Commodus transformation to "Hercules Romanus"

[Prieure de Sion]

Imperator Caesar Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus Augustus Pius Felix
Denarius of the Roman Imperial Period 192 AD; Material: Silver; Diameter: 18mm; Weight: 3.11g; Mint: Rome; Reference: RIC III Commodus 251; Rare: R1; Provenance: Noonans Numismatics London, Great Britain (Auction 21, Lot 504); Pedigree: From the Graham Collection of Roman Imperial Coins (Bt 1993); Obverse: Head of Commodus, wearing lion-skin, right; Inscription: L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL; Translate: Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus Augustus Pius Felix; Translate: Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus, the pious and fortunate Augustus; Reverse: Club of Hercules with legend to either side in 3 lines within wreath; Inscription: HERCVL ROMAN AVGV; Translate: Hercules Romanus Augustus; Translate: Hercules, Roman Augustus

 

Historcial Background: 
The last two years of Commodus' reign were marked by many historical events. A fundamental change in Commodus' self-image is evident in his change of name in 191 AD. The new name appears in Alexandria on coins of the 31st year and must therefore have been introduced before 29 August 191 AD. The inclusion of "Lucius Aelius" in the name was anything but pure arbitrariness. It was the original name of Commodus, which he had received in 161 AD in reference to Lucius Verus (after the death of Antoninus Pius). This step was a conscious (political and principled) cutting of the cord - also vis-à-vis his father Marcus Aurelius. Then in 191 AD a series of coinages of "Hercules Commodianus" appear. Hercules stands almost frontally with a naked torso and sacrifices on a burning altar against which a club is leaning. Such a depiction had not existed in the coinage of the Roman principate until then. However, the "Hercules Commodianus" is not identical with "Hercules Romanus" - who is Commodus himself, but with the genius of Commodus!

The following year 192 AD can then be roughly summarised as follows: Fire and refoundation of Rome, fortnightly circus games, Commodus as Hercules Romanus and finally his assassination.

Ancient sources report that the fire of Rome, which lasted several days, occurred some time before the Great Games. It destroyed the Temple of Pax (where many Romans had deposited their savings), the Temple of Vesta, parts of the Palatium (including the library) and many other parts of the city. The fire only came to an end when it found no more food (Cassius Dio) or was extinguished by heavy rains (Herodian). After that, the people no longer began to look with affection on the emperor. In the second half of 192 AD, Commodus had 14-day games organised. Even from Italy and the provinces people flocked to see what they had never seen before. What kind of games they were is disputed. According to F. Miller, it was the "Ludi Romani", Grosso argues for the "Ludi Divi Augusti" or for the "Ludi plebei". It is more likely, however, that these magnificent games celebrated the re-foundation of Rome. According to the Historia Augusta, the great fire was the reason for "re-founding" the city and, along with Cassius Dio, also provides the city's new name: "colonia aeterna felix Commodiana". As if that were not enough, the senate was now given the name "Senatus felix Commodianus", the legions were given the epithet "Commodiana", all the months were renamed after the name of the emperor - and finally Commodus was given the name "Hercules Romanus" by the senate. With this, Commodus had risen to become the Hercules of the Romans who had refounded Rome. However, the identification of "Hercules Romanus" was not an ill-considered action by Commodus in the last two or three months of his reign. Everything speaks rather for a "long-term programme" of Commodus that was realised step by step.

The coinages of the year 192 AD can be roughly divided into three groups, which were apparently minted one after the other.

The first group seems to date from the beginning of the year. The obverse sides still show the curly head of Commodus with the laurel wreath. The reverse sides show, among others, Fides, Mars, Victoria or Liberalitas.

The second group of the first Hercules series seems to have been minted after the first group. The obverse sides again have the curly head of Commodus with laurel wreath. The reverse sides now show a standing Hercules wreathing a tropaeum - or a "Hercules Romanus", his foot placed on a prora, he seems to be about to accept ears of grain from the personification of Africa opposite him.

 

 
Finally, the third group and thus the second Hercules series, all of which show the head of Commodus with the lion's skin, short-cropped hair and a shorter beard on the front - a hairstyle also shown on the head of Mantua. The backs of this last group are without exception dedicated to "Hercules Romanus". This series refers exclusively to the great circus games towards the end of the year, during which Commodus, as "Hercules Romanus", is said to have killed wild animals in the arena. The type of denarius presented here belongs to this aforementioned third group - and is thus one of the last coinages of Commodus before his assassination.

