★ Magnificent ★

AQUILIA SEVERA, 2nd wife of Elagabal, AD 220-222. Denarius 19mm, 2,64g. AR IVLIA AQVILIA SEVERA AVG Draped bust right, hair waved and fastened in plait. Rev. CONCORDIA Concordia, wearing long dress, standing left, sacrificing over altar out of patera in her right hand, holding double cornuacopia with her left hand; in field left, star. EX Nimrod Numismatik Auction 5 Lot 536

Julia Aquilia Severa (d. after 222) was the second and fourth wife of Roman emperor Elagabalus. She was the daughter of Quintus Aquilius. The praenomen of "Julia" was given to her after becoming an empress. Severa was a Vestal Virgin and, as such, her marriage to Elagabalus in late 220 was the cause of enormous controversy – traditionally, the punishment for breaking the thirty-year vow of celibacy was death by being buried alive. Elagabalus is believed to have had religious reasons for marrying Severa – she herself was a follower of the eastern sun god El-Gabal, and when marrying herself to Severa, she also conducted a symbolic marriage of her god to Vesta.