Philip I.AD 244-249. AR Antoninianus (22mm, 4.04g). Ludi Saeculares (Secular Games) issue, commemorating the 1000th anniversary of Rome. Rome mint, 6th officina. 9th emission, AD 248. IMP PHILIPPVS AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / SAECVLARES AVGG, antelope left; UI in exergue. Near EF, toned.
Continuing the tradition of Claudius and Antoninus Pius before him, the celebration of the Secular Games at the end of every century since the founding of Rome culminated during the reign of Philip I, as the city celebrated her 1,000th anniversary in AD 248. The legends on these issues frequently read Saeculares Augg, and feature a similar iconography from previous games, such as the she-wolf suckling the twins, the various wild beasts paraded through the amphitheatre, and a cippus inscribed for the preservation of the memory of these events.
