3 coins of 3 bad hombresianuses: Let's see your bad dudes

This just in from the latest Leu auction: I just recieved 3 of the baddest emperors in Roman history in one sweet package!

(My money's on the cat)

I didn't mean to get 3 villains so close to each other in time with none the others predecessor but that's the way the empire crumbles (Zeus I love my own sense of humor)

First, the guy who is the reason we call the toilet a commode A coin I have in bronze but needed in silver (for obvious reasons). Despite the wear the old cabinet toning really makes this ever popular type jump out even more.
Famous for being bat poop crazy and pretending to be (and possibly actually thinking that he was) Herakles, among other things.

(Never noticed that, as well as sporting Herk's club, he's rolling the Hesperian apples around in his hand like Chinese medicine balls)

This is my hands down favorite Com coin:

Commodus
177-192. Denarius (Silver, 17 mm, 2.12 g, 6 h), Rome, 191-192. L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL Head of Commodus to right, wearing lion skin headdress. Rev. HERCVLI ROMANO AVG Club in center flanked by bow and quiver. BMC 343. Cohen 195. RIC 253. Slightly rough and with some scratches, otherwise, good fine.
Purchased from Leu Feb 2022

Here's a guy I had a coin of, but sold due to wear. Not that this is that much of an upgrade, but DJ isn't the kind of guy I'd pay the extra buck to get a real cherry example of... his predecessor Pertinax on the other hand
The man who bought the empire and was killed by the same people he paid for the opportunity

(The pizza guy is the Praetorian Guard and Rome the pizza)

in less than three months (though, supposedly his daughter was the most beautiful woman in Rome). Doesn't endear me to him. So, this coin was perfect. And does anyone else see the little alien Concordia is dangling in her left hand?:

Didius Julianus
193 BCE. Denarius (Silver, 17 mm, 1.92 g, 6 h), Rome. IMP CAES M DID IVLIAN AVG Laureate head of Didius Julianus to right. Rev. CONCORD MILIT Concordia standing front, head to left, holding aquila in her right hand and vexillum in her left. BMC 2. Cohen 2 corr. (omits DID on the obverse in error). RIC 1. Harshly cleaned and very rough, otherwise, fair. Purchased from Leu Feb 2022

Lastly, and probably my favorite of the group, I NEEDED a grumpy faced Caracalla and all of mine are of him as a kid or provincial.
So imagine my delight when this pistoff looking coin of him showed up... with a masterfully crafted nude Jupiter on the reverse. In hand this thing absolutely POPS!
The guy created great baths, FINALLY grants citizenship to all Romans what's not to like?

(I NEED to go here!)

Oh, and he murdered his own brother, may have tried to kill his own father (though, played it off as a joke), killed large numbers of people in Alexandria for satirizing him and was just about as scary as any Roman before or since:

Caracalla
198-217. Denarius (Silver, 19 mm, 3.00 g, 12 h), Rome, 217. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM Laureate head of Caracalla to right. Rev. P M TR P XX COS IIII P P Jupiter standing front, head to left, holding thunderbolt in his right hand and long scepter in his left. BMC 180. Cohen 373. RIC 285a. Light deposits and with a minor edge crack, otherwise, good extremely fine. Purchased from Leu Feb 2022



So,

And post up your bad guys, coins from Leu or anything BAD

 

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I love love love that Commodus dressed as Heracles.

Here is my denarius of Commodus hoping for victory in the games...not that he needs to worry about that...

Commodus
Denarius
183 AD
Obverse: M COMMODVS ANTON AVG PIVS, laureate head right
Reverse: TR P VIII IMP VI COS IIII P P, Victory standing right, naked to waist, writing on shield set on palm

 

Tiberius. Good start, but eventually fell into darkness, becoming a thievy, murderous chief and an appalling pervert. No plus points for the crucifiction of Jesus either.



Caligula. Probably needs no introduction. Paranoid, ruthless and a thoroughly talentless ruler.



Commodus. Already presented by Ryro. You know the boss is off the deep end when he plans to name the capital after himself. Time for a bath, boss. The royal tub is ready and waiting.

 

Thanks! You love mine, wait till you get a load of @Curtisimo 's! Mind blowing.
Very cool coin of your own! Is that a fourée?
Here's my bronze to add to the fun:

Awwww, that Commodus stops the show!
And excellent allusion to the wackadoo's demise

Huh. Doesn't look so god like here. Does he? No.

 

@Ryro I don't "think" it is a fouree. It weighs 2.33g. I imagine that could be because of the big missing chunk. Honestly not sure about the copper-looking stuff that is showing. It doesn't seem to be a copper core.

 

Every time I browse a French dealer's website and use the automatic translation feature, Commodus's name (the Emperor "Commode" in French) gets translated as the Emperor Desk.

