Laodicea ad Mare Denario 198-209 d.C. Geta EBC-

Geta (AD 198–209). Denarius. Laodicea ad Mare.

Silver. 21 mm. 3.25 g.

Obv.: P SEPT GETA CAES PONT. Bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust of Geta facing right.

Rev.: PIETAS. Pietas standing left, raising her right hand over an altar and holding a censer in her left hand.

References: RIC 99; RSC 97, 97a; BMC 720.

Condition: EF-. An exceptional example in virtually perfect condition.

Geta, the younger son of Emperor Septimius Severus, spent much of his life overshadowed by his elder brother, Caracalla. This denarius was struck during Geta's time as Caesar and features Pietas on the reverse, the Roman personification of piety and devotion to family, the gods and the state.

Ironically, the message of harmony and loyalty conveyed by this coin contrasts sharply with the tragic fate of the two brothers. In AD 211, after succeeding their father as co-emperors, Caracalla ordered Geta's assassination in the presence of their mother and subsequently imposed a damnatio memoriae, seeking to erase his brother's memory from Roman history.

Coins such as this denarius remain valuable historical witnesses to the brief and unfortunate life of the young prince.

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