Roman Empire, Julia Soaemias, +222, AR Denarius

Mother of Elagabalus

Obv.Drap. bust r.

Rev.Venus, diad., seated l., holding apple and sceptre, at her feet, child

Roman Empire, Julia Soaemias, +222, AR Denarius

Mother of Elagabalus

Barbaric imitation

Obv.Drap. bust r.

Rev.Vesta enthroned l.

Historical

Julia Soaemias Bassiana († 11 March 222 in Rome)

She was the mother of the Roman Emperor Elagabal, and came from an influential Syrian family closely associated with the local religious cult of the god Elagabal.

She helped her son to gain power in the name of the Severan dynasty. During his reign of barely four years (218-222), Julia Soaemias was given a key role because of his youthful age, but she was unable to fill it.

When he made himself hated with his oriental customs and arbitrary religious policies, she was drawn into his downfall and finally murdered along with him. 

Roman Empire, Severina, +275, AE As

Obv.Drap. bust with diadem r.

Rev.Iuno standing with scpetre and patera, by her side a peacock

Historical

Ulpia Severina was the wife of the Roman Emperor Aurelian, who reigned from 270 to 275. 
Severina is not mentioned by any historian, at least there are no literary sources available to date, but her existence is attested by coins, which also suggest that she ruled in her own name after Aurelian's death until Tacitus' elevation to emperor.

It is possible that Ulpia Severina was a daughter of the emperor Philippus Arabs and his wife Otacilia Severa. A descent from Emperor Trajan (98-117), who like Ulpia Severina was descended from the gens Ulpia, is rather unlikely. 

Roman Empire, Julia Maesa, +226, AR Denarius

Grandmother of Elagabalus and Severus Alexander

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Rev. Felicitas standing l. holding long caduceus and sacrificing over lighted altar, in field l. star

Historical

Julia Maesa († probably around 224/225 in Rome)

She was the sister-in-law of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus and grandmother of the Emperors Elagabal and Severus Alexander.

After the extinction of the descendants of Septimius Severus in 217, she helped her two grandsons in turn to the imperial dignity and thus ensured the continuation of the Severan dynasty.

Since Elagabal and Severus Alexander were still teenagers when she took office, she exercised considerable influence. In the violent change of rule in 222, when Elagabal was overthrown and murdered and replaced by his cousin Severus Alexander, Julia Maesa played a decisive role together with her daughter Julia Mamaea.

In this crisis, she succeeded in stabilising her family's rule under difficult circumstances.

Roman Empire, Julia Mamaea, +235, AR Denarius

Obv.Drap. bust r.

Rev.Of varying types

Historical

Julia Avita Mamaea († March 235 near Mogontiacum)

She was the mother of the Roman Emperor Severus Alexander, who ruled from 222 to 235.
Initially she was de facto regent because of her son's youthful age, but even after he reached adulthood she remained the dominant figure at court.

Her position of power was precarious, however, as she was unable to gain authority with either the praetorians or the army. Finally, Alexander and Mamaea were murdered in a soldier's revolt during a Germanic campaign. The Severan dynasty thus came to an end.

The era of the soldier emperors followed. 

Please note: You buy a coin of the respective ruler in the specified condition, not the piece shown in each case.

Roman Empire, Herennia Cupressenia Etruscilla, +251, AR Antoninianus

Obv.: Drap. bust r.

Rev.: Prudicitia standing left

Historical

Herennia Cupressenia Etruscilla († c. 251) was the wife of the Roman Emperor Decius.

Herennia Etruscilla came from an old Etruscan senatorial family. Little is known about her youth, except that she married the aristocrat Decius, who came from Illyria, before 230. Her eldest son Herennius Etruscus was born around 227, her second son Hostilian after 230. 

Please note: You buy a coin of the respective ruler in the specified condition, not the piece shown in each case.

Roman Empire, Salonina, +268, AR Antoninianus

Obv.Drap. bust r.

Rev.Of varying types

On the designation Antoninian

The Antoninian was an ancient Roman silver coin introduced as official currency under Emperor Caracalla (211-217) around 214 AD.

