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<p>[QUOTE="Marsyas Mike, post: 7975636, member: 85693"]A beautiful Macrinus you have there [USER=90981]@Shea19[/USER]</p><p><br /></p><p>A recent non-lovely Macrinus led me to a comment on his beard, found in Henry Jewell Bassett's University of Michigan dissertation "Macrinus and Diadumenianus" (1920). Here is what he says:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>"Authorities agree the new emperor spent the winter in luxury and effeminacy to the neglect of administrative affairs. His dress was elaborate and his personal adornments were better fitted to a barbarian court than to the provinicial headquarters of a Roman emperor. <b>He imitated Marcus Aurelius in slowness of gait, in speaking in a hesitating manner and in a low tone, and even in the method of trimming his beard</b>..." (p. 49)</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>The chapter before this section, Bassett discusses Macrinus-Diadumenian's coinage, his theory being that the huge provincial issues for Moesia, etc. were in response to the new emperor's travels through these areas. </p><p><br /></p><p>This is available on Google Books here:</p><p><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=POA7AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA46&dq=marcianopolis+and+macrinus&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjq093M4ujzAhUhMn0KHSWFCGMQ6AF6BAgJEAI#v=onepage&q=marcianopolis%20and%20macrinus&f=true" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://books.google.com/books?id=POA7AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA46&dq=marcianopolis+and+macrinus&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjq093M4ujzAhUhMn0KHSWFCGMQ6AF6BAgJEAI#v=onepage&q=marcianopolis%20and%20macrinus&f=true" rel="nofollow">https://books.google.com/books?id=POA7AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA46&dq=marcianopolis+and+macrinus&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjq093M4ujzAhUhMn0KHSWFCGMQ6AF6BAgJEAI#v=onepage&q=marcianopolis and macrinus&f=true</a></p><p><br /></p><p>A more recent comment on the beard of Macrinus can be found in <i>Caracalla: A Military Biography </i>by Ilkka Syvänne. Syvänne claims the soldiers were actually angered by Macrinus's longer beard, since it was a break with Caracalla's short beard:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>"The bearded Macrinus imitating Marcus Aurelius signified a break with Caracalla's coins and medallions. It is no wonder that when the soldiers got their first bearded versions of Macrinus that they started to feel anger building up..." </p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>The page quoted here, with line drawings of the coins, can be found here (but for some reason this book seems to lack page numbers - it is towards the end of the book):</p><p><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=RtLLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT498&dq=macrinus+aurelius+beard&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwievuTstuzzAhUFrJ4KHZDEDUUQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=macrinus%20aurelius%20beard&f=false" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://books.google.com/books?id=RtLLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT498&dq=macrinus+aurelius+beard&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwievuTstuzzAhUFrJ4KHZDEDUUQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=macrinus%20aurelius%20beard&f=false" rel="nofollow">https://books.google.com/books?id=RtLLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT498&dq=macrinus+aurelius+beard&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwievuTstuzzAhUFrJ4KHZDEDUUQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=macrinus aurelius beard&f=false</a></p><p><br /></p><p>I was looking into Macrinus because I got a low-grade provincial off eBay recently - any Macrinus under ten bucks seems like a bargain to me, but I've been wrong about "bargains" before. Mine has very little sign of any beard at all and a Farnese Hercules, a bit blurry:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1384057[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Macrinus Æ 26</b></p><p><b>(217-218 A.D.)</b></p><p><b>Moesia Inf., Nicopolis ad Istrum</b></p><p><b>Magistrate Statilius Longinus</b></p><p>[AVT K M OΠ]ЄΛ CЄV MAKPЄINOC, laureate head r. / VΠ CT[A ΛONΓINOV</p><p>NI]KOΠOΛITΩN ΠPOC IC, Farnese Herakles standing right, resting on club, holding lion skin.</p><p>(11.31 grams / 26 mm)</p><p>eBay Oct. 2021 $8.00</p><p><b>Attribution: </b></p><p>Varbanov 3457; AMNG I 1759.