Obverse: IVLIA SOAEMIAS AVG; Draped Bust of
Julia Soaemias Facing Right
Reverse: VENVS CAELESTIS; Venus Seated to the
Left, Holding an Apple and a Sceptre, a Child
Stands Before Her
Julia Soaemias came from an illustrious family of
powerful, influential women. She was the
daughter of Julia Maesa and niece of Empress
Julia Domna. She married a wealthy Senator
named Varius Marcellius. Together, they had a
child who would grow up to become Emperor
Elagabalus. However, by the time of his
ascension, Marcellius had past away, leaving
Soaemias a widow. She accompanied her son to
Rome when he assumed the throne. Yet
Elagabalus was a weak and ineffective emperor
who was morally corrupt in the eyes of the
Roman people. The court had an atmosphere of
revelry where every pleasure was encouraged to
excess. Julia Soaemias herself was known to
have taken on a string of lovers. Unfortunately,
Soaemias was a victim of her powerful mother’s
political ambitions and the public outrage of her
son’s scandalous behavior. In 222 A.D., Maesa,
worried that the public would revolt against her
grandson, plotted against her daughter and
Elagabalus, while paving the way for her other
grandson, the more popular Severus Alexander,
to seize power. On March 6, 222 A.D., Soaemias
was assassinated along with her son Elagabalus,
paying the ultimate price for his outrageous
behavior.
How many hands have touched a coin in your
pocket or purse? What eras and lands have the
coin traversed on its journey into our
possession? As we reach into our pockets to pull
out some change, we rarely hesitate to think of
who might have touched the coin before us, or
where the coin will venture to after it leaves our
hands. More than money, coins are a symbol of
the state that struck them, of a specific time and
location, whether contemporary currencies or
artifacts of a long forgotten empire. This
stunning hand-struck coin reveals an expertise
of craftsmanship and intricate sculptural detail
that is often lacking in contemporary machine-
made currencies. This ancient coin is a memorial
to a powerful woman passed from the hands of
civilization to civilization, from generation to
generation that still appears as vibrant today as
the day it was struck.
- (C.319)
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