Silver Denarius of Marcus Aurelius (Caesar), 139 CE - 161 CE
Silver
C.5033
Obverse: AVRELIVS CAESAR AVG PII F; Bust of Marcus Aurelius Facing Right Reverse: TR POT XIIII COS II DESIG III; Mars Standing to the Left, Holding a Spear and Leaning...
Obverse: AVRELIVS CAESAR AVG PII F; Bust of Marcus Aurelius Facing Right
Reverse: TR POT XIIII COS II DESIG III; Mars Standing to the Left, Holding a Spear and Leaning on a Shield
This well-preserved coin in F+ condition was struck for the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Coinage operates as a propagandist device in all cultures, and particularly during the Roman Empire when the borders were uncertain and internal strife threatened to destabilise the economy. The iconography shows the powerful emperor associating himself with Mars, initially a god of fertility before becoming the warrior god who was particularly worshipped by the Roman army. He is also a particularly patriotic god as his sons, Romulus and Remus, founded the city of Rome. Associating himself with such powerful, martial and patriotic emblems would have constituted good public relations for Marcus Aurelius’ grip on power. The name Caesar is technically an honorific to show his status, similarly appealing to the populace’s sense of patriotism – to whom Caesar was literally a god – to ensure his power over them.
Born Marcus Annius Catilius Severus in 121 AD, Marcus Aurelius’ family was well-connected to the aristocracy and ruling classes of Rome, including Hadrian, Trajan and Antoninus Pius. He attracted the attention of Hadrian at a young age, and was nicknamed verissimus – truest. Following the death of Hadrian’s adoptive son Lucius Aurelius, Hadrian named Antoninus as his successor on the condition that he adopt Marcus as well as Lucius Aurelius Verus, the son of his own adopted son, and that they succeed him as emperor in their turn. He acceded to power in 161, aged 40, and adopted the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
The empire grew under his authority, with martial success against the Parthians and Germania, and diplomatic relations with states in Central Asia as far east as Han China. His Meditations, written while on campaign, is still used as a reference for leadership and duty and proposed a manner of rational virtue. He was a Stoic philosopher of considerable note, as well as a family man who took his wife and children with him on his trips around the empire. He had fourteen children by Faustina the Younger, of which only one son and four daughters survived him. He was deified upon his death from the Antonine Plague in 180, and was succeeded by Commodus.
This is a striking and attractive ancient coin.
Reverse: TR POT XIIII COS II DESIG III; Mars Standing to the Left, Holding a Spear and Leaning on a Shield
This well-preserved coin in F+ condition was struck for the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Coinage operates as a propagandist device in all cultures, and particularly during the Roman Empire when the borders were uncertain and internal strife threatened to destabilise the economy. The iconography shows the powerful emperor associating himself with Mars, initially a god of fertility before becoming the warrior god who was particularly worshipped by the Roman army. He is also a particularly patriotic god as his sons, Romulus and Remus, founded the city of Rome. Associating himself with such powerful, martial and patriotic emblems would have constituted good public relations for Marcus Aurelius’ grip on power. The name Caesar is technically an honorific to show his status, similarly appealing to the populace’s sense of patriotism – to whom Caesar was literally a god – to ensure his power over them.
Born Marcus Annius Catilius Severus in 121 AD, Marcus Aurelius’ family was well-connected to the aristocracy and ruling classes of Rome, including Hadrian, Trajan and Antoninus Pius. He attracted the attention of Hadrian at a young age, and was nicknamed verissimus – truest. Following the death of Hadrian’s adoptive son Lucius Aurelius, Hadrian named Antoninus as his successor on the condition that he adopt Marcus as well as Lucius Aurelius Verus, the son of his own adopted son, and that they succeed him as emperor in their turn. He acceded to power in 161, aged 40, and adopted the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
The empire grew under his authority, with martial success against the Parthians and Germania, and diplomatic relations with states in Central Asia as far east as Han China. His Meditations, written while on campaign, is still used as a reference for leadership and duty and proposed a manner of rational virtue. He was a Stoic philosopher of considerable note, as well as a family man who took his wife and children with him on his trips around the empire. He had fourteen children by Faustina the Younger, of which only one son and four daughters survived him. He was deified upon his death from the Antonine Plague in 180, and was succeeded by Commodus.
This is a striking and attractive ancient coin.