Silver Denarii of Geta (198-211 CE)

Historical Context

Publius Septimius Geta was born on March 7, 189 CE, to Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. Ancient literary traditions disagree regarding his birthplace: the Historia Augusta records Rome in the Vita Severi, while the Vita Getae names Mediolanum (modern Milan). Following the consolidation of dynastic power after the civil wars of 193-197 CE and the conclusion of the Parthian campaign, Septimius Severus created a tiered dynastic succession model. In early 198 CE at Ctesiphon, Severus promoted his elder son Caracalla to co-emperor with the rank of Augustus, while the nine-year-old Geta was named Caesar.

Geta remained junior heir in the rank of Caesar for more than a decade, from 198 until late 209 CE. Throughout this protracted apprenticeship, imperial coinage served as the principal ideological medium to prepare the Roman army and civilian populace for dual dynastic succession. Silver denarii minted in Geta's name traced his physiological maturation from a round-faced child to an adolescent youth. In the autumn of 209 CE, during the imperial campaigns in northern Britain, Severus elevated Geta to the rank of Augustus, forming a tripartite imperial college.

Following the death of Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York) in February 211 CE, the deep-seated rivalry between Caracalla and Geta fractured the imperial court. In late December 211 CE, Caracalla orchestrated Geta's murder in their mother's private apartments, followed immediately by an uncompromising damnatio memoriae. While Geta's name and likeness were chiselled away from stone monuments and public inscriptions across the empire, his extensive silver denarii remained widely dispersed throughout the commercial and military economy, ensuring their broad survival.

The Severan denarius was a silver-copper alloy rather than a coin of pure silver. Analytical studies distinguish issues and mint groups; neither weight nor fineness should be inferred for an unmeasured specimen.

Obverse Iconographic Composition

The obverse portraiture of Geta on silver denarii transitions across his life, reflecting his progression from young prince to co-emperor. During his middle Caesarship (c. 200-202 CE), the primary obverse type presents an adolescent portrait characterized by naturalistic modeling:

• Head and Truncation: A bare-headed youthful head facing right, rendered with short, naturally arranged curls. At this stage, the portrait is completely beardless, lacking side-whiskers or facial stubble.
• Drapery and Armor: The bust is draped, facing right, depicting the folds of an imperial mantle (paludamentum) and under-tunic gathered over the shoulders. On select dies, subtle indications of a cuirass are visible beneath the mantle folds.
• Border: A continuous beaded circular border encloses the composition.

Obverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The epigraphic treatment of Geta's middle Caesarship denarii incorporates imperial and priestly titles in classical Roman lapidary capitals:

• Language: Latin
• Script: Latin imperial capital alphabet
• Original Lettering: P SEPT GETA CAES PONT
• Epigraphic Transliteration: P(ublius) Sept(imius) Geta Caes(ar) Pont(ifex)
• Translation: Publius Septimius Geta, Caesar, Priest (member of the College of Pontiffs)
• Placement: A continuous clockwise peripheral legend commencing at the lower left (approximately 7 o'clock) and terminating at the lower right.

Reverse Iconographic Composition

The reverse types of Geta's middle Caesarship highlight his civic status and dynastic military readiness. The prominent type depicting the prince beside a trophy presents a structured symbolic arrangement:

• Central Figure: Geta stands in military attire (habitus militaris), facing front with his head turned left. He wears a molded breastplate (lorica) fitted with protective leather straps (pteruges) and an officer's military cloak (paludamentum) draped across his shoulders.
• Handheld Attributes: In his extended right hand, he holds a downward-pointing implement, described in numismatic literature as either an olive branch of peace or a short cylindrical commander's baton. In his left hand, he holds an upright shaft, identified as a military spear or an imperial sceptre.
• Secondary Element: Behind the prince to the right stands a military trophy (tropaeum), composed of captured arms mounted on a wooden frame: a cuirass topped with a crested helmet, flanked at its base by oval shields and crossed spears.
• Groundline and Border: The composition rests upon a thin horizontal groundline and is framed by a continuous beaded outer ring.

Reverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The epigraphy on the reverse reinforces Geta's designated status as the patron and leader of the equestrian youth:

• Language: Latin
• Script: Latin imperial capital alphabet
• Original Lettering: PRINC IVVENTVTIS
• Epigraphic Transliteration: Princ(eps) Iuventutis
• Translation: Prince (or Leader) of the Youth
• Placement: A circular legend commencing at the lower left field (around 7 o'clock), ascending around the figure, and concluding above the trophy in the upper right quadrant.

