Faustina Friday – The Salus Issues: An Obstetrical Complication?

TGIFF!!! Let's see your coins of Salus, Faustina Jr, or whatever you feel is relevant!

Those with more than a passing interest in the coinage of Faustina the Younger are doubtlessly familiar with coins issued for the empress that depict Salus, the daughter of Aesculapius and a goddess of health and hygiene. She is the Roman equivalent of the Greek Hygieia.

Roman copy of a Greek statue of Hygieia (Salus), marble, 0.87 m, c. 1st century AD. State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg. Photo by thisisbossi, used with permission.​

On the coins of Faustina II, Salus is depicted either seated or standing and holding a patera from which she feeds a serpent rising from an altar. On these issues, Faustina may be bare-headed, or she may wear a stephane or band of pearls in her hair. Overall, the coins of Faustina with Salus reverse types are quite commonly encountered in the numismatic trade. The type was the single most common aureus issued for Faustina under Marcus Aurelius, produced by 35 different dies and accounting for 41 percent of all dies used to strike her aurei. In contrast, the second and third most common reverse types to appear on her aurei, the Fecunditas and Hilaritas types, were produced by only 7 different dies each (9%).[1]

Aureus of Faustina the Younger with the Salus seated reverse type. The empress is depicted bare-headed with the Beckmann type 7 hairstyle. Note the presence of the "all-round" legend, a feature of Antonine coinage from AD 160-163. RIC 716. ANS 1944.100.49239.​

The situation is less lopsided when it comes to her denarii featuring the Salus reverse types. In the Reka Devnia hoard, SALVS types (not sorted by seated or standing variety nor by bust type) were the fifth most represented type on Faustina's coinage under Marcus Aurelius, but are nonetheless very abundant, accounting for 8 percent of all denarii issued under Marcus Aurelius.[2] I have no statistics on the abundance of bronze issues of these reverse types, but they are by no means uncommon, though typically found in very worn grades. They must have seen heavy circulation.

As demonstrated in Beckmann's die study of the aurei – which only depict the SALVTI AVGVSTAE seated type – coins of this design immediately appear after the TEMPOR FELIC issues to commemorate the birth of twins on 30 August 161. They constitute a massive issue which involved dozens of dies, multiple hairstyles, and went on for some time past the LAETITIA and VENVS GENETRIX issues struck to commemorate the birth of M. Annius Verus in AD 162[3] and the disappearance of the "all-round" legends in AD 163.

Beckmann's die study demonstrates the appearance of the SALVTI AVGVSTAE reverse type immediately following the TEMPOR FELIC issue of AD 161 (excerpt of figure 4.4, p. 54).​

Beckmann's die study demonstrates the SALVTI AVGVSTAE type was in use beyond the Laetitia and Venus types of AD 162 and beyond. The obverse dies no longer use the all-round legend and feature the empress with her later type 9 hairstyle (excerpt of figure 4.9, p. 60). A date of AD 161- c. 164 is reasonable to this issue.​

Beckmann postulates they were issued in response to a health crisis experienced by Faustina.[4] The inscription, saluti Augustae means "to/for the health of the empress." We have no historical record of any such illness, but it doesn't take much to imagine she may have experienced obstetrical complications.

The SALVTI AVGVSTI seated reverse type was issued in gold (as illustrated above), and in the bronze denominations. The empress may be depicted bare-headed, with the stephane, or wearing a string of pearls around her head. Here are some examples of the bronze issues of this reverse type from my collection. Care must be taken so as not to confuse the middle bronze issues with the earlier type (AD 156-157) of Salus seated but with the AVGVSTI PII FIL reverse legend.

