Julia Mamaea Silver Denarius, RIC IV Severus Alexander 338

Monetary Context and Imperial Ideology

During the reign of Severus Alexander (AD 222 to 235), the Roman monetary system functioned primarily upon the silver denarius and its fractional and base-metal counterparts, following the temporary discontinuation of the radiate antoninianus early in the reign. Although the Severan dynasty maintained nominal adherence to the traditional denominational hierarchy established during the early empire, successive debasements had reduced the intrinsic silver content of the denarius. By the late 220s and early 230s AD, silver denarii were manufactured with an alloy generally containing between forty and forty-five percent silver, with base copper making up the balance. RIC IV Severus Alexander 338 was produced within this established framework, offering an official medium for state payments, bureaucratic stipends, and military expenditures while carrying potent ideological messages directly into the hands of the Roman populace. The prominence of Julia Mamaea on official coinage reflected her singular constitutional and political status. Functioning as the primary advisor, de facto regent, and dominant figure in her son's administration, Mamaea held the title of Augusta alongside honorific titles such as mater Augusti et castrorum. Presenting her image on the denarius underscored the legitimacy of the dynasty, which relied heavily on maternal lineage tracing back to Julia Domna and Julia Maesa.

Mint Organization and Production Standards

The production of RIC IV Severus Alexander 338 is securely assigned to the principal imperial mint at Rome, which executed the overwhelming majority of imperial denarii during Severus Alexander's principate. While earlier eastern mints such as Antioch had operated sporadically under Septimius Severus, Caracalla, and Elagabalus, regular denarius manufacturing was concentrated almost exclusively at the capital by the mid-220s AD. Die production for this issue was overseen by skilled imperial celatores who maintained standard Severan stylistic conventions, producing uniform portraiture and balanced reverse compositions across multiple die pairings. The physical standards of the issue reflect the typical parameters of the contemporary Rome mint denarius. Intended striking weights for the denomination generally clustered between 2.80 and 3.20 grams, with flan diameters typically measuring between 18 and 20 millimeters. Blank production relied on casting flans followed by hot-striking between manually positioned upper and lower dies. The alignment of the dies was frequently adjusted to a regular axial orientation, often hovering near six o'clock or twelve o'clock, reflecting the disciplined workshop organization of the mint of Rome. Metallurgical studies of contemporary Severan silver indicate that despite the modest intrinsic silver content, the mint employed surface-enrichment techniques such as blanching to create an exterior layer of nearly pure silver, giving the freshly struck coins a bright, high-status appearance upon release from the workshops.

Obverse Design and Portraiture

The obverse of RIC IV Severus Alexander 338 depicts the diademed and draped bust of Julia Mamaea facing right. Her portrait embodies the formal court style developed for the women of the Severan house, combining classical restraint with dynastic grandeur. The empress is shown with delicate facial features, a distinctively straight nose, and hair styled according to the prevailing third-century fashion. Her hair is drawn back from the temples in wide, parallel waves, carried low around the ears, and folded up into an elaborate braided plait or chignon resting against the back of the head. The imperial diadem, positioned prominently atop her coiffure, marks her exalted sovereign rank as Augusta. The drapery across her shoulders and chest is rendered with rhythmic, layered folds, typically featuring a stola over an undergarment. Minor stylistic variations exist across different dies, including slight differences in the curvature of the profile, the fullness of the plait, and the precise arrangement of the mantle folds at the bust truncation, reflecting the work of distinct engravers active in the officinae of the Rome mint.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse design of this type features Felicitas, the Roman personification of blessedness, good fortune, and general prosperity, seated upon a draped stool or chair facing left. Felicitas is depicted in full, flowing drapery, representing modesty, dignity, and civic benevolence. In her outstretched right hand, she holds an upright caduceus, the traditional heraldic staff associated with commerce, peaceful communication, and harmonious order. Cradled in her left arm is a large cornucopiae, brimming with fruits and agricultural abundance, signifying material wealth and divine fertility bestowed upon the Roman world. The choice of the seated posture for Felicitas connotes stability, enduring security, and peaceful repose, contrasting with standing personifications that often evoked urgent activity or active divine intervention. For an issue struck under Julia Mamaea, the seated Felicitas served as a visual metaphor linking the empress mother's domestic guidance and imperial guardianship directly to the enduring tranquility and material welfare of the empire.

