“Horned” Elagabalus denarius

I’ve been wanting one of this type for a long time, and I finally added this denarius of Elagabalus with a “horn” protruding over his head.



Elagabalus, AR Denarius (19 mm, 3.13), Rome, 220-222. IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG Laureate and draped bust of Elagabalus to right, wearing 'horn' over forehead./ Rev. SACERD DEI SOLIS ELAGAB Elagabalus standing right, holding patera over lighted altar in his right hand and club in his left; in field to right, star. RIC 131

Elagabalus was emperor from 218-222 AD, having been put in place by his grandmother Julia Maesa at just 14 years old, and was assassinated by the Praetorian Guard at the age of 18. He’s most well known for his allegedly deviant sexual behavior (it’s not easy to stand out as a pervert amongst Roman Emperors, but he managed to do it), and for his devotion to the Eastern sun deity Elagabalus, where he got his posthumous “nickname”.

There is not much consensus on what the “horn” on the obverse actually signifies. A popular theory from a German writer is that the “horn” might actually be a bull’s penis, which apparently was considered a sign of fertility. I’m not sure that I buy that theory, but if any emperor were to do that, Elagabalus would be my first guess.

The coin’s reverse shows the emperor making a sacrifice, and the star represents the sun deity. I especially like that the reverse legend on this coin actually says “ELAGAB.” There are many emperors who are known mostly by a nickname, but this is one of the few that actually appears on a coin...I don’t think I’ve ever seen any coin which says the word Caracalla, Caligula, Gothicus, Thrax, etc. in the legend.

I know that a lot of us have one of this type, so please post your coins of “horned” Elagabalus (or any other Elagabalus you’d like).

 

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Interesting! The reason you doubt that theory is the reason I see it as likely. By Roman standards, the boy was strange. We are more tolerant today. Some of these have a larger horn than others. Size matters. Some have better style. You win on both counts.

 

Great example.


ELAGABALUS (218-222 A.D.)
AR Denarius
Rome mint. Struck 220-222 AD.
O: IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, laureate and draped bust right, horn on head.
R: SACRED DEI SOLIS ELAGAB, Elagabalus standing right, holding branch (?) and sacrificing from patera over lighted altar; star in right field.
RIC IV 131; BMCRE 225 note; RSC 246
19mm
3.5g

 

There are posthumus coins of Claudius DIVO CLAVDIO GOTHICO but I agree on the others.

 

Both great coins, @dougsmit and @Shea19 and a great write up!
I will just say that I have "horn envy" lol.

 

Very nice coin, @Shea19 , and you really found a nice horned version.

This guy gives me the willies! I think 4 years was WAY too long for Rome to had tolerated this creep (and that family!), and they should had exterminated him much earlier.

I only have two, polled versions. One as a placemarker from my progression of Roman Emperors (Kings). The other because of the cool Snake-Tripod Reverse.


RI Elagabalus 218-222 CE AR Antoninianus Radiate Roma seated



Ancient Roman Provincial Coin
Bronze (AE18) of Elagabalus, A.D. 218-222
Thrace, Philippolis
Moushmov 5423. 18 mm, 4.3 g.

Obverse: AVT K MAYP ANTΩNINOC.
Reverse: [ΦIΛIΠ]ΠOΛITΩN NEΩKOPΩ[N] - Serpent entwined tripod (celebrating the Neokorus of the city along with a festival of Pythia)
Raised to be a priest of the Elagabalus (Baal) cult, Antoninus, known to history as Elagabalus, was 14 years old when he was brought to Rome by his grandmother to be emperor. His exotic Eastern influences and his flamboyant sexual escapades proved to be too much for conservative Roman society, and he was executed about the time of his eighteenth birthday.

 

Same reverse type as everybody else's.


Elagabalus, AD 218-222.
Roman AR Denarius, 18.3 mm, 3.20 gm.
Rome mint, AD 221-222.
Obv: IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, laureate and draped bust right, with horn on top of his head, signifying divine power.
REV: SACERD DEI SOLIS ELAGAB, Elagabalus, in priestly robes, standing right, sacrificing over altar and holding cypress branch, star in field, right.
Refs: RIC 131; BMCRE 225-226; Cohen 246; RCV 7542; Thirion 302.

 

Below is the other one but the one with ELAGAB on the reverse is sooo much better for the reason Shea19 gave. Calling Caligula or Caracalla (to their face) by those names would not have been a mistake made twice.

 

Wow. What exactly made this teenage boy a creep worthy of "extermination" other than his unusual religion and the fact that he was gay and/or transgender? (Hardly the only Roman Emperor with the former orientation! Let me introduce you to Hadrian and Antinous. You should read Marguerite Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian. Not exactly action-packed, but highly worthwhile nonetheless. Yourcenar, by the way, was my mother's teacher at Sarah Lawrence, and they became friends -- probably because they were two Europeans who didn't have much in common with most of the Sarah Lawrence undergraduate population back then.)

