Julia Domna's Coinage and Severan Dynastic Propaganda

Julia Domna's Coinage and Seveřan Dynastic Propaganda (*)

Introduction. - Julia Domna, wife of Emperor L. Septimius Severus, was born in the Roman province of Syria at Emesa (!). For twenty-five years she had a prominent position in the Imperial court at Rome beginning with her husband's accession in 193 and lasting until her son Caracalla's reign was ended by his assassination in 217. She was perhaps the most celebrated of all Roman Imperial women, appearing in both Greek and Latin dedicatory inscriptions and receiving more honorific titles than any preceding female of the Imperial court. In the past, it has been argued that Julia's high profile in Imperial matters and her numerous appearances in inscriptions was the result of "oriental influence" and was especially "un-Roman" in character, but careful comparison of her inscriptions, coins, and figurai representations with material from earlier Imperial periods has shown that Julia received few honors which can be classified as truly unusual or without precedent. Those which did break new ground in Roman art and iconography were the result of Septimius' desire to promote his family as a new dynasty (2).

Septimius Severus was proclaimed emperor by his troops in April 193 and began a march for Rome which ended in June. Without fighting a battle

(*) This article is an expanded version of a paper which was delivered at the 1991 CAMWS meeting held in April at Hamilton, Ontario. It was developed from research done for my M. A. thesis entitled, The Public Image of Julia Domna and her Role in Seveřan Dynastic Propaganda , completed in December 1990, at the University of Cincinnati under the direction of Prof. C. Brian Rose. The coins discussed are those issued from the mint of Rome. The chronology of types followed here, with the exception of the date for the Mater Avgg type, is that established by R V. Hill in his publications on the coinage of Septimius and his family, notably his monograph, The Coinage of Septimius Severus and His Family of the Mint of Rome AD 193-217.

Abbreviations for journals and standard references follow the guidelines published in AJA 95, 1991, p. 316. All dates mentioned are A.D. unless otherwise noted.

(1) G. Herzog, Iulia Domna , 566 in RE, XIX, col. 926-935 ; PIR2 J 663. (2) Another article on Julia Domna and Seveřan propaganda recently appeared

in Latomus : D. Baharal, The Portraits of Julia Domna from the Years 193-211 A.D. and the Dynastic Propaganda of L. Septimius Severus in Latomus 51, 1992, p. 1 10-1 18. While Ms. Baharal and I agree that there are Antonine elements deliberately used in Seveřan propaganda, 1 disagree with the arguments in her article. I do not wish to recount her entire thesis here. I agree that Julia is made to resemble Faustina Minor but not so much in physical appearance (like Ms. Baharal believes) as in other, far more important ways.

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Septimius took control of the empire. When Didius Julianus was ousted and Septimius took the Imperial throne, Julia was given the title Augusta (3). Among the earliest forms of visual propaganda promoting the Seveřan rule were the types and legends used on Imperial coinage (4).

There are some twenty-five reverse types associated with or portraying Julia Domna between 193 and 217. These reverse types are associated with obverse types which depict a bust of Julia and occur with three different legends referring to three separate chronological periods. Her portrait accompanied by the legend Ivlia Domna Avg first appeared on coins minted in 194 and 195 (Fig. 1). Beginning in 195 and continuing until 21 1, her title on the coinage became simply Ivlia Avgvsta (5) (Fig. 2). This title duplicated the nomen-

(3) E. Kettenhofen, Die syrischen Augustae in der historischen Überlieferung. Bonn, 1979, p. 78-79 ; F. Ghedini, Giulia Domna tra Oriente e Occidente. Le fonti archeologiche , Rome, 1984, p. 17, n. 44 ; M. Williams, Studies in the Lives of Roman Empresses : I. Julia Domna in AJA 6, 1902, p. 261. Kettenhofen believes that Domina replaces the title Augusta in at least one case : CIL III, 7520. It also appears on a bilingual milestone ( CIL III, 13689) in the Latin portion, but not in the Greek. Here Kettenhofen faults the stonecutter. It would seem much more likely, however, that Domina is simply a misspelling of Domna. - Since the Julio-Claudian period, the title Augusta was as standard for the women of the emperor's family as the title Augustus was for the emperor himself. Not all Imperial women were Augustae. Prior to Julia Domna the following were officially called Augusta : Livia, Antonia Maior, Agrip- pina Maior, Agrippina Minor, Sextilia (the mother of Vitellius), Julia Titi, Domitia Longina, Flavia Domitilla (daughter of Vespasian who was granted the title twenty years after her death), Plotina, Marciana, Sabina, Faustina Maior, Faustina Minor, Lucilla, Bruttia Crispina, Flavia Titiana (Pertinax's wife), Manlia Scantilla, and Didia Clara. The final two were the wife and daughter, respectively, of Didius Julianus. See H. Temporini, Die Frauen am Hofe Trajans , Berlin, 1978, p. 27-35.

(4) Some scholars have questioned how persuasive coin images would have been as vehicles for propaganda in Roman society. For a discussion of the arguments about the persuasive power of Imperial coinage, see the article by G. A. Crump, Coinage and Imperial Thought in The Craft of the Ancient Historian : Essays in Honor of Chester G. Starr , eds. J. W Eadie and J. Ober, 1985, p. 425-441. It is obvious, however, that decisions had to be made concerning what titles, portraits, and reverse types were to be combined. To whom this responsibility fell is not clear from the evidence surviving ; however, the logical conclusion is that the emperor must have participated in approving coin types for issue. C. H. V. Sutherland has studied the question of the authority of the emperor in the mint during the Julio-Claudian period. See particularly, The Emperor and the Coinage , London, 1976, p. 1-33 and p. 96-121. He concludes that after the civil wars of 68-69 Imperial coinage became systematic : "By this time the imperial monetary system, including the choice of types, was securely included among the responsibilities of an entrenched civil service" (p. 121). See also his more recent article, Compliment or Complement ? Dr Levick on Imperial Coin Types in NC 146, 1986, p. 85-93.

(5) The earliest extant Latin inscription bearing this title comes from Panhormus in Sicily and is dated to the year 195 : CIL X, 7272.


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dature of Livia after she had been adopted into the gens Iulia through provisions in Augustus' will (6). P. V. Hill proposed that coins having the first title were minted under the authority of one of Septimius' officinae on Julia's behalf and that when Albinus broke from Septimius in 195, his officina was assigned to Julia so that the Ivlia Avgvsta legend marks the start of coins issued under her authority (7). Her assumption of the title Ivlia Pia Felix Avg in 211/212, after the death of her husband Septimius and the accession of her son Caracalla, marked the final period of her coin issues minted up to the end of her son's reign in 217.

The reverse types used on Julia's coins provide the most useful information regarding her public image as projected by the Imperial court. As the situation within the Imperial household changed, the types employed on the coins were adjusted to reflect this. No doubt these images were intended to complement other elements of propaganda put forth by the emperor, and usually they would coincide with his own coin issues. The types range from associations with female deities (Venus, Juno, Vesta) and personifications of appropriate Imperial virtues ( Fecunditas , Hilar it as, Pietas) to advertisements of dynastic harmony and longevity ( Concordia Aeterna and Aeternitas Imperi).

Although Julia's titles in the obverse legends of her coins have been used to define three chronological periods for her issues, if one examines the use of reverse types, one can discern five phases in her coinage. The first phase includes the early period of Septimius' reign down to about 199. The years 200-202 form the second phase when a major promotional campaign for the dynasty and its hope in Caracalla and Geta seems to have been effected. The third phase, extending over the years 203-208, is one in which Julia is poorly represented on coins. That period encompassed the time of Plautianus' ascendency up to his death in 205. The fourth phase of Julia's coinage falls between 209 and 212, the period of the joint reign of Septimius, Caracalla, and Geta. During this period Julia was not only wife of an Augustus but also mother of two Augusti. Lastly, the fifth phase marks the period of Caracalla's sole rule, 212-217, when Julia wielded her greatest power as empress.

The first phase : AD 194-199. - The issue of new coins was one of the first activities that Septimius Severus needed to undertake after his proclamation as emperor by the Pannonian troops. The Roman soldiers would expect payment for their loyalty, and with Pescennius Niger threatening in the east, he would need the military support. Not surprisingly, the earliest coin issues focus on legionary types, giving particular attention to those legions which

(6) Dio LVI, 46, 1-2. (7) Р. V. Hill, Notes on the Coinage of Septimius Severus and His Family, AD 193-

217 in NC 4, 1979, p. 171.


