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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;SeptimusT, post: 4488481, member: 91240&quot;]Aesthetic is a complicated thing; our reception of a work of art doesn&#039;t always match the artist&#039;s intention. This Caracalla antoninianus that I just picked up is a great example of that. The artwork itself is superb – the representation of Cerberus on the reverse is unusually &#039;realistic&#039; (something I&#039;ve been searching for). But what really captured my attention was a quirk of the ravages of time. I bought this coin because I found the discolored delimitation on the portrait to be attractive. I imagine it as a statement that the cellator who carved the die could never have conceived of: here we have the coldhearted Caracalla shedding a black tear for his murdered brother Geta, for his massacre of the people of Alexandria, a hint of remorse from a heart of darkness. To paraphrase Whitman, coins contain multitudes.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1113893[/ATTACH]</p><p>5.10g, 24mm, RIC IV 261D. Struck at Rome in AD 215</p><p><b>Obverse</b>: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, Bust of Caracalla, radiate, draped, and cuirassed, to right.</p><p><b>Reverse</b>: P M TR P XVIII COS IIII PP, Serapis wearing modes on head, seated left, extending right hand and holding scepter in left hand; to left, Cerberus.</p><p><i>RIC describes the reverse figure as Pluto, but the modius/kalathos on his head, general pose, and Caracalla&#039;s devotion to Serapis makes that a more accurate description </i>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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