Pupienus Bronze Sestertius, RIC IV Pupienus 20

Monetary Context and the Crisis of AD 238

The issue of RIC IV Pupienus 20 belongs to the dramatic political upheaval of AD 238, traditionally designated the Year of the Six Emperors. Following the rebellion in Africa Proconsularis and the rapid demise of Gordian I and Gordian II, the Roman Senate took the unprecedented step of electing two senior senators, Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus and Decimus Caelius Calvinus Balbinus, as equal co-emperors to defend Italy against the march of Maximinus Thrax. The newly appointed rulers faced immediate financial and ideological imperatives. The imperial treasury had been strained by the extensive military campaigns of Maximinus, while the capital suffered civil unrest that forced the co-emperors to elevate the young Gordian III to the rank of Caesar. Within the mid-third-century Roman monetary system, the sestertius remained the premier large bronze denomination for civic commerce and state communication. Although the silver antoninianus and denarius carried the burden of military pay, large copper-alloy issues reached everyday domestic trade and local markets throughout Italy and the western empire. Because the sestertius offered an expansive flan, it served as an ideal medium for broadcasting political stability. The appearance of Concordia on this sestertius was an urgent public declaration that the dual principate functioned as a unified front, aimed at calming both the civilian urban plebs and the hostile Praetorian factions.

Mint Production and Physical Characteristics

Production of RIC IV Pupienus 20 was conducted entirely at the central imperial mint of Rome. Operating under intense logistical pressure during the spring and summer of AD 238, the mint staff had to prepare dies rapidly for two new Augusti and their appointed Caesar, following the abrupt termination of coinages for Maximinus Thrax and the short-lived Gordians. Die cutters at Rome maintained established metallurgical traditions, casting thick flans of orichalcum or bronze and striking them between heavy iron dies. Sestertii of Pupienus typically weigh between 18.0 and 24.0 grams, with flan diameters ranging from 28 to 32 millimeters, conforming to the reduced bronze standards characteristic of the early third century. Die axes are predominantly upright or inverted, typical of the regularized output of the Roman workshops. Despite the hurried nature of production during a civil war, surviving specimens of this type demonstrate high technical standards of engraving. The mint utilized multiple active officinae to simultaneously strike parallel reverse types for both Pupienus and Balbinus, balancing their complementary ideological portfolios across bronze and precious metal denominations.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC IV Pupienus 20 presents a distinguished, highly individual portrait of Pupienus. Engraved facing right, the emperor is depicted with a laurel wreath tied at the back of his head, combined with military dress consisting of drapery over a cuirass. Pupienus, who had spent decades in senior administrative and military postings including the urban prefecture of Rome, was advanced in age upon his accession. The imperial portrait reflects this seniority through realistic, veristic features: deep facial furrows, prominent brow ridges, a heavy square jawline, and a dense, closely trimmed beard rendered with delicate parallel striations. Unlike the exaggeratedly muscular, soldierly depictions of Maximinus Thrax, the portraiture of Pupienus projects the gravitas and auctoritas expected of a traditional senatorial magistrate. The drapery visible over the breastplate bridges the civil and military domains, acknowledging his active role as supreme commander tasked with marching north to confront Maximinus at Aquileia. The laurel wreath symbolizes imperial triumph and senatorial legitimacy, reinforcing the message that traditional constitutional authority had been restored to the head of the empire.

Reverse Typology and Symbolic Representation

The reverse design features Concordia, the divine personification of agreement and mutual harmony, seated on an ornate backless throne facing left. She is draped in traditional stola and palla. In her outstretched right hand she holds a shallow patera, a sacrificial dish used in Roman religious rites, while cradling a substantial cornucopiae in her left arm against her side. Flanking her seated figure in the lower fields are the large letters S and C, denoting the constitutional sanction of the Senate, Senatus Consulto. The attributes held by Concordia articulate a specific theological and political program. The patera emphasizes pious adherence to religious duties and the sacred oaths that bound the two Augusti together. The cornucopiae, overflowing with the fruits of the earth, signifies the abundance, prosperity, and civic welfare that were promised to follow lawful governance and internal peace. The seated posture conveys permanence and stability, reassuring the Roman populace that the sudden joint rule rested upon solid, unshakable foundations. Simultaneously, the inclusion of S C served as an emphatic reminder that Pupienus and Balbinus derived their supreme authority directly from senatorial decree rather than military coercion.

