DescriptionROMAN EMPIRE, Macrinus, 217-218 AD, billon, denariusMacrinus was Praetorian Prefect (Commander of the Imperial Guard) for Caracalla when someone prophesied that he would become Emperor, implicating him in a treasonous plot without him doing anything. He decided that the only way out of execution when the Emperor heard about it was to assassinate his boss. Anarchy ensued as various players made their moves. He lasted about fourteen months.In the Imperial Period Roman coinage became an engine for governmental propaganda. All of the themes of the coins are celebratory of some aspect of govermental authority or achievement. Macrinus was a Praetorian Prefect under Caracalla. A soothsayer issued a prophecy regarding Macrinus and the throne, which, if it had come to the attention of the emperor, would have resulted in his execution. Macrinus went for it, and arranged a successful assassination of Caracalla. The situation with Parthia was settled for the time being on terms unfavorable to Rome. A campaign against him was begun that resulted in a rebellion, during which he was assassinated.The Roman Republic was founded in response to tyrannical kings. It functioned for several centuries in a kind of balance of rich and poor people (slaves didn’t count). The general idea was that laws would constrain personal power. During the days of Julius Caesar, et al, powerful people became too powerful, and a new system of slightly constrained autocracy, the Empire, developed. The main catalog we use on this web site for Roman coins is Roman Coins and their Values, by David Sear.“Ancient Coins” includes Greek and Roman coins and those of neighbors and successors, geographically from Morocco and Spain all the way to Afghanistan. Date ranges for these begin with the world’s earliest coins of the 8th century BC to, in an extreme case, the end of Byzantine Empire, 1453 AD.
