1. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. | Legionary eagle between two standards with vexilla. |
RIC 517 (b); Cohen 453; Herzfelder, p. 22, pl. 6, 5. For an issue of identical description but different style, see below, no. 52.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
1* | 1 | 1 | 10.47 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 10 | Vienna |
2. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III | |||||
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. | Bundle of six grain stalks. |
BMCRE p. 391 || (Paris); RIC 518 (b); Cohen 440; Pinder 89; Herzfelder, p. 22, pl. 6, 4.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
2* | 1 | 2 | 9.20 | ↑ | Traces | Paris |
3. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III | |||||
2-5/>Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. | Asclepius draped, naked to waist, standing front, head l., holding serpent-wreathed rod on ground to r., l. arm at side. |
BMCRE 1053, pl. 72, 2; RIC 481 (b); Cohen 291; Pinder 63, pl. 7, 16; Herzfelder, p. 16, pl. 3, 8.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference | |
3* | 1 | 3 | 10.10 | ↑ | Obv. on rev. Antonius, CRR 1197 | Brussels | |
4* | 1 | 4 | Traces | H. M. F. Schulman, 20 May 1966, 2980 | |||
5a* | 2 | 5 | 10.63 | ↑ | London | ||
5b* | 2 | 5 | 8.60 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, temple rev. | Oxford | |
6* | 3 | 6 | 9.32 | ↑ | Berlin | ||
7* | 4 | 7 | 10.20 | ↙ | Obv. on rev. Antonius, CRR 1197 | Vienna | |
8* | 5 | 8 | 11.01 | ↑ | Traces | Berlin | |
4. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III | ||||||
Head of Hadrian, bare, r. | Asclepius as on no. 3. |
Previously unpublished in this style; cf. nos. 20, 90.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
9 | 6 | 9 | Traces | Turin |
10 coins, 8 certainly overstruck
9 die combinations
6 obverse dies
9 reverse dies
Three types, one of them known in two varieties, are here assigned to the mint of Pergamum. The first three share a common obverse die, and their origin from the same mint is thus beyond dispute; to them must be added type 4; the extremely crude rendering of its reverse die is very similar to that of rev. die 3.
Legionary Eagle with Standards
The type of a legionary eagle flanked by standards first occurs on the denarii of C. Valerius Flaccus in 82 B.C. 1 His type is fairly elaborate: the standards bear the letters H and P, probably abbreviating hasti and principes. The type was repeated by C. Nerius, proquaestor in 49;2 but its most extensive and important use was by M. Antonius on his legionary aurei and denarii, which drop the H and P but add the numbers of specific legions.3 The continued currency of his denarii probably accounts for the survival of the type, which disappears for nearly a century; the general peace of the early empire was not conducive to the extensive use of military types. The eagle and standards reappear, appropriately enough, near the outbreak of the civil wars, and again under Galba and Vespasian;4 the type is also employed by Domitian and Trajan, and appears among Hadrian's early issues.5
The earliest bearers of the type are all denarii, the most practical coin for payment of the legions; it is these earlier issues which seem to have most direct connection with military events.6 Subsequent issues, mainly commemorative, employ all metals: Galba used the type on asses,7 and Titus introduced it to the cistophori.8 Its first appearance may simply have "recalled his military prowess in the East," as Mattingly suggested, but subsequent occurrences have not even this vague association. One looks in vain for so much as a military garrison in the pacified province of Asia.9 Whatever the stimulus for its first occurrence, its reappearance under subsequent emperors must be ascribed to mere repetition. Pre-Hadrianic cistophori were far less varied in their selection of types than Roman coins in general, and a type once introduced often recurred.
Six Grain Stalks
The reverse type of bundled grain stalks was indigenous to the cistophori. According to the chronology of the Augustan cistophori established by Sutherland, the type first appeared in 27-26 B.C. in connection with two others, Capricorn and Sphinx, both of which have direct personal reference to Augustus.10 Rejecting the suggestion of Kraay that the type expresses the concept of "beneficent growth" (i. e. augeo, cf. Augustus) or refers to "a fertile hexapolis in provincia Asia," Sutherland concludes that, as his earlier coins had celebrated the return of peace, Augustus here celebrated the return of plenty. It is hardly necessary to illustrate the symbolism of grain stalks and their connection with gods of vegetation and fertility.11
Asclepius
Although the cult of Asclepius at PERGAMUM reached its zenith only later in the second century, it had flourished locally since the fourth century B.C. at least.12 The god's early importance is reflected by his prominence on PERGAMUM's coinage. His first numismatic appearance is in the seated position, on Attalid bronzes.13 His serpent- wreathed rod appears on the city's cistophori,14 and his head on bronzes with rev. serpent.15 The first occurrence of the familiar standing figure, the origins of which are uncertain, dates from the late second or first century B.C., and thereafter becomes regular;16 variations in rendering of the figure seem to be due only to the idiosyncrasies of the die sinker. The god regularly represents PERGAMUM on alliance coinages.
Of these types, only Asclepius was assigned to PERGAMUM by Herzfelder; his only reservation was that the surviving specimens are "too few to account for all the series of so large a city as PERGAMUM." Unaware of the die link between the Asclepius coins and those with rev. grain stalks and eagle and standards, he regarded those two types as too general to be attributed.
The die link is of course decisive, but even the addition of two new types to the mint does nothing to weaken Herzfelder's observation: in terms of numbers, both of surviving coins and known dies, the mint at PERGAMUM seems to have been less prolific than those of such relative backwaters as Mylasa and Aezani. The impression of a small operation is confirmed by the fact that all the obverse dies at least were produced by a single hand. The lettering is consistent throughout, but the engraver's real trademarks are Hadrian's strange hairline and his unusual downward-pointing drapery. The reverses are equally homogeneous, although the extremely crude dies 3 and 9 may be the work of a second engraver.
The association of grain stalks and eagle and standards with the mint of PERGAMUM may incidentally shed light on the identity of the mint which produced cistophori for Domitian, Nerva and Trajan. In each case it is clear that we are dealing with a single mint; its location has been a matter for speculation. The consensus favors Ephesus,17 in spite of the fact that none of the series includes a type referring to the city while the temple of Rome and Augustus at PERGAMUM is prominent in all of them. All three groups also include grain stalks and eagle and standards; those types may now be associated with PERGAMUM under Hadrian, and are most easily interpreted as an echo of the city's earlier coinage. The substitution of Asclepius for the temple of Rome and Augustus simply reflects the god's new ascendancy.18
1 |
CRR 365 = RRC 747.
|
2 |
CRR 441 = RRC 937.
|
3 |
CRR 544 = RRC 1212-46.
|
4 |
BMCRE 1, p. 214, nos. 107-8; p. 286, nos. 3-4; BMCRE 2, p. 133, no. 613.
|
5 |
BMCRE 2, p. 158 ≠ = Cohen 540; p. 351 † = Cohen 666; p. 351, nos. 252-53; BMCRE 3, p. 67* =
Cohen 575 without authority; p. 94, nos. 456ff. and p. 399* = Cohen 525. The type is also among those restored by Trajan:
BMCRE 3, p. 133, no. 679, a restoration of the issue of C. Valerius Flaccus cited above, n. 1; BMCRE 3, p.
142, no. 699 of Divus Augustus, with no known prototype.
|
6 |
The issues of Flaccus, for example, refer to his campaigns as proconsul of Gaul; Nerius' were struck at the outbreak of the
civil wars, and
Antonius' coinage was used to pay his legions.
|
7 |
BMCRE 1, p. 334, nos. 149ff.
|
8 |
BMCRE 2, p. 252, no. 149.
|
9 |
Mattingly, BMCRE 2, p. xcvii; T. Mommsen, The Provinces of the Roman
Empire (NEW YORK, 1887), p. 380, n. 2.
|
10 |
Sutherland, Cistophori, pp. 96-99.
|
11 |
D. Kienast, "Hadrian, Augustus und die eleusinischen Mysterien," JNG 1959-60, pp. 61-69,
suggests that the introduction of the type under Augustus is connected with the emperor's introduction into the Eleusinian
Mysteries: as
part of the ritual initiates held stalks of grain, which symbolized the origin of the Mysteries as a festival of vegetation.
The proposal
is overly subtle. The direct connection of the type with fertility is easy and obvious, and a reference to the Mysteries is
likely to have
been lost on an Asian audience. One would also expect that any such reference would have followed Augustus' final initiation,
which did not
take place until 20 B.C. Even if Kienast is correct the symbolism vanished from later uses of the type since Augustus' successors
employ it
where no reference to the Mysteries is possible.
|
12 |
H. von Fritze, Die Münzen von Pergamon, Abhandlungen der königlichen preussischen Akademie
der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Phil.-hist. Klasse, Anhang 1 (Berlin, 1910), p. 39; E.V Hansen, The Attalids of Pergamon
. 2nd. ed. (Ithaca, 1971), pp. 10-11.
|
13 |
SNGvonAulock 1362.
|
14 |
SNGvonAulock 1369; BMCMysia, p. 123, no. 86.
|
15 |
W. Wroth, "Asklepios and the Coins of Pergamon," NC 1882, pp.
1-51, especially pp. 14-15.
|
16 |
For example, BMCMysia, pp. 163-65, nos. 350-59.
|
17 |
H. Mattingly, BMCRE 2, pp. lxxix, xcviii; BMCRE 3, pp. li, cviii.
Eckhel (Doctrina Numorum Veterum 6 [Leipzig, 1798], p. 101)
and Pinder (pp. 613-15) favored PERGAMUM.
|
18 |
See now M. LeGlay, "Hadrien et l'Asklépieion de Pergame," BCH 1976, pp. 347-72.
|
I. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P
Rev. Divinity with identification
5. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P Head of Hadrian bare, r. | DIANA EPHESIA Cult image of Ephesian Artemis facing front, arms extended r. and l. over stags who look back at her. She wears high headdress and veil; fillets fall from wrists. |
BMCRE 1089, pl. 75, 1, 1090; RIC 474, pl. 14, 302; Cohen 535; Pinder 67, pl. 5, 3; Herzfelder, p. 13, pl. 2, 7.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
10a* | 1 | 1 | 10.51 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, rev. temple | Boston |
10b | 1 | 1 | 10.81 | Traces | Winterthur photo (ex Imhoof-Blumer coll.) | |
11* | 2 | 2 | 10.30 | ↓ | Traces | Paris |
12 | X | 2 | 8.73 | ↓ | Traces | Munich |
13 | 2 | 3 | 10.22 | ↓ | Traces | Oxford |
14* | 2 | 4 | ↓ | Traces on rev. | Hesperia Art Bulletin, 33, 66 | |
15* | 3 | 5 | 10.19 | 1 | Obv. on obv. Antonius | ANS |
16* | 4 | 6 | 8.82 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | Budapest |
17* | 5 | 7 | 10.97 | von Aulock (SNG 6634) | ||
18* | 6 | 8 | 10.61 | ↓ | Traces | Vienna |
19 | 7 | 9 | 10.50 | Traces | Milan | |
20* | 8 | 10 | 10.66 | ↙ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | Vienna |
21 | 9 | 11 | 9.77 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 17 | London |
22* | 10 | 12 | 10.11 | ↓ | Traces | London |
23* | 11 | 13 | 9.27 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, rev. temple | Hoffer = Coin Galleries FPL 2, 1962, B 321 = Kress 122, 30 May 1962, 1018 |
24* | 11 | 14 | 9.55 | Münzen und Medaillen, FPL 281, Oct. 1967, 32 = Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 656 = Hess, 7 March 1935,497 Egger 39, 15 Jan. 1912, 926 | |
25* | 12 | 15 | Traces | Glendining, 27 Sept. 1962 (Woodward), 298 Cahn 75, 30 May 1932, 1118 | |
26* | 13 | 16 | Traces | In trade, C. H. Wolfe, 1971 | |
27* | 14 | 17 | Obv. on rev. Augustus | Piancastelli 1525 = Baranowsky, 25 Feb. 1931, 1804 | |
28 | 15 | 18 | Traces | Salton-Schlessinger, 22 Nov. 1955, 790 Dorotheum, 12 May 1960 (Hollschek 11), 544 Herzfelder, pl. 2. 7, then in Gotha | |
29* | 16 | 19 | 10.50 | Traces | Helbing, 20 June 1929, 4199 |
30* | 17 | 20 | Obv. on obv. Antonius | R. Ratto FPL, 1931, 61 Rome | |
31* | 18 | 21 | Traces | ||
32 | 19 | 22 | Traces | ||
33* | 20 | X | Traces | ||
34* | 21 | 23 | |||
35 | 22 | 24 | Hesperia Art Bulletin 21, 197 = Hesperia Art Bulletin 18, 61 | ||
36* | 23 | 25 | Kress 128, 9 Nov. 1963, 999 | ||
37 | 24 | 26 |
6. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P | DIANA EPHESIA |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. | Cult image of Artemis as on no. 5. |
BMCRE 1089n., citing ASFN 1884, p. 246, where P P is inadvertently omitted from the obverse legend; Herzfelder, p. 14, pl. 2, 8.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
38a | 25 | 27 | 10.38 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 10 | Berlin |
38b* | 25 | 27 | 10.60 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Antonius, CRR 1197 | Vienna |
7. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P | DIANA EPHESIA |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. | Cult image of Ephesian Artemis facing front, arms extended r. and l. She wears high headdress and veil; fillets fall to ground from wrists. No stags. |
M. J. Price, "Greek Imperial Coins. Some Recent Acquisitions by the British Museum," NC 1971, p. 130, no. 17.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
39* | 26 | 28 | 11.01 | ↑ | Traces | London |
8. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P Head of Hadrian bare, r. | DIA - NA l. and r. in field; EPHESIA in exergue Tetrastyle temple on podium of three or (rarely) four steps; within, cult image of Ephesian Artemis without stags. |
BMCRE 1091, pl. 75, 3; RIC 475 (a); Cohen 536, "deux colonnes," a slip; Pinder 70, pl. 5, 7; Herzfelder, p. 13.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
40* | 1 | 29 | 10.73 | ↓ | Traces | Berlin |
41* | 1 | 30 | 10.86 | On Antonius | von Aulock, SNG 6635 = Santamaría, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 658 | |
42* | 1 | 31 | Obv. on obv. Augustus, wreath rev. | Dorotheum, 12 May 1960 (Hollschek 11), 545 | ||
43* | 23 | 32 | Hess, 22 May 1935 (Trau), 1121 | |||
44* | 27 | 33 | 11.03 | ↘ | Traces | Berlin |
45* | 28 | 34 | 10.55 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, wreath rev. | The Hague |
46* | 29 | 35 | 11.05 | ↓ | Traces | Cambridge |
47* | 30 | 36 | 10.60 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 13 | Brussels |
48* | 31 | 37 | 9.77 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Antonius, CRR 1198 | Paris |
49* | 32 | 38 | 10.30 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, wreath rev. | Paris |
50* | 33 | 39 | 10.24 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Augustus | London |
51 | 34 | 40 | Turin | |||
52 | 35 | 41 | 10.20 | ↙ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 10 | Budapest |
53* | 36 | 42 | 10.09 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | ANS |
54* | 37 | 43 | 10.05 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | ANS |
55* | 38 | 34 | 10.90 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Antonius | Boston |
56* | 39 | 45 | 10.39 | ↙ | Obv. on rev. (wreath) | Vienna |
57* | 40 | 46 | Santamaria, 13 March 1953, 152 | |||
58a* | 41 | 47 | Traces | Hirsch 20, 27 May 1907, 577 | ||
58b* | 41 | 47 | Traces | Münzen und Medaillen FPL 127, Aug. 1953, 43 = Hess, 2 Aug. 1933, 320 | ||
58c | 41 | 47 | Traces | Leu - Münzen und Medaillen, 2 Nov. 1967, (Niggeler 3), 1261 = Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 657 | ||
59* | 41 | 48 | Obv. on rev. Augustus, wreath rev. | Kress 137, 21 Nov. 1966, 580 | ||
60* | 42 | 49 | Traces | Münzen und Medaillen FPL 136, May 1954, 58. | ||
61* | 43 | 50 | Obv. on rev. Antonius, CRR 1197 | Münzen und Medaillen FPL 281, Sept. 1967, 33. | ||
62* | 44 | 51 | Dorotheum, 12 May 1960 (Hollschek 11), 546 | |||
63* | 45 | 52 | Traces | Kress 131, 13 Nov. 1964, 509 = Kress 122, 30 May 1962, 1020 | ||
64 | 46 | 53 | Traces | Kress 136, 19 Sept. 1966, 740. | ||
9. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P | DIA - NA l. and r. in field, EPHESIA in exergue. | |||||
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. | Temple of Artemis as on no. 8. |
BMCRE 1093, pl. 75, 4; RIC 475 (b); Cohen 537.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
65* | 47 | 54 | 10.09 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Antonius, CRR 1198 | London |
66 | 48 | 55 | 10.97 | Traces | Budapest | |
67 | 49 | 56 | Obv. on rev. Antonius, CRR 1197 | Rome | ||
10. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P | DIA-NA l. and r. in field, EPHESIA in exergue. | |||||
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Hexastyle temple on podium of four steps; within, cult image of Ephesian Artemis without stags. |
BMCRE 1091n.; RIC 476; Pinder 71, pl. 5, 8; Herzfelder, p. 14, pl. 2, 9.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
68a | 50 | 57 | 10.68 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Antonius, CRR 1197 | Vienna |
68b* | 50 | 57 | 10.40 | Obv. on rev. Antonius, CRR 1197 | Berlin | |
11. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P | FORTVN EPHESIA | |||||
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Fortuna standing half-1, holding rudder to l. in r., cornucopiae cradled in 1. |
BMCRE, p. 395*, pl. 73, 2 (misread); Cohen 777 illustration (which however has head laur. r.).
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
69* | 51 | 58 | 10.09 | Obv. on rev. Augustus | London | |
70* | 52 | 59 | 10.38 | Obv. on rev. Antonius | Paris | |
12. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P | FORTVNA EPHESIA | |||||
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Fortuna as on no. 11 |
RIC 477; Cohen 777 description; Herzfelder, p. 14, pl. 3, 1.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
71a* | 53 | 60 | 10.65 | Obv. on rev. Augustus, RIC 13 | Budapest | |
71b | 53 | 60 | 7.80 | Traces | Vienna | |
13. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P | IOVIS OLYMPIVS | |||||
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Zeus seated l. on throne holding vertical sceptre in upraised l. and small cult image of Ephesian Artemis in extended r. |
Herzfelder, p. 14, pl. 3, 2.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
72a* | 54 | 61 | 9.61 | Traces on rev. | Munich | |
72b | 54 | 61 | 9.41 | Traces | Paris | |
73* | 55 | 62 | 9.08 | Traces; also double struck | von Aulock (SNG 6632) | |
14. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P | IOVIS OLYMPIVS EPHESI | |||||
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Zeus seated l. as on no. 13. |
W. E. Metcalf, "Hadrian, Iovis Olympius," Mnemosyne 1974, p. 59, n. 1.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
74* | 56 | 63 | 11.00 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 10 | Brussels |
15. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P | IOVIS OLYMPIVS EPHESIO | |||||
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Zeus seated l. as on no. 13. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Re v. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
75* | 57 | 64 | ↓ | Traces on rev. | In trade (per C. L. Clay) |
II. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P
Rev.: COS III
16. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Cult image of Artemis Leukophryene standing front, arms extended r. and l. over geese facing outward. She wears high headdress and veil; fillets fall to ground from wrists. At top r. and l., crowning Victories. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
76a* | 58 | 65 | 10.84 | I | Obv. on rev. Augustus. Note Vespasianic ctmk. on rev. | ANS |
76b* | 58 | 65 | Traces | Kress 138, 17 Apr. 1967, 979 = Kress 136,19 Sept. 1966, 741 |
III. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P
Rev.: Divinity with identification, no COS III
17. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | DIANA EPHESIA |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Cult image of Artemis as on no. 5. |
BMCRE 1085n.; RIC 525 (a); Cohen 534; Pinder 66, pl. 5, 2; Herzfelder, p. 15.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
77* | 59 | 66 | 9.79 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | Vienna |
78* | 60 | 67 | 7.38 | ↓ | Traces | Munich |
79* | 61 | 68 | 10.58 | ↓ | In trade (per L. Mildenberg) | |
18. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | DIA - NA l. and r. in field EPHESIA in exergue. | |||||
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Temple of Artemis as on no. 8. |
BMCRE, p. 393* n. = 1092, which is erroneously said to have obv. legend HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P; RIC 526 (a); Cohen 538 ("deux colonnes" - a slip); Herzfelder, p. 15, pl. 3, 3.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
80a* | 62 | 69 | 10.07 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, wreath rev. | London = Hamburger, 19 Oct. 1925, 833 |
80b* | 62 | 69 | 10.61 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | Vienna |
81a* | 63 | 70 | 9.64 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | Munich |
81b | 63 | 70 | Hess, 22 May 1935 (Trau), 1124 | |||
82* | 64 | 71 | 10.55 | Traces | Cahn 84, 29 Nov. 1933, 359 |
IV. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P
Rev. COS III with or without additional legend.
19. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | DIANA EPHESIA beginning middle 1. |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | COS - III beginning middle r. Cult image of Artemis as on no. 5. |
BMCRE 1085, pl. 74, 9; RIC 527; Cohen 539; Pinder 68; Herzfelder, p. 16, pl. 4, 4.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
83* | 61 | 72 | 10.13 | ↓ | Traces on rev. | London |
84a | 62 | 73 | Traces on obv. | Münzen und Medaillen FPL 127, Aug. 1953, 42 Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 654 = Hamburger, 19 Oct. 1925, 854 | ||
84b* | 62 | 73 | 9.60 | Traces | ||
85* | 63 | 74 | 10.63 | ↓ | No trace of undertype, but shape of coin suggests restriking obv. on rev. | ANS |
86 | 64 | 75 | 10.63 | ↓ | Hess-Leu, 12 Apr. 1962, 464 | |
87* | 65 | 76 | 10.36 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 14. | Cambridge = Glendining 31 Jan. 1951, 214 |
88* | 66 | 76 | 10.75 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, rev. temple | ANS |
20. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III | |||||
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Asclepius draped, standing front head l., holding serpent-wreathed rod in r., l. arm at side. |
BMCRE 1051n.; RIC 481 (a); Cohen 290; Pinder 62, pl. 7, 15; Herzfelder, p. 16, pl. 4, 5 (obverse only).
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
89a* | 67 | 77 | 10.33 | ↑ | Traces | Oxford |
89b | 67 | 77 | 10.25 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, wreath rev. | Munich |
89c* | 67 | 77 | 10.40 | Santamaría, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 653 = Hess, 25 March 1929, 808 | ||
89d | 67 | 77 | 10.60 | Glendining, 27 Sept. 1962, 300 = Naville 12, 18 Oct. 1926, 2852 = Serrure, 30 March 1914, 373 | ||
89e* | 9.99 pierced | ↑ | Leningrad | |||
90* | 67 | 78 | 10.00 | ↑ | Traces | Paris |
91* | 67 | 79 | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 19 | Münzen und Medaillen FPL 281, Oct. 1967, 37 von Aulock (SNG 6619) | ||
92* | 67 | 80 | 10.43 |
93* | 67 | 81 | 10.60 | Obv. on rev. Antonius, CRR 1198 | von Aulock (SNG 6620) | |
94* | 68 | 82 | 8.98 | ↓ | Traces | Hoffer = Hesperia Art Bulletin 26, 87. |
95* | 68 | 83 | 10.15 | ↓ | Traces | ANS |
96* | 69 | 83 | 10.06 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Antonius, CRR 1198 | Brussels |
97* | 70 | 84 | Traces on rev. | Hess, 7 March 1935, 493 | ||
98 | 71 | 85 | Hesperia Art Bulletin 37, 69 | |||
21. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III | |||||
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Cult image of Artemis Leukophryene as on no. 16. |
SNGvon Aulock 6623.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
99* | 72 | 86 | 10.43 | Obv. on obv. Antonius | von Aulock (SNG 6623) |
105 coins, 88 certainly overstruck
90 die combinations
72 obverse dies
86 reverse dies
Six types are here assigned to the mint of Ephesus. Four of them have obvious and almost exclusive associations with the city; two others must be assigned here on the basis of the numismatic evidence.
Cull Image of Artemis Ephesia
The archaic xoanon of Artemis, located in the world-renowned Artemision, was the central figure of Asia's most important cult. Early Ephesian coin types relate to worship of the goddess, and she begins to appear on the city's coinage in the second century before Christ.1 The many-breasted statue wore a kalathos and veil; below the waist it was divided by horizontal and vertical bands into small areas containing ornamental relief.2 Stylized representations of the bands, usually with small dots indicating the reliefs, are regular both on imperial bronzes and on the cistophori.
Later, with increasing indifference to the symbolic importance of local coin types, the goddess began to appear on the coinage of many cities, though up to the time of Hadrian her representation was confined almost exclusively to Ephesian issues.3 She had appeared on denarii of the Roman Republic and on cistophori of Claudius;4 the disposition of the legend around the figure is borrowed from his cistophori. Hadrian's issues follow what seems to be a Trajanic innovation in adding stags on either side of the statue.5
Cult Image in Temple
The temple reverse derives directly from the cistophori of Claudius, which were the first coins to portray the Artemision.6 The great temple is regularly subjected to abbreviation to allow portrayal of the cult image: most commonly its octastyle façade is made tetrastyle, and the podium rendered with three steps.7 The stags which sometimes flank the lone cult image are never present on temple reverses.
The temple type had appeared on local bronze only under Vespasian, but became common in the late second and third centuries.8
Fortuna Ephesia
The goddess portrayed with rudder and cornucopiae, but without turreted crown or polos, is a Latinized Tyche more familiar on Roman than on Greek coins.9 The type has no antecedents at Ephesus, not surprisingly, since Tyche had yet to become a regular fixture of the imperial bronze coinage.10 Her earliest appearance at Ephesus is otherwise during the reign of M. Aurelius.11
Iovis Olympius 12
The seated Zeus holding Artemis and described as Olympius is a type new to the cistophori, though the god had appeared on Ephesian bronzes under Domitian, described as ZEYCOΛYMΠIOC EΘECIΩN.13 By Pausanias* day Olympian Zeus had a temple at Ephesus sufficiently important to serve as a geographical guidepost for his readers:14 the Domitianic bronze has been taken as evidence for its existence as early as the 80s.15
The addition of the words EPHESI to no. 14 and EPHESIO to no. 15 indicate the direct modelling of the Hadrianic reverse on the coin of Domitian. But what might be regarded as a merely derivative type or commemoration of a prominent local deity is infused with new significance by the events of 128-9.16
In late 128, Hadrian arrived at Athens to begin the second of his great Eastern journeys. He spent six months there, during which he took part in dedication ceremonies for the massive Olympieion, begun under the Peisistratids and still unfinished.17 An altar and statue were erected in his honor,18 and he was acclaimed "Olympius," an epithet which appears frequently in subsequent inscriptions.19 The occasion was hailed with the erection of innumerable altars in Athens and throughout the Eastern Empire.20
In March 129, Hadrian departed Eleusis for Ephesus. Some details of his stay at Ephesus are provided by an inscription of that year, in which he is addressed not only by his new title Olympius, but also as the city's "founder and savior."21 Imperial favors to the city are enumerated: provision for grain shipment from Egypt, rendering the harbors navigable, and diverting the Kaÿster. First in the list are "unparalleled gifts to Artemis," which included a grant of the right of inheritance.22
Hadrian's love for Ephesus was well known in antiquity, and must have manifested itself in such favors as the inscription outlines.23 The warm expression of gratitude indicates the reciprocal nature of the relationship between emperor and subject city. But Hadrian's recent acclamation as Olympius added a new dimension to their bond of affection. Worship of Zeus Olympius was not new to Ephesus: the god had had a temple there since the time of Domitian at least.24 Thus the arrival of Hadrian was not simply the advent of an emperor or benefactor: it will have had all the aspect of a divine epiphany. Such an interpretation is reinforced by the long-standing identification of Zeus Olympius with human rulers.25
It is impossible not to see in the coin a numismatic expression of the sentiments contained in the inscription. The same events—Hadrian's acclamation, his arrival, and the welcome which followed his largesse—underlie both. The figure traditionally identified as Zeus is indeed Hadrian.
The pictorial symbolism of the reverse was operative on several levels. The portrayal of Olympius holding a small statue of Artemis epitomizes the close relationship between the emperor and his beloved city; in addition, the inscription shows that the coin reflects not only general benefactions to Ephesus but the specific grant to the cult of Artemis as well.
Finally, the god's holding the cult statue brings the emperor's power and beneficence into specific relationship with the citizens of Asia, of whom she was the chief deity.
This is not the place to explore the significance of the type for Hadrian's panhellenic program; for the moment it is sufficient to note its importance for the chronology of the Ephesian cistophori. Connection of the Iovis Olympius issue with Hadrian's Ephesian sojourn of 129 provides a terminus ad quem for all of Group I, which is associated with this coin by identity of legend and format.
Artemis Leukophryene
Leukophryene, whose cult was centered at nearby Magnesia ad Maeandrum, derived her epithet from the city's original name, Leukophrys.26 Her cult had been located at Magnesia since at least the sixth century B.C., and her temple compared favorably with that of Ephesus in size and surpassed it in beauty, though the goddess' popularity was not as great as that of Ephesian Artemis.27 The goddess differed little in appearance: in place of stags, Leukophryene often has geese; on issues from the time of Nero and later she is frequently flanked by crowning Victories, whose significance is uncertain. The similarity of the goddesses may reflect Ephesian participation in the re-foundation of Magnesia.28
1 |
On the relationship of the bee, Ephesus' famous early coin type, to Artemis see RE Suppl.
12, s.v. "Ephesos," (Karweise), cols. 315-16. The earliest appearance of the cult image is as an adjunct on
cistophori; the first use of it as a type is on Ephesus' gold staters (87-85 B.C.), SNGvon
Aulock 1869.
|
2 |
For the fullest collection of representations see H. Thiersch, Artemis Ephesia. Eine
archäologische Untersuchung 1. Katalog der erhaltenen Denkmäler, Abhandlungen der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen,
Dritte Folge 12 (Göttingen, 1935). The literary sources are assembled by R. Kukula in
Forschungen in Ephesos 1 (Vienna, 1906), p. 247, nos.
118ff. C. T. Seltman, "The Wardrobe of Artemis," NC 1952, pp.
39-42, makes several fine points concerning her garb. Cf. also Lacroix, Reproductions, pp. 176-92.
|
3 |
The Artemis Ephesia reverse later became extremely common, particularly in Lydia and Phrygia. I have found it outside Ephesus
before Hadrian's day only at Sebastopolis (L. Robert, Études
anatoliennes [Paris, 1937], p. 356, no. 1; p. 357, no. 6); Cilbiani superiores
(BMCLydia, p. 62, nos. 1-2, Domitia); Daldis (BMCLydia, p. 69, no. 1, Flavians); Tralles
(BMCLydia, p. 340, nos. 91- 92, Nero-Domitian); Cadi (BMCPhrygia, p. 120, nos. 20
(Agrippina Junior), 23-24 (Domitia); Hierapolis (BMCPhrygia, p. 250, no. 130, Trajan); and
Tiberiopolis (BMCPhrygia, p. 422, nos. 7-9, Trajan).
|
4 |
Denarii of L. Lentulus and C. Marcellus coss.,
RRC 445/3a-b =
CRR 1031, struck in Asia; cistophori of Claudius, BMCRE 229.
|
5 |
The stags make their first appearance on the coins of Hierapolis and Tiberiopolis cited in n. 3; their first occurrence at
Ephesus itself is on the coins under discussion and on an apparently contemporary bronze with AΔPIANOC KAICAP
OAYMTTIOC, SNGvonAulock 7866.
|
6 |
BMCRE 229. The employment by both Claudius and Hadrian of a flanking legend to identify the temple portrayed is
consistent with a cistophoric convention initiated by Augustus; under Titus this description was sometimes extended to the
exergue, where
it also appears under Domitian and Trajan.
Examples: Augustus: MART-VLTO l. and r., Sutherland VII (γ) = BMCRE 704 COM - ASIAE l. and r., Sutherland VII (ß) = BMCRE 705-6 Claudius: COM-ASI l. and r., BMCRE 228 DIAN - EPHE l. and r., BMCRE 229 Vespasian: COM - ASI l. and r., BMCRE 449 Titus: CA- PIT l. and r., RESTIT in ex., BM (Woodward, pl. 8, 3.) Domitian Caesar: DIVO - VESP l. and r., BMCRE Titus 150 Domitian Augustus: CA - PIT l. and r., RESTIT in ex., BMCRE 251 Trajan: COM - ASI in ex., BMCRE 711-13. The pattern is repeated on the issue under discussion, as well as Hadrianic issues of the Commune Bithyniae (nos. B1-B14) and coins of uncertain attribution with rev. Temple of Athena (no. 116). By contrast earlier imperial bronzes usually employ an encircling legend. |
7 |
For variation in the number of columns see Lacroix, Reproductions, pp. 182-84, and especially B.
L. Trell, The Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, ANSNNM 107 (NEW
YORK, 1945), pp. 7-10.
|
8 |
The square shape and tall podium of the Vespasianic piece suggest that the Claudian cistophori were its prototype.
|
9 |
Tyche does appear infrequently without head ornament, e.g. SNGvonAulock 3291 (Tralles, Elagabalus); 3430 (Ancyra,
Nerva); 3592 (Eumeneia, Hadrian); 3610 (Hadrianopolis, Severus Alexander); SNGCop Lydia 448 (Sala, Elagabalus);
Phrygia 98-99 (Aezani, M. Aurelius Caesar).
|
10 |
She first begins to appear regularly about the time of Marcus Aurelius, and most frequently on coins of the imperial women.
|
11 |
BMCIonia, p. 80, nos. 241-42.
|
12 |
The nominative form Iovis seems to be paralleled only at Ennius Ann. 62-63 (J. Vahlen, Ennianae Poesis Reliquiae, 3rd ed. [Leipzig, 1928]).
|
13 |
BMCIonia, p. 75, no. 215.
|
14 |
Pans. 7.2.9.
|
15 |
To my knowledge this suggestion, which accounts for an otherwise inexplicable coin type, wras first made by J. Beaujeu, La religion romaine à l'apogée de Vempire (Paris, 1955), p. 182. The statements of Benndorf (Forschungen in Ephesos [Vienna, 1906], p. 394); Bürchner (RE 5, s.v. "Ephesos," col.
2795) and Karweise (RE Suppl. 12, s.v. "Ephesos," cols. 282, 334) that the temple was built under Hadrian have no
foundation in evidence and are apparently based on the attractive but misleading assumption that all Ephesian institutions
associated with
Olympius date from Hadrian's day. Even less acceptable is the elaborate scheme of Magie, RRAM 2, pp. 1479-80.
|
16 |
The following paragraphs condense my fuller discussion in Mnemosyne, ser. 4, vol. 27 (1974), pp. 59-66.
|
17 |
S. H. A. Hadrian 13.6.
|
18 |
Dio 69.16.1, Paus. 1.18.6.
|
19 |
Magie, RRAM 2, p. 1479, enumerates the localities in which the epithet Olympius is found
applied to Hadrian.
|
20 |
A. S. Benjamin, "The Altars of Hadrian in Athens and
Hadrian's Panhellenic Program," Hesperia 1963, pp. 57-86.
|
21 |
SIG 839 = E. M. Smallwood, Documents Illustrating the Reigns of
Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian (Cambridge, Eng., 1966), no.
494. See also F. F. Abbott and A. C. Johnson, Municipal
Administration in the Roman Empire (Princeton, 1926), pp. 407-8.
|
22 |
See Ulpian, Dig., fig. 22.
|
23 |
Philostratus VS 1.25.
|
24 |
See above, n. 15.
|
25 |
For a short but useful survey of the association of the human ruler with Zeus, which
dates back to Homer, see S. Weinstock, Divus Julius (Oxford, 1971), pp. 305-10. Hadrian is explicitly identified as Olympius on a probably contemporary
Ephesian bronze with obv. legend AΔPIANOC KAICAPOΛYMΠIOC, SNGvonAulock 7866.
|
The number of surviving specimens and dies, and the relative infrequency of die links, shows that the output of Ephesus' cistophoric mint was consistent with her position as prōtē mētropolis of Asia. For four of the types—those comprising Group I in the catalogue—there can be no question about the attribution to Ephesus. But the connection of Groups II, III, and IV is less secure, and requires defense.
Group II. Artemis Leukophryene. The lone obverse die with Group I legend combined with a Leukophryene reverse is extremely similar in both style and lettering to others of Group I: the truncation of the neck has a single shallow identation, and the lettering is neat, regular and compact. Similarly the reverse format, with its COS III compressed in small letters at 3 and 9 o'clock, is like that of the Asclepius reverses of Group IV, to which, it is suggested below, the reverse die properly belongs.
An attribution of the Leukophryene coins of both Groups II and IV to Magnesia itself is not, obviously, out of the question: the fact that only two obverse dies were employed is no obstacle to postulation of a separate mint, since as we shall see cistophoric mints at Alabanda, Thyateira, Nysa, and Eumeneia employed three or fewer dies. But in favor of Ephesus may be offered the stylistic links to both Groups I and IV, as well as the employment of legends proper to both. In addition Ephesus is one of only two mints (the other, Unidentified Mint C) which certainly struck non-native types. If Asclepius could be portrayed on coins of Group IV, so too could the chief deity of neighboring Magnesia, in whose re-foundation Ephesus had participated.
Group III. Artemis Ephesia; Artemis Ephesia in Temple. This small group of coins is anomalous in omitting Hadrian's consular iteration: calling this class "hybrid," Herzfelder ascribed the omission to the carelessness of an engraver who employed a non-Ephesian model (for a different explanation see below). He recognized their style as purely Ephesian, and no alternative attribution can really be offered in the face of the typological and stylistic links to Group I.
Group IV. Artemis Ephesia with DIANA EPHESIA COS III; Asclepius and Artemis Leukophryene with COS III. The stylistic connection of DIANA EPHESIA COS III coins with those bearing rev. COS III Asclepius has long been recognized, and is immediately evident from comparison of the obverse dies illustrated on Plate 6. But in the past this connection has created difficulties of attribution based solely on typology. The natural temptation—to which Herzfelder and Mattingly succumbed29—is to assign these coins to Pergamum since, as has been noted in the discussion of that mint, its output seems incommensurate with the importance of the city. Now a die link with the DIANA EPHESIA cult image coins of Group III demands a re-attribution to Ephesus. The attribution of Leukophryene coins to Ephesus has been discussed above; its distribution of legends places it in this group.
Ephesus is one of only two mints which altered its obverse legend in the course of the cistophoric issue. It is clear that, as at Rome, the variation in obverse legend has chronological significance: both Groups I and IV include the cult image reverse, but in I the remaining types are exclusively Ephesian while in IV Asclepius and Artemis Leukophryene find a place in the Ephesian coinage for the only time in its history. The problem, then, is to establish the priority of I or IV. For several reasons the sequence I-IV has been adopted, and the anomalous groups II and III placed between them.
First, this sequence is demanded by the date of the IOVIS OLYMPIVS issue, discussed above. It was struck at or soon after Hadrian's arrival at Ephesus in March 129; the remaining coins of Group I are to be associated with it on the basis of obverse legend and reverse content. The sequence IV-I would require assignment of all of IV to the period from August 128 (when Hadrian adopted the title Pater Patriae) to March 129 (his arrival at Ephesus); and while IV is not a massive issue it was clearly substantial, and these are rather narrow limits for its production.
Secondly, it is hardly likely that the first issue from Ephesus consisted of a single local type combined with others foreign to the city. Conversely, Group I has all the look of an inaugural issue, celebrating not only the arrival of Hadrian but also Ephesus' tutelary deities and emphasizing their connection with the city.
