[ancients] Happy Birthday, Septimius Severus!!

Happy Birthday, Lucius Septimius Severus!!

Lived : 11 April 145 - 4 February 211
Reigned : 14 April 193 - 4 February 211



Instead of rehashing his wikipedia entry, I thought I would put up 10 totally random bits of trivia about our birthday boy. Enjoy!

1) There is some disagreement as to Septimius Severus's appearance. Cassius Dio describes him as a small man, while the Historia Augusta says he was of huge size. Most sources however will agree that he had a very nice beard.

2) He is said to have been a small eater, and often went without meat in his meal, though once in Nicaea he craved for mullet. He was also very fond of his "native beans".

3) During the course of his reign, he heavily debased the fineness of the denarius, from 81.5% to 56.5%. I suppose something had to pay for all those beans.

4) He was one of the most militarily vigorous emperors, crushing the rebellious Byzantians, the Parthian empire, various Arab tribes, the Assyrians at Adiabene, the Caledonians in Britain, as well as the Roman Senate for good measure. Admittedly, his campaign-related expenses are the more likely reason for his debasement of the denarius.

5) RIC notes that his coins prior to 200 AD were struck on "singularly small, thickish flans". Accordingly, this should be known as his Dumpy Flan period.

6) Several authors claim Septimius Severus spoke Latin with an African accent. Anthony Birley in his book Septimius Severus: The African Emperor suggests that 'Sheptimiush Sheverush' is how he may have pronounced his name.

7) He visited the famous Colossi of Memnon in Egypt to hear the 'singing' of the oracular "Vocal Memnon". The massive stone statue was reputed to produce a whistling song at various times of the day. Severus heard nothing.

8) Cassius Dio records that shortly before his death, Severus sent for the urn that would contain his ashes and remarked, “Thou shalt hold a man that the world could not hold.”

9) Muammar Gaddafi apparently did not like his fellow Libyan. He had a bronze statue of Septimius Severus which had stood in Tripoli's main square since 1933 pulled down and dumped into a rubbbish heap.

10) The most expensive Septimius Severus coin in acsearch records is this 'Ship in Circus' aureus which sold for EUR 240,000 (approx USD 333,000) :
http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=706045
I'm not sure if this is THE most expensive Septimius Severus coin, but if you have one that's pricier, this is the thread to post it.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I don't have very many Septimius Severus coins, but here's my favorite one. Please post your own favorites!



SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS
Denarius
3.41g, 19mm
Rome mint, 200 - 201 AD.
RIC 160, C 203.
O: SEVERVS AVG PART MAX, Head laureate right.
R: FVNDATOR PACIS, Severus, togate and veiled, standing left holding branch and roll.

 

Build a large boat and get ready for the flood! Martin and Doug can keep us entertained for months with Septimius alone.

I only have one but wouldn't mind a few more. It's from the Stack's mixed lot.

 

Those with more Septimius Severus coins than the average museum could perhaps whittle it down to their favorite 5 (or 50)

 

Septimius Severus denarius
Obv:– IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG, Laureate head right
Rev:– FIDEI LEG TR P COS II, Fides standing left holding Victory and standard
Minted in Alexandria. A.D. 194
Ref:– RIC 349

2.25g. 18.71mm. 0o

 

Septimius Severus denarius
Obv:– IMP CA L SE SEV PER AG COS II, Laureate head right
Rev:– FORT REDVC, Fortuna standing left, holding long scepter & cornucopia
Minted in Emesa, A.D. 194
References:– RIC -. BMCRE -. RSC -.

3.17g, 18.54mm, 0o

This is an unusual legend with several spelling errors. It is an obverse die match to a coin in the Doug Smith collection and to three other examples in my own collection.

 

Septimius Severus denarius
Obv:– L SEP SEVERVS PER AVG PIV IMP XI PAR P M, laureate head right
Rev:– AR AD [T]R P VI COS II P P, Victory walking left, holding wreath in right hand, palm in left
Eastern mint. A.D. 198
Reference:– BMCRE page 280 *, citing RD page 105. RIC 494a corr.

 

Great read, Z, thank you. I've over-posted my two coins of S. Severus, so I'm going to hang back and watch. There's no telling how long this thread is going to get once Doug and Martin are through with it.

 

Interesting tidbits of information Z. Here are a couple of my favorites.

SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS AR Denarius
OBVERSE: SEVERVS PIVS AVG, laureate head right
REVERSE: FVNDATOR PACIS, Septimius, togate and veiled, standing left holding olive branch
Struck at Rome, 202-210 AD
3.3g, 18mm,
RIC 265, RSC 205, BMC 330


SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS AR Denarius
OBVERSE: SEVERVS PIVS AVG, laureate head right
REVERSE: INDVLGENTIA AVGG, IN CARTH in ex, Dea Caelestis in elaborate headdress riding right on lion, holding thunderbolt & scepter; below, water gushing from rocks left
Struck at Rome, 204 AD
3.5g, 18mm
RIC IV 266

 

Wow, Bing, those two are nice!
And Martin's are clearly part of a connoisseur's collection. Now let's see Doug's and everyone else's.

 

My very first ancient.

 

interesting...beans hu? i bet ol' septimius farted like a howitzer.

everyone is probably sick of seeing this coin, but i'm going to post it again anyway...

 

=> Happy belated birthday, Sep-Sev

 

What a great write-up. Thank you.

Here's a cute little video on the man:



Here's a coin from one of his early rivals currently residing with me:



Clodius Albinus (AD 195-197). AR denarius (2.69 gm). Lugdunum (Lyon). Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Aequitas, draped, standing facing, head left, holding scales and cornucopia. RIC 13a var. (laureate only).


guy

 

Nice coin Bart. I need one of these.

 

I couldn't pass up this denarius as the price was right, so I've now joined the Septimius Severus duplicate club:



And my other example, from a different pair of dies:

 

I'm sure Martin and Doug will support you on this. You must collect one of each die and then early, middle, and late die states for each. Barbarous imitations are optional.

Nice pair! Congrats on the addition.

 

Very nice AJ. I don't think I've seen anything but extraordinary coins from you.

 

Nice info.... And coins