Severus Alexander AR Denarius. Rome, AD 223. IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / P M TR P II COS P P, the south-western prospective of the Amphitheatrum Flavium seen from the Caelian Hill; the building consists of four stories, the first with five arches, the second and third with five arches containing figurative statues, the fourth decorated with square and round architectural elements; to left, togate figure to right (Severus Alexander?) sacrificing from patera and uncertain figure holding torch facing to left, behind which is the upper torso and radiate bust of the Colossus Solis; to right, column on base supporting edge of a pediment; at back, view of top spectators’ tier of the ‘cavea’ divided by columns; on top rim at of the structure, poles of the ‘velarium’. For the only other published example of this denomination cf. RIC IV 33 = BMC VI p. 129 = RSC 247 = Cohen 247 (Ex Charles d'Orléans de Rothelin collection, now in the Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid). 2.18g, 20mm, 12h.

Very Fine; area of flatness on obv., several flan cracks. Of the greatest rarity; one of only two known, and the only one in private hands.

From a private North European collection.

The Flavian amphitheatre requires no introduction as one of the most famous and extraordinary buildings of the ancient world, dedicated by Titus in AD 80. One of the principle reasons for its construction was for controlling the raging Roman ‘mobs’ and used as a political mouthpiece to help the emperors and senators garner public votes. It was used for public spectacles well into Christian times in the 6th century, when it became a major quarry for many medieval and Renaissance buildings which has left only one third of it standing today.

The Historia Augusta informs us: ‘Alexander Severus ordered that the taxes paid by bawds and prostitutes, male and female, should no longer go to the public treasury, but used for the restorations of the theatre of Marcellus, the Circus Maximus, the Amphitheatre, and the Atadium of Domitiaon’. (Severus Alexander 24)

The scene depicted on the reverse of this extremely rare coin is part of a series in gold and bronze celebrating the re-inauguration of the Flavian Amphitheatre in AD 223 after its partial destruction by fire of 217 during the reign of Macrinus. The column on base supporting edge of a pediment is most probably part of the monumental entrance, also damaged by the fire, leading to the Baths of Titus on the southern base of the nearby Esquiline Hill, an area of parkland and luxury estates which had been taken over by Nero for his Domus Aurea.