The ancient historians tell us that Caracalla loathed his wife Plautilla and refused to sleep with her. This, combined with the silence of the historians about posterity, for a long time led modern historians to think that Caracalla had no children. Slightly problematic however was a coin with the legend PIETAS AVGG, on which Plautilla-Pietas holds a child in her arms. It was then taken as a reference to the maintenance of puellae alimentariae, girls who were orphans or children of poor parents, and received food from the Imperial family. In 1934 Jean Gagé opposed this view.
Denarius of Plautilla and Plautilla-Pietas holding a child.
Photo: coinarchives.com.First of all, in the later second century the legend PIETAS AVG refers to virtues of Empresses, while depictions of a princess holding a child are related to maternity. A second clue is provided by fragments of an inscription that were found in 1890 and 1930, recording the Secular Games of 204 AD (EDCS-20500148). Gagé notes the mentioning of Lucina, the goddess of birth, in relation to a "recent" event (nuper). The same inscription contains a report made to the Senate in 203 AD with the words na[sc]etur ergo Antonino fili[ius], which seems to be the announcement of the expected birth of a child of Caracalla.
The ensuing total silence suggests that the child died at a young age.