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helped place Septimius in power (8). The empress Julia Domna does not appear on Imperial coins from the mint of Rome until 194, the year following her husband's proclamation. These first coins pair her portrait and the legend Ivlia Domna Avg on the obverse with the reverse types of Fecvnditas, Venvs Genetrix (Fig. 3), and Venvs Victrix, all fairly standard Imperial themes used since the time of Julius Caesar (9). Prior to the reign of Hadrian, however, deities and Imperial virtues appeared primarily on the emperor's coins. Hadrian portrayed his wife, Sabina, on coins from the mint of Rome having the reverse types Venvs Victrix (without legend) and Venvs Gene- trix (Fig. 4), the first use of these types in association with a female member of the Imperial family (10). The Fecvnditas type first occurred on the coins of Faustina the Younger minted in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, honoring her upon the birth of her sixth child in 152 (n).

An attempt to link Julia Domna to both the elder and younger Faustinas continued through all of Julia's coinage in this first phase and into the beginning of the second. Her coins for 195 employed the types Ivno Regina and

(8) The dangerous precedent of "buying off' the praetorian guard and offering large donatives to the Roman soldiers was set by Pertinax. After his death during a mutiny of the soldiers, the praetorian guard offered the Imperial throne at auction to the highest bidder, i.e. the one who promised the largest donative for the soldiers. In this case, that man was Didius Julianus. Such was the situation Septimius inherited upon becoming emperor. For the historical account, see Dio, Book LXXIV passim. See also N. Hannestad, Roman Art and Imperial Policy , Hojbjerg, 1986, p. 249- 257, and for the legionary coin types, BMCRE V, p. 20-23, nos. 5-25, plate 5.1-15 ; p. 117-119, nos. 469-471, plate 20.1, 3.

(9) Julius Caesar made vows to Venus Victrix before the battle at Pharsalus, though the temple he later built was to Venus Genetrix : Appi an, ВС II, 68 and 102 ; R. Schilling, La religion romaine de Vénus , Paris, 1954 [1955], p. 305-307.

(10) BMCRE III : Venvs Victrix, p. 356, nos. 920 and 921, plate 65.5 ; Venvs Genetrix, p. 360, nos. 944-949, plate 65.19,20 ; 538, nos. 1883 and 1884, plate 99.4. The Venus Genetrix type had been employed for sculptural portraits of Julio-Claudian women : for example, Livia as Venus Genetrix in the Ravenna relief : Schilling, [n. 9], p. 341 ; H. Jucker, Die Prinzen auf dem Augustus- Relief in Ravenna in Mélanges d'histoire ancienne et d'archéologie offerts à Paul Collari , Lausanne, 1976, fig. 1 ; and Antonia Minor as Venus Genetrix at Baiae : F. Zevi and B. Andreae, Gli scavi sottomarini di Baia in PP 37, 1982, p. 142-148, fìg. 10-11 ; H. Frost, The Nymphaeum at Baia in IntJNautA 12, 1983, p. 81, fig. 1. The Venus Genetrix type, however, was never used in association with their coin portraits.

(11) BMCRE IV: p. 398-399, nos. 89-95, plate 55.5,6; p. 530-531, nos. 902-910, plate 73.1,2. See also K. Fittschen, Die Bildnistypen der Faustina minor und die Fecunditas Augustae , Göttingen, 1982, p. 22-33, for the association of the Fecvnditas type with Faustina the Younger highlighting her fertility - she is known to have given birth to thirteen children - as well as other types referring to childbirth and motherhood, such as Venvs Genetrix, Ivno Lvcina, Laetitia, Pietas, Temporvm Felicitas, and Saecvli Fecvnditas.



Vesta, which was the reverse placed on the coins using her new obverse title, Ivlia Avgvsta (12). The Diana Lvcifera type followed in 196, with a Mater Castrorvm type issued in 197 in recognition of the title's bestowal on Julia (Figs. 5 and 6). On 14 April 195, she was granted the title mater castrorum , which appeared in Greek inscriptions as prjzrjp Kàazpœv, firjzrjp azpazonéôœv, or jurjzr/p azpazsvpàzœv , and it is the most frequently encountered honorary title for Julia Domna(13). The awarding of this title to Julia followed a precedent set by the Antonine empresses. Faustina the Younger was the first woman honored as Mater Castrorum , after Marcus Aurelius' victory over the Quadi in 174 during the Marcomannic Wars (14) (Fig. 7). Bruttia Crispina, the wife of Commodus, also held the title (15). The earliest epigraphical evidence for Julia's use of this title, dated between 193 and 195, is from the Temple of Saturn at Thugga (16). By giving Julia this title in 195, the year of Septimius' "adoption" into the Antonine household, he created further ties between himself and his proclaimed ancestors (17).

The year 198 brought the use of the reverse types Hilaritas, Mater Devm (Cybele), Laetitia, and Ceres. These were rounded out with the Venvs Felix type in 199 and the Pvdicitia and Pietas Avg types in 200. All of these reverse types had been minted for the Antonine women, from Faustina the Elder to Crispina (18). The reason for making such an effort to tie Julia to the Antonine women, in particular to the Faustinas, can be found in Septimius' activities of the first few years.

Septimius had arranged his adoption into the Antonine household as a son of Marcus Aurelius in 195, and the contemporaneous use on Julia's coinage of reverse types specifically associated with Antonine women streng- thened the connection between the Antonine and Seveřan dynasties. Septimius wanted to establish a tie with the earlier Imperial tradition which would re- inforce his claim to the throne, and by linking himself and his family members

(12) See supra, p. 120-121. (13) Kettenhofen, op. cit. [n. 3], p. 79-80. He calculates that nearly two thirds

of the known inscriptions with Julia's name include this title. The date of the title's bestowal was established using a papyrus from Arsinoé, BGU , II, 362, XI, lines 16-17.

(14) Dio LXXI, 10, 5 ; SHA , Marcus XXVI, 8. (15) Ghedini, od. cit. Гп. 31, d. 7. (16) Kettenhofen, op. cit. [n. 3], p. 81, cites CIL VIII, 26498, fragments 2-10,

from the southern side of the portico which records the third tribunate of Septimius and therefore gives the inscription a terminus ante quem of December 195, earlier than the date of inscriptions cited by Williams, op. cit. [n. 3], p. 262.

(17) Kettenhofen, op. cit. [n. 3], p. 80, suggests that the title was a way of portraying Julia as the "legitimate successor of Faustina". At the time of the adoption, Septimius changed his eldest son's name to M. Aurelius Antoninus to reflect the new family heritage.

(18) Temporini, op. cit. [n. 3], p. 102-103, n. 450-453.


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with a past Imperial dynasty which, until Commodus, had endured a good reputation, he could gain this and more (19). He would be a new Antoninus or Marcus Aurelius, and Julia would be a new Faustina : generous, loyal, and fecund, producing an Imperial lineage that could rule Rome long after Septimius had died.

The second phase : AD 200-202. - The Imperial lineage became the focus of much of the coinage minted in the second phase between 200 and 202. Just two years before this Caracalla had been promoted to Augustus while his brother Geta was appointed Caesar and in the next year became Pontife x and Princeps Iuuentutis (20). Septimius and his family returned to Rome in 200 following the Parthian victory and a tour of Egypt, whereupon an extensive rebuilding program began in Rome. This was not unlike Augustus' activities upon returning to the city at the end of his war with Antony (21). The civil war and a fire which occurred in Commodus' reign had caused damage that needed repair (22). Amidst this, a program of dynastic issues was begun in the mint. Coins were minted for every member of the Imperial family : Septimius, Julia, Caracalla, Geta, and starting in 202, Caracalla's wife, Plautilla.

There appear to be four areas of emphasis in Julia's coinage during this period. The first is motherhood, as suggested by the use of the reverse types

(19) Hannestad, op. cit. [n. 8], p. 252, remarks that Septimius' self-adoption into the Antonine family gave him control of all their assets left after the murder of Commodus, so that his action can be seen as quite shrewd because it provided not only the prestige of the Antonine name but also wealth.

(20) The title of Princeps Iuuentutis is found on coins dated by Hill to the years 200-202 ; P.V. Hill, The Coinage of Septimius Severus and his Family of the Mint of Rome, AD 193-217, London, 1964, nos. 458, 458A, 458B and 517 ; BMCRE V, p. 198-199, nos. 228-239, plate 32.13-16 ; p. 242, no. 440, plate 38.17 ; p. 244, no. 451, plate 39.4 ; p. 318 ; p. 336-338, nos. 833 and 838, plate 50.4,7.

