Item number: A2857

Year: AD 180-192

Material: Bronze

Size: 26.0 x 24.0 x 3.0 mm

Weight: 12.3 g

Manufactured by: Rome

Provenance: Fuchin Coin 2020

This is a bronze Dupondius coin minted during the reign of Emperor Commodus, who ruled the Roman Empire from AD 161 to 192. The coin has a face value of two Arses and is composed of bronze.

Due to its considerable age, the coin is in poor condition, with many details— including the surrounding Latin inscriptions—now lost or heavily worn. Nonetheless, the general design of the coin remains faintly discernible.

The obverse of the coin features a bearded emperor wearing a laurel crown, depicted in a right-facing bust. The surrounding Latin inscription likely reads “L AVREL COMMODVS AVG TR P III”, which translates to: “Lucius Aurelius Commodus, Augustus, holding tribunician power for the third time.”

The title tribunicia potestas (tribunician power) originally referred to the office of tribunus plebis (tribune of the plebs) in the Roman Republic, a position established to protect the rights of the common people against the authority of the Senate and consuls. However, during the Imperial period, this office was effectively absorbed by the emperor and transformed into a symbolic title, marking the annual renewal of imperial authority rather than serving its original republican function.

The reverse of the coin features a left-facing figure of Libertas, the Roman goddess embodying liberty. In her right hand, she holds a pileus—a conical cap symbolising freedom—while her left hand grasps a sceptre, representing authority. Flanking the figure are the letters S C, an abbreviation of Senatus Consulto, indicating that the coin was minted by decree of the Roman Senate and produced in a region under senatorial jurisdiction, typically within Italia. The surrounding inscription, now largely worn away, likely read LIBERTAS AVG IMP II COS P P, which may be translated as: “The Liberty of the Augustus, Imperator for the second time, Consul, Father of the Fatherland.”

Commodus was the biological son of Marcus Aurelius, one of the so-called “Five Good Emperors” of Rome. At the age of five, he was appointed Caesar (heir apparent) by his father, and at seventeen, he was elevated to the title of Augustus, thereby sharing imperial authority. In AD 180, following the death of Marcus Aurelius on the Germanic frontier, Commodus became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. He quickly initiated peace negotiations with the Germanic tribes and, throughout the remainder of his reign, refrained from launching large-scale military campaigns.

Domestically, Commodus first faced an assassination attempt orchestrated by his own sister, Lucilla. In the aftermath, he became increasingly negligent in state affairs, relying heavily on the counsel of corrupt and sycophantic advisers. This misrule gradually eroded his popularity among both the populace and the Senate. In AD 192, Commodus was assassinated in his bath as part of a palace conspiracy. The Senate swiftly declared a new emperor and undertook measures to erase Commodus’s memory from official records (damnatio memoriae). Later Roman historians, including Edward Gibbon, viewed the death of Commodus as a critical turning point, marking the beginning of the decline of the Roman Empire.

物件編號: A2857

年代: 公元 180-192 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 26.0 x 24.0 x 3.0 mm

重量: 12.3 g

製造地: 羅馬

來源: 福君錢幣 2020

這是一枚公元161至192年，擔任羅馬皇帝的康茂德統治期間鑄造的面值2阿斯銅幣，材質為青銅。

由於年代久遠，錢幣的保存狀況不甚良好，包含周圍的拉丁銘文在內的諸多細節已經遺失，不過尚能勉強勾勒出錢幣的圖案。

錢幣正面是蓄鬍的皇帝戴著皇冠，面朝右側的半身胸像。周圍的拉丁銘文應該會是「L AVREL COMMODVS AVG TR P III」意思是「魯基烏斯·奧雷里烏斯·康茂德，奧古斯都，第三次掌握護民官權力」。護民官是羅馬共和時期，為了保障平民權利免於遭到貴族主導的元老院和執政官所設立的職位，不過其職能在羅馬進入帝國時期逐漸遭到皇帝架空。

錢幣背面則是一位面朝左側，於羅馬神話中表現自由的「自主神」。女神的右手抓著一頂象徵自由的皮萊烏斯帽，左手則握著一把權杖。女神左右兩側各有一個字母「S C」，代表錢幣經過元老院決議通過鑄造，其鑄造地點是直屬元老院管轄的義大利地區。錢幣周圍被磨平的銘文應該是「LIBERTAS AVG IMP II COS P P」意思是「奧古斯都的自由女神，第二次被尊為統帥，執政官，祖國之父」。

康茂德是有羅馬五賢帝美名之一的奧理略親生兒子，5歲的幼齡就被父親封為「凱撒」(副皇帝) 要職，17歲就得到跟父親相同的「奧古斯都」(皇帝) 頭銜。公元180年，父親奧理略在征討日耳曼的前線病逝後，康茂德成為帝國唯一的統治者。康茂德迅速跟日耳曼部落展開和談，此後在位期間不再發動大規模的對外戰爭。然而康茂德對內先是面對胞姊露西拉的刺殺，此後康茂德開始怠惰於政務並且僅聽從佞臣的讒言，最終招致民眾和元老院的厭惡。公元192年，康茂德在浴場遭到密謀殺害，元老院迅速推舉新的皇帝並且消除康茂德存在的紀錄。後續愛德華·吉本在內的羅馬史學家認為，康茂德的死亡標示著羅馬帝國衰亡的開始。