Last year, I had my eye on one of these rare and interesting sestertii of Marcus Aurelius bearing the reverse legend RELIG(io) AVG, honouring Mercury as a divine benefactor of the emperor. Because of a limited coin budget, I ended up having to sit on my hands when the auction came up. Thankfully, in this hobby, one almost always gets second chances . The reverse shows an unusual temple facade of Mercury's, with his statue standing on a pedestal below a semicircular pediment displaying an array of his symbols - a tortoise, cockerel, ram, winged helmet, caduceus, and purse. Though there has been no concensus formed on what this type actually commemorates, it is popularly associated with the Rain Miracle of the 12th Legion commanded by Marcus Aurelius during the Marcomannic Wars. The details of this event itself are disputed even in ancient sources, but Cassius Dio has it that during a battle with the Quadi army, the 12th Legion found themselves heavily outnumbered, encircled by the enemy, and stricken with fatigue, thirst, and the heat. With the Romans on the verge of capture, an Egyptian magician named Anurphis, whom Dio calls a companion of the emperor, invokes the aid of Mercury as god of the wind and air. A sudden storm then arises, reviving the Romans with rain and destroying their enemies with hail and lightning. The incident is historically attested to and is even depicted on the Column of Marcus Aurelius, but the connection between the event and the RELIG AVG coins have been widely debated. At any rate, I've now got one of these, and I can blame it on the Rain Miracle. MARCUS AURELIUS AE Sestertius 29.44g, 31mm RIC 1075; Cohen 535 O: M ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXVII, laureate head right. R: IMP VI - COS III, within a tetrastyle temple with telamons as columns and a semicircular pediment containing, from left to right, tortoise, cockerel, ram, winged helmet, caduceus, and purse, a statue of Mercury standing left on pedestal, holding caduceus and purse; S - C in field, RELIG AVG in exergue. Here's the remarkable section from the Column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome that shows the Rain Miracle, with the deluge of rain personified as a bearded god with his shaggy hair cascading down upon the battlefield.
very, very cool addition, Z-Bro .... oh, and super statue-shot as well (thanks for posting both of 'em) Man, the sestertius has amazing eye-appeal (I love coins with a bit of random-stuff on 'em) => no smoothing there, my friend!!
Thanks, Steve. Yeah, one of the nice things about coins with random stuff on them is that you can always easily tell which one is yours in a line up. Get to know the random stuff on your coins, people!
Nice find! I was aware of the legend, but was not aware there was a coin type that could possibly be connected.
Me either!!! That's a fantastic coin and story!!! And I absolutely LOVE the aged look of that terrifically struck sestertius !!! As Bing would say.."GIVE IT TO ME NOW"!!! LOL
Thanks for the coinpliments, everyone. This is certainly one of my favourite additions to the collection this year.
The silver from the event is a lot less spectacular since it just shows Mercury standing with legend RELIG AVG IMP VI COS III.
now that's an awesome coin...big, right amount of grunge...killer reverse...great story behind it (even if it isn't true). plus it has a turtle! great coin Z.
Spectacular coin with a mysterious reverse Z! I love those types of coins with those kind of stories behind them. Awesome.
Thanks! There's a fairly recent book that explores the Rain Miracle (Marcus Aurelius' Rain Miracle and the Marcomannic Wars, Peter Kovács, 2009), but it's a little too pricey for me. A review of it does briefly mentions that the book contains a chapter on the RELIG AVG coins and that the author apparently makes a strong case that none of the coins can be linked to the Rain Miracle. As far as I'm concerned, where there's doubt, there's room for my belief in the more colourful version .