Finally, the sequence I-IV provides an easier explanation for the existence of the two hybrid classes than the opposite order. The doubling of COS III in Group II probably occurred at the moment of change from one issue to another: that is, a die already prepared for the second issue was substituted prematurely. Given that reverse dies broke far more frequently than obverses, the likeliest substitution would be of a reverse die: that is, the Leukophryene die with COS III was paired with an obverse from the HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P issue until the latter broke, and an obverse die appropriate to the new issue was substituted.
In the case of Group III, the standard Ephesian types were simply carried over from Group I; it was then realized that with the new obverse legend the consular iteration was omitted. At this point it was added, rather uncomfortably, to the cult image reverses; no space being available on the temple reverse, the type was simply dropped.
It is agreed by all that the analogous classes of coins produced at Rome were struck in exactly the reverse order: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P was inaugurated in 128 and succeeded, probably in the early 130s, by HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P. But there is no good reason to suppose that Roman mint practice is relevant, especially since the reverse types of Group I provide a simple explanation for its obverse legend, which is virtually without parallel in the rest of the series. For the types of this issue all have extensive description on the reverse, leaving no room for the consular iteration; the Group I legend was devised to allow its inclusion. When types not native to Ephesus were introduced and the epithet Ephesia dropped from all but one reverse, the consular iteration could be placed there and the standard obverse legend restored.
The cistophori of Ephesus display a general stylistic homogeneity, with the variations which might be expected in what was obviously a large scale minting operation. The rather narrow, tall busts of Group I contrast with the broader, fuller ones of Groups III and IV; Group II falls in between with its closest kinship to Group I. There are two anomalous types, nos. 7 and 10. The first of these is unusual in its portrayal of Artemis without her stags, and its obverse die is one of only two at the mint which show Hadrian with a draped bust. But the portrait is otherwise generally similar to others of Group I, and the obverse legend is peculiar to Ephesus so there is no good reason to doubt its Ephesian origin.
The second type, known from two die-identical specimens, is far cruder in style than any other Ephesian product; in addition it has a roughly executed hexastyle temple in place of the usually neat tetrastyle. The type is one of the anomalies which have led to the supposition that DIANA EPHESIA types might have been struck at more than one mint, since the goddess was worshiped all over the province and her cult image is found on the coins of a number of cities.30 That view may be correct, but for various reasons it seems safest to treat such anomalies as the work of inexperienced or incompetent engravers rather than as the products of minute mints. First, with the exceptions of Unidentified Mint C (clearly a special case, see below) and Ephesus itself, no other mint employed another city's deity as a type. Secondly it is clear that the word EPHESIA is used not only as an epithet of Diana but also to identify the city responsible for striking the nonspecific types of Zeus Olympius and Fortuna. Finally, once again, the obverse legend HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P is almost exclusively confined to Ephesus.
26 |
Xen. Hell. 3.2.19.
|
27 |
Strabo 14.1.40.
|
28 | |
29 |
Herzfelder, pp. 16-17; Mattingly, BMCRE 3, p. clix.
|
30 |
Herzfelder, p. 15; Woodward, p. 168, and n. 16; the coin mentioned there and illustrated at Herzfelder, pl. 3, 5, is left
out of consideration here: see below, p. 95, n. 2.
|
22. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Cult image of Apollo Didymeus standing r., holding in extended l. a bow, in extended r. a small stag which faces him. |
BMCRE, p. 385* and 1073 (with corrigendum on p. 566); RIC 183; Cohen 286; Pinder 50, pl. 7, 12; Herzfelder, p. 8, pl. 1, 6.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
100* | 1 | 1 | 10.36 | ↗ | Traces on rev. | Copenhagen (SNG 441) |
101* | 2 | 2 | 9.86 | ↑ | Traces on rev. | London |
102* | 3 | 3 | 9.89 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | Berlin |
23. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. | Cult image of Apollo Didymeus as on no. 22. |
BMC RE, p. 385* note = Hess, 22 May 1935 (Trau), 1105 (this piece?).
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
103* | 4 | 4 | 10.47 | ↑ | Traces on rev. | Foss = Ancient Gens, 12 July 1971, 135 = Münzen und Medaillen FPL 175, Jan. 1958, 37. |
24. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Tetrastyle temple on podium of three steps. Within, cult image of Apollo Didymeus stands facing, holding stag in extended l. and bow in r. at side. |
BMCRE 1082 n.; RIC 519; Cohen 287 (without P P, in error); Pinder 60; Herzfelder, p. 8, pl. 1, 7.
Cal. | Obo. | Reo. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
104* | 3 | 5 | 9.12 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Antonius | Berlin |
105 | 5 | 6 | Obv. on rev. Augustus | Herzfelder, pl. 1, 7 (Hollschek) |
25. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. | Temple of Apollo Didymeus as on no. 24. |
BMCRE 1082, pl. 64, 5; RIC 519 n.; RIN 1898, p. 49, pl. 1, 8.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
106 | 4 | 7 | 9.70 | ↑ | Traces on rev. | Rome |
107a* | 6 | 8 | 10.40 | Traces on rev. | Piancastelli 1524 | |
107b* | 6 | 8 | 9.82 | t | Traces | London |
26. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Artemis in long drapery standing half-1., holding patera in extended r. and bow in l.; to l., a stag looking r. |
BMCRE 1062, pl. 72, 9; RIC 490; Cohen 317; Pinder 72, pl. 5, 9; Herzfelder, p. 8, pl. 1, 5.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | |
108* | 5 | 9 | 10.10 | ↑ | Obv on obv. Antonius, CRR 1198 | Berlin |
109* | 5 | 10 | 10.40 | ↑ | Obv. on rev. Antonius, CRR 1198 | Munich |
110* | 5 | 11 | Obv. on obv. Augustus, rev. temple | Dorotheum, 12 May 1960 (Hollschek 11), 543. | ||
111* | 7 | 12 | 10.52 | ↑ | Obv. on rev. | London |
112 | 8 | 13 | Augustus, RIC 13 Traces on rev. | Athens |
27. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. | Artemis as on no. 26. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
113* | 4 | 14 | 10.94 | ↑ | Obv. on rev. Augustus, RIC 13 | Paris |
114* | 4 | 15 | 10.45 | ↗ | Obv. on rev. Augustus, RIC 13 | The Hague |
16 coins, all overstruck
15 die combinations
8 obverse dies
15 reverse dies.
Herzfelder1 first recognized the interconnection of three cistophoric types traditionally associated with Miletus, and posited the existence of a mint there.
Apollo Didymeus
Didymeus (or "Philesius"2) was the god of the famous oracle at Didyma, a small town some 17 km from Miletus. The relationship between the two cities was comparable to that which obtained between Athens and Eleusis, and the god of Didyma began to receive numismatic notice on the coinage of Miletus very early. Already in the seventh century the lion—symbol of Apollo—appears on the city's electrum staters; by 350, his head appears on obverses.3
Bronzes of the second century B.C. are the first coins to depict the famous and statue of Apollo by Canachus, which had been carried off during the Persian sack and returned by Seleucus I.4 The god was portrayed nude, holding a bow in his left hand and a small stag in his extended right. A vexed passage in Pliny5 seems to say that the stag could be made to move back and forth !
The cult image, usually facing right, became the chief reverse type of Miletus' imperial bronzes;6 the cistophoric reverse is very similar to these, though the translation to silver infused the short, archaic statue with a new grace dictated by the contemporary hellenizing vogue.
Didymeus in Temple
Several specimens portray the famous temple which housed Didyma's oracle. The dodecastyle façade is here made tetrastyle, with the opening thus achieved containing a frontal representation of Canachus' Apollo.
The temple was one of antiquity's largest and most impressive. Though well established as a cult center by the time of the Persian Wars, it recovered only slowly from the pillage of Darius. Reconstruction was undertaken in the time of Alexander, yet in Strabo's day the shrine remained roofless.7
Trajan's provision for the erection of a new road to accommodate the heavy traffic from Miletus to Didyma attests the continued prosperity of the cult, which continued through the second century at least.8 The temple appears on imperial bronzes well into the third century,9 the god's name is found on an inscription of 362, and he was known to Macrobius.10
Artemis Pgthia
The goddess portrayed with stag and bow can only be the huntress, Artemis. The cistophoric reverse type was never associated with Miletus until Imhoof-Blumer compared the image with that appearing on the city's bronzes.11 Herzfelder has been followed by other scholars in applying to the goddess the epithet "Milesia," which is not to my knowledge supported by any ancient testimony.12 Her frequent appearance on coins suggests that she is in fact the Artemis Pythia who finds extensive notice in inscriptions from Didyma.13
No archaeological remains tell us where her worship was centered, but local legend made the cult of Artemis at Didyma as old as that of her brother. The legend of their nearby birth provided an etymology for the city's name.14
The surviving Milesian cistophori form a compact group: the sixteen known specimens are struck from only eight obverse dies, and three of these are combined with two or more types: obv. die 3 is combined with rev. Apollo and Temple; obv. die 5 with revs. Apollo and Artemis; and obv. die 4 with all three types.
The style of the Milesian cistophori is distinctive, and it is clear that all the dies were produced by a single hand. Herzfelder noted the "curiously long throat," which is most evident on undraped heads. The obverse lettering, tall and narrow, is consistent throughout; the reverse legend always had the numeral 111 in tall strokes and compressed; all dies show a clumsy rendering of the letter S.
The consistent use of the die orientation ↑ ↑ may derive from a longstanding tradition at Miletus which only began to break down in the second century.15
1 |
Herzfelder, pp. 8-9.
|
2 |
The name Philesius occurs in Pliny NH 34.75.
|
3 |
Head, HN, p. 585. Staters: BCMIonia, p. 183, nos. 2ff.; for the
obverse portraits, p. 189, nos. 51ff.
|
4 |
BMCIonia, p. 197, nos. 134-37.
|
5 |
See above, n. 2.
|
6 |
Claudius: BMCIonia, p. 198, no. 146; Nero: BMCIonia, p. 198, nos. 145-49; Domitian: BMCIonia, p. 199, nos. 152-53; Hadrian: SNGCopIonia 1018; Geta: BMCIonia, p. 201, no. 163.
|
7 |
Strabo 14.1.5, C. 634.
|
8 |
K. von Stradonitz, "Vorläufiger Berichtüber die von den Königliche Museen begonnen Ausgrabungen in Milet," Silzungsber. Akad. Berlin
1900, p. 106; see B. Haussoullier, Études sur l'histoire
de Milet et des Didymeion (Paris, 1902), pp. 154-55. For
inscriptions from the second century, T. Wiegand, Didyma 2 (Berlin, 1958), p. 323.
|
9 |
For instance, Julia Domna, SNGvonAulock 2112; Geta, BMCIonia, p. 201, no. 163.
|
10 |
SIG 906 A; Macrob. Sat. 1.17.64.
|
11 |
F. Imhoof-Blumer, Münzkunde, p. 5 (= SNR
1905, p. 165). The goddess appears facing r. on coins of Nero, SNGCopIonia 1010-12 and facing l. on coins of Trajan,
BMCIonia, p. 199, no. 155. The facing goddess is introduced under Hadrian on the cistophorus and a local bronze,
SNGCopIonia 1017. She continues to appear in the third century: SNGvonAulock 2110
(Septimius Severus, with Didymeus); Imhoof-Blumer, Kl. M. 1, p. 89, no. 27 (Severus and
Caracalla); BMC Ionia, p. 200, no. 161, Julia Domna; Imhoof-Blumer, Kl. M. 1, p. 89, no. 29 (Balbinus).
|
12 |
Herzfelder, p. 9.
|
13 |
Wiegand (above, n. 8), nos. 118, 182, 228, 312, 315, 330, 363, 388, 403. For this identification of the goddess
see Laumonier, Cultes 588-89.
|
14 |
SIG 590.1.10. See also coins of Balbinus and Gallienus showing Leto bearing the infants Apollo and Artemis, BMCIonia, p. 201, no. 164, pl. 22, 13; SNGvonAulock 2113.
|
15 |
The consistent picture suggested by SNGCopIonia 957-1017, the only published record to include die axes, is borne
out by specimens in the ANS: ↑ ↓ is avoided entirely until Claudius, and is still exceptional until the time of
Hadrian, when it begins to dominate.
|
28. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III l. and r. in field SMVR in exergue |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Tetrastyle temple on podium of three steps, within which stand two Nemeses facing each other. |
BMCRE 1083, pl. 74, 7; RIC 521; Herzfelder, p. 11, pl. 2, 1.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
115* | 1 | 1 | 10.32 | ↓ | Traces on rev. | London |
29. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III in exergue |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Zeus seated l. on throne holding small cult image of Ephesian Artemis in extended r. and vertical sceptre in upraised l.; behind, eagle to 1. |
BMCRE p. 388 †; RIC 501 (erroneously describing statuette as "Diana of Perga"); Herzfelder, p. 12, pl. 2, 2.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
116* | 2 | 2 | 10.54 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Antonius, CRR 1198 | Munich |
117* | 3 | 3 | 10.92 | ↗ | Traces | Vienna = Bachofen von Echt, 1188 |
30. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Zeus, naked to waist, seated l. on throne, holding Victory in extended r. and vertical sceptre in upraised l. To l., an eagle. |
BMCRE 1069, pl. 73, 2; RIC 499; Cohen 272; Pinder 52, pl. 7, 5; Herzfelder, p. 12, pl. 2, 3.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
118* | 4 | 4 | 10.70 | Obv. on obv. Claudius, rev. temple of Artemis | Mazzini 2, 272 = Santamaria, 26 June 1950, (Magnaguti 3), 661 = Naville 11, 18 June 1925, 529 | |
119* | 5 | 5 | 10.29 | T | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 13. | London |
120* | 6 | 6 | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 12 | Myers 1, 18 Nov. 1971, 524 | ||
121* | 7 | 7 | Traces | Münzen und Medaillen 17, 2 Dec. 1957, 443 | ||
122* | 7 | 8 | 11.00 | ↗ | Vienna | |
123* | 7 | 9 | 10.35 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 13 | ANS = Hess, 1 Dec. 1931, 1069 |
124* | 8 | 10 | ↓ | Traces | Rome | |
125* | 9 | 11 | Hess, 22 May 1935, (Trau), 1096 | |||
126* | 10 | 12 | 10.58 | Traces | Hess-Leu 41, 24 Apr. 1969, 193 = von Aulock (SNG 6614) | |
127 | 11 | 13 | Turin |
31. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Eagle standing to front on thunderbolt, wings spread, head r. |
BMCRE 1079, pl. 74, 3,1080; RIC 516; Cohen 427 (erroneously omitting P P); Pinder 56, pl. 7, 9; Herzfelder, p. 12, pl. 2, 6.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
128* | 4 | 14 | 10.45 | ↑ | Traces | London |
129 | 4 | 15 | 10.31 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, wreath rev. | Berlin |
130a* | 4 | 16 | 9.78 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, wreath rev. | Munich |
130b | 4 | 16 | 10.61 | Santamaria, 26 June 1950, (Magnaguti 3), 666 = Hess, 22 May 1935 (Trau), 1117 | ||
131 | 4 | 17 | 10.09 | Traces | Winterthur photo (ex Imhoof-Blumer coll.) | |
132* | 12 | 18 | 9.95 | von Aulock (SNG 6629) | ||
133* | 13 | 19 | 10.87 | ↓ | Traces on rev. | London |
134* | 14 | 20 | 10.56 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 13 | Brussels |
135 | 15 | 21 | Traces on rev. | Galerie für griech., röm. und byz. Kunst (Frankfurt/M.) 1, 1970, 40 | ||
136* | 16 | 22 | 10.65 | Traces | Piancastelli 1522 |
32. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Two Nemeses draped, standing face to face; each holds out in r. a fold of drapery from breast. One on l. holds bridle in l., one on r. a cubit rule in 1. |
BMCRE 1074, pl. 73, 9; RIC 507; Cohen 326; Pinder 82, pl. 8, 10; Herzfelder, p. 11, pl. 2, 4.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
137* | 17 | 23 | Obv. on rev. Augustus | Glendining (Woodward), 27 Sept. 1962, 303 | ||
138* | 18 | 24 | 10.28 | ↓ | Traces | Boston = Hess /Leu, 2 Apr. 1958, 325 = Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 663 |
139* | 19 | 25 | Traces on obv. | Hess, 7 March 1935, 494 = Cahn 71, 14 Oct. 1931, 1580 | ||
140* | 19 | 26 | 9.95 | ↓ | Traces | Hermitage |
141* | 20 | 27 | 10.60 | Traces | Münzen und Medaillen FPL 281, Oct. 1967, 35 = Hess, 2 Aug. 1933, 319 = Baranowsky, 25 Feb. 1931, 1784 | |
142* | 21 | 28 | Salton-Schlessinger, 22 Nov. 1955, 789 | |||
143* | 21 | 29 | Merzbacher, 15 Nov. 1910, 1633 = B. Batto, 5 Nov. 1908, 910 | |||
144* | 21 | 30 | 10.29 | Traces | von Aulock (SNG 6627) | |
145* | 22 | 31 | Traces on rev. | Hamburger, 29 May 1929, 604 = Glendining, 1 Dec. 1927, 194 = Hamburger, 19 Oct. 1925, 842 | ||
146* | 23 | 32 | 9.24 | ↓ | Traces | Winthertur |
147 | 23 | 33 | 10.53 | ↑ | Traces | Munich |
148* | 24 | 34 | 11.25 | ↓ | Copenhagen (SNG 442) | |
149a* | 25 | 35 | 10.68 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | Copenhagen (SNG 443) |
149b | 25 | 35 | Traces on rev. | Turin | ||
150 | 26 | 36 | 10.67 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | London |
151* | 26 | 37 | 10.37 | ↙ | Obv. on obv. Antonius, CRR 1197 | Vienna |
152* | 27 | 38 | 10.42 | Traces | Lanz (Graz) 5, 1 Dec. 1975, 497 = Hess, 22 May 1935 (Trau), 1113 | |
153* | 28 | 39 | 10.08 | Traces | Poindessault, 29 May, 1972, 237 = Platt, 17 March 1970, 65 | |
154* | 29 | 40 | 10.93 | Traces | Hirsch 24, 10 May 1909, 1396 | |
155* | 30 | 40 | 10.81 | ↙ | Vienna | |
156a* | 31 | 41 | 12.20 | ↓ | Traces on rev. | Vatican |
156b* | 31 | 41 | 10.81 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 14 | Berlin |
157* | 32 | 42 | Traces | JNFA, vol. 2, no. 1 (Spring 1973), T 12 = Kress 125, 17 Apr. 1963, 668 = Münzen und Medaillen 17, 2 Dec. 1957, 445 | ||
158* | 33 | 43 | 10.88 | ↓ | Traces on rev.; double struck | ANS = R. Ratto FPL, 1931, 60 = Naville 12, 18 Oct. 1926, 2854 = Hirsch 33, 17 Nov. 1913, 1238 |
159* | 33 | 44 | Herzfelder, pl. 2, 4, from a cast in London | |||
160* | 34 | 45 | Ciani, Apr. 1925, 199 |
33. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS PP | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Cybele towered, draped, seated l. on throne holding patera in extended r. and resting l. arm on tympanum. At her feet, lion looking l., r. forepaw raised. |
BMCRE 1059, 1060, pl. 72, 6; RIC 488; Cohen 283; Pinder 80, pl. 8, 7; Herzfelder, p. 11, pl. 2, 5.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
161* | 33 | 46 | 10.87 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Augustus, RIC 13 | Oxford = Egger 39, 15 Jan. 1912, 918 = Bach- ofen von Echt 1177 |
162 | 33 | 47 | Traces on rev. | Herzfelder, pl. 2, 5, from a cast in London | ||
163* | 29 | 48 | 9.46 | 1 | Munich |
164* | 35 | 49 | 10.18 | Copenhagen (SNG 444) | ||
165* | 36 | 50 | 10.39 | ↑ | Obv. on rev. Antonius, CRR 1197 | JNFA, vol. 2, no. 1 (Spring 1973), T 14 = Salton-Schlessinger, 22 Nov. 1955, 783 = Hess, 11 March 1935, 491 = Cahn 75, 30 May 1932, 1108 |
166* | 37 | 51 | 11.00 | Obv. on rev. Augustus | von Aulock (SNG 6624) = Santamaría, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 665 | |
167* | 38 | 52 | 10.65 | ↗ | Obv. on rev. Augustus, RIC 13 | Vienna |
168* | 39 | 53 | 10.89 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Antonius, CRR 1197 | London |
169* | 40 | 54 | 10.87 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | Brussels |
170* | 41 | 55 | 8.55 | ↙ | Vienna | |
171* | 42 | 56 | 8.46 | ↓ | London | |
172* | 43 | 57 | 10.30 | Traces | Piancastelli 1520 = Hess, 22 May 1935 (Trau), 1103 | |
173 | 44 | 58 | JNFA, vol. 2, no. 1 | |||
174* | 45 | 59 | 10.58 | Obv. on obv. Augustus | (Spring 1973), T 15 Vienna |
34. | SABINA AVGVSTA HADRIANI AVG PP | COS III |
Bust of Sabina draped r.; hair coiled and bunched on top of head. | Cybele seated l. as on no. 33. |
BMCRE 1095, pl. 75, 7; RIC 533; Cohen (Sabina) 35; Pinder 104, pl. 8, 9.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
175* | 46 | 59 | 9.54 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | London |
176* | 47 | 60 | Traces | Kress 143, 27 May 1968, 508 |
65 coins, 48 certainly overstruck
62 die combinations
47 obverse dies
60 reverse dies
The great commercial center of Smyrna possessed one of Hadrian's largest cistophoric mints. As early as Pinder the main reverse types of Nemeses and Cybele had been recognized as Smyrnaean products, but it was Herzfelder 1 who first fully outlined the mint's production, using criteria of style and die links.
All the types of Smyrna are closely associated with the city.
Nemeses in Temple; Two Nemeses
The worship of Nemesis at Smyrna was of great antiquity; whatever the origin of the cult, it seems to have been well established by the time of Alyattes' destruction of the city.2 The single goddess worshipped elsewhere became two at Smyrna: this duality is peculiar to the city and is reflected in numerous inscriptions.3 The origin of the additional goddess is unknown: Pausanias thought she reflected the foundation of the "new city" by Alexander.4 Modern scholars, more subtly but less romantically, are inclined to think that the doubling of the goddess reflects the European and Asiatic concepts of the divinity.5 That Pausanias was wrong is suggested by the antiquity of the cult: when he himself discussed the addition of wings as an attribute, he appealed to no less an authority than the archaic Smyrnaean statues, wrought in wood.6
Despite the prominence of the goddesses, they are absent from civic coinage until Imperial times. A single (winged) Nemesis appears on the coinage of Nero and Agrippina,7 and an alliance issue of Ephesus and Smyrna dating from the proconsulship of P. Calvisius Ruso shows the two goddesses face to face.8 The latter type eventually becomes standard, and enjoys periodic popularity until the third century; it is frequently used as the symbol of Smyrna on alliance coinages.9
The unique piece showing the Nemeseion has no Smyrnaean antecedent, but accords well with cistophoric depictions of cult temples at Ephesus, Miletus, and Sardis as well as some unknown mints. Its placement of the ethnic in exergue (albeit upside down) is paralleled at Sardis.10
The Nemeseion existed as late as A.D. 211,11 but nothing is known of it today. Our coin would suggest that it was of Ionic order; the prominent acroterion and antefixes and three-step podium are conventions familiar from Ephesian cistophori, and tell little about the temple's actual appearance.
Zeus Akraios; Zeus with Ephesian Artemis
Zeus Akraios, "god of the height," was worshipped at sites throughout the Greek world, but most notably at Smyrna.12 While his cult never rivalled that of the Nemeses, the god was a prominent figure on civic coinage from the time of Trajan.13 That the cistophoric reverse, with its Zeus on the Pheidiac model but substituting Victory for the customary eagle, actually represents Akraios is confirmed by analogy with bronze coins struck in the proconsulship of Vettius Bolanus, on which the god is named.14
Akraios had a large temple on the hill now known as Deirman-Tepe. Peripteral and Corinthian, it was 10 by 23 columns with an intercolumniation of 1.8 m.; it rivalled in size the temple of Zeus built by Hadrian at Athens. No trace of it can now be found; Prokesch von Osten, who saw its remains in 1824, thought it might date from the time of Hadrian,15 and Cadoux16 suggested that it was built with money which the sophist Polemo induced the emperor to bestow upon the city. His view might be confuted by bronzes of Hadrianic date with a seated Zeus and the inscription ΠOΛEMΩN CTPATΛΓOC AN EΘH KE.17
A second Zeus, this one holding a statuette of Ephesian Artemis, is linked by stylistic considerations to the lone coin with temple reverse.18 Whether he represents Akraios or Zeus in some other aspect (Olympius?) is moot. Alteration of specific attributes is not uncommon, and is well attested on Smyrnaean issues.19
Herzfelder20 suggested that this reverse represented the citizens of Smyrna "paying homage to a neighboring divinity, who incidentally was revered all over the province." For two reasons this is a dubious interpretation of the type. First, such "homage" is not only unknown on cistophori (and in general on civic coinage not falling into the "alliance" class), but impossible: for it will be shown below that the cistophori, while they draw heavily on types indigenous to the cities of their origin, were not produced under local authority, but by sanction of the Roman governor or some other prominent bureaucrat. They could not, therefore, have expressed the sentiment of any city toward another.
Secondly, the fact that Artemis' cult was widespread in Asia rendered the symbolism of the goddess herself universal. Though she was used as a civic badge only by Ephesus, she appears frequently elsewhere, and her employment as an attribute to symbolize the whole province is easily comprehensible.21
Eagle on Thunderbolt
Pinder22 believed the eagle on thunderbolt to be so universal as to defy attribution to any single city, though unspecified stylistic considerations led him to regard PERGAMUM as a possible mint for the type; Herzfelder, also on stylistic grounds, assigned the type to Smyrna.23 His observation that "the device was the usual one of the civic mint at the time of Hadrian" is not quite accurate, but the use of obverse die 4 with both this reverse and Zeus Akraios confirms his attribution.
Both eagle and thunderbolt were attributes of Zeus, and are found associated with him at the city; ultimately the type may be related to Zeus Akraios.24
Cybele Enthroned
The cistophori reproduce the statue of Cybele sculpted by Agorakritos, pupil of Pheidias, in the late fifth century B.C.25 This is the first appearance of the goddess' full figure on Roman coinage; she had been a regular feature of Smyrnaean civic issues.26
The goddess rivalled the Nemeses in importance at Smyrna; her shrine, which was probably located somewhere east of the Acropolis, was world-famous.27 She was described as εἰληχνῑα τὴν πόλιν and perhaps as the city's foundress.28
The juxtaposition of the Cybele reverse with the obverse portrait of the empress on no. 34 foreshadows the numismatic convention which became popular under the Antonines.29
The close association of the above seven types with Smyrna is reflected by their numismatic relationship to one another. All seven may be tied to each other and to the city on numismatic grounds alone.
The mint mark SMVR, combined with the type of two Nemeses in temple, is conclusive. Herzfelder 30 noted the stylistic affinities between the lone obverse die (no. 1) employed with this type and those used with reverse Zeus seated holding Artemis Ephesia (obv. dies 2 and 3): the two points at the rear neckline of the bust are the engraver's peculiarity and appear frequently on Smyrnaean obverse dies.
Herzfelder further noted an obverse die linking Cybele and Nemeses types; two such links (obv. dies 28 and 32) are now known. He also assigned to Smyrna the eagle on thunderbolt reverse (no. 31), on the basis of similarities in the obverse portrait to our nos. 32 and 33.
To his Smyrnaean mint may now be added the rare cistophori with obverse Sabina and reverse Cybele: reverse die 59 links the type to coins of similar reverse, but obverse Hadrian; and Zeus Akraios, which shares an obverse die (no. 4) with the eagle on thunderbolt issue. The latter case is instructive, since Herzfelder rejected Smyrna as the mint for this type on the basis of style and proposed Apamea instead;31 but the die link is conclusive, and the Apamean mint must be discarded.
The mint of Smyrna thus produced three discrete groups of cistophori, each consisting of two reverse types:
It is attractive to suppose that the groups represent the production of three separate officinae, but this interpretation is rendered unlikely by the uneven survival rates of both dies and specimens from each group:
If the mint of Smyrna was divided into officinae, they cannot be detected today. The close connection among the several Smyrnaean issues indicates a fairly short period of issue, but the chronological termini are rather broad: a post quem is provided, as usual, by Hadrian's adoption of the title Pater Patriae in August 128, and an ante quem by the death of Sabina in 136;32 but there is no way to determine where, within these limits, the activity of the mint is to be placed.
1 |
Herzfelder, pp. 11-13.
|
2 |
B. Schweitzer, "Dea Nemesis Regina," JDAI 1931, pp. 202ff.
|
3 |
For example IGRR 4, 1402, 1431; see also the list compiled by Rossbach in Roscher, Lex. 3, p.
144.
|
4 |
Paus. 1.33.7. The "Vision of Alexander" is represented on Smyrna's civic coinage:
Alexander sleeps under a plane tree, the two Nemeses before him: BMCIonia, p. 279, no. 346 (M.
Aurelius): p. 299, no. 442 (Gordian); p. 296, no. 452 (Philip I).
|
5 |
Schweitzer (above, n. 2), p. 203.
|
6 |
Paus. 1.33.7.
|
7 |
BMCIonia, p. 271, no. 287; McClean 8302, pl. 288, 2.
|
8 |
BMCIonia, p. 101, nos. 405-6. The precise date of Ruso's proconsulship is unknown (PIR
2 C 350); it is assigned to ca. 83 by Magie, RRAM 2, pp. 1442, n. 34, and 1582. A similar type
was struck by L. Caesennius Paetus, also proconsul under Domitian: BMCIonia, p. 111, nos.
407-8: see also nos. 409-10.
|
9 |
In addition to the coins described in n. 8 above BMCIonia, p. 308, no. 514 (M. Aurelius,
with Nicomedia); p. 301, nos. 479-83 (Commodus, with Laodicea); p. 304, nos. 498-500 (Crispina, with Nicomedia); p. 308, nos.
515-16
(Crispina, with Laodicea).
|
10 |
See below, no. 194.
|
11 | |
12 |
RE 1, s.v. "Akraios," cols. 1193-94 (Wentzel).
|
13 |
BMCIonia, pp. 253-58, "Trajan-Commodus." Akraios represents Smyrna on alliance issues of the period: BMCIonia, p. 307, no. 511 (M.
Aurelius, with Laodicea); p. 302, no. 485 (Commodus, with Athens); Hunter 2, p. 389, no. 278 (Commodus, with Lacedaemon).
|
14 |
BMCIonia, p. 272, nos. 294-96. For Vettius, P1R
1 V 323. He was suffectus in 66 (A. Degrassi, I
Fasti Consolari dell' Impero Romano [Rome, 1952], p. 18); his proconsulship is
placed in 70-73 by Magie, RRAM 2, p. 1582.
|
15 |
For the temple, RE 3A, s.v. "Smyrna," cols 755-56 (Bürchner); Cadoux (above, n. 11), p. 202. Both accounts derive ultimately from R. Prokesch
von
Osten, Denkwürdigkeit und Erinnerungen aus dem Orient 1 (Stuttgart, 1836), p.
522. For mention of the sacred precinct, CIG 3146.
|
16 |
Cadoux, (above, n. 15); Philostratus VS 1.25. For Polemo and Hadrian see especially G. W. Bowersock, Greek Sophists in the Roman Empire (Oxford, 1970), pp. 48-49, 120-23.
|
17 |
BMCIonia, p. 277, no. 328. The use of this coin to support Cadoux's interpretation would require parallels for an
unusual use of the word ἀνέθηκε; it is doubtful whether it can refer to Polemo's acquisition of an imperial grant
for the city. Though the statue of Zeus is seated r. and is in a slightly different
posture than usual renderings, connection with Akraios is not to be ruled out. Variation in presentation might result from
a generalized
conception of the deity rather than imitation of a different cult image: cf. the great variation in detail in Smyrnaean versions
of Tyche, SNGvonAulock 2205-6 (Vespasian), 2216-17 (Septimius).
|
18 |
Herzfelder, p. 12.
|
19 |
See above, n. 18; compare also an alliance issue of Smyrna and Ephesus (SNGvonAulock2246), certainly struck at Smyrna, which is exceptional in adding wings to the Nemeses.
|
20 |
Herzfelder (above, n. 18).
|
21 |
See above, p. 21.
|
22 |
Pinder, p. 628.
|
23 |
Herzfelder, pp. 12-13.
|
24 |
For specific association of eagles with Zeus at Smyrna, see Cadoux (above, n. 11), p. 203, n. 7.
|
25 |
For bibliography see M. Bieber, "The Images of Cybele in Roman Coins and Sculpture," Hommages à
Marcel Renard 3, Coll. Latomus 103 (Brussels, 1969), p. 33, n. 2.
|
26 |
Tetradrachms of Lysimachus with rev. symbol head of Cybele are probably the earliest Smyrnaean issues to portray
the goddess: Head, HN, p. 592; M. Thompson, "The Mints of Lysi- machus," in Essays in Greek Coinage Presented to Stanley Robinson, ed. C. M.
Kraay and G. K. Jenkins (Oxford, 1968), p. 180.
See also BMCIonia, pp. 239ff., nos. 19-46 (second to first centuries B.C.); p. 250, nos. 131-32 (Nero). The goddess often represents the city on alliance issues: SNG vonAuloek
2243-45 (Marcus Aurelius, with Antioch, Laodicea and Nicomedia respectively); BMC Ionia, p. 306, no. 507 (Caraealla,
with PERGAMUM); p. 302, no. 484 (Commodus, with Athens); p.
303, no. 490 (Commodus, with Nicomedia).
|
27 |
RE 11, s.v. "Kybele," col. 2288 (Schwenn); see also Pliny NH
14.54.
|
28 |
Ael. Arist. 15, p. 575, Dindorf; Boeckh's supplement ἀϱχηγέτιν to CIG 3387 is probable but
not certain.
|
29 |
BMCRE 4, pp. 232-33, nos. 1436-40 (Diva Faustina I); p. 403, nos. 134-35, and p. 534, nos.
932-35 (Faustina II): p. 577, no. 1208 (Lucilla).
|
30 |
Herzfelder, p. 11.
|
31 |
Herzfelder, p. 12. The coins "show vague similarities to the usual Smyrnaean style. But
the fabric is much flatter, the modelling of the god's body less accurate, the heads on the obverse sometimes remarkably poor.
It seems
doubtful whether the evidence for Smyrna is sufficient, especially as this type of
Zeus is common all over the province. Perhaps these coins belong to Apamea, where
similar representations are fairly frequent."
|
32 |
The date of Sabina's death is not absolutely certain. It is mentioned in S.H.A. Hadr. 21.9 in connection with the
adoption of L. Ceionius Commodus, which occurred in 136; moreover, Alexandrian issues bearing her portrait go
only as far as the twentieth year of Hadrian (135/6). Mommsen suggested that CIL VIII (Berlin, 1881) 799 might indicate that she was still alive in 137, but his view has been adopted by no
subsequent scholar (PIR
1 V 414).
|
35. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Apollo in long robe standing front, head l., holding raven in r. and branch in l. |
BMCRE 1050, pl. 72, 4; RIC 484; Cohen 288; Pinder 84, pl. 8,12; Herzfelder, p. 8, pl. 1.4.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
177* | 1 | 1 | 10.44 | Traces | von Aulock (SNG 6618) | |
178* | 1 | 2 | 9.83 | ↓ | Traces | Copenhagen (SNG 445) |
179a* | 2 | 3 | 10.41 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 11 | London |
179b | 2 | 3 | Obv. on rev. Antonius | Athens |
4 coins, all overstruck
3 die combinations
2 obverse dies
3 reverse dies
Herzfelder first noted the similarity of the god portrayed here with raven and branch to one appearing on the coins of Alabanda in the time of Caracalla;1 he posited a mint there.
The cistophori mark the first full-view appearance of the god on coins, though it is clear that the cult of Apollo was prominent at Alabanda from very early times. His laureate head appears on the city's early coinage, accompanied by reverse types lyre, raven and humped bull.2 Later imperial issues employ the laurel branch and raven as reverse types.3 Apollo was worshipped in two aspects at Alabanda: the one portrayed here bore the epithet Isotimos.4
The style of the Alabandan cistophori is individual; the two obverse and three reverse dies were all produced by the same hand. Hadrian's hair is arranged in fairly thin curls, while his eyebrows arc thickened. Large dots are used to portray the beard. Lettering on the obverse dies is regular, with tall and narrow letters; these also appear on the reverses. Apollo is gracefully rendered; the folds in his drapery are well articulated.
Though our record of obverse dies is probably incomplete, it is clear that the output of the mint of Alabanda was inconsiderable.
1 |
Herzfelder, p. 8. For coins of Caracalla see BMCCaria, p. 7, nos. 38-39; SNGvonAulock 2400.
|
2 |
BMCCaria, p. 2, no. 9; pp. 3-4, nos. 16-18.
|
3 |
Laurel branch: BMCCaria, p. 7, nos. 36-37, 40-42 (Julia
Domna, Caracalla); raven, BMCCaria, p. 5, no. 24 (late imperial).
|
4 |
Laumonier, Cultes, p. 438, n. 9.
|
36. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P Head of Hadrian bare, r. | COS III beginning at r. Cult image of Aphrodite of Aphrodisias r. both hands extended; in front of her, Eros standing r. aiming bow; behind, seated figure. Star high in l. field, crescent in r. |
BMCRE 1077, pl. 73, 12; RIC 512; Herzfelder, p. 8, pl. 1, 8.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
180* | 1 | 1 | 10.25 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | London |
37. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P Head of Hadrian bare, r. | COS III beginning at r. | As on no. 36 but in front of Aphrodite, naked figure; behind, censer (?). |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
181* | 1 | 2 | 10.44 | ↙ | Obv. on obv. | Hess-Leu, 7 Apr. 1960, |
Antonius, CRR 1198 | 329 |
2 coins, both overstruck
2 die combinations
1 obverse die
2 reverse dies
Two reverses sharing an obverse die portray Aphrodite of Aphrodisias; the goddess was probably a hellenized Nina-Ishtar, a deity of love and war.1 Combination of the numismatic evidence with that of reliefs and statuettes allows reconstruction of her appearance.2 Her head is surmounted by a kalathos and surrounded by a laurel wreath; a veil extends to the ground. A chiton of floor length and a corset extending to the knees cover her body. Her arms are extended frontally, in hieratic fashion. The goddess is accompanied, both on the cistophori and on many bronzes of Aphrodisias, by the star and crescent found with many eastern divinities.
The figures which flank the cult image vary. On reverse die 1 the figure seated behind seems to be a priestess, and the Eros in front of her is easily comprehensible. On reverse die 2 the naked figure in front may again be interpreted as an Eros; behind her is the object which has provided previous scholars with so much food for speculation.3 Laumonier's view, that it is a censer surmounted by the head of a lion, seems far the most reasonable.4
Aphrodite appears frequently on the coinage of Aphrodisias from the first century B.C. to the time of Salonina,5 and she represents the city on alliance coinages.6 The fact that she never appears elsewhere insures the attribution of these cistophori to Aphrodisias. Once again, though the record of dies is probably not complete, it is clear that the mint of Aphrodisias struck only briefly, and that its output was small indeed.
1 |
Laumonier, Cultes, p. 478.
|
2 |
Lacroix, Reproductions, pp. 167-76.
|
3 |
The object also appears on imperial bronze coins. Head (BMCCaria, p. 31, no. 33) thought it to be an "altar in the
form of the capital of a column, supported by a conical cover;" M. Bernhart thought he saw a chariot drawn by
seahorses (Aphrodite auf griechischen Münzen [Munich, 1936), p.
