Elagabalus Silver Denarius RIC IV Elagabalus 123d

Monetary Context and Denominational Setting

The denarius catalogued as RIC IV Elagabalus 123d entered production during a critical phase in the monetary development of the Severan dynasty. Introduced centuries earlier during the Roman Republic, the silver denarius had long served as the fundamental account and transaction unit of imperial finances, used extensively for military wages, bureaucratic administration, and state procurements. By the accession of Elagabalus in AD 218, however, the denomination had experienced notable metallurgical shifts. Septimius Severus had lowered the fineness of the denarius to roughly fifty percent silver in the 190s AD, a standard largely maintained into the 220s AD. Although Caracalla introduced the double denarius or antoninianus around AD 215, the traditional denarius remained the primary silver coin minted in vast quantities under Elagabalus, who suspended the regular striking of antoniniani at Rome early in his reign. Within this framework, RIC IV Elagabalus 123d served both an immediate economic function and an essential ideological role, distributing official imperial portraits and loyalty-building slogans to soldiers and civilians alike across the Mediterranean world.

Production Standards and Mint Attribution

Production of RIC IV Elagabalus 123d is securely attributed to the imperial mint at Rome, the dominant administrative and mechanical facility for silver coinage during the principate. Operating with multiple officinae or workshops, the Rome mint executed these dies with the characteristic stylistic precision of the capital's engraving schools. The typical denarius of Elagabalus weighed between 2.8 and 3.3 grams, with a flan diameter generally ranging between 18 and 20 millimeters, struck on cast blanks that frequently exhibit slight irregular bevels or minor centering variances. Die axes for this issue usually demonstrate standard upright or inverted alignments (such as six or twelve o'clock), reflective of controlled striking practices in the metropolitan workshops. The metallurgy reflects the prevailing Severan alloy of approximately 45 to 50 percent silver balance copper, produced through deliberate batch alloying to meet the massive fiscal overhead of the imperial military apparatus.

Obverse Portrait and Imperial Iconography

The obverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 123d presents a right-facing bust of the emperor designated in classification typologies by the specific letter suffix 'd', which defines the bust as simultaneously laureate, draped, and cuirassed. This bust type represents one of four distinct portrait presentations used for the MARS VICTOR series under the first obverse legend, contrasting with undecorated bare-neck busts (123a), draped-only busts (123b), and cuirassed-only busts (123c). The portrait style captures the juvenile features of the prince, who took the throne in his early teens, but tempers youth with formal regalia. The laurel wreath binds the hair as an ancient emblem of triumph and imperial dignity, while the combination of paludamentum (military cloak) and underlying lorica (cuirass) visually cements the prince's status as supreme military commander (imperator). Engravers in Rome rendered the drapery folds over the chest and the pteruges of the armor with delicate shallow relief, standardizing the image of dynastic legitimacy.

Reverse Iconography: Mars Victor

The reverse iconography of RIC IV Elagabalus 123d features the war god Mars in his classical manifestation as Mars Victor (Mars the Victorious). Rendered in an active, dynamic posture, the deity strides boldly toward the right. He wears a crested combat helmet and is otherwise nude except for a light mantle (chlamys) that billows behind his shoulder, underscoring athletic vigor and divine readiness. In his right hand, Mars carries a transverse spear pointed forward and downward, while his left shoulder supports a military trophy (tropaeum) composed of captured enemy armor and weapons affixed to a vertical wooden frame. This composition traces a long tradition on imperial coinage dating back to the Flavians and early Antonines, conveying active military success. In the context of Elagabalus, who had never commanded an army in combat, the motif served to project an image of martial dominance and divine favor, assuring both the legions and the public that the Roman state remained under the invincible guardianship of its ancestral war god.

Epigraphy and Legend Analysis

The inscriptions on RIC IV Elagabalus 123d follow standard conventions of official Roman epigraphy, employing clear, serifed Latin lettering arranged circumferentially around the flan edges. The obverse legend reads IMP CAES M AVR ANTONINVS AVG, an abbreviated expansion for Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus. This formulaic titular string was deliberately adopted to reinforce Elagabalus's claim of direct paternity from Caracalla, invoking the celebrated Antonine lineage rather than his maternal Syrian heritage or the name Varius Avitus Bassianus. The reverse legend simply reads MARS VICTOR, operating in the nominative case to identify the deity while simultaneously serving as an acclamation of divine power and victorious virtue. The lettering is typically unbroken and balanced evenly around the divine figure, framing the active contours of the spear and floating drapery.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the structural framework established by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham in The Roman Imperial Coinage, type 123 is divided into four sub-varieties based purely on obverse bust treatment, with 123d representing the fully draped and cuirassed variant. Chronologically, this emission belongs to the earliest thematic phase of Elagabalus's reign at the Rome mint, struck between AD 218 and AD 219, though the broader RIC cataloguing incorporates the overarching date bracket of AD 218 to AD 222. The use of the opening title formula IMP CAES M AVR ANTONINVS AVG precedes the later adoption of more elaborate titular forms such as ANTONINVS PIVS FELIX AVG and the introduction of the mysterious sacrificial horn above the imperial brow seen on coins from AD 220 to AD 222. Consequently, RIC IV Elagabalus 123d represents the consolidation period following the overthrow of Macrinus, where early emissions emphasized continuity with Severan military traditions before the controversial religious reforms centering on Elagabal were introduced to the metropolitan coinage.

Circulation Patterns and Hoard Evidence

Denarii of the MARS VICTOR type, including RIC IV Elagabalus 123d, circulated widely across the Roman empire. Substantial hoard evidence from Roman Britain, the Rhine and Danube frontiers, Gaul, and the Mediterranean provinces demonstrates that denarii of Elagabalus integrated completely into the existing Severan silver pool. Hoards such as those from Falkirk in Scotland, Shapwick in England, and numerous continental deposits contain significant percentages of Rome-mint denarii from this period. Because Elagabalus maintained a consistent metallurgical standard with that of Septimius Severus and Caracalla, these coins did not suffer preferential hoarding under Gresham's Law and remained in active trade alongside earlier Severan issues for several decades, continuing to circulate well into the joint reign of Valerian and Gallienus before the final collapse of the traditional denarius denomination in the mid-third century AD.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. Elagabalus, Rome Mint
2. Roman Imperial Coinage: The Severan Period Studies and Metrology. Severan Denarius Silver Alloys
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Elagabalus 123d. ric.4.el.123d
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 39, no. 123d