Julia Domna and her Divine Motherhood: A Re-examination of the Evidence from Imperial Coins

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine chronologically the imperial types advertising the maternity of Julia Domna. Several coins issued during the first years of Septimius Severus' reign celebrated the procreative capacities of the Augusta by either portraying her together with Caracalla and Geta or connecting her to representations of deities with children. Later types, however, seem to shift focus to a more universal concept of maternity by comparing Domna to deities such as Cybele, Vesta and Luna. This phenomenon became particularly evident during the reign of Caracalla, when her influence in public affairs reached its apex.