Denarius of Septimius Severus - 1966.51

Acquisition number: 1966.51

Other images

Rev.: Dea Caelestis with a sceptre and a thunderbolt seated on a lion leaping over water gushing from a rock

Obv.: Head of Septimius Severus r., laureate, bearded. SEVERVS PIVS AVG(ustus).

Rev.: Dea Caelistis seated r. on a leaping lion and holding a sceptre in her left hand and a thunderbolt in her right. Below, waters gushing from a rock. IDVLGENTIA AVGG(= Augustorum). In exergue, IN CARTH(aginem).

Title: Denarius of Septimius Severus - 1966.51

Acquisition number: 1966.51

Author or editor: Beryl Rawson

Culture or period: Roman Imperial

Date: AD 204

Material: Metal - Silver

Object type: Coins - Roman

Dimensions: 18mm (w)

Origin region or location: Italy

Origin city: Rome

Display case or on loan: 7

Keywords: Coin, denarius, Roman, Imperial, Septimius Severus, Dea Caelestis

Sear, D.R., Roman Coins and their Values 5 vols (London, Spink, 2000-2014) 6285; Seaby, H.A., Roman Silver Coins (London, B.A. Seaby, 1967) III 222; Mattingly, H.,Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, 6 vols (London, 1965) 335-8.

1966.51

Denarius of Septimius Severus

3.373 g. AD 204

Obv.: Head of Septimius Severus r., laureate, bearded. SEVERVS PIVS AVG(ustus).

Rev.: Dea Caelistis seated r. on a leaping lion and holding a sceptre in her left hand and a thunderbolt in her right. Below, waters gushing from a rock. IDVLGENTIA AVGG(= Augustorum). In exergue, IN CARTH(aginem).

Septimius Severus took the name Pius to connect himself with the Antonine dynasty. Cf. on 66.53. The form of the name on the obverse belongs to the period AD 201-210. The specific date for this coin may be AD 204, when Septimius celebrated the Secular Games and gave a special role to the deities of his native North Africa. His birthplace was Lepcis Magna, but the beneficence (indulgentia) recorded here (a new aqueduct? improved water supply?) is to Carthage, of which Dea Caelestis was a goddess.

Caracalla had received the title ‘Augustus’ in AD 198, hence the reverse legend: ‘beneficence of the (two) Augusti’.

Cf. 2007.04

Sear, D.R., Roman Coins and their Values 5 vols (London, Spink, 2000-2014) 6285; Seaby, H.A., Roman Silver Coins (London, B.A. Seaby, 1967) III 222; Mattingly, H.,Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, 6 vols (London, 1965) 335-8.