As Aquilia Severa - Concordia

AQUILIA SEVERA (under ELAGABAL). AE As. Rome, 220-222 AD Obv. IVLIA AQVILIA SEVERA AVG Draped bust right Rev. CONCORDIA SC Concordia standing left, holding cornucopia and patera above altar. RIC 394; Cohen 3 (30 F) Severa was a Vestal Virgin. As such, her marriage to Elagabalus in 220 was the cause of enormous controversy — traditionally, the punishment for breaking the thirty-year vow of celibacy was death. Elagabalus is believed to have had religious reasons for marrying Severa — he himself was a follower of the eastern sun god El-Gabal, and when marrying himself to Severa, he also conducted a symbolic marriage of his god to Vesta. Both these marriages were revoked shortly afterwards, however. This was possibly on the urging of Julia Maesa, the grandmother who had engineered Elagabalus' rise to the imperial throne. Elagabalus then married Annia Faustina, a more generally acceptable choice. Within a short time, however, Elagabalus had divorced Faustina and returned to living with Severa, claiming that the original divorce was invalid. It is believed that Severa remained with Elagabalus until his assassination in 222.[wikipedia] Very rare. Bagnolet coin fair, ex. Gilles, 1 Dec. 2007 From 'G' collection auction, Caen (Normandy), 20 Oct 2007.