Commodus Silver Denarius RIC III Commodus 229

Monetary Context

During the sole reign of Commodus (AD 180-192), the Roman imperial monetary system underwent notable fiscal and metallographic adjustments. Inheriting substantial state expenses and inflationary pressures that had mounted during the Marcomannic Wars of Marcus Aurelius, Commodus instituted successive reductions in the weight and silver fineness of the denarius. While early imperial denarii under the Julio-Claudian and Flavian dynasties maintained silver fineness well above eighty percent, Antonine issues witnessed gradual declines. By AD 190-191, when RIC III Commodus 229 was produced, the average fineness of the denarius had dropped to approximately seventy-four percent silver, with theoretical target weights falling below 3.0 grams, typically averaging around 2.7 to 2.9 grams. The denarius nevertheless remained the foundational silver denomination for military pay, imperial administrative expenditures, and urban commercial transactions across the empire. The striking of celebratory votive issues like RIC III 229 provided a vital instrument for injecting fresh coin into circulation while projecting imperial legitimacy and divine protection over the state.

Production and Mints

The type RIC III Commodus 229 was struck exclusively at the principal imperial mint located in Rome. During this era, the mint in Rome operated as a highly centralized, sophisticated administrative workshop divided into officinae, which produced gold, silver, and aes coinage under the supervision of imperial freedmen and monetary magistrates. Denarii of this period were manufactured by hot-striking cast silver planchets between hand-engraved iron or bronze dies. Die alignment on denarii of the Rome mint in the late Antonine period generally followed an upright or semi-regular inverted axis, frequently oriented between 6 and 12 o'clock, though variations are regularly noted due to manual positioning. Because the reverse design of RIC III 229 is composed entirely of lettering within a surrounding wreath, engraving the reverse die required disciplined epigraphic punch-work and circular layout skills rather than figurative modeling.

Obverse Design

The obverse of RIC III Commodus 229 presents the mature portrait of Commodus, depicted as a head facing right wearing a laurel wreath tied at the nape of the neck with fluttering ribbon ends. The portraiture is typical of the emperor's late sculptural style, exhibiting thick, curling hair, an elaborately textured beard, and prominent facial features characteristic of the late Antonine baroque aesthetic. Unlike select contemporary issues where Commodus is shown wearing a lion skin of Hercules or with drapery and cuirass, this specific type adheres to the bare head-and-neck presentation crowned solely by the civic laurel wreath. The surrounding inscription begins at the lower left and runs clockwise along the dotted border, framing the imperial bust.

Reverse Design

The reverse iconography of RIC III Commodus 229 dispenses with personifications or deities in favor of a traditional epigraphic design: the inscription VOTIS XX COS VI rendered horizontally across the central field, fully enclosed within an encircling laurel wreath. The wreath itself is tied with a ribbon at the bottom and terminates in two opposing branches that meet near the upper rim. This wreath motif was a long-established Roman convention derived from the corona civica and triumphal wreaths, historically reserved for commemorations of military success, civic salvation, and the formal ratification of imperial vows. By placing the vow formula inside the wreath, the mint communicated both gratitude to the gods for the completion of previous vows and an auspicious omen for the emperor's continued reign into his next decade.

Legends and Inscriptions

The obverse legend reads M COMM ANT P FEL AVG BRIT P P, an abbreviation of Marcus Commodus Antoninus Pius Felix Augustus Britannicus Pater Patriae. This epigraphic sequence documents the culmination of Commodus's evolving official nomenclature, particularly his formal adoption of the titles Pius and Felix alongside the victory title Britannicus, which had been awarded in AD 184 following Roman victories in northern Britain. The reverse legend reads VOTIS XX COS VI, abbreviating Votis Vicennalibus Consul Sextum. This marks the fulfillment and renewal of the emperor's twentieth-anniversary vows while holding his sixth consulship. Commodus entered his sixth consulship on January 1, AD 190, alongside Marcus Petronius Sura Septimianus, providing a firm terminus post quem for the legend formula.

Types and Chronology

Within the typology established by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham in The Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC III Commodus 229 belongs to the substantive emission of AD 190-191 commemorating the vota vicennalia. Although Commodus had not yet reached twenty complete calendar years of sole rule, Roman votive chronology calculated anniversaries inclusive of his initial elevation to Caesar in AD 166 and Augustus in AD 177 under his father Marcus Aurelius. Consequently, vota vicennalia vows were inaugurated around AD 190. While companion denarii of this emission featured personifications such as Victoria, Minerva, or Fortuna, RIC 229 was produced as a purely aniconic, wreath-encircled votive type. The type is closely catalogued alongside RIC III 228 and related aes denominations, differing primarily in denomination, die axis trends, and precise obverse legend breaks.

Circulation and Archaeological Context

Denarii of Commodus from the AD 190-191 issues circulated broadly throughout the western and Danubian provinces, as well as in the Italian peninsula. Because the silver content of denarii issued under Commodus and the later Severan emperors fell below that of earlier Antonine rulers, older high-fineness coinage was gradually hoarded or exported, while later Antonine and Severan denarii remained heavily active in market exchange. In coin hoards buried during the third-century crisis, such as those found along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and across Roman Britain, late issues of Commodus routinely appear alongside early Severan coinage, frequently showing moderate to significant wear indicative of decades in active commercial circulation. RIC III Commodus 229 represents an enduring component of this circulating silver pool until the major monetary restructuring of the mid-third century AD.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 745-748
2. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan. pp. 583-590
3. The London Mint of Constantius and Constantine. pp. 34-36
4. Coins and Power in Late Antonine Rome. pp. 88-102
5. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 391-393, no. 229
6. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Commodus 229. ric.3.com.229