Sabina Augusta: An Imperial Journey -- Oxford Women in Antiquity series

I found Barbara Levick's Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age in the Oxford Women in Antiquity series very informative and interesting, so I put in a pre-order from the publisher to receive another volume in the series, T. Corey Brennan's Sabina Augusta: An Imperial Journey, upon its release.

The book is now available and I wanted to share it with you. I haven't read it yet, having just received it, but it not only looks helpful in terms of its historical information (the Oxford series has high standards for scholarship), but it also contains appendices detailing a classification scheme for the coins based upon the work of Abdy, who is one of the authors of the second edition of RIC II, part 3, as well as a classification scheme and inventory of sculpture/statuary portraits of the empress.


Here is coin from my own collection so as to keep it numismatic. Let's see your coins of Sabina!


Sabina, AD 117-137.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 22.51 g, 31.2 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 132.
Obv: SABINA AVGVSTA HADRIANI AVG P P, diademed and draped bust, right.
Rev: IVNONI REGINAE, Juno standing left, holding patera and scepter.
Refs: RIC 1028; BMCRE 1869; Cohen 38; RCV 3934; UCR 500; Strack 86.

 

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Sabina (128-136 A.D.)
AR Denarius
O: SABINA AVGVSTA, diademed and draped bust of Sabina right.
R: CONCOR-DIA AVG, Concordia seated left, holding patera and scepter.
Rome
18mm
3.33g
RIC 391; RSC 24
Ex A. Lynn Collection (Freeman & Sear E16), 89.

 

Please let us know how the book is when you've given it a once through. No Sabina coins here, but it will happen eventually I'm sure.

 

..kool books and nice sest. of the lady RC.....i've got a denarius of her i bought from one of our good CT members on ebay, alde..haven't seen him in a while, hope he is well.... Sabina denarius, Vesta seated reverse 18mm 2.96gms

 

That book looks really interesting - if it is as good as the introduction to RIC part II it will be fine indeed. Here is part of that work in Google Books, including the introduction, which is informative and also a delight to read:

https://books.google.com/books?id=D...v=onepage&q=hadrian sestertius nemesis&f=true

Sabinas are not easy to find on the bottom-feeder scrounging market, but here are the two I've managed to get:

Sabina Æ As
(128-136 A.D.)
Rome Mint
[SABINA AV]GVSTA HAD[RIANI AVG P P] draped bust right; hair falling in plait / IVNONI [REGINAE] S C, Juno std. left with patera & sceptre.
RIC II Hadrian 1038a (as)
(9.55 grams / 25 mm)


Sabina Denarius
(128-136 A.D.)
Rome Mint
SABINA AVGVSTA HADRIANI AVG PP, draped diademed bust right, queue down neck / CONCORDIA AVG Concordia seated left, holding patera and sceptre, cornucopiae under chair.
RIC 399a; Cohen 25.
(2.92 grams / 17 mm)

 

I have found the images of Sabina to be interesting as her image with what I like to call the "flying wing" hairdo is the only one available without doing really serious damage to the bank account.
Sabina Denarius 128-129 AD Obv Bust right draped wearing stephane Hair coiled and piled up to top of head. Rv Vesta seated left RIC II/3 2483 RIC 408 3.21 grms 19 mm Photo by W. Hansen

 

Other volumes in this Oxford series may interest Cointalk members. Those currently in our library are:

AUTHOR Carney, Elizabeth Donnelly, 1947-
TITLE Arsinoë of Egypt and Macedon : a royal life
IMPRINT New York, N.Y. : Oxford University Press, c2013.
DESCRIPT'N xii, 215 p. : ill., map ; 24 cm.
SERIES Women in antiquity.
ISN/STD # 9780195365511.

AUTHOR Clayman, Dee L.
TITLE Berenice II and the golden age of Ptolemaic Egypt
IMPRINT Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, [2014]
DESCRIPT'N x, 270 pages ; 25 cm.
SERIES Women in antiquity.
ISN/STD # 9780195370898.

