Silver Denarius of Geta RIC 20

Silver Denarius (18mm, 3.36gm) Struck AD 200-202 Rome

Obv: P SEPT GETA CAES PONT ; Bare-headed and draped bust right.

Rev: SECVRIT IMPERII ; Securitas seated left holding globe.

RIC IV i 20, Sear-7200
ex. Vaughn Coin  ex. Eden Seminary Collection

The Front (Obverse): A Young Prince

• The Picture: You see a youthful, bare-headed, and draped bust facing right. Unlike his older brother Caracalla, who often looks fiercely aggressive on his coins, Geta here is depicted as a calm, smooth-faced teenager. Since he hadn't been raised to Augustus (co-emperor) yet, he doesn't wear a laurel crown.
• The Inscription: P SEPT GETA CAES PONT
  • P SEPT GETA: Short for Publius Septimius Geta.
  • CAES: Caesar. This was his official title as the junior heir to the throne.
  • PONT: Short for Pontifex. It shows he was inducted into the college of priests, a standard political move to build up a young royal's resume.

The Back (Reverse): Security for the Empire

• The Picture: The goddess Securitas (the personification of security and stability) is sitting comfortably in a chair, holding a globe in her hand.
• The Inscription: SECVRIT IMPERII (Security of the Empire).

The Historical "Spin" (Propaganda)

In ancient Rome, coins were the ultimate mass media. This coin was a giant billboard telling the public: "Don't worry about the future. The dynasty is strong, we have a young heir ready to go, and the empire is completely safe and secure."

The visual combination of Securitas holding a globe is a powerful flex. It tells the Roman citizens that the imperial family doesn't just have things under control in Rome—they hold the safety of the entire known world in the palm of their hand.

The Tragic Twist

What makes this piece so poignant to hold and look at today is the heavy irony of that "Security" message. Geta’s father, Septimius Severus, desperately wanted his two sons to rule together. On his deathbed in AD 211, his famous final words to them were: "Be harmonious, enrich the soldiers, and scorn all others."

They did not listen. The sibling rivalry between Geta and Caracalla was so bitter that they literally divided the imperial palace in Rome with walls to avoid each other. Just months after their father died, Caracalla pretended to seek a reconciliation meeting in their mother Julia Domna's apartments. When Geta arrived, Caracalla's guards rushed in and murdered 22-year-old Geta right in his mother's arms.

Caracalla then ordered a strict damnatio memoriae—wiping Geta's face and name off statues, monuments, and documents across the empire. Fortunately, they couldn't recall millions of silver denarii like this one, leaving us with a beautiful, surviving piece of his legacy!