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 20.13 g, 30.5 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 161- c. 164.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust, right, and wearing stephane.
Rev: SALVTI AVGVSTAE S C, Salus seated left, feeding snake coiled round altar from patera in right hand and resting left arm on chair.
Refs: RIC 1668; BMCRE 945-48; Cohen 200; RCV 5283; MIR 30-6/10a, b diad.​

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman Æ as or dupondius, 9.62 g, 24.6 mm, 11 h.
Rome, AD 161- c. 164.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust, right, and wearing strand of pearls around head.
Rev: SALVTI AVGVSTAE S C, Salus seated left, feeding snake coiled round altar from patera in right hand and resting left arm on chair.
Refs: RIC 1671a; BMCRE 992-93; Cohen –; RCV –; MIR 30-7/10b.​

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman Æ as or dupondius, 11.67 g, 26.1 mm, 12 h.
Rome, AD 161- c. 164.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust, right, and wearing stephane.
Rev: SALVTI AVGVSTAE S C, Salus seated left, feeding snake coiled round altar from patera in right hand and resting left arm on chair.
Refs: RIC 1671; BMCRE 995; Cohen 201; RCV 5303; MIR 30-7/10a, b diad.
Notes: Ex Antonio Carmona Collection.​

Szaivert (MIR, pp. 230-231) assigns these SALVTI AVGVSTAE seated issues to what he terms "phase 2" on the basis of hairstyle and dates them to AD 161-164, which is consistent with Beckmann's findings. Szaivert believes they correspond to the SALVTI AVGVSTOR types of Marcus and Lucius Verus of 162-164.[5] However, it should be noted that all those coins depict Salus standing.

Unfortunately, Beckmann's die study was limited to the aurei and the aurei feature only the SALVTI AVGVSTAE seated type. We therefore have no framework in which to fit the denarii – which feature Salus seated or standing, and which read SALVS, not SALVTI AVGVSTAE. Like the aforementioned SALVTI AVGVSTAE seated coins, the SALVS seated denarii feature Faustina with the same variety of bust types and headgear, and I postulate they were issued more or less contemporaneously with the aurei and bronzes.

On the basis of hairstyle (Beckmann type 7 primarily), Szaivert assigns the denarii with the SALVS seated type to what he terms "phase 3," and which he assigns to AD 165 and a few years following.[6] However, we know from Beckmann's die study that this hairstyle was in use by AD 162 and Szaivert's dating should be reexamined in this light. Here is an example in my collection. The empress wears the type 7 hairstyle here with a stephane.

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman AR denarius, 3.24 g, 16.6 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 161- c. 164.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust, right, and wearing stephane.
Rev: SALVS, Salus seated left, feeding from a patera a snake rising from an altar.
Refs: RIC 714; BMCRE 148-150; RSC 195; RCV 5262; CRE 213; MIR 29-4/10b Diad.​

Szaivert dates the SALVS standing denarii to a later date on the basis of hairstyle (Beckmann types 9 and even 10) and classifies them under "phase 4," which he dates to 170-175).[7] However, we know from Beckmann's die study that the type 9 hairstyle was in use even with the SALVTI AVGVSTAE seated type and perhaps as early as AD 162 and certainly by AD 164. It is unclear when the empress' type 10 (final) hairstyle came into use because aurei with this hairstyle all appear to be late and are not linked to any reverse types bearing earlier hairstyles in Beckmann's die study. On the denarii, however, there are a handful of reverse types that bear both her type 9 as well as type 10 hairstyle: CERES seated, IVNO standing, SALVS standing, and VENVS FELIX seated. This suggests the type 10 hairstyle was introduced earlier than AD 170, if not reflected on the aurei. It also suggests that the Salus standing denarius was in production for many years.

We must be careful when using Faustina's hairstyles for establishing an absolute chronology, and even the relative chronology of Faustina's hairstyles is reflected on coinage in a rather nebulous fashion. Many coin-types appear with multiple hairstyles, and Beckmann's die-linkage study demonstrates that dies depicting the various hairstyles were in use simultaneously in many instances and that certain reverse types were in use for an extended period in other instances. The silver and bronze coins have fewer hairstyles represented but nonetheless depict at times two or even three hairstyles in use for some reverse types.

With that caveat in mind, I concur with Szaivert that the Salus seated issue was issued before the Salus standing issue, but it is possible that there may have been a period of overlap during which both were in production. Here is an example from my collection. The empress wears the Beckmann type 9 hairstyle here.

