Miss Rome-iverse: Who was the most beautiful Augusta?

First, I am aware that there are many more Augustae that would have made my palms sweat, Poppaea and Didia Clara come to mind. But their coins are not plentiful nor as elaborate and elegant, IMO, then these others.
Though, if you have some that you think justifies their inclusion please share
Now, this is not a cointest of which of my coins you like the best, but who you really think was the most beautiful of them all.

Let's start with the tart that left her husband while pregnant to marry Augustus himself. It's worth pointing out that she wasn't made an Augusta until after Augustus death, by her son Tiberius:

JULIA AUGUSTA (LIVIA). AUGUSTA,
14-29 A.D. AE Dupondius (31 mm, 13.13 gms), Rome Mint.
RIC-Tiberius 47. Bareheaded
and draped bust of Julia Augusta (Livia) as Salus Augusta right; Reverse: Large
S.C, inscription around. Light brown with some granularity. Nearly VERY FINE.
Former: Savoca

Does being married to the manliest man EVER make you the most womanly?

LYDIA. Sardis. Marciana (Augusta, 105-112/4). Ae. Obv: ΜΑΡΚΙΑ СЄΒΑСΤΗ. Draped bust right. Rev: СΑΡΔΙΑΝΩΝ ΠЄΛΟΨ. Pelops, brandishing whip, on horse rearing right. RPC III 2398; BMC 132-3. Weight: 5.85 g. Diameter: 21 mm.
Purchased from Savoca June 2021

And just because Hadrian wasn't physically attracted to her doesn't mean she wasn't attractive:

SABINA
Dupondius, 136 CE
Mint: Rome
26.3 mm, 10,2 g.
Rarity : R1
Obverse legend : SABINA AVGVSTA - HADRIANI AVG PP, Obverse: Diadémé bust and drape of Sabina on the right, hair raised, artistically capped. Reverse: Veiled and draped Ceres, seated left on a basket, holding ears of corn in right hand and torch in left hand
RIC.- - BMC/RE.1900

Do the stories of loose living, philandering and debauchery make the Faustinas more attractive or less

Diva Faustina I AR Denarius. Struck under Antoninus Pius, Rome, AD 141. DIVA FAVSTINA, draped bust left / AETERNITAS, Juno standing left, raising right hand and holding sceptre.
Reference:RIC 344
Very Fine, 2,8 gr, 17 mm
Purchased from NBS Aug 2021

And of course not just for the sake of getting @Roman Collector in board but cause she really was a baby making machine and does appear to have been a full blown hottie:

FAUSTINA II (Augusta, 147-176). Denarius. Rome.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA.
Draped bust right.
Rev: SAECVLI FELICIT.
Two children (Commodus and Antoninus) playing on draped throne.
RIC 711.
Condition: Very fine.
Weight: 3.31 g.
Diameter: 18 mm.

Man those 5 good emperors sure had taste in ladies as well as excellent leadership skills:

LUCILLA Sestertius, RIC 1779, Vesta
OBVERSE: LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, draped bust right
REVERSE: VESTA, S-C, Vesta standing left, holding palladium and sacrificing with simpulum over lighted altar to left
Struck at Rome, 161-161 AD
30.4 mm, 21.89g AD ex Bing CT

If Crispina was a wild and crazy as her husband supposedly was I think she would have been a great date on a Saturday night

Crispina
Augusta, A.D. 178-182. AE as Rome mint. CRISPINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right / IVNO LVCINA, S-C, Juno standing left, holding patera and long scepter. RIC 680

Why two Julia Domnas you may ask. Easy, cause she is my favorite. I have more coins of Julia Domna then any other Roman, except Augustus. I suppose the tragedy of her life makes her all the more real. Judging by her coin portraiture there is a reason Shepty sought her out to be his bride:

Julia Domna
(died 217 AD). AE Sestertius. Struck under Septimius Severus, 198-200. Obv. Draped bust right. Rev. Hilaritas standing left, holding palm frond and cornucopia. RIC IV (Sept. Sev.) 855. AE. 24.34 g. 31.00 mm. VF/About VF. Purchased from Artemide Kunstauktionen Feb 2022


Julia Domna (Augusta) Pisidia, Antiochia. AD.193-217. Æ (21mm, 5.20g). IOYΛIA ΔOMNA AVG. Draped bust right, hair in horizontal waves, large bun on back of the head. / ANTIOCH MENCIS COL. Mên standing right, with foot on bucranium, wearing Phrygian cap, holding long sceptre and Nike; behind his shoulders, crescent; at feet, cock standing left. Krzyzanovska II/5; SNG France 1133 (same dies); SNG Copenhagen 39.