 

Recent research has increasingly come to the conclusion that the transformation of Commodus into the "Hercules Romanus" was not based on any kind of Caesar mania, but on a sober political calculation that was intended to send a message to the "plebs urbana" and the mass of the population throughout the empire. It seems to have been significant that hardly any ruler before him had gone as far as he did in identifying or even merging with a deity, both by appearing in person in the garb of the deity before a large audience and in the form of statuary representations in which the emperor was presented in the guise of Hercules.

What was the deeper meaning of this close assimilation or even identification of Commodus with Hercules in particular? Hercules was not only popular among the Roman population, but also an extremely versatile deity who was worshipped in numerous different aspects. Moreover, the gladiators had a special relationship with this martial god. As a human figure who had achieved immortality through his extraordinary deeds, Hercules was an ideal identification figure for an emperor who also strove for divine exaltation. At the same time, the constantly demonstrated victoriousness of the emperor, who appeared as Hercules Invictus, was intended to appeal to the soldiers, especially since otherwise there was hardly any warfare under Commodus. Finally, the Hercules Conditor could serve as a model for the re-foundation of Rome. In any case, it is clear that Commodus emphasised the Roman aspects of the god and it was no coincidence that he had himself explicitly dubbed Romanus Hercules.

 

Sources:
* Kaiser-Raiß, Maria Regina: "Die stadtrömische Münzprägung während der Alleinherrschaft des Commodus"
* Meyer Zwiffelhofer, Eckhard: "Kaiser Commodus Hercules Romanus"
* Witschel, Christian: "Kaiser Gladiator Gott zur Selbstdarstellung des Commodus"
* Müseler, Wilhelm: "Commodus die Konstruktion einer Ikone"

 

Edited March 9, 2023 by Prieure de Sion

[Prieure de Sion]

I just wanted to introduce you to my "Commodus Hercules" coin, which I was able to buy at an auction yesterday. I hope you enjoy reading about it.

 

Feel free to post your HERCULES coins - whoever likes.

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Excellent article @Prieure de Sion - rather than abject madness and perhaps schizophrenic mania perhaps there was a plan to gradually become increasingly associated with Hercules for political reasons, but probably a certain degree of narcissism was a factor.

[Marsyas Mike]

Great coin and article @Prieure de Sion - I'd like to get that type some day.  As for now, have a denarius from the same era; it has the HERCVLI ROMANO legend reverse, but with a standard laureate non-lion-skin portrait:

Commodus  Denarius (191-192 A.D.) Rome Mint L AEL AVREL [COM]M AVG P FEL, laureate head right / HERCVLI [ROMA]NO AVG Hercules standing left, holding club and lion-skin in left arm, crowning trophy w. right hand. RIC III 254a; BMCRE 346A; Cohen RSC 202. (2.82 grams / 16 mm) eBay Dec. 2022 MAW

Provenance:  Packed in folder signed by numismatist (John Baker?), noting "The denarii of Septimius Severus are from the Pristina hoard, discovered in the former state of Yugoslavia and containing over 12,000 coins, some dating as far back as the 1st century A.D.  The denarii of Marcus Aurelius, Faustina Jr., Lucilla, and Commodus may also be from this famous hoard." 

 

[Prieure de Sion]

48 minutes ago, Marsyas Mike said:

As for now, have a denarius from the same era; it has the HERCVLI ROMANO legend reverse, but with a standard laureate non-lion-skin portrait:

Ah thats cool!

Second Group with first Hercules types. This type is not in my collection and I hope I finde a example like yours.

 

50 minutes ago, Marsyas Mike said:

Hercules standing left, holding club and lion-skin in left arm, crowning trophy

2 hours ago, Prieure de Sion said:

The second group of the first Hercules series seems to have been minted after the first group. The obverse sides again have the curly head of Commodus with laurel wreath. The reverse sides now show a standing Hercules wreathing a tropaeum...

 

 

Edited March 9, 2023 by Prieure de Sion

[Limes]

Great portrait on your coin.

From the 'Third group': 

Edited March 9, 2023 by Limes

[Hughie Dwyer]

Amazing write up!

 

[Qcumbor]

Great post, which gives me the opportunity to share again my Commodus sestertius :

See the story below :

 

Q

[Marsyas Mike]

I really like this thread - great coins. 

Not to bring down the neighborhood, but I have another, ugly, Hercules type for Commodus, but this one several years before he went all Hercules-is-me c. 191.  For some reason he issued several varieties of this type in 183-184 A.D. , some of them with Hercules holding a bow.  Mine is in horrible condition, but they are kind of scarce from what I can tell (this is the no-bow type, and seems to be based on the Farnese Hercules).  

