Heritage World Coin Auctions
Monthly Auction 271726 25 Jun 2017
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Ancients
Julia Aquilia Severa, 2nd and 4th wife of Elagabalus (Augusta, AD 221-222). AR denarius (2.96 gm). NGC AU 4/5 - 4/5. Rome, AD 221. IVLIA AQVILIA SEVERA AVG, draped bust of Aquilia right / CONCORDIA, Elagabalus and Aquilia standing facing each other, clasping hands, star between. RIC (Elagabalus) 228. RSC 6. Rare!
The second (and fourth) of Elagabalus' wives, Julia Aquilia Severa was a maiden from a good Roman family who had been selected to join the order of Vestal Virgins. Late in AD 220, she caught the eye of the emperor Varius Avitus Bassianus Antoninus, popularly known by the name of the exotic eastern sun god to which he served as High Priest, Elagabalus. Having conceived the scandalous idea of a union with a Vestal Virgin, the young emperor abruptly divorced the bride he'd only recently married, Julia Paula, and informed the Senate that a child begotten of a high priest of Elagabal and a priestess of Vesta could only be considered divine. Few in the Senate were likely moved by such an argument, but the emperor proceeded to marry the girl early in AD 221, causing widespread consternation and revulsion among the Roman populace. Oddly, the marriage seems to have been a happy one, and Aquilia seems to have been the only female who excited the flamboyantly homosexual emperor's interest. Aquilia was given the rank of Augusta, becoming the fourth woman to bear the title in the female-dominated regime. However, the true power behind the throne, Elagabalus' formidable grandmother Julia Maesa, saw the tide of public favor turning and forced her grandson to divorce Aquilia to marry a respectable matron, Annia Faustina, a descendant of Marcus Aurelius. The willful emperor tired of Faustina almost immediately and returned to Aquilia before the end of AD 221, a course of action which surely contributed to his downfall in March of AD 222. Aquilia Severa seems to have survived her husband's murder, but her subsequent career is unrecorded.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 250-350 USD
Julia Aquilia Severa, 2nd and 4th wife of Elagabalus (Augusta, AD 221-222). AR denarius (2.96 gm). NGC AU 4/5 - 4/5. Rome, AD 221. IVLIA AQVILIA SEVERA AVG, draped bust of Aquilia right / CONCORDIA, Elagabalus and Aquilia standing facing each other, clasping hands, star between. RIC (Elagabalus) 228. RSC 6. Rare!
The second (and fourth) of Elagabalus' wives, Julia Aquilia Severa was a maiden from a good Roman family who had been selected to join the order of Vestal Virgins. Late in AD 220, she caught the eye of the emperor Varius Avitus Bassianus Antoninus, popularly known by the name of the exotic eastern sun god to which he served as High Priest, Elagabalus. Having conceived the scandalous idea of a union with a Vestal Virgin, the young emperor abruptly divorced the bride he'd only recently married, Julia Paula, and informed the Senate that a child begotten of a high priest of Elagabal and a priestess of Vesta could only be considered divine. Few in the Senate were likely moved by such an argument, but the emperor proceeded to marry the girl early in AD 221, causing widespread consternation and revulsion among the Roman populace. Oddly, the marriage seems to have been a happy one, and Aquilia seems to have been the only female who excited the flamboyantly homosexual emperor's interest. Aquilia was given the rank of Augusta, becoming the fourth woman to bear the title in the female-dominated regime. However, the true power behind the throne, Elagabalus' formidable grandmother Julia Maesa, saw the tide of public favor turning and forced her grandson to divorce Aquilia to marry a respectable matron, Annia Faustina, a descendant of Marcus Aurelius. The willful emperor tired of Faustina almost immediately and returned to Aquilia before the end of AD 221, a course of action which surely contributed to his downfall in March of AD 222. Aquilia Severa seems to have survived her husband's murder, but her subsequent career is unrecorded.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 250-350 USD