And I'll end it on the wife of a mad man. Plautilla just seems so sweet and innocent. And like her mother in law the sadness of her life brings into focus how worthless power can be:

Plautilla
(AD 202-205). AR denarius (18mm, 2.86 gm, 12h). NGC Choice XF 5/5 - 3/5. Rome, AD 202-205. PLAVTILLA-AVGVSTA, draped bust of Plautilla right, seen from front, hair coiled in ridges and fastened in large chignon / CONCORDIA-AVGG, Concordia standing facing, head left, patera in right hand, scepter in left. RIC IV.I (Caracalla) 363a. Purchased from Heritage Auctions October 2021 uck utin



So please post your coin(s) that are your best examples to back up your claim of which Augusta should win the 2022 CT Miss Rome-iverse cointest!

 

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a couple of my favourite Augusta:

 

How cruel you are, @Ryro, to limit my vote to only one! That's like forcing someone to choose between Betty and Veronica ...



Or Ginger and Mary Ann!



You know, Orbiana was very pretty.





I think she deserves a nomination ...

For second place! After Faustina the Younger, of course!

 

@Ryro...As you know I loooove that Domna Sestertius....Great coins, getting late here now so will post something tomorrow as I need to think!
My Grandpa always said.."Paul, long necks are beautiful when you're just looking at the lady, outside of that things change!"......

 

I second Orbiana


Orbiana (225 - 227 A.D.)
AR Denarius
O: SALL BARBIA ORBIANA AVG, draped bust right.
R: CONCORDIA AVGG,Concordia seated left holding double cornucopia and patera.
Rome
19mm
3.8g
RIC IV 319, RSC III 1, BMCRE VI 287, SRCV II 8191

Lucilla as well.


Lucilla (162 - 182 A.D.)
AR Denarius
O: LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, Draped bust right.
R: CONCORDIA, Concordia standing facing, head left, holding patera and double cornucopiae.
Rome Mint
19mm
3.27g
RIC III 760.

Ex. Cabinet Numismatique, Genève.

Rare




Aquilia Severa (220, & 221 - 222 A.D.)
AR Denarius
O: IVLIA AQUILIA SEVERA AVG, Draped bust right.
R: CONCORDIA, Concordia standing facing, head left, holding double cornucopia and sacrificing with patera over altar to left; star to right.
Rome Mint
19mm
3.02g
RIC IV(part 2), pg 47, #226 (Elagabalus)

Scarcer with "Star in Right Field".

 

Don't forget that hottie, Galeria Valeria - LOL.

I voted for Orbiana.

 

...its according to what coin one's lQQking at...to me my most booful is Herennia Estruscila on this sestertius.. .Herennia Estruscila, Pudicita reverse. 26.5mm, 18.91gms

 

Since I own a grand total of one candidate, she's got to be my pick: Julia Domna. But she did catch my eye, and her story (well, the end of her story, anyway) really makes me feel for her.

 

For me it has to be Julia Domna and Faustina younger....

 

Great coins and good call with Orbiana.
Looks like you should have put this post together. You've got a rare example of getting more likes with a post than the OP 10 to 6.
I thought it would be fun a fun idea. But I guess my delivery was off or something:/
Thanks to the few that did participate.

Oh well, here's coins of pretty ladies:

This may be why Orbs wasn't added to the list

Constantine's mom looked like she may have been class:

My first Plautilla

Wonder if Poppaea had that double chin before marrying kicky Mcgee?

Not an Augusta but daughter of Augustus Julia the elder seemed like she would've been pretty fun:

 

You know what this post needs, @Ryro? MORE HENDRIX!

 

I'm not going to comment on who's the "foxiest," but Julia Domna really didn't age well. Still, she looks quite nice on this coin I have showing her when younger, appearing kind of innocent and vulnerable:



I agree that Orbiana was very cute:


But I think Faustina II was consistently the prettiest:




Also see these and more photos at https://www.cointalk.com/threads/te...an-lady-2nd-cent-ad-is-she-an-empress.390919/:

Very fine Roman molded pottery (terracotta) portrait bust of a lady with hair in horizontal waves and chignon, possibly Faustina II or another empress, mid- to late-2nd Century AD, acquired 1890-1920 in Sousse, Tunisia (formerly Hadrumetum, Roman Africa; location of Sousse Archaeological Museum, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousse_Archaeological_Museum). 16 cm. x 9.5 cm. Repaired on neck, light chipping, tip of nose missing, otherwise intact. Red/brown/ochre terracotta color with remaining traces of white indicating, according to dealer, that the surface "received a second layer of fine-finishing during ancient production by applying a thin slip of white plaster/stucco which could be smoothed over the surface of the fired clay to conceal small firing cracks and so forth. The bust may then have been painted over with decoration or simply an even terracotta coloured wash, but this very rarely survives and so it's fairly impossible to ascertain" intended color. Purchased from Helios Gallery, Lower Kingsdown, Wiltshire, UK, Dec. 2021. Ex. Archaeology Auction 6 Mars, 2021, Lot 26, Hôtel des Ventes du Léman, Maître Albert Holtz, Thonon-les-Bains, Haute-Savoie, France; ex. Family Dumas Collection, Haute-Savoie, France; ex. Collection of Marius-Victor-Ernest Dumas (b. 1 Jun. 1865, Corps, Département de l'Isère, France, d. after 1920), contrôleur civil à Sousse (Tunisie), ca. 1890-1920 [after Tunisia became a French protectorate in 1881], Chevalier du 12 avril 1903 (see MÉRITE AGRICOLE, Journal officiel de la république française, 22 octobre 1910, p. 8677.).













