Publia Licinia Julia Cornelia Salonina (died 268, Mediolanum) was an Augusta of the Roman Empire, married to Roman Emperor Gallienus and mother of Valerian II, Saloninus, and Marinianus.
Life
Salonina's origin is unknown. One modern theory is that she was born of Greek originBray (1997), pp. 30, 347. Supporters of Greek Bithynian origin include Andreas Alföldi in "Die Vorherrschaft der Pannonier im Römerreiche und die Reaktion des Hellenentums unter Gallienus", Studien zur Geschichte der Weltkrise des 3, Jahrhunderts nach Christus. M.78 Taf. Darmstadt, 1967; and R. Munsterburg in Numismatische Zeitschrift, vol. LVIII (1925), p. 41 in Bithynia, then part of the province of Bithynia et Pontus, Asia Minor. However, there exists some scepticism on that.Bray (1997), p. 30, who cites Jean Gagé, Programme d' italicité et nostalgies d'hellénisme autour de Gallien et Salonine, Aufstieg und niedergang der Römischen Welt, vol. 5, New York, 1975, , p. 839 There has been speculation that she was related to a senator named Publius Cornelius Saecularis of Salona. She may also have been related to her father-in-law's possible second wife Cornelia Gallonia, and possibly to the previous empress Julia Cornelia Paula.
She married Gallienus about ten years before his accession to the throne. When her husband became joint-emperor with his father Valerian in 253, Salonina was named Augusta.
Salonina was the mother of three princes, Valerian II, Saloninus and Marinianus.Bray (1997), pp. 50-51 Her fate after Gallienus was murdered during the siege of Mediolanum in 268 is unknown. One theory is that her life was spared;Bray (1997), p. 308 another is that she was executed together with other members of her family, at the orders of the Senate of Rome.Alaric Watson, Aurelian and the Third Century, (Oxford: Routledge, 1999) , p. 41
Her name is reported on coins with Latin legend as Cornelia Salonina; however, from the Greek coinage come the names Iulia Cornelia Salonina, Publia Licinia Cornelia Salonina, and Salonina Chrysogona (an attribute that means "begotten of gold"). The names "Publia Licinia" were probably added to her name to mirror her husband whose two first names were "Publius Licinius".
References
Bibliography Bray, John. Gallienus : A Study in Reformist and Sexual Politics, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, 1997,
Partial Salonina coinage "Dictionary of Roman Coins", by Seth William Stevenson (1889).
Further reading Minaud, Gérard, Les vies de 12 femmes d’empereur romain - Devoirs, Intrigues & Voluptés , Paris, L’Harmattan, 2012, ch. 11, La vie de Cornélia Salonina, femme de Gallien, p. 263-284.
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