Elagabalus Silver Denarius, RIC IV Elagabalus 131

Monetary and Historical Context

Under the Severan dynasty, the silver denarius remained the primary transactional silver denomination across the Roman Mediterranean, despite having suffered severe debasement over the preceding decades. Septimius Severus had reduced the fineness of the denarius to roughly fifty percent silver in AD 194, a monetary standard that largely persisted through the reigns of Caracalla and Elagabalus. Although Caracalla introduced the double denarius or antoninianus in AD 215, the production of that new denomination fluctuated considerably, leaving the traditional denarius as the workhorse of state expenditure and civil commerce. When Varius Avitus Bassianus ascended the throne in AD 218 under the dynastic name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, the mint at Rome continued striking vast quantities of denarii to maintain the imperial payroll and reward the legions. Within this broad production, RIC IV Elagabalus 131 occupies a highly specialized ideological space. Rather than commemorating standard military victories, public largesse, or conventional Roman deities such as Jupiter or Mars, this specific type was dedicated entirely to the institutionalization of the Emesene solar cult at Rome. The relocation of the sacred black stone of Emesa and the elevation of Elagabal above Jupiter Optimus Maximus constituted a profound religious revolution that found direct expression in the state's circulating silver coinage.

Production and Mint Attribution

The catalogue entry RIC IV Elagabalus 131 is securely assigned to the primary imperial mint at Rome. While eastern branch mints, notably Antioch, struck substantial quantities of imperial denarii during the early years of Elagabalus' reign before and during his journey to the capital, the late priestly series to which this type belongs is characteristic of the administrative output of the central Roman officinae. Production employed manual strike methods, wherein cast flans of approximately three grams were heated and struck between hand-carved intaglio dies. The alloy conforms to the typical late Severan composition, containing approximately forty-five to fifty percent silver balanced with copper. Numismatic die studies of the late religious issues of Elagabalus demonstrate a cohesive style of die engraving at Rome, identifiable by distinct lettering, fine drapery lines, and the consistent rendering of the emperor's features. Surviving specimens show that die alignment was predominantly irregular or roughly adjusted along the vertical axis, as was typical of third-century Roman mint practice. The execution of the intricate reverse scene, requiring the clear depiction of an altar, libation bowl, and specialized vestments, demanded skilled cutting from the celatores of the urban mint.

Obverse Typology and Attributes

The obverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 131 presents a right-facing bust of the youthful ruler, described in standard typological corpora as laureate and draped, with or without cuirass beneath the cloak. The defining iconographic marker of this issue is the horn projecting upward from the emperor's brow, a feature that appears on the majority of dies cut for this type, though hornless variants within the exact catalogue designation are also documented. In nineteenth-century numismatics, this unusual protrusion was occasionally interpreted as a dried bull's phallus symbolizing fertility, or alternatively as a unicorn horn. Modern scholarship generally interprets the attribute as a stylized ram's or bull's horn, a well-established ancient Near Eastern symbol of divine power, sovereignty, and divine favor derived from Semitic and Hellenistic kingship traditions. The portrait itself exhibits the typical idealized features of the young emperor, with tightly curled hair, youthful contours, and the imperial laurel wreath tied with fillets trailing behind the neck. The integration of the divine horn onto an otherwise orthodox imperial portrait created a striking synthesis of traditional Roman authority and eastern sacred kingship.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 131 constitutes one of the most explicit depictions of alien ritual practice on Roman imperial coinage. Elagabalus is shown standing rightward, engaged in the act of ritual sacrifice. He is clothed not in the standard Roman toga or military paludamentum, but in the long, flowing liturgical vestments of the hereditary high priest of the Emesene sun god, which Roman sources frequently characterized as Syrian or Phoenician silk tunics. In his right hand, the emperor extends a patera, pouring a libation over a lighted, garlanded altar standing before him on the ground. In his left hand, he holds an upright implement generally identified in RIC as a club, though frequently interpreted by later scholars as a ceremonial baton, a sacred branch, or a cypress bough associated with solar worship. Positioned in the upper field, commonly to the right or left, is a radiant eight-pointed star. This celestial device serves a double function: it represents the cosmic presence of the sun god Elagabal overseeing the rite, and it visually reinforces the astral nature of the emperor's religious mandate.

Epigraphy and Legend Analysis

The legends on both faces of the coin are struck in clean, classical Latin epigraphy and articulate a carefully balanced political message. The obverse reads IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, an abbreviated form of Imperator Antoninus Pius Augustus. This legend deliberately asserts his claimed descent from Caracalla, Marcus Aurelius, and the Antonine dynastic lineage, utilizing the prestigious cognomen Pius to emphasize continuity and legitimacy. In sharp contrast to this conventional obverse, the reverse legend introduces an unprecedented imperial title: SACERD DEI SOLIS ELAGAB. This inscription abbreviates Sacerdos Dei Solis Elagabali, meaning Priest of the Sun God Elagabal. In the administrative hierarchy of Rome, emperors had held the title of Pontifex Maximus since Augustus, denoting leadership over the entire college of traditional Roman priests. By introducing an explicit, singular dedication as the personal high priest of an imported foreign deity onto the imperial reverse, the legend publicly subordinated traditional Roman civic cults to the service of the Emesene god, a ideological development that alienated both the senatorial elite and the Praetorian Guard.

Typology and Chronological Placement

In the fundamental framework of Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC IV Elagabalus 131 is catalogued among the non-dated imperial issues of Rome. While the overarching catalogue scope for Elagabalus encompasses his entire reign from AD 218 to 222, internal typological analysis securely places this type late within that chronology. The introduction of the priestly titles SACERD DEI SOLIS ELAGAB and the related SVMMVS SACERDOS coincides with the formal dedication of the Elagabalium on the Palatine Hill and the emperor's marriage to the Vestal Virgin Aquilia Severa, datable to late AD 220 and extending through AD 221 and early 222. The appearance of the horn attribute on obverse dies is similarly confined to the final phase of the reign, being absent from the early issues of AD 218 through 220. RIC IV 131 forms part of a tightly knit sequence of priestly reverse types, which include variants showing the emperor holding different liturgical attributes, sacrificing over differently oriented altars, or standing facing left. It is distinguished specifically by the standing figure facing right, holding a patera over a lighted altar and grasping an upright club or baton in the left hand, accompanied by the field star.

Circulation and Archaeological Context

Denarii of RIC IV Elagabalus 131 circulated widely across the Roman world alongside older Severan, Antonine, and Flavian silver coins. Although the religious program represented on the coin was deeply contentious in the capital, the imperial treasury disbursed these denarii without administrative distinction through military pay, imperial procurement, and public distributions. Hoard evidence from Britain, the Rhine-Danube frontier, and the eastern provinces demonstrates that coins of the priestly series entered general monetary circulation alongside standard civil issues. Because of their approximately fifty percent silver content, these denarii remained acceptable in regular commerce until the great inflationary crises and currency reforms of the mid-third century. Following the assassination of Elagabalus in March AD 222 and the subsequent damnatio memoriae decreed against his memory, his coins were not officially demonetized, as the Roman monetary system could ill afford the loss of circulating silver bullion. Consequently, specimens of this type continued to circulate until the extensive recoinage efforts under Decius, Trebonianus Gallus, and Valerian progressively swept older debased denarii into melting crucibles to supply antoninianus production.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. 562-563
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Elagabalus 131. ric.4.el.131
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 39, no. 131
4. Under Divine Auspices: Divine Ideology and the Visualisation of Imperial Power in the Severan Period. pp. 165-212