with s(enatus) C(onsulto). So much was this monarch adored by his subjects that whoever did not possess a portrait of him was considered a sacrilegious person.

I have in general refrained from describing the medallions of the Roman series, as being either not real coins, or, such as our 51. gold pieces, not struck for general circulation; but the large copper medallion, described and engraved by Mionnet, in his work "De la Rareté et du Prix des Medailles Romaines,' ," is so remarkable as to justify an exception, especially as the age of the Antonines is the great age of Roman bronze medallions. The reverse is inscribed, "Temporum Felicitas," and the type is Hercules, with a trophy, in a triumphal chariot drawn by four centaurs, each holding a different symbol, apparently those of the seasons. The workmanship is very fine, and it is one of the best examples of the art of die engraving of the period.

Lucius Cocinius Commodus Elius Aurelius Verus was associated with Marcus Aurelius in 161 A.D., but only reigned eight years in conjunction with that emperor, dying in the year 169 A.D. at Altinum, in his thirty-ninth year, after a life of the grossest dissipation and debauchery.

The coins of this emperor are numerous, and often of the same types as those of his colleague. Occasionally, especially on some of Greek Imperial mintage, the portraits of both emperors appear. On such coins of Roman mintage, the inscription CONCORDIA AVGVSTORUM (the concord of the emperors) is found. On the coin of Lucius Verus, of the first bronze series, which I have selected for description, the type of the obverse is a boldly executed portrait of the emperor, the hair and beard carefully dressed, and a robe thrown over his left shoulder: it has the inscription IMP(erator) CAES(ar) L(ucius) AVREL(ius) VERVS AVG(ustus): "the Emperor Cæsar Lucius Aurelius Verus Augustus."

The reverse bears a large prætorian galley, with the luxurious emperor reclining beneath a canopy. There are six rowers, and Captain Smith remarks, with true nautical accuracy, that "the vessel is propelled with the wind aft." This coin was struck in 163 A.D., as a kind of commemoration for the safe deliverance of Verus from the perils

of the sea on the occasion of his voyage from Rome to Athens.

The coins of the Empress Faustina Junior, the wife of Marcus Aurelius, are common in nearly all metals and sizes, and yet a well-known modern forgery exists of a first bronze of this empress, so beautifully executed that it has been attributed to Benvenuto Cellini; but Captain Smith rather refers it to the cunning graver of Lewis Lee. The reverses of the coins of this abandoned woman, who appears to have inherited all the vices of her mother, and none of the virtues of her father, are occasionally a figure of Pudicitia (Modesty). The servility of the senate could go no further, unless there was a satire hidden within the specious device. Some of the most remarkable devices of her coins are, the one with the Matri Castrorum, mother of the cohorts, or of the camps, struck, perhaps, when she accompanied her husband to the East, and died in the camp at the foot of Mount Taurus; her coins of the "consecratio" type, where she is represented as borne to heaven between the wings of an eagle, have on the reverse a car drawn by elephants, in which is borne the golden statue of the empress, with the legend AETERNITAS.

The coins of Annia Lucilla, the daughter of Marcus Aurelius, married to Lucius Verus, are common in large and middle bronze, as well as silver: the gold, and those struck in Greece and the colonies are more rare.

Of Annius Verus, the son of Aurelius and Faustina, who died in his infancy, coins are extremely rare; the one with his portrait on the reverse, and that of his elder brother, Commodus, on the obverse, is a fine specimen of the art of this period.

COMMODUS, FROM 180 A.D. TO 193.

Marcus Elius Aurelius Commodus Antoninus, son of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina Junior, was born at Lanuvium, a town in Latium, 161 A D., made Cæsar at the age of five, and "Prince of the Youth" (Princeps Juventutis), at fourteen. He accompanied his father into the East, and on their return the following year (176 A.D.) he was saluted Emperor, associated in the government of the empire, and

He was

also shared the triumphal car with his father married to Crispina in the year 177 A.D., and had received the titles of Augustus and Pater Patria when only sixteen. On the death of his father, in 180, he ascended the imperial throne, and after a reign of thirteen years, of folly, oppression, and cruelty, was murdered by the connivance of Marcia, one of his concubines, in the 193 A.D. year

The miserable reign of Commodus forms a strange contrast to those of "the five good Emperors," as his five immediate predecessors have been termed; but the coinage of his reign yields in beauty to none since that of Trajan.

His coins are abundant in every form and metal, from his boyhood till his death; and his "medallions" have been cited by Winkelmann as among the most exquisite specimens of Roman art.

It would be impossible to enumerate examples even of a small portion of the varieties of the coinage of this reign, but the following three specimens of large bronze will convey a tolerably accurate idea of the style of the remainder.

