Vorderseite: IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust to the right, beautifully detailed hairstyle. Julia as Augusta.
Rückseite: MATER DEVM. The Cybele sitting on a throne flanked by two lions.
Referenz: RIC IV 564
In June 198, Caracalla became emperor and Geta Caesar, and Julia was given the title of Mater Devm. On the back the Cybele sitting on a throne flanked by two lions, a typical Oriental image. The Cybele holds a branch in one hand and a scepter in the other. She leans on a tympanum, a kind of tambourine. Under the influence of Julia, the worship of the Cybele, the primeval mother, came into vogue. Her father was high priest of Emesa.
Julia Domna was one of the most powerful empresses the Roman Empire has known. She herself was of Syrian descent and married Emperor Septimius Severus. She had two sons who later became emperors, Caracalla and Geta. These could not stand each other and it was thanks to Julia that the empire did not fall apart. She was Empress from 193 AD until her death in 217 AD. In 211, she arranged a meeting between the two sons, but was betrayed by Caracalla, who killed Geta before her eyes. When Caracalla was also murdered, she committed suicide a few years later by going on a hunger strike.
