Elagabalus Silver Denarius RIC IV Elagabalus 156b

Monetary Context and Severan Coinage

By the accession of Elagabalus in AD 218, the Roman monetary system was navigating serious inflationary pressures and severe debasement inherited from the campaigns of Septimius Severus and Caracalla. The denarius, traditionally the premier silver coin of the Mediterranean world since the late Republic, had experienced progressive reductions in fineness. Caracalla had introduced the double denarius (antoninianus) in AD 215 to alleviate fiscal strain, yet the standard denarius remained indispensable for troop pay, bureaucratic salaries, and municipal markets. Under Elagabalus, the denarius continued to be struck in substantial quantities, even as the antoninianus saw intermittent or waning production. The theoretical weight of the denarius during this phase hovered around 3.0 to 3.2 grams, but silver purity routinely fell below fifty percent, continuing the gradual decline that characterized third-century imperial finance. In this fiscal climate, individual issues like RIC IV Elagabalus 156b served practical monetary needs while functioning as mobile imperial proclamations across provinces and military garrisons.

Minting and Production at Rome

RIC IV Elagabalus 156b was struck exclusively at the primary imperial mint in Rome. Although Eastern mints such as Antioch also operated during the early portion of the reign to support Elagabalus's court and military forces during their journey westward, stylistic analysis and hoard distributions firmly anchor this issue to the capital. At Rome, officinae (workshops) executed coins with distinct stylistic hallmarks, including standardized portraiture, clean lettering, and consistent die axes, predominantly aligned at either twelve o'clock or six o'clock. Blanks were cast in moulds and hot-struck by teams of mint workers using engraved intaglio dies. Surviving specimens show that die wear was tolerated within certain margins, resulting in occasional die breaks or weak legend strikes, though the workshop maintaining the production of RIC IV Elagabalus 156b sustained respectable technical execution relative to the volatile standard of the later Severan decades.

Obverse Portraiture and Attributes

The obverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 156b presents the adolescent ruler in profile facing right. He is depicted wearing a laurel wreath, tied at the back of the head with ribbons falling toward the neck, symbolizing imperial triumph and religious authority. The specific bust attribute defining sub-variety 156b is the combination of laureation and drapery; the emperor's shoulders and chest are swathed in imperial cloth without an accompanying cuirass (breastplate). This arrangement contrasts with the fully armored and draped presentation of RIC 156a, offering a more civil and ceremonial aspect of the young Augustus. Engravers at the Rome mint captured the youthful, rounded contours of the young emperor's facial features, though stylized conventions aligned his appearance closely with the idealized portraits of earlier Antonine and Severan emperors to reinforce hereditary continuity.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse design of this type features the goddess Victory (Victoria), personified as a winged female divinity moving swiftly to the right. Her drapery billows backward to convey motion, while her left foot supports her stride. In her outstretched right hand, she elevates a circular laurel wreath, the timeless emblem of military accomplishment and imperial fortune. In her left hand, she bears a palm frond sloped across her left shoulder, signifying peace won through martial dominance. The imagery directly connects to Roman military ideology: the stability of the emperor was intrinsically tied to the perpetuation of victory. By invoking Victory on a standard denarius, the administration assured the Roman army and civilian populace that the reign was sanctified by persistent triumph, effectively masking internal dynastic instability beneath traditional martial iconography.

Epigraphy and Legend Analysis

The obverse inscription of RIC IV Elagabalus 156b reads IMP CAES M AVR ANTONINVS AVG, an abbreviated Latin formula expanding to Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus. This inscription deliberately omits the personal name Elagabalus, which was never utilized on official imperial coinage; instead, the legend emphasizes the revered Antonine name, claiming direct patrimony from Caracalla and Marcus Aurelius to legitimate his regime before the Senate and legions. On the reverse, the legend reads VICTOR ANTONINI AVG, translating as 'Victory of Antoninus Augustus.' Unlike the common generic formula VICTORIA AVG, the masculine form VICTOR or genitive phrasing directly ascribes the virtue of victory to Antoninus himself, celebrating the emperor as the personal bearer or embodiment of martial triumph. The lettering is rendered in neat, capital Roman epigraphy characteristic of the urban mint at Rome.

Typology and Chronological Placement

Within the typology of Roman imperial coinage, RIC IV Elagabalus 156 is subdivided based upon precise variations in the obverse bust decoration. Subtype 156a designates a laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust; subtype 156b denotes a laureate and draped bust without cuirass; and subtype 156c marks a laureate bust with light drapery gathered solely on the left shoulder. These three related variants belong to the undated issues struck at Rome during the reign between AD 218 and AD 222. Because the legend VICTOR ANTONINI AVG makes explicit reference to the accession victory over Macrinus, scholars traditionally date the introduction of this reverse type to the earlier phase of the reign, circa AD 218 to AD 219, when the assertion of Antonine legitimacy was most urgent. Nevertheless, undated reverse types occasionally persisted in production or remained in active circulation alongside dated tribunician issues throughout the entirety of the reign.

Circulation Patterns and Monetary Legacy

Denarii of RIC IV Elagabalus 156b entered widespread circulation throughout the empire, joining extensive stocks of earlier Severan silver. Hoard evidence from western provinces such as Britain, Gaul, and Germany, as well as along the Danubian and Eastern frontiers, regularly includes denarii of Elagabalus alongside those of Septimius Severus and Caracalla. Due to the reduced silver content of third-century denarii, earlier higher-grade silver had frequently been hoarded or melted down under Gresham's Law, leaving issues of the Severan successors to dominate the everyday money supply. The type saw continued circulation well after the death and damnatio memoriae of Elagabalus in AD 222, as the general public and military accepted the denarius based on nominal imperial decree and gross metal value rather than political affection for the deposed emperor. The survival of numerous worn specimens highlights its long utility as everyday legal tender until the mid-third-century monetary collapses.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. p. 560
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 43, no. 156b
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Elagabalus 156b. ric.4.el.156b