A.D. 193–217 Roman Denarius Severan Dynasty Fratricide 3-pc Set NGC Ch VF

Drama In Ancient Rome: A Father, Two Sons And Fratricide

And we think we have political scandals today! The coins in this set represent a family of rulers whose depraved affairs make Bill Clinton and Donald Trump look like choir boys! It involves a father and his two sons and how over a quarter of a century they brought the Roman Empire to its knees. In this story, you have murder on a scale as massive as Hitler and Stalin, a son’s attempted murder of his father, a brother murdering his brother in their mother’s arms, and devious political wheeling and dealing! What makes it all the more interesting is that it’s all TRUE, every bit of it! If this were a modern-day soap opera, it would probably win an Emmy!

The central characters in this story include Roman Emperor Septimius Severus, his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, his wife, Julia Domna, and her sister, Julia Masea. Septimius Severus reigned from 193 to 211 and founded what became known as the Severan Dynasty. Under Septimius, the Roman Empire reached more than 5 million square miles. His dying words to his sons were “Rule together as brothers.” He should have known better because while campaigning in England in 208, his oldest son Caracalla tried to kill him. Septimius loved his son so much that he forgave him.

Brother Versus Brother For Control Of The Roman Empire

For his part, Caracalla was a murderous beast of a human, who despite trying to kill his father maintained his status as co-emperor, an honored bestowed upon him in 198. But much to his chagrin, his younger brother Geta was named co-emperor in 209. The shared duties didn’t last long, however. After Septimius died in 211, the two brothers immediately began fighting. During their journey back to Rome with their father’s ashes, only the intercession of their mother, Julia Domna—the beautiful widow of Septimius Severus, prevented the two siblings from killing each other. Soon after arriving back in Rome, Caracalla used his mother as a means to kill his brother by asking her to set up a peace conference. When Geta arrived for the meeting, Caracalla’s men killed him and watched him die in his mother’s arms.

Cruel, capricious, murderous, and willfully uncouth, Caracalla felt so “guilty” about his deed that he put to death hundreds of people who in any way showed support to his dearly departed brother—including 20,000 people in Alexandria for having the audacity to produce a satire that Caracalla felt mocked him. Caracalla further had Geta’s name and likeness stricken from public records and made it a crime punishable by death to even speak or write his name! Caracalla did not have long to bask in his new-found power for just a few years later in 217 he was stabbed to death while urinating on the side of the road by a soldier upset that the hot-headed emperor had passed him over for promotion.

One Of The Most Depraved Eras In Roman History

After the death of Caracalla, Julia Domna committed suicide by starving herself to death rather than suffer the embarrassment of being demoted to private life. Her role as the matriarch of the Severan Dynasty was assumed bey her sister, Julia Masea, who went on to engineer the overthrow of Caracalla’s assassin and the emperorship of two of her grandsons, Elagabalus and Severus Alexander. Elagabalus, who reigned from 218 to 222, was one of the most depraved emperors in Roman history. He married three women, one man, and dressed as a man or woman depending on whatever mood struck him. He also threw wild orgies in which the worst kind of depravities not only took place but were encouraged. Severus Alexander was only 14 when he succeeded Elagabalus in 222. He was a welcome change and had he been given a chance to rule longer, he may have restored the Severan family’s name. But he was murdered in 235, bringing an end to the Severan Dynasty.

Coins Of The Severan Dynasty

This three-piece set of 1,800-year-old coins includes the Silver Denarius of Roman Emperor Septimius Severus as well as a Denarius of each of his sons—Geta and Caracalla. These coins are absolutely stunning. Each features the portrait of one of these emperors on the obverse where you can clearly see the face of each man who brought the Roman Empire to new highs and lows during his lifetime. The reverses vary, depicting Roman gods and goddesses and personifications like “Justice,” “Beauty,” “Truth,” or “Wisdom.” It’s interesting to note that each Roman family at this time worshipped its own family deities. In the case of the Severan Dynasty, these personifications appeared on the same coins featuring some of the most cruel and depraved rulers of the Roman Empire who stood in direct contrast to the symbolic qualities of the coins that bear their images!

The Silver Dollar Of The Roman Empire

The Silver Denarius was to the Roman world what the Silver Dollar once was to the United States. It was THE unit of currency. One Denarius would have been worth a day’s pay for a laborer or soldier. It could buy 12 large loaves of bread or an entire clay jar of olive oil. Each is approximately 18-20 mm in diameter, or roughly the size of a nickel. Each Silver Denarius available here has been certified, graded, and authenticated by the Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC) to be in eye-appealing Choice Very Fine (Ch VF) condition and the set will come beautifully housed in a mahogany display box.

The coins in this Severan Dynasty Fratricide Three-Piece Set were all minted during a turning point in the Roman Empire. Most historians agree that the decline of the Roman Empire began around A.D. 200. At that time, the empire began to be weakened by spoiled and corrupt emperors whose scandalous behavior made them easy prey to usurpers and assassins. The Severan Dynasty ruled at precisely this time, and this dysfunctional family is symbolic of the fall of the Roman Empire. Don’t miss your chance to travel back in time and hold a piece of the Roman Empire in your hand when Rome was the center of the universe. Become a curator of world history today!