JULIA DOMNA
Wife of Septimius Severus. AD 193-217
AR Denarius. 3.37g, 19.2mm
MINTED: Rome mint, AD 196-211
REF: RIC 564; Cohen 123; BMC 51
OBVERSE: IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right.
REVERSE: MATER DEVM, Cybele (Magna Mater), towered, draped, seated left on high-backed throne, holding branch in her extended right hand, her left elbow resting on drum, set on throne, lions seated on either side.  
 
Provenance:
Ex A.K. Collection (Triton XX, 9 Jan 17, Part of Lot 614); ex stock Münzen und Medaillen Basel 1971
The A.K. Collection was assembled over several decades by a connoisseur of Roman coins.  An important and extensive collection covering both Imperial and Provincial coinage, many of its coins were acquired from other major European collections or dealers.
 
Notes:
Beautiful old collection toning; well-struck and preserved. A wonderful specimen of this type which depicts the goddess Cybele, the Great Mother, who was originally a Phrygian deity that became popular in Rome.  The association recognises Domna, a mother of two emperors, as herself being a great mother, and the Imperial family as themselves being close to divinities.   
 
Historical Notes:
Julia Domna, the daughter of the high priest of Ba'al at Emesa, belonged to a wealthy and aristocratic Arab-Syrian family.  Beautiful, intelligent, and highly-educated, she caught the imagination of Septimius Severus, a Roman general serving in Syria, when he met her and was told that her horoscope predicted that she would marry a king.  Septimius duly proposed marriage to her, and some years later, won the throne of Rome, becoming Emperor in 193.   
 
Domna frequently accompanied her husband on his military campaigns and was his close confidante.  Her influence saw a cultural Renaissance at Rome, where she was also involved in major building projects.  After Severus's death, she sought to mediate between her sons, Caracalla and Geta, both of whom hated each other.  Here, she would be unsuccessful, and Caracalla would  murder Geta within a year of their co-rule.