Elagabalus Bronze Sestertius, RIC IV Elagabalus 350

Monetary and Economic Context

During the Severan period, the sestertius functioned as the anchor of the Roman bronze and brass token currency system, occupying an indispensable niche beneath the silver denarius and antoninianus. While precious-metal issues suffered progressive debasement under Septimius Severus, Caracalla, and Elagabalus, the sestertius maintained an established physical standard struck in orichalcum or bronze alloys. Theoretical weights for late Severan sestertii clustered around twenty to twenty-four grams, with diameters commonly spanning twenty-nine to thirty-three millimeters, though metallurgical composition and planchet weights fluctuated across operational runs. The sestertius retained significant purchasing power within internal markets, facilitating bulk civic payments, local commerce, market provisioning, and imperial tax accounting. While the introduction of the radiate double denarius under Caracalla and its brief continuation under Elagabalus altered precious-metal ratios, the four-sestertii-to-one-denarius tariff remained unchanged. Base-metal issues carried intrinsic values below their assigned face values, allowing the imperial fiscus to realize seigniorage profits while supplying the civilian populace with robust circulating change. RIC IV Elagabalus 350 represents this traditional denominational framework mobilized to publicize radical theological changes at the highest levels of the imperial government.

Mint Location and Production Practices

The entire regular bronze output for the central administration under Elagabalus, including RIC IV Elagabalus 350, was concentrated at the primary imperial mint in Rome. Although Eastern provincial mints such as Antioch produced extensive regional silver and bronze coinages during this reign, official senatorial aes bearing the mark S C (Senatus Consulto) remained an exclusive prerogative of the metropolitan workshops in the capital. Production at Rome followed disciplined workshop procedures. Base-metal flans were cast in open or two-part gang moulds, frequently producing characteristic bevelled edges and slight casting spurs that were subsequently trimmed or smoothed prior to striking. The blank planchets were heated to increase ductility before being placed between hardened bronze or iron dies. The obverse portrait die was usually set into the anvil, while the reverse die was affixed to a hand-held punch struck with a heavy hammer. Output was organized into distinct officinae, or administrative workshops, which shared die preparation techniques while maintaining high technical competency. Die axes for RIC IV Elagabalus 350 predominantly align in regular vertical orientations, standardly registering at twelve o'clock or six o'clock positions.

Obverse Iconography and Sacerdotal Attributes

The obverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 350 features a right-facing bust of Elagabalus shown laureate, draped, and cuirassed. The imperial portrait conforms to the late adolescent physiognomy developed by the Rome mint toward the close of his reign, marked by slight facial maturity and classical Severan curly hair. Most critically, the portrait across many dies of this type incorporates a prominent horn-like appendage projecting from the brow or integrated directly beneath the laurel wreath. This attribute, often described in numismatic literature as the imperial horn, has prompted considerable scholarly debate. While early modern numismatists occasionally interpreted it as a dried bull horn symbolizing fertility, divine authority, or raw physical strength, contemporary scholarship frequently analyzes it as an Emesene sacerdotal vestment or ceremonial fillet related to the rites of the sun god Elagabal. On some dies, the horn is rendered with distinct ribbed or curved textures, whereas on others it appears less pronounced or is omitted entirely due to varying die-cutter interpretations. The cuirass and paludamentum drape across the chest, combining standard Roman supreme military command dress with unorthodox oriental liturgical accessories.

Reverse Iconography and Eastern Ritual

The reverse iconography of RIC IV Elagabalus 350 constitutes one of the most remarkable departures from traditional Roman religious norms depicted on central imperial coinage. The emperor is shown standing toward the right, dressed not in the standard Roman toga of the Pontifex Maximus, but in long, pleated Syrian priestly robes known as the sacerdotal tunica. In his outstretched right hand, he holds a sacrificial patera, libating over a burning tripod altar set on the ground before him. In his left hand, he cradles a sacred ceremonial implement, conventionally identified as a club or an upright branch of laurel or cypress. Beneath and behind the altar rests a sacrificial bull, lying recumbent on the ground waiting for the rite. In the upper right or center field, an eight-pointed star is prominently engraved. The star functions as a divine astral symbol directly evoking Elagabal, the solar and celestial protector of the dynasty. Flanking the lower fields are the large letters S and C, denoting the constitutional sanction of the Senate. The combination of animal sacrifice, solar astral symbols, and oriental priestly garments graphically broadcasts the supreme priority Elagabalus placed upon the imported cult over customary Capitoline rites.

