At a glance
- Status
- Ancient & Historical
- Issuing authority
- City of Emesa under Roman rule
- Jurisdiction
- Emesa (Homs), Roman Syria
- Period of use
- c. mid-2nd century – mid-3rd century CE
More currencies: Currencies and Monetary Systems
Emesa coinage refers to the coins struck at or for Emesa, the ancient city now known as Homs in western Syria, during the Roman period. The series consists mainly of bronze civic and Roman provincial coins of the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE, and it is best known for its images of the sacred black stone of Elagabal, the sun god worshipped in the city.
Emesa's religious importance and its links to the Roman imperial family through Julia Domna and the emperor Elagabalus gave its cult a place on coins struck far beyond the city itself, including at Rome.
Background
Emesa lay in the Orontes valley on routes connecting the Syrian coast with the desert and the caravan city of Palmyra. From the 1st century BCE it was ruled by a local dynasty of priest-kings, often called the Emesene or Sampsigeramid dynasty, as clients of Rome. The kingdom was absorbed into the Roman province of Syria in the later 1st century CE. The dynasty is not known for a substantial coinage of its own; the city's main coin issues belong to the period after annexation.
Civic and provincial coinage
Emesa began issuing bronze coins in the 2nd century CE, under the Antonine emperors. Like other cities of the Roman East, it struck coins with the emperor's portrait on the obverse and a local design on the reverse, with legends in Greek naming the people of Emesa. These coins were token small change for local markets, used alongside imperial silver such as the denarius and the regional coinage of nearby cities, including the Decapolis and Palmyra.
Under the Severan dynasty Emesa was raised to the status of a Roman colony, and its coin legends reflect that rank. The Severan period, when the city's fortunes were closely tied to the imperial house, saw its most varied issues.
The stone of Elagabal
The great temple of Emesa housed a large conical black stone, a baetyl, regarded as the presence of the god Elagabal. Coins of Emesa show the temple with the stone visible inside, sometimes with an eagle standing on or before it. These images are among the main evidence for the appearance of the cult object.
The cult became famous across the empire through Elagabalus, a member of the priestly family of Emesa who became emperor in 218 CE. He brought the stone to Rome and promoted the god above traditional Roman deities. Imperial coins of his reign, struck at Rome, show the stone carried in a four-horse chariot and describe the emperor as priest of the sun god. These issues are imperial rather than civic, but they are closely bound to Emesa's religious identity.
Later issues
In the mid-3rd century, during the crisis of the Roman Empire, the usurper Uranius Antoninus was proclaimed at Emesa around 253–254 CE. His coins, including rare gold, also show the sacred stone, a sign of the cult's continuing local weight. City coinage across the Roman East declined sharply in this period, as inflation and the currency debasement of imperial silver made local bronze issues hard to sustain. Emesa's own coin production ended around this time, and Roman imperial money such as the sestertius and, later, the gold solidus supplied the region.
Significance
Emesa coinage shows how a provincial city used its coins to project a local religious identity within the Roman system, and how that identity briefly reached the imperial centre. It sits within the wider family of Syrian city coinages, alongside those of Sidon and Byblos. For background see currency and money.