The Wonderful World of Ancient Coin Collecting
Coinage of the Roman Empire


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Coin Details

  

Set Details
Coin Description:
Grade: NGC XF Strike: 4/5 Surface: 3/5
Grade Comment: lt. smoothing
Owner: RAM-VT
 
Set Category: Ancients
Set Name: The Wonderful World of Ancient Coin Collecting
Slot Name: Coinage of the Roman Empire
Research: Currently not available

Owner's Description

Roman Provincial Coinage Macrinus 217-218 AD AE26, Moesia Inferior, Nicopolis ad Istrum, Moushmov 1259; Varbanov 3489 Grade: XF Strike: 4/5 Surface: 3/5; lt. smoothing Census - NGC does not provide census info on ancient coins :>( Obv: AVT K M OPELL CEV MAKPEINOC, laureate, head right Rev: V? CTA TI ?ONGINO? NIKO?O?ITON ??OC IC, Apollo standing left holding branch in right, bow on left arm Macrinus was Roman Emperor from 217 to 218. Macrinus was of Berber descent and as a member of the equestrian class he became the first emperor who did not hail from the senatorial class. Macrinus received an education which allowed him to ascend to the Roman political class. Over the years he earned a reputation as a skilled lawyer. Under the emperor Septimius Severus he became an important bureaucrat. Severus' successor Caracalla appointed him prefect of the Praetorian guard. While Macrinus likely enjoyed the trust of Caracalla, this may have changed when, according to tradition, he was prophesied to depose and succeed the Emperor. Rumors spread regarding Macrinus' alleged desire to take the throne for himself. Given Caracalla's tendency towards murdering political opponents, Macrinus probably feared for his own safety should the Emperor become aware of this prophecy. According to Dio, Caracalla had already taken the step of re-assigning members of Macrinus' staff. In the spring of 217, Caracalla was in the eastern provinces preparing a campaign against the Parthian Empire. Macrinus was among his staff, as were other members of the praetorian guard. In April, the Emperor went to visit a temple of Luna near the spot of the battle of Carrhae, accompanied only by his personal bodyguard, which included Macrinus. Events are not clear, but it is certain that Caracalla was murdered at some point on the trip (perhaps on April 8). Caracalla's body was brought back from the temple by his bodyguards, along with the corpse of a fellow bodyguard. The story as told by Macrinus was that the dead guard had killed Caracalla. By April 11, Macrinus proclaimed himself emperor. Macrinus also nominated his son Diadumenianus Caesar and successor and conferred upon him the name "Antoninus", thus connecting him with the relatively stable reigns of the Antonine emperors in the 2nd century. Discontent was fostered by the surviving members of the Severan dynasty, headed by Julia Maesa (Caracalla's aunt) and her daughters Julia Soaemias and Julia Mamaea. Having been evicted from the imperial palace and ordered to return home by Macrinus, the Severan women plotted from their home near Emesa in Syria to place another Severan on the imperial throne. They used their hereditary influence over the cult of sun-deity Elagabalus (the Latinised form of El-Gabal) to proclaim Soaemias' son Elagabalus as the true successor to Caracalla. The rumor was spread, with the assistance of the Severan women, that Elagabalus was Caracalla's illegitimate son and thus the child of a union between first cousins. On May 18, Elagabalus was proclaimed emperor by the Legio III Gallica. A force under his tutor Gannys marched on Antioch and engaged a force under Macrinus on June 8 218. Macrinus, deserted by most of his soldiers, was soundly defeated in the battle and fled towards Italy disguised as a courier. He was captured near Chalcedon and later executed. His son Diadumenianus, sent for safety to the Parthian court, was captured at Zeugma and also murdered. Macrinus' short reign, while important for its historical "firsts", was cut short due to the inability of this otherwise accomplished man to control or satisfy the soldiery. In his death at the hands of Roman soldiers, Macrinus reinforced the notion of the soldiers as the true brokers of power in the third-century empire and highlighted the importance of maintaining the support of this vital faction. His reign was followed by another seventeen years of rule under the Severan emperors Elagabalus and Severus Alexander. My cost was $129

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