Crispina (AD 178-182) denarius

Crispina (AD 178-182)

Denarius, Rome (19 mm, 3.62 g)

Bruttia Crispina was born into a distinguished aristocratic family and married Commodus in AD 178, shortly after Commodus was elevated to Caesar by his father Marcus Aurelius. The wedding was intended to provide a stabilizing influence on his son. Crispina was elevated to the rank of Augusta after her wedding to Commodus.  This coin is from early in their reign to celebrate her role as the premier woman of the Empire, as Faustina II had died in 175/176.

Crispina’s life was far from harmonious. She was reportedly a beautiful but haughty woman who clashed frequently with her sister-in-law, Lucilla. In 182 AD, following an unsuccessful plot against Commodus’s life, Crispina was implicated (perhaps falsely), banished to the island of Capri, and eventually executed. Many of her statues were destroyed, making these silver denarii some of the most enduring and intimate portraits of the ill-fated Empress.