Marcus Aurelius Brass Sestertius RIC III Marcus Aurelius 946

Monetary Context

The sestertius held a foundational role in the imperial monetary hierarchy of the high Roman Empire. Valued at one-quarter of a silver denarius or four copper asses, the denomination combined substantial physical presence with high purchasing power in everyday urban exchange. Historically struck in orichalcum, a golden-toned copper-zinc brass alloy, the sestertius offered the widest flan among circulating base-metal issues, making it the preferred vehicle for detailed commemorative, religious, and political iconography sponsored under senatorial decree. In the mid-to-late 160s AD, the empire confronted substantial financial burdens resulting from protracted campaigns against Parthia and the onset of the Antonine Plague. Despite these strains, public largesse remained critical for civic stability. Imperial cash gifts, termed congiaria or liberalitates, represented crucial redistributive events intended to secure the loyalty and welfare of the plebs urbana. RIC III 946 was issued to advertise the fourth imperial distribution of Marcus Aurelius's reign, underscoring the enduring civic compact between the sovereign princeps and the Roman populace through formal coinage.

Production and Mints

All specimens of RIC III 946 were struck at the central imperial mint in Rome, which possessed a virtual monopoly over the production of official orichalcum and copper coinage for the western provinces. Blanks were cast in open or two-part molds before being heated and adjusted by weight prior to striking between hard-alloy dies. The mint operated with organized officinae capable of synchronizing portrait and reverse dies across multiple concurrent denominations. Given the complex architectural and multi-figure arrangement on the reverse of this issue, die-cutters exercised exceptional technical skill in sinking the dies to ensure relief was balanced across the broad flan without fracturing during striking. Physical specimens typically exhibit diameters spanning from 30 to 33 millimeters and die alignments that adhere strictly to standard medallic or inverted orientations typical of the Rome mint during the Antonine period. Weights across known specimens generally cluster between 22.0 and 26.5 grams, consistent with the prevailing base-metal standard under the joint rule of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.

Obverse Design and Portraiture

The obverse displays a portrait of Marcus Aurelius, depicted in mature middle age with a dense, carefully curled beard and thick coiffure typical of mid-Antonine imperial styling. The emperor is shown facing right, wearing a laurel wreath tied at the nape of the neck with ribbon ties extending downward over the neck. The portrait reflects the idealized yet identifiable likeness established following his accession in AD 161, conveying grave philosophical stoicism coupled with imperial authority. The truncation of the neck is plain, sitting neatly above the lower inner border. Die varieties within this specific catalogue number exhibit subtle differences in the arrangement of hair curls and the angle of the wreath ties, but consistently maintain the right-facing laureate presentation framed closely by the outer circular legend.

Reverse Design and Iconography

The reverse presents a dynamic multi-figure tableaux representing the formal distribution of money. The scene is elevated upon a high platform or tribunal viewed from a three-quarters perspective. Marcus Aurelius and his junior co-emperor, Lucius Verus, sit togate facing left upon separate curule chairs (sellae curules). Both rulers extend their right hands forward in a formal act of bestowal, while their left hands rest at their sides or in their laps. Directly in front of the co-emperors stands Liberalitas, the divine personification of imperial generosity, dressed in a long flowing stola. She turns left toward the lower steps, holding an abacus or counting-board in her right hand to measure the coins and a cornucopiae in her left arm symbolizing prosperity. Below the platform, a Roman citizen clad in a toga ascends the steps, extending the folded drapery of his garment (the sinus) with both hands to catch the distributed largesse. In the lower field or flanking the scene, the letters S C appear, validating the issue under senatorial authority.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The obverse inscription reads M ANTONINVS AVG ARM PARTH MAX, an abbreviated Latin titulature expanding to Marcus Antoninus Augustus, Armeniacus, Parthicus Maximus. These epigraphic titles formally integrate the military victory cognomina earned during the successful eastern campaigns of Lucius Verus between AD 163 and 166. On the reverse, the legend reads CONG AVG IIII TR P XXI IMP IIII COS III, accompanied by the senatorial formula S C in the field or exergue. The reverse legend expands to Congiarium Augusti Quartum, Tribunicia Potestate vicesima prima, Imperator quartum, Consul tertium. The text explicitly links the fourth distribution of imperial funds to Marcus Aurelius's twenty-first tenure of tribunician power and his fourth acclamation as imperator. The epigraphy employs neat, deeply cut serifed capital letters along the inner perimeter of the beaded rim, maintaining standard Antonine epigraphic conventions.

Typology and Chronological Sequence

The chronological envelope of RIC III 946 is firmly anchored by the emperor's imperial titulature. Marcus Aurelius assumed tribunician power for the twenty-first time (TR P XXI) in December AD 166, holding it until December AD 167. His fourth imperatorial acclamation (IMP IIII) was awarded in AD 166 following the capture of Seleucia and Ctesiphon. The joint triumph over Parthia was celebrated in Rome in October AD 166, which occasioned the decreeing of Congiarium IV to celebrate the victory and the return of the legions. Struck between late AD 166 and throughout AD 167, RIC III 946 forms an integral component of a coordinated numismatic emission that included parallel issues for Lucius Verus, as well as companion denominations in gold and silver bearing equivalent Liberalitas iconography. While some numismatic classifications categorize the scene under the personified title Liberalitas, the die legends of this specific type explicitly identify the ceremony as Congiarium Augusti IV.

Circulation and Monetary Life

Once distributed in the capital city, sestertii of RIC III 946 entered broad commercial channels across Roman Italy and the European frontier provinces. Sestertii possessed considerable purchasing power, typically sufficing for substantial commercial transactions, bulk provisions, and tax payments. Archaeological finds and hoards from Gaul, the Rhine frontier, and Britannia reveal that mid-second-century brass sestertii circulated actively for several decades, often remaining in coin pools well into the Severan period and the third-century crisis. Because orichalcum brass gradually lost its zinc content through repeated remelting and wear, original second-century flans were prized for their intrinsic metallic value. Heavily worn specimens found in frontier deposits demonstrate that this commemorative type circulated far beyond its original ceremonial context in Rome, functioning as utilitarian legal tender throughout the western provinces.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 601, no. 1320
2. Moneta Imperii Romani 18: Die Prägungen des Marcus Aurelius und des Lucius Verus. Emission 166/167
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Marcus Aurelius 946. ric.3.m_aur.946
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 290, no. 946