Philip I Bronze Sestertius RIC IV Philip I 159

Monetary Context and the Saecular Celebrations

The emission of RIC IV Philip I 159 occurred during an epochal milestone in Roman history: the celebration of the Roman Millennium in April of AD 248. Calculating one thousand years from the canonical Varronian foundation date of 753 BC, the imperial administration organized magnificent Ludi Saeculares to honor the survival, expansion, and projected eternity of the empire. At the time of this celebration, the imperial monetary system was experiencing profound structural pressures. Decades of fiscal inflation and mounting military disbursements had eroded the silver purity of the primary currency unit, the radiate antoninianus, which had largely eclipsed the traditional denarius in active state expenditures. Amid this shifting metallic environment, the sestertius persisted as the heavyweight base-metal denomination of imperial commerce. Formally valued at one-fourth of a silver denarius or one-eighth of a double denarius (antoninianus), the sestertius retained significant purchasing power in everyday metropolitan and regional transactions. The Saecular series mobilized the entire imperial denominational hierarchy, issuing gold aurei, antoniniani, denarii, sestertii, dupondii, and asses across parallel commemorative designs. In this systemic program, sestertii like RIC IV Philip I 159 operated not merely as celebratory medallions or presentation pieces, but as functional circulation strikes designed to saturate markets, military camps, and provincial cities with ideological announcements of Rome's millenary renewal under Philip and his co-rulers.

Mint Organization and Production at Rome

RIC IV Philip I 159 was produced exclusively at the central imperial mint in Rome. By AD 248, the Roman mint operated under a sophisticated officina system organized into numbered or lettered workshops. The Ludi Saeculares commemorative emissions were meticulously partitioned among these operational units to ensure simultaneous production of gold, silver, and copper-alloy denominations. While the billon antoniniani of the Saecular series frequently carried officina numerals in their reverse exergues or fields (such as Roman numerals I through VI or Greek letters for the dynastic division of Philip I, Otacilia Severa, and Philip II), the base-metal bronze denominations typically omitted officina markers in favor of the traditional senatorial mark S C (Senatus Consulto). Technical analysis of surviving sestertii of RIC IV Philip I 159 shows heavy copper-alloy flans, commonly catalogued as bronze or orichalcum. Production involved manual striking between engraved bronze or iron dies, with blank flans cast in open or two-piece molds. Standard weights for Philip I's sestertii fluctuated around 16 to 22 grams, with diameters commonly spanning 28 to 31 millimeters, reflecting the general weight decline observable across third-century aes coinage relative to early Severan standards.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Representation

The obverse of RIC IV Philip I 159 carries a commanding right-facing portrait bust of Philip the Arab. The emperor is depicted as mature and resolute, rendered with the short, military-style cropped hair and closely trimmed beard characteristic of soldier-emperors of the Illyrian and mid-third-century barracks era. The portrait balances realism with imperial gravitas, emphasizing martial preparedness and civic command. The bust is fully clothed, showing both drapery and armor (draped and cuirassed), though certain die engravers varied the precise prominence of the cuirass paludamentum or the folds of the mantle. Crowning his head is the laurel wreath, the time-honored symbol of triumph, victory, and supreme imperium, secured behind the head with ribbon ties trailing onto the neck. Unlike the radiate crown reserved for the double-denomination antoninianus and dupondius, the laurel wreath securely designates this copper-alloy issue as a sestertius within the monetary system.

Reverse Iconography: The She-Wolf and the Twins

The reverse iconography of RIC IV Philip I 159 features one of the most archaic and revered allegorical vignettes of Roman national mythology: the Lupa Romana (she-wolf) suckling the twin founders, Romulus and Remus. The beast stands firmly on an exergual baseline facing left, her head turned back and downward in protective maternal affection toward the infants nursing beneath her abdomen. Below or flanking the motif, the large letters S C denote the senatorial decree conferring official legitimacy upon base-metal state coinage. Within the broader Saecular series, individual reverse types depicted exotic wild beasts staged in the Flavian Amphitheatre (Colosseum), including lions, stags, antelopes, hippopotamuses, and gazelles, illustrating the extravagant venationes arranged by the emperor. In stark contrast to these exotic displays, the she-wolf motif looked directly back to the sacred origin legend of the Urbs. By pairing the celebration of Rome's one-thousandth year with the iconic image of Romulus and Remus, the coin conveyed an unambiguous visual message of rebirth, divine preservation, and the dawn of a second millennium (a new saeculum) under the stewardship of Philip's family.

