One of those dream empresses I never thought I would own but luckily one surfaced a bit lower then my normal budget for an ancient coin, and for her it was basically a steal. Even the crummiest of grades are double of what I paid for this. Its got some faults but I can live with them since many of her coins tend to have a fault of some sort usually. It has a somewhat cool die clash of the portrait on the right reverse field & I love die clashing. I took the photo about 30 times for this coin and it still isnt great, best I could do with what I have. Its camera shy Aquilia Severa (221 - 222 A.D.) AR Denarius O: IVLIA AQVILIA SEVERA AVG, draped bust right. R: CONCORDIA, Concordia standing half left, sacrificing from patera in right over lit altar, double cornucopia in left, star left. Rome 221 A.D. 19mm 3.2g RIC IV 226, BMCRE V 184, RSC III 2, SRCV II 7679
Yup, I have been on a roll lately. One I have been holding off for the right moment to post, lol. The coin in this thread is the freshest one though.
Great coin! Second and fourth wife of Elagabalus, a Vestal Virgin. Very scandalous for the public, as she was sworn to chastity... They were divorced and Elagabalus remarried. Elagabalus divorced his third wife soon after, and then married Aquilia Severa again.
Yes, but it wasn't her fault. Isn't she the Vestal Virgin he raped on the alter of Vespa? I believe she married him to try to gain some kind of dignity. He truly was a sick little dude, by far the worst Roman emperor. He was so bad his own grandmother put the hit out for him. Nice pickup Mat.
Thanks, a newer photo is in my sig link, removes this blue tint the photo had, darn programs. And as for elagabalus, it seems the more "Dramatic" you are, the more you are remembered in history. He is far more fun/interesting to read then say Pius or Marcus A.
Yea... She was forced to marry him... Their marriage was also a marriage between Vesta and Heliogebal, which they were the priest/priestess of.
Nice find, Mat. That is a nice example of a fairly scarce coin. Is Concordia standing the only Aquilia reverse?
There is two, this with Concordia and the star on the right or left field and a Laetitia. Only one Laetitia was found in the RD hoard. But ive never seen one available.
Nice coin. Nice history. Right now, I'm lost in 17th and 18th century England/Great Britain. I'm now in the midst of reading Jesse Norman's excellent "Edmund Burke: The First Conservative." Soon, however, I will rejoin you. I hope to start reading a book on Cassius Dio. He was the Roman senator of Greek descent who wrote the best history of the late Severan dynasty. Dio is the source of much of what we know about the warped psychopath Elagabalus and Iulia Aquilia Severa. Till then, however, I am engrossed in the politics of late 18th century Britain. Back to Charles James Fox, William Pitt the younger, and Edmund Burke. Again, nice coin. Great history. guy
Not wanting to go too far off tangent.... For anyone interested in Elagabalus, I recommend Martin Icks' book "The Crimes of Elagabalus: The Life and Legacy of Rome's Decadent Emperor". This book also has a surprisingly large section on the numismatic evidence that sheds light on the poorly-understood "cult of Elagabalus." http://www.amazon.com/The-Crimes-Elagabalus-Decadent-Emperor/dp/0674064372/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top Despite my early dementia, I vaguely remembered (having written) an article at another site inspired by this book about an aspect of the coinage of Elagabulus. (One must be signed in to see the images, unfortunately.) http://www.unrv.com/forum/topic/16297-elagabalus-bringing-the-syrian-sun-god-to-rome/ Sorry, but I gotta run. The bloviating and wickedly decadent (but usually brilliant) Charles James Fox is speaking in Parliament soon and I don't want to miss another of his mordant tirades against William Pitt the younger and the government of that insane monarch, George III. guy
Thanks for the links, Guy, especially for a book with numismatic information I can afford! And don't be a stranger - we need you!
Thank you for reading my post. I don't want to mislead you. The numismatic evidence presented in this book, although interesting and insightful, is only a small portion of the entire book. guy