AUTHOR Gillespie, Caitlin C., author.
TITLE Boudica : warrior woman of Roman Britain
IMPRINT New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2018]
DESCRIPT'N xv, 193 pages ; 25 cm.
SERIES Women in antiquity.
ISN/STD # 9780190609078 (hardcover alkaline paper)

AUTHOR Roller, Duane W.
TITLE Cleopatra : a biography
IMPRINT Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2010.
DESCRIPT'N xi, 252 p. : ill., maps ; 25 cm.
SERIES Women in antiquity.
ISN/STD # 9780195365535.

AUTHOR Roller, Duane W., author.
TITLE Cleopatra's daughter : and other royal women of the Augustan era
IMPRINT New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2018]
DESCRIPT'N xi, 207 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm.
SERIES Women in antiquity.
ISN/STD # 9780190618827 hardcover alkaline paper.

AUTHOR Skinner, Marilyn B.
TITLE Clodia Metelli : the tribune's sister
IMPRINT Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2011.
DESCRIPT'N xvii, 195 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.
SERIES Women in antiquity.
ISN/STD # 9780195375008.

AUTHOR Carney, Elizabeth Donnelly, 1947-
TITLE Eurydice and the birth of Macedonian power
IMPRINT New York, NY, : Oxford University Press, [2019]
DESCRIPT'N x, 178 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cm.
SERIES Women in antiquity.
ISN/STD # 9780190280536 hardcover alkaline paper.

TITLE Faustina I and II : imperial women of the golden age
IMPRINT New York, NY : Oxford University Press, Inc., [2014]
DESCRIPT'N 248 pages ; 25 cm.
SERIES Women in antiquity.
ISN/STD # 9780195379419 (cloth)

AUTHOR Sivan, Hagith, 1949-
TITLE Galla Placidia : the last Roman empress
IMPRINT Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2011.
DESCRIPT'N x, 224 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.
SERIES Women in antiquity.
ISN/STD # 9780195379129.

AUTHOR Watts, Edward Jay, 1975- author.
TITLE Hypatia : the life and legend of an ancient philosopher
IMPRINT New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2017]
DESCRIPT'N xii, 205 pages ; 25 cm.
SERIES Women in antiquity.
ISN/STD # 9780190210038 hardcover.

AUTHOR Clark, Gillian (E. Gillian)
TITLE Monica : an ordinary saint
IMPRINT New York, NY : Oxford University Press USA, [2015]
DESCRIPT'N 199 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cm.
SERIES Women in antiquity.
ISN/STD # 9780199988389 (hardback)

AUTHOR Gold, Barbara K., 1945- author.
TITLE Perpetua : athlete of god / Barbara K. Gold.
IMPRINT New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2018]
DESCRIPT'N viii, 261 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm.
SERIES Women in antiquity.
ISN/STD # 9780195385458 hardcover alkaline paper.

AUTHOR Brennan, T. Corey, author.
TITLE Sabina Augusta : an imperial journey
IMPRINT New York, United States of America : Oxford University Press, [2018]
DESCRIPT'N xxiv, 302 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
SERIES Women in antiquity.
ISN/STD # 9780190250997 hardcover.

AUTHOR Potter, D. S. (David Stone), 1957- author.
TITLE Theodora : actress, empress, saint
IMPRINT New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2015]
DESCRIPT'N 277 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm.
SERIES Women in antiquity.
ISN/STD # 9780199740765 hardcover.

AUTHOR Andrade, Nathanael J.
TITLE Zenobia : shooting star of Palmyra
IMPRINT New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2018]
DESCRIPT'N xvii, 284 pages ; 25 cm.
SERIES Women in antiquity.
ISN/STD # 9780190638818 hardcover

 

The book is on my reading list now. Although I always have to think of the rather unflattering portrayal of this empress in Marguerite Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hardrian (one of my favorite novels), I consider her one of the most interesting female figures of the Antonine period.