10, no. 22).
|
4 |
Laumonier, Cultes, p. 478.
|
5 |
Her bust appears on coins of the first century B.C.: BMCCaria, pp. 26-27, nos. 6-18. The cult image first appears
under Augustus (BMCCaria, p. 39, nos. 85-93) and regularly thereafter.
|
6 |
For instance cult image held by Demos on BMCCaria, p. 53, no. 161 (with Ephesus, Septimius
Severus); Tychai holding cult image, BMCCaria, p. 53, no. 162 (with Antiochia Cariae, Severus Alexander); the cult
image alone on SNGvonAulock 8057 and BMCPhrygia, p. 257, no. 166, of Commodus with Antiochia
Cariae and Hierapolis respectively.
|
38. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Zeus Labraundos draped to feet standing front holding double axe in r. and vertical spear in l.; fillets fall to ground from wrists. |
BMCRE 1064, pl. 72, 11; RIC 496; Cohen 276 ("Jupiter à droite"); Herzfelder, p. 6, pl. 1, 1; A. Akarça, Les monnaies grecques de Mylasa, p. 59, nos. 16. 2-3.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
182* | 1 | 1 | 10.39 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Antonius, CRR 1197 | London = Akarça 16.2 |
183* | 1 | 2 | 9.61 | ↓ | Traces on obv. | Boston = Hesperia Art Bulletin 26, 85 |
184* | 2 | 3 | 10.15 | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 13 | von Aulock (SNG 6616) | |
185* | 3 | 4 | 10.50 | ↙ | Obv. on rev. Augustus | Vienna = Akarça 16.3 |
39. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, bare, r. | Zeus Labraundos as on no. 38. |
BMCRE 1064 n.; RIC 496; Pinder 49, pl. 7, 2; Akarça, p. 59, no. 16. 1.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
186a | 4 | 5 | 10.92 | Traces | Leu-Münzen und Medaillen, (Niggeler 3) 2 Nov. 1967, 1259 = Hess, 22 May 1935 (Trau), 1101 | |
186b* | 4 | 5 | 10.80 | Obv. on rev. Antonius, CRR 1197 | Cambridge = Akarça 16.1 (misdescribed) = W. M. Leake, Numismata hellenica (London, 1856), p. 84 |
40. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, bare, r. | Zeus Osogoa draped to feet, standing r. holding trident set vertically on crab in upraised r. and eagle in extended 1. |
BMCRE, p. 389, § n., pl. 73,4; RIC 508; Cohen 302; Pinder 54, pl. 7, 7; Akarça, p. 60, no. 18.3.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
187* | 4 | 6 | 11.03 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. | Paris = BMCRE pl. |
Augustus | 73, 4 = Akarça 18.3 |
41. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P Head of Hadrian bare, r. | COS III | Zeus Osogoa as on no. 40. |
BMCRE, p. 389, §; RIC 508; Cohen 303; Pinder 55, pl. 7, 8; Herzfelder, p. 6, pl. 1, 2; Akarça, p. 60, nos. 18.1-2 (misdescribed), 19.1.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
188* | 3 | 7 | 10.64 | ↓ | Traces on rev. | Hague |
189* | 5 | 8 | 10.30 | Obv. on obv. | Hirsch 18, 27 May 1907 | |
Antonius | (Imhoof-Blumer), 1883 = Herzfelder, pl. 1, 2, then in Gotha | |||||
190a* | 6 | 9 | 10.80 | ↓ | Traces on rev.; double struck | Berlin |
190b* | 6 | 9 | 9.95 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, rev. wreath | Hoffer |
42. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Zeus Karios wearing robe to knees standing front, holding vertical sceptre in r. and resting l. on large round shield, in front of which is an eagle on a pedestal. |
BMCRE 1063, pl. 72, 10; RIC 495; Cohen 274; Pinder 51, pl. 7, 4; Herzfelder, pp. 6-7, pl. 1, 3; Akarça, p. 59, nos. 17, 1-2.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
191* | 6 | 10 | 9.36 | ↓ | Traces | London = Akarça 17. 1 |
192* | 7 | 11 | 10.62 | ↓ | Traces; double struck | ANS = Akarça 17. 2 |
13 coins, all overstruck
11 die combinations
7 obverse dies
11 reverse dies
A small group of cistophori can be assigned on typological grounds to Mylasa in Caria. Zeus is represented in three aspects, corresponding to the three forms of his worship in the city. The nomenclature of the deities is confused, and numismatic literature has done little to clarify it. The locus classicus is a complete and coherent account in Strabo:1
The Mylasians have two temples of Zeus, one of the god called Osogoa and one of Labraundenos. The former is in the city, while Labraunda is a village some distance away, on a mountain near the pass leading from Alabanda to Mylasa. At Labraunda there is an ancient temple and xoanon of Zeus Stratios; he is worshiped by those in the area and by the Mylasians. A paved road called the Sacred Way runs almost sixty stades from the city, and is used for sacred processions. The most distinguished citizens hold the priesthoods, always for life. Now these temples belong to the city; there is also a third, which is common to all Carians, and in which the Lydians and Mysians, as brothers, have a share.
It is clear from the passage that two deities were indigenous to Mylasa: Zeus Osogoa whose temple was in the city itself, and Zeus Stratios, whose shrine was some distance away at Labraunda and who was consequently known as Labraundos.2 The third god, Zeus Karios, incidentally had a temple at Mylasa but was worshiped by Mysians and Lydians as well as Carians.
In the earliest treatment of the cistophori, Pinder confused Karios and Stratios.3 Over a century later A. Akarça, who treated the Mylasian coinage in extenso, made a similar error, taking Stratios and Labraundos to be distinct deities.4 The remarks which follow are directed in part toward unravelling this confusion and proper identification of the reverse types.
Zeus Labraundos or Stratios
The epithet Labraundos, and the name of the precinct in which the god's worship was centered, probably derive from the labrys or double axe carried by this and other Carian deities.6 The god's xoanon still existed in Strabo's day;6 it included the double axe, which may have dated back as far as Gyges.7 In addition Aelian8 mentions a xiphos, but it seems safer to trust numismatic representations, which uniformly show a long spear in the god's left hand.
The double axe appears on the coinage of Cassander's general Eupolemus, the earliest which can be assigned to Mylasa, and is a regular type thereafter.9 The god himself is shown walking right on tetradrachms of the third or (less probably) second century B.C., and his cult image appears on Augustan issues.10 The type is repeated under Titus; thereafter it disappears until Antoninus Pius.11
A. Laumonier has presented a thorough discussion of the development of reproductions of Labraundos, and his remarks may be usefully summarized. Under the influence of the trend toward Hellenism and perhaps an actual cult image fashioned in the early days of Hecatomnus (Carian satrap in 390 B.C.), early coins show the god in profile, carrying the double axe over his shoulder. Bearded and crowned with laurel, the god wore a long chiton and himation. Not until the empire did Hellenism give way to archaism; portrayals of the god then begin to resemble the xoanon. A polos is added, and sometimes breasts appear; fillets hang to the ground. But variations in detail show that the archaistic vogue still did not lead to direct imitation of the xoanon. Laumonier remarks:12
Le Cariens du II e siècle de notre ère ne semblent pas très bien savoir quel modèle suivre pour représenter leur xoanon, comme si l'idole du bois connue de Strabon était perdue ou détériorée au point d'être méconnaissable, ce qui paraît assez vraisemblable; ils semblent travailler d'imagination, s'inspirant d'abord, et de moins et moins, d'une statue de type classique, puis de la tradition et des xoana d'Artémis fréquents autour de la Lydie et même en Carie.
The cistophori show similar variation in detail: Zeus's axe, for example is rounded on reverse dies 1 and 2, but long and thin (in keeping with the portrayal on bronzes) on dies 3-5.
Zeus Osogoa
Osogoa, or Zenoposeidon,13 is a fusion of the sea god with Zeus. Originally Osogoa was merely a local divinity, associated with the Mylasian tribe Otorkondeis;14 but by the fourth century he had been hellenized, and his cult flourished beside that of Labraundos.15
The god's image, for which coins are the only evidence, is a simple visual expression of the fusion of Zeus and Poseidon. The bearded god stands draped, usually facing right, and holds Poseidon's trident in one hand and the eagle of Zeus in the other.
The theme is simple, variations in portrayal few, and it is impossible to determine whether or how closely numismatic representations are patterned after a cult image. Laumonier notes that the cistophoric reverse shows slight traces of a xoanon in the rigid posture and the extended left arm, but the drapery is not archaic in form, and Asian deities from all periods hold various attributes in one or both extended hands.
Mylasian coin types of all periods make reference to Osogoa. His trident appears on early tetradrachms of local type;16 his head appears in the Hellenistic period and under the empire to Hadrian.17 The cistophoric reverse is similar to the earliest issues and to a bronze of the reign of Domitian; after Hadrian only the standing type is used to represent Osogoa.18
Zeus Karios
There is far from universal agreement regarding the identity of the third deity appearing on Hadrian's Mylasian cistophori. Akarça19 calls him Zeus Stratios; A. B. Cook regarded him as a complete fusion of Osogoa and Stratios.20 Herzfelder preferred to see here the Zeus Karios mentioned by Strabo, but advanced no arguments in support of this identification.21
It is easiest to dispose of Akarça's identification of the god as Stratios; this view is refuted by Strabo's account, which states explicitly that Stratios and Labraundos are one and the same god. The identification of Labraundos as the axe-wielding deity portrayed on nos. 37-38 is beyond dispute. Akarça was led into this error by her assumption that a Zeus "Stratios"—"of the battlefield"—must appear in military attire. Yet Labraundos, though not in martial costume, carries an axe and a spear, and the erection of his statue followed a military victory by Gyges and Arselis.22
It is harder to conclusively dismiss Cook's "fusion" theory, but it may be noted that the evidence in support of it is far from compelling. Cook remarked,23 "The god confronting us is marked as Zeus by his eagle and globe (?), as Osogoa by his crab, as Stratios by his spear and shield."
Cook made the same assumption as Akarça, viz. that military garb is implied by the epithet Stratios. But the god appears fully draped and carries no shield, so that any fusion of Stratios' attributes with those of the present deity is most indirect. And even if the fusion theory is correct, there is no reason why the deity thus produced could not bear the epithet Karios.
Herzfelder's unargued hypothesis that the god is actually Karios has the weight of probability in its favor. Strabo mentions the worship of Zeus in three aspects at Mylasa; three effigies of Zeus are found on the city's cistophori. Labraundos and Osogoa can be identified with certainty, and the inference that the third god is Karios is natural and safe.
The close die linkage of these coins and the certain reference of their types led Herzfelder to begin his discussion of the cistophori with the mint of Mylasa; along with Miletus, it presents the most compact picture we have of one of Hadrian's mints. Herzfelder also asserted that all the dies of Mylasa were produced by a single engraver, but two hands may be distinguished. One produced obverse dies nos. 1, 5, 6, and 7, with their flat, undistinguished portraits, the emperor's neck long and straight, and the bust-line cut rather tentatively and without much skill. Obverse dies 2-4 have a much more handsome head with fuller bust, and a graceful truncation, The hair is rendered with regularity: there are two curving rows of curls at the temples and over the forehead. The emperor's nose and chin are more prominent, and the engraver attempted to articulate skin folds in the neck.
The lettering for both groups of obverses may, however, have been cut by the same man. The angles are narrow on those letters with diagonal strokes: A, N and V are rendered Λ, N , V. The S is composed of three virtually straight strokes, S, and the opening of the P is very small.
The axis of the cistophori of Mylasa is regularly ↑ ↓, with only slight deviations. All known coins of the mint are overstruck.
1 |
Strabo 14.23, C. 659.
|
2 |
Strabo seems to be alone in using the term. Λαβϱανδηνόν or a variant is found elsewhere. See RE 12, s.v. "Labraundos," col. 277 (Ganszyniec).
|
3 |
Pinder, p. 621.
|
4 |
A. Akarça, Les monnaies grecques de Mylasa, Bibliothèque archéologique et historique de
l'institut français d'archéologie d'Istanbul 1 (Paris, 1959), pp. 50-51, 59-60.
|
5 |
On the religious significance of the axe see Laumonier, Cultes, pp. 88-95.
|
6 |
Strabo 14.34, C 659.
|
7 |
Plut. QGr. 45, 301 F.
|
8 |
Ael. HA 12.30.
|
9 |
Akarça, p. 102, no. 2.
|
10 |
Akarça, p. 57, no. 9; p. 58, no. 14.
|
11 |
Akarça, p. 70, no. 52; p. 73, no. 64.
|
12 |
Laumonier, Cultes, pp. 65-66.
|
13 |
The identity of Osogoa and Zenoposeidon is assured by inscriptions enumerated by J. Schaeffer, De love apud Cares
culto (Diss. Halle, 1912) and repeated by Cook,
Zeus
2, p. 578, n. 4.
|
14 |
Schaeffer (above, n. 13), p. 390; Cook,
Zeus
2, pp. 579-80.
|
15 |
Laumonier, Cultes, p. 109.
|
16 |
Akarça, p. 56, no. 6.
|
17 |
Akarça, p. 60, no. 20; pp. 67-68, nos. 40-42.
|
18 |
Akarça, p. 73, no. 66 (Antoninus Pius); p. 76, no. 73, and p. 77, no. 77 (Septimius Severus); p. 80, no. 87 (Caracalla and
Geta); p. 82, no. 94 (Elagabalus); p. 84, no. 102
(Philip I and II).
|
19 |
Akarça, p. 50.
|
20 |
Cook,
Zeus
2, p. 576.
|
21 |
Herzfelder, p. 7.
|
22 |
Plut. QGr. 45, 301 F.
|
23 |
Cook,
Zeus
2, p. 578. What he calls a "globe" is in fact a short pedestal on which the eagle stands.
|
43. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Rape of Persephone. Hades with Persephone in fast quadriga moving r.; beneath, overturned flower basket. |
SNGuonAulock 6628
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
193* | 1 | 1 | 10.17 | Traces on rev. | von Aulock (SNG 6628) |
1 coin, overstruck
1 die combination
1 obverse die
1 reverse die
Stylistic and typological considerations suggest the attribution of this unique coin, only recently published, to Nysa in Lydia.
The style of the piece is highly individual. Lettering is clumsy on the obverse; on the reverse the disposition of the legend (at 12 and 4 o'clock) is a departure from the familiar 9 and 3 o'clock pattern. The thick neck and broad head, bulging at the rear, are found on no other cistophoric dies. Thus it is likely that this coin stands alone, the sole surviving evidence for yet another cistophoric mint.
Nysa ad Maeandrum has far the strongest claim to that mint. According to Homer, the abduction of Persephone took place somewhere in the Nύσιον πέδιον. 1 It mattered little that Lydian Nysa was a fourth century foundation; a cult of the underworld grew up there. The town had a Plutonium,2 and in later times a festival called the Theogamia celebrated the abduction itself.3
The prominence of the cult heavily influenced the content of Nysa's coinage. The city's earliest issues, the Greek cistophori, reflect its presence by the use of Kore as a symbol;4 other early coins portray Persephone's flower basket and grain stalks5 and the head of Hades.6 During the second century the rape scene itself is introduced as a type; Hades is shown clutching his prisoner and escaping in a quadriga.7 The type appears sporadically at several cities, mainly in Lydia,8 but is closely associated with none; it is a regular feature of Nysa's imperial bronze coinage well into the third century.9
Obviously the identification of a mint on the evidence of a single coin involves a certain element of risk, but the numismatic evidence seems to point to Nysa; the city, though not a conventus center, was an important one, and had a long tradition of coinage. A cistophoric mint would have been completely appropriate.
1 |
Horn. ft. Cer. 16f. This location is also suggested by Pliny NH 5. 108; Ptolem. 5.2.18;
Schol. Horn. Il. 6.133; Orph. Fr. 40, 69 Kern. Nysa's claim to have been the site of the
abduction was by no means uncontested: cf. RE 19, s.v. "Persephone," cols. 951-52 (Bräuninger).
|
2 |
Strabo 14.1.44, 650 C; 12.8.17, 579 C.
|
3 |
K. Regling, "Überblick über die Münzen von Nysa," in Nysa ad Maeandrum, JDAI
Ergänzungsheft 10 (Berlin 1913), pp. 70-103, nos. 177, 185 (hereafter Regling).
|
4 |
Regling, p. 7.
|
5 |
Regling, p. 11.
|
6 |
Regling 25.
|
7 |
BMCLydia pp. 172-73, nos. 15-17.
|
8 |
The type is found at Enna in Sicily, Gyzicus, and Elaea in Aeolis; Magnesia ad Maeandrum in Ionia, where it also appeared
on the coinage of
the League of Thirteen Cities; at Mazydus in Pamphylia, Casae and Syedra in Cilicia, Hierapolis in Phrygia, Ptolemais-Ace
in Phoenicia, Sebaste Samariae, and Alexandria in Egypt. Lydian occurrences are as follows (with references to the earliest
in each city):
Aninetus (Imhoof-Blumer, "Zur Münzkunde Kleinasiens," SNR 1896,
p. 6, no. 6 = Monnaies Grecques [Amsterdam, 1883], p. 470, no.
74, Augustus); Gordus Julia (BMC Lydia, p. 93, no. 23, M. Aurelius); Hermocarpelia BMCLydia, p. 101, no. 19, Trebonianus Gallus); Hyrcanis (Hunter 2, p. 454, no. 1, Commodus);
Maeonia (SNGvonAulock 3018, M. Aurelius); Tomaris (BMCLydia, p.
325, no. 3, Commodus); Tralles (BMCLydia, p. 355, no. 169, Gordian III); and Sardis (SNGCopLydia 525,
Vespasian).
|
9 |
Regling (above, n. 3) noted the following occurrences at Nysa during the imperial period: nos. 54 (Augustus and Livia), 60
(Nero), 64 (Domitian), 46 (time of Antoninus), 87
(M. Aurelius), 99 (Faustina junior), 108 (L. Verus), 119
(Julia Domna), 122 (Caracalla), 155 (Maximus).
|
44. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III l. and r. in field SARD inwardly in exergue |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Tetrastyle temple on podium of three steps; within, cult image of Kore. Grain stalk on l., poppy and grain stalk on r. |
BMCRE, p. 392 †; RIC 522; Cohen 280; Pinder 77, pl. 8, 4; Herzfelder, p. 9, pl. 1, 10.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
194* | 1 | 1 | 10.20 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | Munich |
45. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III, but see reverse die no. 3 | ||||
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Demeter veiled, advancing r., holding grain stalk in r. and transverse sceptre in l.; star in upper r. field. |
BMCRE 1078 bis, p. 385 t; RIC 486; Cohen 321; Herzfelder, p. 10, pl. 1, 11.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
195* | 1 | 2 | Obv. on obv. Antonius | Herzfelder, pl. 1, 11. (ex Trau coll.) | ||
196* | 2 | 3 | 7.12 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | London |
197* | 3 | 2 | 10.58 | ↓ | Traces | ANS |
198 | 3 | 4 | Traces (of snakes?) on rev. | Turin |
46. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Demeter as on no. 45 but no star in field. |
BMCRE, p. 385 † n.; RIC 486; Cohen 322.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
199* | 3 | 5 | 10.50 | ↑ | Traces of wreath on obv. | Berlin |
200* | 4 | 6 | 10.58 | ↓ | Boston = NCirc. March 1965, 1612 |
201* | 5 | 7 | 9.85 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | Munich |
202* | 6 | 8 | 10.59 | ↗ | Obv. on rev. Antonius | ANS = Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 668 = R. Ratto, 4 Apr. 1927, 2415 |
47. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Cult image of Kore facing, wearing high headdress with plume, stiff robe falling to feet, and veil draped over wrists; grain stalks at l., grain stalk and poppy at r. |
BMCRE 1075, pl. 73,10; RIC 510; Cohen 279; Pinder 76, pl. 8, 3; Herzfelder, p. 9, pl. 1, 9.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
203* | 6 | 9 | 10.12 | ↑ | Traces | Munich |
204* | 7 | 10 | 9.96 | Santamaría, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 667 = Schulman, 5 March 1923 (Vierordt), 1291 | ||
205* | 8 | 11 | 10.83 | ↓ | Traces on rev. | ANS |
206* | 8 | 12 | 10.57 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 13 | Oxford = Hess, 22 May 1935 (Trau), 1102 |
207* | 9 | 13 | 11.09 | ↙ | Traces | Hess-Leu, 16 Apr. 1957, 361 |
208* | 9 | 14 | 10.36 | ↓ | Traces | London |
209* | 10 | 15 | 9.55 | ↙ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | Berlin |
210* | 10 | 16 | On Antonius | Münzhandlung Basel 10, 15 March 1938, 607 | ||
211* | 10 | 17 | Traces | Dorotheum, 12 May 1960 (Hollschek 11), 539 | ||
212* | 10 | 18 | 9.67 | ↑ | Obv. on rev. Augustus | Munich |
213* | 11 | 19 | 10.65 | ↙ | Obv. on rev. Augustus | Vienna |
214* | 11 | 20 | 10.47 | Obv. on rev. Augustus | Paris | |
215* | 11 | 21 | Münzen und Medaillen FPL 281, Oct. 1967, 38 | |||
216* | 12 | 22 | 10.19 | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 11 | Leu-Münzen und Medaillen, 2 Nov. 1967 (Niggeler 3), 1260 | |
217* | 13 | 23 | Traces | Kress 92, 31 March 1952, 616 | ||
218* | 14 | 24 | 10.52 | Obv. on obv. Augustus, wreath rev. | Vienna |
25 coins, 23 certainly overstruck
25 die combinations
14 obverse dies
24 reverse dies
The following types are here assigned to Sardis.
Kore in Temple 1
Kore's temple is shown in typical cistophoric fashion: tetrastyle (no doubt an abbreviation of a hexastyle or octastyle façade) with the central intercolumniation widened to allow portrayal of the goddess and hence easy identification of the temple. This is its first appearance on the Sardian coinage, and also the only portrayal of it with a conventional straight lintel: later Greek imperials show an arcuated lintel,2 and this led B. L. Trell 3 (who identified the temple with the Artemision) to postulate a reconstruction of the façade before the time of Caracalla. More likely the use of the arcuation was simply a device to permit a larger depiction of the goddess.
Kore
Hadrian's cistophori mark the first numismatic appearance of the conical Sardian goddess who later appeared frequently on the city's bronze coinage.4 Her statue is veiled and completely draped; only her feet are visible. The edges of the veil seem to pass over her forearms and hang stiffly to the ground. The goddess wears a heavy collar with several large, round ornaments; they may represent breasts. Her head is surmounted by a kalathos; its most distinctive feature is an amorphous face. The bulging eyes found on cistophori are not paralleled by usage on bronze.
Her attributes, poppy and grain stalks, identify the goddess as Kore: the identification is confirmed by a bronze from the time of Caracalla which shows the goddess and bears the inscription KOPAIA AKTIA,5 and further assured by two inscriptions from Rome which mention a Sardian Kore and were accompanied by her statue.6
Kore's prominence on the imperial bronze coinage of Sardis would seem to imply that she was the city's leading deity, at least during this period. Yet her temple has not been found, and no further evidence from Sardis itself mentions her cult. Archaeological discoveries further complicate the question. In the early 1900s, a team of Americans excavated the huge "Temple of Sardis," as it was then called. A long legal document from the third century B.C. inscribed on a wall of the temple's treasury shows that the temple was dedicated not to Kore but to Artemis.7 The excavations also yielded inscribed objects of all periods dedicated to Artemis.8
The size of her temple and apparent prosperity of her cult make it difficult to account for Artemis' absence from the coinage of Sardis, and to believe that her cult was surpassed by that of Kore. It is tempting to conflate the evidence and assume that the two goddesses were assimilated into one at Sardis, and indeed this is the approach adopted by G. Radet 9 and L. Lacroix.10
An alternative has recently been offered by G. M. A. Hanfmann and M. S. Balmuth.11 Understanding Kore and Artemis as separate divinities, they suggest that Kore was a hellenized goddess of native Anatolian origin; her image may have dated from the seventh century B.C. She was soon overshadowed by Cybele and Artemis, but continued to be worshiped in rites which may have had special importance for youths. Her sudden re-emergence in the second century A.D. may be attributed to the historical and antiquarian renaissance of the period.12
Demeter
There is no consensus regarding the identity of the second goddess appearing on the Sardian cistophori. She was generally known as Ceres during the nineteenth century; then Imhoof-Blumer compared similar figures from Maeonia, Sardis, and Tiberiopolis, and concluded that she might be Hera.13 Head identified similar figures as Hestia.14 Herzfelder, noting that on some specimens a star appears in upper right field, observed a similar star on bronzes portraying Kore, and concluded that this is simply the same goddess "modernized and adapted to Greco-Roman standards."15 This is in fact unsound, since there is no necessary connection between the stars; they are found with a large number of Asiatic deities.16
On two particularly well preserved specimens in the American Numismatic Society (nos. 197, 202) it is clear that the goddess holds a stalk of grain. This rules out identification with Hera or Hestia, and suggests instead Demeter or Kore. The choice between the two is not easily made, but a bronze of Antoninus Pius seems to tip the scales in favor of Demeter.17 The coin shows the goddess facing left; according to Head, she is "standing before an open chasm into which she thrusts a long flaming torch." The chasm—representing the entrance to the underworld—and the serpent above it are lacking on the cistophorus, and the goddess faces left instead of right, but the similarity in dress, attributes and posture is too striking to be accidental.
Demeter appears in more conventional form on the coinage of Sardis;18 her connection with the city will have been peripheral at worst (as mother of Kore) and she may have had a temple there.
The mint of Sardis is identified by the types employed on its products and by the mint mark SARD which appears on the temple reverse type. All reverse types are linked in a chain, as follows:
Type | 3-4/>Obv. dies | Specimens | ||
Kore in temple | 1 | (shared) | 1 | |
[ | Demeter with star | 3 | (2 shared) | 4 |
[ | Demeter without star | 4 | (2 shared) | 4 |
[ | Kore | 9 | (1 shared) | 16 |
14 | 25 |
The fact that each reverse type is linked to one and only one other seems to suggest a simple mint structure with types being produced in succession rather than concurrently. No deterioration in the linking dies, which might indicate the chronological relationship among the types, can be observed.
A single hand appears to have produced all the obverses. The heads are uniform in size and shape, and finer details are consistent. The hair is rendered with large, thick curls; Hadrian's forelock is longer and heavier than usual. The bustline is characterized by a conspicuous bulge , far more pronounced than that observed on other cistophori. The engraver cut rather short letters with large serifs; similar though larger lettering on reverses suggests that he produced them as well. Exceptions may be noted in the Demeter group, where reverse dies 3 and 7 were produced by a much less skilled hand. Demeter is large and cut in lower relief, and the lettering is thin and tentative. On reverse die no. 3 the order of the consular iteration is reversed: .
Axes are vertical, ↑ ↑ or ↑ ↓, with only slight variations; 23 of the 25 known Sardian pieces show traces of overstriking.
1 |
For the identification of the goddess see below.
|
2 |
SNGCopLydia 532 (Caracalla); BMCLydia,
p. 265, no. 171 (Elagabalus). For a coin of Marcus Aurelius see n. 3 below.
|
3 |
B. L. Trell, The Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, ANSNNM 107 (NEW YORK, 1945), pp. 46-48. She defined the arcuated lintel as one of those details "outside the norm" which
reflect
the actual appearance of a temple: it would not have been added simply to follow a current fashion. Apparently she never questioned
the
fact that the temple on Sardian coins might not be the Artemision, which is known to have had a straight lintel at one time;
thus the
occurrence of an arcuated lintel on coins of Caracalla forced her to the conclusion that sometime between the reigns of Hadrian
and
Caracalla the façade of the temple was altered. She cited archaeological evidence for a reconstruction of the temple in the
late second and
early third centuries.
Trell left out of account a coin of M. Aurelius Caesar struck by the Ionian League which shows a conical goddess in a hexastyle temple with arcuated lintel. Because of the absence of poppy and grain stalks and the presence of a crescent upon the figure's calathos, Imhoof-Blumer, who published the coin ("Beiträge zur erklärung griechischcr Münztypen," Nomisma 8 [1913], p. 3, no. 8), was reluctant to identify the goddess portrayed as Kore and preferred to call her Artemis Panionios; Lacroix (Reproductions, p. 166) has shown that Imhoof was over-cautious, and that the goddess is indeed Kore. The consequence for Trell is that the supposed reconstruction of the façade, far from belonging to the late second or early third century, must have taken place between 128 (the terminus post quem for the cistophorus, which bears the title P[ater] P[atriae]), and 161, when Aurelius became Augustus. For this there is no archaeological evidence; given the inherent unlikelihood of alteration of a classical temple by substitution of the orientalizing arcuated lintel, it seems best to admit that numismatic representations of temples are not always faithful and take the view adopted here. See further T. Drew-Bear, "Representations of Temples on the Greek Imperial Coinage," ANSMN 19 (1974), pp. 27-63; M. J. Price and B. L. Trell, Coins and Their Cities. Architecture on the Ancient Coins of Greece, Rome and Palestine (London/Detroit, 1977/1978), p. 19. |
4 |
For her appearance in temples, see above notes 2 and 3. The goddess stands alone on bronzes of Commodus (BMCLydia,
p. 259, no. 145); Julia Domna (BMCLydia, p. 260, no. 149 and SNG vonAulock 8256); Caracalla
(Weber 3, 6912) and Salonina (SNGCopLydia 543-44). She appears on the coinage of five
other Lydian cities: Daldis (BMCLydia, pp. 69, no. 3; 72, nos. 15-16; 73, no. 19, Severans-Gallienus); Gordus
Iulia. (BMCLydia, p. 93, nos. 24-25, M. Aurelius); Maeonia (BMCLydia, p. 134, no. 48, Caracalla; SNGvonAulock 3022, Geta Caesar; BMCLydia, p.
130, nos. 26-27, "Time of Trajan Decius"); Silandus (BMCLydia, p. 297, no. 5, Antonines; SNGvonAulock 3174, Lucilla); and Tmolus (BMCLydia, p. 324, no. 6).
|
5 |
Mionnet, 4, p. 132, no. 754; Suppl. 7, p. 428, no. 510. See also Hunter 2, p. 466, nos. 23 (Julia Domna), 26 (Severus
Alexander).
|
6 |
IG XIV (Berlin, 1890), 1008, 1009; see L.
Robert, "Notes de numismatique et d'épigraphie grecques," RA 1934. 1 p. 59, n. 6.
|
7 |
W. H. Buckler and D. M. Robinson, "Greek Inscriptions from Sardis II," AJA 1912, pp. 11-82, and the abbreviated discussion in W. H. Buckler and D. M. Robinson, Sardis, vol. 7, pt. 1: Greek and Latin Inscriptions (Leiden, 1932), pp. 1-5.
|
8 |
Sardis 7 (above, n. 7), nos. 8, 50, 52, 55, 85, 87, 88, 91-93, 177, 193.
|
9 |
G. Radet, Cybebé. Étude sur les transformations plastiques d'une type divin, Bibliothèque
des universités du Midi 3 (Bordeaux, 1909), pp. 96-97.
|
10 |
Lacroix, Reproductions, p. 166.
|
11 |
G. M. A. Hanfmann and M. S. Balmuth, "The Image of an Anatolian Goddess at Sardis," Jahrbuch für kleinasialische Forschung 2 (Heidelberg, 1965),
pp. 261-69.
|
12 |
Trell's view, that the temple in question is the Artemision, would of course support a theory of fusion between Artemis and
Kore; but for
the reasons outlined in n. 3 above I regard that view as untenable.
|
13 | |
14 |
For example, on a coin of Maeonia, BMCLydia, p. 132, no. 37.
|
15 |
Herzfelder, p. 10.
|
16 |
See H. Seyrig, "Antiquités Syriennes, 4. Monuments syriens du culte de Némésis," Syria
1932, p. 55, n. 7.
|
17 |
BMCLydia, p. 257, no. 138; for a better preserved specimen, SNGCopLydia 257.
|
18 |
For example, BMCLydia, pp. 254, no. 125 (Octavia Neronis); 256, no. 130 (Nerva); 259, no. 147 (Julia
Domna); SNGvonAulock 3164 (Valerian, with Kore); 3165
(Salonina).
|
48. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Apollo naked standing front facing l. holding double axe in extended r. and grain stalks downward in l. |
BMCRE, p. 385* n.; Herzfelder, p. 22, pl. 6, 3.
Cat. | Obo. | Reo. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
219* | 1 | 1 | 10.55 | ↓ | Traces | Berlin |
1 coin, overstruck
1 die combination
1 obverse die
1 reverse die
The deity portrayed here with double axe and grain stalks is Apollo Tyrimnaios, who was worshiped chiefly at Thyateira in Lydia. The god, who fused characteristics of Apollo and Helios, had a sanctuary outside the city1 and was called πϱοπάτωϱ Θεός.2
Tyrimnaios is represented or symbolized frequently on the coinage of Thyateira. His head appears with reverse double axe in Seleucid times,3 and the axe is again used as a reverse type under Nero.4 The god appears standing as here in the time of Trajan and later,5 and is also portrayed on horseback.6 Imhoof-Blumer noted the appearance of the god at Hypaepa in Lydia, but that single coin is the only evidence for his worship outside Thyateira.7 The very extensive and almost exclusive connection of Tyrimnaios with Thyateira confirms Herzfelder's hypothesis of a mint there.8
The single known Thyateiran piece is of generally good style, but the portrait is rather weak. Hadrian's neck is too long, and the forehead proceeds directly into the nose. The eye seems to stare out at the viewer, and the neck truncation is uncertain. Letters have thick strokes, and are regular and well-shaped. The reverse figure is gracefully rendered and fills the field well: the legend is bunched around the border and the lettering resembles that of the obverse. Altogether the dies appear to be the work of a single engraver of moderate skill whose style is unlike that observed at other cistophoric mints.
1 |
RE 7A, s.v. "Tyrimnos," cols. 1867-68 (J. Schmidt).
|
2 |
CIG 3497.
|
3 |
BMCLydia, p. 292, nos. 4-7.
|
4 |
BMCLydia, p. 293, nos. 8-9; p. 302, nos. 58-64; p. 303, no. 68.
|
5 |
BMCLydia, p. 294, no. 14 (Trajan or Hadrian); p. 303, no. 72
(Hadrian); p. 314, no. 99 (Julia Soaemias); p.
318, no. 137 (Maximinus); p. 319, no. 141 (Gallienus, with Artemis Ephesia).
|
6 |
BMCLydia, p. 294, no. 15 (Trajan or Hadrian); p. 308, no. 89
(Septimius Severus); p. 315, no. 122 (Severus
Alexander).
|
7 |
Imhoof-Blumer, Münzkunde, p. 12 (= SNR 1905, p. 172).
|
8 |
Herzfelder, p. 22.
|
49. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, cuirassed, bare r. | Zeus naked to waist standing l., holding eagle in outstretched r. and sceptre vertically in 1. |
BMCRE 1066 note; Herzfelder, p. 19, pl. 5, 2.
Cat. | Obv. | Reo. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
220* | 1 | 1 | 10.16 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 11 | ANS = B. Ratto FPL, 1931, 56 = Naville 12, 18 Oct. 1926, 2851 |
221* | 2 | 2 | 10.88 | ↓ | Traces on rev. | Hess-Leu 28, 5 May 1965, 412 |
222* | 3 | 3 | Traces on rev. | Hess, 22 May 1935 (Trau), 1097 | ||
223a* | 4 | 4 | 10.88 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | Brussels |
223b* | 4 | 4 | Traces on rev. | Kress, 31 March 1952, 615 | ||
224* | 5 | 5 | 10.70 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, temple rev. | Vienna = Bachofen von Echt 1182 |
225* | 6 | 6 | 9.91 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | ANS |
50. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare r. | Zeus as on no. 49. |
BMCRE 1065, pl. 72,12; RIC 497 note.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
226* | 1 | 7 | 9.30 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | London |
227* | 7 | 8 | 9.57 | Traces | Hirsch 48, 22 June 1966, 441 | |
228* | 8 | 9 | 8.88 gouged | ↙ | Traces | ANS |
229* | 9 | 10 | 10.93 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | Boston = Glendining, 27 Sept. 1962 (Woodward), 302 = Batto, 12 May 1925, 1132 |
230* | 10 | 11 | 8.58 | Santamaría, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 673 |
231* | 11 | 12 | Müller 14, 31 Jan. 1975, 142 |
13 coins, 11 certainly overstruck
12 die combinations
11 obverse dies
12 reverse dies
Neither Pinder nor Cohen distinguished the half-draped figure with protruding belly holding eagle and sceptre from the Zeus of Laodicea; it was left for Herzfelder to point to a similar god on the imperial coins of Aezani, and to postulate a small cistophoric mint in the city. The god appears frequently on Aezinetan coins from Augustus to Gallienus;1 a sizable temple of Hadrianic date was dedicated to him, and may have replaced an earlier one.2
The low ratio of specimens to dies, and the infrequency of die linkage, may indicate that the output of the Aezinetan mint was somewhat larger than the number of surviving specimens would suggest. But the mint certainly employed only a single engraver: he cut uniformly broad heads with large noses and thick necks; his lettering is crude but consistent throughout; and his renderings of Zeus are uniformly clumsy.
1 |
See BMCPhrygia, p. 30, nos. 50-54 (Augustus); pp. 31, nos.
58-59, 32, nos. 62-67, 33, nos. 69-70 (Caligula); pp. 33ff., nos. 73-90 (Claudius); p.
38, no. 108 (Antoninus Pius); p. 39, no. 113 (in temple, M.
Aurelius); p. 39, no. 110 (Commodus); p. 41, no. 129 (Severus Alexander); p. 42, no. 132 (Gallienus).
|
2 |
On the temple see H. Weber, "Der Zeus-Tempel von Aezani—ein
hellenistisches Heiligtum der Kaiserzeit," MDAI(A) 1969, pp. 182ff. Once thought to be Hellenistic, its date was
established by A. Körte, "Das Alter des Zeustempels von
Aizanoi," in Festschrift für Otto Benndorf (Berlin, 1898), pp.
