Lucilla Silver Denarius RIC III Marcus Aurelius 788

Monetary Context and Imperial Function

During the joint and subsequent sole reign of Marcus Aurelius, the silver denarius served as the central accounting and transactional denomination of Roman daily commerce and imperial military expenditure. Although the Roman monetary system experienced inflationary pressures and fiscal strain resulting from the Antonine Plague and prolonged northern frontier conflicts along the Danube, the denarius maintained relative administrative stability. Issues struck for female members of the imperial family, including Lucilla, were produced alongside those of the emperors, fully integrated into the general money supply. These coins performed a dual role: they fulfilled massive state obligations through regular cash disbursements, and they broadcast state-sanctioned iconography across the empire. The prominence of Vesta on coinage of imperial women reinforced the traditional religious duties of the imperial house, linking domestic female piety to the perpetual protection and divine favor of the Roman state.

Production Standards and Mint Attribution

Production of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 788 was situated at the principal imperial mint at Rome, which held exclusive responsibility for the striking of mainstream precious-metal currency for the central administration during this period. The denarii were manufactured using hand-carved bronze or iron dies striking heated, pre-measured silver blanks. Under the monetary standards operational during the middle Antonine period, silver denarii were targeted to a theoretical weight standard centering around 3.2 to 3.4 grams, struck at a tariff of approximately ninety-six to one hundred coins per Roman pound (libra). The metallurgical composition of the denarius under Marcus Aurelius generally hovered around 75 to 80 percent silver fineness, reflecting deliberate debasements initiated earlier in the second century AD to stretch bullion reserves while maintaining public confidence and official acceptability.

Obverse Iconography and Styling

The obverse presents a right-facing bust of Lucilla, depicted without a diadem or stephane. Her hair is rendered with horizontal undulating waves that frame the face and are gathered neatly at the base of the head into a compact braided chignon or bun, in the fashion popularized by her mother, Faustina the Younger. The bust is carefully draped at the shoulders and neckline in a classical stola. Die engraving for this series demonstrates high levels of sculptural relief and formal craftsmanship typical of the Rome mint in the late 160s and 170s AD. Minor stylistic variances in the treatment of the hair plaits, drapery folds, and bust proportions occur naturally across individual dies, reflecting the work of multiple die engravers operating within the same workshop tradition.

Reverse Iconography and Attributes

The reverse portrays Vesta, the patron hearth goddess of Rome, standing facing left in long, flowing drapery and fully veiled in accordance with ritual modesty. In her outstretched right hand, she holds a simpulum, a ritual ladle used during public sacrifices to pour libations of wine. In her left hand, cradled against her side, she carries the palladium, the archaic wooden effigy of Pallas Athena brought from Troy and safeguarded within the Temple of Vesta as a talisman of Roman survival. At her feet to the left stands a lighted and decorated sacrificial altar upon which the sacred hearth fire burns. This precise pairing of sacerdotal attributes visually asserts the role of the imperial Augusta as a protector of domestic sanctity and a devout participant in the sacred traditions preserving the commonwealth.

Epigraphy and Legend Readings

The obverse inscription reads LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, presented as a continuous legend curving around the portrait bust. Rendered in the dative case or genitive construction, this formula identifies the coin as dedicated to Lucilla Augusta, daughter of Antoninus Augustus (Marcus Aurelius, who took the name Antoninus upon his accession). This genealogical assertion was vital for dynastic legitimacy, explicitly emphasizing Lucilla's birthright within the Antonine lineage. The reverse legend is the concise nominative label VESTA, identifying the deity without additional epithets. Letterforms are standardized Roman imperial capitals, characterized by neat serifs, balanced spacing, and high execution quality consistent with the Rome mint during the late second century AD.

Typology and Chronological Classification

Catalogued as RIC III Marcus Aurelius 788, this type forms part of a cohesive series of coinages struck for Lucilla following her marriage to Lucius Verus in AD 164. Because Lucilla's coinage generally lacks explicit tribunician or consular dating formulas, scholars establish chronological boundaries primarily through imperial titulature, marriage events, and hoard context. The formula ANTONINI AVG F places the striking firmly in the period when Marcus Aurelius ruled as Augustus, spanning from her wedding in AD 164 until the end of Marcus Aurelius's reign in AD 180. Some scholars propose narrower windows, dividing Lucilla's issues between those struck while Lucius Verus was alive (AD 164 to 169) and those issued during her subsequent marriage to Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus under her father's sole reign. RIC III 788 is catalogued alongside related reverse types honoring Pudicitia, Venus, and Juno, which share identical obverse titulature and portrait treatments.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Evidence

Once issued from Rome, denarii of this type entered wide circulation across the Italian peninsula and the provinces. Hoard evidence from western Europe, the Danube region, and Britannia consistently reveals that Antonine denarii remained in active commercial use for decades following their initial minting. Because the silver content of denarii remained relatively robust compared to the heavily debased issues of the Severan and mid-third-century periods, coins of Lucilla were frequently hoarded, clipped, or gradually worn down through prolonged circulation until being driven from active exchange or recalled during the great monetary upheavals of the mid-third century AD. Stray finds and hoard deposits demonstrate that the Vesta reverse type was produced in substantial quantities and attained broad distribution.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 570-571
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 275, no. 788
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Marcus Aurelius 788. ric.3.m_aur.788