MARCH - HONORING Women's History Month What she accomplished in a ego-centric male-driven society is amazing... She would be a nice start on the honoring of Women in History Month of March. ROMAN REPUBLIC SUPER-TABOO... Fulvia: First Living Woman on a Roman Coin... AND she is depicted as VICTORY A very powerful and strong Woman in Ancient History, especially in a male-centric Roman Republic. Roman Republic (disintegrating) Fulvia Late summer-autumn 43 BCE AR Quinarius (13mm, 1.67 g, 5h). Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Obv: Winged bust of Victory right, with the likeness of Fulvia / Rev: Lion walking right; DVNI (retrograde and inverted) above, LVGV in exergue; A to left, X [L] to right (= 40, Antony’s age at time of issue). Crawford 489/5; Lyon 2; King 75; CRI 122; Sydenham 1160; Fulvia 4. Comments: VF, lightly toned, light porosity. Ex: CNG Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulvia The siege at Perusia lasted two months before Octavian starved Lucius into surrender in February 40 BC. After Lucius' surrender, Fulvia fled to Greece with her children. Appian writes that she met Antony in Athens, and he was upset with her involvement in the war. Antony then sailed back to Rome to deal with Octavian, and Fulvia died of an unknown illness in exile in Sicyon, near Corinth, Achaea.[46] After her death, Antony and Octavian used it as an opportunity to blame their quarrelling on her. According to Plutarch, "there was even more opportunity for a reconciliation with Caesar. For when Antony reached Italy, and Caesar manifestly intended to make no charges against him, and Antony himself was ready to put upon Fulvia the blame for whatever was charged against himself."[46] After Fulvia's death, Antony married Octavian's sister, Octavia Minor, to publicly demonstrate his reconciliation with Octavian. Antony never regained his position and influence in Italy.[47] Once Antony and Octavia were married, she took in and reared all of Fulvia's children. The fate of Fulvia's daughter, Clodia Pulchra, after her divorce from Octavian is unknown. Her son Marcus Antonius Antyllus was executed by Octavian in Alexandria, Egypt in 30 BC. Her youngest child, Iullus Antonius, was spared by Octavian and raised from 40 BC by Octavia Minor. Iullus married Octavia's daughter and Octavian's niece Claudia Marcella Major and they had a son Lucius Antonius and possibly a daughter Iulla Antonia. Please Post your interesting Ancient Coins of Women!
If it weren't for women, none of us would be here. Huzzah for women! Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, was an interesting ancient woman. Born in the lower classes of society, eventually marrying Constantius I and birthing the future Constantine I, the Great. In her later life she was said to have made a pilgrimage to Syria Palestina and Jerusalem where she supposedly re-discovered the True Cross on which Jesus was said to have been crucified on. Eventually she was given sainthood. Fun fact: Her skull is supposedly on display in the Cathedral of Trier, Germany. Helena, AE follis. Cyzicus, AD 324-325. FL HELENA-AVGVSTA, draped bust right with double-row pearl diadem, and necklace / SECVRITAS-REIPVBLICE, Securitas standing left holding branch and hem of robe. Mintmark SMKB.
As empress, Julia Domna was famous for her political, social, and philosophical influence. As the emperor's wife, she received the titles of augusta (AD 193) and "mother of the army camps" (AD 195). Domna gathered about her in Rome a group of philosophers and other intellectuals whose activities are known through the writings of Philostratus. Julia Domna, AD 193-217. Roman AR denarius, 3.13 g, 16.0 mm, 7 h. Rome, AD 198. Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: MATRI CASTRORVM, Julia Domna standing left, sacrificing over lighted altar from patera held in right hand and holding box of incense in left hand; to left, two standards. Refs: RIC 567; BMCRE 57; Cohen/RSC 134; RCV 6596; Hill 370.
