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ROMAN EMPIRE, Caracalla, Bimetallic Sestertius
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Obv. M AVR ANTONINVS PIVS FELIX AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust right.
Rev. P M TR P XVII IMP III COS IIII P P, emperor, accompanied by two officiers, standing r. on platform, haranguing soldiers behind, standards, in ex. S C.
Mint: Rome, 214 A.D.
32mm 32.71g
RIC 525c var. (draped bust); Banti 59
Provenance:
Ex Bertolami, Auction 12, 29th October 2014, lot 863.
Before a battle, or on parade, the emperor would address his troops in an event known as an adlocutio cohortium (address to the cohorts). This was an important opportunity for the emperor to be present among his troops and inspire morale and esprit de corps among them. A sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), issued on behalf of a donative for the Praetorian Guard, was the first to employ the adlocutio as a reverse type. Similar subsequent issues were minted to emphasize the emperor's perceived, if not actual, role as military commander. The present specimen commemorates Caracalla's victory against the Germans and his preparations for a Persian war. Caracalla idolized Alexander the Great and, as other emperors before him, wished to recreate his successes in the east. Thus, in 214 AD, after having been proclaimed "Alexander" at Philippopolis in Thrace, he assembled his troops, who had been outfitted as Macedonians, and proceeded into Asia Minor. Caracalla's ambitions were, however, hampered by his own unfit physical and mental state; over the next three years the campaign degeneratged into near-chaos and ended with Caracalla's murder.
(written by CNG, 2003)
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