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RECORDS 



ROMAN HISTORY, 

FROM 

cnj:us pompeius to tiberius constantinus, 

AS 

EXHIBITED ON THE ROMAN COINS 

COLLECTED BY 

FRANCIS HOBLER, 

FORMERLY SECRETARY OF THE NUMISMATIC SOCIETY OF LONDON. 

IN TWO VOLUMES. 

VOL. I. 




WESTMINSTER: 

JOHN BOWYER NICHOLS AND SONS, 
25, PARLIAMENT STREET. 



M.DCCC.LX. 




l | i j| i>i H«» - il-ll J l JLJl J.JL.iLJ.J. ».AJ{JI. XXKH^X Ik MM mM.MJt)m. K.*M i l l 



TO 



JOHN LEE, ESQ., LL.D. 

F.R.S., F.R.A.S., SiC. \c., FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE NUMISMATIC SOCIETY OF LONDON, 



VICE-ADMIRAL W. H. SMYTH, 

F.R.S., F.R.A.S., cSi.c. &c. 

This Work is (by permission) dedicated, not only in admiration of the 
learning and ability which have won for them so high a reputation as Numis- 
matists and Antiquaries, but also as a tribute of gratitude for the valuable 
assistance rendered by them during its Compilation and Arrangement 

To their obliged Friend, 



THE AUTHOR. 



Canonbury Square, Islington, London, 
January, 1860. 



INTRODUCTIOK 



The title I have placed on the first page of this work may to some appear 
rather pretentious, and of greater import than is warranted by the subject matter. 
I trust that I shall be able in a few words, — for the extent to which these volumes 
have run will not bear the addition of a lengthy Introduction, — to justify the choice 
I have made. 

My experience in Roman Coins was very limited when I made the observa- 
tion — that probably every one has made and will make under similar circumstances 
— namely, that, starting with the rude and heavy As, and following the series of 
Coins leading up to the fine types that commence Mdth the reign of Augustus, 
thence tracing the series down again to the small and badly-executed Coins 
which make their appearance in the time of Gallienus, we have, from an artistic 
point of view, an epitome of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. With but 
few wants, and those of the simplest character, and confined almost entirely to 
the necessities of eating, drinking, and fighting, — for the latter was a necessity to 
Mm, and the element of his greatness, — the early Roman was well content if the 
treasury coffers were filled with that primitive description of money the As. 
When luxury had increased the number of his wants, the polished Roman of the 
time of Augustus found in the money of his day a more ready and convenient 
means of satisfying his manifold exigencies than if the pristine system of barter 
had still prevailed. Advancing onward to the latter days of the Empire, the reck- 
less and feverish haste in converting material into negotiable forms, or, as it may 
be expressed, the turning of principal into interest regardless of the future and of 
its claims, is clearly shown by the slovenly and careless execution of the Coinage ; 
while the immense numbers still existing of the Small Brass, Avhich then became 
the principal medium of circulation, points with equal distinctness to the loss of 
that simplicity of life which characterised the Roman under the Consuls. 

My attention being thus, as it were, forcibly attracted to the consideration of 
the historic interest possessed by these stepping-stones across the flood of time, 

b 



vi INTRODUCTION. 

the artistic eseellenee of execution so worthy of admiration in the coins, — more 
particularly, of Claudius, Nero, Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus, — no longer 
entirely occupied my attention ; and, although such magnificent specimens of die- 
engraving as the long and beautiful series of those respective Emperors discloses 
to us, still exacted their meed of commendation, I ceased to regard the selection 
of such specimens only, as the true end and aim of a collector in forming a Cabinet 
of PLoman Coins. In pursuing the track thus opened to my view, subjects of 
infinite interest presented themselves before me and speeded me on. One of them 
has recently been treated by an esteemed friend. Professor Donaldson, with his 
wonted ability, in a work called " Architectura Numismatica," embellished with 
a great number of lithographs from drawings by his own hand, taken, some of 
them, from Coins in my Cabinet ; this work so effectually exhausts the subject, 
that further allusion to it would be useless, and I can only refer the reader desirous 
of following it up to the book itself. 

As would be anticipated from the character of the people under consideration 
in the following pages, the greatest historic interest is centred in the military 
types of the difl'erent Emperors. In this respect we have ample means of testing 
the value of these Ptecords of Roman History, and most satisfactory is the result ; 
for, on comparing the course of events in any one reign, as depicted on the coins, 
with that detailed by historians, we not only find each incident corroborated, but 
we are also frequently introduced to passages in the life of a man unnoticed by 
the historian, who, perhaps, was biassed in the view he took of contemporaneous 
and misinformed on past events. Nor must the quality of this corroborative and 
supplementary evidence be overlooked. No errors have crept into the text of these 
chronicles through the carelessness, or nimium diligentice, of transcribers : we have 
the fact itself, simple, and, however much perverted from the truth at the time it 
was indelibly recorded, at least free from false lights that might have been thrown 
upon it by historian or commentator, whose work would have been equally open 
to objection on the ground of want of veracity. 

