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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Roman Coins| ▸ |The Severan Period| ▸ |Julia Domna||View Options:   | | | Julia Domna was the second wife of Septimius Severus and mother of Caracalla and Geta. An intelligent, talented and beautiful woman, Julia Domna exercised great influence during her husband's reign and practically administered the empire for her sons. In 217 A.D. after the assassination of Caracalla, she possibly committed suicide by starvation or she died of breast cancer. |
Laetitia is the Roman goddess of gaiety and joy, her name deriving from the root word laeta, meaning happy. She is typically depicted on coinage with a wreath in her right hand, and a scepter, a rudder, or an anchor in her left hand. On the coins of empresses, Laetitia may signal a birth in the Imperial family. RS113155. Silver denarius, RIC IV S561, RSC III 101, BMCRE V S45, Hunter III 65, aVF, weight 2.648 g, maximum diameter 18.1 mm, die axis 0o, Laodicea ad Mare (Latakia, Syria) mint, c. 210 A.D.; obverse IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bare-headed bust right, hair in horizontal ridges, flat coil at the back of head, annulet earring on cheek, annulet at top of drapery on neck; reverse LAETITIA, Laetitia standing facing, head left, wreath in right hand, rudder in left hand; ex Numismatik Naumann auction 130 (2 Jul 2023), lot 1309 (part of);
Julia Domna, Augusta 194 - 8 April 217 A.D., Petra, Arabia
| Petra, the capital of the ancient Nabatean Kingdom, is a famous archaeological site in Jordan's southwestern desert. UNESCO describes Petra as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage." The BBC selected Petra as one of "the 40 places you have to see before you die." Accessed via a narrow canyon called Al Siq, it contains tombs and temples carved into pink sandstone cliffs, earning its nickname, the "Rose City." Perhaps its most famous structure is 45m-high Al Khazneh, a temple with an ornate, Greek-style facade, and known as The Treasury. After the last Nabataean king, Rabbel II, died in 106 A.D., Trajan incorporated Nabataea into the Roman province Arabia Petraea. One of the latest known Nabataean language inscriptions, from 191 A.D., records "...This in the year 85 of the Eparchy [Roman Rule], in which Arabs destroyed the land." It seems likely that raiding Arab tribes extinguished what remained of a weakened Nabataean culture. In 747 A.D. what was left of the Nabataean cities was destroyed in a major earthquake. |  |
Cybele, called mother of the gods, was originally Anatolian mother goddess. In Rome, Cybele was known as Magna Mater ("Great Mother"). Roman mythographers reinvented her as a Trojan goddess, and thus an ancestral goddess of the Roman people by way of the Trojan prince Aeneas. With Rome's eventual hegemony over the Mediterranean world, Romanised forms of Cybele's cults spread throughout the Roman Empire.RS113167. Silver denarius, RIC IV C382 (S); BMCRE V p. 432, 14; RSC III 137; SRCV II 7401, Choice gVF, well centered, nice portrait, toned, flow lines, edge cracks, weight 2.498 g, maximum diameter 18.9 mm, die axis 0o, Rome mint, reign of Caracalla, 211 - 215 A.D.; obverse IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG, draped bust right; reverse MATRI DEVM, Cybele standing facing, legs crossed, leaning with left arm resting on a column, head left, towered and veiled, drum in right hand, long scepter resting against left arm, lion left at feet half visible from behind legs to left; ex Numismatik Naumann auction 130 (2 Jul 2023), lot 1228 (part of); scarce;
Ceres a goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships, was listed among the Di Consentes, Rome's equivalent to the Twelve Olympians of Greek mythology. The Romans saw her as the counterpart of the Greek goddess Demeter, whose mythology was reinterpreted for Ceres in Roman art and literature.RS113168. Silver denarius, RIC IV p. 166, 546 (S), RSC III 14, BMCRE V p. 158, 10; Hunter III p. 41, 7; SRCV II 6576, Choice VF/aVF, full legends, toned, tiny edge splits, weight 2.770 g, maximum diameter 18.9 mm, die axis 180o, Rome mint, c. 200 A.D.; obverse IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right, hair in horizontal ridges, flat coil at back of head; reverse CERERI FRVGIF, Ceres seated left, seat without back, feet on footstool, two stalks of grain downward in right hand, long torch vertical behind in left hand; ex Numismatik Naumann auction 130 (2 Jul 2023), lot 1228 (part of); scarce;
Julia Domna was Septimius Severus' second wife and mother of Caracalla and Geta. Intelligent, talented and beautiful, she had great influence during her husband's reign and nearly administered the empire for her son. After Caracalla's murder, she either committed suicide by starvation or died of breast cancer.RS112543. Silver denarius, RIC IV S574; RSC III 156, BMCRE V p. 165, S69; SRCV 6601; Hunter III 18, EF, nice portrait, flow lines, toned, slightly off center, tiny edge cracks, weight 3.231 g, maximum diameter 17.5 mm, die axis 0o, Rome mint, 196 - 211 A.D.; obverse IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right; reverse PIETAS PVBLICA, Pietas standing slightly left, veiled head left, altar at feet left, raising both hands in invocation;
