I won this coin on Agora Auctions today. Lot 57-175. Caracalla. A.D. 198-217. AR denarius. Rome mint, struck A.D. 201. Caracalla. A.D. 198-217. AR denarius (19.1 mm, 3.50 g, 6 h). Rome mint, struck A.D. 201. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, laureate and draped bust right / RECTOR ORBIS, Caracalla, as Sol, standing left, holding globe and reversed spear. RIC 141; BMCRE 289; RSC 545. Toned VF Other than Didius Julianus, Caracala is the only Emperor to have ever depicted himself as Sol with the appelation RECTOR ORBIS (Master of the World). This was a very vulgar statement, as the Emperor was depicting himself in the place of Sol, instead of paying homage to an image of the deity, and the self-aggrandizing inscription accompanying the depiction does not help either. Septimius Severus was the only other emperor to use RECTOR ORBIS for a coin, but the figure on the reverse as depicted appears to be Sol, and not the Emperor. I think it says a lot about Caligula's mindset and lack of modesty that he would chose to portray himself as Sol.
"While claiming to be the most pious of all mankind, he indulged to an extravagant degree in bloodshed, putting to death four of the Vestal Virgins, one of whom he had himself outraged." Cassius Dio Chapter 15 section 1. My only Caracalla Antoninianus! Very nice coin you have there!
LOVE the posts!!! I recently grabbed one with his more sinister demeanor---an Ant with the Mars reverse:
LOL, I dread the Imperial period... Only one I have, glad at least it is Moneta... Roman Imperial AR Denarius Caracalla AD 198-217 RIC 308
Congrats, nice coin! I have to wonder about this though. This issue was struck under Septimius, and Caracalla was only 12 or 13. Why would the assumption be that he was being depicted as Sol? Also, Sol is typically shown radiate, and on the OP coin, the figure looks laureate to me. If there were an emperor who saw himself as a sun god, and RECTOR ORBIS at that, I would think it would be Elagabalus, as on this aureus: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1157086 Even there, though, the figure is shown laureate. Does the "Caracalla as Sol" description refer to another issue, perhaps?
Sol is radiate on the Septimius version, as it was a representation of Sol, but laureate with the Didius Julianus and Caracala versions as it represented the Emperors themselves. Didius Julianus did that because he was arrogant and thought his money, which bought him his throne, could buy him anything including diviniy. He learned after 9 weeks just how mistaken he was. Caracala was co-Emperor, so he may have been 12, but weilded a lot of power at that age and could certainly choose how he wanted to be depicted by the mint. Give a 12 year old that kind of power and what do you expect? And let's face it, as cool as I think Caracala was, even I have to admit he wasn't mentally all there. Ultimately I got the info out of a book from the 19th century. Where the writer got the knowledge who really knows. A lot of what we think about these coins comes from interpretations from antiquarians and numismatists from the 17th through 19th century who researched these things. They could have always gotten something wrong.
I think it's more likely the depiction is just the emperor in a godly, heroic pose rather than Sol specifically. Apart from the radiate crown, Sol would be holding a whip rather than a spear. Irregardless, Master of the World is a big-headed enough claim.