So, you're saying that women get one month for history and men take the other eleven? Here are some Hellenistic examples. For those interested in this history, I highly recommend Women and Monarchy in Macedonia by Elizabeth Donnelly Carney. First woman to mint her own coins. PAPHLAGONIA, Amastris. Circa 285-250 BCEAR Stater 23mm, 8.88 g, 12h Head of Mên right, wearing Phrygian cap decorated with laurel branch and star / Aphrodite seated left, holding in extended right hand Nike, who crowns her with wreath, and cradling lotus-tipped scepter in left arm; rose to left. Callataÿ, Premier, Group 2, 43 (D17/R21 – this coin); RG 5; HGC 7, 356 Ex Sigmund Collection. Ex CNG March 1999 Ex CNG September 2021 One of the earliest women to have her own cult. Ionien, Ephesos als ArsinoeAE Dichalkon 287-281 BCE under Aristagoras 4.23g Vs.: verschleierter Kopf der Arsinoe II. n. r. Rs.: Hirsch lagert n. l., Kopf n. r." SNG v. Aulock 1840; Svoronos 134, 883 Taf. 26, 13 ex Kölner Münzkabinett Daughter of Lysimachos Ionia, Smyrna (as Eurydikeia)AE 9mm. 0.54g Circa 290-287/1 BCE. Veiled head of Eurydike to right / Tripod, [Ε]ΥΡΥΔΙΚΕΩΝ to left. Milne, Autonomous 5; SNG Copenhagen 1105. 0.54g, 9mm, 6h Ex Nick Collins Collection Ex Numismatik Lanz München Ex Roma The far more famous Eurydike (born Adea), who controlled Macedonia for two years and personally led troops into battle. Philip IIIAR 1/5 Tetradrachm 2.57g Minted under Eurydike (Adea), Amphipolis, 318-317 BCE Le Rider Taf. 46, 29; SNG ANS 731–735 Vs.: Kopf des Apollon mit Tänie n. r. Rs.: Jüngling reitet n. r., unten seitlich gesehener Schild Ex Kölner Münzkabinett
Two for one, Livia and Julia, wife and daughter of Caesar Augustus... MYSIA, Pergamum. Julia Augusta (Livia), with Julia Augusta, AD 14-29. Æ18, 3.5g, 2h; Charinos, grammateus. 10-2 BC. Obv.: ΛIBIAN HPAN XAPINOΣ; Draped bust of Livia right. Rev.: IOYΛIAN AΦPOΔITHN; Draped bust of Julia right. Reference: SNG Copenhagen 467; RPC I 2359.
Galeria Valeria was the daughter of Diocletian and wife of his co-emperor. “When Galerius died, in 311, Licinius was entrusted with the care of Valeria and her mother Prisca. The two women, however, fled from Licinius to Maximinus Daia, whose daughter was betrothed to Candidianus. After a short time, Valeria refused the marriage proposal of Maximinus, who arrested and confined her in Syria and confiscated her properties. At the death of Maximinus, Licinius ordered the death of both women. Valeria and Prisca fled, hiding for a year, until they were recognized by residents in Thessaloniki. She and her mother were captured by Licinius' soldiers, beheaded in the central square of the city, and their bodies thrown in the sea.” [wiki] Valeria was sympathetic to Christians and was eventually canonized as a saint. Her coinage portrays her as a rather austere, matronly figure. Galeria Valeria, AD 293-311. AE Follis, 26mm, 5.1g, 6h; Cyzicus mint. Obv.: GAL VAL-ERIA AVG; Bust right wearing stephane. Rev.: VENER-I VICTRICI; Venus standing left holding apple and raising drapery over shoulder, Δ in left field // MKV Ref.: RIC VI 46.
Julia Domna was the wife of Septimius Severus. Her political, social, and philosophical influence was enormous. She is often paired with Vesta, the goddess of hearth, home, and family. Here she sits holding a scepter and palladium (a cult image of great antiquity on which Troy and later Rome was said to depend). This example has a particularly well-detailed palladium, and the palladium varieties are scarce as far as I can tell. On the more common variety, she is holding a simpulum. Julia Domna, AD 193-217 AR Denarius, 18mm, 2.6g, 12h; Rome, 193-6. Obv.: IVLIA DOMNA AVG; Draped bust right. Rev.: VESTA; Vesta seated left holding scepter and palladium. Ref.: RIC IV 538
Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla or Lucilla (7 March 148 or 150 – 182) was the second daughter of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Roman Empress Faustina the Younger. She was the wife of her father's co-ruler and adoptive brother Lucius Verus and an elder sister to later Emperor Commodus. Commodus ordered Lucilla's execution after a failed assassination and coup attempt when she was about 33 years old. [wiki] Lucilla, AD 164-182 Æ sestertius, 30mm, 24.3g, 12h; Rome mint. Obv.: LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F; Draped bust right. Rev.: VENVS; Venus standing front, head left, holding apple in extended right hand and vertical scepter in left; S – C Ref.: RIC 1763 (Marcus Aurelius). She was played by the fetching Connie Nielsen in the 2000 film Gladiator...
