Ancient Coins: Caracalla the Cruel Emperor

Caracalla, the son of Septimius Severus and second emperor of the Severan dynasty was a cruel, ruthless man, who lives by violence and met his end violently. Today we are taking a look at some of his coinage.

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Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License

[Numischannel]

By the way, the Aboukir gold medallions that you show in 13:15, that were disregarded as "fakes" by archaeologists, historians, museums, etc., the only one who noticed they were the real thing was the great Armenian numismatist and oil-industry millionaire Callouste Gulbenkian, who bought the entire hoard for a little over the spot price of gold... later other examples were discovered in archeological context, and their authenticity was confirmed... another great example of what we talked about. The Caracalla portrait in the medallion is unmistakingly from the hand of one of the superb engravers of the Rome mint in this period which, in my opinion marks the beginning of the apogee of the realistic Roman numismatic portrait. The medallions can now be admired in the Callouste Gulbenkian Museum in Portugal.

[nathanielscreativecollecti]

I don't have Caracalla yet, but this week I cleaned a Gallienus that retains all of its silvering. That was the most fun coin I've cleaned!

[Numischannel]

Right to the point Leo, here is another excellent example about what we always talk about. Those who want to cancel us numismatists cannot even distinguish a denarius of Caracalla from one of Antoninus Pius, let alote Elagabalus. 😃Excellent video!

[NAPNYC]

I knew there was an interesting story behind Caracalla but I wasn't expecting all this. Fascinating. Ty again for helping me learn the history in such detail behind my coins

[caracallaavg]

Ironically, Caracalla was a very religious man, so there's a great lineup of deities on his coinage. Also his signature face expression is just priceless

[donklaser]

Great video. Loved the background music!

[milosstrela]

Predivan novcic, voleo bih ga u mojoj kolekciji, veliki pozdrav🤠👍

[artemisarrow]

"Live in harmony, enrich the soldiers. Nothing else matters."
-Septimius Severus

"So have my brother murdered. Got it!"
-Caracalla

[skuul]

The antoninianus of Caracalla is also one of my favorites, these early coins are indeed nice big silver coins (usually 5+ grams), with clear and realistic portraits. Other antoniniani of the Severan Dynasty are struck for Julia Domna (Caracalla's mother), Julia Maesa (his aunt) and Elagabalus (his mad cousin). According to imperial propaganda Elagabalus was actually Caracalla's son via a incestous relationship with Caracalla's niece Julia Soaemias. There exists a very rare denarius celebrating a Divus Caracalla (RIC 717), which was struck either under Elagabalus or Severus Alexander. In 220 AD the antoninianus was abolished under Elagabalus' reign and so no antoniniani are known to exist for his succesor Severus Alexander.

[neptunesmarsh]

The Severans were the most foreign family to rule the Empire at that point: the disdain Severus had for anyone outside of his "muscle'; the overt cruelty of Caracalla; and the sheer bizarreness of Elagabalus, which would have made Caligula blush. Nero wanted to be liked by the people, and would have been aghast by the thought of slaughtering a city in response to mere insults.

[epikurejczyk]

I myself found an article about the best roman emperors, and of course Marcus Aurelius’ coin showed in that article belonged to Caracalla. What a muppet wrote this, I have no idea.

[gordongrant]

Great coins, I am sure I have a good few.👍

[briank]

I just bought a RIC 258(a) Antoninianus at auction. My first Roman coin and not a purchase by design. It was one of those knee jerk purchases and I kept hearing your voice in my head saying his name. For whatever reason this video and this emperor just stuck. Now the real question is to keep it in its plastic slab or break it out. Your videos are great for information and for giving me ideas on coins to buy if the opportunity presents itself.

[alexkupisz]

Love the content! Thanks for sharing the history & your coins. Would love to also see some of his large provincial bronze coins-some of which have stunning artwork and designs as well.

[JayCity]

He's my favorite bad emperor. His face alone equals cruelty and force. You knew what he was. Commodus, Caligula, and Nero, put forth a facade. With their arts, banquets, music, and sporting events. Caracalla had no time for that culture. To be fair though, he built one hell of a bath complex. So he is a step above Caligula, who is still the most evil out of the four.

[haltersweb]

Thanks to you I participated in my first auction today. I procured 7 Greek coins from Savoca Coins. Can’t wait to receive them.

[hridgreximp]

The only good thing he did (for collectors that is) was the creation of the antoninianus, which at this time still had a generally good style. Laying the foundations for all the Gordian antoniniani that many collectors love.

[TheJonesy]

Great graphics! Do you draw them yourself? I have a denarius of Septimus Severus and poor Geta but no Caracalla yet.

[BUSHCRAFTTOOLS]

Yesterday, whilst metal detecting in the UK, I found my first Roman coin and I believe it to be a silver Caracalla but I can't seem to find any history on it. Can I send you a picture somehow?

[aeneas]

Actually Caracalla was deified later on as attested by (rare) coins!