Ritratti monetali delle Augustae nel III secolo. Una crisi di genere?

[Autom. eng. transl.] The importance of the role of Augustae - perhaps more than of the individual Augustae - is asserted by the observation that even emperors who dressed the purple only for a few days did not fail to issue coins with the image and the name of their spouse. The essay analyzes female coin portraiture during the third century, from an iconographic, ideological and artistic point of view. As for the first aspect, they appear quite conservative, devoid of any attempt to liven up a by now canonical type, which depicts women with tunic, stole and - starting from the emissions of Gordian III for Tranquillina - diadem. On the Antoninians the bust is supported by a crescent moon, while on the coins issued in honor of the Divae the veil is raised to cover the head and shoulders. The portrait of Magnia Urbica, wife of Carino, therefore appears exceptional on Ticinum's Antonini, due to the ceremonial clothes and ornaments worn. The author then analyzes the phenomenon of the adaptation of the physiognomy of the women depicted on coins to that of their respective consorts, as it is for Ulpia Severina compared to her husband Aureliano. However, this 'gender crisis' of the female portrait is not typical of the III century AD, neither in the monetary sphere nor in the sculptural one. Retracing their evolution, their ideological causes are connected with the numerary production method.