Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Auction 117 19-20 May 2021
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Diva Matidia. Died AD 119. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.37 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck under Hadrian, AD 119-120 (and later). Draped bust right, wearing double stephane with hair braided and piled up / Eagle standing left on scepter, with wings displayed. RIC II.3 2462 (same rev. die as illustration); RSC 6. Lightly toned. VF. Rare.
Matidia, the niece of Trajan, proved to be the lynchpin that held together the imperial succession for the next three generations. Matidia was married three times in succession to important Roman Senators, all of whom predeceased her. Vibia Sabina, her daughter by her first husband, was married to the future emperor Hadrian. By her third husband, she bore Rupilia Faustina, who went on to become mother to Faustina the Elder, future wife of Antoninus Pius; she was also the grandmother of Marcus Aurelius and also his wife Faustina the Younger, and thus great-grandmother (on both sides) to Commodus. She died early in the reign of her son-in-law, Hadrian, in AD 119. This denarius was struck to mark Matidia's formal deification, at which Hadrian himself delivered the funeral oration.
Matidia, the niece of Trajan, proved to be the lynchpin that held together the imperial succession for the next three generations. Matidia was married three times in succession to important Roman Senators, all of whom predeceased her. Vibia Sabina, her daughter by her first husband, was married to the future emperor Hadrian. By her third husband, she bore Rupilia Faustina, who went on to become mother to Faustina the Elder, future wife of Antoninus Pius; she was also the grandmother of Marcus Aurelius and also his wife Faustina the Younger, and thus great-grandmother (on both sides) to Commodus. She died early in the reign of her son-in-law, Hadrian, in AD 119. This denarius was struck to mark Matidia's formal deification, at which Hadrian himself delivered the funeral oration.