202-205AD Plautilla Silver Denarius – aEF/gVF

Plautilla: The Empress Rome Forgot

Privileged Birth, Political Marriage

Fulvia Plautilla was born around 187 AD in Rome, into a family dripping with status and ambition. Her father, Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, served as the powerful Praetorian Prefect under Emperor Septimius Severus. As the emperor’s right-hand man, Plautianus didn’t just want influence—he wanted dynasty. And what better way to secure that than marrying his daughter into the imperial family?

The Unhappy Match

Plautilla was married off to Caracalla, son of Severus, in 202 AD The imperial wedding had all the splendour one would expect—except love. Caracalla reportedly despised her, calling her arrogant and insufferable. To be fair, Plautilla returned the sentiment. Their union, though politically strategic, was personally toxic. Nevertheless, coins were struck bearing her image, and for a brief time, she stood at the height of Roman prestige.

A Fall as Swift as Her Rise

However, palace politics are never stable. By 205 AD, Plautianus had worn out his welcome. Accused of plotting against the emperor, he was executed, and his downfall dragged Plautilla with him. Suddenly, the empress found herself not in a gilded palace, but in exile—banished to the island of Lipari, far from Rome’s decadent core.

Caracalla, now rid of both father-in-law and wife, continued his ascent, eventually becoming emperor in his own right. Yet he never forgot (nor forgave) Plautilla. Around 211 CE, likely not long after Severus’s death, Caracalla ordered her execution. She was reportedly strangled—an inglorious end for someone who once shared the imperial stage.

Legacy: A Face on a Coin, A Name in the Footnotes

Plautilla left no surviving children, no monuments, and no heroic tales. Yet her face endured—preserved on Roman coinage, staring blankly through history. Her life reflects the brutal mechanics of power in Rome: one moment an empress, the next a political inconvenience to be erased.

In the end, Plautilla’s legacy isn’t grandeur—it’s a cautionary tale. In ancient Rome, marrying into power could elevate you to divine heights, but just as swiftly, it could get you quietly killed on a distant island.

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