Vibia Sabina (83-137AD)

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Vibia Sabina

Wife of Hadrian
Died 137 AD

Vibia Sabina was the daughter of Matidia and grandniece of Emperor Trajan (98-117AD). At the prompting of Trajan’s wife Plotina, the marriage of Sabina to Hadrian took place in 100 AD without the full support of Trajan himself. The families of Trajan and Hadrian were already linked in the past since Trajan’s father was the brother of Hadrian’s grandfather.

Nevertheless, Sabina was a supportive wife to Hadrian. She accompanied her husband on most of his journeys throughout the empire. Still, her marriage to Hadrian was miserable, perhaps due to his homosexual affair with Antinous.

1 sabina

There was a hint of an affair between Sabina, the court biographer, and historian Suetonius. Hadrian dismissed Suetonius and was reported to have said that he would have sent Sabina away had he been a private citizen. Not much else is known about Sabina. She died before Hadrian in 136 or 137 AD. Hadrian consecrated Sabina and produced a very limited posthumous issue of coinage in her memory.

Monetary System

Viba Sabina As Plaited Coil Hair

Æ Bronze As (Plaited Coil Hair)

Two portrait styles were employed on her coinage. The first early design shows her hair in a style similar to her mother’s portraits of a Plaited Coil. Later, the much more common hair style appears to have changed displaying what one might call a pony-tail or queue.

Vibia Sabina Denerius Queue