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Author Topic: Aquilia Severa, AR-Denarius, CONCORDIA, COTD,  (Read 690 times)

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Online quadrans

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Aquilia Severa, AR-Denarius, CONCORDIA, COTD,
« on: September 13, 2021, 12:10:16 pm »
Aquilia Severa, AR-Denarius, CONCORDIA, COTD,

058 Aquilia Severa ( ?-221 A.D.), RIC IV-II 228, Rome, AR-Denarius, CONCORDIA, */-//--, Elagabalus and Aquilia Severa standing, R! #1
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=171979


058 Aquilia Severa ( ?-221 A.D.), RIC IV-II 228, Rome, AR-Denarius, CONCORDIA, */-//--, Elagabalus and Aquilia Severa standing, R! #1
avers: IVLIA AQVILIA SEVERA AVG, Draped bust right.
reverse: CONCORDIA, Elagabalus, and Aquilia Severa standing right and left, facing each other,
clasping hands; star in left field.
exergue: */-//--, diameter: 16,5-18,5mm, weight: 3,79g, axis: 0h,
mint: Rome, date: 221 A.D.,
ref: RIC IV-II 228 (Elagabalus), p-47, RSC 6, BMC 337, Sear 7680, R!,

Regards

 Joe

All the Best :), Joe
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Offline gallienus1

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Re: Aquilia Severa, AR-Denarius, CONCORDIA, COTD,
« Reply #1 on: September 15, 2021, 02:52:17 am »
Hi Joe.

A wonderful and rare denarius you have there. I was pleased to win one at auction a couple of years ago as well, as it turns out, the same type as yours. I was very pleased to get mine and I'm equally pleased one has landed in your safe hands.

Of course we know that her marriage to Elagabalus in 220 AD was the cause of enormous controversy. Severa was a Vestal Virgin, and to marry the Emperor she would have to break her thirty-year vow of celibacy- which we are assured by the ancient writers was taken very seriously at the time.


I have heard it said that Elagabalus married her for religious reasons. Which makes me wonder if the iconography of the reverse is telling us a lot about court politics at the time.

The Vestals were as traditional as it was possible to get in Rome as far as religion goes. For centuries they had been regarded as fundamental to the continuance and security of the Roman state.

In the same year he married Severa in 220, Elagabalus instated Elagabal as the chief deity of the Roman pantheon. A move that outraged many Romans. Elagabalus had made himself chief priest, worshipping a foreign god above the traditional Jupiter.

By marrying Severa he was perhaps tying to forge a public link between the traditional religious practices of Roman society and the newly imported religion of Elagabal. So we can speculate that the coins reverse showing the emperor holding Severa by the hand, with the surrounding legend CONCORDIA, is intended to show that by his marriage the two religious belief systems were now in harmony.

Only speculation of course, but given the events of the time one that seems fairly plausible.

Best regards,

Steve



 

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Re: Aquilia Severa, AR-Denarius, CONCORDIA, COTD,
« Reply #2 on: September 15, 2021, 04:40:11 pm »
Hi Steve,

Thanks for the words of appreciation, this is really a rare denarius and I was also very happy to get it.

Elagabalus was a strange eccentric emperor.
As a ruler, it was far from my favorite.
However, that is why his coins and the coins of his family members are interesting and suggest many things about what happened at the time.
Therefore, it may be interesting to gather this age and observe confusing family relationships.

Regards

 Joe
All the Best :), Joe
My Gallery

 

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