209-14. The temple contained four inscriptions regarding a grant of land and Hadrian's adjudication of a dispute over it:
G. Iacopi, "Note anatoliche," Bulletino del Museo deli Impero Romano 9, in BCAR 66 (1938), pp. 44-48.
|
51. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. | Apollo naked standing half-l, holding raven in extended r., double axe in l.; chlamys hangs from l. arm. |
BMCRE 1065 note; RIC 498; Pinder 50, pl. 7, 3; Herzfelder, p. 20, pl. 5, 7. All references except Herzfelder identify the deity as Jupiter or Zeus.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
232* | 1 | 1 | 11.00 | ↙ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 12 | Vienna |
52. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. | Legionary eagle between two standards with vexilla. |
BMCRE 1081, pl. 74, 4; RIC 517 (b); Pinder 93, pl. 6, 18; Cohen 453; Herzfelder, p. 24, pl. 5, 8.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
233a* | 1 | 2 | 10.92 | ↑ | Obv. on rev. Augustus | London |
233b | 1 | 2 | 10.27 | Traces | Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 674 |
3 coins, all overstruck
2 die combinations
1 obverse die
2 reverse dies
The products of another Phrygian mint survive in only three specimens, all from a single obverse die. The types are the legionary eagle and standards and a naked male deity holding double axe and raven. The axe, an attribute of many archaic Asian deities, is here employed as an attribute of Apollo, who is identifiable through the raven.1
Herzfelder noted that a similar figure appears on the imperial coinage of Eumeneia,2 and suggested that town as the mint which produced this small issue. That attribution is perhaps confirmed by the legionary type, which may have reference to a garrison which was stationed in the town during the reign of Hadrian.3
1 | |
2 |
BMCPhrygia, p. 217, nos. 41-43 (Nero); p. 218, nos. 47-48 (Domitian). The double axe is employed as a reverse type under Nero (BMCPhrygia, p. 216, no. 40) and, entwined by serpents, as a countermark (pp. 217, nos. 42-43, and 218, no. 49). It is not certain
that the god should be identified as "Lairbenos": he appears at Hierapolis with a radiate crown, which does not occur either
on the
cistophorus or on Eumeneia's bronze coinage (BMCPhrygia, pp. 236-38, nos. 54-66).
|
3 |
E. Ritterling, "Military Forces in the Senatorial Provinces," JRS 1927, pp. 28-32,
|
53. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. | Laureate Apollo wearing the robe of a citharoedus, standing front holding plectrum in r. and lyre in 1. |
BMCRE 1054, pl. 72, 3, 1055; RIC 482; Cohen 285 (omitting P P in error); Pinder 61, pl. 7, 14; Herzfelder, p. 19, pl. 5, 3.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference | |
234* | 1 | 1 | 10.28 | ↓ | London | ||
235* | 2 | 2 | 10.36 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 10. | ANS = B. Batto FPL, 1931, 58 | |
236* | 3 | 3 | 9.8 | Hess, 7 March 1935, 492 = Ball 6, 9 Feb. 1932, 1296 | |||
237 | 3 | 4 | 10.60 | Traces | Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 670 | ||
238* | 4 | 5 | 10.19 | pierced | Traces | Copenhagen (SNG 446) | |
239* | 5 | 6 | 11.08 | Traces | von Aulock (SNG 6617) | ||
240* | 6 | 7 | Traces | Dorotheum 12 May 1960 (Hollschek 11), 540 | |||
241* | 6 | 8 | 10.82 | Hirsch 24, 10 May 1909, 1393 | |||
242* | 7 | 9 | 10.11 | ↗ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | Boston = Hesperia Art Bull. 26, 86 | |
243* | 8 | 10 | 10.60 | ↙ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | Vienna | |
244* | 8 | 11 | Obv. on rev. Augustus, rev. wreath | G. Hirsch 87, 1 Apr. 1974, 631 | |||
245a* | 8 | 12 | 10.63 | ↙ | Obv. on rev. Antonius, CRR 1197 | Vienna | |
245b | 8 | 12 | Obv. on rev. Augustus, RIC 13 | J. Schulman FPL 206, 1975, 57 | |||
246* | 9 | 13 | 10.11 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | Munich | |
247* | 10 | 14 | 10.67 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | The Hague | |
248* | 11 | 15 | 9.79 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Antonius, CRR 1198 | Paris | |
249* | 12 | 16 | 10.08 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | London | |
250* | 13 | 17 | 10.65 | ↓ | Traces | Hoffer coll. | |
251* | 14 | 18 | Obv. on rev. Antonius | Vatican | |||
252* | 15 | 19 | 10.30 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | Bern | |
253* | 16 | 20 | Traces | Leningrad |
54. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. | Men in Phrygian cap, crescent behind shoulders, standing half-1, holding patera in extended r. and sceptre vertically in 1. |
BMCRE 1070, pl. 73, 3; RIC 502; Cohen 327; Pinder 64, pl. 7, 17; Herzfelder, p. 20, pl. 5, 4.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
254* | 17 | 21 | 10.63 | ↓ | On Augustus, RIC 11 | London |
55. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS PP | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. | Beclining river god, naked to waist, holding reed and sceptre and resting l. elbow on rock from which waters gush below. |
BMCRE 1078, pl. 74, 1; 1078 note, pl. 74, 2 = p. 389*; RIC 513; Cohen 357; Pinder 65, pl. 7, 18; Herzfelder, p. 20, pl. 5, 5.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
255* | 18 | 22 | 10.24 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | London |
256* | 19 | 23 | 10.13 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Antonius | Paris = BMCRE, pl. 74, 2 |
24 coins, 21 certainly overstruck
23 die combinations
19 obverse dies
23 reverse dies
Though they have no common obverse dies, the common origin of these three types is indicated by strong stylistic affinities.1 For example, the emperor's portrait is characterized by a beard which curves low on the cheek and thus gives unnatural prominence to the cheekbone. Hair is arranged in neat, regular rows of tight curls. Lettering is consistent throughout: letters are wide and have thick strokes, and the engraver had obvious problems rendering G and S. Little planning preceded the execution of the obverse legend: on two dies (nos. 1 and 10) the final P had to be crowded into space available, and runs against the beginning of HADRIANVS. Similarities between the Men and Apollo reverses also point to common origin: the same method is used to depict falling drapery, , and the identical disposition of the legend, with its splayed C and small O, indicates that all the reverses were the work of a single hand.
The types point to Hierapolis as the mint for this group.
Apollo with Lyre 2
Apollo was the archegetes of Hierapolis, and was the city's most prominent deity from earliest times.3 He had a large sanctuary, and dedications to him are common.4
The god's head appears on the city's bronze coinage during the second century B.C;5 there is some dispute concerning the date of the first appearance of Apollo with lyre. Weber6 would put it among the earliest issues of the town, i. e. in the second century B. C.; Head7 preferred a first century date. In any case the type was traditional by the time of Hadrian, and the god regularly represented Hierapolis on alliance issues.8
Mēn
The Asiatic lunar deity Men is represented in various ways on the coinage of many cities.9 Here he is portrayed in "Phrygian" costume, wearing chiton, trousers, and boots; his chlamys falls down behind. He has a crescent behind his shoulders, and holds a patera and sceptre. The portrayal is highly conventional: elsewhere a pine cone is sometimes substituted for the patera and a bucranium is added, but the god's posture rarely changes.
Men's appearance on Hierapolitan bronze coinage is confined to later periods.10 This fact in no way weakens the present attribution since the god hardly appears on any coinage as early as the reign of Hadrian.
River God
River gods are portrayed on bronze coinage throughout Asia, and no peculiar features distinguish one from another; they can only be identified by the inscriptions which often accompany them on Greek imperial issues.11 This fact renders de Foville's attribution of these coins to Apamea useless,12 and demands that any determination of the coins' origin be based on criteria other than type. Herzfelder saw this and on stylistic grounds placed the coins in Hierapolis, where Chrysoroas appears on the imperial bronze coinage.13
The number of surviving specimens, the lack of die duplication, and the infrequency of die links suggests that the output of the Hierapolis mint was substantial: in apparent volume of coinage the mint ranks behind only such major centers as Ephesus, Sardis, Smyrna, and Laodicea.
1 |
Herzfelder, pp. 19-20. Pinder, too may have had an inkling that these three types were struck at one mint, since
his plate illustrates a single obverse in combination with the three; but he gave no attribution for the Apollo or river god
types, and
thought Men belonged at Sardis (pp. 628-29).
|
2 |
Perhaps it ought to be pointed out that the name citharoedus (κιθαϱῳδός), employed to describe this deity in
virtually all numismatic literature, has no ancient authority. No source, Latin or Greek, employs the term with reference
to Apollo; while
it is conveniently descriptive, the possibility of confusion with a genuine epithet (e.g. Labraundos) suggests that it should
be
discarded.
|
3 |
For the title archegetes see CIG 3905, 3906b and BMCPhrygia, pp. 231,
no. 23, 233, no. 34, and 234, no. 46.
|
4 |
For the god's ἱεϱόν see Damascius, Isid. in Epitoma Photiana 131. For dedications to the god
see (in addition to the inscriptions cited in n. 3 above) W. Judeich, Altertümer von
Hierapolis, JDAI Erganzungsheft 4 (1898), p. 128, no. 195, and p. 156, no. 278.
|
5 |
BMCPhrygia, p. 228, nos. 1-3.
|
6 |
L. Weber, "The Coins of Hierapolis in Phrygia," NC 1913, pp. 4ff.
|
7 |
B. V. Head, BMCPhrygia, p. 229, nos. 8-9.
|
8 |
L. Weber, "Die Homonoiemünzen von phrygischen Hierapolis," JIAN 14 (1912), pp. 88ff.; BMCPhrygia, pp. 256ff., nos. 162-71.
|
9 |
E. N. Lane, Corpus Monumentorum Religionis Dei Menis 2 (Leiden, 1975) lists 63 cities at which Mēn appears.
|
10 |
Lane (above, n. 9), pp. 59-62, nos. 1-8; obverses are usually IEPA BOOΛH or ΔHMOC. The earliest securely dated appearance
of the god at
Hierapolis is on a coin of Faustina I.
|
11 |
The index to Head, HN, lists 133 river gods, many of whom appear at more than one city.
|
12 |
J. de Foville, "Deux médaillons," pp. 47-50.
|
13 |
BMCPhrygia, p. 252, no. 141; SNGvonAulock 3655 (M. Aurelius
Caesar); McClean 8820 (obv. Demos).
|
56. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Zeus of Laodicea draped to feet standing l., holding eagle in extended r. and long sceptre vertically in 1. |
BMCRE 1066, pl. 73, 1; 1067, 1068; RIC 497; Cohen 275; Pinder 48, pl. 7, 1; Herzfelder, p. 18, pl. 5, 1.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference | |
257* | 1 | 1 | 10.40 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Antonius, CRR 1197 | Vienna | |
258* | 1 | 2 | 9.81 | ↓ | Traces | Berlin | |
259* | 1 | 3 | 9.86 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. | Traces of Vespasianic ctmk. | Paris |
260* | 1 | 4 | 10.30 | ↑ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 10 | Paris | |
261* | 1 | 5 | Traces | M. Batto FPL, March 1964, 327 | |||
262* | 2 | 6 | Traces | Santamaría, 24 Jan. 1938, 384 | |||
263* | 2 | 7 | 10.08 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, rev. temple | London | |
264* | 2 | 8 | 10.27 | Obv. on rev. Antonius | Mazzini, 275 | ||
265 | 2 | 9 | Obv. on obv. Antonius, CRR 1198 | Hess, 30 Apr. 1917, 3246 | |||
266* | 3 | 9 | 10.61 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | Budapest | |
267* | 4 | 10 | 10.55 | Obv. on obv. Augustus | Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 671 = Hess, 25 March 1929 (Vogel), 807 | ||
268* | 4 | 11 | Münzen und Medaillen 17, 2 Dec. 1957, 444 | ||||
269* | 4 | 12 | 11.10 | Obv. on rev. Augustus | Münzen und Medaillen 52, 19 June 1975, 622 | ||
270* | 5 | 13 | 10.80 | Traces | Helbing 63, 29 Apr. 1931, 638 = Cahn 68, 26 Nov. 1930, 368 |
271* | 5 | 14 | 10.50 | ↑ | Traces | Brussels |
272* | 6 | 15 | 10.56 | Traces | von Aulock (SNG 6615) | |
273* | 6 | 16 | 10.35 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Augustus | Hoffer |
274* | 7 | 17 | 8.83 | ↑ | Obv. on rev. Augustus | Oxford |
275* | 8 | 18 | 10.61 | ↓ | Copenhagen (SNG 448) | |
276 | 9 | 19 | Turin | |||
277* | 9 | 20 | 10.35 | ↑ | Traces | Paris |
278* | 10 | 20 | Poindessault, 29 May 1962, 236 = Platt, 17 March 1970, 64 | |||
279* | 10 | 21 | 10.22 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Augustus | London |
280* | 10 | 22 | 10.20 | ↑ | Obv. on rev. Augustus | Vienna |
281* | 10 | 23 | 10.78 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Augustus, RIC 13 | Berlin |
282* | 11 | 24 | 10.42 | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 13 | Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 672 | |
283* | 12 | 25 | 10.85 | ↑ | Traces | Cambridge (McCIean, 9582, pl. 356,6) = Hirsch 24, 10 May 1909, 1392 |
284* | 13 | 26 | 10.56 | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 11 | London | |
285* | 14 | 27 | 10.33 | Obv. on obv. Augustus | Glendining, 1 Dec. 1927, 193 = Schulman, 5 March 1923 (Vierordt), 1290 = Helbing, 9 Apr. 1913, 1140 = Egger 39, 15 Jan. 1912, 917 | |
286* | 15 | 28 | Traces | Hess, 7 March 1935, 490 = Cahn 75, 30 May 1932, 1107 | ||
287* | 16 | 29 | 10.40 | ↑ | Traces on rev. | Vienna |
288* | 17 | 30 | 11.10 | ↑ | Obv. on rev. Augustus | ANS |
289* | 18 | 31 | 10.20 | ↓ | Traces | ANS |
290* | 18 | 32 | 10.66 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Augustus | Munich |
291* | 19 | 33 | 9.47 | ↗ | Traces | Budapest |
292* | 20 | 34 | 9.60 | ↓ | Copenhagen (SNG 447) |
57. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. | Zeus of Laodicea as on no. 56. |
Cited twice in BMCRE, both times wrongly. BMCRE 1066n. cites Ratto FPL, 1931, no. 56, which is actually of Aezani and is catalogued above, no. 220. A coin of this type is cited in BMCRE 1068n. and said to be in Rome, but that coin has a cuirassed bust and is listed below, no. 295b.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
293* | 21 | 35 | 10.88 | ↑ | Traces | ANS |
294 | 21 | 36 | Obv. on obv. Augustus, rev. temple | Turin |
58. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, cuirassed, bare r. | Zeus of Laodicea as on no. 56. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
295a* | 22 | 37 | 10.38 | ↓ | Traces | Boston = Hesperia Art Bulletin 45-46, 152 |
295b | 22 | 37 | ↓ | Rome |
40 coins, 34 certainly overstruck
39 die combinations
22 obverse dies
37 reverse dies
The cistophoric mint at the Phrygian metropolis Laodicea was one of the few Hadrianic mints which produced only a single reverse type. The cistophori portray a standing Zeus, fully draped and holding eagle and sceptre, who closely resembles the god who appears frequently on the city's imperial coinage.1 The god, who has been improperly styled Λαοδικηvός (Laodicenus) or Λαοδικεύς (Laodicensis)2 had a temple in the city whose importance is scarcely reflected by extant literary or epigraphic sources. Its remains have not yet been located, and the sole surviving reference to the god's cult is a notice of a pavement laid by one Q. Pomponius Flaccus.3 Only the city's name, Diospolis,4 and the god's frequent appearance on coins attest to his stature at Laodicea.
Laodicean Zeus is one of several gods—Zeus Lydios and Zeus of Aezani are others— whose similar appearance may indicate common origin. By Hadrian's day Lydios had virtually disappeared from the coinage of Sardis, and in any case never occupied the position at Sardis which Laodicean Zeus enjoyed in his city. Zeus of Laodicea is seldom found on the coins of other cities before Hadrian's day.6
The output of the mint at Laodicea was extensive; despite a relatively high ratio of surviving specimens to obverse dies, the lack of duplication among the reverse dies shows that our record of the Laodicean coinage is very incomplete. Yet the mint required only a single engraver, for all the dies were produced by the same hand.6
1 |
The type is common at Laodicca from Augustus (BMCPhrygia, pp. 300ff., nos. 138-52) to Caracalla (p. 318, nos.
231-232). The god regularly represents Laodicea on alliance coinages until the reign of Philip: BMCPhrygia, pp.
332-40.
|
2 |
Cook,
Zeus
2, p. 191, was "not aware of any such cult title."
|
3 |
E. Szanto, "Die Felswarte bei Smyrna," MDAI(A) 1891, p. 245; see the discussion in W. M. Ramsay, The Cities and Bishoprics of
Phrygia 1 (Oxford, 1895), p. 50.
|
4 |
Pliny NH 5.105.
|
5 |
I find the god outside Laodicea only at Trajanopolis (BMCPhrygia, p. 427, nos. 19-21, Trajan) and perhaps Hierapolis
(p. 231, nos. 25-28, Trajan-Caracalla) before the reign of Hadrian.
|
6 |
Pace
Herzfelder, pp. 18-19, who felt that "there must have been two engravers at work, one, w'ho succeeded in
producing a few remarkably vigorous portraits, another, whose dies show the flat, expressionless style current in most Phrygian
mints." But
the heads are almost identical once variations in drapery are discounted. The eyes and ears adopt the same angle, and stippling
of the
beard is similar throughout. The moustache is thick and prominent, curving sharply downward and giving the emperor a sinister,
almost
sneering appearance. The hair is treated in a stylized fashion: a row of curls around the crown of the head curves backward,
a second row
forward and then another backward. The curls along the temples are usually five in number.
|
59. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare r. seen from back. | Amaltheia, turreted, standing r. holding in l. the infant Zeus and in r. a vertical staff; at her feet a goat looking back at her. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
296* | 1 | 1 | 10.24 | ↓ | Traces on rev. | Boston = Leu 18, 5 May 1977, 331 |
60. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare r. seen from back. | Athena helmeted, draped standing half-1, holding in l. a patera and in r. a shield; behind, a spear. |
Unpublished in this style; cf. below, nos. 118, 119.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
297* | 1 | 2 | 10.34 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Claudius, RIC 54 | Hoffer = Myers-Adams 6, 6 Dec. 1973, 370 |
2 coins, both certainly overstruck
2 die combinations
1 obverse die
2 reverse dies
There can be little doubt that these two pieces were struck at Synnada in Phrygia. The coins share an obverse die of fine style on which the draped imperial bust is seen from the rear. The reverse types, which are very carefully rendered, portray Amaltheia and Athena. It is the former which secures the attribution, for Amaltheia appears in precisely this form only on the coinage of Synnada;1 elsewhere she is seated or accompanied by curetes or both.2 Athena, too, appears on the coinage of Synnada, although the type taken alone would hardly provide an attribution.8 It is possible, but on grounds of style unlikely, that other coins with a similar rendering of Athena were also produced at Synnada: see below nos. 118-119.
Synnada had been a mint for Greek cistophori, and was the center of a large conventus. 4 Hadrian probably visited there during his second journey to Asia,5 and the later coinage of the city commemorates the Hadriania Panathenaia. 6
Both known coins of Synnada are overstruck; no. 297 is one of only three Hadrianic cistophori known to be overstruck on a coin of Claudius (rev. DIANA EPHESIA cult image).
1 |
For example, BMCPhrygia, p. 396, no. 25, and p. 402, no. 53 (Diadumenian); p. 403, no. 57
(Gordian III); Hunter 2, p. 494, no. 3 (Maximus) and p. 404, no. 63 (Gallienus).
|
2 |
As at Apamea, Laodicea, Aegeai, and Crete in genere.
|
3 |
SNGCopPhrygia 722, where she holds an owl in r.
|
4 |
Jones, CERP, pp. 65-67.
|
5 |
Weber, Untersuchungen, p. 228, and nn. 808-9.
|
6 |
61. | AVGVSTVS HADRIANVS | P M TR P COS III |
Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, laureate r. | Hadrian, veiled, seated l. holding rudder in r. and transverse sceptre in l. |
BMCRE, p. 382 §; RIC 473 ("head laur. r."); Cohen 1158; Pinder 83, pl. 8,11; Herzfelder, p. 23, pl. 6, 6.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
298* | 1 | 1 | 10.14 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Antonius | Munich |
62. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS | COS at top, III at bottom |
Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, laureate, r. | Eagle standing r. on thunderbolt between two standards. |
BMCRE, p. 383 (i); Herzfelder, p. 26, pl. 7, 10.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
299* | 2 | 2 | 10.05 | ↙ | Munich |
63. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS | COS III l. and r. in field |
Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, laureate, r. | Female, draped to feet, standing l. holding patera in extended r. and sceptre vertically in l.; at l., a prow. |
BMCRE, p. 383 (f); RIC 468 (a); Herzfelder, p. 26, pl. 7, 9.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
300* | 2 | 3 | 9.90 | ↙ | Traces on rev. | Vienna = Bachofen von Echt 1191 |
64. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, laureate, r. | Poppy and six grain stalks in bundle. |
BMCRE, p. 383 (j) var., citing Herzfelder's notes.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
301* | 2 | 4 | 9.85 | ↑ | Traces | Piancastelli 1523 |
65. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS | COS - III l. and r. in field. |
Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, laureate, r. | Tyche, kalathos on head, standing l. holding rudder in r. and cornucopiae in 1. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
302* | 2 | 5 | 9.20 | Kölner Münzkabinett 21, 4-5 Apr. 1977, 217 |
66. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS | COS [III] across top |
Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, laureate, r. | Poppy and four grain stalks in bundle. |
BMCRE, p. 383 (j); RIC 469; Pinder 91; Herzfelder, p. 26.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Oversriking | Reference |
303* | 3 | 6 | 9.08 | ↑ | Munich |
67. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS | III COS |
Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, laureate, r. | Poseidon standing r. with l. foot on prow holding trident in upraised r. and dolphin in 1. |
BMCRE, p. 383 (b) and (c), both referring to the Munich coin; RIC 465; Cohen 306 (without mentioning drapery on l. shoulder); Pinder 58, pl. 7, 1; Herzfelder, p. 26, pl. 7,11.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
304* | 4 | 7 | 9.59 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Augustus | Munich |
68. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian laureate, draped, cuirassed r. | Bundle of six grain stalks. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Reo. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
305* | 5 | 8 | 9.82 | Peus 283, 14 May 1974, 212 |
69. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian laureate, draped, cuirassed r. | Tyche, kalathos on head, standing l. holding in r. rudder, poppy and grain stalk and in l. cornu- copiae. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
306* | 5 | 9 | 10.5 | Traces | Poindessault, 29 May 1972, 239 = Platt, 17 March 1970, 66 |
70. | AVGVSTVS HADRIANVS | P M TR P COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. seen from back. | Demeter veiled, draped, standing l. holding grain stalks downward in r. and vertical sceptre in 1. |
BMCRE 1052, pl. 71, 16; RIC 472; Cohen 1077; Pinder 75; Herzfelder, p. 23, pl. 6, 7 obv. only.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
307* | 6 | 10 | 8.68 | ↓ | Traces | London |
71. | AVGVSTVS HADRIANVS | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, laureate, r. seen from back. | Zeus seated r. on throne holding vertical sceptre in upraised r. and Victory in extended 1. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
308* | 7 | 11 | Traces | Kress 158, 8 Nov. 1973, 997 |
72. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. seen from back. | Similar. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking Reference |
309* | 8 | 12 | 11.04 | ↙ | Traces on rev. Paris |
73. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, r. seen from back. | Similar but eagle at feet. |
BMCRE, p. 383 (a); Cohen 273 (reading P P on obv. in error); Herzfelder, p. 18, pl. 4, 9. Herzfelder wrongly reports a die link with no. 76 below.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
310* | 8 | 13 | 10.82 pierced | ↓ | Munich |
74. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, cuirassed, bare r. seen from back. | Male figure standing front, head l., holding vertical sceptre in upraised r. and unidentifiable object in l.(?). |
Woodward, p. 169; G. G. Belloni, "Acquisti e doni per il Civico museo Archeologico e per il Civico Gabinetto Numismatico," Not. Chiostro Mon. Magg. 1-2 (1968), pp. 113-14. Woodward thought the figure was "holding some narrow object upright," Belloni saw "la mano sinistra portata ail' addome."
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
311a* | 9 | 14 | 10.55 | ↓ | Traces | Milan = Santamaria 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 651 = Basel Mzhdlg. 10, 15 March 1938, 608 |
311b | 9 | 14 | 10.22 | ↓ | Traces | Spink-Galerie des Monnaies, 15 Feb.1977, 546 |
75. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS | III COS |
Bust of Hadrian laureate, draped, cuirassed r. seen from back. | Male figure fully draped standing front head r. holding vertical sceptre in upraised l. and unidentifiable object in r. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wf. | Axis | Overs triking | Reference |
312a | 10 | 15 | 8.08 | ↙ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | ANS |
312b* | 10 | 15 | 10.60 | Obv. on obv. Antonius | In trade (per C. L. Clay) |
76. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, cuirassed, bare r. seen from back. | Pax standing l. holding olive branch downwards in r. and vertical sceptre in 1. |
BMCRE, p. 383 (g), pl. 72, 1; Herzfelder, p. 18, pl. 4, 10, erroneously reporting a die link with no. 73 above.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
313* | 11 | 16 | 9.98 | ↙ | Traces | Vienna |
77. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS | COS III l. and r. in field. |
Bust of Hadrian draped, cuirassed bare r. seen from back. | Bundle of six grain stalks. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
314* | 12 | 17 | 9.88 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 12 | Vienna |
19 coins, 13 certainly overstruck
17 die combinations
12 obverse dies
17 reverse dies
A small number of cistophori, all lacking P P in the imperial titulature, may be assigned to a single mint of uncertain location. For convenience the coins have been divided into two groups in the catalogue. Group I is characterized by laureate busts with large, rather crudely formed features; except in the case of obverse die 5, which has full drapery, the busts show drapery only on the left shoulder. In Group II the busts are all seen from behind and the emperor is always fully draped; a cuirass is clearly visible on some examples and implicit on others. The head may be laureate or bare.
The obverse styles are quite distinct and would not at first sight suggest that the two groups were produced at the same mint. Their common origin is indicated by shared types (Fortuna/Tyche, grain stalks), parallelism in titulature (each group has one coin with AVGVSTVS HADRIANVS/PMTRP COS III), similarity in letter forms (large serifs, splayed V, elongated S) and disposition of reverse legends (the strokes of the consular iteration are always parallel to one another, and one die in each group reverses the legend).
The most remarkable coin of the group is that with reverse Hadrian seated l. with rudder and sceptre. The type has been identified, naturally enough, as Fortuna; but as Dr. H.-D. Schultz kindly pointed out to me, the figure is clearly bearded. The portrayal of the emperor as Fortuna, although without a precise parallel, is obvious enough, since the fors of the empire was intimately bound up with that of the emperor; this is implicit in the many FORTVNA AVG types struck at Rome. The transfer of Fortuna's attributes to Hadrian results in the emperor's appearing veiled; this is rare in the imperial coinage, except when the emperor is shown sacrificing. Yet the type has been modified in other respects: a sceptre is substituted for the more common cornucopiae, and Hadrian is seated on a sella rather than the throne normally occupied by Fortuna.
Four other types are interesting if not very informative. Two standing male figures, one facing right and the other left, might be identified as Zeus or Poseidon; the condition of the surviving specimens does not permit identification of their attributes. The right-facing figure, who is fully draped, may even be Hadrian himself; this identification can be ruled out for the other figure, who is naked to the waist. There seem to be no precise parallels for either type in the imperial coinage of Asia. A third type shows a standing figure of Tyche holding grain stalk and poppy in addition to her usual attributes. The only precise parallel for this figure occurs at Sardis under Caracalla, but that seems an unlikely attribution since a substantial mint can already be assigned to the city, and none of the remaining types of Mint A is appropriate to Sardis. Grain stalks, with or without poppies, appear as an attribute of Tyche all over Phrygia and Lydia, and it is unlikely that a secure attribution can be based on this type.
Finally a fourth type portrays a female deity whom Imhoof-Blumer1 took to be Hera, comparing her with Hera of Samos; Voetter2 described her as Concordia. Herzfelder adduced a figure of Demeter with prow at feet who represents Nicomedia on an alliance coin struck under Gordian III.3 He noted that Demeter (who certainly appears on no. 70) and Poseidon (no. 67) were worshiped there, and that prows frequently occur on the city's bronze coinage. This attribution was followed by Woodward, who felt that since the coins might have been struck before 128 they could have been part of the subsidy provided to Nicomedia after the great earthquake of 123.4
This whole line of thinking is best abandoned. The type on which the attribution rests cannot really be identified; there is nothing to suggest she is Demeter. Her prow may point to a maritime city, but Poseidon's need not: he was widely worshiped throughout Asia, which was subject to frequent earthquakes.5 Nor could the coinage have been part of a subsidy: its survival rate indicates that the issue was minute, and since (pace Herzfelder) the coins are overstruck they cannot represent an infusion of new money into circulation. There is no evidence for the currency of cistophori in Bithynia prior to Hadrian's substantial issue in the name of the provincial Koinon, and nothing to indicate that the issue is as early as 123:·6 the fact that it was overstruck suggests that it is of a piece with the other Asian cistophori and belongs later in Hadrian's reign.
The precise date is problematical. This is the only coinage in the whole cistophoric series which does not attribute to Hadrian the title Pater Patriae; but in Asia (as opposed to Rome) the absence of the title is not as conclusive for chronology as its presence.7 The imperial bronzes of Asia regularly omit the title, and the practice may have been extended to this issue of cistophori; hence it is quite possible that the issue was produced in or after 128 in ignorance or in spite of Hadrian's new title.
The disorganization of the issue also argues for an early date vis-à-vis the other cistophori. Only here is there such a wide variety of bust styles and legends, and only here was such a large number of types produced on so limited a basis. This is most easily accounted for if the issue belongs at the initiation of the recoinage, before the format of the cistophori was crystallized. If Mints A and B are the same (see below) the date of the issues here attributed to Mint A will be early 128; otherwise a date of later 128- early 129 is preferable.
1 |
Münzkunde, p. 10, no. 13.
|
2 |
Bachofen von Echt, 1191.
|
3 |
Herzfelder, pp. 26-27; BMCMysia, p. 163, nos. 350-51.
|
4 |
Woodward, p. 167.
|
5 |
RE 22, s.v. "Poseidon," cols. 480-81, 529-30 (Wüst). If the representation with dolphin and trident referred
specifically to his function as god of the sea, we should not expect to find it at inland cities. Poseidon is portrayed on
the coins of
Nicomedia only under M. Aurelius (Recueil p. 527, no. 85), and Commodus (Recueil, p. 535, no. 145).
|
6 |
On cistophoric circulation, see below pp. 110-12. It is doubtful whether conventions of the mint of Rome may safely be analogized to those of Asia, but
for what it is worth the obv. legend HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS (or, rarely, AVGVSTVS HADRIANVS) does not seem to have been introduced
until
late 125: P. V. Hill, The Dating and Arrangement of the Undated Coins of Rome A.D. 98-148 (London, 1970), p. 57;
Mattingly, BMCRE 3, p. cxxiv. See also Strack, Untersuchungen 2, pp. 105-8, dating the
change as early as 123.
|
7 |
Herzfelder (quoted in BMCRE 3, p. clvii, n. 3) thought the omission of P P might have
been accidental.
|
78. | AVGVSTVS HADRIANVS P P | FORTVNA AVGVST |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Fortuna draped, wearing polos on head, standing l. holding rudder on ground in r. and cornucopiae in 1. |
BMCRE 1087, pl. 74, 11; RIC 530; Herzfelder, p. 24, pl. 6, 9.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
315* | 1 | 1 | 10.05 | ↓ | Traces | Hoffer |
316* | 2 | 1 | 9.77 | ↓ | London = Hirsch 18, 27 May 1907, 1898 |
79. | AVGVSTVS HADRIANVS P P | P M TR P COS III |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Fortuna as on no. 78. |
BMCRE 1088, pl. 74, 12; RIC 531; Herzfelder, p. 24, pl. 0, 11.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
317* | 3 | 2 | 10.68 | ↓ | London = Hirsch 18, 27 May 1907, 1897 |
80. | AVGVSTVS HADRIANVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Poseidon naked except for cloak on r. arm standing front, sacrificing out of patera in r. over altar and holding trident vertically in 1. |
BMCRE 1086, pl. 74, 10; RIC 529; Cohen 314; Pinder 57, pl. 7, 10; Herzfelder, p. 24, pl. 6, 10.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
318* | 3 | 3 | 9.99 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 16 | London |
81. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | P M TR P COS III |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Demeter veiled, draped standing l. holding two grain stalks downwards in r. and torch vertically in 1. |
BMCRE, p. 393 †; RIC 528; Cohen 1074; Pinder 74, pl. 8, 1; Herzfelder, p. 23, pl. 6, 8. RIC 487 gives this rev. type with legend COS III, citing Pinder 74 in error.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
319* | 4 | 4 | 10.28 | ↓ | Traces; also double-struck | Berlin |
82. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS - III l. and r. in field |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Distyle temple on podium of three steps; within, Demeter standing l. holding torch vertically in upraised l. and grain stalks downwards in r. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
320 | 5a | 5 | Turin |
83. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Fortuna draped, wearing polos on head, seated l. on chair holding rudder in extended r. and cornu- copiae in l. |
Herzfelder, pl. 7, 2.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
321* | 5* | 6 | 10.48 | ↓ | Paris |
84. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Triumphal arch surmounted by two prancing horses. |
BMCRE, p. 391 §; Herzfelder, p. 24, pl. 7, 1.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
322* | 6a | 7 | 10.70 | Berlin |
85. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III l. and r. in field |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Bundle of six grain stalks. |
BMCRE, p. 391 || note; RIC 518 (c); Pinder 87.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
323* | 6a | 8 | 10.14 | Paris |
86. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Fortuna draped, wearing polos on head, standing l. holding rudder on ground in r. and cornucopiae in l. |
BMCRE, p. 391 *; Herzfelder, p. 24, n. 90.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
324a | 7 | 9 | 9.70 | Santamaria 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 677 = R. Ratto FPL, 1928, 2709. | ||
324b* | 7 | 9 | 8.36 | ↓ | Traces | Myers-Adams 6, 6 Dec. 1973, 371 |
87. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III l. and r. in field |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Legionary eagle between two standards with vexilla. |
BMCRE 1081 note; RIC 517 (c); Cohen 451; Pinder 92; Herzfelder, p. 26, pl.7, 8 obv. only.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
325* | 8 | 10 | 9.12 | ↙ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | Vienna |
a Herzfelder made an understandable error in identifying obv. dies 5 and 6 as identical; there are differences in the form of the wreath ties and the arrangement of the hair, but in other respects the dies resemble one another very closely.
12 coins, 5 certainly overstruck
11 die combinations
8 obverse dies
10 reverse dies
The coins here attributed to a second uncertain mint are all rare and display a considerable variety of types; nonetheless their common origin is not in doubt. Nos. 78 and 79 were first recognized as products of the same mint by Imhoof-Blumer;1 Herzfelder joined the latter to nos. 80 and 81, calling them his group III.b.2 Although he confused the die linkage, Herzfelder also noted the unity of nos. 83, 84 and 85; they constituted his group III.c, which he thought was connected to III.b. The die link assures that no. 82 also belongs to the same mint; nos. 86 and 87 are joined to each other by identity of obverse style and to the rest through the Fortuna reverse type.
It is attractive to suppose, with Woodward,3 that the coinage of Mint B merely continues that of Mint A, adding P P to the obverse legends in use at Mint A. In addition to the similarity of the legends, two bust styles are employed at both mints; both have two reverses with PMTR P COS III; both strike a large number of rather vague types, some of which are shared. Yet there is no stylistic link whatever between the two mints, and it is best to treat them separately.
The location of the mint can hardly be established on the basis of the types. The eagle and standards and grain stalks types are derivative from earlier cistophori; Demeter can be found all over Asia; and the two most distinctive types, triumphal arch and Poseidon sacrificing, lead nowhere: triumphal arches are unknown in the east, and no. 80 seems to be the only portrayal of Poseidon sacrificing in this posture.
Neither of the attributions so far proposed is very likely. Imhoof thought that nos. 78 and 79 might belong to Ephesus by analogy to that mint's FORTVNA EPHESIA type; but there is no stylistic or typological link to the known coinage of Ephesus. The possibility of a connection with the coinage of Mint A led Woodward to attribute this group to a Bithynian mint; but, as argued above, that attribution has no attractions.
The date of Mint B's operation is easier to estimate than its location. Obverse die 1 has all the look of having had P P added in haste, after the border had been occupied by the simple legend HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS. It is improbable that this resulted simply from the engraver's error; his dies, if not of great artistic merit, are at least neatly done. More likely the new title was added to an existing die when news of its adoption reached Asia. If so the mint was operative as early as mid-128 and continued its operations into 129. The character of the types seems to support this early dating. Several Fortuna types—one of them referring directly to the Fortuna Augusti—suggest concern for the emperor's well-being; taken together with the Poseidon reverse, they may indicate wishes for a safe voyage or gratitude for a safe arrival. The reference is probably to Hadrian's voyage from Athens to Ephesus in late 128.
1 |
Münzkunde, pp. 14-15.
|
2 |
Herzfelder, pp. 23-24.
|
3 |
Woodward, pp. 167-68. Woodward believed that all the cistophori lacking P P in obv. legend were Bithynian;
most were assigned to Nicomedia, but our nos. 78 and 79 were attributed to Nicaea. See above, pp. 79-80.
|
88. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Cult image of Artemis Ephesia facing front, arms extended l. and r. over stags who look away from her; fillets fall to ground from wrists, ending in trident shape. |
BMCRE 1061, pl. 72, 8; RIC 489; Cohen 319; Pinder 69, pl. 5, 5; Herzfelder, p. 16, pl. 4, 2.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
326a* | 1 | 1 | 10.07 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | London |
326b* | 1 | 1 | 10.30 | ↙ | Paris | |
327* | 2 | 2 | 10.93 | Traces | von Aulock (SNG 6622) | |
328* | 3 | 3 | 10.36 | Traces | Munich | |
329* | 4 | 4 | 10.28 | Traces | Winterthur | |
330* | 5 | 5 | 7.42 | Traces | Winterthur photo (ex Imhoof-Blumer coll.) | |
331* | 6 | 6 | 9.48 | Obv. on rev., undertype une. (traces of Vespasianic ctmk. on rev.) | Vienna | |
332* | 7 | 6 | 10.40 | J. Vinchon, 6 Apr. 1959, 202 | ||
333* | 8 | 7 | Baranowsky FPL, 1935, 7167 |
89. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Asclepius draped, standing front, holding serpent- wreathed rod in l., r. arm at side. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
334* | 9 | 8 | Stack's, 20 Nov. 1967, 1221 |
90. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Asclepius draped, standing front, holding serpent- wreathed rod in r., l. arm at side. |
BMCRE 1053 note; RIC 481 (a); Cohen 290; Herzfelder, p. 16, pl. 4, 1. Though described in the saíne terms as nos. 4 and 20 above, this variety may easily be distinguished from them on grounds of style.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstrike | Reference |
335* | 10 | 9 | 10.10 | Traces | Piancastelli 1519 =Baranowsky, 25 Feb. 1931, 1779 | |
336a* | 10 | 10 | 8.21 | ↓ | Traces | ANS |
336b* | 10 | 10 | Kress 153, 3 Nov. 1971, 639 | |||
337 | 11 | 11 | Herzfelder, pl. 4, 1 (ex Trau coll.) |
91. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Nemesis winged, draped, standing r. with r. drawing out fold of drapery from breast and resting l. on wheel at her side. |
BMCRE 1073 (description only), 1073 bis; RIC 504; Cohen 324; Herzfelder, p. 16, pl. 4, 3.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
338* | 11 | 12 | 10.78 | Munich = Naville 18, 10 Oct. 1938, 206 = Collection du Viconte de Sartiges (Paris, n.d.), 156 | ||
339* | 12 | 13 | 8.45 | ↓ | Traces | London = Hess, 22 May 1935 (Trau), 1112 |
92. | IMP CAESAR AVGVSTVS | HADRIANVS AVG P P REN |
Head of Augustus bare, r. | Hadrian togate standing half-1., holding grain stalk in r. and wrapping l. in toga. |
BMCRE 1094, pl. 75, 5; RIC 532; Cohen (Augustus) 576; Pinder 103, pl.8, 15; Herzfelder, p. 17, pl. 4, 6.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
340a* | 13 | 14 | Münzen und Medaillen 7, 3 Dec. 1948, 579 | |||
340b | 13 | 14 | 10.77 | ↓ | G. Kastner 6, 27 Nov. 1974, 298 | |
341* | 14 | 15 | 10.33 | ↓ | Traces on rev. | London |
342* | 14 | 16 | 10.31 | B. Peus 268, 24 Apr. 1968, 115 | ||
343a* | 15 | 16 | 9.34 | von Aulock (SNG 6636) | ||
343b* | 15 | 16 | Traces | JNFA, vol. 2, no. 1 (Spring, 1973), T16 = Münzen und Medaillen 17, 2 Dec. 1957, 456 | ||
344* | 15 | 17 | 10.73 | ↘ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | Vienna |
345* | 16 | 18 | Hess, 22 May 1935 (Trau), 118 | |||
346* | 17 | 19 | 9.84 | ↓ | Copenhagen (SNG 439) | |
347* | 18 | 20 | 9.8 | Obv. on obv. Augustus, rev. temple | Hirsch 18, 27 May 1907, 1843 | |
348* | 19 | 21 | 9.80 | ↙ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, rev. temple | Winterthur |
349* | 20 | 22 | Münzen und Medaillen FPL 281, Oct. 1967, 39 | |||
350* | 21 | 23 | 10.30 | ↓ | Traces | ANS = Grunthal, 5 June 1950, 264 = Schulman, 5 March 1923 (Vierordt), 655 = BMCRE, pl. 75, 6 |
351* | 22 | 24 | 9.80 | Boston = Mazzini 576 = Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 655 = Schulman, 5 March 1923 (Vierordt), 656 = Hirsch 22, 25 Nov. 1908, 33 | ||
352* | 23 | 25 | 10.39 | ↓ | Obv. on obv., undertype unc. (traces of Vespasianic ctmk. on obv.) | Vienna |
353* | 24 | 25 | Obv. on obv. Augustus | JNFA, vol. 2, no. 1 (Spring, 1973), T17 = Münzen und Medaillen FPL 109, Jan. 1952, 122 | ||
354* | 25 | 26 | Traces | Leningrad | ||
355* | 26 | 27 | Hesperia Art Bulletin 36, 76 |
34 coins, 18 certainly overstruck
30 die combinations
26 obverse dies
27 reverse dies
Four reverse types were produced at a single unidentifiable mint: Artemis Ephesia, Asclepius, Nemesis, and Hadrian. The common origin of the types is assured by a die link uniting two of them1 and overwhelming stylistic similarities throughout the series. The dies, though cut in rather low relief, are of exceptional quality: the emperor's head is small and elegantly rounded, and the lettering of both obverse and reverse dies is rendered with great precision. The engraver clearly possessed great sensitivity to posture: the bodies of Hadrian and Asclepius bend gently at the waist, while heads incline slightly to produce a completely relaxed effect unlike that given by other reproductions in the cistophoric series.
