Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIX 26-27 Mar 2020
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Julia Domna (wife of S. Severus) AV Aureus. Rome, circa AD 196-211. IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right / IVNO, Juno standing to left, veiled, holding patera and sceptre; at her feet, peacock standing to left. RIC 559 (Severus); C. 81 var. (no peacock); BMCRE 37 (Severus); Calicó 2617 (same dies). 7.59g, 21mm, 6h.
Near Mint State; magnificent deep red tone.
Ex Leu Numismatik AG, Auction 93, 10 May 2005, lot 62;
Ex R. Perret Collection, E. Bourgey, 19 December 1958, lot 107;
Ex M. P. Vautier & Prof. M. Collignon Collection, Naville & Cie, Auction II, 12 June 1922, lot 1141;
From the Cologne-Gertrudenstrasse Hoard of 1909.
The longevity and prominence of Domna's station as empress distinguishes her as one of the most influential women in Roman history, ruling as Augusta for a quarter of a century first as empress consort of Septimius Severus, then later as empress mother of Caracalla. Born in Emesa, Syria (modern-day Homs), Julia Domna was the youngest of a prominent local family, descended from the priest-kings who worshipped the sun-deity Elagabalus. She married the future emperor Septimius Severus, two decades her senior, in AD 187, allegedly after Septimius came seeking a Syrian wife on the advice of a horoscope. Their marriage was a happy one, and Domna produced two sons, – Caracalla and Geta - in quick succession. Furthermore, Septimius is reported by Herodian, Cassius Dio and the author of the Historia Augusta to have esteemed Domna's political advice, and Domna accompanied her husband on his military campaigns, with the couple rarely separating.
After Septimius' victory in the civil war of 193, Domna and her sons quickly became central to the message of dynastic stability promoted by Severan propaganda. She was awarded titles such as 'Mother of the Invincible Camps' and 'Mater Augustus' (Mother of Augustus). As scholar J. Langford notes, coins bearing this title were not created specifically to pay the army, but were minted in Rome perhaps with the intention to undermine the Senate by strengthening the perception of closeness between the imperial family and army.
Despite her image being more prominent than ever on coinage, Domna's power in the imperial court was curtailed between AD 200-205 with the rise of Plautianus, the prefect of the Praetorian Guard, who took her place as Septimius' closest adviser and confidante. She used her time away from court to develop a lifelong passion for philosophy, cultivating a circle of some of the finest thinkers and rhetoricians of the day. Cassius Dio writes that this earned Domna 'the most splendid reputation' for her intelligence and passion for letters among her contemporaries.
Upon the death of Septimius in February 211, Domna's influence rose again with the accession of her two sons. Despite the overwhelming imagery of family unity promoted on the Severan coinage, the bitter rivalry of the two sons now escalated into assassination attempts and a proposed division of the empire. Skilfully utilising her dual role as mother and Augusta, she made a public and emotive plea to her sons in front of those assembled for peace negotiations. Pulling both into an embrace, she lamented that she too must be divided between them. 'And with everyone pitying her,' writes Herodian, 'the meeting adjourned and the project was abandoned.'
Although she had saved the integrity of the empire, Domna's efforts did not resolve the conflict between the brothers. Geta was murdered on Caracalla's orders a few months later, in December 211, stabbed to death before dying in his mother's arms. She had allegedly been tricked into attendance by Caracalla and may have sustained injuries herself during the attack. It was under her son's sole reign, however, that she reached the zenith of her power. She handled imperial correspondence and petitions during his absence from Rome, which became permanent after 213, and took on many other administrative duties of the emperor. Interestingly, the number of coins depicting Julia Domna then fell dramatically to their lowest levels of her time in power. After travelling with her son to Antioch in 217, Domna received news of Caracalla's assassination by a common soldier, a certain Martialis, while commanding his forces on the Parthian frontier. Reluctant to return to private life, and suffering the early stages of breast cancer, she took her own life.
This particular coin was part of the Getrudenstrasse Hoard of Cologne, found by workmen digging the foundation of a building in 1909. It consisted of approximately 15,000 denarii and 150 aurei thought to have been votive offerings buried to protect them from the extortionate policies of Maximinus; this aureus is among the latest in the group (W. Reusch, Der Kölner Münzschatzfund vom Jahre 1909, Leipzig 1935). Many of the coins of that hoard bear a distinctive colouration similar to that of the Boscoreale Hoard. The intense colouration is suggestive of the coins having been subjected to extreme heat, likely as the result of a fire that consumed the building above.
