Art Institute of Chicago

Aureus (Coin) Portraying Empress Julia Domna

Roman, minted in Rome

Date

196-211, issued by Septimius Severus

Medium

Gold

Culture

Rome

Department

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

The front (obverse) of this coin portrays a bust of Empress Julia Domna facing right and draped. The back (reverse) depicts the deity Pietas standing left, with her right hand over a lit and garlanded altar, cradling an incense box in her left arm. Julia Domna was the wife of the Emperor Septimius Severus and the mother of Caracalla and Geta. This coin was issued during the joint reign of Severus and his elder son. As the self-assured portrait on this coin suggests, Julia's influence was openly recognized by contemporaries. Intellectual, ambitious, and steel-willed, the Syrian-born Julia was called "the philosopher". The figure of Piety on the reverse is a standard type, invoking the traditional Roman attitude of respect and duty toward one's family, country, and gods.

The authoritative record is held by Art Institute of Chicago. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.