Marcus Aurelius: Bronze As Coinage

Historical Context

The as coinage naming Marcus Aurelius spans his position as Caesar under Antoninus Pius and his later reign as Augustus. The distinction is political as well as chronological. On Caesar issues Marcus is the named prince and portrait subject, while Antoninus Pius is the reigning authority. The presence of Marcus's name does not mean that his reign began before AD 161.

Marcus became Augustus in AD 161 and shared imperial rule with Lucius Verus until the latter's death in AD 169. He subsequently ruled without an imperial colleague until Commodus became co-Augustus in AD 177. Marcus died in AD 180. A late as of AD 177-178 therefore belongs to the period of joint rule with Commodus, even when only Marcus appears on its obverse. Coins need not portray both rulers to belong to a shared administration.

The as was a base-metal unit conventionally valued at half a dupondius and a quarter of a sestertius. Its designs participated in the same public language of legitimacy, religion and victory as larger denominations. Caesar-period Salus, an early Augustus-period Mars and later Victory and public-vow reverses demonstrate the breadth of the series. They should not be collapsed into a single issue commemorating the northern wars or a continuous four-decade sequence inferred solely from Marcus's career dates.

Obverse Iconographic Composition

Portrait form changes across the career represented by Marcus Aurelius's asses. Caesar issues can show a youthful head or a draped and cuirassed bust. Later issues present the mature emperor, with curled hair and beard; the documented AD 177-178 Victory as has a laureate head facing right. The age and presentation of the portrait help organize the material but do not replace the inscription or issuing context.

Bust construction is a real catalogue distinction. The public-vow as numbered RIC III, Marcus Aurelius 1235 has a laureate head right, whereas 1236 has a laureate cuirassed bust right. Both are catalogued as asses. Neither should be transformed into a radiate dupondius merely to create a parallel denomination or because the reverse resembles another entry.

Headgear is informative, not an infallible legal test. Radiate crowns often help distinguish dupondii from asses in Antonine coinage, but a bare or laureate head does not uniquely identify an as, and some middle bronzes remain catalogued as as/dupondius. Size, alloy, legend, reverse and catalogue context must be considered together. Surface patination can obscure material appearance, while wear can conceal wreath ties or bust details. A portrait feature is strongest when supported by the complete type rather than isolated from it.

Obverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The Caesar formulas distinguish Marcus's place within Antoninus Pius's household. AVRELIVS CAESAR AVG PII FIL identifies Aurelius Caesar as son of Augustus Pius. Abbreviated or partly preserved versions need to be read with care: CAESAR is not interchangeable with AVG, and the filial reference does not name Marcus as the reigning Augustus. A tribunician count can occur on a Caesar issue because Marcus received tribunician power before his accession.

For the late Victory as the obverse reads M ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXXII. This names Marcus Antoninus Augustus and records the thirty-second tribunician power. It is one attested formula, not the obverse legend of every as across the series. Earlier Augustus issues can instead place P M on the obverse and the tribunician count on the reverse.

The combination of names, status and numerals is more useful than any single abbreviated title. Later emperors also bore forms of the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, so ANTONINVS alone is not a unique identifier of the second-century ruler. Titulature and portrait must establish the correct person before an inscription is used to date an issue. A type-level complete legend should not be represented as a certainty about letters missing on a worn coin.

Reverse Iconographic Composition

The reverse repertoire is broader than the late military Victory design. A Caesar-period as dated AD 154-155 depicts Salus feeding a snake coiled around an altar. This is a divine personification of well-being within the dynastic coinage of Antoninus Pius; it is not evidence for a named medical episode in Marcus's life.

An as of AD 163-164 presents Mars moving left, carrying a trophy and a small Victory. The armed god and his attributes express military success through a different figure from the winged Victory of the late series. Similar themes across years do not make the compositions interchangeable or give them the same catalogue number.

On RIC III, Marcus Aurelius 1234, Victory advances left with a wreath extended in her right hand and a palm over her left shoulder. The essential description concerns the figure, movement and attributes; details of garment folds and groundlines should not be supplied as universal features of every die. The image belongs to an official vocabulary of victory, not a direct narrative of a particular engagement.

The public-vow asses, 1235 and 1236, instead show the veiled, togate emperor sacrificing from a patera over a tripod and holding a scroll. They express ritual performance rather than a second version of the advancing Victory. Identifying the object in the left hand as a scroll follows the catalogue description; it should not be replaced with a sceptre without evidence.

Reverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

On the late Victory as the reverse reads IMP VIIII COS III P P S C. IMP VIIII records the ninth imperatorial acclamation, COS III the third consulship, and P P pater patriae, father of the fatherland. These titles complement the obverse's tribunician power. They are office and honor counts, not denomination marks or the name of a particular battle.

The public-vow designs add VOTA PVBLICA to the corresponding imperial titles. This names public vows and helps separate a ritual scene from Victory even where the surrounding chronological formula is shared. On the earlier Salus as, TR POT VIIII COS II records a much earlier stage of Marcus's tribunician and consular career while he was still Caesar. The same Roman numeral must therefore be interpreted with the office it qualifies.