The ancient name of the coin has not been handed down. The name Antoninian is derived from Caracalla's actual name, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, and was introduced in the Middle Ages. According to recent research, the ancient name of the Antoninian is thought to have been Bicharactus.

Historical

Iulia Cornelia Salonina Chrysogone († 268 near Milan)
She was the wife of the Roman Emperor Gallienus and the mother of Valerianus Caesar, Saloninus and Marinianus.

Salonina's origin is unknown. Because of her surname Chrysogone, which is attested on coins, it is assumed that she was a Greek from Bithynia, but her origin from the city of Salona in the province of Dalmatia (today Solin in Croatia) is also possible.

Possibly as early as the elevation of Gallienus to co-regent with his father Valerian and the conferring of the title Augustus on him in the autumn of 253, Salonina received the title Augusta, which she used at the latest in 254.

It can be assumed that she had already been married to Gallienus for several years at that time and that her two eldest sons were already alive in 253; her first coin portraits show a woman who was no longer young.

Her eldest son, Valerianus, died in 258, the second, Saloninus, was killed by the usurper Postumus in 260. The third son, Marinianus, was probably not born until 265/266.

Please note: You buy a coin of the respective ruler in the specified condition, not the piece shown in each case.

Roman Empire, Theodora, +335, AE Follis (335)

Second wife of Constantius I Chlorus

Obv.Drap. bust with diadem r.

Rev.Pietas standing r. holding child in her arms

Historical

Theodora was an adopted daughter of Maximianus Herculius ( 286 to 305 together with Diocletian Emperor of the Roman Empire) and wife of Constantius Chlorus. 

Very little is known about her life. She had six children together with Constantius Chlorus. The date of her death is unknown and is given with the reference "terminus ante quem" in the consecration coinage, which was handed down by her son Hannibalianus from the year 335.  

Roman Empire, Helena, +330, AE Follis

Obv.Drap. bust r.

Rev.Of varying types

Historical

Flavia Iulia Helena (* 248/250 in Bithynia; † around 330 in Nicomedia, today İzmit).

She was the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, by whom she was appointed Augusta. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

Helena probably came from a very humble background. The church father Ambrose of Milan writes that she was a good innkeeper. (Ambrose of Milan, De obitu Theodosii 42).

She carried on a relationship with the Roman officer Constantius and gave birth to their son Constantine between 272 and 280. Whether Constantius and Helena were also married is disputed. The two may have lived in a long-term concubinage.

Constantius Chlorus separated from Helena in 289 to marry Flavia Maximiana Theodora, the stepdaughter of the Emperor Maximian. He was adopted by Maximian and made Caesar (sub-emperor) in 293 as part of the Tetrarchy.
 

After the death of Constantius Chlorus, his son Constantine took over his father's army and was proclaimed Augustus (supreme emperor) by the army in what is now York on 25 July 306. After his accession to power, he brought his mother to Trier. While Constantius Chlorus remained a pagan, Helena was baptised. Their son Constantine, under the banner of Jesus Christ, was victorious over his opponent Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 and issued the Edict of Toleration of Milan the following year.

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Roman Empire, Julia Soaemias, +222, AR Denarius

Obv.Drap. bust r.

Rev.Venus Caelestis with apple and sceptre, besides star

Historical
Julia Soaemias Bassiana († 11 March 222 in Rome).
She was the mother of the Roman Emperor Elagabal (204-222).

Julia Soaemias came from a very influential Syrian family. This family was probably closely connected with the local religious cult of the god Elagabal. Her son, whose real name was Varius Avitus Bassianus, was given the name Elagabal, but only long after his death.  

During Elagabal's four-year reign (218-222), Julia Soaemias initially played a key role in guiding and influencing her son.
However, they both made themselves extremely unpopular with the Roman people. The introduced oriental customs and the arbitrary religious policy met with lively rejection and unacceptance. Both were murdered together in Rome in 222.

Please note: You buy a coin of the respective ruler in the specified condition, not the piece shown in each case.