The first was struck to commemorate the close of the German war, and perhaps also the bestowing of the title Princeps Juventutis on the youthful Commodus. The obverse has a remarkably handsome portrait of this Prince, bare-headed, with the inscription Lucio) AVREL(io) COMMODO. CAESAR(i) AVG(usti) FIL(io) GERM (anico) SARM(atico): "to Lucius Aurelius Commodus Cæsar, son of Augustus Germanicus Sarmaticus." The type of the reverse is a figure of Commodus in magnificent attire, bearing a lance pointed downwards in the left hand, and a branch of laurel in his right. The figure stands beside a trophy of arms, evidently German. It has the inscription PRINC(ipi) IVVENT(utis): "to the Prince of the Youth." This coin was evidently struck to commemorate the termination of the German war, and also the election of Commodus to the dignity of "Princeps Juventutis.”

The second specimen exhibits the vanity of the emperor, who appears in the character of Hercules, probably in honour of some occasion when he compelled a large supply of corn to be brought from Africa, for distribution among the Roman

populace, which the inscription of the reverse may perhaps

refer to.

The obverse bears a laureated portrait of the emperor, with the neck bare and the beard carefully dressed: the inscription is Lucius) AEL(ius) AVREL(ius) COMM(odus) AVG(ustus) P(ius) FEL(ix): "Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus Augustus Pius Felix." The type of the reverse is, the Emperor, nudus, in the character of Hercules, with his foot on the prow of a vessel and with a club in his left hand, leaning against a rock. On the opposite side is an elegant female figure, attired in long robes, who (by the lion at her feet and the elephant's trunk on her head) evidently personates Africa. She is in the act of presenting to the emperor a bunch of wheat ears. This type is surrounded by the legend PROVIDENTIAE. AVG(usti): "to the foresight (or providential care) of Augustus." On the exergue is $(enatus) C(onsulto), by decree of the senate.

The types and legends of the third example refer to the victories of Alpius Marcellus in Britain, A.D. 144. The obverse bears the laurelled head of the emperor, the hair, beard, and mustachios, curled, with the neck bare: it has the inscription M(arcus) COMMODVS ANTON (inus) AVG(ustus) P(ius) BRIT (annicus): "Marcus Commodus Antoninus Augustus Pius Britannicus." The type of the reverse is an elegant winged Victory, naked to the waist, bearing a long palm branch in her right hand, and seated on a pile of shields. The execution of this reverse is excellent, being equal to anything in the whole Roman series: it has the inscription, P(ontifex) M(aximus) TR(ibunitia) P(otestate) VIIII. IMP(erator) VII. CO(u)s(ul) IIII. P(ater) P(atriae): "High Pontiff (exercising) the tribunitian power for the ninth time, Imperator for the seventh, and Consul for the fourth." On the exergue is VICT (oria) BRIT(annica): "the victory in Britain."

Coins bearing the portrait of Crispina, the wife of Commodus, are common in all metals and sizes except small bronze. The types of the reverses are various, and most commonly Venus, Felicitas, Salus, Lætitia, and even Pudicitia, which latter was as inapplicable to the beautiful empress of Commodus as to her predecessors the Faustinas.

PERTINAX, FROM JANUARY TO MARCH, 193 A.D.

Publius Helvius Pertinax, son of a freedman who followed the trade of selling wood and charcoal, was born in Liguria, A.D. 126: he at first followed the trade of his father, but afterwards set up a grammar school at Rome, and, lastly, entered the army, where his talents and bravery raised him gradually to the highest rank: he served with great success in Syria and Britain, and at the death of Commodus wa prætor of Rome, where he was chosen Emperor-a title he accepted with the greatest reluctance. After a short reign of about eighty days, he was killed in a mutiny of the soldiers, March, 193 A.D.

Some short reigns have been, as we have seen, productive of abundant coinages; but that of Pertinax does not appear to have been so, for his coins, in all metals and sizes, are of great rarity, and in some none exist. The following is a description of one of his coins of the first bronze series:

The type of the obverse is a venerable laureated head of Pertinax, with curly hair, thick mustachios, and flowing beard, with IMP(erator) CAES(ar) P(ublius) HELV (ius) PERTINAX AVG(ustus): "the Emperor Cæsar Publius Helvius Pertinax Augustus.' The type of the reverse is a robed female, standing with a pair of scales in her right hand, and in her left is a cornucopia. This reverse has the legend: AEQVIT(as) AVG(usti) TR(ibunitia) P(otestate) co(n)s(ul) II.: "the equity of Augustus, (exercising) the tribunitian power, Consul for the second time."

Some of the scarce gold coins of Pertinax are extremely beautiful, especially the specimen with the portrait resembling the head of Socrates, in the British Museum.

There are no Latin coins of his profligate wife Titiana, or of his son Pertinax the younger, though a few Alexandrian coins of the former exist, and also one struck at Lesbos.

JULIANUS DIDIUS, FROM MARCH TO JUNE, 193 A.D. This unfortunate monarch, born at Milan, A.D. 133, was brought up in the court of Marcus Aurelius. He was the colleague of Pertinax in his first Consulship.

Upon the