Inscriptions, Titulature, and Epigraphy

The obverse legend reads IMP CAES M AVR ANTONINVS PIVS AVG. This formula expresses his official imperial identity as Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius Augustus. Adopted to legitimize his claim as the supposed natural son of Caracalla and true heir of Septimius Severus, this traditional Severan formula anchored his political regime within dynastic precedent, despite the non-traditional nature of his religious program. The reverse inscription proclaims INVICTVS SACERDOS AVG, translating as 'The Undefeated Priest, Augustus'. This bold legend is exceptional in imperial epigraphy. By substituting the traditional title of Pontifex Maximus with Invictus Sacerdos, the regime subordinated the ancient Roman collegial priesthoods to Elagabalus's role as the earthly chief servant of the Emesene sun deity. The epithet Invictus, deeply tied to solar theology, directly echoed the invincible nature of the celestial patron. The letters S C, signifying Senatus Consulto ('by decree of the Senate'), occupy the lower reverse field, fulfilling the legal convention required on Roman base-metal coinage struck under central authority.

Typology and Chronological Sequence

RIC IV Elagabalus 350 belongs to a distinct thematic issue struck late in the emperor's reign, securely assignable to circa 221 to 222 AD, within the broad span of his governance from 218 to 222 AD. The earlier years of his administration (218 to 220 AD) predominantly deployed conservative reverse types emphasizing civic concord, military loyalty, and traditional Roman divinities like Mars, Venus, and Providentia. The explicit introduction of the sacerdotal series, including parallel types reading SACERD DEI SOLIS ELAGAB and SVMMVS SACERDOS AVG, commenced around late 220 or early 221 AD following the formal dedication of the Elagabalium temple on the Palatine Hill. Within RIC IV Elagabalus 350, minor die variations exist, predominantly involving the placement of the field star, the precise configuration of the drapery, and whether the imperial bust explicitly bears the ritual horn. Related denominations struck with identical reverse iconography include the gold aureus (RIC IV 130) and the silver denarius (RIC IV 86-88), demonstrating that the Invictus Sacerdos thematic campaign was executed concurrently across all three monetary metals at the Rome mint.

Circulation Patterns and Monetary Afterlife

Sestertii of RIC IV Elagabalus 350 entered immediate circulation throughout the administrative and commercial corridors of Italy and the western provinces, including Gaul, Britannia, and the Danubian frontier. Archaeological hoard evidence demonstrates that Severan bronze coins circulated alongside earlier Antonine issues for decades, maintaining active monetary velocity due to persistent demand for high-value base-metal units. Following the assassination of Elagabalus in March 222 AD and the accession of his cousin Severus Alexander, the Roman Senate enacted a formal damnatio memoriae against the deceased princeps. While monuments and inscriptions were systematically effaced, base-metal coinage in everyday circulation was rarely recalled or melted down en masse due to the fiscal costs of reminting. Instead, specimens of RIC IV Elagabalus 350 remained in active use, their controversial religious designs gradually wearing smooth through years of commercial exchange. By the monetary crises of the mid-third century AD, these heavy orichalcum pieces were frequently hoarded for their metal content or worn down to illegibility before the general collapse of the traditional sestertius denomination under Aurelian in the 270s AD.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum (BMCRE), Vol. V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. 582-585
2. RIC IV Elagabalus 350 in Online Coins of the Roman Empire. ric.4.el.350
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 57, no. 350