Here's one of the young Desk's coins:

Commodus (son of Marcus Aurelius), AR Denarius 181 AD. Obv. Laureate head right, M COMMODVS ANTONINVS AVG/ Rev. Pax standing left, holding branch & cornucopiae, TR P VI IMP IIII COS III P P. RIC III 17, RSC II 806. 17 mm., 3.15 g.

 

That is incredible and we'll played.
Hand to Zeus, the first Didius Julianus I bought was from a foreign dealer on eBay. It auto translated Didius July Anus. I kid you not. His first name, the month named after Julius Caesar and the most notorious of body parts. I screen shot it and will have to find it.
Here's my first Commodus:

COMMODUS
181-192 AD. AR Denarius
of 191-2 AD. Laureate head / Victory flying with wreath and palm, star in field. RSC.568a. RIC.237

 

My first coin of 2022 was this nice denarius from Mr Birou (Commodus with the new name, Desk, in my language)


I don't have any coins from Didius <whatever Ryro said> but here are 2 denarii from Caracalla as a boy






P.S. There is a town in Romania called Caracal.
It was inhabited since archaic times and in the town there are the ruins of a tower - locals say that it was built in the time of Caracalla and the name comes from the emperor. But there is no evidence to support this - a more plausible explanation is that the name comes from Pecheneg language.

 

@Ryro ...Wonderful looking Commodus!..Lovely toning.
High on my want list but keep getting blown out!5
Here's my feather..
Commodus AR Denarius.Rome mint 186 AD 1.87gr 17mm
Obverse-M COMM ANT P FEL AVG BRIT, laureate head right
Reverse- P M TR P XI IMP VII COS V PP, Concordia standing front, head left, holding standard in each hand.CONC MIL (below)

 

The Man himself:


Roman Empire Sestertius - Emperor Nero - Roma Seated
Bronze, 33 mm, 22.48 gm, Catalog: RIC 356
Struck: AD 67 Rome

Obverse: Laureate head right
(IMP NERO) CLAVD CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP XIII PP
Reverse: Roma seated left on armor and holding long scepter
Large S C at sides, ROMA in exergue

 

Quite a few Parthian kings took the throne by murdering their predecessors (often their own father or brother), so Phraatakes was not really notable when he killed his father Phraates IV in 2 BC with help from his mother Musa. But a couple of years later he went on to marry Musa, which the Parthians thought was going too far, and the incestuous pair were overthrown not long after.

 

Silver coin (AR Denarius) minted during the reign of COMMODUS in 181 A.D. Obv. M.COMMODVS.ANTONINVS.AVG.: laur. hd. r. Rev. LIB.AVG.IIII.TR.P.VI.IMP.IIII.COS.III.P.P.: Liberalitas stg. front, head l., holding abacus and cornucopia. (refers to the fourth donative, of 181 A.D., at the end of the fifth year of his reign, as reckoned by the assumption of Tribunician powers). RSCII #307 pg.240. RICIII #22 pg.368. DVM #38.

 

Here's an atrocious emperor that nobody has yet posted:

 

Rest in pieces:

 

Galerius was a bad dude if you were Christian




Galerius
A.D. 295-296
26mm 8.6g
GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES; laureate head right.
GENIO POPV-LI ROMANI; Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae, eagle at feet to left; B in right.
In ex. ALE
RIC VI Alexandria 21b

Struck under Domitius Domitianus





Galerius
A.D. 295- 296
27x30mm 9.3g
GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES; laureate head right.
GENIO AVGG ET CAESARVM N N; Genius standing left, modius on head, naked but for chlamys over left shoulder, right holding patera, left cornucopiae.
In ex. K A
RIC VI Cyzicus 9b

 

For a couple of bad dudes, I'll go with Nero - after all , he killed his mother....



and Caligula, because he killed almost everyone else....

 

The guy who drove the empire against a wall... His civil wars bleed the empire out, his religious intolerance damaged the unity of the people and I dont even want to start about the reign of his two incompetent sons...
Emperor Theodosius - Nummus - GLORIA ROMANORVM - Antioch mint

 

There's also an African cat (although I know for certain that some live also in Isarel, possibly KSA and Jordan too) called caracal

 

..kool coins Ryro...now is that your 2nd Didius denarius?......and we wouldn't wanna 4get 'bout rock lovin' kid, good ole Elagabalius, whom the Romans hated so much, they killed his mother too, while they were at it..

 

Very good bad guys folks !

Wasn't he cute as a lad ?


Caracalla, Denarius - Rome mint, AD 202
ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, Laureate and draped bust of Caracalla right
CONCORDIA FELIX, Caracalla and Plautilla face to face, shaking hands
3.34 gr
Ref : RCV # 6794 (160), RSC # 23, RIC # 124a
This denarius is "twined" to it's equivalent for Plautilla, showing the same reverse. They both have been minted AD 202 on the occasion of their marriage.

Q