Caracalla augustus, 198 – 217. Aureus 199-200, AV 20 mm, 7.42 g. ANTONINVS – AVGVSTVS Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. RECTOR – ORBIS Sol standing facing, head l., holding globe and sceptre. C 541. BMC 163. RIC 39a. Calicó 2804. A coin in an exceptional state of preservation. A charming portrait perfectly struck in high relief. Virtually as struck and FdcGraded Ch AU*, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 5/5 - Fine Style, NGC photo certificate number 8237651-005 Ex NAC 71, 2013, 253 and NAC 146, 2024, 2364; MDC 17, 2025, 194 sales. From the Huntington collection (Ex HSA 22234). Caracalla, the eldest son of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna, was given the name of L. Septimius Bassianus when he was born on 4 April 188, before his father’s rise to imperial power. However, after Severus’ defeat of his competitors in the Year of the Five Emperors (AD 193) and his assumption of power as Augustus, he began to establish his own imperial dynasty. He worked to establish it as a continuation of the happy days of the Antonine emperors. To this end, in 196, he elevated Bassianus to the rank of Caesar and renamed him M. Aurelius Antoninus. Although coins, like the present gold aureus, regularly name him as [M. Aurelius] Antoninus, the Caesar acquired the popular nickname Caracalla from a type of hooded Gallic cloak that he habitually wore on campaign. Although he had not yet reached his tenth birthday, on 28 January 198, Caracalla was elevated even further by his father, who granted him the full imperial title of Augustus. At the same time, Severus also appointed his younger son, Geta, to the lesser position of Caesar, although he was born only a year after Caracalla. A year later, Caracalla had further honor heaped upon him when he was hailed by the senate as Pater Patriae (“Father of the Fatherland”). This was patently ridiculous. Not only had the young emperor not yet reached puberty and was unlikely to be the father of anyone, let alone the entire Roman people, but he also had done nothing in the political sphere to warrant such an honor. Nevertheless, he received it just the same as part of his father’s efforts to establish his family as an imperial dynasty. By piling titles and honors onto a son too young to make real use of them, Severus marked Caracalla as his immediate heir and designated successor. This had the double benefit of providing the underpinnings for the continuation of Severan power and reassuring Rome and the empire that they would not be plunged into a new civil war upon Severus' death. This aureus was struck in the years immediately following Caracalla’s elevation as Augustus and belongs to the sycophantic dynastic milieu that surrounded it. The reverse type depicts the sun god, Sol, who is described as RECTOR ORBIS (“Ruler of the World”). It has been suggested that this should be understood as an indicator that peace had returned to the East in the aftermath of the Parthian War undertaken by Severus, accompanied by Caracalla, in AD 197-198, and the type does appear on coins featuring the portrait of Severus and Caracalla, as here. However, it is very likely that we are intended to make a comparison between Sol and Caracalla and Septimius Severus, the rather less allegorical rulers of the [Roman] world. Early in the Year of the Five Emperors (AD 193), Didius Julianus had used an identical reverse legend on his coins but, in his typically unsubtle way, depicted himself on the reverse wearing a toga instead of Sol. Please find here the video of the coin