Commodus Silver Denarius, RIC III Commodus 155 (denarius)

Monetary Context

During the sole reign of Commodus (AD 180-192), the Roman imperial monetary system continued to rely heavily on the silver denarius as the primary medium for regular state expenditures, including military pay, bureaucratic salaries, and major urban distributions. However, the economic legacy of the Marcomannic Wars under Marcus Aurelius, paired with Commodus's extensive lavish spending and donnatives, exerted sustained fiscal pressure on the imperial fiscus. To meet these massive budgetary obligations without an equivalent expansion in tax revenues or incoming bullion, the imperial government enacted repeated adjustments to the weight and metallurgical composition of the denarius. Numismatic analyses indicate that under Commodus the denarius saw its silver fineness reduced from the higher standards maintained earlier in the second century AD to approximately 74 to 76 percent pure silver, alongside an average striking weight centered around 2.8 to 3.2 grams. The type designated as RIC III Commodus 155 (denarius) belongs directly to this phase of pragmatic financial adjustment in AD 186-187, serving as typical circulation silver issued during a period marked by political volatility following the fall of the praetorian prefect Tigidius Perennis.

Production and Mints

All regular imperial denarii of this series were manufactured exclusively at the central imperial mint in Rome. Production at the Rome mint operated through specialized workshops, or officinae, which shared the workload of engraving obverse portrait dies, cutting reverse allegorical dies, melting and blank preparation, and hot striking. The flans for RIC III Commodus 155 (denarius) were cast in molds before being placed between engraved iron dies and struck manually with heavy hammers. This striking process often resulted in minor off-centering, slight variations in flan thickness, and irregular edge contours, all of which are standard characteristics of Roman imperial coin production. Dies were used until they cracked or wore down significantly, resulting in subtle die-state progressions across known specimens. The volume of denarii produced during the twelfth tribunician year was substantial, demonstrating the continuous operation and high output demanded of the capital mint to support state operations.

Obverse Iconography

The obverse design of RIC III Commodus 155 (denarius) showcases the laureate head of Commodus facing right. By AD 186-187, the emperor's official portraiture had transitioned completely from the youthful depictions of his joint reign with Marcus Aurelius into a mature, full-bearded image intended to convey authority and stability. The portrait features thick, carefully arranged curls in the hair and beard, typical of the Antonine court style, bound by a prominent laurel wreath with ties hanging behind the nape of the neck. The modeling of the features presents the emperor with the distinctive heavy-lidded eyes and straight nose characteristic of his mature likeness. The engraving of the portrait is framed neatly by the inward-facing peripheral legend, carefully positioned to fit within the outer beaded border of the die.

Reverse Iconography

The reverse of this type features the personification Nobilitas, standing draped and turned toward the right. Nobilitas symbolizes the prestigious lineage, aristocratic virtues, and ancestral distinction of the imperial family, a theme vigorously promoted by Commodus to remind the Roman populace and Senate of his birth into the purple as the son of the deified Marcus Aurelius. In her right hand, Nobilitas holds a long vertical sceptre, a traditional emblem of majesty, divine favor, and sovereign rule. In her extended left hand, she holds a statuette of Minerva, sometimes identified in Roman religious thought with the ancient Palladium, the sacred image of Athena said to have been preserved from Troy to guarantee the eternal security of Rome. This pairing of the sceptre and Minerva reinforces both the legitimate authority of the princeps and the divine guardianship protecting the empire under his stewardship.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The inscriptions on RIC III Commodus 155 (denarius) provide critical administrative and ideological data. The obverse reads M COMM ANT P FEL AVG BRIT, expanding to Marcus Commodus Antoninus Pius Felix Augustus Britannicus. This legend reflects the official adoption of the dual titles Pius and Felix around AD 185, while Britannicus commemorates victories won by Ulpius Marcellus in Britain during the early 180s AD. The reverse legend is NOBILIT AVG P M TR P XII IMP VIII COS V P P, expanding to Nobilitas Augusti, Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate XII, Imperator VIII, Consul V, Pater Patriae. The titular elements record that Commodus held supreme pontifical office, was serving his twelfth annual grant of tribunician power, had received his eighth imperial acclamation, was in his fifth consulship, and carried the title Father of His Country. The letters are rendered in clean Roman capitals, cut directly into the die face to read clockwise along the border.

Typology and Chronology

In the standard classification established by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham in The Roman Imperial Coinage, this denarius is catalogued as RIC III Commodus 155. The precise chronological anchor for the issue is the formula TR P XII, which corresponds to Commodus's twelfth tribunician year running from December 10, AD 186, to December 9, AD 187. The reverse design of Nobilitas holding a sceptre and statuette of Minerva was also struck in adjacent issues, but type 155 is specifically distinguished by the exact combination of the obverse formula M COMM ANT P FEL AVG BRIT with the reverse legend ending in TR P XII IMP VIII COS V P P. In British Museum cataloguing, corresponding examples are classified under the general coinage of AD 186-187 within BMC IV. While minor die-cutting differences in drapery folds and letter spacing occur across surviving dies, the composition remains structurally uniform across the type.

Circulation and Archaeological Evidence

Denarii of Commodus from the late 180s AD circulated extensively throughout the provinces of the Roman Empire, from the military garrisons along the Rhine and Danube frontiers to urban markets in Italy, Gaul, and the eastern Mediterranean. Because the debasement carried out under Commodus was relatively modest compared to the drastic reductions later enacted during the Severan period, coins of this type circulated side-by-side with earlier Antonine and Trajanic silver issues. In archaeological contexts, specimens of RIC III Commodus 155 appear regularly in mixed second-century and early third-century silver hoards that were deposited during periods of border unrest or buried prior to the major monetary reforms of Caracalla. Due to continuous circulation over several decades, surviving examples typically exhibit moderate to heavy surface wear, although well-preserved hoard specimens confirm the crispness of the original Rome mint dies.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 726
2. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Septimius Severus. pp. 235-242
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 382-383, no. 155
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Commodus 155 (denarius). ric.3.com.155_denarius