Women Of Rome: Mariniana - Wife Of Valerianus I

Egnatia Mariniana was probably the wife of Roman Emperor Valerian and mother of Emperor Gallienus. Unlike many of the ephemeral emperors and rebels who bid for Imperial Power during the Crisis of the Third Century of the Roman Empire, Valerian was of a noble and traditional senatorial family. Details of his early life are elusive, but for his marriage to Egnatia Mariniana, who gave him two sons: later emperor Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus and Valerianus Minor. {Wikipedia on Valerian: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerian_(emperor)}

DIVAE MARINIANAE
veiled bust r. on crescent, without diadem
CONSECRATIO
empress waves while riding on left side of peacock in flight to the right.
RIC 6 (253-258)


Previously it had been assumed that Egnatius Victor Marinianus, Legatus of Arabia Petraea and Moesia Superior, was the father of Mariniana. More recently however, it has been postulated that she was the daughter of Lucius Egnatius Victor (suffect consul before AD 207) and therefore sister of Egnatius Victor Marinianus.[1]

This was the opinion of Inge Mennen writing in Power and Status in the Roman Empire 193-284; (Brill: Leiden, 2011). On p.72 she notes, "The sister of the Hedii Lolliani who were consules ordinarii in 209 and 211 married one of the Egnatii (Egnatius Victor, consul suffectus before 207.) Their daughter, (Egnatia) Mariniana married the future emperor Publius Licinius Valerianus and gave birth to the future emperor Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus. Although the name Lollianus thus disappears from the consular fasti after 225, the family merged with the Egnati and later with the Licinii. In this way the family remained important, though less prominent, until Gallienus was killed in 268 and probably took most of his relatives down with him."

Several coins bearing the obverse legend DIVAE MARINIANAE date back to the beginning (253-258) of the reign of Valerian and Gallienus. Given the practice of deifying the wives who died before their husbands' assumption of the Principate, it is possible that Mariniana died before AD 253. All of the coins listed in RIC bear only this obverse legend. The bust of the empress rests on a crescent, facing right with one of two hair styles, i.e. veiled with or without diadem.

With but one very rare exception, two reverse types of the antoniniani for Mariniana share the CONSECRATIO reverse inscription. These are the same types as we saw earlier with Empress Paulina. The exception is a reverse featuring Felicitas standing left holding a caduceus and cornucopia under the words FELICIT DEORVM. The most commonly seen CONSECRATIO reverse features a depiction of the apotheosis of Mariniana (the elevation to divine status) in which the figure of the Empress rides the sacred bird of Juno, the peacock, in skyward flight. (see example above) Usually the empress is seen riding on the left side of the bird which is flying to the right, but RIC notes that the opposite orientation also exists, yet groups both types under a single number, i.e. RIC 6.

Less commonly seen, but more diverse in its form, is the CONSECRATIO type featuring a peacock standing in splendor, fan tail, looking either to right or left. These occur with or without diadem on the obverse. There is also a rare variant in which the bird is walking right, and the empress only wears a diadem.

DIVAE MARINIANAE
veiled bust r. on crescent, with diadem
CONSECRATIO
peacock stands in splendor facing right.
RIC 4 (253-258)




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