When your husband runs off with another man

Okay, that title may be a little bit click-bait, but it is actually relevant to the coin I'm posting:

Roman Empire, Rome mint. AE sestertius. Sabina, wife of Hadrian (d.137 AD). Obverse: Draped and diademed bust right with hair in long plait, SABINA AVGVSTA HADRIANI AVG PP around. Reverse: Vesta seated left, holding palladium and scepter, VESTA around, SC in exergue. RIC (Hadrian) 1036.

Vibia Sabina was born in 83 AD, the daughter of Matilda (niece of the future emperor Trajan). After her father's death the next year, she was sent to live with her grandmother Marciana in the household of Trajan and Plotina. Trajan became emperor in 98, and in the year 100 Sabina was married to Trajan's presumptive heir Hadrian. It was apparently a strictly political marriage, as neither spouse showed any great fondness for the other. Hadrian seems to have had no sexual attraction to any women, but did have a series of affairs with men. Sabina is rumored to have had her own affair, with the historian Suetonius, which led to him losing his official position in the bureaucracy. (Perhaps it's fortunate that Hadrian did not particularly love his wife, or else Suetonius might have lost his life as well, depriving us of one of the more entertaining historical documents of the Roman era.) Oddly, although Hadrian became emperor in 117 AD, Sabina was not awarded the title of Augusta until 128- perhaps another indication of how far apart the pair were. In 123, Hadrian met a Bithynian Greek youth named Antinous, who would become the love of his life. By 128 Antinous had become the "favorite" of Hadrian, who brought him along on his travels through the Empire, wrote him love poems, and gave him honors unprecedented for someone not a member of the Imperial family, including having his portrait on the coins (which are today rare and quite sought-after, I don't have any in my collection). In 130, Antinous died while traveling on the Nile with Hadrian. The exact circumstances of his death are mysterious, with various writers suggesting an accidental drowning, a conspiracy within the court, or even a voluntary human sacrifice as part of a ritual to restore Hadrian's youth. What is certain is that Hadrian established an official cult to the memory of Antinous, associating him with the Egyptian god Osiris who rose from the dead. The cult, although not as large as some others within the Roman world, did spread throughout the empire and was still in existence in the fourth century AD. Sabina, meanwhile, despite this was never divorced from Hadrian and died in 137 AD, just a year before Hadrian himself would die. Sabina was deified posthumously, though I suspect this was out of a sense of duty rather than any great love for her.

I won this coin at Frank Robinson's latest auction at $42. The reverse is pretty lousy, but the portrait is not bad for the price, and it is a satisfyingly heavy chunk of Roman bronze. The portrait looks to me like Sabina is stubbornly maintaining her dignity despite her husband's wantonness. Please share your coins of Sabina, Hadrian, or (if you've got them) Antinous.

 

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Nice bronze.


Sabina (128-136 A.D.)
AR Denarius
O: SABINA AVGVSTA, diademed and draped bust of Sabina right.
R: CONCOR-DIA AVG, Concordia seated left, holding patera and scepter.
Rome
18mm
3.33g
RIC 391; RSC 24
Ex A. Lynn Collection (Freeman & Sear E16), 89.

 

Cool posts!!

LOVE that portrait @Mat !!!

I only have two budget examples of the poor suffering lady....

 

Very interesting history and coin. Fortunately, I'm single...

 

You and your click bait! Nice post! Nothing to share...well I do have one Hadrian:


Hadrian, AD 117 - 138
AE as, 10.8g, 27mm; 6h; Rome mint, AD 128 - 132
Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS PP; laureate head right
Rev.: COS III, S C in fields; Salus, draped, standing right, feeding out of patera in left hand snake held in right hand

 

Wow very nice write up and coin!

 

Great coin @Parthicus ! Nice score, great price, and Frank is great! Write up is super!

My only Sabina... kinda IRONIC that my reverse is VENUS!


RI Sabina 117-137 Denarius 3.18g Venus standing right holding an apple RSC 73

 

Nice! Sabina is on my list, as is Hadrian's boyfriend! Sabina is going to be much easier to come by. Sabina is easy to spot with that hair style.

 

One of my Sabinas.

 

Well if the portrait on the coin is any indication of how this woman looked...no wonder....Antinous was probably prettier!

 

Very nice!

 

I don't know when this was minted, but she looks pretty young on this coin:

Silver Denarius
Rome mint
Obv: SABINA AVGVSTA
Rev: IVNONI REGINAE - Juno, standing, facing left, holding patera and scepter
RIC (Hadrian) 395(a)
17mm, 3.4g.

 

...buddy, buddy, I hope your fiance doesn't see your like...

 

LOL

 

This is Jasper Burns' reconstruction of what she looked like, based upon statuary and coins:

 

To hell with Antinous!

 

Very interesting write up and decent enough coin

Hadrian

Hadrian, As struck in Rome in 126 AD
HADRIANUS AVGVSTVS, Laureate head of Hadrian right
SALVS AVGVSTI COS III, Salus standing left feeding snake arising from altar. SC in field
11.24 gr
Ref : RCV # 3692, Cohen # 1357


Sabina

Sabina, Denarius Rome mint AD 129
SABINA AVGVSTA HADRIANI AVG P P , draped bust right
CONCORDIA AVG, Concordia seated left holding patera, resting on a statuette of Spes, Cornucopia beneath her seat.
3.22 gr
Ref : Cohen # 12, RCV # 3919

And, instead of a portrait of Antinous (that I can't provide), an evocation of the Nile on a drachm, in which the young man is supposed to have died


Hadrian, Drachm struck in Alexandria, c131-132 AD
AVT KAI TRAI ADRIA CEB, Draped and laureate bust of Hadrian right
Nilus leaning left. Behind an hippopotamus. L IS in field (regnal year 16)
23.87 gr
Ref : Sear #1259, RCV #3763 var, Emmett #1017/16 (R1)

Q

 

I don't know, I'm as straight as they come, but even I have to admit Antinous was one handsome dude. I can definitely see how Hadrian, who was definitely bisexual from everything we know, would have been tempted by this young man over his wife, which based on the reconstruction seems fairly average to me. Of course, being straight I'd have gone for Sabina too, but who am I to judge someone else's sexual preference.

 

In those days bisexuality could also always be an option... And, yes, he was a handsome man (a total greek-lover).