine intervention, vows of security, and the restoration of Rome under the banner of the golden age. Related issues of the same year portray Commodus as founder of Colonia Lucia Annia Commodiana or feature him alongside Hercules, Libertas, or Salus. RIC III Commodus 613 is distinguished within this broader emission by the specific combination of the togate emperor, the column-mounted Victory, and the field star, presenting a cohesive ideological program that distinctively merges traditional civic ritual with cosmic beneficence.

Circulation Patterns and Monetary Afterlife

Following its production at Rome, RIC III Commodus 613 entered a vast and dynamic monetary network. Sestertii struck at the imperial capital circulated extensively throughout the western provinces, including Italia, the Gauls, the Rhine frontier, and Britannia, where base-metal currency was required for military disbursements and municipal commerce. Because large copper-alloy coins possessed intrinsic value lower than their nominal tariffing, they circulated over remarkably prolonged lifespans, frequently remaining in active use for decades after their year of issue. Following the murder of Commodus and the subsequent civil wars of AD 193, the Roman Senate formally declared damnatio memoriae against his legacy, ordering statues destroyed and his name excised from public monuments. However, economic necessity prevented any systematic demonetization or recall of his extensive copper and bronze currency. Specimens of late Commodan sestertii continued to change hands alongside earlier Antonine and later Severan issues, enduring heavy abrasion, countermarking, and occasionally secondary reuse before ultimately being deposited in hoards or lost in domestic and military contexts across the provinces.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 840-845
2. Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l'Empire romain, Tome III. p. 319, no. 588
3. Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700. pp. 125-132
4. Roman Coins from the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. pp. 147-152
5. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Commodus 613. ric.3.com.613
6. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 436, no. 613