Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 3385020, member: 99554&quot;]Just want to share this interesting article from “<i>le bulletin numismatique” </i>about a denarius of <b>Julia Domna </b>sold not that long ago. Here is the coin :</p><p>[ATTACH=full]899048[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>IVLIA-AVGVSTA</p><p>HILARI-TAS</p><p>Rome 208 AD</p><p>18.5 mm, 3.38 g, 12h</p><p>RIC 557 var.</p><p>Hilaritas standing left, holding a thunderbolt in right hand &amp; cornucopiae in left hand,</p><p>a child on each side. </p><p><br /></p><p>So what’s different on this variant ? First, instead of the usual long palm in hand, Hilaritas is holding a thunderbolt ( maybe a lighting or a <i>fulmen</i>, I’m not sure of the exact translation for “foudre” ). The child on the left, instead of grabbing the inexistant palm, holds a “serpent like” object, probably the hem of her skirt. The thunderbolt is usually a masculine attribute. Very often Jupiter is holding it, but we see sometimes <i>Minerva</i> under Domitian and once <i>Dea Caelestus </i>under Septimius severus ( RIC 266 ).</p><p>The same type has also been struck for the young Caracalla ( RIC 130 ). So it is very special to notice the thunderbolt on a <b>Julia Domna coin</b>.</p><p><br /></p><p>The 2 children had often been considered to be Caracalla and Geta. But let’s not forget that this denarius is dated from 208 AD. At that time, Caracalla was 20 years old and already co-emperor and Geta was 19 and Caesar.....</p><p>It would be very surprising if they were still represented as small children on coinage.</p><p>Perhaps the 2 boys holding the hem of a skirt may symbolize that <b>Julia Domna </b>was a mother for the people of the empire ( a <i>mater populi </i>). So that’s the new variant for the empress, but some scholars think it should be in fact a new type of reverse.</p><p><br /></p><p>Feel free to post your <b>Julia Domna </b>coins ![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in