The record (SWYOR-3CD872) shows a denarius of Elagabalus, issued in Rome in probably AD 222 (BMC 73). The obverse shows the emperor, crowned with a laurel wreath and wearing a cuirass and paludamentum, and is identified by his abbreviated title IMP ANTONINVS AVG (Imperator Antoninus Augustus).
The reverse depicts Fides, the personification of good faith and loyalty, specifically in her capacity as Fides Militum – the loyalty of the military. Again, the message is clearly set out with the legend FIDES MILITVM, meaning that there can be no confusion over its message (at least to a literate audience). The goddess is also shown holding a standard and a vexillum, two symbols which were synonymous with the Roman army, and were commonly used as symbols on coins to represent military power (like this example, SWYOR-03000B, also found in Nottinghamshire).
The dating of this coin is particularly significant, coming from the very end of Elagabalus’ reign. The design advertises the loyalty of the army to Elagabalus, reassuring the public of the stability of his reign and the security of the city, and reminding the army of their duty to protect the emperor and empire. Ironically, later that year Elagabalus was brutally murdered by soldiers when he was just eighteen years old.
“The soldiers fell upon Elagabalus and slew him in a toilet, in which he had hidden. Then they dragged his body through the streets and…threw it into the sewer – but the sewer was too small, so they fixed a weight onto the body to stop it from floating and threw it…into the Tiber, so no one could bury him. They also dragged the corpse around the circus before throwing it off.”
Historia Augusta, Elagabalus, 17.1-2
I am particularly interested in Elagabalus because he had a huge impact on my PhD research. I study religious imagery on local coins from Syria Phoenice (modern Lebanon), and how they were used to promote a sense of unified community within the city. Before being proclaimed emperor, Elagabalus lived in the Syrian city of Emesa, where he served as a priest of the sun god Elagabal. When he became emperor in AD 218, he travelled to Rome, bringing the cult of Elagabal with him, which greatly increased the prestige of Emesa, upsetting the political, religious and social hierarchy of Syria. To counter this, the cities responded by developing the variety of their coin imagery in order to promote their own right to high status and honour, through the ancient and individual nature of their own gods. This boost in coin images means that the material that I research suddenly becomes a lot more detailed and useful for my PhD.
These local coins rarely travel beyond their home city, and you are unlikely to find any in Nottinghamshire (although one has been found in West Sussex (HAMP-E0A9F0), so there is still hope!). It is great to see how other coins issued by Elagabalus reached so far across the empire, and this coin is an ironic example of how dramatically allegiances could change in the Roman Empire.
