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| Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 165 | Auction date: 26 May 2026 |
| Lot number: 548 Price realized: 34,000 CHF (Approx. 43,098 USD / 37,176 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus Aureus circa 196-211, AV 21 mm, 7.14 g. IVLIA – AVGVSTA Draped bust r. Rev. MATER AVGG Julia Domna (as Cybele), holding branch, seated l. in quadriga of lions. C 116. BMC S. Severus 47. RIC S. Severus 562. Calicó 2625 (these dies) Extremely rare. A pleasant portrait struck on a very broad flan and a very fascinating reverse composition. A minor area of weakness on reverse, otherwise good extremely fine From the collection of Druso and Bartolomeo Franceschi. In AD 187, Septimius Severus is said to have sought out and married Julia Domna in response to an oracle that foretold his future rise to imperial power. At the time, he was a commander in the Roman army, and she was the daughter of one of the hereditary priests of Elagabal, the sun god of Emesa. She had a warm relationship with her husband, giving birth to their two sons, L. Septimius Bassianus (popularly known as Caracalla) and P. Septimius Geta, and regularly followed Severus on his various military campaigns. She was with him even during the tumultuous Year of the Five Emperors (AD 193), which ended with Severus assuming power in Rome as the new emperor. Julia Domna received the title of Augusta while Severus became Augustus, and in 195, she was honoured as Mater Castrorum ("Mother of the Camps") in recognition of her constant presence with Severus in the field. This rare aureus features a beautiful obverse portrait of Julia Domna in her role as Augusta, while the reverse celebrates her additional status as the mother of two imperial heirs, as indicated by the legend MATER AVGG ("Mother of Augusti"). The reverse type depicts Julia Domna in the guise of Cybele, a Phrygian goddess assimilated into the Roman pantheon in 204 BC, who was known in Latin as Magna Mater ("the Great Mother") or Mater Deorum ("Mother of the Gods"). By presenting Julia Domna as Cybele in her chariot drawn by lions, this coin not-so-subtly implies that the empress herself was a goddess and that her sons were gods. While such iconography would raise no eyebrows in the provinces, where it was usual to worship emperors and their families as gods on earth, this would have been a bold statement in Rome, where it was still only deemed appropriate to worship deified deceased emperors or the genius(spirit) of the living one. Unfortunately, the job of any mother is a tough one, and Julia Domna's was especially difficult. As Mother of Augusti, her influence could only go so far. Caracalla and Geta had grown to hate each other because of the disparity in the power their father had allotted them. While Severus lived, she held the family together, but after his death in 211, everything fell apart. Before the end of that year, she found herself cradling a bloody Geta in her arms, murdered by his own brother. She went on to serve in the imperial chancery under Caracalla, but after he was assassinated in 217, she took her own life in despair. Estimate: 20000 CHF |  |