(21) The Res Gestae Diui Augusti IV, 19-21 gives a list of building projects under- taken by Augustus during his reign. It includes both new and restoration work.

(22) The fire of 191 along with the buildings it destroyed or damaged is described in Herodian I, 14, 2-6. Archaeological evidence reveals the following structures in Rome which date to Septimius' reign or have repair work of Seveřan date [page numbers refer to F. Coarelli, Roma (2nd ed., rev.), Rome, 1981] : the Arch of Septimius Severus, AD 203, p. 56-57 ; the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, p. 62 ; the Temple of Vesta and the Atrium Vestae, which Julia Domna restored, p. 81-83 ; the Templům Pads , at which time the Forma Vrbis was installed, p. 119-121 ; the Domus Seueriana , and extension of the Flavian palace on the Palatine, p. 145 ; the Septizodium, p. 145 ; the Castra Noua Equitum Singular ium, p. 174-175 ; the Thermae Helenae , later named for Helena, mother of Constantine, but previously restored by Julia Domna, p. 231-232; the magazines of L. Naevius Clemens, p. 242 ; the Porticus Octauiae , p. 276-277 ; and the Pantheon, p. 292-295. In addition, literary sources give these works : SHA Severus XIX, 5 and XXIV, 3, the Thermae Seuerianae and the Porta Septimiana ; and Dio LXXVI, 16, 1, 3, a temple of Bacchus and Hercules.


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Venvs Genetrix, Mater Devm (Fig. 8), and Ceres as Ceres Frvgif[era]. Closely allied with this idea is that of female virtue, in which Julia was associated with personifications of Pvdicitia and Pietas , in the forms Pietas Avgvsta and Pietas Pvblica. The third area of emphasis centers around the general notion of domestic harmony and continuity of the Imperial household, envisioned as Felicitas Saecvli, Aeternit[as] Imperi, and Concor- dia Aeterna. Finally, attention was focused on individual family members, especially the heirs to the throne. In the last two areas, not all of the coins are strictly Julia Domna's issues. Sometimes she appears on the reverse of coins minted for Septimius, Caracalla, and Geta.

Motherhood was a focus in the Imperial family not so much for the example that it could provide to the Roman people but rather for the heirs it could supply to the Imperial throne (23). The portrait type of Venus Genetrix, mother of Aeneas and legendary matriarch of the gens Iulia , had been associated with Imperial females since Augustus' time, though it was not used on coins of Imperial women until Hadrian's reign, as mentioned above. Imperial portraiture made use of the Ceres type from the time of the Julio-Claudians as well (24).

The image of Ceres carried the ideal of fertility, since she was an agrarian goddess of the harvest. She also conveyed an ideal example of motherhood and the maternal bond, as exhibited in the myth about the abduction of her daughter, Proserpina (25). The association of Imperial women with Cybele, or Magna Mater, also went back to the reign of Augustus (26). The Mater Devm type made its first appearance in coinage on sestertii of the deified Faustina the Elder minted in 141 and the following years during the reign of Antoninus Pius (27) (Fig. 9). Mattingly gives rather inconsistent information

(23) See S. Dixon, The Roman Mother , London, 1988, chapter 4, on the Imperial policy of encouraging maternity. About the role of Imperial women in this, she writes : "The function of these women was dynastic rather than exemplary. They were not intended to inspire other women to become mothers but to assure subjects that the Imperial regime would continue, just as posthumous portraits of newly elevated emperors' mothers served as reminders of their claim to the throne" (p. 83-84).

(24) See M. Bieber, Ancient Copies : Contributions to the History of Greek and Roman Art , New York, 1977, p. 167-170, fig. 746-749, for the Ceres type used to portray Roman Imperial women. For Livia as Ceres Tyche : G. Caputo and G. Travers ari, Le sculture del teatro di Leptis Magna , Rome, 1976, cat. no. 58, tav. 54-55. An example of Lucilla portrayed as Ceres can be found in Carthage : A Mosaic of Ancient Tunisia , eds. Aicha Ben Abed Ben Khader and David Soren, 1987, p. 205-206, no. 72.

(25) Ovid, Metamorphoses V, 391-571. (26) There is a sardonyx cameo of Livia as Cybele, holding a bust of Augustus :

W.-R. Megow, Kameen von Augustus bis Alexander Severus , Berlin, 1987, p. 254, В 15, Tafel 9.1-3.

(27) BMCRE IV, p. 232-233, nos. 1436-1441, plate 34.4 : the reverse legend reads Matri Devm Salvtari, S С in exergue, and the type is Cybele enthroned.


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concerning the appearance of this type on the coins of the two Faustinas, but his interpretation of its use on the coins of Diva Faustina the Elder as a symbol of her divine position seems acceptable (28). His evaluation of its function on the coins of Faustina the Younger, on the other hand, is less satisfactory. It appears more likely that the type was placed on her coins, as were many of the types employed, to recall her mother, Faustina the Elder. This and several other types continue in use for Lucilla, the daughter of Faustina the Younger. It seems that once the type was established for Faustina the Elder, it became standard for other Antonine women. In Julia's case, it was perhaps circulated as part of the imitation of Antonine images, but it may also have held religious connections because of her Syrian background (29). The reverse type of Cybele will receive further discussion below.

Personifications of virtues were popular types on coinage throughout the Imperial era. They were used widely on the emperor's issues and later extended to the coins of females in the Imperial household. During the period of dynastic issues, Julia's coins extolled two main virtues : pietas and pudicitia. Both were common associations for Imperial women, but the choice of these particular virtues is interesting in light of the events taking place in the empire at that time. Because Plautianus had gained such firm control within the Imperial household by investigating Julia's activities and insinuating that she was involved in adulterous behavior (30), the Pietas Avgvsta and Pvdicitia issues may have been intended to do more than simply express the Imperial views on female virtue. They may well have been circulated to assure the public

(28) Mattingly seemingly forgot what he said about the Cybele issue from one volume to the next when preparing volumes IV, p. lxxxiii, and V, p. cxxxiii, of the BMCRE. He said that Julia Domna's coinage reflected the first major use of the type in regular coinage. While hers may be the first significant use of it, it is not the first appearance of the type on regular coinage. From Mattingly's own catalogue, one can easily see that the first occurrence of the Matri Devm type is on Diva Faustina the Elder's coins - regular issue sestertii - during Antoninus' reign.

(29) At the end of the second century ВС, Plutarch, Marius 17 records that when C. Marius was fighting against the Cimbri and Teutoni, he had a Syrian prophetess named Martha with him. The passage also mentions that the war's outcome was accurately predicted by a certain Bataces, a priest of Cybele from Pessinus. A connection to Cybele can be found perhaps in the Syrian goddess Allath who was sometimes depicted with lions, the attributes of Atargatis-Astarte-Cybele from whom they may have been borrowed : H. Drijvers, The Religions of Palmyra , Leiden, 1976, p. 20. The cult of Cybele in general grew in popularity throughout the second century AD. K. Schillinger, Untersuchungen zur Entwicklung des Magna Mater-Kultes im Westen des römischen Kaiserreiches , Diss. Konstanz, 1979, p. 8-11, traces the Magna Mater cult in the Empire. See also M. J. Vermaseren, Cybele and Attis : The Myth and the Cult , London, 1977, p. 38-70, on Cybele in Rome, Italy, and Sicily.

(30) Dio LXXV, 15, 6 ; A. Birley, Septimius Severus. The African Emperor, rev. ed. Yale, 1988, p. 137-138.



of Julia's morally upright image and to help counter Plautianus' negative publicity about her.

Similarly, the third group of coin types which focus on domestic harmony and continuity could have helped project a more favorable image of Julia. Their primary function, however, was to promote a belief in the security and stability of the Imperial family and its succession. They were issued to reassure the Roman people that the struggles following Commodus' death were over and that the new "Antonine" father and son, Septimius and Caracalla, were prepared to bring peace and prosperity to the empire. A new age was beginning, or such was the message, and two years later a celebration of the Secular Games would further emphasize this.