Near Mint State; magnificent deep red tone.
Ex Leu Numismatik AG, Auction 93, 10 May 2005, lot 62;
Ex R. Perret Collection, E. Bourgey, 19 December 1958, lot 107;
Ex M. P. Vautier & Prof. M. Collignon Collection, Naville & Cie, Auction II, 12 June 1922, lot 1141;
From the Cologne-Gertrudenstrasse Hoard of 1909.
The longevity and prominence of Domna's station as empress distinguishes her as one of the most influential women in Roman history, ruling as Augusta for a quarter of a century first as empress consort of Septimius Severus, then later as empress mother of Caracalla. Born in Emesa, Syria (modern-day Homs), Julia Domna was the youngest of a prominent local family, descended from the priest-kings who worshipped the sun-deity Elagabalus. She married the future emperor Septimius Severus, two decades her senior, in AD 187, allegedly after Septimius came seeking a Syrian wife on the advice of a horoscope. Their marriage was a happy one, and Domna produced two sons, – Caracalla and Geta - in quick succession. Furthermore, Septimius is reported by Herodian, Cassius Dio and the author of the Historia Augusta to have esteemed Domna's political advice, and Domna accompanied her husband on his military campaigns, with the couple rarely separating.
After Septimius' victory in the civil war of 193, Domna and her sons quickly became central to the message of dynastic stability promoted by Severan propaganda. She was awarded titles such as 'Mother of the Invincible Camps' and 'Mater Augustus' (Mother of Augustus). As scholar J. Langford notes, coins bearing this title were not created specifically to pay the army, but were minted in Rome perhaps with the intention to undermine the Senate by strengthening the perception of closeness between the imperial family and army.
Despite her image being more prominent than ever on coinage, Domna's power in the imperial court was curtailed between AD 200-205 with the rise of Plautianus, the prefect of the Praetorian Guard, who took her place as Septimius' closest adviser and confidante. She used her time away from court to develop a lifelong passion for philosophy, cultivating a circle of some of the finest thinkers and rhetoricians of the day. Cassius Dio writes that this earned Domna 'the most splendid reputation' for her intelligence and passion for letters among her contemporaries.
Upon the death of Septimius in February 211, Domna's influence rose again with the accession of her two sons. Despite the overwhelming imagery of family unity promoted on the Severan coinage, the bitter rivalry of the two sons now escalated into assassination attempts and a proposed division of the empire. Skilfully utilising her dual role as mother and Augusta, she made a public and emotive plea to her sons in front of those assembled for peace negotiations. Pulling both into an embrace, she lamented that she too must be divided between them. 'And with everyone pitying her,' writes Herodian, 'the meeting adjourned and the project was abandoned.'
Although she had saved the integrity of the empire, Domna's efforts did not resolve the conflict between the brothers. Geta was murdered on Caracalla's orders a few months later, in December 211, stabbed to death before dying in his mother's arms. She had allegedly been tricked into attendance by Caracalla and may have sustained injuries herself during the attack. It was under her son's sole reign, however, that she reached the zenith of her power. She handled imperial correspondence and petitions during his absence from Rome, which became permanent after 213, and took on many other administrative duties of the emperor. Interestingly, the number of coins depicting Julia Domna then fell dramatically to their lowest levels of her time in power. After travelling with her son to Antioch in 217, Domna received news of Caracalla's assassination by a common soldier, a certain Martialis, while commanding his forces on the Parthian frontier. Reluctant to return to private life, and suffering the early stages of breast cancer, she took her own life.
This particular coin was part of the Getrudenstrasse Hoard of Cologne, found by workmen digging the foundation of a building in 1909. It consisted of approximately 15,000 denarii and 150 aurei thought to have been votive offerings buried to protect them from the extortionate policies of Maximinus; this aureus is among the latest in the group (W. Reusch, Der Kölner Münzschatzfund vom Jahre 1909, Leipzig 1935). Many of the coins of that hoard bear a distinctive colouration similar to that of the Boscoreale Hoard. The intense colouration is suggestive of the coins having been subjected to extreme heat, likely as the result of a fire that consumed the building above.