The fabric of the coins is equally homogeneous. Their flans are generally broader and thinner than those found at other mints. In this connection it is important to note the much lower rate of detectable overstrikes at Mint C: only 18 of the 34 pieces assigned to this mint (52.9%) show traces of undertypes.2 This perhaps suggests a two-step overstriking process. Old coins may first have been hammered to obliterate their types, and only then restruck; among the Hadrianic cistophori at large, the overstriking itself had to efface the undertype.
The difficulty in identification of the mint responsible for the series is obvious: the three deities portrayed on its coinage would normally invite attribution to one of three cities, PERGAMUM, Ephesus, or Smyrna. Even the assumption that the mint must belong to one of these three is unsatisfactory: mints at all three have already been identified, and the individual style and fabric of the present group precludes its addition to any of those mints.
Moreover, the reverses show considerable variations in detail from those usually found in their native cities. Artemis' usually stiff figure is given a more rounded, almost human shape; the stags on either side look away from rather than back toward the goddess; and her "fillets" almost appear to be fixed on the ground rather than falling from her wrists. The single Nemesis, too, differs from the archaic statues of Smyrna: she is accompanied by a wheel, carries no cubit rule, and unlike the Smyrnaean goddesses is winged. Asclepius is rendered in familiar fashion except for the unusual type no. 89, on which he appears leaning left instead of right.
Herzfelder nonetheless assigned the coins to PERGAMUM, admitting that he did so simply because of the paucity of certainly Pergamene issues and the probability that so important a city might be expected to have had a substantial mint.3 Mattingly went a step further, and designated this the Pergamene "official" style, apparently on the basis of its high quality.4
Attribution to PERGAMUM, however, will not withstand scrutiny; indeed, it might be said that this is the least likely of the three attributions possible on the basis of typology. In addition to the prior presence of a mint there, two points tell against Pergamene mintage. First, the Asclepius reverse is of only minor importance in the series: the four specimens from three obverse dies represent, by either standard, only about one-eighth of the mint's output as we know it. Both Artemis and Hadrian reverses are better represented in the surviving sample. Secondly, type no. 89 is a highly unusual rendering of Asclepius, unparalleled in the coinage of PERGAMUM: the god is never portrayed leaning right except on alliance issues, where the balance of the coin requires it.5
The location of Mint C therefore remains obscure, but the HADRIANVS AVG P P REN issue seems to provide a chronological clue. Early interpreters of the coin saw it as a "restoration" issue, analogous to the famous restorations of earlier coins which began with Tiberius and extended through the Flavian period, culminating in the large series issued by Trajan after his recall of pre-reform aurei and denarii.6 These commentators expanded the reverse legend HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P REN(ovavit). Mattingly was the first to expose the impossibility of this construction.7 The objection that the coin duplicates no known Augustan issue is not fatal; parallels may be cited from earlier restorations. But the word for "restored" is always restituit, not renovavit. Mattingly suggested instead renatus; he thought the point of the issue was that "Hadrianus Augustus, the Father of his Country, is a rebirth of the First Augustus, a Neos Sebastos as the Greeks would put it." He later connected the coin with Hadrian's initiation into the second stage of the Eleusinian Mysteries, which took place early in 129.8
D. Kienast has recently reopened the question, and has affirmed Mattingly's theory against the objections of modern skeptics.9 He argued that Hadrian's "rebirth" is connected with the palingenesia of initiation into the Mysteries, and that the grain stalk held by the emperor symbolizes the connection of the mysteries with Demeter/Ceres. On this view the portrait of Augustus takes on greater significance, since he too was initiated into the second stage of the Mysteries; recollection of their common religious experience symbolized the spiritual kinship of Hadrian and Augustus. The term renatus refers not only to Hadrian's religious rebirth at Eleusis, but more generally to his rebirth as a second Augustus. On this interpretation the initiation at Eleusis provides a terminus post quem for the coinage of Mint C; commemoration ought to have been nearly immediate, and 129 seems a satisfactory date for the whole series.
Unfortunately this whole construct breaks down when examined in detail. First, there is no evidence that Hadrian ever claimed to be a second Augustus in any sense.10 Secondly, the expansion renatus is neither necessary nor obvious: were Hadrian claiming to be the religious and spiritual successor of Augustus, a less ambiguous form of expression would be expected than REN, which must have been as mysterious to ancients as it is to moderns. Thirdly, there is no specific connection between the emperor's posture and attributes and the second stage of the Mysteries: if those admitted to the epopteia wore any particular garb at all it was surely not a toga, and Mylonas has demonstrated the absurdity of the notion that "cut wheat" could have been the "great and marvelous mystery of perfect revelation."11 More damning is the fact that this posture is known from at least one other context in which connection with the Mysteries is impossible: a bronze coin of Tralles portrays Britannicus in the identical attitude.12 Finally, a type of Hadrian and Augustus referring to the Mysteries is totally out of place when its obvious numismatic connection is to three other types portraying Asia's most important divinities.
An alternative is to read, with earlier scholars, renovavit, without the implication of "restoration" as it was known at Rome. Indeed, Hadrian was not "restoring" anything (although some of his own types derive from cistophoric antecedents); but he was "renewing" the coinage in a very literal sense by restriking it, and equally he gave it new form through the employment of local types.
This interpretation is consistent with the use of Augustus' portrait, which can be seen as an idealization of some of the portraits on his own cistophori; Augustus had, after all, taken the final steps in the Romanization of the cistophori (Antony's role in this process would hardly be commemorated). The Hadrianic obverse legend IMP CAESAR AVGVSTVS does not appear on a single face of any known Augustan coin; but, divided between obverse and reverse, it is the commonest legend on the Augustan cistophori which Hadrian was renewing.13 The coin, then, commemorates both the founder and the renewer of the cistophoric series; Hadrian stands on the reverse as a generalized symbol of well-being and prosperity. As I have argued, his recoining of the cistophori at least eliminated one financial abuse in the province of Asia.14
Nor, perhaps, need the terminus post quem be sacrificed. The types of Mint C, which have no specific local reference, belong to a fairly early stage in the development of the Hadrianic cistophori; the use of the Augustus/Hadrian type alongside the three major divinities of the province epitomizes the scope and purpose of the recoinage. The almost medallic aspect of the Mint C issue, with its more carefully produced flans and superb engraving, confirms its celebratory character and suggests that it should belong at or near the inauguration of the whole series.
Mint C, then, remains unidentified, but it is fair to suppose that it was in operation as early as 129.
1 |
Obv. die 11, linking Asclepius and Nemesis reverses.
|
2 |
Compare the many mints at which all known coins are overstruck, and the 78.8% of detectable overstrikes for the whole series.
|
3 |
Herzfelder, pp. 17-18.
|
4 |
BMCRE 3, p. clix.
|
5 |
For example BMCMysia, p. 163, no. 350.
|
6 |
For example J. Eckhel, Doctrina Numorum Veterum, 5 (Leipzig, 1797), p. 101.
|
7 |
RIC 2, p. 335.
|
8 |
BMCRE 3, p. clxi.
|
9 |
D. Kienast, "Hadrian, Augustus und die eleusinischen Mysterien," JNG 1959-60, pp.
61-69.
|
10 |
Obviously we cannot know what precedent, if any, Hadrian himself cited, or what effect his initiation might have had on the
public in a
place where the memory of Augustus was still fresh; but for what it is worth the author of the S.H.A. failed to find the parallel
between
Augustus and Hadrian compelling, and cited the more distant examples of Herakles and Philip. J. H. Oliver,
("Hadrian's Precedent, the Alleged Initiation of Philip II," AJP 71 [1950], pp. 295-99) maintains that the author of
the S.H.A. intended to cite precedents for the initiation of non-Athenians into the mysteries, and that at Hadr.
13.1 the text should read Philopappique instead of Philippique since there is no other
evidence for the initiation of Philip. If this is correct the author's failure to mention Augustus is even more remarkable;
but few would
credit him with so much care and system.
|
11 |
G. E. Mylonas, Eleusis and the Eleusinian Mysteries (Princeton,
1961), pp. 275-76.
|
12 |
BMCLydia, p. 345, no. 124.
|
13 |
See Sutherland's Groups II-VI (Sutherland et al., Cistophori) which account for about two-
thirds of the known Augustan cistophori whether dies or examples are counted.
|
14 |
"The Overstriking of Hadrian's Cistophori," Actes du 8e congrès international de numismatique New York-Washington
, Septembre 1973 (Paris/Basel, 1976), pp. 347-53; see below
pp. 115-20.
|
93. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS - III l. and r. in field |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Bundle of six grain stalks. |
BMCRE, p. 391 || note. Perhaps this is the coin described at Pinder 88 as having obverse HADRIANVS AVG COS [III P P(= BMCRE, p. 395 §, RIC 480); I saw no such coin in Vienna.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
356* | 1 | 1 | 8.54 | ↙ | Vienna |
94. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Boma helmeted, draped, seated l. on cuirass and shield, holding Victory in extended r. and vertical spear in upraised l. |
BMCRE 1076 note, 1076 bis; Herzfelder, p. 15, pl. 3, 7.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
357* | 2 | 2 | 10.17 | Traces | Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 660 = Schulman, 5 March 1923 (Vierordt), 1298 | |
358a* | 3 | 3 | 10.95 | ↓ | Traces | London |
358b | 3 | 3 | 9.80 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Augustus, RIC 13 | Vienna |
95. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, bare, r. | Boma as on no. 94 |
BMCRE 1076, pl. 73, 11; RIC 511; Pinder 86.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
359* | 4 | 4 | 10.10 | ↓ | London = B. Batto, 12 May 1925, 1138 | |
360 | 5 | 5 | 9.45 | ↓ | Rome = RIN 1898, pl. 1,4 |
96. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Roma helmeted, draped seated l. on chair, holding Victory in extended r. and vertical sceptre in upraised 1. |
BMCRE 1076 ter.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference | |
361* | 6 | 6 | 10.87 | ↓ | Traces | London | |
362a* | 7 | 6 | 10.57 | ↓ | Traces | Munich | |
362b | 7 | 6 | ↓ | Traces | Vatican | ||
363* | 8 | 7 | 10.47 | pierced | ↓ | Traces | Paris |
97. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Roma helmeted, draped, seated l. on chair with shield at side, holding Victory in extended r. and spear transversely over l. elbow. |
BMCRE 1076 note; Herzfelder, p. 21, pl. 6, 2.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
364* | 9 | 8 | 9.72 | ↓ | Traces | Berlin |
98. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Dionysus, nnked, standing front head l. emptying oinochoe over panther on l. and holding thyrsus vertically in l.; panther looks back to r. |
BMCRE 1057, pl. 72, 5; RIC 485, pl. 14, 297, rev. only; Cohen 323; Herzfelder, p. 21, pl. 6, 1.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference | |
365* | 9 | 9 | 10.52 | ↓ | London = Hirsch 18, 27 May 1907 (Imhoof-Blumer), 1894. | ||
366* | 10 | 10 | 10.42 | ↙ | Obv. on rev. | Antonius, CRR 1197 | Paris |
367* | 11 | 11 | 10.37 pierced | ↙ | Obv. on obv. Antonius | Paris |
99. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Dionysus, draped, standing front head l. emptying oinochoe over panther on l. and holding thyrsus vertically in l.; panther looks back to r. |
BMCRE 1057 note, 1058.
Cat. | Obv. | Reo. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
368* | 12 | 12 | 10.17 | ↓ | Traces | London |
100. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Herakles standing r., r. on hip, l. resting on club with lion skin set on rock. |
BMCRE, p. 387 *; RIC 494; Herzfelder, p. 26, pl. 7, 7.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
369* | 13 | 13 | 10.23 | ↙ | Vienna = Hirsch 24, 10 May 1909, 1405 |
101. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, bare, r. | Herakles as on no. 100 |
BMCRE, p. 387 * note.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
370* | 14 | 14 | 9.10 | ↓ | Obv. on rev. Antonius | Berlin = Hirsch 18, 27 May 1907 (Imhoof-Blumer), 1892 |
102. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Boma helmeted, draped, seated l. on cuirass and shield, holding Victory in extended r. and vertical spear in upraised l. |
BMCRE 1076 note; Herzfelder, p. 15, pl. 3, 6.
Cat. | Obo. | Reo. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
371a* | 15 | 15 | 10.57 | ↓ | Boston | |
371b | 15 | 15 | 10.12 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus | Munich |
372* | 16 | 16 | 9.84 | ↓ | Traces | ANS = Numismatic Fine Arts 2,26 March 1976,418 |
103. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Boma helmeted, draped seated l. on chair, holding Victory in extended r. and vertical sceptre in upraised l. |
BMCRE 1076 note; RIN 1898, pl. 1, 5.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
373* | 17 | 17 | 9.70 | Obv. on rev. undertype uncertain (traces of Vespasianic ctmk. on rev.) | Piancastelli 1521 |
104. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, laureate, r. | Boma as on no. 103. |
SNGvonAutock 8734.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
374* | 18 | 18 | 10.67 | von Aulock (SNG 8734) = Mazzini 2 "prima 337" = Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 650 | ||
375* | 18 | 19 | 9.93 | ↓ | Traces | Brussels |
23 coins, 15 certainly overstruck
24 die combinations
19 obverse dies
19 reverse dies
A fourth uncertain mint produced four major types, two of which have variants: Dionysus may be portrayed draped with panther, and naked with or without it. Roma is seen on a throne with transverse sceptre and shield, or merely with vertical sceptre; or seated on arms with the sceptre held vertically. The last two varieties appear with bare, laureate, and laureate and draped busts. The variation is probably not significant.1
Three styles may be distinguished among the obverse dies. Style I is found only on dies 9 and 14. Hadrian's head is rounded and rather narrow at the top; the hair is rendered with fine lines, and the front row of curls is shown as a single continuous mass which curves sharply up over the ear. The ear itself is formed with parallel double strokes.
Style II shows some affinities with the first: the ear, when it can be seen, is formed with double strokes, and the head occasionally narrows toward the top; but the curls are somewhat looser and in general the image resembles Hadrian much more closely. The truncation of the neck is highly variable. Both styles I and II occur with bare heads, although on three dies the emperor has a trace of drapery.
Style III is characterized by a larger portrait of the emperor laureate, with or without drapery, the most distinctive feature of which is the low cut of the hair, which is brought down far on the forehead. When the bust is undraped the truncation has the the form .
Despite the diversity of styles and multiplicity of varieties, there can be little doubt that nos. 93-104 are of common origin. Die 9 of style I links the Roma with transverse sceptre type to the Dionysus type; other reverse dies portraying the god are paired with obverses of style II, which in turn is found with all the other reverse types. The Herakles reverse is found with styles I and II, and the two other representations of Roma seated with vertical sceptre are found with styles II and III.2
It is easier to demonstrate the common origin of the types than to identify the mint which produced them. The one type which would seem to lead somewhere because of its rarity is the Herakles Farnese, which Herzfelder thought pointed to a Bithynian mint.3 He noted the high quality of the dies, and observed that the type, uncommon in Asia, is found frequently in Bithynia. He suggested Cius und Heraclea as possible mint sites, but none of the other cistophoric types of Mint D is known from either mint.4
Perhaps a likelier possibility is Tralles, which is otherwise, somewhat surprisingly, absent from the catalogue of Hadrianic mints. Yet the city had had one of the original cistophoric mints, and in Hadrian's day remained an important commercial center. The attribution is supported only in a general way by the cistophoric types themselves: grain stalks appeared on the city's bronze coinage under Nero,5 but Dionysus and Herakles appear in this form only much later.6 Yet both figured prominently in the city's religious life. The oldest known inscription from Tralles mentions the sanctuary of Dionysus,7 and there was a festival called the Dionysia there;8 two inscriptions also mention the Herakleia. 9 The Roma type does not occur at Tralles, but we know that a considerable body of Romans had resided there from Republican times.10 Finally, even the grain stalks type might have had topical reference: an inscription of Hadrianic date shows that with the assistance of a generous grant from A. Fabricius Postumus, Hadrian granted 60,000 modii of grain to the Tralleans.11 The grant may have come about in connection with an imperial visit in 129/30.12
All this is suggestive, no more, and in view of the weakness of the typological parallels in the city's bronze coinage it seems safest to leave the mint unidentified.
1 |
At a number of cities Dionysus appears draped or naked, with or without panther: see BMCLydia, p. 92, no. 17, and p.
91, nos. 6-9 (Gordus Julia, Trajan and "Time of Commodus");
BMCPhrygia, p. 377, no. 1, and p. 378, no. 4 (Sibidunda, Commodus and Julia Domna). M. Bernhart, Dionysos und seine Familie auf griechischen Münzen, JNG 1 (1949), regards the
varieties as constituting distinct types.
|
2 |
Two coins noted by Herzfelder must be removed from consideration. They share an obv. die of style III and bear
the rev. types COS - III six grain stalks and DIA-NA EPHESIA tetrastyle temple. The former is known only in a plated specimen
(SNGCopCyprus etc. 449); the latter, once in Herzfelder's collection, has disappeared but
the barbarity of its style is evident from his plate. Two other plated coins share an obv. die of style III: one in The Hague
has rev. COS III Dionysus, another seen in trade has rev. COS III seated Roma.
|
3 |
Herzfelder, p. 26. The remaining types are either very rare (Roma) or extremely common
(for grain stalks, see above; for Dionysus see Bernhart [above, n. 1], nos. 80-489).
|
4 |
The connection of Herakles with Heraclea Pontica scarcely requires illustration; at Gius, coins of the imperial period show
obv. head of
Herakles, TON KTICTHN: Recueil, vol. 1, pt. 2 (Paris, 1908), p.
316, no. 28. It is far from certain, however, that p. 318, no. 40, p. 322, no. 68, p. 362, no. 106, and p. 363, no. 114, derive
from the
Lysippean original or are related to the cistophoric type: all these figures holds bows and stand in a somewhat different
posture.
|
5 |
BMCLydia, p. 345, nos. 125-27.
|
6 |
Dionysus: BMCLydia, p. 360, nos. 197-98 (Gallienus); p. 362, no. 205 (Salonina).
|
7 |
CIG 2919 (fourth-third centuries B.C.). See M. Pappaconstantinou, "'Eπιγϱαφή Tϱαλλέων" BCH 1889, p. 280, with πϱοσόδων Tοῦ Διονύσου.
|
8 |
CIG XII. 5 869, 60-61.
|
9 |
CIG 2936 (Antonine); J. R. S. Sterrett, "Inscriptions of
Tralleis," MDAI (A) 1883, pp. 330ff. (third century).
|
10 |
RE 6A, s.v. "Tralleis," col. 2104 (Ruge).
|
11 |
CIG 2927.
|
12 |
Weber, Untersuchungen, p. 222.
|
105. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, laureate, r. | Eagle standing front on exergual line, head r. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Reo. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
376* | 1 | 1 | 10.80 | \ | Traces on rev. | Vienna |
377* | 2 | 1 | 10.27 | Traces | Kölner Münzkabinett 21, 4-5 Apr. 1977, 222 |
106. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, laureate, r. | in laurel wreath. |
SNGvonAulock 6630.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
378* | 3 | 2 | 10.80 | On Augustus, RIC 13 | von Aulock (SNG 6630) |
107. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, laureate, r. | Bundle of five grain stalks. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
379* | 3 | 3 | 9.72 | Santamaría, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 678 |
108. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian, laureate, 1. | Pax standing l., modius on head, holding olive branch in r. and cornucopiae in l.; in field l., anchor. |
BMCRE, p. 391 †; RIC 514; Cohen 364; Pinder 85, pl. 8, 13; Herzfelder, p. 26, pl. 7, 5.
Cal. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
380* | 4 | 4 | 9.78 | ↓ | Traces | Paris |
109. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian laureate, 1. | in laurel wreath |
BMCRE 1084, pl. 74, 8; RIC 524; Cohen 475, omitting P P on obverse; Pinder 94, pl. 8, 14; Herzfelder, p. 26, pl. 7, 6.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
381* | 4 | 5 | 11.07 | ↓ | Traces | London |
110. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian laureate, 1. | Bundle of six grain stalks. |
BMCRE, p. 391 | note; Herzfelder, p. 26,
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
382* | 4 | 6 | 10.54 | ↓ | Traces | Budapest |
A fifth unidentified mint was responsible for at least six cistophoric varieties, only one of which survives in more than a single specimen. The obverse busts or heads are laureate in all cases, three facing left, three right.
The common origin of the obverse dies is clear, despite the variation in direction of the bust. The lone left-facing obverse die, no. 4, merely mirrors the other two, with their characteristic rounded chin, large nose, and sharp neck truncation.
The reverse types are completely uninformative. Grain stalks can only have specific reference when their context is known; COS III in laurel wreath can have no possible local significance. The symbolism of the eagle, here portrayed without the usual thunderbolt, is uncertain. Pax is a purely Roman deity, and does not appear on the coinage of the Greek cities;1 the anchor in field may point to a maritime city, but if so it cannot be positively identified.
Herzfelder wished to place the left-facing obverse group in Bithynia; the five grain stalks reverse (no. 107) seemed to him to resemble one with obverse legend IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P, certainly of Bithynian mintage.2 Indeed, there is considerable superficial similarity between the two coins, but detailed examination shows Herzfelder's hypothesis of common origin to be unconvincing. The lettering of the Bithynian die is small and neat: that of obverse die 3 is rather crude. The truncation of the bust on the Bithynian die is smoothly curved, ; that of obverse die 3 has a deep indentation at the rear of the neck, characteristic of Mint E's other dies. The border of the Bithynian piece is composed of small dots; those on all Mint E pieces are large and clumsy. Finally, the reverse legend of the Bithynian piece is laid out horizontally on either side of the bundle of grain stalks; that on reverse die 6 follows the border. The parallel rather than radial arrangement of the vertical strokes in the consular iteration is characteristic of Mint E. In view of all this the Bithynian connection is weak, and on general grounds it is safe to assume that Mint E was located in Asia.3
1 |
Eirene, a goddess similar in conception but different in form, does appear on Greek coinage.
|
2 |
No. B16 below.
|
3 |
On cistophoric circulation in Bithynia see below pp. 110-12.
|
Coins included in this section share with those assigned to unidentified mints types so general in reference, or so incomprehensible, that they allow no specific attribution. But it seems reasonable to distinguish between minting entities which cannot be identified even though their output is fairly well defined, and those coins which now seem isolated but which might eventually be attributed in the light of new types or die links, or even added to the products of an already known mint.
111. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Artemis in short chiton standing r., holding bow in extended l. and drawing an arrow from quiver with r. |
RIC 493; Herzfelder, p. 14, pl. 3, 4.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
383* | 1 | 1 | 10.20 | On Claudius, RIC 54 | Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 659 = Hess, 22 May 1935 (Trau), 1108 |
112. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Artemis in long chiton standing r., holding bow in extended l. and drawing an arrow from quiver with r.; in front of her, a stag. |
BMCRE, p. 386 †, pl. 72, 7; RIC 493.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
384a | 2 | 2 | 11.55 | von Aulock (SNG 6631) | ||
384b* | 2 | 2 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 13 | In trade, 1974 | |
385 | 3 | 3 | 8.50 | ↓ | Rome = RIN 1898, pl. 1, 6 | |
386* | 4 | 4 | 10.37 | ↘ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 13 | Paris |
113. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Artemis with polos on head standing front, holding patera in extended r. and torch vertically in l.; to l., a stag. |
BMCRE, p. 386 *; RIC 492; Cohen 318; Pinder 73, pl. 5, 10; Herzfelder, p. 21, pl. 5, 9.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
387* | 4 | 5 | 11.03 | ↓ | Munich |
The cistophori portray "Artemis Huntress" both with short chiton and with long; the version with short chiton is commonest on the imperial bronzes, and is found frequently at Ephesus.1 Indeed, Herzfelder attributed no. 111 to that city on the basis of unspecified stylistic similarities to known Ephesian products; but it is impossible to point to any single Ephesian coin which closely resembles this one, and in view of the wide popularity of the type it cannot be attributed.
Herzfelder assigned two other Artemis types linked by an extremely crude obverse die to Phrygia.2 The first resembles the usual Huntress reverse, but the goddess wears a long chiton and is accompanied by a stag rather than the more usual hound. The type does not become common until the later second century, and it is unlikely that it can be employed for purposes of attribution.
The second type is found only at Thyateira, and not there until the reign of Severus Alexander.3 It presents a very generalized conception of Artemis: the stag symbolizes her interest in hunting, the torch her connection with light, the moon, and birth-giving. This may simply be an ideal form rather than an imitation of a sculptural model. The occurrence of the type at Thyateira alone does not seem conclusive for attribution in view of the gross inferiority of these coins to the one surviving piece which can be attributed to the mint with certainty.
114. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS COS III P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Artemis Phosphoros (Diana Lucifera) in long robes running r., carrying a torch in each hand. |
BMCRE, p. 564, addendum to p. 386 ≠ (ex Schulman FPL 90, 1935, 168, not illustrated).
Cat. | Obv. | Rep. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
388* | 5 | 6 | 10.54 | ↙ | Traces | ANS |
389 | 5 | 7 | Traces | Turin |
Artemis Phosphoros (Diana Lucifera)
The figure is that of Artemis Phosphoros (Diana Lucifera). The Great Mother figure, Artemis, had been identified from early times with motherhood; the association with fertility led to connection with menstrual cycles, hence to identification with the moon. Like other goddesses with similar associations, she was invoked by women during delivery;4 ancient etymologizers thought this to be the origin of her epithet Lucifera or Lucina.5
The cistophoric portrayal is of some iconographic interest. The earlist Roman depiction of Lucifera on coins graces the non-triumviral aurei and denarii of P. Clodius M. f., moneyer in 42 B.C.6 The Diana of his coin faces frontally and holds two long, heavy torches which rest on the ground on either side of her. Except for the restoration of this issue by Trajan,7 the cistophorus under consideration is the next appearance of the goddess on coins. Now she is seen running right in long, flowing robes and carrying more diminutive torches; the new figure presents, on the whole, a much more graceful aspect. A similar conception of her is found on a bronze medallion,8 likewise of Hadrianic date, but this pleasing presentation is soon abandoned permanently. Issues from the time of Faustina II to Severus Alexander usually show the goddess static with a single torch held transversely, and frequently bear identifying legends.9
The cistophoric portrayal is quite exceptional in a Roman context, and Greek parallels are equally difficult to adduce. Seemingly the only coin which presents Phosphoros/ Lucifera comes from Ephesus,10 where the obverse legend would normally invite attribution; but the crude style of the obverse is unlike anything observed there, and it seems safest to leave the coin unattributed.11
115. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Athena helmeted, draped standing l. holding thunderbolt in r. and spear vertically in upraised l.; shield at r. |
SNGvonAulock 6613.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
390* | 6 | 8 | 10.63 | von Aulock (SNG 6613) |
This representation of Athena is of Roman rather than Asiatic inspiration. The type has a rough antecedent in the asses of Titus, but is most prominent on the coinage of Domitian, perhaps as a result of his fondness for Minerva.12
The "eastern" coinage of Hadrian includes a denarius of identical description.13
116. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS - III l. and r. in field |
Bust of Hadrian draped, laureate, r. | Distyle temple on podium of three steps; within, Athena standing front looking l., holding patera in extended r. and resting l. on shield set on ground; behind her, a spear. |
BMCRE, p. 392 *, pl. 74, 6; RIC 520; Cohen 300 (illustration only); Pinder 79; Herzfelder, p. 17, pl. 4, 8.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
391* | 7 | 9 | 9.79 | ↘ | Traces | Paris |
117. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, laureate, r. | Athena standing front looking l. holding patera in extended r. and resting l. on round shield set on ground. |
BMCRE 1072, pl. 73, 6; Herzfelder, p. 17, pl. 4, 7.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
392* | 7 | 10 | 10.60 | ↑ | London |
118. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, bare r. | Athena standing front looking l., holding patera in extended r. and resting l. on shield set on ground; spear rests vertically against l. arm. |
BMCRE 1071, pl. 73, 5; RIC 503; Cohen 294; Pinder 78, pl. 8, 5; Herzfelder, p. 21, pl. 5, 6.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
393* | 8 | 11 | 10.30 | ↓ | Traces | Boston |
394* | 8 | 12 | 9.30 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 10 | Paris |
395* | 9 | 13 | 10.61 | ↙ | Obv. on rev. Augustus | Vienna |
396* | 9 | 14 | 10.49 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 15 | Oxford |
397 | 9 | 15 | 10.00 | Traces | Winthertur photo (ex. Imhoof-Blumer coll.) | |
398* | 10 | 16 | 10.73 | ↙ | Traces | Vienna |
399* | 10 | 17 | 10.03 | Obv. on rev. Antonius | London | |
400* | 11 | 18 | 11.20 | 1 | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 11 | Oxford |
401* | 11 | 19 | Traces | Salton-Schlessinger, 22 Nov. 1955, 787 | ||
402* | 12 | 20 | 10.55 | ↗ | Traces | ANS = Kress 127, 23 Oct. 1963, 674 |
403* | 13 | 21 | 10.14 | ↓ | Traces | ANS = Hamburger, 19 Oct. 1925, 840 |
404* | 14 | 22 | 10.71 | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 13 | Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 675 | |
405 | 15 | 23 | 9.95 | Traces | Santamaría, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 676 = Hirsch 18, 27 May 1907 (Imhoof-Blumer), 1888 | |
406* | 16 | 24 | 9.41 | ↑ | Traces | Copenhagen (SNG 440) |
407 | 17 | 25 | Traces | Bome |
119. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian with draped l. shoulder bare, r. | Athena as on no. 118. |
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
408* | 18 | 26 | 7.70 | Traces | Vienna |
The linkage of nos. 116 and 117 was first noted by Herzfelder.14 The common origin of the two types and the posture of Athena on both indicate that the same statue is being portrayed, although the spear is lacking on no. 117. The dies are all of high quality, although the resemblance of the portrait to Hadrian is only casual; the figure of Athena is light and graceful, her posture is relaxed and the engraver has even decorated her shield with radial markings.
Herzfelder called the figure Roma, and noted that the style of the obverse die is "comparable to that of some of the definitely Pergamene Asclepius coins." He did not elaborate, and the stylistic similarity is not really obvious. Nor can the presence of the temple of Roma and Augustus in PERGAMUM be adduced in support of an attribution to that city: earlier cistophori show that the figure of Roma in that temple stood crowning the emperor, and she would hardly be portrayed in this fashion.15
A second, larger group with reverse standing Athena is of much cruder style: the rendering of Athena is flat and lifeless, with her shield brought in close to the body and seeming to merge with her arm. The head is disproportionately large, and the right arm protrudes stiffly. Herzfelder noted that the obverse dies of this group bear a general resemblance to those of Herapolis, where Athena appears frequently on the bronze coinage; but there are stylistic differences which may preclude attribution to that mint. The usual curvature of the beard is absent, and there is more consistency in the depiction of the drapery. More significant is the reduction in size of the bust to allow the legend to run underneath it, i.e. continuously around the coin. The additional space thus achieved may account for the larger, more regular lettering.
The Athena standing type, with or without spear, is common throughout Asia but particularly in Phrygia,16 where the style of obverse dies 8-18 would seem to point; a more precise attribution is impossible.
120. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Athena in crested helmet draped to feet standing r., holding thunderbolt in extended l. and spear in upraised r. |
BMCRE, p. 564, addendum to no. 1070, inaccurately describing the bust as head laureate r.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
409* | 19 | 27 | 10.60 | Traces | von Aulock (SNG 6621) | |
410* | 19 | 28 | 9.97 (pierced, broken) | ↑ | Bern | |
411* | 19 | 29 | 9.72 | Traces | Mazzini 2 "dopo 294" = Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 662 = Cahn 26 Nov. 1930, 370 |
The reverse type is modelled on the Athena Velletri; the type goes back to a fifth or fourth century original deriving from the Pheidiac school.17 Here the goddess holds a thunderbolt; elsewhere she holds a figure of Victory or a patera. In imperial times the type seems to be found only at Athens and Amastris,18 neither possible as the mint of this type.
121. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Nemesis standing l. drawing out fold of drapery from breast with r. and holding bridle in l.; at side to l., a wheel. |
BMCRE, p. 389 †, pl. 73, 8; RIC 505; Cohen 325.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
412* | 20 | 30 | 10.93 | Obv. on obv., ref. unc. (traces of Vespasianic ctmk. on obv.) | von Aulock (SNG 6625) | |
413* | 20 | 31 | Traces | Hirsch 22, 25 Nov. 1908, 86 | ||
414 | 20 | 32 | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 10 | Turin |
415* | 21 | 32 | 10.29 | Obv. on rev Antonius, CRR 1198 | von Aulock (SNG 6626) | |
416* | 21 | 33 | 10.50 | Traces | Santamaría, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 664 | |
417* | 22 | 34 | 10.09 | ↓ | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 12 | Berlin (2 for S on both dies) |
418* | 23 | 35 | 10.36 | ↓ | Traces | Brussels |
419* | 24 | 36 | 10.33 | ↓ | Paris | |
420* | 24 | 37 | 9.98 | ↑ | Traces | Foss |
The Nemesis portrayed here differs from the Smyrnaean models in that wings are added, and from the type struck at Mint A in that she faces left and holds a bridle. The rendering is common enough in Asia but cannot be said to be characteristic of any one city.19 The considerable number of surviving specimens would seem to indicate a rather substantial mint, but its location cannot be identified.
The style, while undistinguished, is apparently unrelated to any observed at identifiable mints. The rendering of Nemesis is clumsy—her wings are too long, her head is too small, and her legs are exceedingly long—and the features of the emperor are sharp and linear. The treatment of the hair is very distinctive: instead of the several rows of regular curls familiar from other issues, long single strokes proceed from the crown to the forehead.
122. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Salus/Hygieia draped standing r., feeding snake in r. out of patera in extended l. |
Previously unpublished.
Cal. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
421* | 25 | 38 | 10.21 | Traces | Boston |
Although the cult of Hygieia was of remote antiquity, she is seldom found on coins prior to the time of Hadrian;20 thereafter her appearances, too numerous to catalogue, are concentrated in Lydia and Phrygia, where the mint of this coin is probably to be sought. The obverse die is similar in proportions and relief to that of no. 324 of Mint B, and it is just possible that the coin comes from that mint.
123. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS - III l. and r. in field |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Distyle temple on podium of three steps; within, male divinity (Zeus?) seated half-r. on throne, holding vertical spear in upraised r. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
422* | 26 | 39 | 10.62 | Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 652 |
This piece presents problems of identification as well as attribution; the illustration in the Magnaguti catalogue is not sufficiently clear to allow confident identification of the deity within the temple. The apparently male figure sits half-right on a high-backed throne and rests his upraised right arm on spear or sceptre, of which only faint traces remain. The left arm is not visible on the coin; it may rest at his side or, if outstretched, it may be concealed because of the angle at which the statue is portrayed. On this view the figure is likely to be Zeus.
The style of the coin is singular: the extremely broad bust on the obverse leaves almost no empty field, and the lettering is tall and rather narrow. The reverse legend is neatly done, but the temple is unusually tall and the figure inside disproportionately large.
124. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III l. and r. in field |
Head of Hadrian laureate, l. | Hexastyle temple on podium of three steps. |
BMCRE, p. 392 ≠ ; RIC 523; RIN 1911, p. 154, no. 16.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
423* | 27 | 40 | Traces of wreath on rev. | Schulman, 5 March 1923, (Vierordt), 1308 = Hess, 1 Dec. 1913, 614 | ||
125. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III l. and in field | ||||
Head of Hadrian laureate, l. | Legionary eagle between two standards with vexilla. |
BMCRE 1081 note; RIC 517; Cohen 452.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
424 | 28 | 41 | Traces | Turin | ||
425* | 28 | 42 | Munich |
The most remarkable feature of this pair of types is the style of the obverse dies; the bust is unusual in that Hadrian faces left and wears a laurel wreath, but its most distinctive feature is the large portion of Hadrian's shoulder and its sharp downward truncation, The extended front point actually touches the border of dots.
The individuality of the style precludes attribution to any known mint; the types do not suggest any specific location.
126. | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Male figure on horseback galloping r. holding lance in upraised r. |
BMCRE, p. 564, addendum to p. 391 ≠ ; RIC 515; Cohen 413. BMCRE, p. 391 ≠, wrongly cites Cohen 413 for obv. head laur. r.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overslriking | Reference | |
426* | 29 | 43 | 9.39 | pierced | ↓ | London |
127. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian laureate, draped r. | Male figure on horseback as on no. 126. |
McClean 9584, pl. 356, 8; Imhoof-Blumer, Münzkunde, p. 15, no. 26.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
427* | 30 | 44 | 9.97 | ↓ | Cambridge |
The representation of a male figure, presumably the emperor, riding on horseback, is familiar from later bronze coinage but apparently had not been employed in pre-Hadrianic times. The type probably represents Hadrian hunting: he is known to have been an enthusiastic hunter;21 the coin lacks the cowering enemy who usually defines military activity;22 and the occurrence of a martial type would be unusual in Hadrian's generally peaceful reign.
In view of the type Hadrianoutherae might seem a probable mint site; but the etymology which connected the town's name with Hadrian's successful hunt may be wrong,23 there is no certainty about its date of foundation, and it is perhaps unlikely that a newly founded city would strike cistophori immediately. The mint remains uncertain.
1 |
BMCIonia, p. 69, no. 185 (first century B.C.); p. 84, no. 265 (Julia Domna); pp. 85, no. 271, and 86, no. 276 (Caracalla); p. 90, no.
299 (Elagabalus); p. 93, no. 311 (Severus Alexander); p.
96, no. 326 (Orbiana); p. 97, no. 331 (Gordian III); pp.
101, no. 359, and 103, no. 366 (Valerian); pp. 105, no. 378 and 107, no. 385 (Gallienus); pp. 107-8, nos. 390-91, and 109, nos. 396-97 (Salonina). The type is known
from at least 30 other mints, mainly in Lydia and Phrygia.
|
2 |
Herzfelder, p. 21.
|
3 |
BMCLydia, p. 315, no. 123. Artemis Huntress in her conventional form also figures prominently in the coinage of
Thyateira, but does not appear in long drapery.
|
4 |
Cic. ND 2.68: "Itaque ut apud Graecos Dianam eamque Luciferam, sic apud nostros Iunonem in pariendo vocant."
|
5 |
Isid. Etym. 8.11. 56-57, Varro LL 5.74. See A. Walde, Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed. (Heidelberg,
1938-56) s.v. for a derivation from λύχνος.
|
6 | |
7 |
RIC 814 = BMCRE 3, p. 137, no. 691.
|
8 | |
9 |
Faustina: BMCRE 4, p. 397, nos. 86-88; p. 530, nos. 897-901; p. 539, nos. 972-76. Lucilla: BMCRE 4, p. 427, nos. 308-12; p. 569, nos. 1143-46. Diva Faustina: BMCRE, p. 655*. Crispina: BMCRE 4, p. 765, no. 411; p. 768*. Julia Domna: BMCRE 5, p. 159, nos. 14-19; p. 277, nos.
