Divus Augustus. Died AD 14. AR Antoninianus (22mm, 3.89 g, 6h). Consecration issue. Rome mint, 2nd officina. 8th emission of Trajan Decius, mid AD 251. Radiate head of Divus Augustus right / Eagle standing half-right, wings spread, head left. RIC IV 77 (Decius); RSC –. EF, reverse a little flatly struck. Powerful, artistic portrait.
Ex Dr. Klaus Berthold Collection, acquired at the Munich Numismata, 2015.
Struck at the midway point of the third century AD, the “Imperial Divi” series of silver antoniniani portrayed a selection of deified emperors from Rome’s past who were still being venerated as heroes and gods. Exactly who struck this series, however, is mysterious, as the coins do not name the issuing emperor in the manner of earlier “restitution” issues.
In RIC IV Part II (1949), Harold Mattingly attributed the 'Divus' types to Trajan Decius (AD 249-251), specifically to the mint at Milan. Via a study of die-linkage, K.J.J. Elks has since refuted Mattingly's mint attribution, placing the 'Divi' series in the last issue of Decius struck at Rome (see NumChron 1972, pp. 111-115 and pls. 14-15). The attribution to Decius has also been challenged by new theories placing the series with Philip I (AD 244-249) or Trebonianus Gallus (AD 251-253). The revival of past heroic emperors does fit rather neatly with the celebrations staged by Philip I to mark Rome’s millennium in AD 247-248. On stylistic, metallurgical and hoard find grounds, however, the series seems to date from somewhat later, making Decius still the most likely issuer in our view.
If Decius did originate the Divi coinage, he was likely attempting to garner support for his reformist regime by appealing to the divine majesty of his more successful predecessors. Intriguingly, not all deified Caesars are honored: The series lacks Julius Caesar, Claudius, Lucius Verus, Pertinax and Caracalla, all of whom had been raised to Olympus by a vote of the Senate. To further confuse matters, the series does include one emperor who never seems to have been “officially” deified, Severus Alexander, although it is likely our surviving records are incomplete in this instance. The most curious inclusion is Commodus, whose long post-mortem deification by Septimius Severus was widely regarded as a sham, if senatorial historians are to be believed.
The Imperial Divi series does show the engravers of the Rome mint were capable of artistic and versatile die work in recreating the portraits of past emperors. This bolt portrait of the divine Augustus, first and perhaps greatest of all emperors, measures up quite well to the better numismatic effigies of more than two centuries previous to its striking.