The points of history illustrated by coins are not confined to Architecture and 
War, although these two subjects prominently attract the notice of the Numis- 
matist, for a well-arranged and selected series is valuable for many other branches 
of information. Indeed, I think that a Cabinet of Coins, though it be chosen 
with no other end in view than the compilation of a chronological table of events, 
is a necessary adjunct to every institution boasting the possession of historical 
works of reference. There are various subjects illustrated by coins which the 
reader will find treated of at some length in the body of this work ; and I shall 



INTRODUCTION. VU 

in this place content myself by alluding to some of them in a cursory manner 
only. 

Poremost among these subsidiary details — and here I use the word subsidiary 
only in reference to the importance of the manner in which they are expressed on 
the medals, and not with reference to the intrinsic importance of the matter 
itself — stands the exposition of the religious ceremonials of this great nation. As 
might naturally be expected, the acts of devotion depicted are such as are chiefly 
personal to the Emperor in whose reign the pieces were struck, and there is little 
reference to the system of theology of the age. We find the attributes of various 
divinities ascribed to the different monarchs, or to members of their family, and 
we see them engaged in sacrificial duties pertinent to their office of Pontifex 
Maximus ; or the same idea is thrown into an allegorical form. It would be 
useless to search for illustrations of the progress of religion ; the subject is one 
that could not be treated of in this manner ; and I may even venture so far as to 
say that no progress was made in Pantheism from the time of Ancus Martins up 
to the accession of Constantine, when the ice which had for so many centuries 
bound up the minds and consciences of the Romans dissolved before the sun of 
Christianity. But, in saying that no progress was made, I must be understood as 
confining myself strictly to the consideration of the question in connection with 
the State ; for, undoubtedly, philosophers had, long before the days of Tiberius, 
entertained pure and clear views, far in advance of the gross and sensual creed of 
their time. 

The enumeration of the points in the domestic economy of Rome, as portrayed 
on these coins, would, although of great value to the student of Roman history, 
be but tedious to the numismatist who is conversant with the subject ; I will 
therefore mention two or three of them only, abstaining from further comment. 

Among them shipping and the importation of corn justly claim a front rank, 
and in the next place I may notice the modes of transport adopted and the 
variety of conveyances used; various implements, as well domestic as agricul- 
tural, mechanical and sacerdotal, are accurately depicted, as are also armour and 
articles of dress, and the way in which they were worn. 

One word on the artistic excellence of some of these " Records." Such is the 
skill displayed in many instances by the artist, not only in the execution of the 
design but in the design itself, and such is the elegance and refinement of the 
latter, that it is diflicult to believe the artists were not brought to Rome from 
Greece, where alone the beauty of form was thoroughly understood and appre- 
ciated. Indeed, I would challenge a comparison of the medallions of Antoninus 

62 



Viii INTRODUCTION. 

Pius, page 448, Marcus Aurelius, page 494, and Lucilla, page 566, with any 
medallions of tlie present day, both for beauty of design, and, making a proper 
allowance for disparity of ages, as a specimen of die-engraving. Putting aside 
the restored coins, or such as were struck by various emperors in honour of pre- 
decessors, known by the Avord rest (restituit) in the reverse legend, and in which 
the engraver has diplomatically, and at the expense of him in whose honour they 
were designed, introduced a likeness to the Emperor by whom they were struck ; 
—putting these aside, a Series of the Emperors forms a miniature Portrait Gallery 
of the greatest interest, giving in several instances the changes wrought by the 
finger of time on the countenance of a man during his whole life, if not from the 
cradle, at least from early youth, to the period of his death. Remarkable instances 
of this are given in the coins of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and of his son 
Commodus. We are introduced to the former during the early part of the reign 
of Antoninus Pius, and find him represented as a beardless, curly-headed boy,— we 
leave him a venerable old man. His son Commodus first appears before us as a 
youth, and, if the last portrait we have of him does not leave on our minds the 
idea of a man as venerable as old Marcus Aurelius, it gives us at least an accurate 
notion of his age at the time of his death. The perfect resemblance of some of 
these portraits to the remaining busts of the same men, warrants the conclusion 
that in the majority of cases the likeness may be depended on. 

The present work resembles, in its plan and arrangement, that of the 
Descriptive Catalogue of a Cabinet of Pi-oman Large Brass Coins, by Rear-Admiral 
W. H. Smyth, P.Pi^.S. After all that the Admiral has so cleverly written upon 
each coin in his Cabinet, it cannot be expected I can add much in the way of 
novelty, yet, as my series not only comprises nearly the whole or similar coins to 
those possessed by him, and is also continued to a much greater length, I am 
enabled to bring together a more extensive collection of historic matter, and, 
where I may differ from him in a point of chronology, or in the application of a 
type to any particular fact in history, I do so with great deference to his supe- 
riority as a numismatic antiquary. 

My Cabinet was formed on the principle of embodying, as nearly as possible, 
the principal events in the life and reign of each of the Eoman Emperors, com- 
mencing with Julius Caesar, that are to be found on the Large Brass series of 
coins, but I found the Large Brass series at times too restrictive for historic 
purposes, and that it would be deficient in many interesting historic subjects 
which are only to be found on the Gold or Silver or the Second Brass, and 
latterly on the Third Brass, which was then the chief medium of circulation. 



