Julia Paula Silver Denarius, RIC IV Elagabalus 222

Monetary Context and Severan Policy

The denarius catalogued as RIC IV Elagabalus 222 belongs to the monetary system established under the Severan dynasty and continued into the reign of Elagabalus (AD 218 to 222). Following the fiscal disruptions of Caracalla and Macrinus, Elagabalus maintained the reduced silver standard of the imperial denarius, which hovered around an average fineness of forty to forty-five percent silver and a target weight in the range of three grams. Caracalla had previously introduced the double denarius, or antoninianus, which Elagabalus discontinued early in his reign, returning the traditional denarius to its role as the primary silver denomination for domestic transactions, civil administration, and military expenditures. Within this framework, imperial women played an indispensable ideological role. Marriage to Julia Cornelia Paula, a patrician noblewoman claiming descent from prestigious Roman lineage, was orchestrated by Elagabalus's grandmother, Julia Maesa, to legitimate the young Syrian emperor's accession in the eyes of the Senate and traditional aristocracy. Bestowed with the title Augusta in late AD 219, Paula was immediately integrated into the imperial monetary program. Denarii bearing her portrait served as mobile public proclamations that reinforced Severan dynastic continuity, civil harmony, and the prospect of an imperial heir, compensating for the eccentric religious practices and social friction emerging from the emperor's court.

Production Standards and Mint Allocation

Production of RIC IV Elagabalus 222 was initiated at the central mint of Rome and extended to the major eastern administrative mint at Antioch in Syria. The Rome mint struck the vast majority of surviving specimens, utilizing refined dies that display the crisp, classical plastic modeling typical of metropolitan engravers. At Rome, blanks were cast and struck with carefully prepared dies oriented in the customary upright or inverted positions (often six or twelve o'clock die axes). Antioch, which had operated as a crucial regional mint for Macrinus and continued striking under Elagabalus to finance eastern administrative costs and border garrisons, produced parallel issues for Julia Paula. Eastern dies reveal distinct stylistic traits, including flatter relief, slightly larger lettering with prominent serifs, and subtle variations in the treatment of the empress's profile and drapery. The silver composition of these denarii reflects the debased alloy typical of the period, containing significant proportions of copper alongside trace metallic impurities. Normal weights for this type typically cluster between 2.8 and 3.3 grams, though standard deviation across production batches was broad due to the al marco technique of minting, where moneyers struck a set number of coins from a fixed weight of bullion rather than calibrating every flan individually.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 222 features a right-facing bust of Julia Paula, depicted with classical imperial decorum. Her bust is modestly draped, with folds of the stola gathered gracefully over the shoulder and neck, emphasizing her status as a virtuous matron of the imperial family. Her hair is rendered in the characteristic Severan aristocratic fashion, styled in horizontal waves that sweep gently back from the temples and are gathered into a broad, low-hanging plait folded upward against the nape of the neck. This hairstyle deliberately echoed the prestigious coiffure introduced by Julia Domna and continued by Julia Maesa and Julia Soaemias, visually asserting Paula's alignment with the dynasty's matriarchal power structure. The imperial engravers portrayed her with youthful, regular facial features, an aquiline nose, and a composed expression. The portrait avoids the ornate diadems seen on late antique imperial women, relying entirely on the hairstyle and accompanying drapery to establish imperial dignity. Subtle differences in portraiture differentiate the mints: Rome produced softer, more rounded facial contours and finely articulated strands of hair, whereas Antioch executed the portrait with sharper, more geometric cuts and prominent eye details.