Considering all the murders and atrocities that certain other Emperors committed every day and twice on Sundays, Elagabalus hardly seems to merit such extreme condemnation for any reason beyond left-over Victorian fastidiousness and general bigotry. (Even assuming all the ancient claims about him are true.) Please show me the evidence of arbitrary mass executions and other murders! Have you used the same condemnatory language about Emperors who clearly were guilty of such atrocities?

In any event, here's my one "horned" Elagabalus coin. (I totally buy the bull's penis theory, by the way. From everything I've read, it's wholly consistent with Eastern religious practices. And it isn't as if Romans didn't engage in lots of phallic imagery themselves!)

Elagabalus AR Denarius, 221-222 AD, Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate, horned & draped bust right, bearded, IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG/ Rev. Elagabalus standing left, sacrificing from patera over lit tripod altar, holding branch, star in field left, SVMMVS SACERDOS AVG. RIC IV-2 146, RSC III 276 (bearded), Sear RCV II 7549. 17.71 mm., 3.97 g.



An interesting reverse image, I think. To me, it looks like he's wearing pants, rather than robes as described. If so, that's another unusual practice for a Roman Emperor!

 

Some more "horned" Elagabalus

 

Elagabalus was not Roman enough to be a Roman emperor. Many emperors were not from Rome but most subscribed to a set of 'rules' that made them good for the position. Until rather recently most US citizens had trouble with the concept of a President who was not fully WASP. Some had trouble with a candidate being divorced but that was better than being Catholic or Jewish not all that long ago. Rome was not all that different. I suspect several people had trouble taking Elagabalus seriously.

 

Who the heck here said anything about gay, transgender, or religion? He raped a Vestal Virgin, on the alter of Vespa, in front of a crowd. He was one of the most despised and feared emperors in history, and still a teenager. He was so awful his own grandmother had him and his MOTHER assassinated to keep the family in power.

You are the one who brought perceived bigotry into this thread, not anyone else.

Btw, Hadrian's reign was scandalized by Antinous, and him drowning in the Nile probably saved Hadrian's reign. Romans had no problems with men or women cavorting with children, but not mature humans of the same sex. This is not me condemning it, it was ancient Roman morality.

 

Please do not jump to conclusions. I am not prejudiced, but felt his religious affiliations and parties were an aberration. I feel the same of many, if not most Emperors. Hence, my not specializing in Roman Imperial era. He was not “Roman” either...

 

Vestal Virgin? You mean his wife? Even if the story is true, I still ask why the general condemnation by 19th and early 20th century writers above and beyond so many emperors who did far worse? Don't tell me that bigotry had nothing to do with it. And let's not pretend that raping a Vestal Virgin even enters into the discussion in most writers' -- specifically including writers of numismatic catalogs* -- treatment of his reign, as opposed perhaps to the scandal engendered by his marrying one. Furthermore, I disagree with your analysis of the view of same-sex relations in the Roman Empire. It had at least as much to do with the active vs. passive role as with the age of the participants. "Scandalized" is an exaggeration with respect to Hadrian and Antinous. (Not to mention that the latter was quite young himself.) If that were all really true, why weren't people equally scandalized, and Hadrian's reign equally endangered, by all the temples set up after Antinous's death for his worship, and the cities named after him?

* For example, if you think David Sear's reference to his "sexual depravity," and his description of him as "the perverted young priest-emperor," were primarily based on his alleged rape of a Vestal Virgin, or were intended to reflect only the contemporary Roman view of Elagabalus, I would suggest that you're wrong.

 

Nice pickup!!

Here is another one.

 

Dio (LXXX.11.1) states it was Elagabalus' impiety in elevating a foreign god above Jupiter himself that led to his assassination by the praetorian guard in AD 222. An earlier thread I wrote about Aurelian discusses this factor in his assassination.

 

Another Elagabalus coin:


Elagabalus Denarius Syrian Priest
Silver, 21 mm, 3.76 gm, Catalog: RIC 46
Struck: AD 221 Rome

Obverse:
Horned, laureate, and draped bust right
IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG
Reverse:
Elagabalus in Syrian priest dress standing left sacrificing out of bowl over lighted altar,
holding branch or club, star with elongated vertical tail left
PM TRP IIII COS III PP

Supposedly the star with the elongated tail is Halley's Comet which made an appearance in AD 218.

 

OK, as long as you feel that about half of all the Roman Emperors deserved the same!

 

I can accept that. But that's not what most of the "scandalous" writing about him in the last few hundred years focuses upon.