Divus Lucius Verus Denarius RIC III Marcus Aurelius 596B

Monetary Context and Consecration Issues

During the joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus from 161 to 169 AD, the imperial currency system operated on the foundations established earlier in the Antonine era, anchored by the gold aureus, the silver denarius, and the orichalcum and copper aes denominations. In early 169 AD, Lucius Verus suffered an apoplectic stroke or illness near Altinum while returning to Rome from the northern frontier campaigns, dying shortly thereafter. Marcus Aurelius escorted his adoptive brother's body back to Rome, oversaw solemn funeral ceremonies, and requested that the Senate decree his formal deification. Verus was officially enrolled among the gods as Divus Verus. As was standard practice in imperial Rome, consecration was accompanied by a dedicated issue of commemorative coins across metals, proclaiming the apotheosis of the deceased colleague. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 596B was struck as part of this prestigious consecration series in silver. Beyond honoring the memory of his co-emperor, the issue reinforced the legitimacy, harmony, and dynastic integrity of Marcus Aurelius's sole administration during a critical period fraught with northern frontier wars and plague.

Production and Mint Organization

All regular imperial silver issues of the Antonine period, including the consecration issues of 169 AD, were produced exclusively by the central mint in Rome. Mint operations were divided into administrative and technical workshops known as officinae, which coordinated the engraving of dies, metal preparation, and striking. Metallurgical analyses of Antonine denarii produced around 169 AD indicate an average silver fineness between approximately 75 percent and 80 percent, reflecting the steady standard maintained following earlier minor adjustments under Marcus Aurelius. Blanks were cast in spherical or flattened forms before being struck between hand-held upper reverse dies and fixed lower obverse dies. The weight standard for the denarius in this phase typically aimed at an average between 3.20 and 3.45 grams, although surviving specimens vary due to normal minting tolerances and subsequent circulation wear. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 596B reflects the rigorous artistic and metallurgical execution of the primary metropolitan mint.

Obverse Iconography

The obverse of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 596B presents the bare head of Lucius Verus facing right. Verus is rendered with the characteristic deep, curling locks of hair and full, stylized beard that defined his official portraiture during his life, yet without the laurel wreath or radiate crown typical of living Augusti. The absence of headgear in favor of a bare head was an established iconographic convention for divinized rulers, symbolizing their departure from mortal imperial office into a sublime, transcendent status. Engravers at the Rome mint captured a tranquil, heroic expression, combining Verus's recognizable physiognomic traits with idealized Antonine classical proportions.

Reverse Iconography: The Imperial Pyre

The reverse of the denarius displays an imposing funeral pyre, rendered as a monumental multi-tiered structure set upon a decorated base. The pyre consists of four receding tiers lavishly adorned with sculptural festoons, drapery, and statues set in niches or flanking the stages. At the summit sits a triumphal quadriga, depicting a chariot drawn by four horses, facing front or slightly turned. This architectural imagery reproduces the colossal timber pyres erected on the Campus Martius for imperial cremations. During the ceremony of apotheosis, an eagle was typically released from the upper tier as flames consumed the structure, symbolizing the ascent of the emperor's soul to heaven. The pyre on RIC III Marcus Aurelius 596B visually documents this ritual monumentality in miniature, presenting one of the two core consecration motifs used for Divus Verus, alongside the companion motif depicting the soaring eagle.

Inscriptions and Epigraphic Analysis

The legends on RIC III Marcus Aurelius 596B are brief, formal, and strictly commemorative. The obverse legend reads DIVVS VERVS, curving around the perimeter of the coin from left to right. This concise epigraphic formula identifies the subject not by his earthly imperial nomenclature (Imperator Caesar Lucius Aurelius Verus Augustus), but exclusively by his deified name, reflecting the senatorial decree of deification. The reverse legend consists of the single word CONSECRATIO, positioned across the fields or encircling the upper flan above the pyre. In Roman numismatic epigraphy, CONSECRATIO served as a definitive declaration of the apotheosis ritual, confirming the institutional consensus between the surviving Augustus, the Senate, and the Roman people regarding the divine status of the deceased prince.

Typology and Chronological Classification

The chronological window for striking RIC III Marcus Aurelius 596B is tightly defined to 169 AD. Lucius Verus died during the winter of early 169 AD, and the formal funeral ceremonies and subsequent senatorial vote of consecration occurred shortly thereafter in Rome. Marcus Aurelius departed again for the Danubian wars in the autumn of 169 AD, placing the initial burst of consecration coinage firmly in the spring and summer of that year. Within the cataloguing structure of Roman Imperial Coinage Volume III, this denarius is catalogued under number 596B, categorized among the posthumous issues struck under Marcus Aurelius for his divinized colleague. It is closely related to companion types such as RIC III 596A (which shares the funeral pyre motif on an aureus) and RIC III 596 (which features an eagle on a globe or altar), forming a coherent commemorative sub-series within Antonine silver coinage.

Circulation and Hoard Evidence

Despite being struck for a specific ceremonial and dynastic occasion, consecration denarii were fully integrated into the regular monetary supply. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 596B circulated alongside earlier Antonine denarii and older Julio-Claudian, Flavian, and Trajanic silver that still constituted a substantial portion of the imperial currency pool. Hoard evidence from across the Roman Empire, including major finds in Britain, Gaul, the Rhine-Danube frontier, and the Italian peninsula, shows that consecration issues of Divus Verus remained in active use for decades. Due to the high intrinsic silver content relative to subsequent Severan debasements, these coins continued to circulate until the mid-third century AD, when the rapid debasement of the antoninianus led to the eventual hoarding, melting, or displacement of Antonine silver denarii.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. pp. 453-455
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC III Marcus Aurelius 596B. ric.3.m_aur.596B
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. p. 250, no. 596B