Lucilla Silver Denarius, RIC III Marcus Aurelius 791

Monetary Context

During the joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus (161 to 169 AD), the Roman denarius served as the core silver denomination of the empire, circulating across civil and military spheres. While the gold aureus underpinned major financial reserves, denarii were struck in massive quantities to meet recurring state liabilities, legionary pay, and urban expenditures. Lucilla, born Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla around 149 or 150 AD, was elevated to the rank of Augusta upon her union with Lucius Verus at Ephesus in 164 AD. Under the authority of Marcus Aurelius, the imperial administration issued extensive coinages in precious and base metals celebrating Lucilla's new status. Silver issues such as RIC III Marcus Aurelius 791 were essential for broadcasting dynastic legitimacy and continuity across the provinces. By highlighting the vows of the Roman populace for the imperial family, the denarius reinforced the sacred covenant linking the Antonine house to the prosperity and stability of the state.

Production and Minting

The entire imperial output of silver denarii for Lucilla, including the type RIC III Marcus Aurelius 791, was manufactured centrally at the mint of Rome. Operating under strict administrative oversight, the mint prepared cast flans of silver alloy that averaged between 3.2 and 3.4 grams. Under Marcus Aurelius, silver fineness stood near seventy-five to seventy-nine percent, having undergone slight debasements compared to the earlier reigns of Trajan and Antoninus Pius. Skilled die engravers carved high-relief obverse dies depicting the new Augusta with distinctively styled coiffures and drapery. The reverse die required crisp, incuse lettering centered within a symmetrical laurel wreath. Obverse and reverse dies were aligned, typically displaying a die axis close to six o'clock or twelve o'clock, reflecting standard Antonine workshop practices. The manual striking of hot or warm blanks frequently produced slight variations in diameter, centering, and thickness across individual specimens.

Obverse Imagery and Styling

The obverse of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 791 features a right-facing, draped bust of the young empress Lucilla. Her head is bare, rendered without a stephane or diadem, emphasizing modest aristocratic dignity rather than divine pretensions. Her hair is parted along the midline, waved gently down the sides of the head in parallel ridges, and drawn back tightly into a round, braided bun resting on the nape of the neck. This hairstyle mirrors the classical sobriety popularized by her mother, Faustina the Younger, serving as a visual marker of Antonine feminine decorum. The drapery wraps neatly around the shoulders and neck, articulated with fine folds. Die varieties demonstrate subtle nuances in portrait modeling, ranging from youthful facial contours to more mature profiles, as well as minor differences in the size and positioning of the bun.

Reverse Typology and Iconography

The reverse of the type omits anthropomorphic deities, opting instead for a classic epigraphic design enclosed by botanical symbolism. The inscription VOTA PVBLICA is arranged in three horizontal lines across the central field, surrounded entirely by a circular laurel wreath tied at the bottom with ribbons. In Roman iconology, the laurel wreath symbolized victory, honor, and religious sanctity, traditionally worn by triumphal commanders and priests during sacred rites. The public vows denoted by the phrase VOTA PVBLICA referred to the prayers and solemn pledges offered by the Senate, magistrates, and citizens for the preservation, health, and concord of the imperial house. In the context of Lucilla's coin issues, this motif specifically linked civic piety to the auspicious occasion of the imperial wedding and the hope for dynastic offspring, employing a modest yet highly evocative public visual idiom.

Legends and Epigraphy

The obverse legend reads LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, beginning on the lower left and running continuously clockwise along the beaded rim. Rendered in the dative case, the formula dedicates the coin to Lucilla (Lucillae) Augusta (Augustae), daughter of Antoninus Augustus (Antonini Augusti Filiae). Here, 'Antoninus' refers to her father, Marcus Aurelius, who took the imperial name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus upon his accession in 161 AD. The use of the dative reflects honoring dedications made on behalf of the Roman populace. The reverse legend, VOTA PVBLICA, is divided horizontally within the open field of the wreath as VOTA / PVB / LICA. This direct phrase translates as 'Public Vows', a recurring Antonine epigraphic formula affirming collective civic supplication. Letters are engraved in neat, uncial-influenced Roman capital script, with die cutters adjusting line spacing to accommodate the curvature of the enclosing wreath.

Typology and Chronological Placement

Within the typology of Antonine imperial coinage, RIC III Marcus Aurelius 791 belongs to the foundational phase of Lucilla's coinage. While the broad cataloguing parameters of RIC III encompass the entire interval from her marriage in 164 AD to the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180 AD, numismatic analysis places this specific series between 164 and 169 AD. The legend naming her explicitly as the daughter of Antoninus was predominantly struck during the lifetime of Lucius Verus, underscoring her paternal lineage alongside her marital status. Wolfgang Szaivert's die-chronological study in Moneta Imperii Romani confirms that issues celebrating the Vota Publica within a wreath coincide with the immediate aftermath of her wedding. The type is closely related to contemporary gold aurei and bronze sestertii sharing identical epigraphic formulas, illustrating a synchronized multimedia release across all denominations at the mint of Rome.

Circulation and Archaeological Context

Denarii of Lucilla circulated widely throughout the western and eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, as evidenced by frequent recoveries in imperial hoards across Britannia, Gaul, the Rhine-Danube frontier, and the Mediterranean basin. Although struck for a specific dynastic celebration, RIC III Marcus Aurelius 791 functioned fully as standard silver currency. Because the denarii of the mid-Antonine period retained an intrinsically sound silver content relative to later Severan issues, they experienced prolonged active circulation. Many specimens found in late second- and third-century hoards exhibit moderate to heavy surface wear, indicating that they remained in commercial exchange for decades. Hoards such as those from Brigetio, Shapwick, and Eauze demonstrate that Lucilla's silver coinage circulated seamlessly alongside issues of Faustina the Younger, Lucius Verus, and Marcus Aurelius, sustaining day-to-day market transactions across the Roman world.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. London, 1940
2. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan. Cambridge, 2014
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 275, no. 791
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Marcus Aurelius 791. ric.3.m_aur.791
5. Die Münzprägung der Kaiser Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus und Commodus (161-192), Moneta Imperii Romani 18. Vienna, 1986