Scopri la mia collezione in 3D
Galleria virtuale
Marcus Opellius Severus Macrinus
"Fides Militum – Loyalty of the Army" The first to rush to the bleeding Caracalla on the desert sands was the Praetorian Prefect Marcus Opellius Macrinus. He hailed from Caesarea in Mauretania (referred to as a Moor). Macrinus received a solid education, which enabled him to rise to the heights of political power in the Roman Empire. Initially, he gained a reputation as a talented lawyer. In his youth, he worked as a clerk in the municipal curia (tabellio). Despite his low social origin (as an equite), Macrinus was proclaimed Roman Emperor on April 11, 217 CE, by the legions stationed in the East.
One of his first acts was to declare his own son, Diadumenian, a boy of only ten years old, as Caesar and his successor.
Denomination: Denarius, Ag
Obverse: Laureate and cuirassed bust of Macrinus to right, IMP C M OPEL SEV MACRINVS AVG
Reverse: Fides standing facing with head right and right foot on helmet, holding standard in each hand, FIDES MILITVM
Mint: Rome, 217/218 A.D.
Weight: 3,54 g
Diameter: 20mm
Provenance: MDC Monaco, with its handwritten label: From the find made in Limoges in 1926 during the excavations at the gas plant (See Occo, page 30, line 44)
Riferimento : 26.1 RIC IV 67b RSC 26
Collezione : IMPERIUM ROMANUM 04 - Severus