Geta, As Caesar, Denarius

Geta as Caesar (AD 198–209), Denarius, AR, Rome, struck c. AD 200–202; 3.23 g, 18 mm. Obverse legend P SEPT GETA CAES PONT; bare-headed, draped bust right. Reverse legend PRINC IVVENTVTIS; Geta standing left in military attire, holding baton and scepter, flanked by two standards. Struck at Rome on a denarius flan consistent with the early Severan standard and style. RIC IV Geta 18.

Struck while Geta served as junior emperor under Septimius Severus, this denarius advertises his status as princeps iuventutis (“prince of the youth”), a traditional honor marking an heir’s leadership of the equestrian order and grooming for high command. The obverse legend’s PONT records his membership in the priestly college of pontifices. Geta was later elevated to Augustus in AD 209 and was killed in AD 211, after which his memory was formally condemned; his Caesar issues such as this preserve contemporaneous evidence of his offices and role in Severan succession propaganda.