CARACALLA 198AD Serdica Thrace Large Ancient Roman Coin ARES MARS War God i57527

Item: i57527   Authentic Ancient Coin of: Caracalla – Roman Emperor: 198-217 A.D. Bronze 30mm (16.40 grams) of Serdica in Thrace AVT K M AVPH CEVH ANTΩNEINOC, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. OVΛΠIAC CEPΔIKHC, Ares (Mars) Standing left, holding wreath and  spear. You are bidding on the exact item pictured,  provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of  Authenticity.   Ares   is the Greek god of war . He is one of the Twelve Olympians , and the son of Zeus and Hera . In Greek literature , he often represents the  physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena , whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and generalship . The Greeks were ambivalent toward Ares: although he embodied  the physical valor necessary for success in war, he was a dangerous force,  “overwhelming, insatiable in battle, destructive, and man-slaughtering.” Fear (Phobos)  and Terror (Deimos)  were yoked to his battle chariot . In the Iliad his father Zeus tells him that he is  the god most hateful to him. An association with Ares endows places and objects  with a savage, dangerous, or militarized quality. His value as a war god is even  placed in doubt: during the Trojan War , Ares was on the losing side, while  Athena, often depicted in Greek art as holding Nike (Victory) in her hand, favored the  triumphant Greeks. Ares plays a relatively limited role in Greek mythology as represented in literary  narratives, though his numerous love affairs and abundant offspring are often alluded to. When Ares does appear in myths, he  typically faces humiliation. He is well known as the lover of Aphrodite , the goddess of love who was married  to Hephaestus , god of craftsmanship, but the most  famous story involving the couple shows them exposed to ridicule through the  wronged husband’s clever device. The counterpart of Ares among the Roman gods is Mars , who as a father of the Roman people held  a more important and dignified place in ancient Roman religion for his agricultural and tutelary functions. During the Hellenization of  Latin literature , the myths of Ares were reinterpreted by Roman writers under the name  of Mars. Greek writers under Roman rule also recorded cult practices and beliefs pertaining to Mars  under the name of Ares. Thus in the classical tradition of later Western art and literature , the mythology of  the two figures becomes virtually indistinguishable. The history of Sofia , Bulgaria ‘s capital and largest city, spans  thousands of years from Antiquity to modern times, during which the  city has been a commercial, industrial, cultural and economic centre in its  region and the Balkans . Sofia was originally a Thracian settlement called Serdica or  Sardica (Greek: Σερδική, Σαρδική), named after the Celtic tribe Serdi that had populated it.For a short period  during the 4th century BC, the city was possessed by Philip of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great . Around BC 29, Sofia was conquered by the Romans and renamed Ulpia Serdica. It  became a municipium, or centre of an administrative region, during the  reign of Emperor Trajan (98-117). The city expanded, as turrets , protective walls, public baths,  administrative and cult buildings, a civic basilica and a large amphitheatre called Bouleutherion, were built.  When Emperor Diocletian divided the province of Dacia into Dacia Ripensis (on the banks of the Danube ) and Dacia Mediterranea, Serdica became  the capital of Dacia Mediterranea. The city subsequently expanded for a century  and a half, which caused Constantine the Great to call it “my Rome”. In  343 A.D. , the Council of Sardica was held in the city, in a  church located where the current 6th century Church of Saint Sofia was later built. Serdica was of moderate size, but magnificent as an urban concept of planning  and architecture, with abundant amusements and an active social life. It  flourished during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I , when it was surrounded with great  fortress walls whose remnants can still be seen today. The city was destroyed by the Huns in 447 but was rebuilt by Byzantine Emperor Justinian and renamed Triaditsa.  Although also often destroyed by the Slavs, the town remained under Byzantine  dominion until 809. Caracalla 198-217 A.D. Caesar:  195-198 A.D. (under Septimius Severus

)

Augustus: 198-217 A.D. (198-209 A.D. with

Septimius Severus) (209-211 A.D. with

Septimius Severus and

Geta) (211 A.D. with

Geta) (211-217 A.D. Sole Reign)

Son of

Septimius Severus and

Julia Domna | Brother of

Geta | Husband of

Plautilla | Nephew of

Julia Maesa | Cousin of

Julia Soaemias and

Julia Mamaea |

Caracalla (Latin:

Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Augustus;4 

April 188 – 8 April 217) was

Roman emperor

from 198 to 217 The eldest son of

Septimius Severus

, for a short time he ruled 

jointly with his younger brother

Geta

until he had him murdered in 211. 

