515

Roman Empire. Aquilia Severa. Sestertius 220-221, Æ 23.18g.

Currency:CHF Category:Coins & Paper Money / Coins: Ancient Start Price:14,400.00 CHF Estimated At:18,000.00 CHF
Roman Empire. Aquilia Severa. Sestertius 220-221, Æ 23.18g.
The sign-up for this auction will close 48 hours before the auction starts. Please make sure you sign up on time. Also, there is NO ABSENTEE BIDDING for this auction. Please plan to bid live during the sale.
The Roman Empire. Aquilia Severa, second wife of Elagabalus. Sestertius 220-221, Æ 23.18g. IVLIA AQVILIA SEVERA AVG Diademed and draped bust r. Rev. CONCORDIA S–C Concordia standing l., holding patera over lighted altar and double cornucopiae; in r. field, star. C 4. BMC Elagabalus 433. RIC Elagabalus 389. Very rare and in exceptional condition for this difficult issue. A gentle portrait and a superb dark green patina, extremely fine / about extremely fine. Ex Glendining 1963, Bauer, 137; Vinchon Monte Carlo 23-24 April, 126 and NAC sale 18, 2000, 626 sales. From the Luc Girard collection. Before she became the wife of Elagabalus, Aquilia Severa was a Vestal Virgin, and thus she represented the most sacred religious order in Rome, which required her to take a 30-year vow of chastity and to remain unmarried throughout her life. In retrospect, it is hard to imagine how the mother and grandmother of the teenage emperor allowed this wedding to occur, especially since Elagabalus married the Vestal only weeks after he had divorced his first wife, Julia Paula, in about September, 220. But as emperor and chief priest of the state, Elagabalus could behave as he pleased in such matters. His grandmother, Julia Maesa clearly understood the risk of such a union, and insisted that the ceremony be modest, without games or festivals. Importantly, Elagabalus apparently believed that any child of a high-priest of the god Elagabalus and a priestess of Vesta would be divine, so a parallel ceremony was held in which his god Elagabalus married Vesta. The divinely inspired marriage, however, soon ended, seemingly in the summer of 221. The fancy of Elagabalus had turned to Annia Faustina, who was to be his third wife for a few months until later in the year the emperor once again married Aquilia Severa. The imperial couple remained married until March 11, 222, when Elagabalus and his mother were murdered by praetorian guards and their mutilated bodies were thrown in to the Tiber.