598-99; p. 307 †; p. 311, no. 782; pp. 430-31, nos 1-5. Plautilla: BMCRE 5, p. 277, nos. 420-21. Severus Alexander:
BMCRE 6, p. 209, no 970*, a hybrid quoted by Cohen (42) from Wiczay.
|
10 |
BMCIonia, p. 108, no. 393.
|
11 |
The universality of the goddess' function meant that her worship was widespread. Her worship is known at at least the following
sites:
Apameia Bithyniae (Head, HN, p. 510); Prusa ad Olympum (SNGCop Bosporus etc. 586); Nicomedia (SNGCop Bosporus 580); Pagae (Head, HN p. 394, see Paus.
1.44.4 and C. Daremberg and E. Saglio, Dictionnaire des antiquités
grecques et romaines 2 (Paris, 1892) p. 133, fig. 2352); Bolus (Dion. Byz. S6 =
C. Müller, Geographici Graeci Minores [Paris, 1855-61] 27); Pholegandros (F. Lenorinant, "Inscriptiones grecques de Pholégandros," RA, N.S. 6, vol. 2, [1865], p. 126); Parium (Head, HN
2, p. 532); and Athens (CIA II 432); see
Clem. Alex. Strom. 1.24.
|
12 |
BMCRE 2, p. 274, nos. 243-45 (Titus); p. 306, no. 42 et passim (Domitian).
|
13 |
BMCRE 3, p. 379, no. 14, pl. 69, 5 (Vienna) = Cohen 296.
|
14 |
Herzfelder, p. 17.
|
15 | |
16 |
BMCPhrygia: Aemoneia, p. 12, no. 55 (Hadrian); Aezani, p. 36, nos. 94-95 (Domitian), p. 42, nos. 135-36 (Gallienus); Amorium, p. 48,
no. 12
(M. Aurelius-Geta), p. 55, no. 47 (Caracalla); Apamea, p. 90, nos. 124-25 (Philip-Valerian and Gallienus), p.
99, no. 173 (Geta), p. 101, no. 79 (Severus Alexander);
Cidyessus, p. 150, no. 5 (Julia Domna); Cotiašum, p. 167, no. 46 (Julia Domna), p. 175, no. 87 (Otacilia Severa); Docimeium,
p. 189, nos. 5-6 (Septimius Severus and later); Dorylaeum, p. 196, no. 9
(Sabina); p. 198, no. 14 (Gordian III), Eumeneia: pp.
213-14, nos. 22-23 (Septimius Severus and later); Grimenothyrae, p. 222,
nos. 2-4 and p. 223, no. 7 (Trajan-Hadrian), p. 224, no. 12 (Sabina); Hieropolis, p.
249, no. 128 (Trajan), p. 250, no. 132 (Hadrian); Laodicea,
p. 295, no. 103 (M. Aurelius Caesar); Otrus, p. 314, no. 6 (Julia Domna); Philomelium, p. 357, no. 26 (Severus Alexander); Sebaste, p. 370, no. 6 (Nero-Gordian); Siblia, p. 381 no. 8 (Geta Caesar);
Stectorium, p. 384, no. 7 (Faustina II), p. 386, nos. 15-16 (Philip I); Synaus, p. 391, no. 22 (Philip II); Synnada, see above,
p. 72, n. 1; Temenothyrae, p. 411, no. 17 (time of Gallienus),
p. 399, no. 40 (Faustina II); Themisonium, p. 418, nos. 2-3 (Septimius Severus-Philip);
and Trajanopolis: p. 428, no. 24 (Hadrian).
|
17 |
Roscher, Lex. I, 702 (Furtwängler).
|
18 | |
19 |
The type seems to be more common in Phrygia than elsewhere: see BMCPhrygia, p. 57, no. 55 (Amorium, Geta); p. 136,
nos. 30-33 (Cibyra, Septimius Severus and later);
SNGvonAulock 3160 (Dorylaeum, Julia
Domna); BMCPhrygia, pp. 230-31, nos. 16-20 (Hierapolis, Trajan-Caracalla); pp. 295, no. 107, 314, no. 220, and 322, no. 250 (Laodicea, M.
Aurelius-Julia Maesa); p. 395, no. 21 (Synnada, imperial times). The type is also encountered at cities
in Ionia, Caria and Lydia.
|
20 |
Pre-Hadrianic appearances on the coins of Asia include BMCCaria,
p. 62, no. 3 (Attouda, "time of Trajan"); BMCLydia, p. 335, no. 5 (Midaeium, Trajan).
|
21 |
Dio 69.10, S.H.A. Hadr. 20.13.
|
22 | |
23 |
RE 7, s.v. "Hadrianothera," col. 2177 (Bürchner); W. M. Ramsay,
Historical Geography of Asia Minor (London, 1890), p. 437,
see also p. 155.
|
In the foregoing discussion it has been noted that there is no good reason to follow Herzfelder (and later Mattingly and Woodward) in assigning to Bithynian mintage any cistophori except those which bear the mark of the Commune Bithyniae and others which must be associated with them on the grounds of obverse legend, for this would require the assumption that imperial cistophori circulated in Bithynia before Hadrian's day. The opportunity may now be taken to summarize the evidence relating to circulation of imperial cistophori.
The following cistophoric hoards are recorded:
Regarding the composition and provenance of two other hoards there can be no certainty. A hoard discovered in the late 1940s terminated with extremely fine issues of Claudius, but no record was made of its contents.7 Remnants of a second considerable hoard passed through the trade in the early Tokat mid-1960s. The condition of the coins ranged from worn (Antonius, Augustus) to very fine and better (Hadrian); it is fair to suppose that the hoard terminated with Hadrianic issues.
Excavations have added almost nothing. Four cistophori (two Antonius, one Augustus, one Claudius) were unearthed by the American excavations at Sardis;8 and a plated cistophorus (rev. Apollo with lyre, cf. no. 53) was recovered by the German excavations at PERGAMUM and is now in Berlin.9 But other intensively excavated sites in Asia have yielded nothing. Again, merely for the sake of completeness, three other finds may be noted. A cistophorus struck at Laodicea (cat. no. 291) was discovered in the Danube during the dredging of a harbor in the village of Tass; M. Alföldi has plausibly suggested that the coin was lost by or buried with a soldier returning from the East who had kept it as a souvenir.10 Austrian excavations at Carnuntum turned up an Augustan cistophorus with reverse triumphal arch;11 and finally one cistophorus of Augustus was part of the Vicopisano hoard of 1920.12
If the evidence for circulation of cistophori solely within Asia is not very impressive, the negative evidence against their currency outside the province is overwhelming. For cistophori are never found in hoards from farther east, which are generally eclectic in composition. Of major finds of eastern silver, e.g. the Asia Minor, Caesarea, Gerzeul and Tokat hoards (not to mention finds from more distant spots such as Tell Kalak, Murabba'at, Eleutheropolis, and Mampsis) not one contains a single cistophorus.13 The hoard from Pisidian Antioch is thus the only hoard from outside the province of Asia to contain cistophori in substantial numbers, and that city is so close to the border of the province that it can hardly be adduced as evidence for the non-Asian currency of cistophori.
Certainly the nature of the coinage supports the view that cistophori circulated freely only within Asia. The cistophoric system devised by Eumenes II employed a weight standard which was conveniently consistent with Attic, Rhodian, and Roman systems; yet it has long been observed that cistophori are hardly ever found outside Attalid territory.14 As Kleiner has pointed out,15 the king could hardly have prevented transactions in cistophori beyond the borders of his realm; nor is it reasonable to suppose that foreign merchants were prevented by decree from accepting cistophori in payment. The best explanation for the tendency of cistophori to remain at home is that the coins were overvalued—worth more inside Attalid territory than outside it. This view gains confirmation from Cicero's reluctance to accept cistophori instead of denarii.16
That overvaluation of the cistophorus continued into the Roman period is suggested by Walker's analyses.17 His sample is very limited and his results await confirmation; but his figures seem to indicate a consistent overvaluation of between 6% and 11% from ca. 70 B.C. to the time of Claudius. The degree of overvaluation will have been reduced almost to the point of disappearance when Nero reduced the weight of the denarius; but by that time long-standing tradition would have been effective, and kept the cistophorus within its traditional boundaries; and the Roman province of Asia was, after all, almost congruent with the earlier Attalid kingdom.
The strongest evidence for purely Asian circulation of cistophori in Hadrian's day is the selection of mint sites employed for overstriking. With the exception of Nicomedia (clearly a special case, discussed below), all the certainly identifiable mints fall within the province of Asia. Even Herzfelder was able to adduce only style in support of his Bithynian attributions; and although some of our unidentified mints produced coins of very good style, in no case is there any direct relationship to the style of the Nicomedian cistophori. Until hoards, site finds, or firm typological evidence point to circulation elsewhere, it is safest to suppose that cistophoric circulation was confined to the province of Asia.
1 |
N. Olçay in Sutherland et al., Cistophori, pp. 1-11.
|
2 |
S. de Roquefeuil, "Un trésor de cistophores trouvé en Turquie," BSFN, May 1975, pp.
766-67.
|
3 | |
4 | |
5 |
M. Caromessini-Oeconomides, "On a Hoard of Plated Roman Coins," ANSMN 12 (1966), pp.
71-74.
|
6 |
For other hoards of this sort see the list of M. H. Crawford, "Plated Coins—False Coins," NC
1968, p. 55. While the Athens hoard sheds no light on the geographical limits of
cistophoric circulation, it is not completely uninstructive. A terminus post quem for the production of these forgeries
is provided by the latest identifiable issue, that of Commodus; the fact that the forger chose to imitate Claudian cistophori
demonstrates
their prominence in circulation a century and a quarter after issue. The durability of the cistophori is reconfirmed.
|
7 |
Information from C. A. Hersh.
|
8 |
H. W. Bell,
Sardis
, vol. II, The Coins (Leiden, 1916), nos. 422, 423, 428,
429.
|
9 |
K. Regling,
Altertümer von Pergamon
1. Stadt und Landschaft, Text 2 (Berlin, 1913), p. 358.
|
10 |
M. Alföldi, "Beiträge zur Frage der Cistophori Kaisers Hadrians," Folia Arch 8 (1956), pp.
89-95.
|
11 |
W. Hahn, Die Fundmünzen der Römischen Zeit in Österreich, pt. 3: Niederösterreich, vol. I:
Carnuntum (Vienna, 1976), no. 157.
|
12 |
M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coin Hoards, RNS Special Publication no. 4 (London, 1969), no. 549; A. Minto, "Regione VII (Eturia). V. Vico Pisano," NSA 1920, pp. 240-43.
|
13 |
The contents of these hoards are summarized in ANSMN 20 (1975), p. 94.
|
14 |
H. Seyrig, "Monnaies hellénistiques V. Questions cistophoriques," RN 1963, pp. 22-31 with
earlier bibliography.
|
15 |
F. S. Kleiner and S. P. Noe, The Early Cistophoric Coinage, ANSNS
14 (NEW YORK, 1977), pp. 124-25; F. S. Kleiner, "The Dated Cistophori of Ephesus," ANSMN 18 (1972), pp. 30-32.
|
16 |
Cic. Att. 2.6.2; 2.16.4.
|
17 |
D. R. Walker, The Metrology of the Roman Silver Coinage Part 1. From Augustus to Domitian,
British Archaeological Reports, Supplementary Series 5 (Oxford, 1976), pp. 26-36.
|
Table 1
Summary of Dies
Mint | Coins | Obv. dies | Rev. dies | Coins: Obv. dies |
PERGAMUM | 10 | 6 | 9 | 1.67 |
Ephesus | 105 | 73 | 86 | 1.44 |
Miletus | 16 | 8 | 15 | 2 |
Smyrna | 65 | 46 | 60 | 1.41 |
Alabanda | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Aphrodisias | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Mylasa | 13 | 7 | 11 | 1.86 |
Nysa | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Sardis | 25 | 13 | 24 | 1.92 |
Thyateira | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Aezani | 12 | 10 | 11 | 1.2 |
Eumeneia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Hierapolis | 24 | 19 | 23 | 1.26 |
Laodicea | 39 | 22 | 37 | 1.77 |
Synnada | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Mint A | 19 | 12 | 17 | 1.58 |
Mint B | 12 | 8 | 10 | 1.5 |
Mint C | 34 | 26 | 27 | 1.31 |
Mint D | 23 | 18 | 19 | 1.28 |
Mint E | 7 | 4 | 6 | 1.75 |
Unattributed | 46 | 30 | 44 | 1.53 |
Total | 463 | 309 | 410 | 1.50 |
Two facts emerge clearly from the above summary. First, our record of the dies used to produced the Hadrianic cistophori is woefully incomplete. Die duplication is infrequent, and reverse die links are extremely rare; the number of reverse dies approaches the number of surviving specimens. With a ratio of coins to obverse dies of only 1.5:1 we can expect that newly-discovered coins will regularly display new obverse dies.
Second, it is clear merely from the number of dies which has been recorded that Hadrian's coinage was very substantial, having involved a minimum of 309 obverse and 410 reverse dies. If one applies Lyon's formula1 to these figures the following results are achieved:
Coins | Dies known | First estimate | Maximum estimate | Minimum estimnte | |
Obverse | 463 | 309 | 537 | 601 | 477 |
Reverse | 410 | 1852 | 2436 | 1597 |
These figures invite comparison with those calculated by the same method for the Augustan cistophori:
Hadrian | Augustus | |
Obv.: Rev. | Obv.: Rev. | |
First estimate | 537:1852 | 456:1971 |
Maximum estimate | 601:2436 | 498:2393 |
Minimum estimate | 477:1597 | 433:1695 |
Taken at face value, these results suggest that Hadrian's coinage involved a slightly larger number of dies than had Augustus' issues. But the application of Lyon's formula to simple die totals is open to several objections. Our record of dies for both coinages is imperfect to begin with; yet the very fact that most of the Hadrianic coinage is overstruck on Augustan cistophori further depresses the survival rate of Augustan dies. Second, in both coinages a number of different issues in which the dies do not and cannot overlap have been combined; the effect of this, according to Lyon, is always to underestimate the range of values within which the total number of dies employed should be sought.
Even were it possible to arrive at accurate die totals for both coinages they might mislead. On purely technical grounds it is fair to suppose that Hadrian's dies had a shorter life than those of Augustus. Metal becomes harder once struck, and Hadrian's flans, composed solely of earlier cistophori, were harder than those of Augustus had been, thus requiring more stress to achieve the same strike. In addition Hadrian's cistophori were struck cold: several blows were probably required to achieve even the degree of undertype obliteration which they display.2 Both considerations would contribute to shorter die life, and the differential from Augustan cistophori would be even greater if Augustus' cistophori were struck hot.
In view of all these imponderables it is doubtful whether any meaningful result can be achieved through estimates either of die totals or of output per die. The best index to the output of Hadrianic cistophori is our knowledge that the flan material was limited by the number of Antonian and Augustan cistophori that had survived 150 years of circulation. There is no way of estimating this.
1 |
C.S.S. Lyon, "The Estimation of the Number of Dies Employed in a Coinage," NCirc 1965, pp.
180-81.
|
2 |
D. G. Sellwood, "Some Experiments in Greek Minting Technique," NC 1963, pp. 217-31.
|
Overstriking is a phenomenon rare in the coinage of Greek and Roman worlds. That many of the Hadrianic cistophori were overstruck was remarked as early as Pinder, but the question has attracted no serious study since interest in the series has centered primarily on the types and on the mints whose identification they permit. Yet careful analysis of the overstriking reveals the scope and purpose of the whole series, and accounts for the dispersion of Hadrian's mints.1
Table 2
Summary of Overstriking
Mint | Coins | Total over-struck (%) | Obv. on Obv. | Obv. on Rev. | On Ant. | On Aug. | On Cl. |
Pergamum | 10 | 8 (80.0) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Ephesus | 105 | 88 (83.8) | 28 | 16 | 19 | 24 | 0 |
Miletus | 16 | 16 (100) | 3 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
Smyrna | 65 | 48 (73.8) | 16 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 1 |
Alabanda | 4 | 4 (100) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Aphrodisias | 2 | 2(100) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Mylasa | 13 | 13 (100) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
Nysa | 1 | 1 (100) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sardis | 25 | 23 (92.0) | 8 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 0 |
Thyateira | 1 | 1 (100) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Aezani | 12 | 10 (83.3) | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
Eumeneia | 3 | 3(100) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Hierapolis | 24 | 21 (87.5) | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
Laodicea | 39 | 31 (79.5) | 10 | 7 | 2 | 14 | 0 |
Synnada | 2 | 2 (100) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Mint A | 19 | 14 (73.7) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
Mint B | 12 | 5 (41.6) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Mint C | 34 | 18 (52.9) | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
Mint D | 23 | 15 (65.2) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Mint E | 7 | 6 (85.8) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Unattributed | 46 | 35 (76.1) | 10 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 1 |
Total | 463 | 364 (78.8) | 109 | 62 | 59 | 104 | 3 |
As Table 2 shows, of 463 coins studied, 364 (78.8%) show positive traces of undertypes. This figure is extremely high in view of two factors which might depress it. First, a truly perfect overstrike would leave no traces; and secondly, many of the photographs studied, while adequate for purposes of die comparison, were not sufficiently clear to permit detection of overstriking traces. We may thus doubt whether any of the Hadrianic cistophori were struck on virgin flans.
Of 166 identifiable undertypes, 104(62.7%) were of Augustus, 59 (35.5%) of Antonius. Only three Claudian pieces (1.8%) have been detected, and none of later emperors; no Greek or Roman proconsular undertypes have been noted. This suggests that an attempt was made to confine overstriking to Antonian and Augustan issues.
The effect of overstriking on the circulation of Antonian and Augustan cistophori has been variously estimated. Mattingly called the overstriking a "recoinage" and followed Pinder in comparing it to Trajan's recall of Rome's "obsolescent" money;2 Woodward argued from the large number of surviving pieces that there was no compulsory calling-in of Antonian and Augustan issues,3 but this argument no more precludes a recall of cistophori than the present abundance of aurei and denarii struck before Nero's reform shows that Trajan's recall never took place. There are in fact good reasons for concluding that Hadrian's overstriking removed Antonian and Augustan cistophori from circulation.
The Augustan cistophori were struck to a standard of slightly over 12 g.4 This norm diminished during the first century: correspondence of the cistophoric tetradrachm to the reduced post-Neronian denarii, for which there is inscriptional and literary evidence, would place the standard at ca. 10.23 g. The cistophori of Titus and Domitian closely approach this standard, while those of Nerva and Trajan fall somewhat short. Hadrian's issues average 10.32 g (if coins under 9.00 g. are excluded). A frequency table shows no clear point of concentration, but over half the known weights fall in the range 10.11-10.80 g, and the greatest number of these in the range 10.11-10.40 g (see Table 4).
Now the Hadrianic cistophori attest the state of wear of the Antonian and Augustan coins on which they were struck. The Hadrianic coinage is on the whole well preserved, and a factor of ca. 0.50 g for wear subsequent to restriking is a fair if arbitrary estimate. This would place the point of concentration of Antonian and Augustan cistophori at the time of restriking at ca. 10.61-10.90 g. If only some of these issues were restruck and substantial numbers remained in circulation in post-Hadrianic times, we should expect to find many weighing much less. Yet Sutherland's catalogue of the Augustan cistophori lists only 9 coins (of 415 outside the Istanbul hoard) weighing under 10.95 g; the lightest recorded Augustan cistophorus weighs 10.40 g, roughly the mean weight of surviving Hadrianic coins. The impression that the present corpus of Augustan cistophori was removed from circulation by Hadrian's day is confirmed by its generally excellent state of preservation. While many coins display considerable wear, none
Mint | Recorded weights | High | Low | Mean 1 | Mean 2 |
PERGAMUM | 8 | 10.63 | 8.60 | 9.94 | 10.13 |
Ephesus | 70 (68) | 11.05 | 8.73 | 10.27 | 10.33 |
Miletus | 12 | 10.94 | 9.12 | 10.13 | 10.13 |
Smyrna | 47 | 12.20 | 8.46 | 10.44 | 10.52 |
Alabanda | 3 | 10.44 | 9.83 | 10.23 | 10.23 |
Aphrodisias | 2 | 10.44 | 10.25 | 10.35 | 10.35 |
Mylasa | 13 | 11.03 | 9.36 | 10.39 | 10.39 |
Nysa | 1 | 10.17 | 10.17 | 10.17 | 10.17 |
Sardis | 18 | 11.09 | 9.55 | 10.35 | 10.35 |
Thyateira | 1 | 10.55 | 10.55 | 10.55 | 10.55 |
Aezani | 8 | 10.88 | 8.58 | 10.13 | 10.35 |
Eumeneia | 3 | 11.00 | 10.27 | 10.80 | 10.80 |
Hierapolis | 17 | 11.08 | 9.79 | 10.38 | 10.38 |
Laodicea | 31 | 11.00 | 8.83 | 10.35 | 10.40 |
Synnada | 2 | 10.34 | 10.24 | 10.29 | 10.29 |
Mint A | 18 | 11.04 | 8.08 | 9.78 | 9.98 |
Mint B | 11 | 10.68 | 8.36 | 9.93 | 10.09 |
Mint C | 23 (22) | 10.93 | 8.21 | 10.04 | 10.21 |
Mint D | 22 | 10.95 | 8.54 | 10.10 | 10.17 |
Mint E | 7 | 11.07 | 9.72 | 10.43 | 10.43 |
Unattributed | 37 (36) | 11.55 | 8.50 | 10.30 | 10.35 |
Total | 354 (350) | 12.20 | 8.08 | 10.25 | 10.32 |
approach the state of obliteration which might be expected if the coins continued in circulation through two centuries or more.
The metrological evidence, then, points to wholesale restriking of Antonian and Augustan cistophori. This conclusion is confirmed by the number of dies employed for Hadrian's coinage. Antonian and Augustan issues would have been lost from circulation by simple attrition, yet a century and a half after issue they still provided sufficient flan material for at least 309 obverse and 410 reverse dies, and undoubtedly very many more. The dispersion of mints, covering virtually the entire area of cistophoric circulation, would have made their complete demonetization feasible.
Table 4
Frequency Table: The Asian Cistophori
Total | PERGAMUM | Ephesus | Miletus | Smyrna | Alabanda | Aphrodisias | Mylasa | Nysa | Sardis | Thyateira | Aezani | Eumeneia | Hierapolis | Laodicea | Synnada | Mint A | Mint B | Mint C | Mint D | Mint E | Unattributed | |
11.51-up | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
11.41-11.50 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
11.31-11.40 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
11.21-11.30 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
11.11-11.20 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
11.01-11.10 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
10.91-11.00 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
10.81-10.90 | 19 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
10.71-10.80 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
10.61-10.70 | 31 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||
10.51-10.60 | 35 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||
10.41-10.50 | 23 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
10.31-10.40 | 33 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||
10.21-10.30 | 29 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||||
10.11-10.20 | 24 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
10.01-10.10 | 20 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||
9.91-10.00 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||||||
9.81-9.90 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
9.71-9.80 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||
9.61-9.70 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
9.51-9.60 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
9.41-9.50 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
9.31-9.40 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
9.21-9.30 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
9.11-9.20 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
9.01-9.10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
8.01-9.00 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
up to 8.00 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
Total Coins | 354 | 8 | 70 | 12 | 47 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 17 | 31 | 2 | 18 | 11 | 23 | 22 | 7 | 37 |
The purpose of the recoinage was certainly not a revaluation of the cistophorus, since only Antonian and Augustan pieces were affected—the three Claudian coins presumably having been included by accident—while substantial issues of later emperors were allowed to remain in circulation. Nor was the area of cistophoric circulation redefined, since the mint sites are consistent with the traditional area of circulation. Nor, seemingly, would revalidation have been at issue: Antonian and Augustan pieces were well worn, but because of diminution in the weight of the denarius during the first century, their weights had not slipped below the contemporary standard. The very fact of their overstriking indicates their prominence in the currency of Hadrian's day.
Yet weight and fineness were not the only criteria of a coin's acceptability. The well-known rescript attributed to Hadrian which deals at length with abuses by the Pergamene banking monopoly specifically prohibits aspratoura: their practice of accepting only fresh (asper) coins at face value, and discounting others.5 Nor was concern to accept fresh coin confined to bankers. In an assessment to support a military expedition, Nero had once demanded payment only in nummus asper;6 a tabula pecuniarum, recording monthly gifts to a sacred college, specifies denaria aspra,7 and a sepulchral inscription demands a penalty of 5,000 denarii lamprou dicharaktou, "freshly minted," for illegitimate burial.8
The practice undoubtedly reflects the usually direct relationship between a coin's state of preservation and its weight (and consequently precious metal content). But the two considerations were clearly distinct in the case of the Antonian and Augustan cistophori, which were of full weight even though worn. Nevertheless, they would have been most severely affected by aspratoura. Trajan's recall had removed pre-Neronian aurei and denarii from circulation,9 insuring a fairly fresh body of coinage; the Antonian and Augustan cistophori were thus nearly a century older than any denarius in circulation, and at least 60 years older than all other cistophori.
Hadrian's rescript mentions only the Pergamene bankers, but no doubt the abuses it enumerates were widespread. Banks were frequently public institutions controlled by elected municipal officials; sometimes exchange rights were leased to private firms in return for a share of the profits.10 In either case the municipal treasury profited from any abuses perpetrated by the trapezitai; the economics of municipal government, with high expenses and limited revenues, encouraged the perpetuation of illicit practices.
While the rescript treated the legal issue involved, it was prudent if not imperative to insure against resuscitation of the practice. Restriking those coins most heavily affected, the Antonian and Augustan cistophori, was an obvious, effective and inexpensive solution. It provided guarantee of value and precluded refusal or discount due to excessive wear. The restriking amounted to a new issue without the expenses normally incurred in coining.
If indeed aspratoura prompted Hadrian's restriking, there was no need for a demonetization decree or any complex machinery for the recall of earlier cistophori. The practical increase in a coin's value would alone be sufficient incentive to voluntary submission of coins by their holders. Once restruck, Hadrian's issues could circulate freely and on a par with those of earlier emperors whose coins were not so severely worn as to be affected by the abuse.
Previous commentators have accounted for the unprecedented dispersion of Hadrian's mint in political terms, seeing the multiple-mint scheme in the context of Hadrian's panhellenic program: the act of minting as well as the employment of local types gave the strife torn cities of Asia a sense of participation in a larger community and thus furthered provincial harmony. The scope and purpose of the coinage, as defined here, offer a more concrete explanation. The mint sites which can be identified with certainty correspond well to the known area of cistophoric circulation; it is fair to suppose that this decentralization was intended to facilitate restriking. In general, the output of different mints reflects the relative commercial importance of their cities. Coins circulated in greater numbers and were exchanged more frequently in such important centers as Ephesus, Smyrna, Sardis and Laodicea than in such relative backwaters as Alabanda, Aphrodisias or Nysa.
Thus a numismatic event which has previously been understood only in political terms is seen to have been demanded by economic considerations. Antonian and Augustan cistophori no longer circulated freely because of their worn condition; restriking was adopted as the simplest, least expensive, and fastest means of restoring their currency. For practical reasons the restriking was carried out at mints scattered throughout the province: small mints could be established and disestablished quickly, and their decentralization insured that coins all over Asia would be restruck expeditiously. The decision to recoin once made and the multiple mint scheme devised, the employment of local types was an obvious means of integrating the recoinage into Hadrian's panhellenic program.11
1 |
The discussion of overstriking has been anticipated in "The Overstriking of Hadrian's Cistophori" Actes du 8e congrès international de numismatique.
NewYork-Washington
1973 (Paris-Basel, 1976), pp. 347-53.
|
2 |
BMCRE 3, p. clviiii.
|
3 |
Woodward, p. 170.
|
4 |
Sutherland et al., Cistophori, pp. 118, 121.
|
5 |
IGR IV 352 (PERGAMUM).
|
6 |
Suet. Nero 44.
|
7 |
IGR IV 494 (PERGAMUM).
|
8 |
IGR IV 595 (Cadi, Phrygia).
|
9 |
The effect of Trajan's recall is immediately evident in hoards: S. Bolin, State and Currency in
the Roman Empire to 300 A.D. (Stockholm, 1958), pp. 340-43.
|
10 |
T. R. S. Broughton, "Roman Asia," in T. Frank, ed., An Economic Survey
of Ancient Rome
4 (Baltimore, 1938), pp. 892-95.
|
11 |
A different analysis of the overstriking has recently been put forward by D. R. Walker, The
Metrology of the Roman Silver Coinage Part 2. From Nerva to Commodus, British Archaeological Reports Supplementary Series 22 (Oxford, 1977), pp. 63-64. He suggests that progressive reduction in the fineness of the
denarius would have led to intolerable undervaluation of the cistophorus. He proposes that the overstriking was intended to
retariff the
cistophorus at four rather than three denarii, thus overvaluing it by a factor of ca. 19%. This hypothesis would be more attractive
if the
same considerations did not also apply to the cistophori of Claudius, which are very rarely overstruck, and those of the Flavians,
Nerva, and
Trajan, which are never overstruck. See the comments of I. Carradice and M. Price in R. A. G. Carson, P. Berghaus, and N.
M. Lowick, eds., A Survey of Numismatic Research 1972-1977 (Berne, 1979), pp. 123-24.
|
Overstriking is a simple process, since flans may be simply extracted from circulation and restruck. One consequence of this simplicity, however, is irregularity in the weights of the new coins. Without filing or trimming, processes sufficiently laborious to limit the utility of overstriking,1 no control over weight is possible. Thus it is not surprising to find that the weights of the Hadrianic cistophori vary widely, and show no clear point of concentration. The heaviest piece known weighs 12.20 g and can hardly have seen much circulation before or after Hadrian; the lightest known piece is 7.12 g; 90.2% of the surviving specimens fall between 9 and 11 g. The mean weight of all coins is 10.25 g, rising to 10.32 g after coins under 9 g are eliminated; 10.32 g is also the median weight of all coins.
Another indication that coins were restruck just as they came from circulation is the lack of technical success in overstriking. Except at Mint C, where hammering may have been employed, no care was taken to insure a flat surface for restriking. Nor is there any evidence for heating, seemingly a more practical method of preparing a large body of flans. For heating results in a slight distortion of flan shape, and the fabric of Hadrian's coins is precisely that of the Antonian and Augustan cistophori. Moreover, two blows on a heated coin are sufficient to eliminate all but the slightest traces of undertypes; unheated coins may still show traces after several strikes.2 Many clear examples of double striking show that coins were usually struck more than once: but as Table 2 shows, over 35% of the Hadrianic cistophori have traces sufficient to allow identification of the undertype.
Finally, as that table shows, most restriking was done obverse on obverse, despite the greater emphasis this gave the usual concavity of the reverse. Off-center strikes made in this direction thinned and spread the flan, often twisting it slightly or producing a swelling on one edge. Many Hadrianic pieces are almost oval in shape.
In other respects standards of production were higher. The coins are generally well centered, and very few display evidence of die breakage. There is one possible case of recutting (obverse no. 67), but evidently dies were simply discarded when flaws developed.
Die axes are regularly ↑ and ↓, with slight declensions; only at Miletus (↑) and Mylasa (↓) is a rigid adherence to any one norm observed. No examples are known of horizontal or nearly horizontal axes, so some system of fixing the dies in approximately parallel relationship to one another must have been employed. No examples of the same die pair in different relationships have been noted, although there are several cases of one obverse die in different relationships to several reverses. This should indicate a "box" system: variations from ↓ or ↓ would then be the result of careless initial placement of the reverse die in its "box" or holder. In this case the relationship of any single pair of dies would always be identical, while a new reverse die might adopt any relationship to the obverse.
Specific questions of iconography have been discussed in the commentaries on individual mints, but in summary the broad range of style across the series may be noted. This is clearest from comparison of the obverses. Even allowing for wide variation in the skill of individual engravers, it is clear that no standard model of imperial features was distributed, and likenesses must have been obtained locally. Some portraits, for example those of Aezani, Eumeneia, and Hierapolis, bear so little resemblance to Hadrian that they might have been cut from memory or verbal description. Even portraits of fairly high quality, such as those of PERGAMUM, Ephesus, and Mint A, bear no very close relationship to Hadrian's features; they might portray almost any bearded male.
The question of the use of hubs to mass-produce obverse dies has arisen in connection with the Augustan cistophori3 and merits brief examination here. The technical feasibility of such a method is no longer questioned, but the evidence for its employment is inconclusive. Use of the process cannot be proved for the Augustan cistophori, but as Miss Merrington notes (p. 120):
There is the phenomenon of quite large numbers of dies which are more nearly alike than would seem to be believable if each individual die had been freely engraved from start to finish. The circumstances are those in which the use of a hub would have been entirely appropriate—the punching out of the essence of a design (head, hair, mass, eye-structure, ear-structure, for example) and the finishing of all detail, including the addition of lettering and border, as a subsequent and separate operation by hand.
The practice, once begun, might be continued under subsequent emperors, and the evidence of issues of Claudius and Nerva is not, at first sight, inconsistent with the use of hubs.
Hubbing has obvious advantages in the production of any long series of identical dies; it would have particular utility in a context of several mints issuing similar obverses simultaneously. The production of dies at a central workshop, whether by hubbing or not, would insure stylistic and artistic uniformity throughout a series, however many mints were engaged in striking.
Yet there is no evidence for use of this process to produce Hadrian's dies. Variations in style peculiar to individuals mints rule out a central workshop, and differences not only in detail but in essence of design, position and size of bust, and shape of features, rule out the use of hubbing even on a local level.
1 |
F. S. Kleiner ("The Dated Cistophori of Ephesus," ANSMN 18 [1972],
pp. 30-32) has noted several cases in which early cistophori were struck over other tetradrachms which had been trimmed to
cistophoric weight;
the very fact that this process was employed would seem to indicate how rarely foreign coins found their way to Attalid mints,
since melting
and restriking would have been the only practical method for larger numbers of coins.
|
2 |
D. G. Sellwood, "Some Experiments in Greek Minting Technique," NC 1963, p. 228.
|
3 |
Sutherland et al., Cistophori, pp. 119-20.
|
While it remains difficult to fix any precise chronological limits for the production of the cistophori, it is possible to remove one misconception that has crept into the literature: the view that those cistophori lacking P P in the obverse legend are to be associated with Hadrian's first visit to Asia in ca. 123. This is inconsistent with the fact that all the cistophori seem to be overstruck; and whether the restriking was undertaken to restore the currency of the cistophori or to retariff them, it has to be seen as a single continuous phenomenon. The coinage without P P is far too small (in terms of either surviving specimens or obverse dies) to have spanned the entire period from 123 to 128. It is more likely that the coinage began just before Hadrian became Pater Patriae, sometime in 128. The next issue, the IOVIS OLYMPIVS and associated coins of Ephesus with obverse legend HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, is securely placed in later 128-early 129. This was succeeded at Ephesus by the group with obverse legend HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P which is found at all other mints. That this legend was adopted fairly early is suggested by the "medallic" coinage of Mint C, which fits best at an early stage of the recoinage.
How long the coinage lasted after 129 is problematical. The death of Sabina provides, at least for the coinage of Smyrna, a terminus ante quem that can fairly be extended to the rest of the coinage, since there are no allusions to individuals or events of the later years of Hadrian. In fact the coinage probably ended much more quickly, in ca. 130: whatever one's view of the purpose of the recoinage, it would have been profitable to submit one's coins promptly; at no mint, Ephesus excepted, have we evidence for a very large number of obverse dies; at no mint, again excepting Ephesus, is there any major change in format such as might be expected over a long period; and only at Ephesus and Mylasa (and possibly at PERGAMUM and Mint D) is there any evidence for the employment of more than a single die engraver.
This is a fairly tight chronology, but it makes historical as well as numismatic sense. We shall see that there is no need to connect the openings and closings or the locations of the cistophoric mints with Hadrian's Asian itinerary, but it is generally fair to suppose that the coinage coincided with his presence in the province.
Several attempts have been made to determine what criterion, if any, was employed in the selection of sites for cistophoric mints. If the principle could be discovered, it would provide clues to the locations of several unidentified mints.
J. Marquardt 1 first suggested that the cistophori were produced at centers of the juridical conventus. The proposal had a certain attractiveness, since the conventus were natural administrative centers which might have been equipped with the bureaucracy necessary to oversee the production of coinage. Marquardt's own comparative lists are of purely academic interest today owing to advances in the identification of both conventus and mints; instead the conventus as identified by Habicht2 can be compared with mint sites identified in the present study. PERGAMUM, Ephesus, Miletus, Smyrna, Alabanda, Sardis and Synnada were both conventus and mint cities. But no cistophori can be assigned to Adramyttium, Cyzicus, Halicarnassus, Apamea, Cibyra, or Philomelium; and among the identified mints Aphrodisias, Mylasa, Nysa, Aezani, Eumeneia, Hierapolis and Laodicea are not known to have been centers of the conventus.
An even less satisfactory suggestion was made by Woodward:8
Hadrian's own interest in the past history of these cities, large or small, and in particular in their primitive cults, may have been coupled with a wish— or an insistence—that the original mint cities of Greek cistophori in the second century B. C. should revive that activity, as far as possible.
Hadrian's interest in Greek affairs, which is otherwise attested, and his omnium rerum curiositas may entitle us to posit a particular interest in the cities of Asia; but it is going too far to suppose that he or anyone else could have known (or would have cared) what cities had originally struck cistophori. In any case, among the original mint cities, Apamea is not known to have struck under Hadrian, while Alabanda, Aphrodisias, Miletus, Aezani and Eumeneia struck their first cistophori under him.
Finally it has been proposed that cistophoric mints were established in connection with imperial visits. The idea seems to have occurred to Herzfelder, who did not formally advance it; but Mattingly embraced it with enthusiasm:4 "It is reasonable to suppose that the right of coinage was often, if not always, associated with a visit of the emperor."
He was followed by Woodward.5 The hypothesis is an attractive one, and gains support from the IOVIS OLYMPIVS issue, which was stimulated by if not actually struck during Hadrian's visit to Ephesus. Moreover, the overall chronology of the Asian cistophori is consistent with striking of the entire series during his travels in the province.
The cities visited by Hadrian during his second journey have been identified, within the limits of the very imperfect evidence, by Weber.6 They include Ephesus, Magnesia, Miletus, Mylasa, Panamara, Halicarnassus, Tralles, Attouda, and Laodicea; from Laodicea the emperor probably went south through Heraclea and Tabai to Cibyra, and thence around the Lycian coast, north through Pisidia and back into the province of Asia at Melissa. If he went on to Synnada this was his northernmost stopping point, for Weber's reconstruction (universally followed from this point) now takes the emperor south and east. Cities in the north and west of the province, including some with substantial mints such as Pergamum, Sardis, Smyrna and Aezani, cannot be fitted into any reconstruction of his route.
None of the theories is individually satisfactory, and probably we are wrong to look for any single criterion. The main purpose of the overstriking was to remonetize worn coin expeditiously, and it was practical to have mints located in the more important commercial centers throughout the province. But eventually the advantage of proliferation of mints would begin to be offset by the labor of supervising their activities, and it was this factor which finally limited their numbers. Naturally lists of mints, conventus centers and cities visited by Hadrian have common elements; they should be regarded as adventitious.