Of the three coin types bringing this message to the people of Rome, two appear only in this period : Concordia Aeterna and Aeternit[as] Impe- ri (31). The personification Concordia had been in use on the coins of Imperial women since the reign of Titus but always as Concordia or Concordia Avg/ avgvst[a] (32). The eternal harmony and the perpetuation of the dynasty's reign now invoked may have been a natural outgrowth of trends begun during Hadrian's reign, when Imperial propaganda renewed the notion of the Saecu- lum Aureum from the Augustan age and included with it the ideas of Aeter- nitas , Felicitas , and Tranquillitas (33). The choice of themes dealing with eternal or cyclical time to advertise dynastic stability and assure the public of its

(31) BMC REV : Concordi ae Aeternae, p. 185, 196, and 204, no. 260, plate 33.8 ; p. 207, no. 275, plate 33.17 ; p. 233, no. 389, plate 37.11. Aeternit[as] Imperi, p. 157- 158, nos. 16, plate 27.13.

(32) Julia Titi : BMC RE II, p. 279 and 350. Domitia : BMC RE II, p. 31 1, nos. 60-61, plate 61.4.5 ; p. 350, no. 249, plate 67.17. Sabina : BMC RE III, p. 353-355, nos. 894-907, plate 64.12-18 ; p. 358-359, nos. 929-935, plate 65.12-15 ; p. 535-536, nos. 1861-1868, plate 98.13, 14 ; p. 538-539, nos. 1887-1893, plate 99.5, 6, 11, 12. Faustina the Elder : BMCRE IV, p. 171-172, nos. 114-115; p. 173-174, nos. 1125-1127, plate 25.2,3. Faustina the Younger: BMCRE IV, p. 159, nos. 1041-1042; p. 163, nos. 1078-1081, plate 23.6 ; p. 164-165, nos. 1084-1090, plate 23.8-1 1 ; p. 376, nos. 2166-2167, plate 52.6 ; p. 377-378, nos. 2173-2176, plate 52.7-8 ; p. 397, no. 85, plate 55.2 ; p. 538-539, nos. 968- 971, plate 74.7. Lucilla: BMCRE IV, p. 426-427, nos. 303-307, plate 58.12; p. 430, nos. 332-335, plate 59.1,2 ; p. 568-569, nos. 1140-1142, plate 76.13 ; p. 573, no. 1182, plate 77.4; p. 578, no. 1214, plate 78.1 Crispina: BMCRE IV, p. 693, no. 29, plate 91.16 ; p. 695, nos. 36-38, plate 91.20 ; p. 765, nos. 406-410, plate 102.3 ; p. 768, no. 427, plate 102.9.

(33) Beginning in the second century AD and into the third, each successive emperor appears to have seen himself as the founder of a new "Golden Age", responsible for the prosperity and peace of the Roman world. The propaganda broadcasts this idea using the legends mentioned above in the text as well as Saecvlvm Frvgifervm, Felicitas Temporis, and Hilaritas Temporis. F. Gury, in tracing the Roman use of a youthful personification of Aiœv , eternal time, gives a full discussion on the emperors' use of the saeculum aureum theme in connection with Aiœv as Aeternitas in their propaganda : F. Gury, Aiôn juvenile et l'anneau zodiacal : l'apparition du motif in MEFRA 96, 1984, p. 7-28.


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continuation is logical because they emphasize the longevity of the dynasty's reign and present it as somewhat divine.

The coins minted by Septimius with the two aforementioned legends each portray three of the four family members. The Aeternit[as] Imperi (Fig. 10), which was minted with an obverse of Julia, appears with two different reverse types : one showing busts of Caracalla and Geta, the other with Septimius and Caracalla. A coin with Caracalla's obverse bears the Concordia Aeterna reverse which is accompanied by jugate portrait busts of Septimius and Julia (34) (Fig. 11). The emperor and his wife wear emblems of the sun and moon, symbols of eternity and the cycle of time. He has a radiate crown while her bust is adorned with a lunate diadem and rests on a crescent.

The third coin type in this group, Saecvli Felicitas, occurred in two different forms, one used for Septimius' coins, the other for Julia's. On the coins issued for Julia, the legend was Saecvli Felicitas, and the type showed Isis holding her son, Horus, and resting her left foot on a ship's prow with its rudder behind her (35) (Fig. 12). Septimius' issues, however, employed a completely different type. The legend read Felicitas Saecvli and appeared with the busts of Julia, Caracalla, and Geta (36) (Fig. 13). Julia's frontal bust is placed between those of her sons. To the left of her is Caracalla and to the right is Geta. This coin recalls a denarius issued by the emperor Augustus in 13 ВС (Fig. 14). The obverse, with the simple legend Avgvstvs, has a bust of Augustus, head г., with a lituus in the field behind it to the left. Its reverse has three portrait busts, all facing right : in the center, Julia, the daughter of Augustus, with busts that have traditionally identified as her sons, Gaius (right) and Lucius (left). There is a corona ciuica above Julia's head (37). Recently it has been argued that the busts flanking Julia portray not Gaius and Lucius, but rather Augustus and Agrippa (38). If one accepts this inter-

(34) This is the first example of a jugate type for husband and wife from the mint of Rome. A Claudian cistophorus from Ephesos has jugate portraits of Claudius and Agrippina : RIC (тс'. ed., 1984), p. 130, no. 119, plate 17. Nero and his mother Agrip- pina had appeared in jugate portraits : BMC RE I, p. 201, nos. 7-8, plate 38.4, 5. Facing busts of Trajan and his wife Plotina were placed on the reverse of some Hadrianic coins with the legend Divis Parentibvs : BMCRE III, p. 318, no. 603, plate 59.3.

(35) BMCRE V, p. 203, no. 255, plate 33.6 ; p. 231, no. 379, plate 37.5. (36) BMCRE V, p. 166-167, nos. 75-82, plate 28.18 ; p. 310. (37) BMCRE I, p. 21, no. 106, plate 4, no. 3. See also V. Scrinari, Le donne dei

Severi nella monetazione dell'epoca in BullCom 75, 1953-1955, p. 117-119, who com- pared these coins.

(38) С. В. Rose made a convincing argument for identifying these busts as Augustus and Agrippa in a lecture given on 27 April 1992 at the American Academy in Rome (Italy). He points out that these portraits do not look like children and that Gaius and Lucius would have been only 7 and 4 years old, respectively, at the time this coin was issued.



pretation of the portraits, the Augustan and Seveřan coins can no longer be viewed as exact parallels. Both coins, however, placed a strong emphasis on family connections as well as making either implied or direct reference to the designated heirs to the Imperial throne. The mothers were included in the coin types because they provided the link between the emperor and his heirs in each case.

The last coin types to be discussed from this dynastic phase are those which have a portrait of one family member on the obverse and another on the reverse in conjunction with their titles. No personifications occur on these coins. Obverses of Julia were minted with reverses of both her sons. Geta's bust and the legend, P Sept Geta Caes Pont, appear on Julia's coins only in 201 (39). Reverse types of Caracalla, on the other hand, were issued over the years 201 and 202. The first of his reverse types had the legend, Antoninvs Avg Pont Tr P IIII, with his bust (40). Finally, a bust of Julia and the legend Ivlia Avgvsta were placed on the reverse of some denarii and aurei minted by Septimius (41). His portrait bust adorned the obverse with either the legend Severvs Avg Part Max or Severvs Pivs Avg, in which case his portrait also included a lion skin. These coins served to publicize the Imperial family and their newly gained positions, such as Septimius' Parthicus title bestowed for his recent victories, Caracalla's promotion to Augustus , and Geta's new rank as Caesar. During this period of dynastic coinage the decisions about coin representations seem to have been influenced by a desire to highlight certain aspects of the character of the emperor and his wife or to give recognition to members of the Imperial family, especially to the potential heirs to the throne.

Dynastic emphasis in the coinage tapered off after 202, but not before Plautianus sought even stronger ties to the Imperial family by marrying his daughter Plautilla to Caracalla that same year(42). Their marriage was commemorated in the coinage (43). The arrangement was unpleasant not only to Caracalla but to Julia as well who found herself pushed further out of

(39) BMCRE V, p. 165, nos. 60-61, plate 28.11-12. (40) Three other legends were used with his portrait during these two years : Anto-

ninvs Avgvstvs ; Antoninvs Pivs Avg ; and Antonin Pivs Avg Pon Tr - Hill, op. cit. [n. 20], nos. 504, 505, 567, 568, and 605 ; BMC REN, p. 158, nos. 7-9, plate 27.4-5.

(41) BMCRE V, p. 192, nos. 192-193, plate 31.16-17 ; p. 219, no. 342, plate 35.18. Hill, op. cit. [n. 20], nos. 495 and 503.

