Plautilla wife of Caracalla AD 198-217 Silver Denarius Rome

Plautilla wife of Caracalla AD 198-217 Silver Denarius

Draped bust right/Pietas holding child

Rome

RCV7072; 18mm, 3.36g

Publia Fulvia Plautilla, was the daughter of the powerful Praetorian Prefect, C. Fulvius Plautianus. A close ally of Emperor Septimius Severus, Plautianus rose from Leptis Magna to become one of the most influential figures in the empire. In AD 202, he secured his daughter’s marriage to Caracalla, then co-emperor, in an effort to solidify his family’s position in the imperial court.

The marriage was purely political and infamously unhappy. Caracalla, only 14 years old and reportedly resentful of the union, is said to have despised Plautilla. Despite coin types suggesting imperial offspring, there is no evidence the marriage was consummated.

Following Plautianus’s execution in AD 205 for conspiracy, Plautilla was quickly divorced, exiled to the Lipari Islands, and ultimately executed on Caracalla’s orders after Septimius Severus died in AD 211.

Plautilla’s coinage, struck during her brief reign as Augusta from AD 202 to 205, is known for its elegant portraiture and symbolic imagery promoting fertility and dynastic legitimacy. Most examples were issued in gold and silver, with a small number produced at the Syrian mint of Laodicea, which was closed shortly after her marriage. Surviving bronze issues are particularly rare, adding to the desirability of her coinage among collectors for both its artistic merit and its association with a tragic imperial story.