Salonina clasping hands with Gallienus Silver Rare Ancient Roman Coin i55730

Item: i55730

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Salonina
 – Roman Empress: 253-268 A.D. – Wife of Gallienus

Silver Antoninianus 21mm (3.63 grams) Asian mint: circa 255-258 A.D.
Reference: RIC 63; RSC 31; Sear 10630
CORN SALONINA AVG, diademed draped bust right on crescent.
CONCORDIA AVGG, Gallienus and Salonina standing facing each other, clasping
hands.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

Marriage in ancient Rome had mythical beginnings, starting with the
abduction of the Sabine Women
.
Romulus
and his band of male immigrants were
rejected conubium, the legal right to intermarriage, from the
Sabines.
According to
Livy,
Romulus
and his men abducted the Sabine
maidens, but promised them an honorable marriage, in which they would enjoy the
benefits of property, citizenship, and children. These three benefits seem to
define the purpose of marriage in ancient Rome.

The word matrimonium, the root for our own word for
marriage,
matrimony, defines the institution’s main function. Involving the mater (mother),
it carries with it the implication of the man taking to woman in marriage to
have children. It is the idea conventionally shared by Romans as to the purpose
of marriage, which would be to produce
legitimate children
; citizens producing new
citizens.

Consortium is a word used for the sharing of property, usually
used in a technical sense for the property held by heirs, but could also be used
in the context of marriage. Such usage was commonly seen in
Christian
writings. However, the sharing of water and fire (aquae et ignis
communiciatio) was symbolically more important. It refers to the sharing of
natural resources. Worldly possessions transferred automatically from the wife
to the husband in archaic times, whereas the classical marriage kept the wife’s
property separate.

In order for the union of a man and woman to be legitimate, there needed to
be consent legally and morally. Both parties had to be willing and intend to
marry, and both needed their fathers’ consent. If all other legal conditions
were met, a marriage was made.

Julia

Cornelia Salonina (d. 268,

Mediolanum
)

was an

, wife of

Roman

Emperor
Gallienus

and mother of

Valerian

II
, Saloninus

, and

Marinianus

.

Julia Cornelia Salonina’s origin is unknown. According to a modern theory,

she was born of Greek

origin

in Bithynia
,

then part of the province of

Bithynia et

Pontus
,

Asia Minor

. However, there exists some scepticism on that.

She was married to Gallienus about ten years before his accession to the throne.

When her husband became joint-emperor with his father

Valerian

in 253, Cornelia Salonina was named Augusta.

Cornelia was the mother of three princes,

Valerian

II
, Saloninus

and

Marinianus

.

Her fate, after the murder of Gallienus, during the siege of

Mediolanum

in 268, is unknown. It is likely that either her life was spared

or the she was executed together with other members of her family, at the orders

of the Senate of Rome^.

Her name is reported on coins with Latin legend as Cornelia Salonina;

however, from the Greek coinage come the names Iulia Cornelia Salonina,

Publia Licinia Cornelia Salonina, and Salonina Chrysogona

(attribute that means “begotten of gold”).