Galeria Valeria (Flavius Valerius Severus)
- Coinage
- Biography...
Coinage of Galeria Valeria began in 308 in connection with the political realignments that took place between the death of Severus II in 307 and the Carnuntum Conference that concluded at the end of 308. During this period of political chaos, Galerius tried to convince the retired Diocletian to resume a more active political role. Since Diocletian was Galerius' original patron, Galerius no doubt thought he would benefit from Diocletian's prestige. Diocletian actually did agree to serve as consul for 308, and the public elevation of his daughter Valeria to the office of augusta—with the consequent increase in prestige for both Diocletian and Galerius, as Valeria's husband—was doubtless connected with this.
The earliest coin designs featured Valeria's bust set within a crescent. This was intended to connect her with the cult of Luna-Selene and thereby confer upon her some divine attribute in connection with her status as augusta. Luna-Selene was the female counterpart to the cult of Sol Invictus and the Mithraic worship that was widely popular, especially among the military. (By 310, both Constantine and Maximinus II were issuing numerous coin in the name of Sol Invictus.) The use of the crescent bust style for the emperor's wife became common in the second half of the third century, paralleling the popularity of Sol Invictus types.
The first coins (with the crescent bust) were struck at Siscia and Serdica, the mints closest to Galerius' political center in 308. As they spread to the other eastern mints in 309 and 310, the bust types evolved to a wide variety of hair and drapery styles and the crescent disappeared. Since the promotion of Valeria was linked to Galerius' political programs of 308, both Constantine and Maxentius ignored it and never struck coins in Valeria's name. Both Maximinus II and Licinius discontinued the coins after Galerius died in 311.
[Patrick Bruun discusses the Galeria Valeria coinage and bust types at length in his "Negotiations of the Conference of Carnuntum" [NumAntCl 8 (1979): 255–278].)
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Galeria Valeria was the daughter of Diocletian and Prisca. Her exact birthdate in unknown, but a date around 270 appears likely. She was married to Galerius around 293 after his appointment as caesar by Diocletian. Galerius was already married to a woman whose name is not known, but he was forced to divorce her to marry Valeria. (This is mirrored by Constantius' simultaneous forced marriage to Maximianus' daughter, Theodora.) Galerius was apparently pleased enough by this to name a province after her, in Pannonia. Following the marriage, both Valeria and her mother went to live at Galerius' court in Thessalonica.
Despite being married to Galerius for 18 years, Valeria did not bear any children to Galerius. She adopted his illegitimate son Candidianus, whom he had fathered by a concubine. (Galerius also had a daughter—Valeria Maximilla—by his first wife. She was married to Maxentius, the son of Maximianus.)
The tradition is that Diocletian's wife Prisca was either a Christian or a Christian sympathizer, and that Valeria followed her mother in these respects, but it is impossible to know whether this is actual fact or was made up by Christian historians and writers as a counterpoint to Diocletian's—and especially Galerius'—hatred and persecution of Christians. Vagi notes that Valeria "supported Galerius in his endeavors, especially the persecution of Christians."
Valeria's comfortable court existence came to an abrupt end in 311 following the death of her husband. On his deathbed, Galerius asked Licinius to ensure the safety of Valeria; however, fearing for her safety nonetheless, she and her mother fled to the court of Maximinus II, Galerius' nephew and fellow Augustus.
It is likely that Galerius probably knew better than anyone else the character and temper of his nephew, which is why he asked Licinius to protect the two women. Maximinus responded to the arrival of his aunt by proposing marriage to her. When Valeria refused, he banished both her and her mother to Syria, and confiscated their estates and property. This, despite the fact that Diocletian was still alive, with Prisca his lawful wife!
When war broke out between Licinius and Maximinus, the two women attempted to escape to Diocletian's home. Licinius defeated Maximinus in 313 but proved to be equally hostile to Valeria, condemning both women to death. When Diocletian died in December 313 Valeria was left with nowhere to go. In 314 or 315 she was discovered hiding in Thessalonica, and was beheaded along with her mother.
Timeline
270—Birthdate is unknown, but most likely around 270.
293—Married to Galerius.
308—Elevated to rank of augusta and mater castrorum. Begins to appear on coinage.
311—Moves to Maximinus' court after Galerius dies.
312—Banished to Syria.
314—Arrested and executed by Licinius.