Epigraphy and Inscriptional Formulas

The inscriptions on RIC IV Philip I 159 follow the codified titular and propagandistic conventions of mid-third-century imperial epigraphy. The obverse reads IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, expanding to Imperator Marcus Iulius Philippus Augustus. This legend articulates his praenomen, nomen gentilicium, cognomen, and supreme constitutional titles, framing him both as supreme military commander (Imperator) and sacred head of state (Augustus). The reverse legend reads SAECVLARES AVGG, accompanied by the senatorial abbreviation S C in the exergue or field. The word SAECVLARES directly names the Saecular Games, functioning as a celebratory exclamation and commemorative announcement. The title AVGG (Augustorum), ending with a doubled 'G', is grammatically significant: it explicitly denotes plural Augusti, acknowledging the joint reign of Philip I and his young son, Philip II, who had been elevated from Caesar to co-Augustus in AD 247. The accompanying S C (Senatus Consulto, 'by decree of the Senate') maintained the longstanding constitutional fiction of senatorial oversight over Roman aes coinage, even as practical control resided firmly with the emperor and his financial administrators.

Typology, Die Variations, and Chronological Placement

Catalogued in Roman Imperial Coinage under volume IV, part 3 as number 159, this sestertius is securely assigned to the celebratory emissions of AD 248. It is typologically paired with matching silver antoniniani (such as RIC IV Philip I 15) and rare aurei bearing the same she-wolf iconography. Minor stylistic variations exist across dies, primarily involving the exact posture of the she-wolf, the angle of her head, the placement of the twins, and whether the letters S C appear in the exergue or divided across the lower reverse fields. The Saecular typology of Philip I also comprises closely related reverse designs featuring a temple dedicated to Rome, a cippus (inscribed commemorative column), and diverse wild beasts assigned to individual mint officinae. Among these, the she-wolf type holds a premier typological place, often categorized as the climactic dynastic and historical design of the series. While other beasts were struck in the names of Empress Otacilia Severa (such as the hippopotamus) and Philip II (such as the stag and moose), the she-wolf type was minted primarily in the name of the senior Augustus, emphasizing his role as the architect of the new imperial age.

Circulation, Hoarding, and Monetary Afterlife

Following its release in AD 248, RIC IV Philip I 159 circulated extensively throughout the central and western provinces of the Roman Empire, where the sestertius remained an essential vehicle for market exchange. Archaeological finds and numismatic hoard records across Italy, Gaul, Britain, and the Danubian frontier demonstrate that mid-third-century sestertii experienced prolonged circulation life, often remaining in active use for decades. As the silver content of the antoninianus collapsed precipitously during the 250s and 260s under Valerian, Gallienus, and Postumus, the intrinsic metallic worth of older brass and bronze coinage led to widespread hoarding, melting, and severe wear. Sestertii from Philip's reign are frequently recovered with substantial surface attrition, smoothing, and countermarking, illustrating that their monetary utility far outlived the brief reign of Philip himself, who fell in battle in AD 249. Today, RIC IV Philip I 159 stands as one of the most prominent physical artifacts of Rome's millenary celebration, offering tangible evidence of imperial ceremonial spending immediately prior to the acute monetary turbulence of the mid-third-century crisis.

References

1. The London Mint of Constantius and Constantine. Contextual introduction on imperial aes production
2. Roman Coins from the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. pp. 129-136
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Philip I 159. ric.4.ph_i.159
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part III: Gordian III to Uranius Antoninus. pp. 89-91, no. 159