Commodus, 177-192. Sestertius (Orichalcum, 32 mm, 29.37 g, 12 h), Rome, 190-191. M COMMOD ANT P FELIX AVG BRIT P P Laureate head of Commodus to right. Rev. HERC COMMODIANO P M TR P XVI / COS VI / S C Hercules, nude to waist, standing front, head to left, holding patera in his right hand and cornucopiae in his left, sacrificing over lit altar to left against which leans club; to left, tree on which hangs lion skin. BMC 669 and pl. 109, 12 (same dies). Cohen 177 corr. (reverse legend). RIC 581. Extremely rare. An exceptional example of this prestigious issue, beautifully struck and with an illustrious pedigree. Somewhat smoothed, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.


In his later years, Commodus increasingly showed signs of megalomania and stylized himself as the Roman Hercules. As such, he claimed to be a son of Jupiter, had statues erected showing him in the guise of Hercules and renamed all the months of the year with his own twelve names. The reverse of this beautiful sestertius refers to the Ara Maxima, an altar on the Forum Boarium devoted to Hercules in remembrance of his slaying of the fire-breathing giant Cacus, who, according to legend, lived on the Aventine and terrorized the local population prior to the founding of Rome. By assimilating Commodus with the great hero, this type thus forges a bridge from Rome's fabled past to the present and praises the megalomaniac emperor as a new Hercules and protector of Rome.