TYPE Roman Empire, Lucilla, wife of Lucius Verus (161-9 AD), brass sestertius, 24.32g
DESCRIPTION .
Obv: Draped bust to right, legend: LUCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F
Rev: Concordia(?), holding cornucopiae and feeding snake emerging from altar, legend [...] A / S C
REFERENCE: RIC 1730, VM 19
GRADING: F / VG+, bit rough darker patina, edge crack
ORDER INFO: R2083, $72
The first female of the many children of M. Aurelius and Faustina Jr. - and one of the few that survived childhood - Lucilla was betrothed very young to her father's ruling colleague, L. Verus, and likewise married and widowed early. Even though her three children ended up playing apparently no significant historical role, her political involvement didn't end there; in fact, the recent prominent motion picture Gladiator - despite an obvious license in historical synthesis - vividly underscores that point. Her true and brutal end, however, came shortly after the accesion of her ruthless brother Commodus, following an unsuccessful plot against him in which both her and his wife Crispina were implicated; it took another 10 years before finally a successful coup, through the hands of a gladiator, disposed of the emperor. [Reverse deity somewhat conjectural.]