Browsing through Carson's Principal Coins of the Romans, Volume II: The Principate 31BC - AD 296, I came across this interesting bit of information (p. 73): "The (reverse) type had been used for princes such as Marcus Aurelius and Commodus and is here associated with the emperor's daughter, Didia Clara. The choice may have been influenced by the recent celebration of the Hilaria, the festival of Cybele, on 25 March, just before the accession of Didius Julianus on 28 March." Post a coin that you recently learned an interesting tidbit about (along with the tidbit, of course)! Didia Clara, daughter of Didius Julianus and Manlia Scantilla, Augusta, AD 193. Roman Æ Sestertius, 21.16 g, 30.5 mm, 6 h. Rome, AD 193. Obv: DIDIA CLARA AVG, bare-headed and draped bust right. Rev: HILARITAS SC, Hilaritas standing, head left, holding palm branch and cornucopiae. Refs: RIC 20; BMCRE 38-41; RCV 6087. Notes: obverse die 3, reverse die H, Woodward, "The Coinage of Didius Julianus and His Family." Num Chron. 121:71, 1961. Reverse die-match to BMC 40 and BMC 41 in the British Museum collection.
Caracalla Carrhae (where he was murdered) 217 AD The guy who sold me this coin swore to me that the expression on Caracalla's face is the same he had when he was doing his last piss behind a bush and suddenly had the visit of a certain Justin Martialis holding a long knife....that's true he look surprised, doesn't he ???
I wonder hat ever happened to those pennies I ground down to the size of a dime, so I could get a 10c Coke?
10c coke? When I was young we had 5c coke. We had to grind down quarters to the size of a nickel to get one. Welcome to CT.
Funny! I have two of these. The eBay seller swore that Caracalla had left these as a tip at a tavern just before heading down the road. The waitress was mad she got stiffed by the richest guy in the Empire, said to a cute soldier nearby, "Somebody ought to shank that guy!" Some suggest the tavern was in Edessa, not Carrhae. Nobody knows for sure. Caracalla Æ 17 (198-217 A.D.) Carrhae, Mesopotamia (or Edessa? see E. Dandrow) [IMP CAES] ANTONIN[VS PF AVG] laureate head right / [COI MET ANT]ON[INIANA A], turreted & veiled head of Tyche right, cornucopia to right. SNG Cop. 177; BMC 38. (3.66 grams / 17 mm) and (2.87 grams / 16 mm) Edward Dandrow in "The Latin Coins of Caracalla from Odessa in Osrhoene" makes a case for the Carrhae attribution to be incorrect, based on misreading the legends. (Numismatic Chronicle Offprint 176, 2016) In his work, this coin is Type 3 with cornucopia before Tyche. From Wikipedia: "At the beginning of 217, Caracalla was still based at Edessa prior to renewing hostilities against Parthia. On 8 April 217 Caracalla was travelling to visit a temple near Carrhae, now Harran in southern Turkey, where in 53 BC the Romans had suffered a defeat at the hands of the Parthians. After stopping briefly to urinate, Caracalla was approached by a soldier, Justin Martialis, and stabbed to death. Martialis had been incensed by Caracalla's refusal to grant him the position of centurion, and the Praetorian Guard Prefect Macrinus, Caracalla's successor, saw the opportunity to use Martialis to end Caracalla's reign. In the immediate aftermath of Caracalla's death, his murderer, Martialis, was killed as well. Three days later, Macrinus declared himself emperor with the support of the Roman army."
Some scholars also believe that he was not only there to urinate, but in fact it was time for the "big job"...
