Mine collection Obverse: IMPCAESMAVRSEVALEXANDERAVG Bust laureate right, draped and cuirassed Reverse: LIBERALITAS AVGVSTI SC exergue Severus Alexander seated left on curule chair on plaform and behind him a lictor holding rod; in front, Liberalitas standing left, holding coin despenser and cornucopiae; at left citizen mounting steps to platform
According to the Chronica Urbis Romae, Severus Alexander gave the urban plebs a congiarium of 600 denarii for each citizen. That's quite a sum. In the 2nd c. an aureus (7.25 g of gold) was 25 denarii. Under Severus Alexander the aureus was only an average of 6.39 g., but the denarius was even more depreciating. Under Philippus, in the 240s, an inscription tells us that an aureus was 21 antoniniani (= 42 denarii). Let's assume that under Severus Alexander an aureus was worth c. 30 denarii : the 600 denarii each given to Rome's citizens amounted to c. 20 aurei ! Under Severus Alexander a legionary soldier made 675 denarii a year (plus bonuses), and an infantryman in an auxiliary cohort made only 225 denarii... But these men were serving in remote provinces, where the cost of life wasn't what it was in Rome.
