Philip the Arab Bronze Sestertius RIC IV Philip I 153A

Monetary and Historical Context

During the mid-third century AD, the monetary system established by Augustus and adapted under the Severans was experiencing structural financial pressure. The silver coinage, dominated by the double denarius or antoninianus, suffered progressive debasement in fineness and weight to meet the ballooning costs of military defense, frontier conflict, and massive ceremonial payments. Despite the volatility of the silver standard, the traditional copper-alloy denominations, led by the sestertius, continued to serve essential roles in municipal market exchange, regional commerce, and daily commercial transactions throughout central Italy and western provinces. In AD 248, the Roman world celebrated the one-thousandth anniversary of the founding of the city of Rome. The imperial administration staged lavish games, religious festivals, and distributed largesse to celebrate the milestone. Philip the Arab marked this occasion with extensive coinage issues, celebrated prominently through special commemorative types bearing reverse legends such as SAECVLARES AVGG. Alongside these explicit centenary celebrations, regular annual administrative types continued to be produced at Rome. RIC IV Philip I 153A represents one of these core civil types, issued under Philip's fifth tribunician year and third consulship. By projecting the figure of Felicitas, the regime connected its ongoing administrative legitimacy to traditional blessings of domestic stability, prosperity, and cosmic good fortune.

Production and Mints

The entire known mintage of RIC IV Philip I 153A originated from the central mint of Rome. Operating across multiple officinae, the mint coordinated massive output during AD 248, concurrently producing gold aurei, antoniniani, denarii, and base-metal denominations including the sestertius, dupondius, and as. While eastern mint operations, particularly at Antioch, struck substantial silver coinages during Philip's reign, the production of regular senatorial bronze sestertii was practically exclusive to the Rome workshops. Sestertii of this era were cast as heavy flans of copper alloy, traditionally orichalcum (a brass alloy of copper and zinc), though by the mid-third century zinc contents were frequently reduced through the recycling of older scrap metal. The striking was conducted manually between engraved iron or bronze dies, with the reverse carrying the traditional senatorial authorization mark S C (Senatus Consulto). Although the Senate had long ceded actual monetary policy to the emperor, the formal presence of S C persisted on large-bronze issues, asserting continuity with Roman constitutional heritage even under third-century soldier-emperors.

Obverse Design and Portraiture

The obverse of RIC IV Philip I 153A features the bust of Philip the Arab facing right. The imperial likeness displays the hallmark stylistic characteristics of mid-third-century Roman portraiture: a compact, blocky head, tightly cropped hair, and a short military beard depicted through precise stippling or linear die carving. Philip is depicted wearing the laurel wreath, the traditional signifier of imperial victory and civic authority appropriate for the sestertius, as opposed to the radiate crown reserved for the double denomination (the dupondius or antoninianus). In standard examples of this type, the imperial bust is both draped and cuirassed, visible around the base of the neck and across the shoulder. This armored presentation visually reinforced Philip's identity as imperator and commander-in-chief, a non-negotiable requirement for political legitimacy during the tumultuous decades of the military crisis. The dies reveal skilled craftsmanship from the Rome engravers, exhibiting firm naturalism and serious, heavy-set facial features that convey gravitas.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse iconography of RIC IV Philip I 153A centers on Felicitas, the Roman personification of good fortune, domestic happiness, and divine approval. Felicitas is depicted as a draped female figure standing and turned toward the left. In her right hand, she supports a long caduceus, the winged staff historically associated with Mercury, symbolizing peaceful trade, heraldry, and civil accord. In her left arm, she cradles a cornucopiae, the horn of plenty overflowing with agricultural produce, symbolizing material wealth, sustained harvests, and economic abundance. Flanking Felicitas in the field are the large letters S and C, positioned to the left and right respectively. The combination of the caduceus and the cornucopiae serves as a standard ideological synthesis in Roman numismatic iconography: internal peace, guaranteed by legitimate imperial governance, generates agricultural and commercial prosperity. Appearing during the celebration of the millennium year, this imagery quietly assured the public that the new age under Philip's dynasty was blessed with divine favor.

Epigraphy and Legends

The legends on RIC IV Philip I 153A are struck in clear, classical capital letters along the periphery of the flan. The obverse legend reads: IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG This expands to 'Imperator Marcus Iulius Philippus Augustus'. It conveys Philip's full official imperial name and his supreme titles, designating him as both victorious commander (Imperator) and supreme ruler (Augustus). The reverse legend reads: P M TR P V COS III P P This imperial formula expands to 'Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate V, Consul III, Pater Patriae'. The titles identify Philip as the Chief Priest of the state religion, holder of the Tribunician Power for the fifth time, Consul for the third time, and Father of the Fatherland. In the reverse field, the legend is completed by the letters S C ('Senatus Consulto'), indicating the traditional sanction of the Senate for the striking of bronze coinage. The epigraphic layout is meticulously balanced, maintaining consistent letter heights and neat serifs typical of the urban Rome mint during this phase of the third century.

Typology and Chronological Placement

The chronological window of RIC IV Philip I 153A is firmly anchored by the epigraphic formulas on its reverse. The combination of TR P V (Tribunicia Potestas V) and COS III (Consul III) pins the striking strictly to the year AD 248. Philip assumed his third consulship alongside his son, Philip II, on January 1, AD 248. Because the tribunician count at this period traditionally renewed either at the start of the year or on the anniversary of accession, the presence of TR P V directly designates the calendar year AD 248, coinciding precisely with the celebration of the Saeculum Novum. Within the typology established by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham in Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC 153A sits alongside parallel issues for Philip I and his family members. The type is categorized under Philip's regular fifth-tribunate issues. It shares reverse motifs with contemporary precious-metal types, notably antoniniani carrying identical or closely matching legends and personifications, highlighting the centralized, unified thematic program enacted across all metals at the Rome mint.

Circulation and Archaeological Finds

As a primary high-value base-metal denomination, sestertii of Philip I circulated widely across the western and central provinces of the Roman Empire, including Roman Britain, Gaul, the Rhineland, the Iberian peninsula, and Italy. Sestertii served as the principal currency for medium-scale day-to-day payments, tax settlements, and market transactions where smaller billon fractions were unsuitable or in short supply. In hoards dating from the later third century AD, Philip's sestertii are often found alongside issues of the Severan dynasty and subsequent soldier-emperors down to Trebonianus Gallus and Postumus. Because base-metal coin production collapsed sharply during the late 250s and 260s AD under Valerian and Gallienus, bronze coins minted under Philip remained in heavy circulation for decades, frequently showing extensive edge wear, scratches, and countermarks before finally being discarded or buried during the chaotic debasement crises of the late 260s and 270s AD.

References

1. Coin Hoards and Hoarding in the Roman Empire. pp. 142-168
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage: Introduction to Philip I. pp. 55-68
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Philip I 153A. ric.4.ph_i.153A
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part III: Gordian III - Uranius Antoninus. p. 89, no. 153A