Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXI 24-25 Mar 2021
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Sabina (wife of Hadrian) AV Aureus. Rome, circa AD 130-133. SABINA•AVGVSTA HADRIANI AVG P P, diademed and draped bust to right, wearing stephane / CONCORDIA•AVG, Concordia seated to left on throne, holding patera and resting arm on statue of Spes on low cippus. RIC II.3 2498; RIC II 398 (Hadrian) var. (cornucopiae below throne); BMCRE 894 (Hadrian); pl. 64, 12 (same dies); Calicó 1429 (same dies). 7.17g, 20mm, 12h.
About Extremely Fine.
From the Collection of GK, Ukrainian Emigrant;
Ex George W. La Borde Collection of Roman Aurei Part I, Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 91, 23 May 2016, lot 19 (hammer: CHF 18,000);
Ex Auktionshaus H. D. Rauch GmbH, Auction 89, 5-8 December 2011, lot 1568.
The representation of the goddess Concordia on the reverse of this aureus of Sabina could be seen with historical hindsight to be rather ironic. The personification of agreement and harmony, Concordia might not seem to be the most obvious choice of deity to represent the empress Sabina's relationship with her husband, the emperor Hadrian, which most literary sources report was at best platonic and at worst unloving and filled with mutual scorn. While Hadrian's adulterous affairs are more widely attested (the most famous of which being with his ill-fated male lover Antinous) the Historia Augusta of 4th century AD suggests that Sabina was also unfaithful during their marriage, resulting in the dismissal of more than one member of the imperial staff; "he [Hadrian] removed from office Septicius Clarus, the prefect of the guard, and Suetonius Tranquillus, the imperial secretary, and many others besides, because without his consent they had been conducting themselves toward his wife, Sabina, in a more informal fashion than the etiquette of the court demanded. And, as he was himself wont to say, he would have sent away his wife too, on the ground of ill-temper and irritability, had he been merely a private citizen" (Historia Augusta, Hadrian, 11.3).
Whatever the nature of the relationship between the emperor and his wife behind closed doors, outwardly Sabina appeared to be held in high esteem. She was granted the title of Augusta in AD 128, just over 10 years after Hadrian had become emperor and she then appeared on regular issues of coinage for the rest of her life, in addition to the large number of monumental representations of her that were also erected. Indeed, her coinage is believed to have had more issues than that of any previous empress, with a wider breadth of portraits depicted than seen on the coins of other imperial female figures.
The reason for her sustained coinage is not known, however, it seems likely that her proximity to the family of Hadrian's predecessor, the emperor Trajan, may have been an influential factor. Sabina was the daughter of Matidia, Trajan's niece, with whom he and his wife Plotina were very close. The Historia Augusta (Hadrian, 2.10) states that it was thanks to the influence of Plotina that Trajan was convinced to allow the marriage of Hadrian to his niece's daughter Sabina, thus drawing Hadrian into the wider family and, ultimately, resulting in his adoption by the emperor. Richard Abdy comments that "both Plotina and Matidia had been key allies in Hadrian's rise to power and were given rare lifetime issues at the beginning of Hadrian's reign" (Chronology of Sabina's coinage at the Roman Mint, Revue Numismatique, 2014, p.75), highlighting that the precedent had already been set by Hadrian early on for approving the long term issuing of coins of women in the imperial family. Therefore, it could be argued that after the deaths of Matidia and Plotina in AD 119 and AD 122 respectively, the decision to produce regular coinage with the image of his wife Sabina was merely a continuation of the tradition of lauding imperial women and, perhaps more importantly, an indirect reminder of his connection to the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and as such the legitimacy of his rule.
About Extremely Fine.
From the Collection of GK, Ukrainian Emigrant;
Ex George W. La Borde Collection of Roman Aurei Part I, Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 91, 23 May 2016, lot 19 (hammer: CHF 18,000);
Ex Auktionshaus H. D. Rauch GmbH, Auction 89, 5-8 December 2011, lot 1568.
The representation of the goddess Concordia on the reverse of this aureus of Sabina could be seen with historical hindsight to be rather ironic. The personification of agreement and harmony, Concordia might not seem to be the most obvious choice of deity to represent the empress Sabina's relationship with her husband, the emperor Hadrian, which most literary sources report was at best platonic and at worst unloving and filled with mutual scorn. While Hadrian's adulterous affairs are more widely attested (the most famous of which being with his ill-fated male lover Antinous) the Historia Augusta of 4th century AD suggests that Sabina was also unfaithful during their marriage, resulting in the dismissal of more than one member of the imperial staff; "he [Hadrian] removed from office Septicius Clarus, the prefect of the guard, and Suetonius Tranquillus, the imperial secretary, and many others besides, because without his consent they had been conducting themselves toward his wife, Sabina, in a more informal fashion than the etiquette of the court demanded. And, as he was himself wont to say, he would have sent away his wife too, on the ground of ill-temper and irritability, had he been merely a private citizen" (Historia Augusta, Hadrian, 11.3).
Whatever the nature of the relationship between the emperor and his wife behind closed doors, outwardly Sabina appeared to be held in high esteem. She was granted the title of Augusta in AD 128, just over 10 years after Hadrian had become emperor and she then appeared on regular issues of coinage for the rest of her life, in addition to the large number of monumental representations of her that were also erected. Indeed, her coinage is believed to have had more issues than that of any previous empress, with a wider breadth of portraits depicted than seen on the coins of other imperial female figures.
The reason for her sustained coinage is not known, however, it seems likely that her proximity to the family of Hadrian's predecessor, the emperor Trajan, may have been an influential factor. Sabina was the daughter of Matidia, Trajan's niece, with whom he and his wife Plotina were very close. The Historia Augusta (Hadrian, 2.10) states that it was thanks to the influence of Plotina that Trajan was convinced to allow the marriage of Hadrian to his niece's daughter Sabina, thus drawing Hadrian into the wider family and, ultimately, resulting in his adoption by the emperor. Richard Abdy comments that "both Plotina and Matidia had been key allies in Hadrian's rise to power and were given rare lifetime issues at the beginning of Hadrian's reign" (Chronology of Sabina's coinage at the Roman Mint, Revue Numismatique, 2014, p.75), highlighting that the precedent had already been set by Hadrian early on for approving the long term issuing of coins of women in the imperial family. Therefore, it could be argued that after the deaths of Matidia and Plotina in AD 119 and AD 122 respectively, the decision to produce regular coinage with the image of his wife Sabina was merely a continuation of the tradition of lauding imperial women and, perhaps more importantly, an indirect reminder of his connection to the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and as such the legitimacy of his rule.