Gold Aureus of Carinus, 5.38 g.

Gold Aureus of Carinus, 5.38 g.

Carinus

283-285 CE

Obverse: Diademed and draped bust of Magnia Urbica facing right; MAGNIA VRBICA AVG(VSTA): Magnia Urbica Augusta.

Reverse: Venus standing facing right, holding apple in left hand, lifting mantle from shoulder with right hand; VENERI VICTRICI: to Venus Victrix.

Style/Period: Roman Empire

If little is known of the short-lived soldier-emperors of the third century, even less is known of their wives. In some cases not even their names are known, and in others the coinage of their husbands provides the only record of their existence. Magnia Urbica, wife of Carinus (see 91.233), who ruled from 283 CE to 285 CE, is known only from coins, which tell us that she had received the title Augusta. If her portrait actually records her features, she was young (Carinus was in his early thirties when he became emperor) and beautiful. She wears an elaborate hairstyle characteristic of the period, with her hair softly waved backward, then braided, with the braid pinned on the top of her head by her diadem.
The reverse depicts Venus Victrix holding the apple which she won in the Judgment of Paris. Venus had been associated with Augustae since the first Augustus claimed descent from her, and Venus in the form of Victrix was especially appropriate for a fair young empress (see 91.183).
-- Carol L. Lawton

Bibliography: P.H. Webb, The Roman Imperial Coinage V.2 (London 1933) 340.

Former collection of Ottilia Buerger. Purchased from Harlan Berk, 16-Aug-1990.

93.017

Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890

Roman, Empire, diadem, Magnia Ubrica, Venus, apple, mantle, Carinus