Iulia Domna als Olympias

Abstract

A hitherto unknown sardonyx cameo appeared in the trade showing a veiled female portrait to the left with a laurel wreath and a sceptre. Material and execution are of rare quality: the image is cut in hard, deep strokes from the upper two layers of the stone, the lower bluish white layer forming face, arm, hand and sceptre, the topmost, in a deep reddish brown, the hair, wreath, veil and garment. Sceptre and laurel wreath mark the sitter as a ruler, so that the piece belongs among the state cameos of the Roman imperial house. The design follows a topos that also appears on one of the gold medallions from Abukir and on Roman contorniates of the later fourth century, the image of Olympias.

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Suggested citation

Nau, Elisabeth: Iulia Domna als Olympias. In: Jahrbuch für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte 18 (1968), pp. 49–66, Tf.4-6.

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