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Aquilia Severa, Denarius, Rome, draped bust right, rev. Concordia standing left, holding patera and double cornucopia, concordia, 2.76g (RIC 225). Very fine, or a little better, rare (£180-220)

Julia Aquilia Severa, a vestal virgin, was the second wife of Elagabalus. The marriage in AD 220 was in total breach of the law – indeed the penalty for vestal virgins found guilty of sexual congress was to be buried alive. His act of blasphemy horrified and perplexed Rome. Elagabalus, the most bizarre of men, defended his action on the grounds that he was a high priest and therefore entitled to marry a high priestess. He abandoned Aquilia Severa within a year to marry Anna Faustina in 221 but, soon tiring of his new wife, returned to Aquilia Severa later that same year, claiming she was the only woman he truly loved