Elagabalus Silver Denarius, RIC IV Elagabalus 146

Monetary Context and Denominational Standards

Under the Severan dynasty, the silver denarius functioned as the core transactional unit for military wages, administrative stipends, and major civic disbursements throughout the Mediterranean basin. By the reign of Elagabalus (AD 218 to 222), the denarius had undergone substantial debasement following earlier reductions initiated under Septimius Severus and Caracalla. The nominal silver fineness routinely hovered around 40 to 45 percent, with individual flans struck to an average target weight approximating 3.0 to 3.2 grams, though specimens often exhibit wider variance due to rapid production standards. Alongside the double denarius or antoninianus, which had been introduced under Caracalla and was intermittently struck under Elagabalus before being phased out prior to Severus Alexander, the traditional denarius maintained structural dominance in market circulation. RIC IV Elagabalus 146 belongs entirely to this late Severan economic milieu, retaining standard metropolitan flan sizes and metal composition while carrying exceptional ideological messaging.

Mint Production and Workshop Practices

The manufacture of RIC IV Elagabalus 146 is attributed exclusively to the imperial mint situated in Rome. During this phase of the imperial administration, the urban mint operated with multiple numbered or organized workshops (officinae), which produced coordinated issues commemorating imperial titles, consulates, and religious programs. Flan preparation utilized cast blanks that were subsequently struck by hand between upper and lower bronze dies. Die engraving for this specific issue reflects high technical competence, with die cutters rendering intricate drapery, the distinctive sacerdotal vestments, and delicate attributes such as the cypress or palm branch and the patera. The inclusion of the obverse horn and Syrian ceremonial attire demonstrates that the Rome mint received direct administrative instructions to translate exotic Syrian cultic iconography into standard die-cutting conventions of the capital.

Obverse Iconography and Attributes

The obverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 146 features a right-facing portrait bust of the emperor, laureate and draped. A defining diagnostic feature of this catalogued type is the horn protruding forward from above the imperial brow. Numismatic scholarship has long debated the exact symbolic significance of this appendage. While early antiquarians occasionally identified it as a dried bull phallus symbolizing generative potency, modern consensus views it as a horn of plenty or an eastern symbol of divine and priestly power drawn from Near Eastern religious traditions. The emperor's visage retains the idealized youthfulness characteristic of his portraiture, framed by tightly curled hair and the laurel wreath of imperial authority, harmonizing traditional Roman monarchical symbols with novel theocratic regalia.

Reverse Iconography and Ritual Attributes

The reverse iconography of RIC IV Elagabalus 146 presents Elagabalus standing left, officiating in an explicit sacrificial act. He is attired in full Syrian sacerdotal robes, characterized by a long, belted tunic falling to the feet, distinct from the Roman toga or traditional veiled capite velato typical of pontifical sacrifices. With his extended right hand, he pours a libation from a patera over a low burning altar or sacrificial tripod. In his lowered left hand, he grasps a branch, commonly identified as cypress, laurel, or a palm frond associated with ritual purification. A solitary star appears in the upper field, commonly interpreted either as a direct emblem of the solar deity Elagabal or as an astral symbol denoting divine favour, celestial legitimacy, and cosmological order.

Epigraphy and Legend Structure

The obverse legend reads IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, continuing the deliberate Severan continuity program wherein Elagabalus adopted the dynastic nomenclature of Caracalla (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus). The formula invokes the military command (Imperator), dynastic piety (Pius), and supreme imperial authority (Augustus). On the reverse, the legend SVMMVS SACERDOS AVG translates as 'Supreme Priest Augustus'. This extraordinary formulation is uniquely prominent on late issues of this reign. Unlike the traditional Roman title of Pontifex Maximus, which was retained as part of the official constitutional framework, Summus Sacerdos openly declared the emperor's primary devotion to the Emesene sun god, explicitly claiming supremacy as priest of an eastern cult above the historic collegiate priesthoods of the Roman senate.

Typology and Chronological Sequence

Within the typology of RIC Volume IV, Part II, RIC 146 belongs to the late sacerdotal series struck towards the end of Elagabalus's reign, specifically between AD 221 and 222. Although broad catalogue listings span his overall imperial dates of AD 218 to 222, the appearance of the obverse horn and the title SVMMVS SACERDOS AVG did not occur in the earliest years of the principate. These elements accompanied the apex of the emperor's religious reforms, which coincided with the consecration of the Elagabalium on the Palatine Hill and the arrival of the sacred black stone from Emesa. RIC 146 is closely related to companion issues bearing identical reverse types paired with undraped portrait variants or differing reverse legends such as INVICTVS SACERDOS AVG and SACERD DEI SOLIS ELAGAB.

Circulation, Hoards, and Reception

Denarii of type RIC IV Elagabalus 146 circulated widely across the frontiers and urban centres of the Roman Empire, as evidenced by their presence in European, British, and Near Eastern coin hoards deposited in the mid-third century AD. Despite the extreme hostility directed against the emperor's memory in post-Severan historiography, coins bearing the horned portrait and Syrian vestments were not systematically recalled, demonetized, or melted down immediately following his death and damnatio memoriae. Because the denarius retained intrinisic bullion value based on its silver content, specimens remained in daily commerce alongside coinage of Septimius Severus, Caracalla, and Severus Alexander, circulating until severe inflationary spirals and the debasements of the mid-third century drove early Severan silver out of active circulation.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. 560-568
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Elagabalus 146. ric.4.el.146
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. pp. 38-44, no. 146
4. Le monnayage d'Elagabale (218-222). Type catalogue