Bust of Clodius Albinus, Capitoline Museum, Palazzo Nuovo, Rome, Photo by José Luiz, 24 Sept. 2016. Image used under CC BY-SA 4.0 license via Wikimedia Commons.
Clodius Albinus (c. 150–197 CE) was a Roman general and politician who was briefly emperor during the tumultuous Year of the Five Emperors i.e. 193 AD. The murder of emperor Commodus on New Year's Eve 192 AD, and the appointment of Pertinax as the new emperor sparked a civil war that would end with Septimius Severus as sole emperor.
Clodius Albinus was initially allied with Septimius, and named co-emperor, but once other rivals were dispatched they turned on each other and Clodius Albinus died in 197 AD. This coin comes from the time where they were allied.
Clodius Albinus, Caesar, AD 193 – 195, AR Denarius (3.2g, 17mm), Rome, issued circa 194-195
Obv: D CL SEPT ALBIN CAES, bare head right
Rev: SAEC FRVGIF COS II, Saeculum Frugiferum, radiate, wearing cloak around waist, standing left, holding trident and short winged caduceus.
Ref: RIC 8. C 65.
The reverse of this coin is what I found attractive - a deity on the reverse that is associated with Clodius Albinus and his birthplace, Hadrumetum. This deity appears on coins of Clodius Albinus and his co-emperor at the time Septimius Severus. See the 10 coins with this deity that are found in Roman Imperial Coins.
Who is Saeculum Frugiferum?
Translating directly - Saeculum Frugiferum means "Age of Abundance" or "Fruitful Age". Franz Cumont (1899) describes that in North Africa, the epithet "Frugifer" became associated with Saturn, the god of abundance. And that this Saturn Frugifer was associated with Saeculum Frugiferum, associated with the Punic god, Baal, and imperfectly Romanized, whose image appears on imperial coins and whose cult was primarily practiced in the Roman colony of Hadrumetum.
During the Third Punic War (149–146 BCE) Hadrumetum sided with Rome, and its citizens were granted partial Roman citizenship.
Suetonius also relates this story of Hadrumetum in the Life of Vespasian 8.1
"The chance of the lot then gave him [Vespasian] Africa, which he governed with great justice and high honor, save that in a riot at Hadrumetum he was pelted with turnips. Certain it is that he came back none the richer, for his credit was so nearly gone that he mortgaged all his estates to his brother, and had to resort to trading in mules16 to keep up his position; whence he was commonly known as “the Muleteer.”"The Historia Augusta (1.3, 4.1, 12.8) (not the most reliable source) mentions 3 times that Clodius Albinus was born in Hadrumetum.
"Clodius Albinus came from a noble family, although he was a native of Hadrumetum in Africa." The appearance of Saeculum Frugiferum on this coin provides further evidence that Hadrumetum is his birthplace, as Saeculum Frugiferum was a cult from Hadrumetum.
Where is Hadrumetum?
Hadrumetum was an ancient Phoenician colony about 100 miles (160 km) south of Carthage. Hadrumetum is today Sousse, Tunisia. It is located on the eastern coast of Tunisia, and lies on the Al-Hammāmāt Gulf along the Mediterranean Sea. From this map one can appreciate the proximity to Sicily.
References:
Cumont, Franz. Textes et Monuments Figurés Relatifs aux Mystères de Mithra. Vol. 1, 1899. Digital Library of India, pp. 77-78. https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.12345.
Nock, Arthur Darby. “A Vision of Mandulis Aion.” The Harvard Theological Review, vol. 27, no. 1, 1934, pp. 53–104.
Livius.org Clodius Albinus: https://www.livius.org/articles/person/clodius-albinus/
コメント