Macrinus Bronze Sestertius, RIC IV Macrinus 134

Monetary Context and Imperial Transition

The accession of Macrinus in April of AD 217 disrupted the Severan dynastic continuity that had governed the Roman world since AD 193. Following the assassination of Caracalla during the Parthian campaign, Macrinus, then serving as Praetorian Prefect, was acclaimed emperor by the legions in the East. His elevation represented a constitutional novelty, as he was the first Roman emperor born outside the senatorial aristocracy. Consequently, managing political relationships with the Roman Senate became an urgent priority for his administration. Although the emperor remained in the East throughout his brief reign of fourteen months, the administrative apparatus at Rome continued the production of imperial coinage without interruption. The sestertius remained the primary heavy base-metal denomination of the imperial currency system, widely utilized in daily civil transactions, market commerce, and state accounting throughout the Western Mediterranean. The issuance of large-format bronze medallions and sestertii under the traditional formula of senatorial sanction, represented by the mark S C (Senatus Consulto), served as a vital vehicle for conciliating senatorial elites, broadcasting political legitimacy, and demonstrating that constitutional norms were maintained despite the emperor's prolonged physical absence from Italy.

Production and Mint Organization

All specimens catalogued under RIC IV Macrinus 134 were manufactured exclusively at the primary imperial mint located in Rome. While silver and gold coins were struck both in Rome and at an Eastern military mint situated in Antioch to fund ongoing military operations against the Parthians, regular senatorial bronze denominations were reserved exclusively for the Roman mint. Production of sestertii during the early third century utilized high-relief iron dies cut by skilled urban engravers operating within established administrative officinae. Surviving specimens demonstrate the heavy cast and struck flan technology typical of the late Severan epoch, employing copper-alloy formulations that traditionally favoured orichalcum (a brass alloy of copper and zinc) or heavily leaded tin-bronze. Die axes for this emission predominantly adhere to a six o'clock (inverted) orientation, standard for the Rome mint during this period. Individual weights across sestertii of Macrinus generally range between 20 and 28 grams, with diameters averaging approximately 30 to 33 millimetres, reflecting the gradual weight reductions begun under Septimius Severus and Caracalla while maintaining the broad circular field required for commanding imperial portraits.

Obverse Portraiture and Stylistic Characteristics

The obverse of RIC IV Macrinus 134 features a right-facing bust of Macrinus, portrayed as laureate, draped, and cuirassed. In the earliest emissions of AD 217, the engravers at the Rome mint were forced to compose portraits without direct access to the living ruler, initially relying on generalized Severan conventions or preliminary sketches sent from the East. Over the course of the initial production phases, the iconography evolved from a shorter, compact beard reminiscent of Caracalla toward an individualized, longer, and carefully squared beard characteristic of Macrinus's mature likeness. The laurel wreath rests upon the head with ribbon ties trailing behind the neck, signifying imperial dignity and victorious status. The combination of drapery (paludamentum) pinned at the shoulder over protective cuirass plating (lorica) emphasizes both the civil administrative authority and the supreme military command vested in the new emperor. The high-relief modeling captures prominent facial features, including a strong brow, straight nose, and textured hair, framed tightly within the circular legend and a dotted outer border.

Reverse Iconography of Jupiter

The reverse of the type presents the supreme Olympian deity, Jupiter (Iuppiter Optimus Maximus), standing facing left in a classic heroic pose. The god is depicted entirely nude, save for a length of drapery (chlamys or cloak) draped elegantly over his extended left arm and falling in vertical folds alongside his body. In his right hand, Jupiter holds a downward-pointing or horizontally grasped thunderbolt (fulmen), the definitive instrument of his divine celestial wrath and supreme cosmic authority. In his left hand, he supports a tall, vertical sceptre (hasta pura), symbolizing stable sovereignty, cosmic order, and righteous governance. In the left and right fields of the flan, flanking the deity, appear the prominent letters S and C (Senatus Consulto). The choice of Jupiter as the primary divine patron on the early bronze coinage of Macrinus was deliberately traditional. By invoking Jupiter as the preserver of the state (Iuppiter Conservator) and protector of the emperor, the mint emphasized political stability, divine legitimacy, and the continuation of divine favour over the Roman realm during an era marked by rapid succession crises.

Epigraphy and Titulature

The epigraphic program of RIC IV Macrinus 134 provides definitive chronological and political evidence for the issue. The obverse legend reads IMP CAES M OPEL SEV MACRINVS AVG, expanding to Imperator Caesar Marcus Opellius Severus Macrinus Augustus. The deliberate adoption of the cognomen Severus represented a conscious political strategy to manufacture continuity with the dynasty of Septimius Severus, reassuring traditionalists that Caracalla's death had not broken the continuity of the imperial line. The reverse inscription reads PONT MAX TR P COS P P, with S C placed across the fields. This formula aggregates the supreme offices conferred upon Macrinus by the Senate: Pontifex Maximus (supreme pontiff), Tribunicia Potestate (invested with tribunician power for the first time), Consul (having been designated or assumed the consulship for the first time), and Pater Patriae (father of the country). The inclusion of S C explicitly records the formal authority of the Senate in sanctioning the bronze coinage. Letter forms are rendered in crisp Roman square capitals, evenly spaced around the beaded perimeter.

Typology and Chronological Classification

Within the typology established by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham in Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC IV, Part II), type 134 represents the primary sestertius emission bearing the first consulship title (COS) alongside the full imperial titulature of AD 217. Macrinus entered his second consulship (COS II) on January 1, AD 218; consequently, any coin bearing solely COS without an iterative numeral belongs strictly to the initial issue period spanning mid-AD 217 to the end of December AD 217. Numismatists distinguish this specific type from related denominations and sub-types through its precise combination of the draped and cuirassed obverse bust and the unclothed Jupiter holding a thunderbolt and sceptre. Companion issues struck in AD 217 and early AD 218 featured alternative reverse deities, including Salus, Fides Militum, Felicitas, and Securitas, or depicted Jupiter specifically holding a patera or sheltering a small figure of the emperor. Type 134 stands as the central senatorial bronze manifestation of Macrinus's divine patronage program prior to the administrative updates of his second consulship.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Survival

The sestertii of Macrinus circulated across Italy, the Danubian provinces, Gaul, and Roman Britain, where large base-metal coins remained a core medium of commercial exchange. Because Macrinus ruled for only fourteen months, his overall coinage volume was significantly lower than the extensive outputs of Septimius Severus or Caracalla. Sestertii struck in AD 217 experienced prolonged circulation throughout the third century AD, frequently found in Western coin hoards alongside worn Severan, Antonine, and early crisis-period issues. Due to decades of intensive hand-to-hand transactions, many surviving specimens display significant wear on the highest points of the portrait and Jupiter's torso, with legends occasionally softened or partially obscured by corrosion. The relatively short issue window of type 134 confines its production to several months in late AD 217, making well-preserved examples valuable records of the Rome mint's engraving style and political output during this brief interlude between the Severan core and the accession of Elagabalus in AD 218.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. 518-523
2. The Coinage of Macrinus and Diadumenian (Numismatische Zeitschrift 93). pp. 21-40
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. pp. 14-15, no. 134
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Macrinus 134. ric.4.mcs.134