1 |
J. Marquardt, Römische Staatsverwaltung 1 (Leipzig, 1880), pp. 340-42.
|
2 |
See most recently C. Habicht, "New Evidence on the Province of Asia," JRS 1975, pp. 64-91; and L. Robert, "Le culte de Caligula à Milet et la
province d'Asie," Hellenica 7 (1949), pp. 206-38.
|
3 |
Woodward, pp. 165-66.
|
4 |
BMCRE 3, p. clviii.
|
5 |
Woodward, p. 165.
|
6 |
Weber, Untersuchungen, pp. 211-31. Woodward's table (p. 166) does not accurately reflect
Weber's conclusions.
|
The evidence of changes in legend and the chronological inferences which can be derived from them indicate that Hadrian's cistophori do not constitute an amorphous body of coinage; instead, a distinct evolution can be perceived, culminating in the large HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P series. This evolution is also perceptible in the type content of each successive group. The first, the coinage of Mint A, has as its theme good fortune and prosperity, perhaps in anticipation of the visit of the emperor. The second, known only from Ephesus, at first emphasizes local deities, the emperor's beneficence and the city's good fortune. This group is succeeded by another which introduces deities of other cities (Asclepius, probably Artemis Leukophryene). Finally striking begins at a large number of mints, each of which gives prominence to its own deities; but explicit local reference in the form of legend or ethnic is avoided all but entirely.
The decision to inaugurate a scheme of multiple mints functioning simultaneously, taken in 129, demanded some form of central control over the content of the coinage; uniformity could hardly have been maintained without it. Apparently the later issues were produced in accordance with centrally issued guidelines relating at least to legend division, for with the sole exception of Mint B, where two die pairs with AVGVSTVS HADRIANVS P P/P M TR P COS III are known, all mints issued only HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P/ COS III coins.
There is less consistency in portraiture. We have noted above that no attempt was made to standardize renderings of the emperor's features, and in all probability no likenesses to be used as models by engravers were distributed. But there is considerable variation in the imperial attributes as well. At Pergamum, Ephesus, Mylasa, Aezani Laodicea and Mints A and D draped and free busts occur. It is impossible to interpret these variations as the badges of separate officinae; the use of different attributes may have been purely arbitrary. At Mint A four obverse portrait styles coexisted. Only draped busts occur at Hierapolis; these are also well represented among unattributed coins. Mint E produced laureate heads facing both right and left; all remaining mints of HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS PP / COS III cistophori have heads bare r. There is no perceptible pattern to this very considerable variation. Given the present state of the evidence, the conclusion that details of portraiture were subject to some measure of local control seems inescapable.
Of more concern, of course, are the reverse types. Who was responsible for their selection? Four factors suggest that even types with strictly local reference were nonetheless selected by Bomans to conform, loosely at least, to local usage.
First, the inclusion of vague and unfamiliar types indicates a certain insensitivity to local numismatic tradition and religious institutions. At least five mints remain unidentified because the content of their cistophori deviated from that of their regular bronze issues; over a dozen types are unattributed because their reference is too vague or general to permit attribution. In view of the concern for and pride in local monuments which the bronze coinage of Asia attests, this is incomprehensible if types were selected locally.
Secondly, non-Asian and purely Roman types intrude. Some, such as legionary eagle and standards and grain stalks, had clear cistophoric precedent. But the Athena of our no. 115, who had appeared mainly on Roman denarii, would hardly have appeared spontaneously; nor is Roma (nos. 94-97, 102-104) a regular feature of Asian coinage. In their Roman forms, Pax (no. 76) and Salus (no. 122) have no parallels on the Asian coinage. The best clue to Roman influence is the HADRIANVS AVGVTSVS P P REN type (no. 92) which probably baffled contemporaries no less than it has most modern commentators.
Thirdly, types show subtle but discernible variations from traditional local renderings. The statue of Asclepius at Pergamum is more graceful in form than that which appears on local bronzes. Mint C's Artemis Ephesia is almost human in shape, in contrast to the usually stiff xoanon. Eyes are added to the normally faceless statue of Kore at Sardis; the Milesian Apollo of Canachus is given a more relaxed posture.
Finally, even though types derived from local monuments or deities, there is a distinct lack of emphasis on their city of origin. Only Ephesian coins regularly bear (in the word EPHESIA or EPHESI[O]) indication of mintage; coins with SARD and SMVR are unique, unparalleled in the remainder of their cities' coinage. The absence of ethnics is a sure indication of central control over production.
Taken as a whole, the cistophoric coinage focuses on three major typological categories. The first and most extensive includes ancient Asian gods and religious monuments. The appearence of indigenous Asiatic deities such as Apollo Didymeus, Artemis Ephesia, Artemis Phosphoros, Artemis Leukophryene, Aphrodite of Aphrodisias, Zeus Karios, Zeus Labraundos, Zeus Osogoa, the Sardian Kore and others reflects a concern to recognize the importance of the province's indigenous cults. Alongside them appear more broadly Hellenic deities—Apollo as lyre player, Athena, Herakles, Tyche. Finally there appear types of distinctly Roman origin: Pax, Salus, Roma, and those deriving from earlier cistophori: grain stalks, legionary eagle and standards. Within this third group are to be included types relating to the emperor himself.
The series may be seen as an attempt to blend three distinct cultural heritages: the Hellenic, its peculiar expression in Asia, and the Roman. The Asian element naturally dominates, but gods of classical Greece and Rome occupy similar positions on the coinage.
In this pattern lie indications that Hadrian himself may have inspired the coinage. The existence of two types referring directly to him is, of course, nearly conclusive on this point; but the broad range of types also betrays his influence. Some observers have felt that Hadrian's fascination with the curious and love of all things Greek might have found expression in this medium, and they regarded that alone as sufficient to account for the cistophori. We have seen that the coinage came about for less frivolous reasons.
We have also seen that the great flood of cistophori began in 129. That year also marked the inauguration of Hadrian's "Panhellenic program." Whenever this policy of unification was conceived, its first implementation came in the form of Hadrian's acclamation as Olympius at Athens in early 129. The emperor's travels through the east followed, culminating with his return to Athens and foundation of the temple of Zeus Panhellenios. The Panhellenion, an idealistic attempt at a federal organization of the Greek cities, was headquartered there.1
The Panhellenion was undoubtedly created in response to strife among the Greek cities, particularly those of Asia. The second century saw a revival of civic pride in achievement and honors, however empty. Local chauvinism often found expression in grandiose building projects: temples, libraries, gymnasia and the like burdened limited municipal resources to the breaking point. Financial crises demanded the appointment of correctores in Asia and Bithynia at this time. But this self-destructive local enthusiasm had a second equally grave consequence: it fostered a spirit of competitiveness among cities. Their belligerence toward one another was inconsistent with imperial interests, hampered the province's productivity and rendered it ungovernable.
For us, the most visible remnant of this patriotic revival is the "Greek Imperial" coinage, which provided an important outlet for expression of local pride. Rome's permitting the cities of the empire to strike token bronze gave them an opportunity for advertisement and glorification of local honors, festivals, shrines or heroes. Even if the coins themselves were not mute witnesses to the enthusiasm with which the cities exploited this medium, Dio Cassius gives us a sense of the importance of this limited right of coinage. In a speech he surely manufactured, Dio makes Maecenas recommend that local coinage rights be abolished, as an obstacle to the unity of the empire.2
If coinage could be an instrument of divisiveness, it could also, with a change of emphasis, become an instrument of unification. This is the final element crucial to the understanding of Hadrian's cistophoric coinage. Even if recoining was demanded by economic considerations, and a large number of mints employed as a practical measure, such a radical departure from the traditional conservative pattern of cistophoric types was neither necessary nor obvious. The employment of local types was a step toward the creation of a Greek federal coinage and restoration of the Greek character of the cistophori.
The right of precious-metal coinage was one the cities of Asia had not possessed for two centuries, and indeed their right of striking was still very much restricted, since the coinage was under Boman control and they were merely acting as imperial agents in restriking it. But in another sense their participation was very real, for their gods, heroes and monuments adorned a coinage intended exclusively for their use.
The cistophori provided a much broader focus than the bronze coinage had. The emphasis was no longer local, but provincial: the cistophori were intended for circulation throughout the province, and regularly bore no indication of mint; the types used were presented as part of the common heritage of all Asians rather than simply as local property. The faster and broader circulation of silver vis-à-vis bronze insured quick mingling of the types of all cities; the occasional presence of Greek and Roman types would serve as a reminder of the province's link with the rest of the empire.
Hadrian's cistophoric coinage was connected, chronologically at least, with his Panhellenic program. Recoining had to be undertaken, and the use of many mints issuing their own types would not only produce an attractively varied series but serve a practical purpose. Since its scope was limited, the coinage could hardly become a permanent endeavor; but it was an ideal inaugural coinage for the newly founded Panhellenion, expressing perfectly the ideals of the organization. The several cities of Asia were acting in unison, cooperating to their mutual advantage.
The Panhellenion did not last; it is so obscure an institution that today even its membership is largely unknown. While the emperor was present to foster it, the league apparently had some success; without his leadership it soon collapsed and the cities fell back into their familiar pattern of strife. The institution was never revived, and the cistophori remain to us today as the most prominent artifact of Hadrian's visionary scheme for unifying Asia and the Greek world.
For all practical purposes Hadrian's cistophori mark the end of the series. The cistophori must have continued to play a prominent role in the currency of Asia for some time, but only because of the volume of earlier issues; none of Hadrian's immediate successors saw fit to continue their issue. The coinage was half-heartedly revived by Septimius Severus, with a small issue of lower weight and smaller module.3 But Hadrian's multiple-mint scheme was not resuscitated, and Roman types returned to the coinage. The cistophori probably perished in the economic turmoil of the early third century, when their high silver content would have driven them from circulation.
The Asiatic cistophori in some ways reflect all that was most attractive about Hadrian and his rule. His interest in the past was not purely antiquarian; and his attempt to inject new vitality into the cistophoric coinage represents, as do the "Greek revival" and his plans to restore federal governments in the provinces, an attempt to make the tradition of the past function in a contemporary context. The cistophoric coinage, the traditional federal currency ot Asia, was a medium perfectly in keeping with his objective of unification and revival of the East. The optimism and energy with which he pursued those goals are paralleled in the innovativeness of the series, the most striking of its time and perhaps the most original in conception of all the Roman imperial coinages.
1 |
On the Panhellenion see Magie, RRAM 2, p. 1485, n. 49, with earlier bibliography.
|
2 |
Dio 52.30.9.
|
3 |
BMCRE 5, pp. 304-6, nos. 758-62; on this small series see D. Walker, The
Metrology of the Roman Silver Coinage 3 (BAR Supplementary Series 40, Oxford,
1978), pp. 72-73. These coins have little in common—whether in type, weight, or fineness—with the earlier cistophori.
|
B1. | IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P | COM BIT l. and r. in field |
Head of Hadrian laureate r. | Octastyle temple on podium of three steps; ROM S P AVG in entablature. |
BMCRE 1099 note; RIC 461 (b); Pinder 100. BMCRE 1099, pl. 75, 10, is included here because the "drapery on l. shoulder" noted there seems instead to be part of the emperor's neck.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
1* | 1 | 1 | 10.51 | M. Ratto FPL 2, 1967, 173 = Hess-Leu, 2 Apr. 1958, 322 = Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 648 = Baranowsky, 25 Feb. 1931, 1777 | ||
2* | 1 | 2 | 10.48 pierced | ↓ | London | |
3* | 2 | 3 | 10.19 | von Aulock (SNG 6607) | ||
4* | 3 | 4 | 10.12 | ↓ | McClean 9581 = Hirsch 18, 27 May 1907 (Imhoof-Blumer), 1871 | |
5* | 4 | 5 | 9.58 | Vienna | ||
6* | 5 | 6 | 10.73 | Leu-Münzen und Medaillen, 2 Nov. 1967 (Niggeler 3), 1262 = Münzen und Medaillen 9, 22 June 1951, 46 | ||
7* | 5 | 7 | Kricheldorf 26, 19 Feb. 1973, 177 | |||
8* | 6 | 8 | Hess, 22 May 1935 (Trau), 1092 | |||
9* | 7 | 9 | Glendining, 27 Sept. 1962 (Woodward), 297 = Hamburger, 19 Oct. 1925, 838 = Hess, 30 Apr. 1917, 3244 |
B2. | IMP CAES TRAI HADRIANO AVG PP | COM BIT l. and r. in field. |
Head of Hadrian, laureate, r. | Octastyle temple on podium of three steps; ROM S P AVG in entablature. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
10* | 8 | 10 | 10.13 | Foss |
B3. | IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P | COM BIT I. and r. in field. |
Bust of Hadrian draped, laureate r. | Octastyle temple on podium of three steps; ROM S P AVG in entablature. |
BMCRE 1099 note; RIC 461 (c); Cohen 240; Pinder 99, pl. 4, 12; Recueil, pl. 36, 1.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
11* | 9 | 11 | 10.46 | ↓ | ANS | |
12* | 9 | 12 | Kunst und Münzen FPL 3, 1969, 262 | |||
13* | 10 | 13 | 10.25 | Paris | ||
14* | 11 | 14 | Münzen und Medaillen | |||
13, 17 June 1954, 683 |
B4. | IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P | COM BIT l. and r. in field. |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Octastyle temple on podium of three steps; ROM S P AVG in entablature. |
BMCRE 1099 note; RIC 461 (a); Pinder 101, pl. 4, 14.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
15* | 12 | 15 | 10.66 | Boston | ||
16* | 13 | 15 | 10.42 | ↙ | Vienna | |
17* | 14 | 16 | 9.77 | ↓ | Munich | |
18* | 15 | 17 | 10.92 | Bank Leu 18, 5 May 1977, 330 |
B5. IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG PP | COM BIT l. and r. in field. |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Tetrastyle temple on podium of three steps; within, togate male standing r. holding vertical spear in upraised r. and Victory in extended l.; globe in pediment, crescent on fastigium. ROM S P AVG in entablature. |
BMCRE 1096, pl. 75, 8; RIC 459 (a); Cohen 241; Pinder 97.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
19* | 12 | 18 | 10.75 | ↓ | von Aulock (SNG 6609) | |
20* | 12 | 19 | 10.67 | ↓ | Copenhagen (SNG Bosporus etc. 322) | |
21* | 12 | 20 | 10.65 | ↓ | The Hague | |
22* | 13 | 21 | 10.15 | Described as "rico-niato" although this is not evident from the illustration. | Piancastelli 1527 = Hess, 22 May 1935 (Trau), 1094 | |
23* | 16 | 22 | 9.56 | ↓ | London = Hirsch 18, 27 May 1907 (Imhoof-Blumer), 1873 |
B6. IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P | COM BIT l. and r. in field. |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Tetrastyle temple on podium of three steps; within, male figure in military dress standing r. holding vertical spear in upraised r. and Victory in extended l.; globe in pediment, on fastigium. ROM S P AVG in entablature. |
BMCRE 1097, pl. 75, 9; RIC 459 (b); Cohen 242 = 244; Pinder 96; Recueil, pl. 36, 4.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
24a* | 17 | 23 | 10.96 | von Aulock (SNG 6608) | ||
24b* | 17 | 23 | 10.17 | Ï | London | |
24c* | 17 | 23 | 10.17 | Münzen und Medaillen 43, 12 Nov. 1970, 347 | ||
24d | 17 | 23 | 9.63 | I | Munich = Recueil, pl. 36, 4 |
BMCRE 1097 note; RIC 459 (c); Cohen 243; Pinder 95; Recueil, pl. 36, 5.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
25* | 18 | 24 | 11.03 | ↓ | Berlin = Recueil, p. 36, 5 | |
26a | 18 | 25 | 10.30 | ↙ | Rome | |
26b* | 18 | 25 | G. Hirsch 41, 9 Dec. 1964, 294 |
B8. | IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P | COM BIT l. and r. in field. |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Tetrastyle temple on podium of three steps; within, male figure in military dress standing l. holding vertical spear in upraised l. and wreath in extended r. Globe or shield in pediment. ROM S P AVG in entablature. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
27* | 19 | 26 | 9.81 | i | Cambridge |
B9. | IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P | COM BIT l. and r. in field. |
Head of Hadrian bare, r. | Tetrastyle temple on podium of three steps; within, male figure in military dress standing r. holding vertical spear in upraised r. and Victory in extended l., crowned by helmeted Fortuna standing l. facing him. Shield in pediment. ROM S P AVG in entablature. |
BMCRE 1097 note; RIC 460; Pinder 98.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
28* | 20 | 27 | 10.18 | Vienna |
B10. | IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P | KOM ( sic ) BIT l. and r. in field. |
Head of Hadrian bare r. | Distyle temple on podium of two steps; within, togate male figure standing l. holding spear in r. and Victory in extended l., crowned by helmeted Fortuna standing l. facing him. ROM S P AVG in entablature. |
Previously unpublished.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
29* | 21 | 28 | 10.08 | ↓ | ANS |
B11. | IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P | COM BIT l. and r. in field. |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Distyle temple on podium of two steps; within, Minerva and two male figures. |
BMCRE, p. 564, addendum to p. 396; Hess, 22 May 1935 (Trau), 1095. I have not seen this piece and nowhere is it reproduced; the description is provided by C. Bosch, Die Klcinasiatischen Münzen der römischen Kaiserzeit, pt. 2: Einzeluntersuchungen, vol. 1: Bithynien, sect. 1 (Stuttgart, 1935), pp. 191-92; see Woodward, p. 167.
B12. | IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG PP | and r. in field. |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Octastyle temple on podium of three steps, shield in pediment. ROM AVG in entablature. |
BMCRE 1098 note; RIC 462 (b); Pinder 102, pl. 4, 15; Recueil, pl. 36, 2.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
30* | 22 | 29 | 10.95 | I | Paris |
BMCRE 1098, pl. 75, 11.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
31* | 23 | 30 | 10.51 | ↓ | London |
B14. | IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG PP | S P - Q R 1. and r. in field. COM BIT in exergue. |
Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, laureate, r. | Octastyle temple on podium of three steps; shield in pediment, dot between fourth and fifth columns. ROM AVG in entablature. |
BMCRE 1100, pl. 75, 12; Recueil, pl. 36, 3.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
32* | 24 | 31 | 10.62 | ↓ | London | |
33* | 24 | 32 | 10.35 | ↙ | Paris = Recueil, pl. 36. 5 | |
34 | 24 | 33 | Hess, 22 May 1935 (Trau), 1093 | |||
35a | 24 | 34 | Turin | |||
35b* | 24 | 34 | 9.49 | Mazzini, 2, p. 75, "dopo 246" |
B15. | IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P | S P - Q R l. and r. in field. COM BIT in exergue. |
Bust of Hadrian draped, cuirassed, laureate r. | Octastyle temple on podium of three steps; shield in pediment, dot between fourth and fifth columns. ROM AVG in entablature. |
SNGvonAulock 6606.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
36* | 25 | 35 | 11.33 | von Aulock (SNG 6606) | ||
37* | 26 | 36 | 10.67 | Mazzini 2, p. 75, "prima 247" = Santamaria, 26 June 1950 (Magnaguti 3), 649 = Schulman, 5 March 1923 (Vierordt), 1288 = Hirsch 18, 27 May 1907 (Imhoof-Blumer), 1872 |
B16. | IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P | COS III l. and r. in field. |
Head of Hadrian laureate, 1. | Bundle of five grain stalks. |
BMCRE 1051, pl. 71, 15; RIC 464 (b); Pinder 90, pl. 3, 11; Herzfelder, p. 26.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
38* | 27 | 37 | 10.02 | Obv. on obv. Augustus, RIC 14 | von Aulock (SNG 6611) | |
39a* | 28 | 38 | 10.59 | ↓ | London | |
39b* | 28 | 38 | 9.87 | ↓ | Berlin |
B17. | IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG PP | COS III l. and r. in field. |
Bust of Hadrian draped, cuirassed, laureate seen from back. | Bundle of six grain stalks |
BMCRE 1051 note; Herzfelder, p. 25, pl. 7, 3.
Cat. | Obv. Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
40* | 29 39 | 9.96 | ↓ | Berlin |
B18. | IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG PP | COS III |
Bust of Hadrian draped, cuirassed, laureate seen from back. | Demeter standing l. holding grain stalks downward in r. and sceptre vertically in 1. |
BMCRE 1051 note; Herzfelder, p. 25, pl. 7, 4.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
41 | 29 | 40 | 10.00 | ↓ | Berlin | |
42* | 29 | 41 | 9.51 | Münz Zentrum Köln FPL 21, 6 Nov. 1974, 76 = Münz Zentrum Köln FPL 19, June 1974, 149 |
B19. | IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG PP | COS III |
Head of Hadrian laureate, r. | Genius Populi Bomani standing l., holding patera in r. extended over altar to l. and cornucopiae in 1. |
SNGvonAulock 6610.
Cat. | Obv. | Rev. | Wt. | Axis | Overstriking | Reference |
43a* | 30 | 42 | 10.78 | ↓ | Paris | |
43b* | 30 | 42 | 10.18 | von Aulock (SNG 6610) |
The Bithynian cistophori can be distinguished from their Asian counterparts on the basis of style, fabric and legend. Both obverse portraits and reverse representations are rendered with greater care; laureate and/or draped busts are more common than among the Asian coinage. The flans tend to be smaller and thicker and, because they were not subjected to overstriking,1 much more regular in shape. All Bithynian cistophori bear the obverse legend IMP CAES TRA(I) HADRIANO AVG P P.
For detailed discussion it is convenient to divide the Bithynian cistophori into two groups: those which bear the reverse legend COM BIT, and those with the more usual COS III reverse.
Cistophori were produced in the name of the Commune Bithyniae (or Koinon Beithyrtias) for the first and only time under Hadrian. All bear the reverse legend COM BIT; they are similar and closely related to contemporary bronzes bearing Greek legends.2 The most common reverse type (nos. Bl-4, B12-15) is a simple octastyle temple viewed frontally. ROM (S P) AVG appears in its entablature on the cistophori, while the bronzes have variable ornamentation. Both groups occasionally show a small dot at or slightly above center in the central intercolumniation, and both irregularly display a larger dot ("shield" or "globe") in the pediment. The same temple is also portrayed tetrastyle (nos. B5-9) and distyle (nos. B10-11).
The inscription in the entablature identifies the temple as that of Rome and Augustus at Nicomedia; although no trace of the temple has been discovered, its appearance has been reconstructed on the basis of the extensive numismatic evidence by Bosch.3 It was Corinthian and octastyle, and in the entablature bore at least the inscription cited above: this was probably expanded to Romae Senatui Populo Augusto. 4 On the cornices appeared Victories erecting trophies.5 Details of the pediment may be salvaged from the bronzes: some show a wolf suckling twins, others a sacrificing Genius with sceptre.6 The "shield" observed on some cistophori may have been employed merely to fill a blank pedimental field, and probably bears no relation to the actual ornament.
Inside the temple were at least two statues. The female figure on the right, because she is always helmeted, is presumably to be identified as Roma, although she has the attributes of Fortuna. The figure on the left is always male, but it is aggravating to observe that he is sometimes togate(nos. B4, B10), sometimes in military garb (nos. B5-9). An explanation of this phenomenon was offered by Bosch, who suggested that a statue of the living emperor was added to an existing group consisting of Roma and Augustus. Varieties showing only one male figure were thus selective, abbreviating the complete group by showing only Augustus (in military garb) or Hadrian (togate).7 It is unfortunate that it has been impossible to trace no. B11 which could confirm this interpretation.
All cistophoric types have parallels in the bronze series, and this parallelism extends to the form and disposition of the legends. Bronzes regularly have KOI - NON to l. and r. of the temple, BEIΘYNIAC in exergue. The cistophori display several variations on this arrangement: COM-BIT l. and r. in field and r. in field (nos. B12-13); SP-QR l. and r. in field, COM BIT in exergue (nos. B14-15).
The general resemblance between bronze and cistophoric obverses is equally striking. Bronzes uniformly bear the legend AYT KAIC TRAI AΔPIANOC CEB; alone among the cistophori, Bithynian pieces have IMP CAES TRA(I) HADRIANO AVG P P. The omission of P P from the bronze is insignificant, for it almost never appears on Greek-legend coinages of the imperial world.
The close similarity between the bronzes and the cistophori suggests a coordinated issue, with Latin legends reserved for use on the precious-metal coinage and Greek used on its token fractions. That the two series were produced at the same mint or by the same personnel is suggested by several unusual coins. The first, coin no. 29, bears the reverse legend KOM BIT, an anomaly most likely to have been produced by an engraver accustomed to cutting the word KOINON, which is regular on the bronzes. The suggestion that native Greek die engravers were employed for both issues is confirmed by two obverse dies (nos. 8, 18) on which the obverse legend reads IMP CAES TRAI, etc. TRAI does not otherwise appear on the cistophori, but TPAI is the regular abbreviation for TPAIANOC on the bronzes; the slip would have been natural for an engraver who had worked on both coinages.
The location of the mint is hardly in question: the temple is surely that of Rome and Augustus at Nicomedia, construction of which was sanctioned by Augustus at the same time as that of a similarly dedicated temple at Pergamum which served as the center of the Commune Asiae.8 The main function of the Commune Asiae, and perhaps of the Commune Bithyniae (about which considerably less is known) was maintenance of the imperial cult.9
It has long been assumed that the temples at Pergamum and Nicomedia were constructed simultaneously, soon after their authorization. The Pergamene temple appears early on coins, including Augustus' cistophori in ca. 19 B.C.10 But as Magie pointed out years ago, there is no evidence for the existence of the Nicomedian temple prior to the time of Hadrian.11 Although Dio specifically mentions its authorization, the earliest confirmation of its existence is provided by our cistophori. The absence of any numismatic notice is particularly striking in view of the extensive commemoration accorded the analogous temple at Pergamum on that city's coinage.12 It is at least arguable that the temple was not constructed until Hadrian's day; or perhaps that it was begun under Augustus, destroyed in some natural disaster, and then restored by Hadrian. If so the prominence of the temple on the coinage of Nicomedia (which continues into later times) and the flowering of the Commune during the Antonine period take on new significance.13
Whether or not Hadrian constructed or restored the temple, his permission for coinage in the name of the Commune Bithyniae was a considerable increase in its responsibilities which it would be desirable to date with as much precision as possible. The coins themselves provide only the vaguest of chronological clues: a terminus post quem of 128 is provided by the inclusion of P P in the obverse legend, an ante quem of course by Hadrian's death in 138. The upper limit can be lowered somewhat if it is allowed that the cistophori and the bronze fractions were issued concurrently. For Sabina appears regularly in the bronze series; since she is never described as ΘEA, it is fair to suppose that the bronze issues fell within her lifetime.
Sabina's death is usually placed in 136.14 Within the period 128-36 there was one occasion that was particularly apt for the issue of a provincial coinage: the special legatio of C. Iulius Severus. Severus was dispatched to Bithynia during the later years of Hadrian's reign: Groag15 suggested 136 or 137. The position of Severus is described as πϱὸς πέντε ῤάβδους πεμρθέντα εὶς Bειθννίαν διοϱθωτὴν καὶ λογίστην ύπὸ Θεοῦ 'Aδϱιανοῦ, which translates loosely as "legatus Augusti pro praetore ad corrigendum statum provinciae."16 His mission, like those of Pliny and Tertullus before him, was to check the outlandish construction and expenditure which served only to intensify already heated civic rivalries, and to restore soundness to the finances of the province. The dispatch of an imperial legatus to a senatorial province bespeaks the gravity of the situation, and foreshadows the eventual imperial takeover of Bithynia by Marcus Aurelius.
Severus performed his job well, meriting an eventual consulship, "a place in the memory of the Bithynians,"17 and, perhaps more to the point, the post of praefectus aerarii Saturni. Exactly what steps he took we do not know; but the revival of the Commune Bithyniae may have been one. That the organization had been dormant up to Hadrian's day is clear from the imbalance of the evidence: all our information concerning its officers and institutions dates from post-Hadrianic times. That it was an appropriate vehicle for control of expenses is easy to see: the existence of a coinage in the name of the Commune shows its financial orientation. Moreover, the imperial cult provided a focus for the energies of the individual cities: some kind of unifying element was necessary to excise the root of financial irresponsibility, civic rivalry. A provincial coinage, a common endeavor emphasizing the unity of the province, was very much in point.
The introduction of cistophori to Bithynia might then have represented another attempt to employ coinage as an instrument of unification. In Asia, the simpler solution of overstriking earlier cistophori had been employed; but since cistophori had never before circulated in Bithynia a fresh coinage was necessary.18 In any case the provincial economy might have required an injection of new money into circulation.
If a connection between the legatio of Severus and the revival of the Commune is assumed, the range of possible dates for the Bithynian cistophori is considerably narrowed. Severus' mission cannot be dated earlier than 135, and probably occurred in 136; at least the bronze coinage with Sabina's portrait, which is of a piece with the rest, must have concluded before the end of that same year. The evidence of the dies is completely consistent with so short-lived an issue.
1 |
Only one Bithynian cistophorus (no. 38) is certainly overstruck; presumably it was included by accident.
|
2 |
BMCPontus, pp. 105-8.
|
3 |
C. Bosch, Die kleinasiatischen Münzen der römischen Kaiserzeit, pt. 2: Einzeluntersuchungen,
vol. 1: Bithynien, sect. 1 (Stuttgart, 1935), pp. 191-94.
|
4 |
This expansion was suggested by Bosch (above, η. 3), p. 194, and Mattingly, BMCRE 3, p. clxi.
|
5 |
See B7 and BMCPontus, p. 107, no. 27.
|
6 |
Wolf: BMCPontus pp. 105-6, nos. 10-13, 19; Genius: p. 106, nos. 14-15.
|
7 |
These identifications seem more probable than Bosch's proposal that Hadrian was represented in military garb.
|
8 |
Dio 51.20.7; see Tac. Ann. 4.37.4, 4.55.6.
|
9 |
On the koina of the Roman world see J. Deininger, Die Promnziallandtage der römischen
Kaiserzeit: Von Augustus bis zum Ende des dritten Jahrhunderts n. Chr., Vestigia, Beiträge zur alter
Geschichte 6 (Munich, 1965).
|
10 |
Sutherland et al., Cistophori Group VII, p. 103. The outside chronological limits are 20-18 B.C. (Cistophori, p. 36).
|
11 |
Magie, RRAM 2, p. 1294.
|
12 |
BMCMysia, p. 137, no. 236 (Augustus), p. 140, nos. 253-56
(Tiberius); p. 141, no. 257 (Claudius); p. 142, nos.
263-67 (Trajan).
|
13 |
All the direct evidence relating to the Commune or to its chief priests, the Bithyniarchs, is post-Hadrianic: see Magie, RRAM, pp. 451, 1301. An argumentum ex silcntio against its existence in the time of Tacitus
(or in the time of Tiberius, the dramatic date of the speech) is provided by Ann. 4.37.1 ("exemplo Asiae"—not
Bithynia) and 4.37.4 ("cum divus Augustus sibi atque urbi Romae templum apud Pergamum sisti non
prohibuisset"—no mention of Bithynia or Nicomedia). The assumptions of Deininger
(above, n. 9, p. 61) and A. N. Sherwin-White (The Letters of Pliny [Oxford, 1966], p. 407 on Ep. 7.6.1.) that legatus
provinciae refers to an envoy from the Commune is unwarranted. Nor is any of Pliny's other evidence convincingly brought to bear
on the problem. Concilii (on Ep. 7.6.1.) is a very vague term which may imply any form of
assembly. Sherwin-White's conclusion that "the councils (se. those of Pontus and Bithynia) provided a focus for the politics
of the
provinces" is hardly supported by the evidence he cites: 3.9.1, "electusque a provincia" is vague; 4.9.3 "unus ex legatio"
is
irrelevant. 10.34 refers to local factionalism, 10.58 to Pliny's conventus. The Bule
mentioned in 10.81 is clearly that of Prusa.
|
14 |
See above, p. 40, n. 32.
|
15 |
RE 10, s.v. "Iulius (Severus)," col. 817 (Groag); PIR
1 V 414.
|
16 |
Orientes Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae 2 (Leipzig, 1903-5)
543; sec also RE 10 (above, n. 15), col. 818.
|
The obverse legend, already observed on COM BIT coins struck at Nicomedia but not elsewhere, provides the chief argument for attribution of several COS III cistophori to Bithynia.
Five Grain Stalks
The symbolism of the type has been discussed elsewhere.19 The variety possesses two noteworthy features: the splayed stalks and the left-facing bust of the emperor. Together they produce a very singular coin, without any real stylistic connection to other Bithynian or Asiatic issues. The bust, with large head, broad neck, and prominent nose, may represent the only remaining product of a single engraver's work.
Demeter; Six Grain Stalks
Herzfelder20 first noted that these two types share an obverse die and assigned them to Bithynia on the basis of obverse legend. The obverse, which he thought "much the finest die and portrait of all surviving cistophori" is in extremely high, almost medallic relief, and is unusual among the cistophori in portraying the emperor from behind.
The appearance of Demeter in this group should indicate that the COS III cistophori were produced at Nicomedia. She was the city's principal divinity: Libanius referred to Nicomedia as τὴν τὴς Δήμητϱος (πόλιν); 21 coins mention the Δημήτϱια; 22 the historian Arrian, a native of the city, was a priest of Demeter and her daughter αIς καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἀνακεῑσθάι ρησι. 22 The local importance of Demeter's cult is also reflected in her frequent personification of Nicomedia on homonoia-coinages.24
Genius Populi Romani
The word genius, literally signifying a begetter, to the Romans defined every man's attendant spirit.25 He symbolized each male's generative ability, and was particularly associated with the paterfamilias in early times.26 It was natural that the concept of genius should be extended to include groups of people and eventually to symbolize the state. The Genius first appears on the coinage of Lentulus Marcelli f.27 where he stands holding cornucopiae and crowning Roma. Later his bust is found on denarii of Cn. Lentulus.28 Under the empire it was natural that the Genius should come to be identified with the person of the emperor; his first numismatic appearance—in exactly the form observed on the cistophori—occurs under Nero, near the outbreak of the civil war, with the legend GENIO AVGVST.29 He is subsequently defined as GENIO P R on civil war issues, and appears frequently as such thereafter.30
The type is completely new to eastern coinage, and on its own would not indicate any particular mint site. It is worth noting, however, that a Genius (with sceptre) appeared in the pediment of the temple of Rome and Augustus at Nicomedia.
The two groups, with COM BIT and without, have been separated in the catalogue, partly for convenience and partly because the COM BIT coinage is a closely die-linked entity of individual style into which the COS III coinage does not, as yet, fit easily. But it seems most likely that the two groups really belong together. The striking of types referring to Nicomedia itself and not bearing the name of the Commune should not be taken to indicate a difference of conception or purpose, since the types are also relevant to the Commune: Demeter was one of Bithynia's chief deities; she and her grain stalks symbolize prosperity, and the Genius Populi Romani—who appeared in the pediment of the temple of Rome and Augustus—may stand for achievement of it under the leadership of Rome.
Table 5
Weights of the Bithynian Cistophori
Total | Com. Bit. | Nicomedia | |
11.31-11.40 | 1 | 1 | |
11.21-11.30 | |||
11.11-11.20 | |||
11.01-11.10 | 1 | 1 | |
10.91-11.00 | 3 | 3 | |
10.81-10.90 | |||
10.71-10.80 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
10.61-10.70 | 5 | 5 | |
10.51-10.60 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
10.41-10.50 | 2 | 2 | |
10.31-10.40 | 1 | 1 | |
10.21-10.30 | 2 | 2 | |
10.11-10.20 | 8 | 7 | 1 |
10.01-10.10 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
9.91-10.00 | 2 | 2 | |
9.81-9.90 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
9.71-9.80 | 1 | 1 | |
9.61-9.70 | 1 | 1 | |
9.51-9.60 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
9.41-9.50 | 1 | 1 | |
Totals | 41 | 33 | 8 |
The restriking of cistophori in the province of Asia had been conceived in response to a financial abuse and only then integrated into Hadrian's panhellenic scheme. As far as we know there was no pressing economic motive for the introduction of cistophori to Bithynia, but the striking of a new coinage for the province may have played a role similar to that of the Asian cistophori in fostering a sense of participation in a communal effort in the province. The Bithynian coinage was in a sense even more ambitious than the Asian, since when the aes is considered with the cistophori it is clear that a complete provincial currency system was being created.
Despite the ambition of such a project, its life was short. The cistophori and associated bronzes may have appeared as early as 128, although that does not seem likely, and perhaps as late as 135. In either case the coinage did not extend beyond Hadrian's death, and neither cistophori nor bronzes in the name of the Commune were ever struck again.
The number of weights available for the Bithynian cistophori is almost pathetically small, but what evidence there is suggests that they were struck to the standard of their Asian counterparts. Their weights fall in a similar range and show no clear point of concentration. The mean weight of the COM BIT cistophori is 10.36 g, that of those assigned to Nicomedia 10.11 g. I think it likelier that this discrepancy is due to the inadequacy of the evidence than that different weight standards were employed for the two groups. Taken together the 41 coins have a mean weight of 10.31 g, which is very close to the mean of 10.32 for all Asian cistophori above 9 g.
17 |
Dio 69.14.4.
|
18 |
On cistophoric circulation see above, pp. 110-12.
|
19 |
Above, p. 10.
|
20 |
Herzfelder, p. 26.
|
21 |
Lib. Or. 1.48.
|
22 |
Recueil, vol. 1, pt. 3, p. 553, nos. 281-82.
|
23 |
Arr. Bith. 1.
|
24 |
For example BMCPontus, p. 193, no. 1 (alliance with Perinthus, Gordian III); BMCMysia, p. 163, nos. 350-52 (with Pergamum, Gordian III); BMCPhrygia, p. 327, no. 277 (with Laodicea,
Commodus); and BMCIonia, p. 303, no. 489 (M. Aurelius), 490 (Commodus), and p. 304, nos. 496-98 (Crispina), all with Smyrna.
|
25 |
The Genius has been treated most recently by H. Kunckel. Der römische Genius, MDAI(R)
Ergänzungsheft 20 (Heidelberg, 1974).
|
26 |
H. J. Rose, "On the Original Significance of the Genius," CQ 1923, pp. 57-60.
|
27 |
RRC 329 = CRR 604-5.
|
28 |
RRC 393 = CRR 752.
|
29 |
BMCRE 1, pp. 272-73, nos. 366-72.
|
30 |
BMCRE 1, p. 288 *; 2, p. 85, no. 417 (Vespasian), p. 171,
no. 4 (Titus), p. 266, no. 209 (Titus); 3, p. 323, no. 656 (Hadrian).
|
This appendix includes all types and varieties whose existence cannot be confirmed, i.e. of which not a single genuine specimen has come to light during the course of this investigation. Two classes of false coins occur. The first and larger consists of "ghosts" created by faulty description. Often it has been possible to pinpoint the origin of erroneous references; in such cases the coins in question should simply be excluded from future consideration.
The second class includes varieties known only in plated specimens. These are to be regarded as ancient forgeries; in general, their anomalies indicate that they do not accurately imitate genuine exemplars.
1*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS Head of Hadrian laureate r.
Rev.: COS III Minerva seated l. holding Victory and sceptre.
BMCRE, p. 383 (d); RIC 466, both quoting Schulman, 24 Nov. 1913, 1482.
The catalogues accurately repeat the description in the sale catalogue, where the coin was not illustrated. This is presumably a false description of no. 102.
2*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, laureate r.
Rev.: COS III Roma seated l. on cuirass holding victory and sceptre, shield in rear.
BMCRE, p. 564, addendum to p. 383 (e), citing Vienna.
The only coin of this reverse type in Vienna has obverse HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P, head bare right (above, no. 358b).
3*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS Head of Hadrian bare r.
Rev.: COS III Roma seated l. on cuirass, holding victory and sceptre; shield in rear.
BMCRE, p. 383 (e); RIC 467; F. Gnecchi, "Contribuzioni al corpus numorum CII," RIN 1911, p. 154, no. 15.
Gnecchi's description came from a coin in the collection of Joachim Scheyer, Milan. His description seems to have been inaccurate, since the obverse legend was corrected to include P P when the collection was sold in 1913 (A. Hess, 1 Dec. 1913, 618).
4*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS Head of Hadrian bare, r.
Rev.: COS III Eagle to front on thunderbolt, head r.
BMCRE, p. 383 (h); RIC 468A; Cohen 427.
Subsequent references all derive from Cohen, who assigned the coin to the British Museum. It is not there, and Mattingly questioned the existence of the variety. Presumably Cohen misread BMCRE 1079.