LOL... My perspective: I grew up with all boys. My cousins were all male, all my buddies growing up, lived out in farm country... I really did not associate with girls until I was in HS... THEN, I am blessed with 6 Daughters... major life-change for my mindset! Still wrastling with that concept, but, in order for me to survive, I had to at least learn a female's perspective - to survive. RProv Domitia Lydia Philadelphia AE 16 Grape Bunch RPC 1336
Cornelia Salonina was the wife of Gallienus and mother of Valerian II. The animal series coins of Gallienus and Salonina are centered on religious themes. The reverse legend calls on Juno, the goddess of the hunt, to preserve the emperor (and by extension the empire). This example has circulation wear, but it's remarkably good for the type. (Roman minting during the Crisis of the Third Century lost considerable quality control!) Salonina, AD 253-268. Æ Antoninianus, 24mm, 2.6g, 12h; Rome, AD 267-268. Obv.: COR SALONINA AVG; Diademed and draped bust right on crescent. Rev.: IVNONI CONS AVG; Stag walking left; Δ in exergue. Reference: RIC 15.
An important mother and daughter pair, whether one sees it as only Ceres and Proserpina, or also as Faustina II and Lucilla:
There are so many notable women from antiquity, such as Faustina Senior and Faustina Junior, that it becomes a challenge to post just a few of their coins. Here are three with representative coins, and another that I wish had one. My first selection is Empress Livia Drusilla, who was arguably the power behind the throne of Augustus and later Tiberius. She possessed the qualities of political acumen combined with a degree of determination, some might call it ruthlessness, to help shape the course of early Imperial Roman history. Livia, 21-22 AD AE dupondius Obverse: SALVS AVGVSTA below draped bust of Livia as Salus right, hair in knot behind. Reverse: TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVG TR POT XXIIII around large SC. RIC 47. 13.4g. My second choice for a great woman of antiquity is Empress Theodora, the wife of Justinian I. She was to Justinian I what Livia was to Augustus. It is a pity that she never appeared on a Byzantine coin. The famous mosaic mural of her, in the center, with her attendants, will have to suffice. Here, she has a gravitas and dignity befitting her place in history. Number three is Empress Herennia Etruscilla, wife of Trajan Decius. She served as regent during the reign of her young son Hostilian. Herennia Etruscilla, 249-253, BI Antoninianus Rome Obverse: HER ETRVSCILLA AVG, Draped bust right on crescent, hair waved and tucked at back of neck, stephane in hair. Reverse: PVDICITIA AVG, Pudicitia, veiled, standing left, drawing veil with right hand, scepter in left RIC IV, Part III, 58b (Trajan Decius) 5.6 grams Fourth is Empress Julia Cornelia Salonina, wife of Emperor Gallienus. Salonina, 260-268 AD BI Antoninianus Rome Obverse: SALONINA AVG - Draped bust right on crescent. Reverse: FECVNDITAS AVG - Fecunditas standing left with hand over child left, holding cornucopiae, A in right field. SR-3039 (88), RIC-VI-26 2.43 grams
..i reckon that Herennia Estruscila had to be a fine lQQking lady judging from her coins...@robinjojo...oops i was looking at your Herennia coin reading Salonias info...poor Salonia, i was just thinking about doing a thread on her..anyway i just posted this in another thread, but dang, its handy and she's the purdiest...^^ Herennia Estruscila sestertius, Pudicita veiled seated reverse, 26.5mm,18.91gms
Faustina Maior Av Aureus 141-146 AD Obv. Bust right draped wearing her hair bound with pearls on top of her head. Rv. Pietas standing left sacrifing over altar. RIC 394 c(a) Beckmann daf7/PA12 7.24 grms 20 mm Photo by W. Hansen This woman has the distinction of having the largest posthumous coinage of any individual honored in this manner during the history of the Roman Empire. This is noteworthy in that this coinage was limited to the reign of her husband Antoninus Pius. Surpisingly the temple he built in her honor still stands (more or less) within the Roman Forum. This it might have looked like after it was completed, By this time the temple had been repurposed to honor both her and her husband. The remains of the temple today.
Great thread and thoroughly enjoyed reading through the posts! I'm going to add a Spanish 'Señora'... Born in a small town 'Escacena del campo' in the Southern autonomous region of Andalusia.....She married the future Emperor Trajan before his ascension and as stated by Dio cassius on their arrival to the imperial palace proclaimed "I enter here the kind of woman I would like to be when I depart."...... Plotina, AE18 of Gordus-Julia, Lydia. 98-117. Magistrate Poplios. Obverse..ΠΛΩTEINA CEBACTH, draped bust right Reverse..EΠI ΠOΠΛIOY ΓOΡΔHNΩ, Zeus seated left, holding patera and sceptre......BMC 18.
