In 202 AD Caracalla married Fulvia Plautilla, daughter of Fulvius Plautianus, who became praetorian prefect. After the downfall and death of her father, in 205 AD, Plautilla was sent into exile: "Severus sent the girl and her brother to Sicily, providing them with sufficient funds to live in comfort there" (Herodianus III,13,3). Dio specifies Lipari, an island a bit to the north of Sicily (76,6,3). After the death of Geta, Caracalla ordered the death of Plautilla and her brother Plautius Hortensianus.
Plautilla's portrait is found on coins in eleven variants, with her name. Marble portraits are not so easy to identify, made difficult also by her damnatio memoriae: her name was erased from inscriptions, her figure removed from the Arch of the Argentarii in Rome. A small group of portraits has been recognized as being of Plautilla, based on the likeness with coin portraits, the stylistic dating (193-235 AD) and a diadem on the head, Imperial head insignia.
Portrait of Plautilla in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu.
Photo: J. Paul Getty Museum.Portrait of Plautilla in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Photo: Museum of Fine Arts.
