New Caracalla Denarius.

A recent purchase to sit alongside his brother.

Strangely these types always remind me of Rastafarians..
Both Caracalla and Geta sporting super long "Dreadlocks"!

Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Caracalla
Denarius of the Roman Imperial Period 206 AD
Material: Silver
Diameter: 20mm
Weight: 3.23g
Mint: Rome
Reference: RIC IV Caracalla 179
Provenance: Ex InAsta Numismatics San Marino

Obverse:
You can see the right-facing bust of Caracalla with a laurel wreath. The inscription reads: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG for Antoninus Pius Augustus.

Reverse:
Caracalla is shown standing left, veiled and dressed in a toga. In his outstretched right hand he holds a patera (sacrificial bowl) over an altar. The inscription reads: VOTA SVSCEPTA X for Vota Suscepta Decennalia (vows for the coming ten years of reign).

Comments:
The so-called vota publica represent a comparatively small group from the pictorial diversity of Roman coinage. Depending on the occasion, the sacrifice and vow can be performed by the ruler, a member of the imperial family or another high-ranking civil servant. Likewise, however, collective sacrifices and vows, such as those of the Senate and the Roman people, were also common, which were then depicted on coins as personifications.

It is important to distinguish between "vota suscepta" and "vota soluta". The former stand for the vows to be fulfilled: the supplicant vows a promise to one or more deities that he intends to fulfill. The vota soluta, on the other hand, represent the vows that have already been fulfilled. With regard to the vota for government anniversaries, this means that, for example, after the end of a ten-year government period, the "vota soluta decennalia" is praised and at the same time the "vota suscepta vicennalia", i.e. the next ten years up to were promised for the twentieth anniversary. Here it can also be assumed that in practice different ceremonies for „soluta" and „suscepta" have existed. In general, however, contemporary sources reveal little about the practice of religious ceremonies.

Of particular relevance here are the vota coins on the occasion of government anniversaries, which make up the largest share of vota coins with about 70% and can be observed from the Augustan period up to the early Byzantine period. The emperor is always depicted capite velato (with his head veiled). A sacrificial animal, sacrificial servants, musicians, etc. can also appear as accompaniments. An architectural view in the background (temple front) is also possible. The votum solutum and the votum susceptum can be distinguished on the basis of the image design (sacrificial animal). A comparison of all soluta types with the depiction of the emperor sacrificing shows that all of them, without exception, show a sacrificial animal and the emperor sacrificing from a patera. A reverse examination of all suscepta types shows that with one exception under Septimius Severus no sacrificial animal is represented. From this it can be concluded that the bloody sacrifice was made only when the vota soluta was fulfilled (Text excerpt from Julia Sophia Hanelt: Vota or not Vota? That is the question! The imagery of the vota coins of the Roman emperors of the Principate period).