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman AR denarius, 3.20 g, 17.6 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 164- c.166 or later.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: SALVS, Salus standing left, feeding snake rising from an altar and holding scepter.
Refs: RIC 715; BMCRE 141-145; RSC 197; RCV 5261; CRE 214.​

Lastly, there is a rare middle bronze with the SALVTI AVGVSTAE reverse inscription but which features Salus standing. Unfortunately, due to the paucity of known examples (there may be as few as three), it is unclear as to where the SALVTI AVGVSTAE standing middle bronze fits in the overall scheme of her issues. Its date is rather tentative, but if any of Faustina's coins could be interpreted as corresponding to the SALVTI AVGVSTOR standing types of Marcus and Lucius Verus of 162-164, it is this one. Faustina wears the rather early Beckmann type 7 hairstyle, as she does on other bronzes with the seated SALVTI AVGVSTAE type. But why is this one so rare? The SALVTOR AVGVSTOR types of Marcus and Verus are common.

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman Æ as or dupondius, 11.21 g, 25.2 mm, 11 h.
Rome, AD 162-164?
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust of Faustina, right, wearing strand of pearls.
Rev: SALVTI AVGVSTAE S C, Salus standing left, feeding snake coiled round altar from patera in right hand and holding short vertical scepter in left hand.
Refs: RIC 1672; Cohen 205; BMCRE p. 542 note; RCV --; MIR --.​

Conclusions:

• The SALVTI AVGVSTAE reverse types of the gold and bronze issues appear to have been issued beginning shortly after the birth of Commodus and his twin brother, Titus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus on 30 August, AD 161.
  
  
• The denarii bearing the SALVS seated reverse type appear to have been issued concurrently with the SALVTI AVGVSTAE seated issues in gold and bronze.
  
  
• All of these Salus seated types appear to have been issued in large quantities over a period of at least two or three years.
  
  
• Even if the original purpose of the issue was in response to some sort of health crisis suffered by the empress after childbirth, the years-long duration of the issues suggests their purpose was not limited to an invocation to the goddess for healing after a temporary obstetrical complication such as hemorrhage or infection. If these coins were, in fact, issued in response to a health concern, the duration of the Salus coinage suggests the empress developed a chronic health problem that plagued her for many years. We have no record of such and she went on to deliver three more children despite any health problems she may have had. Rather, I think the reverse type may not reflect any specific historical event; Salus is a rather common reverse type used on the coins of many emperors and empresses throughout the Roman principate.
  
  
• The SALVTI AVGVSTAE standing middle bronze appears to have been issued roughly contemporaneously with the SALVTI AVGVSTAE seated bronzes of Faustina and the SALVTOR AVGVSTOR issues of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. However, why it is so rare when the other corresponding bronze types are so common is an enigma.
  
  
• Lastly, the SALVS standing denarii appear to have been issued after the SALVS seated denarii and over a period of perhaps several years, from the mid- to late-160s.
  
