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ID: |
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29-599 |
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[UNVERIFIED]
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| Type: |
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Roman Imperial |
| Issuer: |
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Annia Faustina |
| Date Ruled: |
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A.D. 221
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| Metal: |
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Orichalcum |
| Denomination: |
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Sestertius |
| Struck / Cast: |
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struck |
| Date Struck: |
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AD circa 221 |
| Diameter: |
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32 mm |
| Weight: |
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22.35 g |
| Obverse Legend: |
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ANNIA FAVSTI_NA AVGVSTA |
| Obverse Description: |
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Diademed and draped bust right |
| Reverse Legend: |
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CONCORDIA / SC |
| Reverse Description: |
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Elagabalus and Faustina standing facing each other and clasping hands; between them, star. In exergue, S C |
| Exergue: |
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S C |
| Mint: |
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Rome |
| Primary Reference: |
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RIC 399 |
| Reference2: |
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BMC Elagabalus 451 and pl. 97, 7 (these dies) |
| Reference3: |
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Kraay-Hirmer pl. 118, 420 |
| Reference4: |
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G. Giacosa, Ritratti di Auguste, pl. 47 |
| Photograph Credit: |
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Numismatic Ars Classica NAC AG |
| Source: |
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http://www.arsclassicacoins.com/ |
| Price Sold For: |
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16000 Swiss Franc |
| Date Sold: |
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05/11/2005 |
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Grade:
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VF/aVF |
| Notes: |
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NAC Auction 29, Lot 599
Of the highest rarity, only very few specimens known. Traces of original gilding,
Ex Gilhofer & Ranschburg-Hess, 1935, Trau, 2464; Leu 25, 1980, 371 and Lanz 100, 2000, Benz, 153 sales. From the Mazzini collection. Every aspect of Elagabalus’ reign defied convention: his lack of political involvement, his reformist religious policies, his theatrical sexual practices, and his unconventional views on marriage. Indeed, it would seem the only union he truly desired was his unofficial marriage to the charioteer Hierocles, in which the boy-emperor played the role of wife. Of the three women Elagabalus certainly married – Julia Paula, Aquilia Severa and Annia Faustina – his shortest union was with Annia Faustina, for whom he issued this sestertius on the occasion of their marriage. By the time this marriage – the emperor’s third – occurred in the summer of 221, there was little else Elagabalus could do to shock his Roman subjects. His depravities and extravagances were well known, and his previous wife had been a Vestal, whose vow of chastity he defiled. While Elagabalus and his mother were consumed with religious fanaticism and personal indulgences, the boy’s grandmother, Julia Maesa, fought to preserve the revived Severan-Emesan dynasty. Thus, in the summer of 221 Maesa raised Elagabalus’ younger cousin Severus Alexander to the rank of Caesar and convinced the patrician Annia Faustina to marry Elagabalus. Technically, Annia Faustina was an ideal consort: she was descended from Marcus Aurelius on both sides of her family, which promoted the fictitious descent the Severans had claimed from the Antonines. However, she was at least twice Elagabalus’ age, already married, and they were personally incompatible. The marriage was a quick failure, and Elagabalus divorced her before the year was out, but not before her former husband, Pomponius Bassus, was executed on a trumped-up charge of treason. |
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