Bronze Antoninianus of Empress Severina, 270 CE - 275 CE
Bronze
LC.309
Obverse: SEVERINA AVG; Diademed and Draped Bust of the Empress Facing Right on a Crescen Reverse: CONCORDIAE MILITVM; Concordia Standing to the Left, Holding Two Military Standards; XXI (in exergue)...
Obverse: SEVERINA AVG; Diademed and Draped Bust of the Empress Facing Right on a Crescen
Reverse: CONCORDIAE MILITVM; Concordia Standing to the Left, Holding Two Military Standards; XXI (in exergue)
Empress Severina was the wife of Aurelian, a well liked and well respected emperor. Little is known about the emperors of the chaotic third century, and even less is known about the women, as is the case with Empress Severina, unfortunately. This coin portrait of Severina shows us a determined face topped with an elegantly coiffed hairdo. It is known that she accompanied the Emperor on military excursions and slept in the same type of beds used by common soldiers. From the inscriptions on the reverse of her coinage, it is possible that she was the only woman ever to rule the Roman Empire, although only for the short duration between Aurelian’s assassination and the Senate’s appointment of Tacitus to the throne.
Reverse: CONCORDIAE MILITVM; Concordia Standing to the Left, Holding Two Military Standards; XXI (in exergue)
Empress Severina was the wife of Aurelian, a well liked and well respected emperor. Little is known about the emperors of the chaotic third century, and even less is known about the women, as is the case with Empress Severina, unfortunately. This coin portrait of Severina shows us a determined face topped with an elegantly coiffed hairdo. It is known that she accompanied the Emperor on military excursions and slept in the same type of beds used by common soldiers. From the inscriptions on the reverse of her coinage, it is possible that she was the only woman ever to rule the Roman Empire, although only for the short duration between Aurelian’s assassination and the Senate’s appointment of Tacitus to the throne.