NGC MS 3/5 - 3/5 AD 244-249 Roman Empire Otacilia Severa silver antoninianus (22mm, 4.51 gm, 1h).

Otacilia Severa (AD 244-249). AR antoninianus (22mm, 4.51 gm, 1h). NGC MS 3/5 - 3/5. Rome. M OTACIL SEVERA AVG, draped bust of Otacilia Severa right on crescent, seen from front, wearing stephane, hair weaved in straight lines and rows with long plait carried up the back of head / CONCORDIA AVGG, Concordia seated left with patera in right hand, cornucopia in left. RIC IV.III (Philip I) 126.

Marcia Otacilia Severa was the wife of the emperor Marcus Julius Phillipus, or more commonly known as Philip the Arab. Otacilia Severa came from a politically involved family with her father and brother being both governors. Philip was likely in the Praetorian Guard under Severus Alexander when she married him in 234 AD. They had three children together, two sons and a daughter. After the emperor Gordian III was killed in 244 AD in Mesopotamia, Philip became the new ruler. Philip and Otacilia Severa were considered the first Christian couple in power as the persecution of those in the Christian faith were diminished during their short reign. When Philip died in battle near Verona, the guard named Trajan Decius as their new emperor. In order to have a seamless transfer of power, the guard murdered the oldest son of Otacilia and Philip, killing the child in her arms. She lived the rest of her life in relative obscurity.