So who do you think was the handsomest emperor, @Ryro? Not a lot to choose from.

 

@DonnaML ....I love that portrait of Faustina with the Venus reverse..That's beauty!

 

I forgot about that stunning Faustina II (?) Bust of yours Very jelly

NOT someone from the Julio-Claudi line
Though, out of them I think of all people Caligula may have been the most normal looking.

I like to believe the sources that Aurelian was handsome, as he was one of the very best, IMO, but his coinage does little too further the notion..

Looking at the coinage I have to think Hadrian was handsome, though the beard makes me wonder if he was covering up something.

MA comes off as probably having been handsome and would be my runner up:


But my final answer for handsome/hunkiest is probably ole Shepty:

It's a very good question Donna. If I wasn't deflated by the lack of participation vs time it takes to make a thread for the last several threads I've made I would be very interested to read what others thought.

 

I think the young Marcus Aurelius, before he grew the beard, was good-looking:

 

I guess I'm in the plurality of opinions, though I see a lot of beautiful Latin Ladies here! I went for the following Faustina II because of the beautiful obverse from -- in Artemide Aste's oft-used charming phrase -- "masterly engraved dies." (Even with that cut on her neck, which looks old. Wonder if someone symbolically cut her jugular in antiquity?)

My photo with only cropping, not "processed" to correct for lighting:

My processed obv/rev photos and the original Artemide photos.


And, for the numismatic bibliophile, L. Forrer's slim volume didn't focus on the Latin ladies, but the related topic of Portraits of Royal Ladies on Greek Coins (Argonaut reprint). Mostly Hellenistic, naturally. There were some Roman Provincials mentioned, including Zenobia, whose portraits, like those of Cleopatra VII, tried to portray her more as warrior-queen than prom-queen.

 

But if you like strong features . . . .

 

Pottery: red-figured hydria (water-jar). Judgment of Paris. Right to left: Paris, seated on Mount Ida, in front of him, in order, Hera holding the Golden Apple of Discord, Athena with spear, Aphrodite on the far left. Copyright for this image is retained by the British Museum Trustees, used with permission under Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial - Share Alike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.

Ryro, need I remind you of the apple of Discord (Eris to the Greeks, Discordia to the Romans)?

The Judgement of Paris by Sandro Botticelli, AD 1485-1488. Public domain via Wikipedia.

King Peleus and sea nymph Thetis were to marry (Note: These two are the would be parents of Achilles. Thetis the one who would hold her son by his heel as she dipped him in the River Styx to confer invulnerability). The party was the talk of the town. Eris, uninvited, and upset, so she threw a golden apple amongst the wedding party. On the apple were the words, “To the Fairest”. After a bit of a scramble for the apple, Zeus, wise enough to know that he didn't want to be in the middle, assigned to Paris, the Trojan prince, the task of awarding the prize.

Here is how Helen tells the story with the words of Euripides (Note: Aphrodite was also called by some Kypris in honor of her birth off the coast of Cyprus).

"My name is Helen; I will tell the evils I have suffered. For the sake of beauty, three goddesses came to a deep valley on Mount Ida, to Paris: Hera and Kypris, and the virgin daughter of Zeus [Athena], wishing to have the judgment of their loveliness decided. Kypris offered my beauty, if misfortune is beautiful, for Paris to marry, and so she won. Paris, the shepherd of Ida, left his ox-stalls and came to Sparta, to have me in marriage."
- Euripides, Helen, translated by E. P. Coleridge, 1938

I think it prudent to leave this thread without awarding the golden apple - it didn't end well for Paris as he stood on the wrong side of arrows from Philoctetes (at least by one account). I'll add three goddesses in no particular order:
Hera (Pontus) 400-360 BC

Athena (Akarnania) 350-300 BC

Venus (Rome) 81 BC

 

Well, I guess it isn't Didia Clara. My photograph came out hideously (still struggling to edit the raws).

Corroded coins are really hard to photograph. It's one of those coins which looks less hideous in person.

 

While some really good looking empresses already have been shown here I wonder if there is no love for poor Empress Salonina here


Here a coin of her:
Empress Salonina - Antoninianus - FELICITAS PVBLICA - Cologne mint