(42) A. Stein, Plautilla. 117 in RE, XIII, 1910, col. 285-288 ; PIR2 F 564. Marriage of Caracalla and Plautilla : Dio LXXVII, 1,2; SHA , Seu. XIV, 8 ; Herodian, III, 10, 5-7.

(43) Hill, op. cit. [п. 20], nos. 610-622, 627. BMCRE V - Concordia Aeterna : p. 233, no. 390, plate 37.12 ; Propago Imperi : p. 235, nos. 400-404, plates 37.19 and 38.2-3 ; Concordia Felix : p. 237, nos. 418-419, plate 38.7.


130 S. LUSNIA

the picture because Plautianus possessed even greater influence than he had before.

The third phase : AD 203-208. - The coinage issued over the period 203- 208, the third phase, reflects Julia's secondary place within the Imperial household resulting from Plautianus' close association with Septimius. While there is no definitive evidence that Plautianus prevented the minting of coins which honored Julia, her coin issues before his fall from power in 205 are decidedly sparse, especially in the early years of this phase. No more than three coin types appeared in any given year of this period, and only two new types were issued. At least one of them and possibly both were circulated after Plautianus' death in 205 Í44). His downfall was due in part to the deathbed testimony of Septimius' brother, P. Septimius Geta. With his true motivations and plots revealed, Plautianus was executed, and Caracalla took advantage of the situation to rid himself of his unwanted wife. Plautilla was banished to Lipara. Yet these things did not make life altogether pleasant for Julia. A growing antagonism arose between her sons, Caracalla and Geta, a rivalry which would prove deadly (45).

The salvation of the Imperial family from Plautianus' insidious plot was commemorated both in the East and in North African provinces. At Ephesos, a bilingual inscription records the gift of a freedman named Helico "because by clear, visible foresight our lords, Severus and Antoninus, Pii Augusti, and Geta Caesar along with Julia Augusta have absolutely destroyed the parricidal aspirations of the conspirators" i46). In Numidia, a dedication was made to

(44) Dio says that the events leading to Plautianus' death took place at the time of a feast honoring the dead ancestors (LXXVI, 3, 3). It seems likely that this festival would have been the Parentalia celebrated in mid-February : H. J. Rose, Parentalia , in OCD, 2nd.ed., 1970, p. 781. If so, then he dropped out of the picture early in the year 205, and both coin issues could easily have come after his demise.

(45) Dio LXXVI, 2, 46, 3 ; Herodian III, 11, 4-12, 12 ; Birley, op . cit. [n. 30], p. 161-163 ; M. Plautner, The Life and Reign of the Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus , Oxford, 1918, p. 132-133.

(46) ILS I, 430 = CIL III, 427 = CIG 2971 : quod euidenti in[lustrique proui ] dentia domini n[ostri Seuerus et] Antoninus Pii Au[gusti et Geta Caesar ' cum [Iulia Aug ubiuis spes] parricidiales insid[iatorum sustulerunt ] Helico libertus eorum donum [posuit "Or]/ (%ià zfjç éavzœv npovoíaç т fjç] èvapyeoTáTrjç £7iip[avEGTáTrjç re oi Kvpioi' fjfiœv Leovfjpoç каг 'А''т coveïvoç oi Evoeßso^mioi rœv aôzoKparôpœv [каг rézaç

Колаар oòv' 'IovXía Zeßaazfj navra[xoî) ràç êÀ7ií]ôaç rœv âvooiœv [aiißovÄev rœv r¡<pávmav rEXik'œv âneXEóeepoç ai'rœv âvéOrjKev].


JULIA DOMNA'S COINAGE 1 3 1

"Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Preserver of the most sacred principes ... because their safety was preserved after the treacheries of public enemies had been exposed" (47). In 205, a reverse type of Felicitas was first produced on Julia's coins, followed in 206 by Fortvna Felix (48). With Plautianus gone and Julia now able to regain her former position within the Imperial household, it is an interesting coincidence that the first new coin types in almost five years promote the images of Happiness and Good Fortune.

The remaining coins of this period used reverse types seen in the first two phases : Fecvnditas, Hilaritas, Ivno Regina, Mater Castrorvm, Pietas, and Vesta. The Pietas issue appeared in 204, the year in which Septimius celebrated the Secular Games. This event was not commemorated in any special way on Julia's coinage. In fact, throughout this period, her coinage is rather standard and unobtrusive.

The fourth phase : AD 209-212 - During the years 209 to 212, the fourth phase of Julia's coinage, the last new types were issued. In 209, the previously minted types Hilaritas, Ceres, and Pvdicitia were in use along with two new reverses. That year marked the promotion of Geta to Augustus , placing him in a joint rulership alongside his father and brother. With both sons as reigning emperors, Julia became mater Augustorum in official inscriptions (49), and Septimius commemorated this event with aurei that portrayed all four

(47) ILS I, 429 = CIL VIII, 1628, from Sicca Veneria : Ioui Opt Max Conseruatori san ctissimorum princi pum d d dnnn Imp Caes L Septimi Seueri Pii (Per) tinacis Aug Arab Adia b Part max fortissimi felicissimi pont max tr pot XVI imp XII cos III p p et Imp Caes M Aureli Anto nini Pii Aug Part hici tr pot XI imp II cos III p p 1 1 1 1 1 1 //////////////////////////// 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 et Iuliae A[ug] mat r is Aug et castrorum ob conseruatam eorum sa lutem detectis insidiis hostium publicorum d d pp

(48) For Felicitas, ВИСКЕ V, p. 160, nos. 22-23, plate 27.11 ; p. 307 and 311 ; Hill, op. cit. [n. 20], nos. 728, 735, 736, 1396, and 1348 ; for Fortvna Felix, BMC RE V, p. 160, nos. 24-29, plate 27.12-14 ; p. 312, no. 785, plate 47.13 ; Hill, op. cit. [n. 20], nos. 825, 1034, 1042, 1046, and 1126.

(49) ILS I, 443 = CIL XIII, 7417, and AE 1984, no. 921, dated 211/212.


132 S. LUSNIA

family members (50). On the obverse was the legend Felicitas Pvblica and facing busts of Septimius (1.) and Julia (г.). He was shown laureate, while she was wearing a diadem. The reverse had facing busts of Caracalla (1.) and Geta (г.), both laureate and bearded. The legend joined with their portraits announced the Perpetva Concordia, or everlasting harmony of their relation- ship. Clearly this was an attempt to reassure the public that the strife between the brothers, about which they no doubt had heard rumors, was resolved (51). The family was displayed on this one coin as a happy and harmonious unit.

The other new issue had a variant of a previously used type for its reverse : the Mater De v m type, with a portrait of the goddess Cybele either enthroned or standing, became Mater Avgg, accompanied by the image of Cybele seated on her lion-car (52) (Fig. 15). P. V. Hill dates this coin type among the issues of the year 205, apparently using a stylistic analysis of Julia's obverse portraits as his main criterion. If, however, the reverse legend Mater Avgg was meant to be Julia's title, and it seems that it was, the coin could have been legitimately issued only after the bestowal of the title in 209 when she actually became the mother of more than one Augustus. This coin, then, should rightfully belong to the years 209-212 (53).

Turning now to the meaning of the coin, its combination of Julia's new title and Cybele's image suggests that the mother of the Imperial heirs was assimilated to the mother of the gods, or at the very least, should be associated

(50) BMCRE V, p. 360 ; Hill, op. cit. [n. 20], no. 1080 ; Scrinari, op. cit. [n. 37], p. 120. Unfortunately, only the description of this coin survives. M. Amandry of the Cabinet des Médailles, Paris, confirmed that this aureus was among those coins stolen from the Bibliothèque Nationale in 1831. No other example is known to have existed.

(51) Dio comments in LXXVII, 1,4: npoaenoiovvro juev yàp кал <piMv âÀÀrjÀovç кал ènavEÌv, návra Se rà êvavriœrara eôpœv, кал fjv oôk âôrjXov on ôeivóv г г пар 'aôzœv yevrjcoixo.

(52) BMCRE V, p. 163, nos. 47-48, plate 28.3-4 ; p. 308 ; p. 312, no.788, plate 47.9 ; Hill, op. cit. [n. 20], nos. 738, 742, 747, and 748.

