Roman Empire, Julia Mamaea Denarius - Felicitas (RIC 335)

AR Denarius
Rome, 222-235 AD
3.43g

Obv: Diademed and draped bust of Julia Mamaea (R)
IVLIA MAMAEA AVG

Rev: Felicitas standing front, head to left, legs crossed, holding caduceus in her right hand and leaning on column with her left elbow.
FELICITAS PVBLICA

RIC 335, BMC 483, Cohen 17

Leu Numismatik Web Auction 6, Lot 1062
ex. Maggiore Collection, formed in the late 1970s to early 2000s.

Julia Avita Mamaea (180–235) was the second daughter of Julia Maesa, a powerful Roman woman of Syrian origin, and Syrian noble Gaius Julius Avitus Alexianus. She was a niece of empress Julia Domna and sister of Julia Soaemias Bassiana (mother of Elegabalus). She was born and raised in Emesa (modern Homs, Syria). She was the mother of Roman Emperor Alexander Severus and served as regent of Rome and de facto ruler during her son's reign.

In 232, mother and son were sent north to deal with a German attack. Alexander so alienated the Rhine legions by his lack of military prowess and his inflexibility towards pay that the troops proclaimed Maximinus Thrax as emperor in 235. Troops sent to kill Alexander found him clinging to his mother in a tent. Mother and son were butchered together, ending the Severan dynasty.