Elagabalus as High Priest

Sale: CNG 79, Lot: 1158. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 17 September 2008.  Sold For $650. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Elagabalus. AD 218-222. AR Denarius (3.05 g, 1h). Rome mint. Struck AD 221-222. Laureate and draped bust right, with horn above forehead / Elagabalus standing right, holding rod and sacrificing out of patera over lit altar to right. RIC IV 131 var. (club not rod); Thirion 300; RSC 246. Superb EF.

At the age of fourteen, Varius Avitus Bassianus (Elagabalus) inherited the office of high priest of the sun-god Elagabalus at Emesa in Syria. The cult of his sun god was represented by a sacred stone, and in AD 219 when he moved from Emesa to Rome, he took the stone, probably a meteorite, with him. During his reign, Elagabalus devoted his efforts to the promotion of his cult god, building a lavish temple to house the stone. The reverse type and legend on the present coin promote his position as high priest of the sun-god Elagabalus.