  
• The empress is depicted both with a stephane and without on most of these Salus issues. The reason for this remains unclear.

~~~

Notes

1. Beckmann, Martin, Faustina the Younger: Coinage, Portraits, and Public Image, A.N.S. Numismatic Studies 43, American Numismatic Society, New York, 2021, p. 116.

2. That 8% figure is for all denarii issued under Marcus – not just for Faustina, but for Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus and Commodus put together. Ibid., p. 117.

3. Ibid., pp. 54, 59-60.

4. Ibid., p. 59.

5. Szaivert, Wolfgang, Die Münzprägung der Kaiser Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus und Commodus (161/192), Moneta Imperii Romani 18. Vienna, 1989, p. 230.

6. Ibid., p. 231.

7. Ibid.

 

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Another excellent article, RC…I always enjoy these. I don’t have much to add, but I can share this recent arrival, a Philip I ant with a nice Salus reverse.


Philip I, Antoninianus. Rome. (23mm, 3.11g),
Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right/
Rev: SALVS AVG., Salus standing left, holding rudder and feeding serpent rising from altar to left with patera. RIC 47.

 

I do not have a Faustina coin with Salus, but I have one from her son


RIC III Commodus 169
Date Range: AD 187 - AD 188
Obverse Legend: M COMM ANT P FEL AVG BRIT
Type: Head of Commodus, laureate, right
Reverse Legend: P M TR P XIII IMP VIII COS V P P
Type: Salus, draped, seated left on low seat, feeding from patera in right hand snake coiled round altar

 

My bunch of denari featuring Salus.

 

..i was gonna get on to ya 'bout bein' late...but now i see your article...alles well......i'll donate my Nero Salus for the thread...

 

Here is also my first Salus coin, from the time I did not collect ancients yet.
Also this was the first time I heard about Gallienus.




Gallienus, AE antoninianus, Siscia mint. GALLIENVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right / SALVS AVG, Salus standing left, holding sceptre and feeding serpent rising from altar, I in right field. RIC 581; Goebl 1462; Sear -.

 

Very detailed and interesting compendium, @Roman Collector.
Thank you for posting !

I’m still a one Faustina man but I do have a new flip label design.

 

Thanks for this, @Roman Collector; it's incredibly informative, as always. I hope it remains on the front page long enough to get the attention it deserves.

To that end, although I have no Faustina coins depicting Salus, here are a few Salus coins I do have.

Roman Republic, Manius Acilius Glabrio, AR Denarius, 50 BCE (Harlan and BMCRR) or 49 BCE (Crawford), Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate head of Salus right, wearing necklace and earring, with hair collected behind in knot ornamented with jewels, SALVTIS upwards behind head / Rev. Valetudo* [Harlan says portrayal is of a statue of Valetudo] standing left, holding snake with right hand and resting left arm on column, MN•ACILIVS [downwards on right] III•VIR•VALETV [upwards on left] [MN and TV monogrammed]. RSC I Acilia 8, Crawford 442/1a, Sydenham 922, Sear RCV I 412 (ill.), Harlan, RRM II Ch. 30 at pp. 229-238, BMCRR Rome 3945. 17.5 mm., 3.98 g.



* Valetudo was essentially another manifestation of Salus (portrayed on the obverse), the goddess of health and well-being -- a concept sometimes “extended to include not only physical health but also the general welfare of the Roman people, the army and the state.” John Melville Jones, Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins (London, 1990) at p. 276. This is the only Roman coin to depict a personification of Valetudo. See id. at p. 314. Crawford (Vol. I at p. 461) says that “perhaps” these types refer to the story that the first Greek doctor to come to Rome practiced on the gens Acilia’s street, and that “it is also possible” that “expectations of a Caesarian victory influenced the choice of types.”

Harlan dismisses the “first Greek doctor” story (pointing out that the actual story in Pliny characterizes that doctor very negatively, giving no reason to commemorate him) (see RRM II at p. 231), and vigorously argues that the coin was actually pro-Pompey, not pro-Caesar. He argues that Acilius was Pompey’s stepson for a brief period of time, born in Pompey’s house (stating that he was the son of Aemilia, Pompey’s second wife, who apparently divorced Acilius’s father to marry Pompey while she was pregnant with Acilius, although she died in childbirth and Pompey soon remarried to Mucia Tertia). Harlan suggests that the specific inspiration for the depictions on this coin was Pompey’s grave illness around the time the coin was issued, and that the coin equated the health of Pompey with the health of the Republic: “ If the coin is dated to 50, by the end of the year, anyone who saw Salus and Valetudo on the coinage could only call to mind the national concern, and then the universal relief and thanksgiving over Pompey’s return to health. Whatever the intended meaning, certainly by the end of the year 50 the coin could easily be seen as a piece of Pompeian propaganda proclaiming that they are the ones protecting the state and Caesar is the threat to the safety of the Republic.” (RRM II at pp. 232-233.) Harlan also estimates, based on the number of known different obverse and reverse dies, that nearly 11 million of these denarii were minted (the most during this time-period), and suggests that they were intended to be used to pay the 130,000 troops that the Senate authorized Pompey to raise in preparation for the coming conflict. (Id. p. 234.)

