The William Whetstone Collection
The Ludi Novae Saeculares of 248 AD
"Games of the New Age"
The 1000th Anniversary of Rome

436, Lot: 620. Estimate $100. Sold for $280. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Philip I. AD 244-249. AR Antoninianus (23mm, 5.20 g, 6h). Ludi Saeculares (Secular Games) issue, commemorating the 1000th anniversary of Rome. Rome mint, 5th officina. 8th emission, AD 248. Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / VIRTVS AVGG, Philip I and II on horseback galloping right; Є. RIC IV 10; RSC 241. EF, lightly toned, some luster. Well struck.

From the William Whetstone Collection.

The Ludi Novae Saeculares (”Games of the New Age” or the “Millennial Games”) of AD 248 marked the 1,000th anniversary of Rome’s foundation, and were celebrated with the maximum pomp and ceremony possible for a Roman Empire in crisis. With Rome’s official foundation set at April 21, 753 BC, games should logically have been held at 100-year intervals from that date; however, the timing was never that strict or simple. The first official celebration occurred in 249 BC and a second is recorded about 100 years later, but the Civil Wars and other upheavals suppressed their observance until the time of Augustus, who got his own experts to declare 18-17 BC the proper time for the next Saeculum. Claudius, in AD 47, reverted to the “every 100 years from foundation” formula, and Antoninus Pius staged magnificent games to mark Rome’s 900th birthday a century later. With the onset of Rome’s 1,000th year in AD 247, the Emperor Philip I welcomed the events surrounding the millennium as a way to distract the populace from the troubled early years of his reign, and to cement his dynasty’s hold on power. Toward the latter goal, he elevated his 10-year-old son, Philip II, to the rank of co-Augustus; his wife, Otacilia Severa, already held the title of Augusta. The best evidence we have for the actual celebration are the coins struck by Philip and his family, which depict a parade of exotic animals, mainly from Africa. These had been gathered by Philip’s predecessor, Gordian III, to adorn his proposed Persian Triumph (in the event Gordian died on campaign and the war ended in an ignominious payoff). The animals include elephants, lions, elk, gazelles, and hippopotami; also shown are the traditional she-wolf and twins, a pedestal inscribed with Philip’s consular year (COS III), and depictions of Philips I and II on horseback (the present example) and seated on curule chairs, preparing to distribute largesse to the Roman populace. Processions, public sacrifices, gladiatorial games, choirs singing sacred songs, and other forms of spectacle and revelry filled the schedule for three days. After decades of rigid austerity, the Millennial Games must have provided the Roman people a moment of respite and gaiety before the calamities that followed in quick succession. Interestingly, these would be the last Ludi Saeculares ever celebrated: The Christian emperors of the next century saw no need to continue the pagan festivities.

The coinage of Rome’s 1000th year provides an interesting and challenging collecting theme, with a specific set of designs and a number of varieties. William Whetstone has spent nearly 20 years assembling the set offered here, including a number of seldom-seen rarities. Please accept this offering in the spirit of the New Year.