Elagabalus Bronze Dupondius RIC IV Elagabalus 319

Monetary Context and Denominational Function

Within the early third-century Roman currency system, the dupondius fulfilled an essential daily transaction role, bridging small copper asses and larger orichalcum sestertii. Valued at two asses, the dupondius had formed a pillar of civic commerce since the Augustan monetary reforms. By the Severan era, fiscal strains and substantial military expenditures had prompted extensive debasement of silver denominations, notably the denarius and the newly introduced antoninianus. While precious-metal coins absorbed the primary shock of imperial inflation, base-metal production contracted in overall volume. Under Elagabalus, aes coinage was issued in noticeably smaller quantities compared to the vast bronze emissions of the Antonine emperors. The dupondius continued to be struck on yellow brass or mixed bronze flans, retaining the radiate bust as an unmistakable mark of value to prevent confusion with the identically sized as struck with a laureate portrait. RIC IV Elagabalus 319 represents this established denomination at a moment of cultural change, serving functional market exchange while transmitting official Severan dynastic ideology across the imperial capital and its environs.

Mint Organization and Production Standards

Production of RIC IV Elagabalus 319 took place exclusively at the primary imperial mint of Rome. Operating under the administrative oversight of imperial procurators and retaining the traditional mark of the Senate, Senatus Consulto, the Rome mint executed base-metal issues across standardized operational workshops. Flans were cast in individual molds or continuous channels before being manually struck between hand-cut iron or bronze dies. For the Severan dupondius, standard weights generally fluctuated between 10 and 13 grams, with typical diameters ranging between 24 and 27 millimeters, though weight tolerances in third-century aes were notoriously wide due to bulk alloy preparation. Die alignment for the Rome mint during this period predominantly favored an upright or slightly offset vertical axis. The technical execution shows the refined Severan classicizing style, characterized by detailed relief in the imperial hair and drapery and crisp lettering in the encircling legends. The presence of the star on the reverse die suggests potential officina differentiation or an explicit astronomical signifier associated with the solar divinity.

Obverse Portraiture and Royal Imagery

The obverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 319 presents a right-facing bust of Elagabalus shown radiate, draped, and cuirassed. The radiate crown, with its prominent triangular spikes pointing outward from the imperial brow, functions dualistically as both the denomination marker of the dupondius and an attribute aligning the princeps with solar power. The drapery is arranged over an underlying military cuirass, displaying both the paludamentum of imperial command and the defensive armor expected of a legitimate Roman imperator. Portraiture on this issue reflects the mature likeness developed in the later part of Elagabalus's brief reign, characterized by adolescent facial features, a slight chin, prominent nose, and stylized curled locks of hair arranged neatly behind the ear. Unlike some Eastern provincial issues that exaggerated priestly attire, the Rome mint presented Elagabalus in conventional western martial and imperial costume, reconciling the emperor's unconventional religious focus with established norms of Roman numismatic portraiture.

Reverse Iconography: Sol and the Solar Star

The reverse design of this type features the sun god Sol in active motion, advancing towards the left. The divinity is portrayed radiate, wearing only a light chlamys or cloak draped over the left shoulder, leaving the muscular torso naked in classical Hellenistic athletic tradition. Sol raises his right hand in the gesture of greeting, benediction, or dynamic authority known as the adlocutio gesture, while grasping a leather horse-whip in his lowered left hand, evoking his role as the divine charioteer driving the quadriga across the celestial sphere. Accompanying the god, a distinct star is placed in the upper or left field. This iconography is profoundly tied to the religious program of AD 221, when Elagabalus sought to elevate the solar deity to the head of the Roman pantheon. While the god is rendered using classical iconography of Sol rather than the aniconic sacred black stone of Emesa, the presence of the star and the energetic movement reinforced the central role of cosmic solar divinity in guaranteeing imperial peace and prosperity. Flanking the divine figure, the letters S and C affirm the traditional senatorial endorsement of base-metal coinage.

Epigraphic Analysis and Legend Content

The inscriptions on RIC IV Elagabalus 319 provide explicit historical, titular, and constitutional information. The obverse legend reads IMP CAES M AVR ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, reflecting Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius Augustus. This nomenclature served as vital dynastic propaganda, asserting the emperor's fabricated legitimacy as the direct son of Caracalla and true heir of the Antonine dynasty, completely eschewing the Syrian name Varius Avitus Bassianus by which posterity remembers him. The reverse legend reads P M TR P IIII COS III P P S C, expanding to Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate Quarta, Consul Tertium, Pater Patriae, Senatus Consulto. The recording of the fourth tribunician power and the third consulship provides an absolute epigraphic anchor, dating the composition of the die precisely to the imperial year AD 221. The inclusion of S C underscores the nominal division of monetary authority, in which base-metal issues continued to carry the formal authorization of the Roman Senate even as supreme executive power remained entirely with the emperor.

Typological Sequence and Chronological Placement

Within the catalog of Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC IV Elagabalus 319 occupies a distinct place in the dated emissions of AD 221. The dated series for Elagabalus began with TR P in AD 218, proceeding through TR P II in 219, TR P III in 220, TR P IIII in 221, and concluding with TR P V in early 222 prior to his assassination. Correspondingly, his third consulship took effect on January 1, AD 220, remaining active through 221 until his fourth consulship began on January 1, AD 222. The combination of TR P IIII with COS III uniquely isolates this issue to AD 221. Parallel reverse designs showing Sol advancing with whip and star were struck across multiple metals at Rome during this exact year, appearing on gold aurei, silver denarii, and bronze sestertii (cataloged as RIC IV Elagabalus 318). As the radiate dupondius counterpart to the laureate sestertius, RIC 319 represents the middle base-metal denomination within this synchronized propaganda emission, underscoring the integrated design policy of the Rome mint across all struck metals.

Circulation Patterns and Monetary Survival

Dupondii issued under Elagabalus saw circulation predominantly within Italy and the western provinces of the Roman Empire, such as Gaul, Britain, and the Rhine frontier, where base-metal aes denominations formed the backbone of everyday retail transactions. Unlike silver denarii, which traveled widely across the empire and frequently beyond its frontiers into barbaricum, third-century Roman aes remained largely regionalized within western civil and military centers. Archaeological find assemblages indicate that base-metal coins of Elagabalus circulated alongside worn Antonine and early Severan pieces for several decades, often staying in circulation through the mid-third century until the collapse of the base-metal system under the military emperors. Because mintages of dupondii during the reign of Elagabalus were markedly smaller than the vast outputs of the earlier Antonine era or contemporary silver coinages, specimens of RIC IV Elagabalus 319 are relatively scarce in excavation contexts and public collections today. Surviving examples frequently demonstrate extensive wear patterns consistent with prolonged transactional use.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. Elagabalus, Rome Mint
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Elagabalus 319. RIC IV Elagabalus 319
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 58, no. 319