Septimius Severus, Rome mint, 204 AD.,
Denarius (18-20 mm / 3.58 g),
Obv.: SEVERVS - PIVS AVG , laureate head of Septimius Severus right.
Rev.: INDVLGENTIA AVGG / IN CARTH , Dea Caelestis, holding thunderbolt and sceptre, riding r. on a lion leaping over waters gushing from rock.
RIC 125, 266 ; BMC 218, 335 ; C. 222 ; Hill 655 .
Dea Caelestis, who was also equated with Cybele and Magna Mater, was the patron goddess of Carthage. She appears here, riding on a lion above a stream of water flowing from a rocky source, to commemorate a major series of public works at Carthage, probably including an important aqueduct built to supply the city with water. The type itself is taken from a statue of Magna Mater, which was located on the roof of her shrine in the Circus Maximus in Rome and that had previously appeared on coins under Lucilla and Commodus. Septimius made an expedition to North Africa in AD 202, and remained there into AD 203. During this time, he led a campaign against the tribes who raided the province from the deserts to the south and east, and also undertook a number of building projects to improve both the local infrastructure as well as the overall prestige of the various cities. One of the major projects was the construction of an important aqueduct in Carthage. As Dea Caelestis was the patron goddess of Carthage, and while this issue was certainly struck in commemoration of Septimius' general works there, the particular iconography of her riding on a lion above a stream of water flowing from a rocky source may have been chosen as a specific reference to the aqueduct.
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