Otacilia Severa, Augusta, 244-249. Aureus (Gold, 21 mm, 5.09 g, 6 h), Rome, 245. MARCIA OTACIL SEVERA AVG Diademed and draped bust of Otacilia Severa to right. Rev. PVDICITIA AVG Pudicitia seated left on throne, raising veil with her right hand and holding long transverse scepter in her left. Bland 18i (OS 04/Pudicitia 04). Calicó 3268 (same dies as illustration). Cohen 51. RIC 123a. Very rare. A few faint scratches and with very minor roughness on the obverse and light deposits on the reverse, otherwise, extremely fine.


Otacilia Severa, wife of Philip I 'the Arab', was Augusta from 244 to 249. She was probably the sister of Severianus, the later governor of Macedonia and both Moesias, and married Philip while he was still an officer under Severus Alexander or Maximinus I. Their son, Marcus Iulius Philippus (Philip II), was born in 237, named Caesar upon Philip’s accession in 244, and elevated to Augustus as nominal co-emperor in 247.

Otacilia also had a daughter, Severina, who may perhaps be identical with Ulpia Severina, the later wife of Aurelian (270-275). Christian writers later suggested that she showed sympathy toward Christians, though this cannot be confirmed from contemporary evidence. After Philip and his son were killed in 249, the entire imperial family was subjected to a damnatio memoriae. What became of Otacilia is unknown, though it is possible that she too shared their fate.