Here is an OCRE search for all Commodus sestertii with Hercules:  http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=deity_facet%3A"Hercules"+AND+denomination_facet%3A"Sestertius"+AND+portrait_facet%3A"Commodus" 

Commodus Æ Sestertius (183-184 A.D.) Rome Mint [M COM]MODVS A[NTON INVS AVG PIV]S, laureate head right / [P M TR P VIIII IMP VI COS IIII P P] S-C, Hercules standing facing, nude, head right, resting club wrapped in lion skin upon a rock. RIC III 399Aa (see note).  (18.36 grams / 28 mm) eBay Jan. 2021     

Attribution Notes:  Legend not clear, but seems to be RIC 399Aa (bottom tail of the "S" is visible at the end of the obverse legend). There are two variations of the Hercules without the bow type:

RIC 399Aa  ...ANTONINVS AVG PIVS

RIC 399Ac ...ANTON AVG PIVS BRIT

 

[Prieure de Sion]

14 minutes ago, Qcumbor said:

Great post, which gives me the opportunity to share again my Commodus sestertius :

Ah thats great - a Bronze Hercules Type - fantastic!

 

2 minutes ago, Marsyas Mike said:

ugly

No coin is ugly - every coin has an historical background. Your coin have seen many I think. 

 

3 minutes ago, Marsyas Mike said:

Commodus Æ Sestertius (183-184 A.D.) Rome Mint [M COM]MODVS A[NTON INVS AVG PIV]S, laureate head right / [P M TR P VIIII IMP VI COS IIII P P] S-C, Hercules standing facing, nude, head right, resting club wrapped in lion skin upon a rock. RIC III 399Aa (see note).  (18.36 grams / 28 mm) eBay Jan. 2021   

Cool an early Hercules Bronze of Commodus. Nice patina colors!

[DonnaML]

4 hours ago, Prieure de Sion said:

Imperator Caesar Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus Augustus Pius Felix
Denarius of the Roman Imperial Period 192 AD; Material: Silver; Diameter: 18mm; Weight: 3.11g; Mint: Rome; Reference: RIC III Commodus 251; Rare: R1; Provenance: Noonans Numismatics London, Great Britain (Auction 21, Lot 504); Pedigree: From the Graham Collection of Roman Imperial Coins (Bt 1993); Obverse: Head of Commodus, wearing lion-skin, right; Inscription: L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL; Translate: Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus Augustus Pius Felix; Translate: Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus, the pious and fortunate Augustus; Reverse: Club of Hercules with legend to either side in 3 lines within wreath; Inscription: HERCVL ROMAN AVGV; Translate: Hercules Romanus Augustus; Translate: Hercules, Roman Augustus

 

It's a beautiful specimen, and I remain highly envious! As I said elsewhere, I was your under-bidder. I thought my pre-bid of 650 GBP was pretty high, but I never really expected to win at that price, although of course I was hopeful. I'm actually rather surprised that it went for only one increment above that, although it sounds like you would have been willing to go even higher! I would as well, had that been the only coin I wanted in this Noonans auction. But since I bid on four other ancient coins and two antiquities in the auction, as well as an English hammered groat in the separate Noonans auction the following afternoon, I simply couldn't justify going higher on this one. (As it turned out, I won the four other ancient coins -- three Hadrians and an Allectus -- and the English hammered groat -- from Henry VII -- but lost out on both antiquities.)

[AETHER]

I love this type, nice coin

[Prieure de Sion]

25 minutes ago, AETHER said:

I love this type, nice coin

I dont love this coin (type) 🤣

Is it expensive? Yes!
Is it rare? No!

The "problem" with this type of coin is that it looks interesting. The coin is not rare. But "everyone" wants to have a piece - even if you are not a fan or collector of Commodus - a broad mass is bidding on this coin. But as a Commodus collector you "must" have this type. And so you fight for the price in the auctions with general collectors (who just find the coin interesting). And so an everyday coin that is not rare - just becomes too expensive. I think it is no different with the Tribute Penny of Tiberius. Mass-produced, actually - but as expensive as a rare denarius.

I dont like this coin... 😡 but now I can put a hook in it. My only consolation is that this coin a) is in good condition and b) comes from a good collection.
That makes paying the bill a little sweeter.

