Philip the Arab Bronze As RIC IV Philip I 162B

Monetary and Historical Context

The year 248 AD marked the completion of the tenth century of Rome according to the Varronian chronological foundation date of 753 BC. To mark this extraordinary epochal milestone, Philip the Arab staged the Ludi Saeculares (Secular Games) on a magnificent scale, featuring gladiatorial contests, public distributions, and spectacles involving rare wild beasts in the Circus Maximus and Flavian Amphitheatre. Imperial administration translated these state pageants into extensive numismatic propaganda. The Saeculares series spanned every active imperial denomination, from gold aurei and base silver antoniniani to bronze sestertii, dupondii, and asses. The bronze as, catalogued under the reference RIC IV Philip I 162B, served as a foundational fractional piece within domestic small-change transactions. By the late 240s AD, runaway debasement of the silver currency had drastically expanded the output of the radiate antoninianus, causing bronze denominations like the as and sestertius to experience shrinking mint quotas. Despite this fiscal transition, civic and religious convention required the striking of traditional senatorial bronze marked with S C to distribute largesse, reinforce continuity with the constitutional past, and mark public vows during secular ceremonies.

Production and Mint Organization

The issue RIC IV Philip I 162B was struck exclusively at the principal imperial mint of Rome. Production at the capital was organized into distinct officinae (workshops), which were tasked with systematically dividing the extensive types of the millennial celebration across members of the imperial family: Philip the Arab, Empress Otacilia Severa, and Philip II. While silver antoniniani of the millennial issue frequently bore workshop marks expressed as Roman numerals or Greek letters indicating their officina, the base-metal bronze denominations like RIC IV Philip I 162B relied primarily on typographic division rather than explicit officina marks. Asses of this period were struck from prepared copper or bronze flans that averaged roughly 8 to 11 grams in weight and approximately 24 to 26 millimetres in diameter, though weight tolerances in mid-third-century copper issues were notoriously broad. The dies were engraved with precision by experienced artisans in the capital, displaying balanced relief and consistent typographic styling typical of the urban mint's central workshops.

Obverse Design and Portraiture

The obverse of RIC IV Philip I 162B depicts the right-facing bust of Philip the Arab. The emperor is depicted as mature and resolute, rendered in the veristic military style characteristic of soldier-emperors of the mid-third century. The portrait displays cropped hair, a close-trimmed beard, and heavy facial features reflecting both realistic portraiture and the austere martial ethos of the regime. Philip wears the laurel wreath, the time-honored symbol of imperial victory and civil authority, tied at the occiput with hanging ribbons. The bust is depicted with both drapery and a military cuirass (paludamentum over cuirass), visible at the shoulder and breast. This laureate portraiture serves an essential denominational function: under the established norms of the imperial monetary system, the laurel wreath designated the single unit (the as or the sestertius), whereas a radiate crown distinguished double-value denominations such as the dupondius or the antoninianus.

Reverse Iconography: The Inscribed Cippus

The reverse iconography of RIC IV Philip I 162B focuses on a low monumental column or cippus set upon a small moulded plinth. The face of the cippus is inscribed horizontally with the text COS III in two lines. Flanking the monument in the left and right fields are the large letters S and C (Senatus Consulto). This column recalls the ancient tradition of erecting permanent stone pillars to record the performance of secular rituals, vows, and the games of the Saeculum, an epigraphic practice dating back to Augustus and Domitian. In the broader context of the 248 AD Saeculares series, while various officinae produced reverse designs depicting exotic animals brought to Rome for the games (such as lions, stags, antelopes, hippopotami, and the she-wolf suckling the twins), the cippus represented solemn civic and religious culmination. The inscription directly references Philip's third consulship, which commenced on January 1, 248 AD, firmly linking his magistracy to the arrival of the millennial dawn.

Epigraphy and Legends

The inscriptions on RIC IV Philip I 162B are executed in regular, capitals characteristic of the Rome mint. The obverse legend reads IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, an abbreviation of Imperator Marcus Iulius Philippus Augustus. This legend asserts his supreme military command (Imperator) alongside his tria nomina and the paramount constitutional title of Augustus. The reverse perimeter bears the legend SAECVLARES AVGG, abbreviating Saeculares Augustorum. The double 'G' at the conclusion of AVGG is of paramount constitutional significance, explicitly indicating that the Secular Games and the new saeculum belonged jointly to two Augusti: Philip the Arab and his son Philip II, who had been elevated from Caesar to co-Augustus in 247 AD. Within the center of the design, the cippus bears the consular dedication COS III (Consul Tertium). Finally, the prominent field letters S C attest to the senatorial decree authorizing the production and circulation of official copper-alloy currency.

Typology and Chronology

The chronology of RIC IV Philip I 162B is tightly circumscribed by both internal epigraphic evidence and historical events. Philip entered his third consulship alongside his son's second consulship on January 1, 248 AD, providing an absolute terminus post quem. The Secular Games themselves took place in April 248 AD, coinciding with the traditional celebration of the Parilia and Rome's birthday on April 21. Within the standard typology established by Harold Mattingly and Edward Sydenham in Roman Imperial Coinage, the cippus type was struck across several denominations. In RIC IV Part III, the type is documented for the sestertius (RIC 162a) and the as (RIC 162B). Minor die variations exist in the precise rendering of the cippus, ranging from a plain rectangular stele to a column with pronounced decorative cornices, as well as minor variations in the length of the obverse drapery. The issue ceased before the end of 248 AD, as subsequent issues moved toward standard sacrificial and military personifications before Philip's demise in 249 AD.

Circulation and Archaeological Evidence

Mid-third-century asses, including RIC IV Philip I 162B, occupied a diminishing niche in western circulation. While vast quantities of billon antoniniani spread throughout the frontier provinces and military camps, base-metal aes circulated primarily in central Italy, urban Rome, and select regional markets where low-value daily retail exchange required bronze fractions. Hoard evidence indicates that bronze coins of Philip the Arab were often hoarded together with earlier Severan and Antonine bronze, continuing in circulation until the currency reforms of Aurelian in 274 AD and Diocletian in 294 AD made pre-reform aes obsolete. Many surviving specimens of this type demonstrate moderate to heavy surface wear and irregular flans, pointing to prolonged handling in circulation during a period of acute monetary stress and inflationary pressure.

References

1. I Grandi Bronzi Imperiali: Da Gordiano III ad Antonino Pio. Vol. IV, Philip I issues
2. La politique monétaire des empereurs romains de 238 à 311. pp. 187-210
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part III: Gordian III to Uranius Antoninus. p. 89, no. 162b
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Philip I 162B. Type ric.4.ph_i.162B