(53) Mattingly, BMCRE V, p. cxxxiii-iv, also dates this coin to earlier than 209 : "We note the two G's in AUGG. Geta is as yet only Caesar, but he is included, with Caracalla, in the general description, 'Augustorum'". Yet "Augustorum" would hardly seem to be a "general description" given the fact that in 209 there actually were two Augusti. Williams, op. cit. [n. 3], p. 281, placed this coin in the year 209 on the basis of the legend alone. As for Hill's date, he himself admits that Julia's portrait types become extremely varied after 206 : P.V. Hill, The Coin Portraiture of Severus and His Family from the Mint of Rome in NC 19, 1979, p. 40. His reason for placing this issue in 205 is that the portrait type used, "Middle", did not continue on the bronze issues after 206. The Middle portrait type was used on gold and silver until 209. In light of this particular coin, perhaps this dating system should be reconsidered, and the possibility that Middle style portraits may appear on bronze coins minted later than 206 should be entertained.



with her (54). By linking their mother Julia with the ancient Magna Mater, it also linked the Imperial heirs, Caracalla and Geta, with divine attributes. This coin appeared at a time when Julia had reached new heights within the Imperial court. She was associated with three Augusti , her husband Septimius and her two sons, all of whom were currently in power. No other woman before her could have made such a claim.

In 211, four new coin types were minted, the last new types for Julia (55). She also received the titles Pia and Felix that year after Septimius' death at Eboracum in February. The new obverse legend, Ivlia Pia Felix Avg, was placed on her coinage in that year (Fig. 16). These titles had usually been reserved for emperors, but her sons were now co-regents, and she was, as Mattingly calls her, a "Queen Mother", laden with prestige and participating in the responsibilities of the state. The coin types Aeqvitas Pvblica (Fig. 17) and Ivno Lvcina (Fig. 18) must have been issued very early in the year because both use the obverse legend Ivlia Avgvsta. The Juno Lucina type continued to be minted after a switch to the new obverse legend (56). Both coin types present interesting imagery. The legend Aeqvitas Pvblica accompanied by personifications of the three Monetae , who represent the metals used in coinage, refer to the Roman mint and its integrity. This type may also refer to the authority of a person to issue coins from the mint. Mattingly suggests that this issue marked the establishment of Julia's authority in the mint as a coregent in power (57). The second issue portrays Juno Lucina, Juno as goddess of childbirth. Since Julia herself was probably beyond her childbearing years at this time, the coin type should not be taken as a direct reference to her fertility. Rather, the representation recalled Julia's maternal role as mother of the two ruling Augusti.

Upon Septimius' deification, probably in May of 211, a coin type with ad- ditional honorary titles for Julia was issued concurrently with his Consecratio commemorative. On this Julia was hailed as mater augustorum, mater senatus , and mater patriae : Mat Avgg Mat Sen M Patr (58) (Figs. 19 and 20). No other Imperial women held such distinguished titles, but then no women,

(54) BMCRE V, p. xl and cxxxiii : Mattingly's comments on the meaning of Cybele in Julia's coinage.

(55) Issues of older coin types continued in this phase. These included Venvs Victrix, Fortvna Felix, Felicitas, Mater Devm, and those already mentioned from the year 209 in the text above.

(56) For Aeqvitas Pvblica, see BMCRE V, p. 306, no.763, plate, 46.14 and Hill, op. cit. [n. 20], no. 1233 ; for Ivno Lvcina, BMCRE V, p. 308, nos. 770 and 771, plate 47.1 ; p. 312 ; p. 469, nos. 211-212, plate 74.1 and Hill, op. cit. [n. 20], nos. 1266, 1267, and 1349.

(57) BMC REV, p. clxix. (58) BMCRE V, p. 432, nos. 11, IIA, 12, and 13; plate 67.12-14; and p. 469,

nos. 213, 214 ; plate 74.2. Hill, op. cit. [n. 20], nos. 1310-1315.


134 S. LUSNIA

except Livia and the younger Agrippina, had found themselves in the enviable position of being not only the mother of the reigning emperors but also the wife of a deified emperor. M. Williams speculated that the title mater senatus was granted in imitation of a title used by Commodus, pater senatus , though neither Septimius nor his sons ever appropriated this for themselves (59). During Tiberius' reign, the Roman senate offered the title mater patriae to Livia as a counterpart to his title of pater patriae , but Tiberius refused to allow the senate to bestow this i60). Julia Domna became the first recipient of the title.

The exact date of the bestowal of this expanded title is disputed. Kettenhofen places it between 205 and 211 and asserts that the title mater senatus must have been granted before the death of Septimius because he sees it as an attempt by the senators to assuage the differences between themselves and Septimius (61). Much of the confusion concerning the title's date comes from the jumbled chronologies caused by erasures in inscriptions after the damnatio memoriae of Geta in 212. Since the expanded titulature was used to fill in where erasures were made, it has been assumed to date to 211 when it first appeared on Julia's coins issued after Septimius' death (62). Using an undated inscription, H. Benario has suggested that the titles mater senatus and mater patriae were both granted as early as 209 (63). According to the inscription, Septimius had not yet been deified, and since it was found in Rome, it seems unlikely that this was a mistake of the stonecutter, as could be postulated had it been found in a remote provincial area. Benario notes that it has not been altered by erasures and that Julia's titles are in an unusual order. She is matrix) Augiusti) n(ostri) et senat(us) et patriae et castr{orum). Caracalla appears with the title Britannicus , which fixes a terminus post quem of 209 for the inscription (64). In conclusion, what little evidence there is would seem to support Benario's proposal that the title, in its expanded form, was granted between 209 and 211 before Septimius' death. The title mater castrorum et senatus et patriae was a fairly regular component of Julia's nomenclature in

(59) Williams, op. cit. [n. 3], p. 285, n. 5. (60) Tacitus, Ann. I, 14. (61) Kettenhofen, op. cit. [n. 3], p. 86-96. He cites AE 1965, no. 338, as evidence

that Julia had the title mater senatus during Septimius' lifetime. The inscription, which is heavily restored, is dated to 209.

(62) The names of Plautianus and Plautilla were also erased from some inscriptions, but it is not known when their damnatio memoriae occurred, whether it was in 205 after Plautianus' was killed or later when Caracalla became sole ruler in 212.

(63) H. Benario, Julia Domna - Mater Senatus et Patriae in Phoenix 12, 1958, p. 69.

(64) Caracalla received the title at the end oí the campaign ot 209. See G. Murphy, The Reign of the Emperor L. Septimius Severus from the Evidence of the Inscriptions , Philadelphia, 1945, p. 104-105.



most inscriptions from 211 onwards. The Pia and Felix titles which connected Julia to the Antonines were added rather sporadically to the inscriptions, but they appeared consistently in the obverse legend on her coins after Septimius' death (65).

The final new coin issue for Julia commemorated the Vota Publica celebrated in 211 for the victory in Britain and the return of Caracalla and Geta to Rome (66) (Fig. 21). There were Vota Pvblica issues for Caracalla, Geta, and Julia. There is a discrepancy between the descriptions of the aes and sestertius issues of this type given by Mattingly. He stated that the aes reverse has the figure of Julia Domna in the act of sacrificing at an altar. On the sestertius, issued simultaneously, he identified the figure as Pietas , performing the same act in precisely the same fashion (67). The solution would seem to be that both coins depict the same scene with identical figures. On the coins issued for Caracalla and Geta, they themselves are shown in the act of public sacrifice. Since all the issues of this type appear to be closely linked, the figure on Julia's coins, by analogy, should be identified as Julia herself.

The fifth phase: AD 212-217. - Sometime between late December 211 and mid February 212, Caracalla summoned his brother Geta to a meeting at the Imperial palace (68). When Geta arrived, Caracalla gave a prearranged signal to the guards who attacked and killed him. Geta beseeched his mother who was sitting in the room for help and, bleeding from his wounds, fell in her lap. According to Dio, Julia could do nothing but watch the horrible event unfold before her eyes. One source reported that she even received a stab wound when the guards continued to attack Geta as he embraced her (69).

(65) Kettenhofen, op. cit. [n. 3], p. 96 ; Williams, op. cit. [n. 3], p. 285, n. 4, traces the history of the title Pia among Imperial women : the daughter of Titus was memorialized as Diua Iulia Pia , and Faustina the Younger was Diua Faustina Pia upon her death. The use of Pius I Pia by the Severans derives from Commodus' self- styled title Pius Felix (SHA, Comm. VIII, 1-2).

(66) Dio LXXVII, 1, 4-6 mentions that the senate voted to offer sacrifices "on behalf of their concord" - (тер т fjç òjuovoíaç aôrœv. For uota publica as a coin type, see I. S. Ryberg, Rites of the State Religion in Roman Art , Rome, 1955, p. 178-182.

