Pertinax, 1st January – 28th March 193

Aureus January 1st – March 28th 193, second issue, AV 20 mm, 7.26 g. IMP CAES P HELV – PERTIN AVG Laureate head r. Rev. AEQVIT AVG TR P COS II Aequitas standing l., holding scales and cornucopiae. C 1. BMC 14. RIC 1a. Lempereur 57a (this coin). Woodward NC 1957, pl. X, 1. Calicó 2379b.
Rare. A superb portrait of fine style, perfectly centred on a large flan. Extremely fine

Ex Triton sale XV, 2012, 1535.
A self-made man who rose to prominence through dedication and talent, Pertinax’s career was illustrious. His father was a former slave and merchant whose wealth bought Pertinax a good education. Pertinax began his adult life as a teacher, but afterward he embarked on a military career. He rose through the ranks serving in Parthia, Britain and Noricum, and he subsequently served as governor of several provinces. In 189 the emperor Commodus appointed him prefect of Rome, and he was still serving in that capacity when Commodus was assassinated on New Years Eve, 192. Though Pertinax has often been portrayed as an unimpeachable moralist, he was more likely an opportunist who was intimately involved in the plot against Commodus. After his accession, Pertinax may have viewed himself as a benevolent dictator, but the praetorians nonetheless murdered him after a reign of just eighty-six days.