Epigraphy and Imperial Titulature

The obverse inscription reads IMP CAES M CLOD PVPIENVS AVG, an abbreviated form of Imperator Caesar Marcus Clodius Pupienus Augustus. The legend begins at the lower left and follows the rim clockwise. By adopting the standard imperial titles Imperator, Caesar, and Augustus, the inscription formally confirms the absolute equality of status shared with his colleague Balbinus, who bore an identical formula with his own praenomen and gentilicium. The epigraphy is characterized by clean, classical Roman capitals with well-defined serifs, executed by experienced Rome mint engravers. The reverse inscription reads CONCORDIA AVGG, framed in the lower field by the prominent abbreviation S C. The critical element of this legend is the doubled terminal letter G in AVGG, representing Augustorum, the genitive plural form indicating 'of the two Augusti.' This grammatical marker explicitly links the personification of Concordia to the mutual concord between Pupienus and Balbinus. Paired with Senatus Consulto, the reverse legend asserts that harmony between the two senatorial rulers was consecrated by the Senate for the salvation of the Roman state.

Typological Alignment and Chronological Sequence

Within the typology established in Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC IV Pupienus 20 forms part of a strictly limited group of bronze issues struck between approximately April and late July of AD 238. Because the joint reign lasted only about ninety-nine days, the chronology of this sestertius is tightly constrained. Numismatists divide the coinage of the dual reign into issues struck prior to the death of Maximinus Thrax and those produced after news of his assassination reached Rome. The Concordia Augustorum reverse represents one of the foundational thematic types shared equally across the coinages of both Augusti. Parallel sestertii were struck for Balbinus using identical reverse dies or typologically identical designs featuring seated Concordia, demonstrating systematic coordination between mint workshops. While Pupienus focused on types emphasizing military prowess, such as Victoria Augustorum, the shared Concordia issues were produced across all metals, appearing on silver denarii, antoniniani, and bronze denominations. The production of RIC IV Pupienus 20 ceased abruptly in mid-summer AD 238 when mutinous soldiers of the Praetorian Guard stormed the imperial palace and murdered both emperors, bringing the type to an immediate close.

Monetary Circulation and Archaeological Context

Due to its brief production window of scarcely three months, RIC IV Pupienus 20 was struck in relatively small quantities compared to the expansive bronze issues of the Severan dynasty or the subsequent reign of Gordian III. Nevertheless, the denomination was released directly into circulation to meet urgent urban and military expenditures in Italy. Hoard evidence and single-find assemblages indicate that sestertii of the joint reign entered circulation immediately, circulating alongside earlier Severan, Antonine, and early third-century aes. While specimens are occasionally documented in military contexts along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and in provincial hoards across Gaul and Britain, the primary concentration of finds remains in Italy and the western Mediterranean. The rapid political turnover of AD 238 did not result in a formal damnatio memoriae that removed their bronze coins from commerce; instead, the intrinsic metal value and the high demand for small change ensured that sestertii of Pupienus remained in circulation for decades, frequently accumulating heavy wear until the progressive collapse of bronze token coinage during the reigns of Decius, Valerian, and Gallienus.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume VI: Severus Alexander to Balbinus and Pupienus. Pupienus, nos. 42-47
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Pupienus 20. ric.4.pup.20
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. pp. 173-178, no. 20
4. Roman Coins and Their Values, Volume III: The Third Century Crisis and Recovery, A.D. 235-285. no. 8531