Review: For "Fans" of Caracalla

A few months ago I brought to the attention of this board an ancient history magazine, Ancient Warfare Magazine. I used to buy it from the gas station at my last base, but it's unavailable on my new one, so I went ahead and subscribed to the digital version ($20 annually/6 issues). Anyway, while I was on the website I decided to check the other publications, and there is a magazine that would probably be of interest to the board, Ancient History Magazine and particular interest to me was Issue 2, titled The Disastrous Reign of Caracalla: Tyrant, Traveler, and Administrator.


This is the first Ancient History Magazine I have read, but from reading the Ancient Warfare and Medieval Warfare magazines, I knew what to expect. From the publisher's website, "Ancient History Magazine is written for an informed, but casual audience." The magazine is full of colorful illustrations with plenty of photographs. Each issue focuses on one subject with articles exploring different angles using primary sources and the latest research. Many articles have a section at the end called Further Reading which addresses primary and useful secondary sources.


The coinage of Caracalla is an area of concentration in my collection, so I immediately read the article "Caracalla's Coins: The Advice of Severus as Reflected in Coinage" written by Oliver Hoover, the Adjunct Curator of the American Numismatic Society. Using the advice of Severus to his sons to "be on good terms with one another, be generous to the soldiers, and don't care about anything else" Hoover illustrates how this advice, recorded by Cassius Dio, plays out in the coinage. I won't spoil it for you, but Hoover has some pretty harsh judgments about Severus' advice.


The next article I jumped into was "A Face for Caracalla: Reconstructing an Emperor's Facial Features" by author Paul van der Heijden. From the beginning van der Heijden lists and evaluates the sources for Caracalla's face and appearance. He even neatly combined and summarized the primary written sources into one paragraph of 120 words. Combining the written sources, the sculptures, and contemporary paintings two artists provide their take on his actual appearance. After seeing the renditions, it’s hard to disagree with van der Heijden’s closing remark about the portraits that, “this brings the emperors closer to us, closer than otherwise would be possible.”


Some of the articles included in this issue are “A Palace for the People: Imperial Self-Promotion and the Baths,” “Unperson: Caracalla Erases the Past,” and “The Love of Julia Domna: Surviving and Saving the Severan Dynasty.” I would recommend this magazine to all lovers of ancient history, particularly if you’re looking for more than just warfare. As a collector of ancient coins and a student of history, these magazines help show me just exactly how numismatics are useful as a primary source.



Link the website: https://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/ancient-history-magazine

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Of all the emperors, I believe that Caracalla is the best one for a face study simply because of the amount of material available. Constantius II was around twice as long but the formalized portraits of his day make it a lot harder. Some of the best Caracalla faces certainly did come from the provincials as shown in Jwt's Pautalia above.
Tomis as Caesar

Pautalia

Serdica

Caesarea as Caesar

Antioch

Alexandria

 

I too find this period in history fascinating. My contribution is this:

Caracalla, AE28 of Nikopolis ad Istrum. Obverse: bust of Caracalla, Reverse: Zeus seated left holding patera and sceptre

 

I was in Italy a took some pictures of him..I just met him at the Arno river...........

 

and another from I made a picture of off less beardy

 

this is a neat young portrait of him on this coin....

 

I should mention that I purchased a digital copy of the magazine for $4.34 and subscribed to the other. I will probably buy another issue or two before deciding to subscribe.

 

I picked up that magazine at a newstand in Los Angeles a couple of years ago, pretty darn interesting. I haven't seen it up here in the Bay Area yet. Maybe I should subscribe.

 

Very interesting, and great coins all.

 

Thanks @Jwt708 ! Caracalla's coins are one of the non-medieval areas I enjoy delving into and I've been looking for more information on him. I'll pick this up later tonight if it's available in digital form.

 

Yes, you can buy it digitally! That's how I got mine and it was $4.34, available for immediate download.

 

Thanks for the information regarding "Ancient History Magazine". I have just read a sample and am seriously considering a subscription.

 

Nice!! ... Caracalla is always one of my favourite ruler-threads ...

=> I have a youngin' and a mature example ... both very cool





Thanks for the opportunity to post 'em, JWT

 

Gosh, those are two wonderful coins! Both the portrait and reverse on the second is especially eye-catching!

 

Glad I could help and see all the cool coins!

 

Those are gorgeous Steve! love that boat!

 

The magazine sounds interesting, thanks for the review!

I've always loved Caracalla's coins (both imperial and provincial) for the variety of portraits one finds on them.

 

Here's the guy who engineered the downfall of Caracalla. Rumor has it that Macrinus was on the hit list and he acted first to prevent his own slaying by persuading some cavalry soldiers to carry out the deed....

 

my first Roman coin was a denarius of Caracalla. I used a scanner to take a picture and scanned it upside down, so the light was going the wrong way.