Sabina, Roman Empire, denarius, 128–136 AD, Rome mint. Obv: SABINA AVGUSTA; diademed and draped bust of Sabina r. Rev: VENERI GENETRICI; Venus standing facing, head l., holding out apple in l. hand and drawing a fold of drapery from l. shoulder with r. hand. 19mm, 2.9g. Ref: RIC II Hadrian 396.

 

It looks fascinating. Have you written more about the Faustina I and II book anywhere?

 

@Roman Collector....Please let us know your thoughts on the book once you've devoured it......Nice blue tints on the Sestertius a pretty coin...My Denarius has the same reverse..

Sabina AR Denarius 18/19mm..3.21gr
Obverse- SABINA AVGVSTA, diademed and draped bust right, hair in queue down neck
Reverse- IVNONI REGINAE, Juno standing left holding patera and sceptre.
RIC 395a, RSC 43

 

Roman Collector,

I am still looking forward to receiving scans of the three "children" pages in Levick, that I have asked you for twice over the last two or three weeks.

I was hoping to see those three pages both to help me decide whether to order the book, and as a basis for further comments on Coin Talk about the names and birth and death dates of Faustina's children.

The Sabina book also looks interesting. I think it will be difficult to make progress in the chronology of her coinage without first establishing the correct order of all of Hadrian's types between 128 and 138, especially on denarii: no easy task, as you are doubtless aware!

 

The relevant pages are available here on Google Books.

 

Many thanks! Obviously a thorough and important book, which I should certainly acquire.

 

Related to this thread, I came across this book in Google Books, on Women in Antiquity:

https://books.google.com/books?hl=e...IDvDFP-f77p8OdO2797svP_7I#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

I'm a little bit late here, I saw the thread Monday but I didn't had the chance to take photos.

Sabina Sestertius. RIC 1020
SABINA AVGVSTA HADRIANI AVG P P, draped bust right with hair coiled on top of head / SC in ex, Vesta seated left, holding Palladium & scepter.
34 mm / 25 g


Sabina Sestertius. RIC 1020
SABINA AVGVSTA HADRIANI AVG P P, draped bust right with hair coiled on top of head / SC in ex, Vesta seated left, holding Palladium & scepter.
33 mm / 26.8 g


My third Sabina coin is a little special , it's obverse legend seems to be re-engraved with larger letters and a different text , the engraver also did a grammatical error , as found by our expert @curtislclay in another thread : ''HADRIANVS is in the wrong case; it should be HADRIANI (genitive not nominative).''
obverse re-engraved with :
SABINA AVG HADRIANVS P P
the original was probably RIC 1023 with :
SABINA AVGVSTA HADRIANI AVG P P
26 mm / 7.7 g

 

Your third coin has a nice even green/brown patina.

 

...with coins like those, you can afford to be late! very nice and desirable!

 

I just received two coins, a denarius of Sabina, and an Alexandrian tetradrachm of Hadrian and Sabina. Both coins are in "generic" NGC slabs with minimal information.

The tetradrachm is well documented online.

Roman Empire, 117-138 AD
BI tetradrachm
Emperor Hadrian and Empress Sabina
Alexandria
Year 13 (128/9 AD)
Obv.: AVT KAI TPAI AΔPIA CЄB, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right of Hadrian.
Rev.: CABINA CЄBACTH, draped bust right of Sabina, L IΓ (date) upward behind.
Köln 997



The denarius is a little more problematic in terms of identification. This coin has the Concordia reverse, but without any legend. I have seen this reverse with the legend, but with a different portrait on the obverse.

Does anyone in CT-land have any ideas? Is there a RIC # for this coin?

Thanks

Roman Empire, 117-138 AD
AR denarius
Empress Sabina
Obverse: SABINA AVGVSTA HADRIANI AVG PP, portrait of Sabina facing right.
Reverse: Concordia seated, facing left.