Salonina's origin is unknown. One modern theory is that she was born of
Greek origin[1][2][3] in
Bithynia, then part of the province of
Bithynia et Pontus,
Asia Minor. However, there exists some scepticism on that.[4] There has been speculation that she was related to a senator named Publius Cornelius Saecularis of Salona.[5][6][7][8][9] She may also have been related to her father-in-law's second wife
Cornelia Gallonia.[10]
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.[11] Her fate after Gallienus was murdered during the siege of
Mediolanum in 268 is unknown. One theory is that her life was spared;[12] another is that she was executed together with other members of her family, at the orders of the Senate of Rome.[13]
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 (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".[14]
References
^Bray (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
^Lissner, Ivar (1958). The Caesars: might and madness. Putnam. p.
291.
OCLC403811. Gallienus' wife was a remarkably sensitive and cultured Greek woman named Cornelia Salonina who came from Bithynia
^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,
ISBN3-11-004971-6, p. 839
^Bulletin archéologique du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques. Impr. nationale. 1970. p. 189.
^Barbieri, Guido (1951). L'albo senatorio da Settimio Severo a Carino. 193-285. Studi pubblicati dall'Istituto italiano per la storia antica. Vol. 6. A. Signorelli. p. 271.
^Jefferson Bray, John (1997). Gallienus: A Study in Reformist and Sexual Politics. Wakefield Press. p. 30.
ISBN9781862543379.
^Wilkes, J. J. (1969). Dalmatia. History of the provinces of the Roman Empire. Harvard University Press. p. 334.
ISBN9780674189508.
^Alföldy, Géza (1968). Epigraphische Studien: Sammelband. Beihefte der Bonner Jahrbücher. Vol. 5. Rheinland-Verlag. pp. 127, 130, 142.
^Alaric Watson, Aurelian and the Third Century, (Oxford: Routledge, 1999)
ISBN0-415-30187-4, p. 41
^Kajava, Mika (1995). Roman Female Praenomina: Studies in the Nomenclature of Roman Women. Acta Instituti Romani Finlandiae. Vol. 14. Institutum Romanum Finlandiae. p. 182.
ISBN9789519690216.
Bibliography
Bray, John. Gallienus : A Study in Reformist and Sexual Politics, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, 1997,
ISBN1-86254-337-2
"Dictionary of Roman Coins", by Seth William Stevenson (1889).
Further reading
(in French) 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.
Italics indicates a consort to a junior co-emperor, underlining indicates a consort to an emperor variously regarded as either legitimate or a usurper, and bold incidates an empress regnant.