The saddest couple in ancient Roman history: Plautilla wedding denarius

Let's start by acknowledging that quite a few Roman emperors had a spouse murdered for one reason or another. Sometimes, like in the case of Nero and Poppaea Sabina, it is hard to justify the act as anything other than a barbarous and inexcusable horror at the hands of a mad and depraved emperor, and other times you can sort of say they had it coming, such as in the case of Claudius and Messalina. No one can blame Claudius for killing her after she plotted with his enemies to have him deposed and murdered.

But despite the many examples one can draw from of ancient love gone wrong, none is perhaps more sad and inexcusable than that of poor Plautilla and her husband Caracalla. Plautilla's father, Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, commander of the Praetorian Guard and close ally of Emperor Septimius Severus, arranged for his daughter to marry Emperor Severus' son and heir Caracalla at age 13. Right from the start the marriage was terrible nightmare for her, as Caracalla was often cruel to her and absolutely hated her.

As if that wasn't bad enough, in early 205 CE, after only three years of marriage, Plautilla's father discovered that Caracalla was planning on having him and his daughter murdered upon the death of Septimius Severus. Plautianus desperately tried to save his daughter by staging a revolt against the Severans, which failed. For that Plautilla, now with child, found herself exiled at the age of 16 to a barren rock in the middle of the sea, where she was subjected to torture, abuse, and the worst degradation possible until Caracalla assumed full power and had her and her daughter strangled to death on February 4, 211 CE.


Plautilla
AR Denarius 19mm. 2.70g. Rome Mint 202-205 A.D.
Draped bust, r., with hair in horizontal waves and drawn into large bun at back.
PLAUTILLAE AVGVSTAE
Caracalla and Plautilla standing hand in hand, the former holds a roll.
PROPAGO IMPERI
RIC IV 362; RSC III 21

This denarius really captivated me. When you see her in this fine portrait you realize she was just a little girl who was thrust into a terrible world of brutality and suffering. You can almost see the sadness in her eyes. And on the reverse you can see the lie which the imperial propagandists wanted the Roman people to believe, that this was a happy union between their future Emperor and Empress.

Whom to blame:

More than Caracalla, I have to blame Septimius Severus and Julia Domna for this sad tragic tale. They knew Caracalla was a monster, and rather than doing anything to dispose of him in favor of their other son Geta, they allowed Caracalla to indulge himself in depravity. It is said that Caracalla openly defied Septimius Severus, and once even tried to kill him, yet for that he suffered no repercussions. That is a terrible indictment on his parents.

Septimius Severus


Julia Domna

But of course, we should not give a pass to the monster himself, Caracalla. Don't let his innocent boyish image on early coinage fool you. Behind the carefully crafted propaganda images of him was a monster waiting to inflict on the Roman people the most unspeakable of horrors. He wasn't so much depraved as he was a sociopath. He was a cold, calculating monster with no sympathy or sense of morality.


Caracalla

Conclusion:

I look back at the bust on that denarius of PLautilla, so young, so innocent, and so scared, and her sadness transcends all of the 1,800+ years that separate us from her. I can't help but to be drawn to her and have a very emotional reaction to her story and feel a connection to her. The pain and misery that she experienced on her short time on Earth is something that just about everyone can empathize with.

PS: Post any related coinage of her, her father, husband, etc., if you got them and want to share.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I have read that while Plautilla may have been attractive, she was not very intelligent and may have been an embarrassment to her husband. Also, not helping, was Caracalla's hatred of Plautianus who Caracalla believed was plotting to take the purple for himself. I believe it is hard to cut through the biases written by historians of the time.

 

Wonderful thread, post and photos!!

I think Doug and others may mention that Geta was probably not much better and may have been just as much a sociopath as his elder brother.

You can't help but feel pity for that poor young girl....and my coin of her seems to resemble Julia Domna more than the typical portrait of her as yours so wonderfully demonstrates.

My examples of the 'happy family' with a provincial of Geta last:

 

Wow. Great piece of history. Tragic but very interesting. Those are some amazing looking coins.

 

Well, Geta did look "innocent" in the portrait of my denarius of his...but as we've seen, ancient propagandists were good at their work.

 

The other side of the story is that Plautilla was a spendthrift, or gold digger and spent so much money. As well as having a big mouth and wouldn't shut up.

They had simple solutions for that back then which is totally unacceptable today. So, if you can't get a woman to shut up, they will often strangle them to death. But yeah, her life and end was a tragic one. She is so beautiful as displayed on coins, perhaps she looked similar in real life.



Plautilla AR Denarius. 198-212 AD, 3.3g, 18mm

OBV: PLAVTILLA AVGVSTA, Draped bust right, hair in nearly vertical waves & drawn into bun at back.

REV: CONCORDIA AVGG Concordia, diademed, stg. half-left with patera & sceptre.

REF: RIC 363, RSC 1, BMC 411, Sear RCV 2000 - 7065

 

Do you know how many different versions of this denarius there were? I see yours has CONCORDIAE AETERNAE on the reverse (ie. Eternal Harmony) while mine has PROPAGO IMPERI on the reverse (ie. Imperial Union).

