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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Magnus Maximus, post: 4786364, member: 73473&quot;]It is no surprise that Caracalla liked Alexander the Great. &quot;Liked&quot; is probably an understatement for Caracalla&#039;s obsession for Alexander, as the Emperor imitated Alexander in every fashion. After gaining the lofty title of Germanicus in 213, Caracalla&#039;s mental health took a nose dive; Caracalla reportedly became impotent at around this time and began having nightmares of his father and brother chasing him with daggers.</p><p><br /></p><p>After leaving Raetia in 213, Caracalla traveled to Greece and reportedly raised 16,000 volunteers for a Macedonian style phalanx(the phalanx had fallen out of use for nearly 300 years by this point). Caracalla then crossed the Hellespont and sacrificed to Achilies and Patroculus at Troy, held a funeral for his favorite deceased freed man, and then moved to Antioch. While preparing to go to war with the Parthian Empire, he decided to go to Alexandria to pay homage to Alexander&#039;s corpse located there. While in Alexandria, he ordered a massacre and looting of the city, justifying the murders because the locals had &quot;insulted&quot; his honor. Caracalla began his Parthian campaign in 216 CE with a massacre of Parthian nobles at a wedding in Mesopotamia; King Artabanus V barely escaping with his life. Caracalla and his army then began a reign of terror in northern Mesopotamia with mass killings and looting. At Arebela, Caracalla broke into the Parthian royal tombs and sacked the structure and scattered the bones of the long dead monarchs. As much as he liked to think of himself as a reborn Alexander III of Macedon, Caracalla did not die in bed with his loyal officers by his side as the great conqueror had, but on the side of a road while urinating.</p><p><br /></p><p>While in the east Caracalla ordered 28 cities in Syria and Phoenicia to strike large amounts tetradrachms. There are certainly rare mints and varieties, but most can be had for a fraction of the price of earlier Hellenistic tetradrachms. However, unlike the earlier Macedonian, Egyptian, and Seleucid tetradrachms which were nearly pure silver, Caracalla&#039;s coinage was billon(35-36% silver). I feel as if this perfectly encapsulates Caracalla&#039;s reign, as he tried hard to emulate Alexander the Great but ultimately was inferior on every level.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1163618[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>PHOENICIA, Berytus. <i>Caracalla. </i></b>AD 198-217. AR Tetradrachm (27mm, 13.38 g, 1h). Struck AD 215-217. Laureate head right, slight drapery / Eagle standing facing, head left, with wings displayed, holding wreath in beak; between legs, stern of galley left. Prieur 1293.&nbsp; gVF, underlying luster.</p><p><br /></p><p>The eagle on reverse of this coin looks as if it has some endocrine disorder that caused it to be afflicted with stunted growth.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Feel free to post your tetradrachms of &quot;the common enemy of mankind&quot;.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Can I copy your homework&quot;</p><p>&quot;Sure just change it up so the teacher won&#039;t notice&quot;</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1163623[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Fun reading</p><p><a href="https://www.ancient.eu/article/237/life-of-caracalla/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.ancient.eu/article/237/life-of-caracalla/" rel="nofollow">https://www.ancient.eu/article/237/life-of-caracalla/</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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