Julia Mamaea Sestertius, RIC IV Severus Alexander 668

Monetary Context

During the reign of Severus Alexander from 222 to 235 AD, the Roman monetary system maintained the traditional denominational hierarchy established under the early principate, even as the silver denarius experienced gradual debasement. Within this bimetallic and base-metal currency structure, the sestertius retained its status as the principal large-format base-metal denomination for daily state disbursements, market trade, and major domestic transactions. Valued at one-fourth of a silver denarius or four copper asses, the sestertius enjoyed extensive circulation throughout Italy and the western provinces, where its substantial weight and broad flan made it an ideal vehicle for ideological display. Large brass or orichalcum planchets allowed imperial authorities to communicate dynastic legitimacy, administrative stability, and religious virtues directly to the urban population of the empire. Julia Mamaea exercised unprecedented political authority during the minority and reign of her son, holding the titles of Augusta and mater Augusti et castrorum. Her prominence within Severus Alexander's regime required an extensive series of coin issues bearing her likeness. The production of sestertii such as RIC IV Severus Alexander 668 reinforced her imperial status and underlined the vital role of the Augusta in guaranteeing the security and continuity of the Severan dynasty.

Production and Mints

The entire regular bronze output for Julia Mamaea under Severus Alexander, including RIC IV Severus Alexander 668, was produced at the central imperial mint in Rome. By the 220s AD, the Rome mint operated with distinct officinae or operational workshops capable of processing massive quantities of bullion and brass alloy. Sestertii were struck from an alloy historically characterized as orichalcum, a copper-zinc composition, although metallurgical studies indicate that third-century bronze coinage frequently contained varying amounts of lead and tin, reflecting remelting and shifting supplies of raw metal. Blanks were cast in individual open molds or grouped runners before being heated and hand-struck between engraved iron dies. The broad flans required immense physical striking force to bring the high-relief maternal portrait and reverse composition into clear focus, frequently resulting in minor die-axis shifts, slightly uneven edge thickness, or peripheral flan fissures. Surviving examples demonstrate a significant variation in physical weight, which generally falls between 18 and 24 grams, centered around a nominal target near 20 to 21 grams, with diameters spanning approximately 28 to 32 millimeters. Mint personnel worked under the formal authority of the emperor and the nominal supervision of the Senate, as evidenced by the obligatory inclusion of the senatorial mark of sanction.

Obverse Design and Portraiture

The obverse of RIC IV Severus Alexander 668 features a finely modeled bust of Julia Mamaea turned to the right. She is depicted draped in an imperial mantle that covers her shoulders and neck, adorned with a delicate stephane or diadem set above her elaborate coiffure. The hair arrangement represents the classic Severan court style established by Julia Domna and modified in the 220s AD: the hair is dressed in horizontal crimped waves that run parallel down the sides of the head, drawn backward toward the nape, and plaited into a broad, flat braid that is folded upward and pinned securely to the back of the crown. Celators at the Rome mint captured Mamaea's severe yet dignified features, characterized by a straight nasal bridge, firm chin, and calm facial expression suited to an imperial mother guiding the affairs of state. Because dies were engraved by hand across several active workshops, minor stylistic divergences occur across the series. These variations encompass subtle differences in the height and curvature of the diadem, the volume of drapery folds around the truncation, and the spatial distribution of the hair plait, yet all align within the standardized visual canon prescribed for the Augusta.

Reverse Iconography

The reverse iconography centers on Fecunditas, the divine personification of maternal fruitfulness, fertility, and dynastic prosperity. She stands draped in a long stola and mantle, facing left. In her right arm, she cradles a large cornucopiae, the horn of plenty overflowing with the fruits of the earth, symbolizing the material abundance and stability brought to the Roman world by imperial rule. With her left arm lowered and hand extended outward, she reaches toward a small child who stands right before her feet, raising its hands toward her in an attitude of filial protection or supplication. Flanking the lower central field to the left and right is the standard formulaic abbreviation S C, denoting Senatus Consulto. The composition directly links the biological and maternal role of Julia Mamaea to the broader fortune of the Roman state. Rather than celebrating a specific newborn heir, the imagery allegorically evokes the maternal care that Mamaea provided to her son Severus Alexander and, by extension, her role as the nurturing protector of the Roman empire and its future generations.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The epigraphic program of RIC IV Severus Alexander 668 is composed in clear, capital Roman lettering arranged neatly along the flan borders. The obverse legend reads IVLIA MAMAEA AVGVSTA, curving clockwise continuously from the lower left to the lower right. This formula presents her imperial name and supreme feminine rank without additional parental or military titles, reflecting the standard titulature adopted following her son's elevation in 222 AD. The reverse inscription reads FECVNDITAS AVGVSTAE, which translates to 'The Fruitfulness of the Augusta'. This genitive phrasing attributes the virtue of fruitful abundance directly to the empress mother. In the fields flanking the lower figure of Fecunditas, the capital letters S and C appear separately to the left and right. This stands for 'Senatus Consulto', meaning 'by decree of the Senate', an enduring legal formula that had marked regular imperial base-metal issues since the monetary reforms of Augustus in the late first century BC. The letterforms show standard third-century imperial epigraphic traits, including serifs on the terminals of strokes, a broad letter M, and round O and C curves.

Typology and Chronology

In the structural taxonomy of the Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC IV Severus Alexander 668 is classified under the bronze issues struck in the name of Julia Mamaea during Severus Alexander's reign from 222 to 235 AD. Within Mamaea's sestertius repertoire, the type is distinguished by the combination of her simple obverse title IVLIA MAMAEA AVGVSTA with the reverse type showing Fecunditas standing left, holding a cornucopiae and extending her hand to a child. This issue should be differentiated from closely related typological variants in the series, such as RIC 669, where Fecunditas is accompanied by two children, or RIC 671 and 672, which depict Fecunditas seated holding a patera or child. It is likewise distinct from issues struck under the later title IVLIA MAMAEA AVGVSTA MATER AVGVSTI, which emerged in the middle to late periods of the reign to highlight her maternal authority more explicitly. While the broad catalogued date range extends from 222 to 235 AD, numismatic scholars generally place the introduction of the standing Fecunditas with a single child in the early to mid-220s AD, when Severus Alexander was an adolescent ruler and the ideological emphasis on maternal nurturing was at its most vital.

Circulation and Archaeological Finds

Large-module sestertii of the Severan period were workhorse denominations that experienced long, active circulation lives across the empire. Hoards recovered from Roman Britain, the Rhine frontier, Gaul, the Iberian Peninsula, and northern Italy routinely contain sestertii of Julia Mamaea, including RIC IV Severus Alexander 668. Because bronze denominations were not frequently demonetized or recalled by successor emperors, sestertii struck in the 220s AD often remained in commercial circulation for decades, circulating alongside earlier Antonine bronzes and later issues of the Crisis of the Third Century. As a consequence of prolonged wear, surviving examples frequently show moderate to heavy smoothing of the high points on Mamaea's diadem and the child figure on the reverse. In archaeological contexts, these coins appear in urban excavations, military camp vici, and rural villa deposits, where soil chemistry has produced a wide variety of surface patinas ranging from smooth dark green to rough brown or pitted encrustations. Their widespread dispersion confirms that imperial bronze minting from Rome successfully permeated regional markets throughout the western Roman provinces.

References

1. I grandi bronzi imperiali: Severus Alexander to Maximinus. Vol. IV-1
2. Description historique des monnaies frappees sous l'Empire romain, Tome IV. p. 491, no. 8
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Severus Alexander 668. ric.4.sa.668
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 125, no. 668