Commodus as Hercules

247, Lot: 298. Estimate $300. Sold for $900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Commodus. AD 177-192. Æ As (24mm, 10.30 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 192. Head of Commodus right, as Hercules, wearing lion skin / HER-CVL/ROM-AN/AV-GV/S-C in four lines flanking club; all within laurel wreath. RIC III 644; MIR 18, 853-9/72; BMCRE 725. VF, dark green and red-brown patina.

Ex Douglas O. Rosenberg Collection (Classical Numismatic Group E-154), lot 192.

This portrait depicts Commodus as Hercules, and the reverse exhibits his club. Commodus grew insane late in his life. He believed, due to his megalomania, that he was the reincarnation of Hercules, and demanded he be worshiped as such.