S C conventionally expands as senatus consulto, by decree of the Senate. It is characteristic of much imperial base-metal coinage but does not prove independent Senate operation of a mint or supply a legal-tender certification specific to the individual coin. Nor is its position necessarily identical across reverse dies. A sound transcription preserves the inscription and its distribution without inventing clock-face starting points or a universal empty exergue.

Typology and Documented Variants

Representative asses establish coverage on both sides of the accession in AD 161. The following references are attached to particular catalogue descriptions rather than assigned indiscriminately to all middle bronzes bearing similar legends.

1. Caesar under Antoninus Pius, AD 154-155: Salus with snake and altar; a draped and cuirassed portrait of Marcus. The cited institutional record links RIC III, Antoninus Pius 1324B, specifically the as record. The reigning authority remains Antoninus Pius.

2. Augustus, AD 163-164: Mars with trophy and Victory, RIC III, Marcus Aurelius 856. The institutional record also gives MIR 18, 79-9/10 and AD 164. This narrower attribution is a catalogue conclusion, not an explicit modern year on the coin. It belongs to the joint reign with Lucius Verus.

3. Augustus, AD 177-178: RIC III, Marcus Aurelius 1234 is the advancing Victory as. RIC 1235 is a sacrificing-emperor as with a laureate head; RIC 1236 is a sacrificing-emperor as with a laureate cuirassed bust. The last two share VOTA PVBLICA, not the Victory reverse. These issues belong to the period when Commodus was co-Augustus.

A separate late-Caesar middle-bronze comparison is explicitly catalogued as as/dupondius, with uncertain denomination. It cannot be counted as a secure as simply because its head is bare. This uncertainty is distinct from the secure as designation of the three late entries. The list is representative, not an exhaustive census or a statement that production began in AD 154.

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

Catalogue numbers in RIC III require an emperor section. Number 1234 in the Marcus Aurelius section denotes the late Victory as, whereas Antoninus Pius 1234B is catalogued as a sestertius of the Caesar with priestly implements. The two numbers do not describe two asses, and the shared digits do not create a type concordance. This illustrates why named portrait, reigning authority, section and denomination must all remain explicit.

Tribunician numerals provide strong chronological evidence but do not turn every coin into an exactly dated event record. The late TR P XXXII types are catalogued AD 177-178. That annual framework is more precise than a reign date, yet does not establish the striking day or demonstrate when the ninth military acclamation was first awarded. An exact campaign attribution needs evidence beyond the generic Victory image and the conjunction of imperial titles.

The term bronze can cover copper-alloy material without distinguishing an individual coin's chemistry. Asses are conventionally associated with copper and dupondii with orichalcum, but the general distinction is not proof of unalloyed metal or an authentication standard. The existence of ambiguous middle bronzes is a reason to preserve uncertainty, not to force an answer from crown or color. Posthumous consecration belongs to a different issuing context and should only extend an as article when denomination-specific evidence establishes the proposed issues.

References

1. University of Freiburg: Marcus Aurelius as Caesar, AD 154-155. As, Rome; authority Antoninus Pius; Salus/snake/altar. Record links RIC III, Antoninus Pius 1324B_as: https://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.3.ant.1324B_as.
2. ANS/ISAW, OCRE: RIC III, Marcus Aurelius 1234. Rome as, AD 177-178; M ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXXII / IMP VIIII COS III P P S C; Victory advancing. XML: https://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.3.m_aur.1234.xml. Numbering contrast: https://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.3.ant.1234B.xml (sestertius, AD 140-144); emperor section and denomination are essential to the citation.
3. University of Freiburg: Marcus Aurelius as, AD 163-164. Rome as with Mars, trophy and Victory; RIC III, Marcus Aurelius 856, dated AD 163-164; MIR 18, 79-9/10, dated AD 164. These are differing catalogue chronologies.
4. ANS/ISAW, OCRE: RIC III, Marcus Aurelius 1235. Rome as, AD 177-178; laureate head and VOTA PVBLICA sacrifice, scroll in left hand. XML: https://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.3.m_aur.1235.xml.
5. Ashmolean, Oxford: uncertain as/dupondius of Marcus Aurelius as Caesar. AD 161 under Antoninus Pius, bare head, TR POT XV COS III, lictor(?); explicitly uncertain denomination. RIC III, Antoninus Pius 1362; not counted as a secure as.
6. Herbert W. Benario, De Imperatoribus Romanis: Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180). Academic historical overview: Caesar career, tribunician power before accession, Lucius Verus, Commodus as joint emperor in AD 177 and death in AD 180. Historical biography does not establish the first year of as production.
7. ANS/ISAW, OCRE: RIC III, Marcus Aurelius 1236. Rome as, AD 177-178; laureate cuirassed bust, VOTA PVBLICA sacrifice. XML: https://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.3.m_aur.1236.xml. Not a Victory dupondius.