5*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS Head of Hadrian laureate r.
Rev.: COS III Poppy and four grain stalks.
BMCRE, p. 383 (j) var.
Mattingly cites "Hertzfelder (sic) notes." No coin of this description appears in Herzfelder's article, although a Munich specimen with draped l. shoulder is discussed (p. 26). Herzfelder's notes probably referred to that piece (above, no. 303).
6*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS Head of Hadrian laureate r.
Rev.: COS III Triumphal arch on which stand two horses.
BMCRE, p. 384 (k); RIC 470; Cohen 474.
Cohen cites "Elberling," a reference now untraceable. Mattingly questioned the existence of this variant, and Cohen probably misdescribed no. 84 above.
7*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS Head of Hadrian laureate 1.
Rev.: COS III in laurel wreath.
BMCRE, p. 384 (1); RIC 471; Cohen 475.
Cohen cites "Cat. Campana," which can only be the sale catalogue of the collection of the Cavaliere Campana (Sotheby, 23 July 1846). No such coin appears there.
8*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder laureate r.
Rev.: COS III Legionary eagle between two standards.
BMCRE, p. 564, addendum to p. 383, citing "note in BM."
This variety has probably been confused with no. 61 above, where the eagle stands on a thunderbolt.
9*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS Head of Hadrian bare r.
Rev.: COS III Concordia standing l. holding patera and spear; at feet, prow.
BMCRE, p. 383 (f) var.; RIC 468 (b); Annuaire de la Société Française de Numismatique 1884, p. 245, no. 14.
This variety surely results from careless description of no. 63 above; that coin shows Hadrian laureate with draped l. shoulder.
10*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P Head of Hadrian laureate r.
Rev.: IOVIS OLYMPIVS Zeus seated l. on throne holding sceptre in l. and cult image of Artemis Ephesia in r.
BMCRE, p. 395†; RIC 478; Cohen 865.
Cohen's reading of the Paris coin (above, no. 72b) errs in two respects: the head is bare, and his illustration shows Zeus holding an eagle in place of the statue of Artemis.
11*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P Head of Hadrian laureate r.
Rev.: IOVIS OLYMPIVS Zeus seated l. holding thunderbolt and sceptre.
BMCRE, p. 395 ≠ ; RIC 479; Cohen 866 (omitting P P in obv. legend).
Cohen cites "M. Rollin," presumably the Paris dealer. In general Cohen's descriptions derived from other parties are even less reliable than his own, and in view of the other confusions in descriptions of this type it seems safe to disregard this variety.
12*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, bare r.
Rev.: IOVIS OLYMPIVS Zeus seated l. holding thunderbolt and sceptre. BMCRE, p. 395† note, citing Munich.
This is presumably the coin catalogued above, no. 72a. There is a light line at the front of the neck which might have been interpreted as drapery; the rev., however, shows Zeus holding a statue of Artemis.
13*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P Head of Hadrian bare r.
Rev.: COS III Nemesis standing l. holding sistrum in l., wheel at feet.
BMCRE, p. 389≠; RIC 506; RIN 1914, p. 180, no. 34.
The coin is not illustrated in RIN, from which all other references derive; the description might well be applied to no. 121 above.
14*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P Bust of Hadrian draped, bare, 1.
Rev.: COS III Diana Lucifera advancing r., carrying a torch in each hand.
BMCRE, p. 386 ≠ ; RIC 491; Cohen 320, citing "Lavy, Musée de Turin."
The catalogue of the Lavy collection (Museo Numismatico Lavy 2 [Turin, 1840], no. 1787) gives the correct description of this coin, which is now in the Museo Civico di Torino (above, no. 389).
15*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P Bust of Hadrian draped bare r.
Rev.: COS III Zeus seated r. on throne, holding sceptre and Victory; eagle at feet.
BMCRE, p. 388*; RIC 500; Cohen 273; Pinder 53, pl. 7, 6.
Both Cohen and Pinder cite the Munich collection for this variety, and Pinder even illustrates the holed specimen included in the catalogue (above, no. 310). It was evidently he who groundlessly restored P P to the obverse legend.
16*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS PP Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, bare r.
Rev.: COS III Zeus seated l. on throne holding Victory and sceptre; eagle at feet. BMCRE 1069 note.
Mattingly's note cites "Trau collection." The description he gives is probably an erroneous interpretation of no. 73 above.
17*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, bare r.
Rev.: COS III Zeus of Laodicea standing l. holding eagle and sceptre. BMCRE 1065 note, citing Vienna.
The three coins in Vienna with reverse Zeus of Laodicea all clearly have obverse head bare right. The variety is not improbable but requires confirmation.
18*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P Bust of Hadrian with drapery on l. shoulder, bare r.
Rev.: COS III Zeus advancing l. holding eagle and spear with two points. BMCRE 1065 note; Cohen 277, citing Vienna.
The description is incomprehensible; there is no such coin in Vienna.
19*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P Bust of Hadrian draped, bare r.
Rev.: COS III Distyle temple; within, Minerva standing l. holding patera and spear; shield at side.
BMCRE, p. 392* note; RIC 520 note; Cohen 300; Pinder 79 text (but see his illustration).
Subsequent references derive from Cohen, who cites a coin in Paris. He describes a coin with bare head, then illustrates one with laureate bust which is surely no. 391 above. Coincidentally Pinder had made the same error.
20*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P Head of Hadrian laureate r.
Rev.: COS III Neptune standing r., l. foot on prow, holding trident and dolphin. BMCRE, p. 390*; RIC 509.
Both catalogues cite Cohen 306; but his description of a coin in Munich (no. 304 above) has obverse: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS, correctly.
21*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P Bust of Hadrian draped, bare r.
Rev.: COS III Roma seated l. on chair, shield at side.
BMCRE 1076 note, citing Rome.
No such coin is now in Rome; this is presumably no. 360 misdescribed.
22*. Obv.: IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P Head of Hadrian bare r.
Rev.: and r. in field. Octastyle temple on podium of three-steps; ROM S P AVG in entablature.
BMCRE 1098 note; RIC 462 (a); Cohen 246.
Subsequent references derive from Cohen, who is guilty of another slip. His citation of "Vente de Moustier" can only refer to Hoffmann, 17 June 1872, 1048, a coin of similar reverse but with obverse head laureate right which is no longer traceable.
23*. Obv.: IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P Head of Hadrian bare 1.
Rev.: COS III l. and r. in field. Bundle of five grain stalks.
BMCRE 1051 note; RIC 464 (a); Cohen 439.
Both later references depend upon Cohen, who cited M. Rollin. There is nothing improbable about the type, but its failure to appear is suspicious. Perhaps no. B16 is misdescribed.
24*. Obv.: IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P Bust of Hadrian draped, laureate r.
Rev.: and r. in field; octastyle temple on podium of three steps.
ROM S P AVG in entablature
BMCRE 1098 note; RIC 462 (c); Cohen 245 (Paris).
No such coin is now in Paris. Perhaps this is no. B12 misdescribed.
25*. Obv.: IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P Bust of Hadrian draped laureate r. seen from back.
Rev.: COS III l. and r. in field. Bundle of five grain stalks.
BMCRE, p. 564, addendum to no. 1051, citing Munich.
No coin of this description is now in Munich; presumably Mattingly miscounted the grain stalks on no. B17.
Plated Coins
26*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P Head of Hadrian bare r.
Rev.: COS III Cult image of Kore with grain stalks to l., grain stalks and poppy to r.
SNGvonAulock 6633.
27*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P Head of Hadrian bare r.
Rev.: COS III Eagle to front on thunderbolt, head r.
BMCRE, p. 395 || (Budapest).
28*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P Head of Hadrian laureate r.
Rev.: COS III Dionysus draped standing front with head l., holding oinochoe over panther on l. and thyrsus vertically in l.; panther looks back to r.
SNGvonAulock 6612; The Hague (different dies).
29*. Obv.: IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P Head of Hadrian bare r.
Rev.: COS III l. and r. in field; Cybele seated l., holding patera in extended r. and resting l. on drum; lion at feet facing l.
BMCRE, p. 382†; RIC 463; Cohen 283 note; Pinder 81. Paris
30*. Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P Head of Hadrian bare r.
Rev.: DIANA EPHESIA Cult image of Ephesian Artemis in tetrastyle temple.
BMCRE, p. 393*; Cohen 538, citing "Vente de Moustier" (= Hoffman, 17 June 1872, 1063).
From time to time it has been suggested that some, at least, of the "eastern" denarii of Hadrian were struck at those cistophoric mints that can be identified on the basis of local types, and that careful stylistic comparisons might repay the effort.1 To pursue the problem of these denarii in detail would have required another book, and in defense it may be pleaded that at least the evidence of the cistophori themselves has now been assembled. Nonetheless the following general observations may be offered.
1. The only eastern mint for which there is firm evidence is that of Antioch, which struck denarii and perhaps aurei immediately after Hadrian's accession up to ca. 120.2 This attribution has historical probability in its favor, since Hadrian was elevated at Antioch and imperial accessions normally involved donatives to the troops; what is more important, the early denarii, whose types focus on the transfer of power, show close stylistic similarity to the tetradrachms and bronze coinage which certainly belong to Antioch.
2. For three reasons Strack assigned a substantially larger series of later denarii to the "Offizin der kleinasiatischen Cistophoren":
But while both denarii and cistophori vary widely in style, it is impossible to show that the stylistic variation is consistent. What is really wanted, and what has not so far been demonstrated, is an exact stylistic correspondence between any single group of denarii and any single group of cistophori. The alternation of die axis between ↑ and ↓ is insignificant, since almost all mints aligned their dies vertically but few religiously adhered to either ↑ or ↓. Finally, the legends of both series are generally disposed in the same fashion as legends of the mint of Rome; both coinages probably followed Roman prototypes in this respect, and there is no necessary relation between the two.
In addition, Strack seems to have assumed that all the cistophori were produced at a single mint; this is demonstrably not the case. The improbability of denarii having been produced at as many as 20 or 25 tiny mints does not seem to have occurred to others who have associated the denarii and the cistophori. Moreover, if the scope and purpose of the cistophoric coinage have been correctly defined here, the striking of denarii is not a natural corollary to the striking of cistophori; nor is it likely that most of the cistophoric mints had the capability to undertake fresh coinage. If any Hadrianic denarii were struck in the province of Asia at all, they probably belong to one of the major provincial centers.
If the "eastern" denarii were not struck at cistophoric mints, there is little reason to suppose that they were "eastern" at all. They are certainly not prominent in the few eastern finds which have been recorded, and of all the emperors to whom an Asian denarius coinage might be attributed Hadrian is among the least likely. It is time to admit that "eastern" means simply "anomalous," and to set about systematic collection and comparison of these anomalies and, above all, adequate recording of their provenances.
1 |
For example, Herzfelder, p. 27; Mattingly, BMCRE 3, p. cliv; P. V.
Hill, "The Aurei and Denarii of Hadrian from Eastern Mints," NC 1966, pp. 135, 136.
|
2 |
Strack, Untersuchungen, nos. *1-*11; see BMCRE 3, pp. 372-73, nos.
1021-23 and p. 378, nos. 1-7. Strack's objections to Antioch (pp. 195-96) are ill-founded.
|
Hadrian's cistophori bear types which also occur on the Greek imperial coinage. Two questions naturally arise: is there any correlation between the functioning of Greek imperial mints and that of cistophoric mints—that is, do the same mints strike or not strike both series—and, if so, is there any stylistic relationship between the two coinages which might permit the identification of further cistophoric mints ?
Of the 16 cistophoric mints which can be located with certainty, only Alabanda and Synnada did not also strike Greek imperials. This seems a high degree of correlation, although we can never be certain that the bronzes are actually contemporary with the cistophori since they do not usually bear dates or Hadrian's titles. Furthermore there is not one stylistic link between cistophori and bronzes to be found: quite the opposite is generally true, since the bronzes are often of grossly inferior style. The conclusion that the coinages were produced by different authorities and personnel seems inescapable.
There is no reason why this should not have been so. Both the gigantic number of Greek imperial mints and the totally irregular pattern of their operation indicate that Rome was not concerned (at least in Hadrian's day) to regulate the production of purely token coinage, whose circulation was mainly local and which could have comprised only the smallest fraction of provincial money. The precious metal coinage was quite another matter. Most silver issues were struck in substantial quantities and circulated far more broadly. Some major mints were in almost continuous operation while the activity of others was confined to short periods; these sporadic issues may have been struck for specific purposes. In either case it was important to maintain strict control over production; for this reason even where they existed (and if they had the facilities to produce large quantities of coin), local mints might not have been employed for the striking of silver issues.
BMCRE | Metcalf |
1051 | B16 |
1051 note | 20, B17, B18, 23* |
1052 | 70 |
1053 | 3 |
1053 note | 90 |
1054 | 53 |
1055 | 53 |
1056 | 35 |
1057 | 98 |
1057 note | 99 |
1058 | 99 |
1059 | 33 |
1060 | 33 |
1061 | 88 |
1062 | 26 |
1063 | 42 |
1064 | 38 |
1064 note | 39 |
1065 | 50 |
1065 note | 51, 17*, 18* |
1066 | 56 |
1066 note | 49, 57 |
1067 | 56 |
1068 | 56 |
1068 note | 57 |
1069 | 30 |
1069 note | 16* |
1070 | 54 |
1071 | 118 |
1072 | 117 |
1073 corrected | 22 |
1073 bis | 91 |
1074 | 32 |
1075 | 47 |
1076 | 95 |
1076 bis | 94 |
1076 ter | 96 |
1076 note | 94, 97, 102, 103, 21* |
1077 | 36 |
1078 | 55 |
BMCRE | Metcalf |
1078 bis | 45 |
1078 note | 55 |
1079 | 31 |
1080 | 31 |
1081 | 52 |
1081 note | 87, 125 |
1082 | 25 |
1082 note | 24 |
1083 | 28 |
1084 | 109 |
1085 | 19 |
1085 note | 17 |
1086 | 80 |
1087 | 78 |
1088 | 79 |
1089 | 5 |
1089 note | 6 |
1090 | 5 |
1091 | 8 |
1091 note | 10 |
1092 | 18 |
1093 | 9 |
1094 | 92 |
1095 | 34 |
1096 | B5 |
1097 | B6 |
1097 note | B7, B9 |
1098 | B13 |
1098 note | B12, 22*, 24* |
1099 | B1 |
1099 note | B1, B3, B4 |
1100 | B14 |
p. 382 † | 29* |
p. 382 § | 61 |
p. 383 (a) | 73 |
p. 383 (b) | 67 |
p. 383 (c) | 67 |
p. 383 (d) | 1* |
p. 383 (e) | 3* |
p. 383 (f) | 63 |
p. 383 (f) var. | 9* |
p. 383 (g) | 76 |
p. 383 (h) | 4* |
p. 383 (i) | 62 |
p. 383 (j) | 66 |
p. 383 (j) var. | 64, 5* |
p. 384 (k) | 6* |
p. 384 (1) | 109, 7* |
p. 385 * | 22 |
p. 385 * note | 23, 48 |
p. 385 † | 45 |
p. 385 † note | 46 |
p. 386 * | 113 |
p. 386 † | 112 |
p. 386 ≠ | 14* |
p. 387 * | 100 |
p. 387 * note | 101 |
p. 388 * | 15* |
p. 388 † | 29 |
p. 389 * | 55 |
p. 389 † | 121 |
p. 389 ≠ | 13* |
p. 389 § | 41 |
p. 389 § note | 40 |
p. 390 * | 20* |
BMCRE | Metcalf |
p. 391 * | 86 |
p. 391 † | 108 |
p. 391 ≠ | 126 |
p. 391 § | 84 |
p. 391 || | 2 |
p. 391 || note | 85, 93, 110 |
p. 392 * | 116 |
p. 392 * note | 19* |
p. 392 † | 44 |
p. 393 * | 30* |
p. 393 * note | 18 |
p. 393 † | 81 |
p. 395 * | 11 |
p. 395 † | 10* |
p. 395 † note | 12* |
p. 395 ≠ | 11* |
p. 395 § | 93 |
p. 395 || | 27* |
p. 564 add. to no. 1051 | 25* |
p. 564 add. to p. 383 (e) | 2* |
p. 564 add. to p. 383 (g) | 8* |
p. 564 add. to p. 386 | 114 |
p. 564 add. to p. 391 | 126 |
p. 564 add. to no. 1070 | 120 |
RIC | Metcalf |
459 (a) | B5 |
459 (b) | B6 |
459 (c) | B7 |
460 | B9 |
461 (a) | B4 |
461 (b) | B1 |
461 (c) | B3 |
462 (a) | 22* |
462 (b) | B12 |
462 (c) | 24* |
463 | 29* |
464 (a) | 23* |
464 (b) | B16 |
465 | 67 |
466 | 1* |
467 | 3* |
468 (a) | 63 |
468 (b) | 9* |
468A | 4* |
469 | 66 |
470 | 6* |
471 | 7* |
472 | 70 |
473 | 61 |
474 | 5 |
475 (a) | 8 |
475 (b) | 9 |
476 | 10 |
477 | 12 |
478 | 10* |
479 | 11* |
480 | 93 |
481 (a) | 20, 90 |
481 (b) | 3 |
482 | 53 |
483 | 22 |
484 | 35 |
485 | 98 |
486 | 45, 46 |
487 | 81 |
488 | 33 |
489 | 88 |
490 | 26 |
491 | 14* |
492 | 113 |
493 | 111, 112 |
494 | 100 |
495 | 42 |
496 | 38, 39 |
497 | 56 |
497 note | 50 |
498 | 51 |
499 | 30 |
500 | 15* |
501 | 29 |
502 | 54 |
503 | 118 |
504 | 91 |
505 | 120 |
506 | 13* |
507 | 32 |
508 | 40, 41 |
509 | 20* |
510 | 47 |
511 | 95 |
512 | 36 |
513 | 55 |
514 | 108 |
515 | 126 |
516 | 31 |
517 (b) | 1, 52 |
517 (c) | 87 |
518 (b) | 2 |
518 (c) | 85 |
519 | 24 |
519 note | 25 |
520 | 116 |
520 note | 19* |
521 | 28 |
522 | 44 |
523 | 124 |
524 | 109 |
525 | 17 |
526 | 18 |
527 | 19 |
528 | 81 |
529 | 80 |
530 | 78 |
531 | 79 |
532 | 92 |
533 | 34 |
Cohen | Metcalf |
240 | B3 |
241 | B5 |
242 | B6 |
243 | B7 |
244 | B6 |
245 | 24* |
246 | 22* |
272 | 30 |
273 | 15* |
274 | 42 |
275 | 56 |
276 | 38 |
277 | 18* |
279 | 47 |
280 | 44 |
283 | 33 |
283 note | 29* |
285 | 53 |
286 | 22 |
287 | 24 |
288 | 35 |
290 | 20, 90 |
291 | 3 |
294 | 118 |
300 text | 19* |
300 illus. | 116 |
302 | 40 |
303 | 41 |
306 | 67 |
314 | 80 |
317 | 26 |
318 | 113 |
319 | 88 |
320 | 14* |
321 | 45 |
322 | 46 |
323 | 98 |
324 | 91 |
325 | 121 |
326 | 32 |
327 | 54 |
357 | 55 |
364 | 108 |
413 | 126 |
427 | 31, 4* |
439 | 23* |
440 | 2 |
451 | 87 |
452 | 125 |
453 | 1, 52 |
474 | 6* |
475 | 109, 7* |
534 | 17 |
535 | 5 |
536 | 8 |
537 | 9 |
538 | 18, 30* |
539 | 19 |
777 | 11 |
865 | 10* |
866 | 11* |
1074 | 81 |
1077 | 70 |
1158 | 61 |
Sabina 35 | 34 |
Augustus 576 | 92 |
Pinder | Metcalf |
48 | 56 |
49 | 39 |
50 | 51 |
51 | 42 |
52 | 30 |
53 | 15* |
54 | 40 |
55 | 41 |
56 | 31 |
57 | 80 |
58 | 67 |
59 | 22 |
60 | 24 |
61 | 53 |
62 | 20 |
63 | 3 |
64 | 54 |
65 | 55 |
66 | 17 |
67 | 5 |
68 | 19 |
69 | 88 |
70 | 8 |
71 | 10 |
72 | 26 |
73 | 113 |
74 | 81 |
75 | 70 |
76 | 47 |
77 | 44 |
78 | 118 |
79 text | 19* |
79 illus. | 116 |
80 | 33 |
81 | 29* |
82 | 32 |
83 | 61 |
84 | 35 |
85 | 108 |
86 | 95 |
87 | 85 |
88 | 93 |
89 | 2 |
90 | B16 |
91 | 66 |
92 | 87 |
93 | 52 |
94 | 109 |
95 | B7 |
96 | B6 |
97 | B5 |
98 | B9 |
99 | B3 |
100 | Bl |
101 | B4 |
102 | B12 |
103 | 92 |
104 | 34 |
Herzfelder | Metcalf |
1, 1 | 38 |
1, 2 | 41 |
1, 3 | 42 |
1, 4 | 35 |
1, 5 | 26 |
1, 6 | 22 |
1, 7 | 24 |
1, 8 | 36 |
1, 9 | 47 |
1, 10 | 44 |
1, 11 | 45 |
2, 1 | 28 |
2, 2 | 29 |
2, 3 | 30 |
2, 4 | 32 |
2, 5 | 33 |
2, 6 | 31 |
2, 7 | 5 |
2, 8 | 6 |
2, 9 | 10 |
3, 1 | 12 |
3, 2 | 13 |
3, 3 | 18 |
3, 4 | 111 |
3, 5 | p. 95, n. 2 |
3, 6 | 102 |
3, 7 | 94 |
3, 8 | 3 |
4, 1 | 90 |
4, 2 | 88 |
4, 3 | 91 |
4, 4 | 19 |
4, 5 | 20 |
4, 6 | 92 |
4, 7 | 117 |
4, 8 | 116 |
4, 9 | 73 |
4, 10 | 76 |
5, 1 | 56 |
5, 2 | 49 |
5, 3 | 53 |
5, 4 | 54 |
5, 5 | 55 |
5, 6 | 118 |
5, 7 | 51 |
5, 8 | 52 |
5, 9 | 113 |
6, 1 | 98 |
6, 2 | 97 |
6, 3 | 48 |
6, 4 | 2 |
6, 5 | 1 |
6, 6 | 61 |
6, 7 | 70 |
6, 8 | 81 |
6, 9 | 78 |
6, 10 | 80 |
6, 11 | 79 |
7, 1 | 84 |
7, 2 | 83 |
7, 3 | B17 |
7, 4 | B18 |
7, 5 | 108 |
7, 6 | 109 |
7, 7 | 100 |
7, 8 | 87 |
7, 9 | 63 |
7, 10 | 62 |
7, 11 | 67 |
Type nos. | Coin nos. | Pages | |
Aezani | 49-50 | 220-31 | 60-61 |
Alabanda | 35 | 177-79 | 41 |
Aphrodisias | 36-37 | 180-81 | 42-43 |
Ephesus | 5-21 | 10-99 | 12-26 |
Eumeneia | 51-52 | 232-33 | 62-63 |
Hierapolis | 53-55 | 234-56 | 64-67 |
Laodicea | 56-58 | 257-95 | 68-71 |
Miletus | 22-27 | 100-14 | 27-30 |
Mylasa | 38-42 | 182-92 | 44-49 |
Nicomedia | B1-19 | 1-43 | 130-43 |
Nysa | 43 | 193 | 50-51 |
Pergamum | 1-4 | 1-9 | 8-11 |
Sardis | 44-47 | 194-218 | 52-57 |
Smyrna | 28-34 | 116-76 | 31-40 |
Synnada | 59-60 | 296-97 | 72-73 |
Thyateira | 48 | 219 | 58-59 |
Unattributed | 111-27 | 383-427 | 100-109 |
Unidentified Mint A | 61-77 | 298-314 | 74-80 |
Unidentified Mint B | 78-87 | 315-25 | 81-84 |
Unidentified Mint C | 88-92 | 326-55 | 85-90 |
Unidentified Mint D | 93-104 | 356-75 | 91-96 |
Unidentified Mint E | 105-10 | 376-82 | 97-99 |
AVGVSTVS HADRIANVS 61, 70 (Mint A).
AVGVSTVS HADRIANVS 71 (Mint A).
AVGVSTVS HADRIANVS P P 78-80 (Mint B).
HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P 5-16 (Ephesus), 114 (Unattributed), 10*-12*, 26*-27*. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS 62-69, 72-77 (Mint A), l*-9*.
HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P 1-4 (Pergamum), 17-20 (Ephesus), 21-27 (Miletus), 28-33 (Smyrna), 35 (Alabanda), 36-37 (Aphrodisias), 38-42 (Mylasa), 43 (Nysa), 44-47 (Sardis), 48 (Thyateira), 49-50 (Aezani), 51-52 (Eumeneia), 53-55 (Hierapolis), 56-58 (Laodicea), 59-60 (Synnada), 81-87 (Mint B), 88-91 (Mint C), 93-104 (Mint D), 105-10 (Mint E), 111-13, 115-27 (Unattributed), 13*-21* 28* 30*.
IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P B1, B3-6, B8-19, 22*-25, 29*.
IMP CAES TRAI HADRIANO AVG P P B2, B7.
IMP CAESAR AVGVSTVS 92 (Mint C).
SABINA AVGVSTA HADRIANI AVG P P 34 (Smyrna).
COM BIT l. and r. in field B11.
COM BIT l. and r. in field, ROM S P AVG in entablature B1-8.
COM BIT l. and r. in field, S - P R l. and r. in field, ROM AVG in entablature B12-13.
COM BIT l. and r. in field, S - P R l. and r. in field, ROM S P AVG in entablature 22*, 24*.
COM BIT in ex., S P - Q R l. and r. in field, ROM AVG in entablature B14-15.
COS III 1-4 (Pergamum), 16, A20-21 (Ephesus), 22-27 (Miletus), 28-34 (Smyrna), 35 (Alabanda), 36-37 (Aphrosidias), 38-42 (Mylasa), 43 (Nysa), 44-47 (Sardis) 48 (Thyateira), 49-50 (Aezani), 51-52 (Eumeneia), 53-55 (Hierapolis), 56-58 (Laodicea), 59-60 (Synnada), 62-66, 68-69, 71-74, 76-77 (Mint A), 80, 82-87 (Mint B), 88-91 (Mint C), 93-104 (Mint D), 105-110 (Mint E), 111-27 (Unattributed), B16-19, l*-9*, 13*-21*, 23*, 25*-2S*. See also DIANA EPHESIA.
DIANA EPHESIA 5-7, 17 (Ephesus).
DIA - NA l. and r. in field, EPHESIA in ex. 8-9, 18 (Ephesus), 30*.
DIANA EPHESIA / COS III 19 (Ephesus).
FORTVN EPHESIA 11 (Ephesus).
FORTVNA AVGVST 78 (Mint B).
FORTVNA EPHESIA 12 (Ephesus).
HADRIANVS AVG P P REN 92 (Mint C).
III COS 67, 75 (Mint A).
IOVIS OLYMPIVS 13 (Ephesus), 10*-12*.
IOVIS OLYMPIVS EPHESI 14 (Ephesus).
IOVIS OLYMPIVS EPHESIO 15 (Ephesus).
KOM BIT l. and r. in field, ROM S P AVG in entablature B10.
P M TR P COS III 61, 70 (Mint A), 79, 81 (Mint B).
ROM AVG see COM BIT.
ROM S P AVG see COM BIT.
SARD 44 (Sardis).
SMVR 28 (Smyrna).
S P Q R see COM BIT.
S P R see COM BIT.
Augustus
Head bare r. 92 (Mint C).
Hadrian
Head bare r. 4 (pergamum), 5, 8, 10-21 (Ephesus), 22, 24, 26 (Miletus), 28-33 (Smyrna), 35 (Alabanda), 38, 41-42 (Mylasa), 43 (Nysa), 44-47 (Sardis), 48 (Thyateira), 50 (Aezani), 56 (Laodicea), 78 (Mint B), 88-91 (Mint C), 93-94 (Mint D), 111-14, 120-21, 126 (Unattributed), B4-5, B9-10, 3*-4*, 9*, 13*, 22*, 26*-27*, 29*-30*.
Head bare l. 23*
Bust with draped l. shoulder bare r. 39-40 (Mylasa), 95, 101 (Mint D), 119 (Unattributed), 12*, 16*-18*.
Bust draped bare r. 1-3 (pergamum), 6-7 (Ephesus), 23, 25, 27 (Miletus), 51-52 (Eumeneia), 53-54 (Hierapolis), 57 (Laodicea), 118 (Unattributed), 15*, 19*, 21*.
Bust draped bare l. 14*
Bust draped bare r. seen from back 59-60 (Synnada), 70, 72-73 (Mint A).
Bust draped cuirassed bare r. 49 (Aezani), 58 (Laodicea).
Bust draped cuirasse bare r. seen from back 74, 76-77 (Mint A).
Head laureate r. 79-87 (Mint B), 102 (Mint D), 115, 122-23 (Unattributed), B1-2, B6, B8, B11-12, B19, 1*, 5*-6*, 10*-11*, 20*, 28*.
Head laureate l. 107-10 (Mint E), 124-25 (Unattributed), B16, 7*.
Bust with draped 1. shoulder laureate r. 61-67 (Mint A), 105-7 (Mint E) B14, 2*, 8*.
Bust laureate draped r. 104 (Mint D), 116-17, 127 (Unattributed), B3, B7, 24*.
Bust laureate draped r. seen from back 71 (Mint A), 25*.
Bust laureate draped cuirassed r. 67-68 (Mint A), B13, B15.
Bust laureate draped cuirassed r. seen from back 75 (Mint A), B17-18.
Sabina
Bust draped r., hair coiled and bunched on top of head. 34 (Smyrna).
Amaltheia turreted, draped standing r. holding in l. the infant Zeus and in r. a vertical staff; at her feet, goat. 59 (Synnada).
Aphrodite of Aphrodisias, cult image r.; in front, Eros; behind, seated figure. 36 (Aphrodisias).
——in front, naked figure; behind, censer (?). 37 (Aphrodisias).
Apollo draped standing front holding raven in r. and branch in l. 35 (Alabanda).
—— naked standing front holding double axe in r. and grain stalks downward in l. 48 (Thyateira).
——laureate in robe of a citharoedus holding plectrum in r. and lyre in l. 53 (Hierapolis).
Apollo Didymeus, cult image standing r. holding bow in l. and stag in r. 22-23 (Miletus).
Arch. See Triumphal arch.
Artemis in short chiton standing r. holding bow in l. and drawing arrow from quiver with r. 111 (Unattributed).
—— in long chiton standing r. holding bow in l. and drawing arrow from quiver with r.; in front, a stag. 112 (Unattributed).
——in long drapery standing half-1, holding patera in r. and bow in l.; to l., a stag 26-27 (Miletus).
——draped, polos on head, standing front holding patera in r. and torch in 1.; to l., a stag 113 (Unattributed).
Artemis of Ephesus, cult image standing front, arms extended r. and l. over stags who look back at her. 5-6, 17, 19 (Ephesus), 88 (Mint C).
——similar but no stags 7 (Ephesus). See also Temple.
Artemis Leukophryene, cult image standing front, arms extended r. and l. over geese; at top r. and l., crowning Victories. 16, 21 (Ephesus).
Artemis Phosphoros (Diana Lucifera) in long robe running r. carrying a torch in each hand. 114 (Unattributed), 14*.
Asclepius draped standing front head l. holding serpent-wreathed rod in r., l. arm at side. 3-4 (Pergamum), 20 (Ephesus), 89 (Mint C).
——standing front head r., holding serpent-wreathed rod in l., r. arm at side. 90 (Mint C).
Athena helmeted, draped standing half-1, holding patera in r. and shield in l.; behind, a spear. 60 (Synnada).
——helmeted, draped standing front looking l. holding patera in r. and resting l. on round shield 117 (Unattributed).
——similar, spear resting against l. arm. 118-19 (Unattributed).
——helmeted, draped standing r. holding thunderbolt in l. and spear in r. 120 (Unattributed).
——helmeted, draped standing l. holding thunderbolt in r. and spear in l., shield at r. 115 (Unattributed).
Concordia draped standing l. holding patera and spear; at feet, prow. 9*. See also Female figure. Cybele seated l. on throne holding patera in r. and resting l. arm on tympanum; at feet, lion. 33-34 (Smyrna), 29*.
Demeter veiled, draped advancing r. holding grain stalks in r. and transverse sceptre in l. 45 (Sardis).
——similar, star in upper r. field. 46 (Sardis).
——standing l. holding grain stalks in r. and sceptre in l. 70 (Mint A), B18.
——standing l. holding grain stalks in r. and torch in l. 81 (Mint A).
Diana. See Artemis.
Dionysus naked standing front head l. emptying oinochoe over panther on l. and holding thyrsus in l. 98 (Mint D).
——similar, but Dionysus draped. 99 (Mint D), 28*.
Eagle standing front on exergual line, head r. 105 (Mint E).
——standing front on thunderbolt, head r. 31 (Smyrna), 4*, 27*.
——standing r. on thunderbolt between two standards. 62 (Mint A). See also legionary eagle.
Female figure draped to feet standing l. holding patera in r. and sceptre in l.; at l., a prow. 63 (Mint A).
Genius Populi Romani standing l. holding patera in r. over altar and cornucopiae in l. B19.
Grain stalks, five, in bundle. 107 (Mint E), B16, 23*, 25*.
——, six in bundle. 2 (Pergamum), 68, 77 (Mint A), 85 (Mint B), 93 (Mint D), 110 (Mint E), B17.
——, four in bundle with poppy. 66 (Mint A), 5*.
——, six in bundle with poppy. 64 (Mint A).
Hadrian togate standing half-1, holding grain stalks in r. and wrapping l. in toga. 92 (Mint C).
——, veiled, seated l. holding rudder in r. and transverse sceptre in l. 61 (Mint A).
Herakles standing r.,r. hand on hip, resting on club with lion skin set on rock. 100-101 (Mint D).
Hygieia. See Salus.
Kore, cult image facing wearing high headdress with plume, stiff robe and long veil draped over wrists; grain stalk to l., grain stalks and poppy to r. 47 (Sardis), 26*. See also Temple.
Laurel wreath enclosing COS III 106, 109 (Mint E), 7*.
Legionary eagle between two standards with vexilla. 1 (Pergamum), 52 (Eumeneia), 87 (Mint B), 125 (Unattributed), 8*.
Male figure, naked to waist, standing front head l. holding sceptre in r. and unidentifiable object in l. 74 (Mint A).
——, fully draped standing front head r. holding sceptre in l. and unidentifiable object in r. 75 (Mint A).
——on horseback galloping r., holding lance in r. 126-27 (Unattributed).
Men in Phrygian cap, crescent behind shoulders, holding patera in r. and sceptre in l. 54 (Hierapolis).
Minerva seated l. holding Victory and sceptre. 1*. See also Roma, Temple.
Nemesis winged, draped, standing r., with r. drawing out fold of drapery from breast and resting l. on wheel at side. 91 (Mint G).
——wingless standing l. drawing out fold of drapery from breast with r., holding bridle in l., at side to l., wheel. 121 (Unattributed).
——standing l. holding sistrum in l., wheel at feet. 13*.
Two Nemeses standing face to face, each holding out fold of drapery from breast. One holds cubit rule, the other a bridle. 32 (Smyrna). See also Temple.
Neptune standing r., l. foot on prow, holding trident and dolphin. 20*. See also Poseidon.
Pax standing l. holding sceptre in l. and olive branch in r. 76 (Mint A).
——modius on head, holding olive branch in r. and cornucopiae in l.; in field 1., anchor. 108 (Mint E).
Poseidon standing r., l. foot on prow, holding trident in r. and dolphin in l. 67 (Mint A).
——, naked except for cloak on r. arm, sacrificing out of patera in r. over altar and holding trident in l. 80 (Mint B).
Rape of Persephone. Hades with Persephone in fast quadriga r.; beneath, overturned flower basket. 43 (Nysa).
River god, naked to waist, reclining l. holding reed and sceptre and resting l. elbow on rock from which waters gush below. 55 (Hierapolis).
Roma helmeted, draped seated l. on chair holding Victory in r. and sceptre in 1. 96, 103-104 (Mint D).
——seated l. on chair with shield at side holding Victory in r. and transverse sceptre in l. 97 (Mint D), 21*.
——seated l. on cuirass and shield holding Victory in r. and spear in l. 94-95, 102 (Mint D).
——seated l. on cuirass holding Victory and sceptre; behind, shield. 2*.
Salus (Hygieia) draped standing r. feeding snake in r. out of patera in extended l. 122(Unattributed).
Temple, distyle on podium of two steps; within, Minerva and two male figures. B11.
——, within, togate male standing l. holding spear in r. and Victory in l., crowned by helmeted Fortuna. B10.
Temple, distyle, on podium of three steps; within, Demeter standing l. holding grain stalks in r. and vertical sceptre in l. 82 (Mint B).
——, within, male deity seated half-r. on throne holding sceptre in r. 123 (Unattributed).
——, within, Athena standing front looking l. holding patera in r. and resting l. on shield set on ground; behind, spear. 116 (Unattributed).
Temple, tetrastyle, on podium of three steps; within, cult image of Apollo Didymeus. 24-25 (Miletus).
——, within, two Nemeses facing each other. 28 (Smyrna).
——, within, togate male figure holding spear in r. and Victory in l. B5.
——, within, male figure in military dress holding spear in r. and Victory in l. B6-8.
——, within, male figure in military dress holding spear in r. and Victory in 1, crowned by helmeted Fortuna. B9.
Temple, tetrastyle, on podium of three or four stems; within, cult image of Artemis Ephesia without stags. 8-9, 18 (Ephesus), 30*.
Temple, tetrastyle, on podium of four steps; within, cult image of Kore with grain stalk on l., poppy and grain stalk on r. 44 (Sardis).
Temple, hexastyle, on podium of three steps. 124 (Unattributed).
Temple, hexastyle, on podium of four steps; writhin, cult image of Artemis Ephesia without stags. 10 (Ephesus).
Temple, octastyle, on podium of three steps. B1-4, B12-15, 22*, 24*.
Triumphal arch surmounted by two prancing horses. 84 (Mint B), 6*.
Tyche draped standing l. holding rudder in r. and cornucopiae in l. 11-12 (Ephesus).
——, kalathos on head standing l. holding rudder in r. and cornucopiae in l. 65 (Mint A).
——, kalathos on head standing l. holding in r. rudder, poppy and grain stalk and in l. cornucopiae. 69 (Mint A).
——, polos on head standing l. holding rudder in r. and cornucopiae in l. 78-79, 86 (Mint B).
——, polos on head seated l. on chair holding rudder in extended r. and cornucopiae in l. 83 (Mint B).
Zeus seated r. on throne holding sceptre in r. and Victory in l. 71-72 (Mint A).
——, similar, but eagle at feet, 73 (mint A), 15*.
Zeus seated l. on throne holding sceptre and small cult image of Ephesian Artemis in r. 13-15 (Ephesus), 10*.
——similar but behind, eagle. 29 (Smyrna).
Zeus seated l. holding thunderbolt and sceptre. 11 *-12*.
Zeus seated l. on throne holding Victory in r. and sceptre in l. 30 (Smyrna).
——similar but at feet, eagle. 16*.
Zeus, naked to waist, standing half-1, holding eagle in r. and sceptre in l. 49-50 (Aezani).
Zeus of Laodicea draped to feet standing half-1, holding eagle in r. and long sceptre in l. 56-58 (Laodicea), 17*.
Zeus Karios standing front holding sceptre in r. and resting l. on shield in front of which eagle on pedestal. 42 (Mylasa).
Zeus Labraundos standing front holding double axe in r. and spear in l. 38-39 (Mylasa).
Zeus Osogoa standing r. holding trident set on crab in r. and eagle in l. 40-41 (Mylasa).
Zeus advancing l. holding eagle and spear with two points. 18*.