Elagabalus Silver Denarius RIC IV Elagabalus 28b

Severan Monetary Context and Denominational Policy

The emission of silver denarii under Elagabalus fits into the broader fiscal trajectory of the Severan dynasty, marked by persistent military expenditures, imperial donatives, and adjusting silver standards. Under Septimius Severus and later Caracalla, the denarius experienced significant reductions in intrinsic silver purity, dropping toward an average fineness near fifty percent. Caracalla introduced the radiate double denarius, commonly termed the antoninianus, around 215 AD in an effort to stretch precious metal reserves, tariffing a coin with one and a half times the silver content of a denarius at two denarii. However, by the accession of Elagabalus in 218 AD and continuing through his reign, imperial mint policy shifted remarkably. The mint of Rome curtailed the production of the double denarius and reinstated the traditional silver denarius as the principal medium for imperial disbursement and daily commercial transactions. Type RIC IV Elagabalus 28b, struck in 220 AD, exemplifies this renewed focus on the single denarius. Denarii of this period were produced to a nominal theoretical weight of approximately 3.0 to 3.2 grams, though surviving specimens exhibit typical distribution spreads, reflecting alloy variability and broad minting tolerances common to the third century.

Mint Organization and Production at Rome

The imperial mint operating at Rome was the central facility responsible for striking type RIC IV Elagabalus 28b. While regional eastern workshops, notably at Antioch, had produced substantial coinages for Elagabalus during his initial march toward the capital between 218 and 219 AD, metropolitan coin production was fully concentrated at Rome by 220 AD. The Roman mint operated through organized officinae, or departmental workshops, which coordinated the engraving of dies, casting of planchets, and striking of coins across denominations. Dies for this emission were cut by skilled engravers trained in the classicizing Severan stylistic tradition. Planchets were prepared by melting silver and copper into ingots, which were then cast into round blanks and struck cold or slightly heated between iron or bronze dies. The high demand for coin output resulted in minor variations in die axis, centering, and flan size, but the Rome mint maintained distinctive stylistic cohesion, noticeable in the detailed rendering of portraiture, sharp lettering, and anatomical treatment of divine figures. Type 28b shares reverse dies and obverse bust arrangements with closely related contemporary varieties, confirming a streamlined production workflow across the officinae.

Obverse Portraiture and Imperial Iconography

The obverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 28b presents a right-facing bust of Elagabalus that is both laureate and draped. This particular portrait style, identified in Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham's classification as bust variety b, distinguishes the type from the simpler laureate-only variant designated 28a. The imperial portrait depicts the emperor in late adolescence, presenting idealized Severan features such as smooth facial contours, a slightly rounded jawline, and carefully textured curly hair clustered under the laurel wreath. The laurel wreath itself is tied at the nape of the neck with two ribbon ends falling over the neck and drapery, symbolizing victory, divine favor, and legitimate imperium. The drapery, rendered over the left shoulder and across the chest, evokes the traditional military cloak or paludamentum worn by emperors when asserting authority over the Roman legions. The design avoids the controversial religious symbols that would appear later in the reign, such as the priestly horn or ceremonial Syrian vestments, retaining instead a conventional imperial military image calculated to satisfy conservative Roman sensibilities.

Reverse Iconography: Sol and Solar Theology

The reverse design of RIC IV Elagabalus 28b depicts the god Sol standing facing left, naked except for a chlamys, or cloak, draped over his left shoulder and falling behind his arm. Sol is crowned with a radiate nimbus or crown of solar rays. He raises his right hand in a gesture of benediction, invocation, or cosmic control, while his lowered left hand holds a whip, an attribute referencing his mythological role as the celestial charioteer driving the quadriga of the sun across the sky. In the left or right field of the reverse, a single six-pointed or eight-pointed star is positioned. While Sol was a long-established deity in traditional Roman civic religion, often associated with imperial invincibility, light, and cosmic renewal, under Elagabalus this conventional icon was infused with new religious significance. The imagery functioned as an artistic bridge between Roman Sol Invictus and the hereditary Syrian cult of Elagabal, the sun god of Emesa. The addition of the star reinforces the cosmic, astrological domain of the supreme solar deity, serving as an ideological precursor to the emperor's overt religious transformations later in his rule.

Inscriptions and Epigraphic Analysis

The epigraphy on RIC IV Elagabalus 28b provides essential chronological and political evidence. The obverse legend reads IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG. This formula omits the emperor's birth name, Varius Avitus Bassianus, instead adopting the formal dynastic name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius Augustus. This nomenclature asserted legal and biological continuity with Caracalla, claiming direct Antonine legitimacy to secure the loyalty of the praetorian guard and senate. The reverse legend reads P M TR P III COS III P P, standing for Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate Tertia, Consul Tertium, Pater Patriae. The title Pontifex Maximus highlighted his status as chief priest of the traditional Roman state religion. The combination of TR P III, indicating his third tenure of tribunician power, and COS III, denoting his third ordinary consulship, strictly dates the die creation and striking of this issue to the calendar year 220 AD. The final title, Pater Patriae, conferred by the senate, rounded out the constitutional facade of the imperial office. The epigraphy uses standard capital letterforms with neat serifs characteristic of early third-century metropolitan craftsmanship.

Typology, Dating, and Related Issues

In the cataloguing structure of Roman Imperial Coinage, volume IV, part II, number 28 is divided into sub-types based on obverse bust treatments. Type 28a features a bare, laureate head right, while type 28b specifies the laureate and draped bust right. Both sub-types share identical legends and the Sol reverse with whip and star. Because the reverse inscription records the precise coincidence of TR P III and COS III, the issue is securely positioned in 220 AD. During this same year, the Rome mint issued related silver denarii bearing alternative reverse motifs, including Sol holding a branch or patera, traditional personifications such as Aequitas, Pax, and Providentia, and scenes of the emperor sacrificing over an altar. As Elagabalus entered his fourth consulship and fourth tribunician power in 221 and 222 AD, reverse legends shifted to TR P IIII and TR P V, accompanied by increasingly radical religious iconography depicting the stone of Emesa and the emperor performing exotic Syrian rites. Type 28b thus belongs to the middle period of the reign, when traditional constitutional forms and solar imagery coexisted before the religious tensions that marked the regime's final months.

Circulation Patterns, Hoards, and Archaeological Context

Denarii of Elagabalus, including RIC IV Elagabalus 28b, entered widespread circulation throughout the Roman Empire, carried by military payrolls, administrative spending, and commercial networks. Archaeological hoard evidence demonstrates that Severan denarii circulated alongside older imperial issues dating back to Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius, as well as the prolific issues of Septimius Severus. Hoards from the northwestern frontier provinces in Roman Britain and along the Rhine and Danube frontiers, such as the Falkirk hoard and various continental deposits, regularly contain denarii of Elagabalus struck at Rome. Because Gresham's Law often incentivized the hoarding of older, higher-grade silver, denarii from 220 AD circulated actively in civilian markets, sustaining significant surface wear over subsequent decades. When the double denarius was reintroduced on a massive scale under Gordian III and Philip I in the late 230s and 240s AD, earlier denarii were gradually retired or recalled for melting and re-alloying. Consequently, specimens of RIC IV Elagabalus 28b surviving into later third-century hoards often display considerable wear, reflecting decades of active hand-to-hand transactions.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. 540-545
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Elagabalus 28b. ric.4.el.28b
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. pp. 30-31, no. 28b
4. Under Divine Auspices: Divine Ideology and the Visualisation of Imperial Power in the Severan Period. pp. 165-210