| Cybele, the Phrygian "Great Mother" earth goddess, was born a hermaphrodite, but castrated by the gods, she became female. After dire prodigies, including a meteor shower and a failed harvest, seemed to warn of Rome's imminent defeat to Hannibal, the Roman senate consulted the Sibylline oracle. Heeding the oracle's advice, the senate brought worship of Cybele to Rome in 204 B.C. as the first officially sanctioned Eastern cult. After approval, they were dismayed to learn that the priesthood required voluntary self-castration, which was abhorrent to the Romans. Romans were barred from entering the priesthood or even entering the priest's sanctuary. The eunuch priests, recruited from outside Rome, were confined to their sanctuary, leaving only to parade in the streets during festivals in April. Claudius removed the bans on Roman participation, making worship of Cybele and her consort Attis part of the state religion. |  |
Hilaritas, the personification of rejoicing, is usually depicted as a matron, standing with a cornucopia in her left hand and a long palm frond on the ground in her right. Green branches were a sign of gladness and for special occasions, both public and private, it was the custom in ancient times to ornament streets, temples, gates, houses, and even entire cities, with branches and leaves of trees. This tradition carries on today in the form of wreaths and Christmas trees.RS111386. Silver denarius, RIC IV p. 167, 555; BMCRE V p. 161, 32; RSC III 76; SRCV II 6585; Hunter III -, Choice EF, luster, well centered and struck, lightly toned, flow lines, small edge cracks/splits, weight 3.307 g, maximum diameter 20.4 mm, die axis 180o, Laodicea ad Mare (Latakia, Syria) mint, 196 - 202 A.D.; obverse IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right, loop at neck (Laodicea mintmark); reverse HILARITAS, Hilaritas standing half left, head left, long palm frond in right hand, long scepter vertical in left hand, fold of drapery over left arm; ex Artemide (San Marino) auction 59E (2-3 Jul 2022), lot 576; scarce;
Pietas in traditional Latin usage expressed a complex, highly valued Roman virtue; a man or woman with pietas respected his or her responsibilities to the gods, family, other people and entities (such as the state), and understood his or her place in society with respect to others.RS112405. Silver denarius, RIC IV S574; BMCRE V p. 165, 69; RSC III 156; Hunter III 18; SRCV II 6601, EF, choice obv. with nice portrait, rev. center a little weak, edge splits/cracks, weight 3.397 g, maximum diameter 18.6 mm, die axis 180o, Rome mint, 203 A.D.; obverse IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right; reverse PIETAS PVBLICA, Pietas standing slightly left, veiled head left, altar at feet left, raising both hands in invocation;
Fortuna distributed good and evil among mankind according to her caprice and without any regard to merit.RS112406. Silver denarius, RIC IV S553; RSC III 58; BMCRE V p. 160, 27; SRCV II 6584, Choice EF, well centered, reverse die wear, flan cracks/splits, weight 3.077 g, maximum diameter 19.8 mm, die axis 180o, Rome mint, under Septimius Severus, c. 209 A.D.; obverse IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right, hair in horizontal ridges, chignon at back of head; reverse FORTVNAE FELICI, Fortuna seated left on high backed throne, cornucopia in right hand, resting left hand on rudder on globe behind;
Julia Domna, Augusta 194 - 8 April 217 A.D., Stobi, Macedonia
Stobi was an ancient town of Paeonia, conquered by Macedonia, and later made the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia Salutaris. Stobi prospered under Rome and in 69 A.D. was designated a municipium. Citizens of Stobi enjoyed Ius Italicum and were citizens of Rome. Theodosius I stayed in Stobi in 388. In 479, Stobi was sacked by the Ostrogothic king Theodoric. The town was rebuilt, but in 518 was struck by a powerful earthquake. Avaro-Slavic invasions in the 6th century ruined the city's economy and infrastructure. Stobi is perhaps the most important archaeological site in the Republic of Macedonia.RP29521. Bronze AE 22, cf. Josifovski 157 (Josifovski specimen too obscure to verify dies), Varbanov 3908 (R3), SNG Cop 333, gVF, beautiful green patina, weight 6.780 g, maximum diameter 24.2 mm, die axis 0o, Stobi (Gradsko, Macedonia) mint, obverse IVLIA •A-VGVSTA, draped bust right; reverse MVNICIPI STOBEN, Victory walking left, palm extended in right, palm frond over shoulder in left; SOLD
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