Reverse Typology and Ideological Program

The reverse of the type features the goddess Venus Genetrix seated facing left upon a high-backed or low stool-like throne. Draped in a long chiton and mantle, the goddess holds a celestial globe in her extended right hand while supporting a tall, vertical sceptre with her left hand. In Roman state religion and imperial tradition dating back to Julius Caesar and the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Venus Genetrix served as the divine mother and patroness of the Roman race and imperial families. Her presence on Paula's coinage carried profound dynastic and religious connotations. By depicting Venus holding the globe, the composition unites divine fecundity with universal Roman dominion, expressing the court's official prayer for the fertility of the imperial union and the birth of a legitimate successor to Elagabalus. The sceptre symbolizes sovereign majesty and imperial protection. Unlike reverse types that show Venus with an apple or drawing her veil, the seated presentation with globe emphasizes cosmic order, dynastic longevity, and maternal providence. The seated posture conveys stability and permanence, ironic qualities in light of the fleeting nature of the marriage itself.

Epigraphic Form and Legend Analysis

The epigraphy of RIC IV Elagabalus 222 is concise, formal, and strictly standardized. The obverse legend reads IVLIA PAVLA AVG, an abbreviation for Iulia Paula Augusta. The omission of paternal or ancestral filiation was customary for imperial consorts whose legitimacy derived directly from the title of Augusta bestowed upon them by the reigning emperor and ratified by the Senate. Letter forms are generally clean Roman capitals, with triangular crossbars on the letter A and well-balanced proportions. The reverse legend reads VENVS GENETRIX, directly identifying the seated divinity in the nominative case. Unlike issues that invoke Venus Victrix (Venus the Victorious) or Venus Caelestis (the Syrian celestial goddess favored in Elagabalus's personal religious cult), the title Genetrix specifically anchors the imagery in ancient Roman maternal cultus. On specimens from the Rome mint, the legend breaks smoothly around the top and sides of the seated deity, framed by a continuous border of dots. Syrian issues from Antioch often display slightly more irregular spacing, with broader letter stamps and distinct breaks depending on the placement of the sceptre and globe within the die.

Typological Variations and Chronological Sequence

RIC IV Elagabalus 222 represents a strictly bounded chronological issue confined to the period between the late autumn of AD 219 and the late autumn of AD 220. Elagabalus married Julia Paula shortly after his arrival in Rome in AD 219, an event commemorated by several silver and bronze types celebrating concord and fertility. However, the union was short-lived; by late AD 220, Elagabalus dissolved the marriage in order to marry the Vestal Virgin Aquilia Severa, stripping Paula of her Augusta title and banishing her from public life. Consequently, all coinage for Julia Paula ceased abruptly before the close of AD 220. Within this tight window, minor typological variations exist across the surviving material. While the core type mandates Venus seated left holding a globe and sceptre, slight variations occur in the design of the seat, which is rendered sometimes as an elaborate throne with turned legs and a low back, and sometimes as a plain stool. Minor stylistic divergences in the drape of the mantle over Venus's lap and the angle of the sceptre reflect individual engraver hands rather than distinct substantive catalogue sub-types. Numismatists have recognized that specimens produced at Antioch generally fall late in the issue sequence, likely struck in mid-AD 220 as eastern mint facilities synchronized with metropolitan typological directives.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Survival

Despite the brief duration of Julia Paula's tenure as empress, RIC IV Elagabalus 222 was struck in substantial volume, as demonstrated by its regular occurrence in imperial coin hoards. Because the denarii possessed intrinsic silver value consistent with other issues of Elagabalus and Caracalla, they were not demonetized or systematically recalled following Paula's divorce. Instead, they entered wide circulation across the western and eastern provinces alike, moving through military pay channels, tax remittances, and market commerce. Specimens have been documented in major third-century hoards from Britain, Gaul, the Rhine frontier, and the Danubian provinces, often buried decades later during the crisis of the mid-third century alongside coins of Severus Alexander, Gordian III, and Philip I. The wear patterns on surviving coins range from near-mint condition, representing coins hoarded shortly after striking, to heavily abraded pieces that circulated through the AD 240s and AD 250s. The survival of the type in public and private collections reflects both the scale of initial production and the enduring utility of base-silver denarii in the pre-reform third-century economy.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. 588-589
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Elagabalus 222. ric.4.el.222
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 45, no. 222
4. Roman Coins and Their Values, Volume II: The Accession of Nerva to the Death of Caracalla / The Third Century. no. 7658