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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Sallent, post: 2526483, member: 76194&quot;]Let&#039;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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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&#039;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&#039; 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.</p><p><br /></p><p>As if that wasn&#039;t bad enough, in early 205 CE, after only three years of marriage, Plautilla&#039;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.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]539342[/ATTACH]</p><p>Plautilla</p><p>AR Denarius 19mm. 2.70g. Rome Mint 202-205 A.D.</p><p>Draped bust, r., with hair in horizontal waves and drawn into large bun at back.</p><p>PLAUTILLAE AVGVSTAE</p><p>Caracalla and Plautilla standing hand in hand, the former holds a roll.</p><p>PROPAGO IMPERI</p><p>RIC IV 362; RSC III 21</p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Whom to blame:</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p>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,&nbsp; 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.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]539343[/ATTACH]</p><p>Septimius Severus</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]539345[/ATTACH]</p><p>Julia Domna</p><p><br /></p><p>But of course, we should not give a pass to the monster himself, Caracalla. Don&#039;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&#039;t so much depraved as he was a sociopath. He was a cold, calculating monster with no sympathy or sense of morality.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]539346[/ATTACH]</p><p>Caracalla</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Conclusion:</b></p><p><br /></p><p>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&#039;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.</p><p><br /></p><p>PS: Post any related coinage of her, her father, husband, etc., if you got them and want to share.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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