 

42 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

It's a beautiful specimen, and I remain highly envious! As I said elsewhere, I was your under-bidder. I thought my pre-bid of 650 GBP was pretty high, but I never really expected to win at that price, although of course I was hopeful. I'm actually rather surprised that it went for only one increment above that, although it sounds like you would have been willing to go even higher!

Ah ok 🙂 then I win directly against you. If you bid 650 GBP - I win with 700 GBP.

And yes - yesterday I didn't care about anything - I finally wanted this guy. I would have gone up to 1000 pounds. I was in a frenzy.

But either way, it was way too expensive... 700 GBP + fees = 868 GBP = 977 Euro or 1035 USD...  🤪

I bought another Balbinus for my shop. I will have to sell it at a high price to make up for the "private" losses... 😎

46 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

(As it turned out, I won the four other ancient coins -- three Hadrians and an Allectus -- and the English hammered groat -- from Henry VII -- but lost out on both antiquities.)

Ah, I'm glad about the coins. Too bad you didn't get the antiques. 

Have you ever bought anything at Noonans? Do they ship quickly?

 

 

 

Dear people, flex your muscles! Show us your Hercules coins! Feel free to post Hercules representations of other emperors.
And if you want - private pictures of you in front of the mirror in Hercules costume!

[DonnaML]

3 minutes ago, Prieure de Sion said:

Have you ever bought anything at Noonans? Do they ship quickly?

Thank you. I have bought coins many times from Noonans, both ancient and English. In the past they have shipped quickly. However, it took them two weeks to ship the one lot I won in their 1 February Auction, and another 17 days for the coin to arrive in New York City via Royal Mail and then the US Post Office. So I didn't actually receive it until 4 March! In response to my multiple inquiries, Noonans informed me that the shipping delays were attributable to unanticipated issues in their shipping department -- they didn't explain, but perhaps one or more people either quit or was ill. They assured me more recently that the issues have now been fixed, and that they don't expect shipping to be delayed for the current auction. Also, given how long it took for the February coin to arrive even after it was shipped, I just sent them an email asking if this time they might be able to ship by one of the international express courier services rather than by Royal Mail. Hopefully I'll hear back from them tomorrow.

[Prieure de Sion]

1 minute ago, DonnaML said:

I just sent them an email asking if this time they might be able to ship by one of the international express courier services rather than by Royal Mail. Hopefully I'll hear back from them tomorrow.

Ah same here! In their terms you can read the follow: "amounts more than 1.000 GBP will shipped with FedEx (not registered mail)".
So I hope they will do that. Royal mail and German Post actually no good combination... shipping times with 2-3 month are normal 😞 

I have paid my invoice with credit card now - and write them too - that they will please send with FedEx (or UPS, or DHL Express).

 

[CPK]

Very nice coin @Prieure de Sion! I would like to have that type, although I'd prefer a bronze as instead. Someday!

In the meantime, here is both a representation of Hercules and an Emperor who identified, if not as Hercules, at least as Hercules's representative on earth. In this sense, the reverse legend - HERCVLI CONSERVAT ("Hercules saves" or "preserves") can be taken to mean both that the god Hercules saves and preserves the Roman Empire, and also, more propagandistic and down-to-earth, that Maximian himself as the representative of Hercules (and the founder of the Imperial House of Hercules) is directly involved in that preservation.

[ominus1]

5 hours ago, AETHER said:

I love this type, nice coin

..me too  and i don't have one aether  😛 ^^...:P

[Gavin Richardson]

[AETHER]

3 hours ago, ominus1 said:

..me too  and i don't have one aether  😛 ^^...:P

Me neither 😞

[Praefectus]

Commodus AD 180-192. Rome As Æ 22 mm. 8.8 gm. Struck 192 AD. Obv: Bust of Commodus as Hercules right, wearing lion’s skin headdress Rev: Club within wreath. RIC III 644; BMCRE 722; Cohen 193. https://praefectuscoins.com/shop/roman-imperial/commodus-ad-180-192-rome-as-final-issue-ad-192/

[Cinco71]

Here's my relatively humble example that just so happened to come in the mail today.  I'm pretty happy with the obverse, though the reverse has a troubling dark spot.

 

[Victrix]

One of my favourite types! I got it both in Silver and Bronze and still on the hunt for the sestertius. My bronze one has quite an unique patina and was one of my early pick-ups into the hobby. 

[Prieure de Sion]

4 hours ago, Victrix said:

One of my favourite types! I got it both in Silver and Bronze and still on the hunt for the sestertius. My bronze one has quite an unique patina and was one of my early pick-ups into the hobby. 

Wonderful bronze with an lovely colored patina! Great.