11. The Wives of the Sovereigns | Digitaler Ausstellungskatalog

Showcase 11: Central Mints of the 1st Century CE

A series of women stood behind the male political actors of this period, who participated in the course of history in various forms. The women of the Roman imperial house are the most well known. Members of the reigning Jewish families also appear occasionally in the historical record, however. Women and their roles can generally only be conjectured from Jewish coinage, though the coins do provide occasional insight.

Livia (* 58 BCE ‒ † 29 CE)

Livia was the wife of Emperor Augustus and the mother of the emperor Tiberius (Fig. A.). Augustus supposedly discussed political issues with her, and she often accompanied him on his travels. She presumably also influenced his decisions. After Augustus’ death, his testament adopted Livia into the gens Iulia (Julian family), and she received the honorific name Augusta and the Greek Sebaste (Tacitus, Annals 1,8,1). In coinage, on the other hand, the name Iulia is used, as is demonstrated for instance by coins of the Roman prefect Valerius Gratus (No.5B Showcase 9). Even before, she had been granted various privileges – she was able to manage her own fortune, was awarded the sacrosanctitas (immunity), and under Tiberius received the right to travel with a carpentum (ceremonial cart) driven by mules. Her exceptional position honoured the imperial family, numerous cities were named after her, and statues were erected in her honour.

Antonia Minor (* 36 BCE ‒ † 37 CE)

Antonia Minor was married to Nero Claudius Drusus, the son of Livia and younger brother of the later emperor Tiberius. Their union produced three children: Germanicus, Livilla, and the later emperor Claudius. After the death of her husband in 9 BCE, Antonia remained unmarried. Her grandson Gaius (Caligula) furnished her with the privileges of a Vestal virgin and appointed her as a priestess of the divine Augustus (Fig. B.). When he wished to elevate her to Augusta she modestly declined, and this distinction was conferred on her only posthumously. Claudius honoured her memory by holding annual games on her birthday and erecting numerous monuments.

Berenice (* 28 BCE ‒ † ?)

Berenice, the oldest daughter of Agrippa I and sister of Herod Agrippa II, was a Jewish queen (Fig. C.). After several short marriages, among them to her uncle Herod of Chalcis, she went to live with her brother, with whom she was said to have a relationship. She appears to have assumed the position of queen beside Agrippa II in all areas. Berenice was highly engaged politically at the time of the First Jewish War (66 – 70 CE). According to Flavius Josephus, she is said to have vainly attempted “with bare feet” to dissuade the procurator Gessius Florus from massacring the Jewish populace (De bello Iudaico 2,310 ff.). Roman sources also describe her as dynamic, while her brother frequently appears only as her companion.

Berenice maintained a long affair with the later emperor Titus, whom she had met during the First Jewish War. She was considered inappropriate to be the wife of an emperor due to her religion and ancestry, and perhaps also her age, and the two were forced to separate when Titus was elevated to emperor in 79 CE. Berenice’s fate during the last years of her life is largely unknown; the exact date of her death is also unclear.

The Women in Coinage

Livia is the first woman to be shown in Jewish coinage. Her portrait, with her typically knotted hair, is presented in the Jewish coinage of the tetrarch Herod Philip (4 BCE – 34 CE) with the Greek legend ΙΟΥΛΙΑ CEΒΑCΤH (Julia Sebaste). The reverse shows three spikes of grain held by a hand and the accompanying inscription ΚΑΡΠΟΦΟΡΟC (karpophoros, that is, bearing fruit) (No.1A). The combination of the three spikes of grain with the term karpophoros is commonly seen in connection with the fertility goddess Demeter or Ceres. Emperor Tiberius had forbidden the deification of his mother following her death in 29 CE, but a connection between Livia and Demeter-Ceres, which enabled an indirect cultic worship, is documented in the eastern regions of the Roman Empire. This appears to find expression in coin No.1A.

The nearest parallels, showing a certain correspondence with this depiction by Philip, come from Alexandria, where the Livian iconography played an earlier and much larger role (No.6A). Livia first became part of imperial coinage with a coin type minted by Tiberius on her recovery following a serious illness in 22 CE (No.7B), to be followed by the later women of the imperial house (for example No.8B). Even before, on coins of the procurator Valerius Gratus (15 – 26 CE), Livia’s Greek name was given together with that of her son Tiberius (No.5B).

Herod Agrippa I (38 – 44 CE) seized the opportunity to portray women of the Roman imperial house, such as Antonia Minor or his own wife Cypros. In his loyalty to the Roman imperial family, he even introduced otherwise scarcely known depictions of Caligula’s wife Caesonia (No.2B) and his sister Drusilla into coinage. The coin portraits of his wife Cypros emphasize her exceptional position. As Antonia Minor, Cypros also appears as a priestess in the cult of the Divus Augustus.

Berenice, the famous sister of Herod Agrippa II, can also be found on coinage (No.3A). She wears a veil, a common depiction for respectable women in this period. This recalls the earlier pictorial tradition of the female Ptolemies (No.4A), which paved the way for the iconography of Roman women. The reverse shows the Seleucid anchor, a symbol of authority that also emphasizes the right to succession, which underscores Berenice’s position (see above).

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