</p><p><br /></p><p>An auction for: AMNG I 1759; Varbanov, GIC 3458 seems the same to me (3457/3458?).</p><p><br /></p><p>A variation with different legends is Varbanov 3431</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Possible Obv./Rev. Die Match:</b></p><p>Roma Numismatics E-Sale 87; Lot 519; 29.07.2021</p><p><br /></p><p>It might not be a die match, but it is very, very similar to a nicer one sold by Roma, with short beard details visible:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1384056[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Marsyas Mike, post: 7975636, member: 85693"]A beautiful Macrinus you have there [USER=90981]@Shea19[/USER] A recent non-lovely Macrinus led me to a comment on his beard, found in Henry Jewell Bassett's University of Michigan dissertation "Macrinus and Diadumenianus" (1920). Here is what he says: [INDENT]"Authorities agree the new emperor spent the winter in luxury and effeminacy to the neglect of administrative affairs. His dress was elaborate and his personal adornments were better fitted to a barbarian court than to the provinicial headquarters of a Roman emperor. [B]He imitated Marcus Aurelius in slowness of gait, in speaking in a hesitating manner and in a low tone, and even in the method of trimming his beard[/B]..." (p. 49)[/INDENT] The chapter before this section, Bassett discusses Macrinus-Diadumenian's coinage, his theory being that the huge provincial issues for Moesia, etc. were in response to the new emperor's travels through these areas. This is available on Google Books here: [URL='https://books.google.com/books?id=POA7AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA46&dq=marcianopolis+and+macrinus&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjq093M4ujzAhUhMn0KHSWFCGMQ6AF6BAgJEAI#v=onepage&q=marcianopolis%20and%20macrinus&f=true']https://books.google.com/books?id=POA7AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA46&dq=marcianopolis+and+macrinus&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjq093M4ujzAhUhMn0KHSWFCGMQ6AF6BAgJEAI#v=onepage&q=marcianopolis and macrinus&f=true[/URL] A more recent comment on the beard of Macrinus can be found in [I]Caracalla: A Military Biography [/I]by Ilkka Syvänne. Syvänne claims the soldiers were actually angered by Macrinus's longer beard, since it was a break with Caracalla's short beard: [INDENT]"The bearded Macrinus imitating Marcus Aurelius signified a break with Caracalla's coins and medallions. It is no wonder that when the soldiers got their first bearded versions of Macrinus that they started to feel anger building up..." [/INDENT] The page quoted here, with line drawings of the coins, can be found here (but for some reason this book seems to lack page numbers - it is towards the end of the book): [URL='https://books.google.com/books?id=RtLLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT498&dq=macrinus+aurelius+beard&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwievuTstuzzAhUFrJ4KHZDEDUUQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=macrinus%20aurelius%20beard&f=false']https://books.google.com/books?id=RtLLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT498&dq=macrinus+aurelius+beard&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwievuTstuzzAhUFrJ4KHZDEDUUQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=macrinus aurelius beard&f=false[/URL] I was looking into Macrinus because I got a low-grade provincial off eBay recently - any Macrinus under ten bucks seems like a bargain to me, but I've been wrong about "bargains" before. Mine has very little sign of any beard at all and a Farnese Hercules, a bit blurry: [ATTACH=full]1384057[/ATTACH] [B]Macrinus Æ 26 (217-218 A.D.) Moesia Inf., Nicopolis ad Istrum Magistrate Statilius Longinus[/B] [AVT K M OΠ]ЄΛ CЄV MAKPЄINOC, laureate head r. / VΠ CT[A ΛONΓINOV NI]KOΠOΛITΩN ΠPOC IC, Farnese Herakles standing right, resting on club, holding lion skin. (11.31 grams / 26 mm) eBay Oct. 2021 $8.00 [B]Attribution: [/B] Varbanov 3457; AMNG I 1759. An auction for: AMNG I 1759; Varbanov, GIC 3458 seems the same to me (3457/3458?). A variation with different legends is Varbanov 3431 [B] Possible Obv./Rev. Die Match:[/B] Roma Numismatics E-Sale 87; Lot 519; 29.07.2021 It might not be a die match, but it is very, very similar to a nicer one sold by Roma, with short beard details visible: [ATTACH=full]1384056[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
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Macrinus denarius with a nice "long-beard" portrait
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