 

well he is only about 10 years old at the time

 

Well, as a father to a very energetic boy I can tell you that they may look innocent, but they sure can be a handful at times. Whenever I see my son pout his lips and give me a sad "innocent" look that tugs at my heart, I already know he probably broke something or touched something he shouldn't have, and now he is playing up the sadness game to get on my good side...and sadly it works all the time.

 

Nice addition.


Plautilla (202 - 205 A.D)
AR Denarius
O: PLAVTILLA AVGVSTA, Draped bust right.
R: PIETAS AVGG, Pietas standing front, head right, holding a child.
Rome
3.4g
18.5mm
RIC 367 RSC 16


Plautilla (202-205 A.D.)
AR Denarius
O: PLAVTILLAE AVGVSTAE, Draped bust right, hair in bun behind.
R: HILARITAS, Hilaritas standing, holding palm branch and cornucopia.
Laodicea Mint
3.3g
18mm
RIC IV 371 (Caracalla) RSC 14

 

Nice write up and Silvers, Mr @Sallent ...

I have The Family, EXCEPT Plautilla... It is on a target list of Empresses:


RI Septimus Severus 193-211 AR Denarius Genius Sacrificing Obv-Rev.jpg


RI Julia Domna 193-195 CE AR Den Vesta Palladium O-R.jpg


RI AR Den Julia Domna 200 CE Felicitas Isis Horus RIC 577 O-R.jpg


RI Caracalla 198-217 AR Denarius MONETA Obv-Rev.jpg


RI Geta AR Denarius 209-211 CE On horse spearing enemy Obv-Rev.jpg

 

That's been one of my goals, to get all of the Severan dynasty (at least the more prominent and important ones anyway).

I also have these:

Julia Maesa

Alexander Severus.

I'm trying to track down Alexander Serverus' mother, Elagabalus and his mother, Alexander's wife (that's an expensive denarius to get), and at least one or two of Elagabalus' wives (which can also be pricey). I would try to get all 4 but frankly it's better to just get one or two of the more prominent and well known of Elagabalus' wives as it can quickly become what we would call "diminishing results" for the money needed to be spent...ie. throwing tons of money at people who are but mere footnotes in history for the sake of completeness, instead of chasing more interesting characters and more interesting coins.

 

I don't have a Maesa, yet (Empresses are being targeted.) But do have that Alexander Severus Dude...


RI Severus Alexander 222-235 CE AR Denarius laureate Victory stndg Obv-Rev.jpg

 

I'm sure @Mat (among others) has every one of the 'Julia' clan....not to mention @dougsmit

 

Fantastic writeup and coins!

 

Yup, don't have Annia Faustina though.



Julia Paula (219 - 220 A.D.)
AR Denarius
O: IVLIA PAVLA AVG, Draped bust right.
R: CONCORDIA, Concordia seated left, patera in right, left elbow resting on arm of throne, star in left field.
Rome
3.1g
18.3mm
RSC 6a , RIC 211


Julia Mamaea (222 - 235 A.D.)
AR Denarius
O: IVLIA MAMAEA AVG, Diademed and draped bust right.
R:VENVS GENETRIX, Venus standing left, head left, holding scepter and apple; at feet to left, Cupid standing right with hands raised.
Rome
3.6g
20mm
RIC 355 (Severus Alexander), RSC 072

Portrait outline on reverse.


Julia Soaemias (218-222 A.D.)
AR Denarius
O: IVLIA SOAEMIAS AVG
Draped bust right.
R: VENVS CAELESTIS
Venus diademed seated left on throne, apple in right, scepter in left, child at her feet.
SRCV 7720 RIC 243 RSC 14
3.6g
19.6mm


Aquilia Severa (220, & 221-222 A.D.)
AR Denarius
O: IVLIA AQUILIA SEVERA AVG, Draped bust right.
R: CONCORDIA, Concordia standing facing, head left, holding double cornucopia and sacrificing with patera over altar to left; star to right.
Rome Mint
19mm
3.02g
RIC IV(part 2), pg 47, #226 (Elagabalus)

 

Some of my Severan dynasty:

 

@Bing is that third one Caracalla? That is one funny looking Caracalla if it is him.

I'm more used to either the kid Caracalla or the older Caracalla everyone is familiar with, like my other Caracalla denarius from his last year in power:

 

Hey! I got one of those Julia Paula type gals:


Julia Paula Augusta AD 219-220 AR Denarius 18 mm 3.10g Antioch mint AD 219-220 - Venus Genetrix seated left holding apple scepter RIC IV 222 RSC 21.JPG

 

Hey, I have a Julia Paula:

Julia Paula Augusta AD 219-220 AR Denarius 18 mm 3.10g Antioch mint AD 219-220 - Venus Genetrix seated left holding apple scepter RIC IV 222 RSC 21.JPG

and a Julia Soaemias

RI Julia Soaemias 218-222 CE AR Den Venus Caelestis star RIC IV 241 O-R.jpg