Severina – Roman Empress: 274-275 A.D. – wife of Emperor
Aurelian –
Bronze Denarius 19mm (1.66 grams) Rome mint: 275 A.D.
Reference: RIC V 6; BN 266-277 var.; MIR 47, 141t3.
SEVERINA AVG, draped bust right, wearing stephane.
VENVS FELIX, Venus, draped, standing front, head left, holding seated figure
(Cupid?) in right hand and scepter in left; Γ.
* Numismatic Note: Rare denarius denomination.
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In
Roman mythology
,
Cupid (Latin cupido,
meaning “desire”) is the god of desire, affection and
erotic
love. He is often portrayed as the son of the goddess
Venus
, with a father rarely mentioned. His
Greek counterpart
is
Eros. Cupid is also known in Latin as Amor (“Love”). The
Amores (plural) or amorini in the later terminology of
art history
are the equivalent of the Greek
Erotes
.
Although Eros appears in
Classical
Greek art
as a slender winged youth, during the
Hellenistic period
he was increasingly
portrayed as a chubby boy. During this time, his iconography acquired the bow
and arrow that remain a distinguishing attribute; a person, or even a deity, who
is shot by Cupid’s arrow is filled with uncontrollable desire. The Roman Cupid
retains these characteristics, which continue in the depiction of multiple
cupids in both
Roman art
and the later
classical tradition
of
Western art
.
Cupid’s ability to compel love and desire plays an instigating role in
several myths or literary scenarios. In
Vergil
‘s
Aeneid
, Cupid prompts
Dido
to fall in love with
Aeneas
, with tragic results.
Ovid makes Cupid the patron of love poets. Cupid is a central
character, however, in only the traditional tale of
Cupid and Psyche
, as told by
Apuleius
.
Cupid was a continuously popular figure in the
Middle Ages
, when under Christian influence he
often had a dual nature as Heavenly and Earthly love, and in the
Renaissance
, when a renewed interest in
classical philosophy endowed him with complex allegorical meanings. In
contemporary popular culture, Cupid is shown shooting his bow to inspire
romantic love, often as an icon of
Valentine’s Day
.
Legend
In the Roman version, Cupid was the son of Venus (goddess of hope) and Mars
(god of war).[2][3]
In the Greek version he was named
Eros and seen as one of the
primordial gods
(though other myths exist as
well). Cupid was often depicted with wings, a bow, and a quiver of arrows. The
following story of
Cupid and Psyche
is almost identical in both
cultures; the most familiar version is found in the
Metamorphoses
of
Apuleius
. When Cupid’s mother Venus became
jealous of the princess
Psyche
, who was so beloved by her subjects that
they forgot to worship Venus, she ordered Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with
the vilest thing in the world. While Cupid was sneaking into her room to shoot
Psyche with a golden arrow, he accidentally scratched himself with his own arrow
and fell deeply in love with her.
Following that, Cupid visited Psyche every night while she slept. Speaking to
her so that she could not see him, he told her to never try to see him. Psyche,
though, incited by her two older sisters who told her Cupid was sparcker [a
monster], tried to look at him and angered Cupid. When he left, she looked all
over the known world for him until at last Venus told her that she would help
her find Cupid if she did the tasks presented to her by Venus. Psyche agreed.
Psyche completed every task presented to her, each one harder than the last.
Finally, Venus had one task left – Psyche had to give Pluto a box containing
something Psyche was not to look at. Psyche’s curiosity got the best of her and
she looked in the box. Hidden within it was eternal sleep placed there by Venus.
Cupid was no longer angered by Psyche and brought her from her sleep. Jupiter,
the leader of the gods, gave Psyche the gift of immortality so that she could be
with him. Together they had a daughter,
Voluptas
, or
Hedone
, (meaning pleasure) and Psyche became a
goddess. Her name “Psyche” means “soul.”
Portrayal
Caravaggio
‘s
Amor Vincit Omnia
In painting and sculpture, Cupid is often portrayed as a
nude
(or sometimes
diapered
) winged boy or baby (a
putto
) armed with a bow and a quiver of arrows.
On gems and other surviving pieces, Cupid is usually shown amusing himself
with adult play, sometimes driving a hoop, throwing darts, catching a butterfly,
or flirting with a nymph
. He is often depicted with his mother (in
graphic arts, this is nearly always Venus), playing a horn. In other images, his
mother is depicted scolding or even spanking him due to his mischievous nature.
He is also shown wearing a helmet and carrying a buckler, perhaps in reference
to Virgil
‘s Omnia vincit amor or as
political satire
on wars for love or love as
war.
Cupid figures prominently in
ariel poetry
, lyrics and, of course,
elegiac
love and
metamorphic poetry
. In epic poetry, he is less
often invoked, but he does appear in
Virgil
‘s
Aeneid
changed into the shape of
Ascanius
inspiring
Dido’s
love. In later literature, Cupid is
frequently invoked as fickle, playful, and perverse. He is often depicted as
carrying two sets of arrows: one set gold, which inspire true love; and the
other lead-headed, which inspire erotic love.
Venus was a
Roman
goddess
principally associated with
love,
beauty
and
fertility
, who played a key role in many
Roman religious
festivals and myths. From the third century BC, the
increasing
Hellenization
of Roman upper classes identified her as the equivalent of the
Greek goddess
Aphrodite
.
The Birth of Venus
, by
Sandro Botticelli
c. 1485–1486.
Her cult began in
Ardea
and
Lavinium,
Latium.
On August 15, 293 BC, her oldest known
temple
was dedicated, and August 18 became a festival called the
Vinalia Rustica
. After
Rome‘s
defeat at the Battle of Lake Trasimene
in the opening
episodes of the Second Punic War
, the Sibylline oracle
recommended the importation of the Sicillian Venus of Eryx; a temple to her was
dedicated on the Capitoline Hill
in 217 BC: a second temple to
her was dedicated in 181 BC.
Venus seems to have played a part in household or private religion of some
Romans. Julius Caesar claimed her as an ancestor (Venus Genetrix); possibly a
long-standing family tradition, certainly one adopted as such by his heir
Augustus.
Venus statuettes have been found in quite ordinary household shrines (lararia).
In fiction, Petronius
places one among the
Lares
of the
freedman Trimalchio
‘s household shrine.
Ulpia Severina was the only
Empress
ruling the Roman Empire in her own right. She was the wife of Roman
emperor Aurelian
, by whom she had a daughter. Very little is known about her, as
there are no literary sources mentioning her existence. Almost everything known
about her, including her name, is gathered from coins and inscriptions.
Aurelian married Severina before becoming emperor. According
to coinage depicting her, Severina gained the title
Augusta
in the autumn of
274 A.D. She also
received the titles of Pia (“pious”)
and mater castrorum et senatus et patriae
(“mother of the barracks (armies), senate, and country”).
It is presumed that she was a daughter of Ulpius Crinitus,
although this is based on the unreliable
Historia Augusta
and thus, is purely speculative.
Some scholars believe that she was from
Dacia
, where the
nomen
Ulpius
was
common due to the influence of
Trajan
.
According to
Historia Augusta
, Aurelian regularly presented Ulpia
sigillaria
by the end of
Saturnalia
,
according to tradition.
There is considerable numismatic evidence for Severina ruling
in her own right between the death of Aurelian and the election of
Marcus Claudius Tacitus
.
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