New this morning. Photo doesn´t do justice to the exquisite luster. Ref Caracalla AR Denarius, Rome 19 mm. 2,94 g. RIC 130a, RSC 97, BMC 280 Caracalla 196-198 AD. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, laureate and draped bust right / INDVLGENTIA AVGG, IN CARTH below, Dea Caelestis (Cybele) riding lion springing right over water gushing from rocks on left, holding thunderbolt & sceptre, and wearing ”City Wall” crown. Purchased from Aeternitas Numismaticas 12th Aug. 2023. Ex, Solidus Numismatik auction 106, Lot # 1580 11th Oct. 2022 Please post your Caracallas, Cybeles, lions or anything else.
An interesting, although more sinister use of this reverse. Under Caracalla it was to celebrate the restoration of the water supply to Carthage. A few years later (203AD), his brother Geta used the same reverse to patronise the Imperial visit to Carthage, culminating in his Birthday festivities at the amphitheatre. Unfortunately, the highlight of the spectacle was of a darker side. According to surviving early Christian eyewitness accounts, the noble martyrs Perpetua and her slave Felicitas were arrested in Roman Carthage in 203 AD and sentenced to death because they were preparing for baptism and refused to renounce their faith. They were executed in front of Geta.
Here's one of my Septimius Severus denarius examples of this type, commemorating the aqueduct (represented by the water flowing from rocks) & other renovations in Carthage. It is worth noting Septimius was born in N. Africa in the same province & showed it special favor (the INDVLGENTIA of the Augustus referenced in the legend): Septimius Severus AR Denarius (18mm, 2.93g, 12h), struck in Rome c. 202-3 CE. Obv: SEVERVS PIVS AVG. Laureate head of Septimius Severus to right. Rev: INDVLGENTIA AVGG / IN CARTH. Dea Caelestis, holding thunderbolt in her right hand and scepter in her left, seated facing on lion leaping to right; below, water gushing from rocks on l. Ref: Cohen (or RSC) 222; RIC 266. Prov: Ex T.R. Hardaker Collection (1942-2019), best known among numismatists for his books on ancient/medieval Indian coinage. (Collection sold at Baldwin’s Auction 48 [London, 20 Sep 2020].)
RIC 130a, Very Fine+, 19.6mm, 3.61 grams, Struck Circa. 201 - 206 C.E., Rome Mint Obverse: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG around laureate and draped, youthful bust of Caracalla to right Reverse: Dea Caelestis riding on lion to right over waters gushing from rock, thunderbolt in right hand and scepter in left, INDVLGENTIA AVGG around, IN CARTH in exergue
Roman Empire: silver denarius of Septimius Severus, "Dea Caelestis" type, ca. 193-211 AD Obverse: SEVERVS PIVS AVG, laureate head right / INDVLGENTIA AVGG, IN CARTH in exergue. Reverse: Dea Caelestis in elaborate headdress riding right on lion, holding thunderbolt & scepter; below, water gushing from rocks left.
I have a book that has Perpetua’s diary or journal that goes through what happened in detail - the book includes a modern description of what happened. It has been awhile since I read it. My recollection is that it may have been delayed since she was pregnant - she would have been released if she simply did some ritual for the emperor as God but her and her fellow Christians refused to do so - I recall her parents begging her but she ended up being martyred. I am going to see if I can find the book.
I have a nice As of Caracalla with this reverse that I’ll post. A Severan sestertius of (I think) Caracalla - or Septimius ? with this reverse sold seven or eight years ago - a lovely coin indeed and ridiculously rare but beyond my means.
An indulgentia was forgiveness of a tax liability. There is an edict of Caracalla, dated 216, found in Banasa (today in Morocco), mentioning an indulgentia because the city provided "caelestia animalia". These "celestial animals" are most probably wild animals of the African fauna, captured and shipped to Rome for the amphitheatre. Is there any relation with Juno Caelestis? Was Carthago exempt from taxes under Septimius Severus because the city had provided animals or something of interest?
Depends on the context. It is a Latin noun that has many meanings depending on the subject. As a noun it can mean leniency, concession, pardon. As a synonym it can mean indulgence, gentleness, complaisance, tenderness, fondness, kindness.
Of course every word has multiple meanings according to context. I am convinced that associated with Augustus or an emperor's name, and on an official document such as a coin or a monumental inscription, indulgentia must be giver its technical juridical signification: forgiveness of tax debt or liability. If it was written on a paper nailed to a door church in the early 16th c., it would have another meaning.