Nero AR Denarius, Obv. Laureate head right, IMP CAESAR AVG P P/ Rev. Salus seated, holding patera, SALVS in exergue. RIC I 71, RSC II 316. 19 mm., 3.3 g.



Maximinus I Thrax, AE Sestertius, 236-238 AD, Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG GERM / Rev. Salus seated left, holding patera with outstretched right hand and using it to feed a serpent rising from an altar; resting left arm on side of chair, SALVS AVGVSTI; S C in exergue. RIC IV 85, BMCRE 175-176, Cohen 92, Sear RCV III 8338 (ill.). 31 mm., 17.58 g., 12 h.

 

Great coins and write up as always RC!
Here's Livia as Salus:

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


And of course you gotta have Faustina in a Faustina thread:

Faustina Junior, Augusta, 147-175. Sestertius (Orichalcum, 32 mm, 26.60 g, 11 h), struck under Marcus Aurelius, Rome, 161-164. FAVSTINA AVGVSTA Diademed and draped bust of Faustina II to right. Rev. SALVTI AVGVSTAE / S C Salus seated left, feeding snake rising from an altar to left. Banti 104. Cohen 200. RIC 1668 (Aurelius). Ex: Savoca

 

Thanks for another interesting article, @Roman Collector. Detailed as always.

I only have one Salus in my small collection. It's a Hadrian Sestertius.

 

After reading your thread, again I'll go to bed more intelligent. Here is my latest Salus, coming last week directly from Harlan J Berk :

Victorinus Antoninianus off-center doublestrike
20mm 2.07g
IMP C VICTORINVS.P.F.AVG / SALVS AVG
Cunetio 2554

 

@Roman Collector, one question I forgot to ask, regarding that photo of a statue you posted: what's with the duck head and beak on that snake? Of course, the snakes on the M. Volteius snake biga denarius (which I don't have myself, unfortunately) sort of look like that too. So perhaps it was a trope in the ancient world. Even if so, it makes me wonder if some ancient artists had ever seen an actual snake.

 

That's a beautiful coin, @Shea19! The reverse die is uncommonly fresh for the issue, showing off Salus in all her serpent-feeding glory!

Excellent, @ambr0zie! I don't have an example of that issue in my numophylacium. I like your Gallienus Salus too.

Those are lovely, @JayAg47! I particularly like the toning on that Nerva!

That's great, @ominus1! Everyone wants a Nero denarius and I'm still looking for a decent one. I like the SA-LVS reverse type. I'll take health over IVPPITER CVSTOS any day of the week!

You may have only one Faustina in your collection, but I never grow tired of looking at it, @Deacon Ray! And it's from Gadara to boot. I'm hoping to acquire some provincials of Faustina from the Decapolis soon.

Thanks for the kind words, @DonnaML! I'm glad it didn't get bumped to the second page too quickly. Last week's installment of Faustina Friday got bumped to page two within a few hours and nobody posted even a comment!

That Republican denarius is a real gem, @DonnaML! The Nero, too, is lovely, too, of course. I like your Max Thax Sestertius. I have one, too ...


... but Salus looks like she has a Lego head!

Isn't that comical? It's not exactly an accurate representation of Zamenis longissima longissima, the Asklepian snake, is it? I think a lot of ancient artists struggled with exotic animals because they had few accurate exemplars to copy.

@Ryro, my man! That's a mighty fine SALVS dupondius from that series! I only have the PIETAS one from that issue.



And I love your Faustina SALVTI AVGVSTAE sestertius with the stephane! It's perfect for the thread!

You may have only one Salus, but it's GORGEOUS, @happy_collector! That sestertius is one hefty hunk o' Hadrian!

That's wild, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix! Talk about a Kevin in quality control special!

~~~

Thanks, everybody, for the kind words and for showing your coins! This has been a fun thread!

 

I see Max Thrax sestertii with Salus are popular, so adding mine to the club
Particularly like the reverse - you can see facial features for Salus.
The obverse is nicer in hand, the corrosion is not that visible at all, but it's a pity it doesn't show the classic Maximinus acromegaly, he looks quite normal here.


Maximinus I Thrax AD 235-238. Rome
Sestertius Æ
30 mm., 19,25 g.
RIC IV Maximinus Thrax 64
Date Range: AD 235 - AD 236
Obverse Legend: IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG
Type: Bust of Maximinus I, laureate, draped, cuirassed, right
Reverse Legend: SALVS AVGVSTI S C
Type: Salus, draped, seated left, feeding out of patera in right hand snake coiled round altar