(67) BMCREV , p. 471 ; p. 473, no. 234, plate 74.14. Hill, op. cit. [n. 20], nos. 1319 and 1329.

(68) T. D. Barnes, Pre-Decian Acta Martyrům in JThS n.s. 19, 1968, p. 521- 525, discusses the dates of Geta's birth and assassination using passages from the SHA , Caracalla , the Passio SS. Perpetuae et Felicitatis, and papyri. He concludes that the murder took place probably 26 December 211, but certainly no later than mid February 212.

(69) Britain : Dio LXXVI, 11, 1-2 ; SHA, Seu. XVIII, 1-2 ; Herodian III, 14, 2 ; Plautner, op. cit. [n. 45], p. 134-137. Death of Septimius : Dio LXXVI, 15, 2 ; SHA , Seu. XIX, 1-4 ; Herodian III, 15, 1-3. Murder of Geta : SHA , Ant. 11,4 ; Dio LXXVII, 2, 1-4 ; Herodian IV, 4, 2-8.


136 s. LUSNIA

Julia was forbidden to mourn her son's death publicly. Caracalla, moreover, ordered the execution of Cornificia, daughter of Marcus Aurelius, when she offered condolences to Julia. Rumors of incest between mother and son flew about Rome because Caracalla had entrusted so much of the imperial business to his mother. In a sense, she now had the influence with Caracalla that Plautianus had had with Septimius. During Caracalla's Armenian and Parthian campaigns, Julia remained in Bithynia and received petitions and answered official correspondence for him. She was, for all intents and purposes, running the empire (70).

Geta's assassination heralded the beginning of the period of Julia's greatest influence in the Imperial court. Oddly enough, though she now possessed more responsibility and authority than ever before, her coin issues fell to a minimum after 213, the first full year of Caracalla's sole rule. Except for a slight variation on the Diana Lvcifera type, where the legend was sometimes Lvna Lvcifera, no new coin types appeared (71). Four types minted in 213 had been used in the first two years of Septimius' reign : Fecvnditas, Venvs Genetrix, Ivno Regina, and Vesta (72). The other two were from the period of dynastic issues : Pietas and Saecvli Felicitas (73). Over the next two years, only the Vesta and Diana/ Lvna Lvcifera types were produced.

(70) Death of Cornificia : A. Stein, Cornificia. 13 in RE, VII, 1900, col. 1631-1632 ; PIR2 С 1505 ; Dìo LXXVII, 16, 6a ; Herodian IV, 6,3. SHA, Ant. X, 14 : this passage refers to Julia as Caracalla's stepmother and says that an incestuous relation existed between the two. Herodian IV, 9, 3 also mentions this story, saying that some people called Julia, "Jocasta", and attributes it to malicious gossip. SHA, Geta VII, 3-6 ; Dio LXXVII, 2, 5-6. Julia in charge : Dìo LXXVII, 18, 2-3.

(71) Lvna Lvcifera: BMCRE V, p. 431-432, nos. 7-10, plate 67.9-11; p. 469 ; p. 472, no. 225, plate 74.9 ; Hill, op. cit. [n. 20], nos. 1518, 1525, 1531, 1537, 1540, and 1545. See also R. E. A. Palmer, The Seveřan Ruler Cult and the Moon in the City of Rome in ANRW II, 16, 2, p. 1110 ; he speculates that the Diana Lvcifera and Lvna Lvcifera coin issues were tied to Caracalla's birthday coinciding with the anniversary of Noctiluca, which is associated with the temple of Diana on the Palatine.

(72) Fecvnditas : BMCRE V, p. 435 ; Hill, op. cit. [n. 20], no. 1400. Ivno Regina : BMCRE V, p. 431, nos. 5-6, plate 67.7-8 ; p. 468-469, nos. 206-210, plate 73.13-14 ; p. 471, no. 224, plate 74-8 ; Hill, op. cit. [n. 20], nos. 1401, 1402, 1411, 1412, 1415, 1422, 1424, 1425, 1428, and 1429. Venvs Genetrix : BMCRE V, p. 433-434, nos. 20- 28, plate 68.1-6; p. 470, no. 216, plate 73.15; p. 472-473, nos. 229-230, plate 74.6; Hill, op. cit. [n. 20], nos. 1403, 1413, 1524, 1524A, 1541, 1571, 1577, 1582, 1584, 1586, 1591, 1630, 1635, 1641, and 1647. Vesta : BMCRE V, p. 435, nos. 29-33, plate 68.7-8 ; p. 470-471, nos. 217-219 ; p. 473, nos. 231-233, plate 74.11-12 ; Hill, op. cit. [n. 20], nos. 1394, 1482-1484, 1488, 1501, 1506, and 1514.

(73) Pietas: BMCRE V, p. 433, no. 18 A, plate 67.16; Hill, op. cit. [n. 2UJ, no. 1386. Saecvli Felicitas : BMCRE У, p. 470, no. 215, plate 74.3 ; p. 472, nos. 227- 228, plate 74.5 ; Hill, op. cit. [n. 20], nos. 1416, 1426, 1427, and 1430. This issue shows Felicitas, sacrificing, not Isis as in her earlier issues, supra, p. 128.


PLATE II


PLATE III


PLATE IV


PLATE V



No issues at all have been assigned to the year 216, and in her final year, Venvs Genetrix (Fig. 22), a type from the first year of her coin issues, was the last reverse type minted for Julia. In a way, her coin types had come full circle.

Conclusion. - The most powerful statements made in Julia's coinage occurred during the second through the fourth phases. Both the first and last phases were considerably lacking in innovation for rather similar reasons. The first phase of her coin issues, in 194-199, followed a time of major up- heaval in Rome. Pertinax, Didius Julianus, and Septimius were all succes- sively emperors in the year 193, and later Septimius fought civil wars with Clodius Albinus in the west and Pescennius Niger in the east. Septimius' primary goal was to establish himself and to reassure the Roman people that the Imperial power was in good and capable hands. Sticking to the basics in iconography and making simple but direct connections with the Antonines was essential in facilitating this. That approach provided a sense of stability and continuity on which he could later build his program of dynastic propaganda.

The fifth or final phase was not unlike the first because it was preceded by unrest ; however, it was of a fraternal nature not political. The program of Julia's coins reverted to the "safe", standard imagery of the early first phase. Caracalla, even though he had been designated as heir to the throne, needed to establish his own authority. He may also have wanted to de-emphasize the fact that his mother was the true driving force within the Imperial court. Had his reign continued, perhaps in a few years when his power was secure, Julia's coin issues might have begun to make strong, innovative statements once again.

Julia Domna's coinage established her connection to Antonine women, promoted her as mother of a new dynasty, and honored her as wife of a diuus, her deified husband Septimius. Yet in its final stage, when she had an active share in the government of Rome with her son Caracalla, it honored her in no special way. The honors bestowed on her in the years preceding her great power, though numerous and seemingly extravagant at times, were not highly unusual. In most instances, the reverse types employed on her coins were first used on coins honoring Hadrianic or Antonine women, so that Julia's image as presented might be seen as the logical progression from the images of these earlier Imperial women. It is impossible to know, however, whether Julia had any real say about the types representing her or if she would have had the power to organize the program of issues to her taste.

Julia was portrayed in only three of the many reverse types occurring in her coinage. The earliest of these was the Matri Castrorvm that appeared in 197 (Figs. 5 and 6). Here Julia is shown veiled, standing front, with her head in profile, facing towards the left. From the patera held in her right


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hand, she pours a libation on a lighted altar (74). In her left hand, she holds an open box, probably an incense chest. Two military standards are set in the ground in front of her (75). A second version of this type has her seated on a throne and holding a globe surmounted by a phoenix. She holds a scepter or caduceus, pointed slightly upward, in her right hand, while in front of her there are two standards.

A second reverse illustrates her again in a sacrifice scene. The Vota Pvblica issue from 211 presents Julia, veiled and draped as before, standing frontally with her head to the left (Fig. 21). She sprinkles incense on a garlanded and lighted altar with her right hand. In her left hand is the incense box, and a fold of her drapery hangs over her arm. In the third issue portraying Julia, she is depicted enthroned, as many goddesses and personifications were (76). On a coin also from 211, the Mat Avgg Mat Sen M Patr legend ac- companies the figure of Julia, draped and wearing a Stephane , standing front, with her head to the left. She holds a branch extended in her right hand and a scepter, nearly vertical in orientation, in her left. A variation has her seated and without a Stephane. These portrayals of Julia, like the issues depicting deities and personifications, associate her with divine elements. She is presented either sacrificing to the gods or enthroned as one of them.

