Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 132 30-31 May 2022
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Plautilla, wife of Caracalla
Aureus 202-205 (?), AV 7.40 g. PLAVTILLA – AVGVSTA Draped bust r. Rev. VENVS – VICTRIX Venus standing l., holding apple and palm branch and resting l. elbow on shield; to her l., Cupid standing l., holding helmet. C 24. BMC Caracalla 427. RIC Caracalla 369. Jameson 195 (this coin). Calicó 2874 (these dies).
Extremely rare. A lovely portrait of fine style and a delightful
light reddish tone. About extremely fine
Ex Rollin & Feuardent, 25 April 1887, Ponton d'Amécourt, 437; Rollin & Feuardent 26 May 1909, Evans, 216; Bourgey 1958, Perret, 110 and Leu 93, 2005, Perfectionist, 71 sales. From the Jameson collection.
Plautilla's marriage in 202 to the 14-year-old emperor Caracalla was an act of political expedience rather than love; we are told she despised her husband so much that she would not even dine with him. Plautilla's father Plautianus had for five years been Caracalla's praetorian prefect, and by this marriage he sought to strengthen his ties to the Imperial family. He had prepared his daughter well, sparing no expense along the way. Dio, who attended the wedding, tells us that Plautianus had castrated one hundred Romans of good birth just so his daughter would have a suitable number of eunuchs to school her in the finer arts of life, and that the dowry he offered was fifty times the normal amount for a royal woman. Plautianus' wealth, power and ego grew immensely, and he even held the consulship in 203. This alone would have infuriated Caracalla, but the additional insult was that Geta, the brother who Caracalla hated perhaps even more than Plautianus, was his colleague in that consulship. The prefect had become virtual co-emperor with Septimius Severus, the senior emperor and Caracalla's father. But, as history has shown Caracalla was no shrinking violet, and as his own power and independence grew he became less tolerant of Plautianus and Plautilla. By early 205 he had assembled enough evidence to murder Plautianus and to banish his wife to Lipari, a volcanic island north of Sicily. Plautilla remained there for the better part of a decade until, upon becoming sole Augustus, Caracalla had her murdered.
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Aureus 202-205 (?), AV 7.40 g. PLAVTILLA – AVGVSTA Draped bust r. Rev. VENVS – VICTRIX Venus standing l., holding apple and palm branch and resting l. elbow on shield; to her l., Cupid standing l., holding helmet. C 24. BMC Caracalla 427. RIC Caracalla 369. Jameson 195 (this coin). Calicó 2874 (these dies).
Extremely rare. A lovely portrait of fine style and a delightful
light reddish tone. About extremely fine
Ex Rollin & Feuardent, 25 April 1887, Ponton d'Amécourt, 437; Rollin & Feuardent 26 May 1909, Evans, 216; Bourgey 1958, Perret, 110 and Leu 93, 2005, Perfectionist, 71 sales. From the Jameson collection.
Plautilla's marriage in 202 to the 14-year-old emperor Caracalla was an act of political expedience rather than love; we are told she despised her husband so much that she would not even dine with him. Plautilla's father Plautianus had for five years been Caracalla's praetorian prefect, and by this marriage he sought to strengthen his ties to the Imperial family. He had prepared his daughter well, sparing no expense along the way. Dio, who attended the wedding, tells us that Plautianus had castrated one hundred Romans of good birth just so his daughter would have a suitable number of eunuchs to school her in the finer arts of life, and that the dowry he offered was fifty times the normal amount for a royal woman. Plautianus' wealth, power and ego grew immensely, and he even held the consulship in 203. This alone would have infuriated Caracalla, but the additional insult was that Geta, the brother who Caracalla hated perhaps even more than Plautianus, was his colleague in that consulship. The prefect had become virtual co-emperor with Septimius Severus, the senior emperor and Caracalla's father. But, as history has shown Caracalla was no shrinking violet, and as his own power and independence grew he became less tolerant of Plautianus and Plautilla. By early 205 he had assembled enough evidence to murder Plautianus and to banish his wife to Lipari, a volcanic island north of Sicily. Plautilla remained there for the better part of a decade until, upon becoming sole Augustus, Caracalla had her murdered.
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