Epigraphy and Legend Analysis

The inscriptions on both faces of RIC IV Severus Alexander 338 are concise, standard Latin legends executed in clear imperial capitals. The obverse legend reads IVLIA MAMAEA AVG, punctuated without internal division marks and curving continuously around the portrait from lower left to lower right. This formula abbreviates the title Augusta to AVG while presenting her personal and dynastic nomenclature in the nominative case, identifying the empress as the primary subject and maternal figurehead. The reverse inscription reads FELICITAS PVBLICA, encircling the seated figure of Felicitas. Translating as 'Public Prosperity' or 'Public Happiness', the phrase is a traditional imperial virtue slogan dating back to the early empire, emphasizing that the well-being of the state was shared universally by the citizen body under the guidance of the imperial house. The letterforms display the regular, slightly compact epigraphy characteristic of the Rome mint in the 220s and 230s AD, with neat serif terminations on vertical stems and consistent proportions across letters such as A, M, and E.

Typological Placement and Chronology

Within the cataloguing framework established in Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part II, type 338 is classified among the undated issues struck for Julia Mamaea at the mint of Rome. Harold Mattingly and Edward Sydenham assigned the broader production of Mamaea's silver denarii with the simple IVLIA MAMAEA AVG legend to the middle and later phases of Severus Alexander's reign, conventionally placed between AD 225 and 235. This type is distinguished from earlier or alternative issues that bear longer obverse titles, such as IVLIA MAMAEA AVGVSTA, or those that combine her portrait with other personifications, such as Vesta, Juno Conservatrix, or Venus Genetrix. A related denarius type (RIC IV Severus Alexander 335) features Felicitas standing left rather than seated, illustrating how the mint varied postures within the same thematic program. The seated type catalogued as RIC 338 was issued alongside bronze denominations, notably sestertii and dupondii or asses, that employed an identical reverse motif accompanied by the senatorial decree mark S C. While precise calendar years cannot be definitively pinpointed due to the lack of imperial consulships or tribunician numbers in Mamaea's coinage, stylistic affinities and hoard composition place the bulk of these seated Felicitas denarii in the period between AD 228 and 235.

Circulation Patterns and Hoard Contexts

Denarii of Julia Mamaea, including RIC IV Severus Alexander 338, enjoyed extensive circulation throughout the provinces of the Roman Empire. Evidence from large third-century coin hoards discovered in Britain, Gaul, the Rhine frontier, the Danube region, and the eastern provinces consistently demonstrates that Mamaea's silver circulated side by side with the coinage of Severus Alexander, Caracalla, and Elagabalus. Because Severus Alexander suspended production of the double-denarius (antoninianus), the denarius remained the supreme silver currency until the denomination was revived by Maximinus Thrax and expanded under Gordian III. Consequently, denarii of type 338 remained active in commerce long after the assassination of Mamaea and her son in AD 235. They routinely appear in savings hoards concealed during the military and economic crises of the mid-third century, often showing moderate to heavy wear consistent with several decades of continuous circulation. When the great debasements of the 250s and 260s AD severely diminished the silver content of contemporary coinage, older Severan denarii like RIC 338 were progressively culled for melting or stored in hoards as comparatively high-value silver assets.

References

1. From Gordian III to the Gallic Empire: The Silver Coinage of the Mid-Third Century AD. pp. 21-45
2. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan Decius. pp. 580-595
3. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. VI: Severus Alexander to Balbinus and Pupienus. pp. 112-120
4. Coining Images of Power: Patterns in the Representation of Roman Emperors on Imperial Coinage, A.D. 193-284. pp. 165-178
5. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Severus Alexander 338. Type ric.4.sa.338
6. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 125, no. 338