Caracalla is remembered as one of the most notorious and unpleasant of emperors 

because of the massacres and persecutions he authorized and instigated 

throughout the Empire.

Caracalla’s reign was also notable for the

Constitutio Antoniniana

(also called the 

Edict of Caracalla), granting

Roman citizenship

to all freemen throughout the

Roman Empire

, which according to historian

Cassius Dio

, was done for the purposes of 

raising tax revenue. He is also one of the emperors who commissioned a large 

public bath-house (thermae) 

in Rome. The remains of the

Baths of Caracalla

are still one of the major 

tourist attractions of the Italian capital.

Early life

Caracalla, of mixed

Punic

–Roman 

and Syrian

descent, was born Lucius Septimius 

Bassianus in Lugdunum

,

Gaul (now Lyon

,

France

), the son of the later Emperor Septimius 

Severus and

Julia Domna

. At the age of seven, his name was 

changed to Marcus Aurelius Septimius Bassianus Antoninus to create a connection 

to the family of the philosopher emperor

Marcus Aurelius

. He was later given the

Caracallanickname

, 

which referred to the Gallic hooded tunic he habitually wore and which he made 

fashionable.

Reign (211)

Murder of brother 

(211)

His father died in 211 at

Eboracum

(now

York) while on campaign in northern Britain. Caracalla was present 

and was then proclaimed emperor by the troops along with his brother

Publius Septimius Antoninus Geta

. Caracalla 

suspended the

campaign in Caledonia

and soon ended all 

military activity, as both brothers wanted to be sole ruler thus making 

relations between them increasingly hostile. When they tried to rule the Empire 

jointly they actually considered dividing it in halves, but were persuaded not 

to do so by their mother.

Then in December 211 at a reconciliation meeting arranged by their mother 

Julia, Caracalla had Geta assassinated by members of the Praetorian Guard loyal 

to himself, Geta dying in his mother’s arms. Caracalla then persecuted and 

executed most of Geta’s supporters and ordered a

damnatio memoriae

pronounced by the Senate 

against his brother’s memory.

Geta’s image was simply removed from all coinage, paintings and statues, 

leaving a blank space next to Caracalla’s. Among those executed were his former 

cousin-wife

Fulvia Plautilla

, his unnamed daughter with 

Plautilla along with her brother and other members of the family of his former 

father-in-law

Gaius Fulvius Plautianus

. Plautianus had 

already been executed for alleged treachery against emperor Severus in 205.

About the time of his accession he ordered the

Roman currency

devalued, the silver purity of 

the denarius

was decreased from 56.5% to 51.5%, the 

actual silver weight dropping from 1.81 grams to 1.66 grams – though the overall 

weight slightly increased. In 215 he introduced the

antoninianus

, a “double denarius” weighing 

5.1 grams and containing 2.6 grams of silver – a purity of 52%.

In the Roman provinces

In 213, Caracalla went north to the German frontier to deal with the

Alamanni

tribesmen who were raiding in the

Agri Decumates

. The Romans did defeat the 

Alamanni in battle near the river

Main

, but failed to win a decisive victory over 

them. After a peace agreement was brokered and a large bribe payment given to 

the invaders, the Senate conferred upon him the empty title of Germanicus 

Maximus. He also acquired the surname Alemannicus at this time. The 

following year the tyrant traveled to the East, to Syria and Egypt never to 

return to Rome.

Gibbon

in his work describes Caracalla as “the 

common enemy of mankind”. He left the capital in 213, about a year after the 

murder of Geta, and spent the rest of his reign in the provinces, particularly 

those of the East. He kept the Senate and other wealthy families in check by 

forcing them to construct, at their own expense, palaces, theaters, and places 

of entertainment throughout the periphery. New and heavy taxes were levied 

against the bulk of the population, with additional fees and confiscations 

targeted at the wealthiest families.

When the inhabitants of

Alexandria

heard Caracalla’s claims that he had 

killed Geta in self-defense, they produced a satire mocking this as well as 

Caracalla’s other pretensions. In 215, Caracalla savagely responded to this 

insult by slaughtering the deputation of leading citizens who had unsuspectingly 

assembled before the city to greet his arrival, and then unleashed his troops 

for several days of looting and plunder in Alexandria. According to historian 

Cassius Dio, over 20,000 people were killed.^[citation 

needed]

Domestic Roman policy

Affiliation with 

the army

During his reign as emperor, Caracalla raised the annual pay of an average 

legionary to 675

denarii

and lavished many benefits on the 

army which he both feared and admired, as instructed by his father Septimius 

Severus who had told him on his deathbed to always mind the soldiers and ignore 

everyone else. Caracalla did manage to win the trust of the military with 

generous pay rises and popular gestures, like marching on foot among the 

ordinary soldiers, eating the same food, and even grinding his own flour with 

them.

