Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 135 21 Nov 2022
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The Roman Empire. Julia Maesa, grandmother of Elagabalus.
Aureus, eastern mint circa 218-219, AV 6.55 g. IVLIA MAESA AVG Diademed bust r., wearing stephane. Rev. I – V – N – O Juno standing l., holding patera and sceptre; below, peacock standing l. C 19 (this coin). BMC 296 note (this coin). RIC 255. Calicó 3049 (this coin illustrated).
Apparently unique and among one of the very few aurei of Julia Maesa known. A very
interesting and unusual Eastern portrait. Marks in field and on edge,
otherwise good very fine
Ex Rollin & Feuardent 27 April 1887, d'Amécourt, 462; Naville II, 1922, Evans, 109; Bourgey 1958, Perret, 113; Leu 87,2003, 70 and Gemini I, 2005, 414 sales. From the Tavernost collection. This coin is illustrated in The Roman Aurei by X.E. Calicó.
Though the women of the Severan-Emesan dynasty apparently all possessed forceful personalities, one in particular may be credited with preserving the family's grip on imperial power- Julia Maesa. Her original role was obscure, as she was the sister of Julia Domna, whose position was secure as the wife of the dynasty's founder, Septimius Severus. During the twenty-five years that elapsed between the family's rise in 193 until its unexpected recovery in 218, Maesa kept a low profile. However, after Caracalla was murdered in 217 by the usurper Macrinus, Maesa rightly feared for the welfare of her family. She worked with her daughters Julia Soaemias and Julia Maesa to reconstruct the dynasty. Their plan was to win back the loyalty of the legions in the East, and to stage a counter-revolution against Macrinus. Their effort was well executed and was immediately successful. Since Maesa's two grandsons were young and, by nature, impractical souls, we must attribute this success to the women of the dynasty, of which Maesa was the matriarch. History shows that the campaign Maesa had engineered to overthrow Macrinus in the East was nothing compared to the delicate balancing act she would have to maintain in Rome once the bizarre and obscene behaviour of her eldest Grandson, Elagabalus, the first emperor of the restored Severan-Emesan dynasty, became known to the public.
Aureus, eastern mint circa 218-219, AV 6.55 g. IVLIA MAESA AVG Diademed bust r., wearing stephane. Rev. I – V – N – O Juno standing l., holding patera and sceptre; below, peacock standing l. C 19 (this coin). BMC 296 note (this coin). RIC 255. Calicó 3049 (this coin illustrated).
Apparently unique and among one of the very few aurei of Julia Maesa known. A very
interesting and unusual Eastern portrait. Marks in field and on edge,
otherwise good very fine
Ex Rollin & Feuardent 27 April 1887, d'Amécourt, 462; Naville II, 1922, Evans, 109; Bourgey 1958, Perret, 113; Leu 87,2003, 70 and Gemini I, 2005, 414 sales. From the Tavernost collection. This coin is illustrated in The Roman Aurei by X.E. Calicó.
Though the women of the Severan-Emesan dynasty apparently all possessed forceful personalities, one in particular may be credited with preserving the family's grip on imperial power- Julia Maesa. Her original role was obscure, as she was the sister of Julia Domna, whose position was secure as the wife of the dynasty's founder, Septimius Severus. During the twenty-five years that elapsed between the family's rise in 193 until its unexpected recovery in 218, Maesa kept a low profile. However, after Caracalla was murdered in 217 by the usurper Macrinus, Maesa rightly feared for the welfare of her family. She worked with her daughters Julia Soaemias and Julia Maesa to reconstruct the dynasty. Their plan was to win back the loyalty of the legions in the East, and to stage a counter-revolution against Macrinus. Their effort was well executed and was immediately successful. Since Maesa's two grandsons were young and, by nature, impractical souls, we must attribute this success to the women of the dynasty, of which Maesa was the matriarch. History shows that the campaign Maesa had engineered to overthrow Macrinus in the East was nothing compared to the delicate balancing act she would have to maintain in Rome once the bizarre and obscene behaviour of her eldest Grandson, Elagabalus, the first emperor of the restored Severan-Emesan dynasty, became known to the public.