Philip I Antoninianus RIC IV Philip I 15

Monetary and Historical Context

The emission of RIC IV Philip I 15 occurred during an extraordinary historical and monetary moment in 248 AD. Rome had reached its traditional one-thousandth anniversary, calculated from the canonical Varronian foundation date of 753 BC. Philip the Arab utilized the Ludi Saeculares not only to observe an ancient ritual cycle but also to assert imperial legitimacy following his accession after the death of Gordian III in Mesopotamia. The millennium served as an instrument of state propaganda, intended to convey dynastic permanence and cosmic renewal under Philip and his son, Philip II, who had been elevated to co-Augustus in 247 AD. From a monetary perspective, the antoninianus (or radiate) had firmly displaced the classical denarius as the principal silver denomination of the empire. Introduced by Caracalla in 215 AD with a tariffed value of two denarii, the denomination initially carried the intrinsic weight of approximately one and a half denarii. By 248 AD, continuous debasement had reduced the fineness of the alloy to between 35 and 45 percent silver, with the remainder composed primarily of copper and small amounts of lead or tin. Despite this intrinsic decline, the antoninianus remained the vehicle of massive imperial state expenditure, including festival largesse, circus presentations, and military distributions. The millennium coinage was released in vast quantities, functioning simultaneously as an operational currency and a portable medium of dynastic messaging throughout the Mediterranean world.

Production and Mint Organization

RIC IV Philip I 15 was produced exclusively by the primary imperial mint located in the city of Rome. The Millennium series of 248 AD provides essential insight into the internal division of labor within the capital workshop. Numismatic analyses initiated by early twentieth-century scholars and refined in modern studies indicate that the Rome mint operated with six distinct officinae (workshops) dedicated to the production of precious metal currency during this emission. Each officina was tasked with a specific animal or thematic reverse type corresponding to the celebratory spectacles of the games. While other workshops struck images of exotic wild beasts imported for the arena (such as lions, stags, antelopes, and the hippopotamus), the second officina (designated by the Latin or Greek numeral II in the lower field or exergue) was assigned the deeply symbolic Lupa Romana. Flans were cast from open molds or cut from poured strips before being hand-struck between paired dies. The target weight for antoniniani under Philip I generally centered between 3.8 and 4.2 grams, with diameters spanning roughly 21 to 23 millimeters, though individual specimens exhibit noticeable variations due to high-speed mass striking and uneven alloy batching.

Obverse Design and Portraiture

The obverse of RIC IV Philip I 15 exhibits an official imperial portrait of Marcus Iulius Philippus facing right. In keeping with the established conventions of the antoninianus denomination, the emperor is depicted wearing the radiate crown of Sol, the distinctive visual marker that differentiated double denarii from laureate denarii since the reign of Caracalla. The portrait style represents a mature example of mid-third-century imperial realism. Philip is shown with cropped hair, a close-trimmed beard, and heavy facial features that reflect the soldier-emperor aesthetic popular in Roman official art of the 240s AD. His bust is draped and cuirassed, viewed either from the front or slightly from behind depending on the specific hand of the die engraver. This armored presentation emphasized the ruler's role as supreme military commander (imperator), assuring the army of his active leadership during an era marked by pressing frontier incursions along the Danube and Euphrates.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse of RIC IV Philip I 15 features the iconic motif of the She-Wolf (Lupa Romana) suckling the twin infants Romulus and Remus. The wolf stands facing left, her head turned back and downward to attend to the twins beneath her body. This imagery tapped directly into Rome's primary foundation myth, grounding Philip's regime in the sacred origins of the city. While the companion reverses of the Saeculares series highlighted the extraordinary array of exotic beasts exhibited and slaughtered in the Colosseum during the games, the wolf reverse stood apart as an explicitly ideological monument to Roman eternity. It linked the current rulers to the divine lineage of Mars (father of the twins) and the longevity of the Roman state. On standard strikes, the workshop mark II appears in the exergue beneath the ground line, certifying production by the second officina of the Rome mint and ensuring administrative accounting across the celebratory issue.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The epigraphy of RIC IV Philip I 15 conforms strictly to official imperial formulae of the mid-third century. The obverse legend reads IMP PHILIPPVS AVG, beginning in the lower left field and continuing clockwise around the periphery. This abbreviated formula expands to 'Imperator Philippus Augustus'. By compressing the imperial titulature to its bare essentials and omitting specific consulships or tribunician iterations, the mint maintained legibility on the compact flan while projecting timeless supreme authority. The reverse inscription reads SAECVLARES AVGG, expanding to 'Saeculares Augustorum'. The word 'Saeculares' refers directly to the Ludi Saeculares (Secular Games) celebrating the new saeculum (era). The plural abbreviation AVGG (with two Gs) explicitly denotes the collegial rule of the two Augusti: Philip the Arab and his son Philip II. This dual dedication reinforced the dynasty's shared patronage of the games and sought to secure popular recognition of the succession.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the standard classification established by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham in Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC), this type is designated as RIC IV Part III Philip I 15. It forms part of the unified Saeculares series minted precisely in 248 AD. The series encompasses multiple reverse types across the imperial family, including issues in gold, silver, and bronze. Within this framework, RIC IV Philip I 15 is differentiated from closely related issues by authority, denomination, and reverse composition. For instance, while Philip I struck the wolf type with officina mark II, Philip II struck variants depicting animals such as the stag (officina III) or goat, and the Empress Marcia Otacilia Severa was associated with types depicting the hippopotamus (officina IV). RIC 15 must also be distinguished from bronze sestertii and as-fraction types carrying similar imagery, as well as scarce aurei. Subtle die varieties within RIC 15 involve variations in the placement of the workshop numeral, minor adjustments in the positioning of the wolf's tail and head, and drapery details on the obverse bust.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Survival

Antoniniani of the Saeculares series were minted in vast numbers and rapidly entered broad circulation across the Roman Empire. Evidence from mid-to-late third-century coin hoards discovered in Britain, Gaul, Italy, the Balkans, and the Levant demonstrates that RIC IV Philip I 15 circulated extensively alongside earlier issues of Gordian III and later issues of Decius, Trebonianus Gallus, and Valerian. Because the debasement of the antoninianus accelerated drastically during the sole reign of Gallienus (260 to 268 AD) and the Claudius Gothicus period (268 to 270 AD), earlier issues with higher silver content (including the 248 AD Saeculares coins) were frequently hoarded and selectively withdrawn from active circulation under the operation of Gresham's Law. Consequently, specimens of RIC 15 are common in mid-century hoards and survive in substantial quantities today, spanning states of preservation from worn circulated pieces to uncirculated hoard finds. They provide primary archaeological evidence for the monetary transactions and administrative organization of the Rome mint in the middle of the third century AD.

References

1. Coin Hoards and Hoarding in the Roman Empire. Chapter 4: The Third Century Debasement
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage: Introduction to the Third Century Antoninianus. pp. 1-14
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Philip I 15. ric.4.ph_i.15
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part III: Gordian III - Uranius Antoninus. pp. 68-70, no. 15