With the soldiers, “He forgot even the proper dignity of his rank, 

encouraging their insolent familiarity,” according to Gibbon. “The vigour of the 

army, instead of being confirmed by the severe discipline of the camps, melted 

away in the luxury of the cities.”

His official portraiture marks a break with the detached images of the 

philosopher–emperors who preceded him: his close-cropped haircut is that of a 

soldier, his pugnacious scowl a realistic and threatening presence. This rugged 

soldier–emperor iconic archetype was adopted by most of the following emperors 

who depended on the support of the troops to rule, like his eventual successor

Maximinus Thrax

.

Seeking to secure his own legacy, Caracalla also commissioned one of Rome’s 

last major architectural achievements, the

Baths of Caracalla

, the 2nd largest public 

baths ever built in ancient Rome. The main room of the baths was larger than

St. Peter’s Basilica

, and could easily 

accommodate over 2,000 Roman citizens at one time. The bath house opened in 216, 

complete with libraries, private rooms and outdoor tracks. Internally it was 

lavishly decorated with gold-trimmed marble floors, columns, mosaics and 

colossal statuary.

Edict of 

Caracalla (212)

The

Constitutio Antoniniana

(Latin: “Constitution 

[or Edict] of Antoninus”) (also called Edict of Caracalla) was an edict 

issued in 212 by Caracalla which declared that all free men in the Roman Empire 

were to be given full Roman citizenship and all free women in the Empire were 

given the same rights as Roman women.

Before 212, for the most part only inhabitants of Italia held full Roman 

citizenship. Colonies of Romans established in other provinces, Romans (or their 

descendants) living in provinces, the inhabitants of various cities throughout 

the Empire, and small numbers of local nobles (such as kings of client 

countries) held full citizenship also. Provincials, on the other hand, were 

usually non-citizens, although many held the

Latin Right

.

The Roman Historian

Cassius Dio

contended that the sole motivation 

for the edict was a desire to increase state revenue.At the time aliens did not 

have to pay most taxes that were required of citizens, so although nominally 

Caracalla was elevating their legal status, he was more importantly expanding 

the Roman tax base. The effect of this was to remove the distinction that 

citizenship had held since the foundation of Rome and as such the act had a 

profound effect upon the fabric of Roman society.

War with Parthia

According to the historian Herodian, in 216, Caracalla tricked the Parthians 

into believing that he accepted a marriage and peace proposal, but then had the 

bride and guests slaughtered after the wedding celebrations. The thereafter 

ongoing conflict and skirmishes became known as the

Parthian war of Caracalla

.

Assassination (217)

While travelling from

Edessa

to continue the war with

Parthia

, he was assassinated while urinating at 

a roadside near

Carrhae

on 8 April 217 (4 days after his 29th 

birthday), by Julius Martialis, an officer of his personal bodyguard.

Herodian

says that Martialis’ brother had been 

executed a few days earlier by Caracalla on an unproven charge; Cassius Dio, on 

the other hand, says that Martialis was resentful at not being promoted to the 

rank of centurion. The escort of the emperor gave him privacy to relieve 

himself, and Martialis then ran forward and killed Caracalla with a single sword 

stroke. While attempting to flee, the bold assassin was then quickly dispatched 

by a Scythian archer of the Imperial Guard.

Caracalla was succeeded by his

Praetorian Guard Prefect

,

Macrinus

, who (according to Herodian) was most 

probably responsible for having the emperor assassinated.

His nickname

According to

Aurelius Victor

in his Epitome de Caesaribus, 

the agnomen

“Caracalla” refers to a Gallic

cloak

that Caracalla adopted as a personal 

fashion, which spread to his army and his court. Cassius Dio and the

Historia Augusta

agree that his nickname 

was derived from his cloak, but do not mention its country of origin.

Legendary king of 

Britain

Geoffrey of Monmouth

‘s legendary

History of the Kings of Britain

makes 

Caracalla a king of Britain, referring to him by his actual name “Bassianus”, 

rather than the nickname Caracalla. In the story, after Severus’s death the 

Romans wanted to make Geta king of Britain, but the Britons preferred Bassianus 

because he had a British mother. The two brothers fought a battle in which Geta 

was killed and Bassianus succeeded to the throne. He ruled until he was betrayed 

by his Pictish

allies and overthrown by

Carausius

, who, according to Geoffrey, was a 

Briton, rather than the historically much later

Menapian

Gaul that he actually was.

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