Typology and Documented Variants

The silver denarii of Geta produced at Rome and provincial workshops are classified chronologically into defined numismatic phases based on obverse legends and portrait development:

1. Rome Mint Issues as Caesar (198-209 CE):

• Period 1 (198-200 CE): Obverse legend L SEPTIMIVS GETA CAES. Represents an infantile portrait with tight curls. Reverses emphasize public dynastic optimism, such as SPES PVBLICA and FELICITAS TEMPOR.
• Period 2 (c. 200-202 CE): Obverse legend P SEPT GETA CAES PONT. Adolescent bare-headed portrait, draped right (RIC 18) or draped and cuirassed right (RIC 18 var.). Common reverse types include PRINC IVVENTVTIS (both with and without trophy), NOBILITAS, FELICITAS AVGG, and SECVRIT IMPERII.
• Period 3 (c. 202-203 CE): Obverse legend GETA CAES PONTIF. Features sacrificial implements (SEVERI PII AVG FIL), MINERVA, and VOTA PVBLICA.
• Period 4 (c. 203-208 CE): Obverse legend P SEPTIMIVS GETA CAES. Depicts an older youth with developing sideburns, pairing with reverses such as MINERV SANCT, PROVID DEORVM, and PONTIF COS.
• Period 5 (208-209 CE): Obverse legend P SEPTIMIVS GETA CAES paired with second consulship reverse legends, predominantly PONTIF COS II with equestrian and togate figures.

2. Rome Mint Issues as Augustus (Late 209 - December 211 CE):

• Phase A (Late 209-210 CE): Introduction of the laureate adult head with a short curly beard. Obverse legends read IMP CAES P SEPT GETA PIVS AVG or P SEPT GETA PIVS AVG.
• Phase B (Late 210-211 CE): Adoption of the victory cognomen Britannicus following northern British campaigns, reading P SEPT GETA PIVS AVG BRIT, with reverses celebrating Caledonian triumphs such as VICT BRIT TR P III COS II.

3. Eastern Mint Issues (c. 198-202 CE):

• Struck at an eastern installation traditionally assigned to Laodicea ad Mare, though Syrian traveling branch workshops or Antioch have also been suggested. Distinguished by angular epigraphy, lower relief, and distinctive bust truncation. Obverses employ both L SEPTIMIVS GETA CAES and P SEPT GETA CAES PONT, with reverses including SPEI PERPETVAE and MINERV SANCT.

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

Numismatic scholarship on Geta's coinage encompasses several ongoing debates:

1. Identification of the Reverse Handheld Attribute: In The Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC IV.1, p. 316), Harold Mattingly and Edward Sydenham catalogued the object held in Geta's right hand on RIC 18 as an olive branch, emphasizing dynastic peace. In Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum (BMCRE V, p. 198) and David Sear's Roman Coins and Their Values (no. 7196), the attribute is identified as a military baton (scipio), denoting leadership alongside the trophy. Individual dies show varying treatments: some engravers cut leafy sprigs, while others rendered a rigid, cylindrical baton.

2. Assignment of Eastern Mint Facilities: While early twentieth-century scholarship attributed eastern Severan denarii en bloc to Laodicea ad Mare based on imperial favor bestowed after the defeat of Pescennius Niger, later analyses note stylistic divergence among die groups. Certain emissions may have derived from moving military workshops serving the imperial staff during the Parthian expedition, or from a re-established facility at Antioch.

3. Praenomen Transition: Scholars continue to evaluate why Geta's initial 198 CE coinage utilized the praenomen Lucius (L SEPTIMIVS GETA CAES) before transitioning c. 200 CE to Publius (P SEPT GETA CAES PONT). Explanations suggest either initial administrative confusion with his father's praenomen (Lucius Septimius Severus) or an intentional postponement of the praenomen Publius until his uncle Publius Septimius Geta withdrew from public focus.

References

1. Denarius (Coin) Portraying Emperor Geta. The Art Institute of Chicago, Accession 1923.1285, Artwork ID 10046
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE): RIC IV Geta 18. Type record ric.4.ge.18
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part I: Pertinax to Geta. pp. 79-83 (chronology), p. 316, no. 18
4. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. p. 198, no. 234
5. Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l'Empire Romain, Vol. IV. p. 266, no. 157
6. The Silver Coinage of Septimius Severus and His Family (AD 193-211): A Study of the Chemical Composition of the Roman and Eastern Issues. Haim Gitler and Matthew Ponting (2003), Milan: Ennerre. Bibliographic record in the ADS project bibliography; numerical specimen assays are not reproduced here.
7. Roman Coins and Their Values, Volume II: The Accession of Nerva to the Overthrow of the Severan Dynasty, AD 96-235. pp. 581-603, nos. 7170-7290 (Geta as Caesar and Augustus)