The 2nd of the 2 coins I was waiting for came in today and what a beauty it is. Just look at that portrait!! I was going to do a small write-up on Elagabalus when I got this coin, but I saw someone already did a couple of weeks ago. Since most of what Elagabalus is not the best stuff to write on a kid friendly website, There isn't much I can add. All I will say is that if there is a list of the top 5 worst emperors he would definitely be on it right along side Caracalla. Anyways here we go. Elegabalus Reigned 218-222 AD Silver Denarius Minted: 221 AD Obv: IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, Draped bust right, laureate, horned Rev: PM TR P IIII COS III P P, Emperor standing left sacrificing out of patera over lighted altar, holding branch in right hand, star in left. Ric 46 Sear 7536 Ex: Warren Esty Like I stated this is probably one of the worst emperors in Roman history. Lets see your coins of Elagabalus or any other emperors that fit in the worst emperors category. Thanks for looking...Mont
Very nice! That's one with a horn on his head! My latest Elagabalus is a provincial: Elagabalus, AD 218-222 Roman provincial tetrassarion, 8.53 g, 24.2 mm, 7 h Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, Legate Julius Antonius Seleucus, AD 218-222 Obv: ΑVΤ Κ Μ ΑVΡ ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΝΟC, laureate head, right Rev: VΠ Ιȣ ΑΝΤ CΕΛΕVΚȣ ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ, Homonoia standing left, holding patera and cornucopiae Refs: BMC 3.34, 47; AMNG (Pick) 856; Moushmov 633.
Great coin @MontCollector - all I have is this AR tetradrachm of Antioch (which I have shared on the Forum before) so here it is again! Obverse photo is not perfect, but you get the idea...
Great example, and I agree, the portrait is fantastic! I have a similar coin but with a beardless portrait: Because our ancient sources for info on Elagabalus would have been hugely prejudiced against both his religious reforms and any alternative sexuality, we should probably take them with a sizeable grain of salt. In addition, two of them (Herodian and Cassius Dio) were writing under his successor (Sev Alex), and the other one is the notoriously unreliable Augustan History. I think it's fair to say that some degree of "fake news" character assassination is going on in their treatment of Elagabalus.
Nice 1st Coin @MontCollector ! RProv AE18mm 4.3g Elagabalus CE 218-222 Thrace Philippolis Moushmov 5423
WoWiE! That's an eye catcher right they'd folks! Beautiful portrait. And I LOVE the idea! A bad boys of Rome thread! Yeeeeeaaaaasssss! I'll put up 3 as tribute. 2 obvious and 1 whom I'm surprised isn't mentioned as a ruthless ruler more often. The 1st is good ol sister loving, senator wife soliciting, horse electing (at least if you believe Suetonius. Which I don't. But who am I to let the truth stand in the way of a great story??) Little Boots! Here's a version I don't see too often... Gaius(Caligula) LYDIA, Philadelphia Neocaesarea. 37-41 AD. Æ 14mm (2.62 gm). Bare head right; lituus under chin / Winged thunderbolt; ATTAΛIKOC (magistrate). RPC I 3026; SNG Copenhagen -; cf. BMC Lydia pg. 194, 51. VF, black patina. Rare. Fomer: Savoca coin Next up: Having no leadership experience, being super rich and having the hottest woman in Rome as your daughter are not the credentials for a great emperor. Adding insult to injury his predecessor, Pertinax, by all accounts was a great leader and could have done Rome a lot of good if the Pretorian guard weren't so greedy and murderous. Never the less Didius Julianus bought his way into the purple before dying a cowards death. DidiusJulianus AD 193. AR Denarius Rome mint. Laureate head right / RECTOR ORBIS, emperor standing left, holding globe and scroll. RIC IV 3; RSC 15. VF, porous. The reverse of this denarius portrays Didius Julianus as master ofthe world.His reign lasted just sixty-six days. And lastly, a usurper who had his own 1st born son beheaded, divorced his wife by having her boiled to death (soups on sweetheart!), he had his father in law hang himself and moved the capitol of Rome to name it after himself. You guessed it! It's "Con"stantine. Talk about history being written by the victor! This guy is now considered a saint?! And people wonder why organized religion scares the crud out of me. CONSTANTINE I 307-337 CE Æ Follis Siscia mint. Struck 335-336 AD. Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right / Two soldiers, one standard; ASIS. RIC VII 252. EF, glossy brown patina.
..wow! that is a very nice one Mont.. looks like it could have been struck last week...i can see why you were excited to post this one.
Neat coin MontCollector! You would think that Elagalabus was a good Emperor, judging by his coin image/// Here is one of mine....
Well, now, Panzerman is a tough act to follow! Congrats, Mont. That piece looks like it has nice metal and the portrait is great. I think it's better than the one I had.
Thanks all!! Thank you for posting this. I remembered there was another really bad, or possibly insane in his case, emperor that would fit this category nicely and was trying to remember his name.. As soon as I saw your post it clicked...there he is. I will have to add him to my list of emperors to watch out for.
Great coin! I posted this one, my most recent, a week or two ago, but here it is again... Another one, from the Antioch mint.
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/car-elag.html Those new to the hobby are invited to my page above intended to assist separating coins of Caracalla from those of Elagabalus. Warning: There is a test. Note the image below shows two coins with exactly the same obverse legend.
The "bearded" Caracalla looks nastier, he looked better, on his younger images, Elagalabus never got old enough to grow one. Caligula was the "worst" most depraved Emperor.