Julia had a greater role in Imperial propaganda than any woman before her ever had, but the circumstances of Septimius' ascent to power in the early years of his reign were also a bit unusual. Because Septimius claimed his right to the throne from a rather dubious adoption, he needed to emphasize dynastic ties more than any emperor before him. Julia would naturally come into the foreground more in this case, as his consort and the mother of the successors to the Imperial throne. In the early years, as Mater Castrorum , she was a symbol of military and civil stability, and represented an attempt to bind the military to the Imperial household.

While Julia's personality and intellectual talents may have allowed her a larger role in politics than held by previous women, her primary role in the public eye was as wife of the emperor and mother of the Imperial heirs. During the years 200-208, she became the first Imperial woman to participate in the rites of the Ludi Saeculares , and she was the first identifiable Imperial woman ever depicted in the historical reliefs of a monument in Rome, the Porta Argentariorum , performing a sacrifice alongside her husband (77). Yet

(74) The altar is also garlanded on bronze coins. (75) On bronze coins there are three standards shown. (76) Previously, Domitian s wile, Domitia, had been depicted enthroned as had Cris-

pina, the wife of Commodus : Domitia : BMC RE II, p. 413, nos. 501-502, plate 82.3. Crispina: BMC RE IV, p. 766, no. 418.

(77) Whether Julia is the first Imperial woman pictured in Roman reliefs as a participant in a public sacrifice with her husband depends upon one's identification



in the inscriptions dedicated solely to her, she is still named either conjux or mater. Her role in this period was as the mother of Imperial heirs ; Septimius was building his dynasty.

By 209, when both of her sons as well as her husband were Augusti and there was no longer a need to emphasize the heirs since they were already in power, Julia gained importance as a mediator. The domestic harmony of the Seveřan dynasty was the greatest concern of the public, and Septimius reassured the people through coin images of the family accompanied by the legend Perpetva Concordia. This facade did not last, but after Geta's death, when Caracalla was the sole Augustus , Julia attained her greatest power. Ironically, she had little to show for it. Her coin issues were minimal during this final period, and though her titulature had reached its fullest, it proclaimed nothing grandiose.

Julia's image had clearly been important to Septimius who wanted to establish a "continuity of tradition" for his dynasty (78). This would have included, it seems, the use not only of new elements designed specifically for his family but also of old, familiar ones from the Antonine family, his adopted predecessors. Occasionally, he drew from the earlier Augustan period, as demonstrated above. Julia was the first Eastern woman in the Imperial court that Rome ever had. Because Rome had always been wary of Eastern rulers in the past, Septimius wisely chose the older, more traditional types for his coinage so that people would not discern any significant break with the past. The linkage of Julia by means of her honorary titles with the two Faustinas of the Antonine family was crucial in the earliest period of Septimius' propaganda in order to emphasize his adoptive lineage and, therefore, his legitimate right to the Imperial throne. Coins allowed the juxtaposition of words and images to convey some of these dynastic messages that he wished to broadcast.

For Julia, many political factors came together to make her what she was. She was the beneficiary of the increasing attention that Imperial women had been receiving throughout the second century A.D., and of the circumstances of Septimius' acquisition of power which resulted in a greater focus on her for his dynastic purposes (79).

University of Cincinnati, Ohio . Susann Sowers Lusnia.

of the female on the Vicus Sandalarius altar. I agree with C. B. Rose's view that she is a priestess of Cybele : C. B. Rose, Л Priestess of Cybele on the Altar from the Vicus Sandalarius in AJA 93, 1989, p. 266-267. While Livia does appear on the Ara Pacis, she is not shown participating in a sacrificial ritual.

(78) Hannestad, op. cit. [n. 8], p. 252. (79) Fig. 1. - Ivlia DOMNA Avg. Sestertius of Julia Domna. Obverse. AD 193-

195/6. [BMCRE V, 123, no. 491 = Coh. 222] Photo by courtesy of The British


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Museum, London . - Fig. 2. - Denarius of Julia Domna. Obverse. AD 201. [BMC RE V, 158, no. 6 = Coh. 2 (Julie, Caracalla et Géta)] Photo by courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. - Fig. 3. - Venvs Genetrix. Aureus of Julia Domna. Reverse. AD 194-5. [BMC RE V, 28, no. 55 = Coh. 203] Photo by courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. - Fig. 4. - Veneri Genetrici. Denarius of Sabina. Reverse. AD 134-138 (?). [BMCRE III, 360, no. 944 = Coh. 73] Photo by courtesy of Biblio- thèque Nationale, Paris. - Fig. 5. - Matri Castrorvm. Aureus of Julia Domna. Reverse. AD 197. [BMCRE V, 164, no. 56 = Coh. 133] Photo by courtesy of The British Museum, London. - Fig. 6. - Mater Castrorvm S С. Sestertius of Julia Domna. Reverse. AD 197. [BMCRE V, 309, no. 774 = Coh. 135] Photo by courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. - Fig. 7. - Matri Castrorvm S С. Sestertius of Faustina the Younger. Reverse. AD 174/5. Photo taken from BMCRE IV, plate 73.10. - Fig. 8. - Mater Devm. Denarius of Julia Domna. Reverse. AD 201. [BMCRE V, 163, no. 51 = Coh. 123] Photo by courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. - Fig. 9. - Matri Devm Salvtari S С. Sestertius of Diva Faustina the Elder. Reverse. AD 141 or slightly later. [BMCRE III, 233, no. 1439 = Coh. 230] Photo by courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. - Fig. 10. - Aeternit Imperi. Denarius of Julia Domna. Reverse with Caracalla, 1. and Geta, r. AD 201. [BMCRE V, 158, no. 6 = Coh. 2 (Julie, Caracalla et Géta)] Photo by courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. - Fig. 11. - Concordi AE Aeternae. Aureus of Caracalla. Reverse. AD 201. [BMCRE V, 204, no. 260 = Coh. 1 (Caracalla, Septime Sévère et Julie)] Photo by courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. - Fig. 12. - Saecvli Felicitas. Denarius of Julia Domna. Reverse. AD 202. [BMCRE V, 166, no. 75 = Coh. 177] Photo by courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. - Fig. 13. - Felicitas Saecvli. Aureus of Septimius Severus. Reverse with Julia Domna, center, facing ; Caracalla, 1., and Geta, r. AD 201. [BMCRE V, 203, no. 255 = Coh. 1 (Septime Sévère, Julie, Caracalla et Géta)] Photo by courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. - Fig. 14. - Augustan denarius. Reverse with bust of Julia flanked by busts of Gaius and Lucius (or Au- gustus and Agrippa). 13 ВС. [BMCRE I, 21, no. 106] Photo by courtesy of Biblio- thèque Nationale, Paris. - Fig. 15. - Mater Avgg. Aureus of Julia Domna. Reverse. AD 209. [BMCRE V, 163, no. 47 = Coh. 116] Photo by courtesy of The British Museum, London. - Fig. 16. - Ivlia Pia Felix Avg. Denarius of Julia Domna. Obverse. AD 211-217. Photo by courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. - Fig. 17. - Aeq vitati Pvblicae, S С in ex. Sestertius of Julia Domna. Reverse. AD 211, early. [BMCRE V, 306, no. 763 = Coh. 6] Photo by courtesy of The British Museum, London. - Fig. 18. - Ivnoni Lvcinae, S С in ex. Sestertius of Julia Domna. Reverse. AD 211, early. [BMCRE V, 308, no. 770 = Coh. 94] Photo by courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. - Fig. 19. - Mat Avgg Mat Sen M Patr. Denarius of Julia Domna. Reverse with Julia seated, AD 212. [BMCRE V, 432, no. 12 = Coh. Ill] Photo by courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. - Fig. 20. - Mat Avgg Mat Sen M Patr. Denarius of Julia Domna. Reverse with Julia standing. AD 212. [BMCRE V, 432, no. 11 = Coh. 114] Photo by courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. - Fig. 21. - Vota Pvblica, S С in ex. As of Julia Domna. Reverse with Julia sacrificing. AD 211. [BMCRE V, 473, no. 324 = Coh. 253] Photo by courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. - Fig. 22. - Veneri Genetrici. Double denarius of Julia Domna. Reverse. AD 217. [BMCRE V, 433, no. 20 = Coh. 186] Photo by courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.


Julia Domna's Coinage and Severan Dynastic Propaganda

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