INTllODUCTION. IX 

Consequently, coins not in the Large Brass series have been introduced which 
bear historic devices. I have thus enlarged upon Admiral Smyth's interesting 
series of types, which are strictly confined to historical Large Brass ; and have 
also added a number of coins expressing the Moralities and Virtues ascribed to 
the different Emperors, which, although not customarily admitted into an Historic 
Cabinet by those antiquaries who seek only for the type of an event,— yet I 
contend that they are equally historical, by their evincing the feelings of the Ro- 
man people towards their Emperor, when a good prince, attending to their wants 
and safety, or their exultation expressed in a successful warrior being their ruler. 
These commendatory types may also be found on the coins of those Emperors who 
were of base, depraved, and tyrannic bearing towards the people ; and, although 
the attributed virtues are direct falsehoods, yet the coins which bear their impress 
are historic evidences of the servile adulation of a weak and timid senate over- 
awed by the insolence of the soldiery, who, by the large donations of an evil- 
disposed emperor, were always at his command to wreak destruction on those who 
were obnoxious to him. 

This class of types possesses also a particular interest in an artistic point of 
view. On the earlier imperial coins the figures so introduced are for the most 
part very elegantly portrayed, and some fine specimens of die-engraving may be 
found among them, occasionally the copy of some ancient statue, which either no 
longer exists, or at best in a very imperfect condition. Again, the Roman artist 
differed very much from the modern in the representations of some of their Yirtues 
and Moralities ; for instance, the Hope of the Roman artist is a young female 
blithely tripping forward, holding up her robe with her left hand, while with her 
right hand she presents an opening flower ; which it must be acknowledged is a far 
more elegant and expressive design than the modern representation of Hope as a 
female leaning on an anchor. The anchor with the ancients represented travelling 
by sea. On the Annona coins those female figures which rest their hands on the 
stem of an anchor usually have the prow of a galley in the back-ground, thus 
denoting that the corn for the su.pply of the city was brought by sea from some 
foreign port or province; for, when the corn came by land carriage or home 
produce, neither the anchor nor the prow appear, but Annona rests her hand 
on the staff' of a rake or a plough-share. 

In writing the following Records, and examining every coin therein mentioned, 
I have noticed several matters regarding the fabric and minting of R,oman coins 
which are apt to escape the observation of the general collector. 

The metal of which the genuine Rom.an brass coins are made is very peculiar. 



X INTEODTJCTION. 

The coins of the early Emperors are almost invariably made of what is termed 
ATJEICHALCUM. The true orthography of this word is oeichalcum — {opei,xa\Ko<;), 
i.e. mountain brass, although the beautiful gold-like appearance which such coins 
often present gives great plausibility to the common but incorrect orthography. 
It is this peculiar metal which renders at times Roman brass coins so beautiful in 
the variety of colours which they present, and which variety is again assisted by 
the action of the salts or other chemical agents in the different earths or waters 
whence they may be exhumed, after an interment of many centuries. No forged 
brass coin has existed sufficiently long to have acquired naturally the tone and 
colour of the genuine orichalcum. 

It will be frequently found on finely-preserved coins that the portrait of an 
Emperor is engraved with the utmost care and attention, whilst the letters of the 
legends are small and meagre, or thick and clumsy, sometimes uneven in size and 
straggling, or close and crowded. In these things may be seen the work of two 
artists : the Wyon of the day has executed his share of the work by producing a 
highly-finished portrait, whilst the lettering has been intrusted to an inferior 
workman. Such also may be the reason at times of different styles of work in the 
obverse and reverse of a coin. Again, it will be seen that an artist has massed 
the hair of the head and drapery of the bust of his portrait, throwing the 
features clearly into relief ; thus giving the complete artistic effect without the 
minute detail of separate hairs in the head and beard. 

I have added the weights and colours of most of the coins, which have not 
been given in the Brass Series in any numismatic work I have seen. The weights 
of the Gold and Silver coins we have had already given in some works, especially 
in Admiral Smyth's Descriptive Catalogue of the Consular Silver Coins in the 
Cabinet of His Grace the Duke of Northumberland. The weights I have intro- 
duced will be an additional source of information towards the identification of 
the specific coins, and of comparison with other coins of similar types. 

The wood-cuts introduced of some of the more rare and unfrequent coins have 
been made from the coins themselves by Mr. Eairholt, weU known as a numismatic 
artist. 

The photographic frontispiece, by Messrs. Negretti and Zambra, is from a 
design of the celebrated artist G. B. Cipriani, and engraved by E. Bartolozzi the 
subject being taken from the Orlando Eurioso, canto xxxv. stanza xii. 

I cannot close these few lines without acknowledging a debt of f^ratitude I 
have contracted to several estimable men, who have come forward on very many 
occasions, and have afforded me valuable assistance. Such of my readers as know 



INTBODUOTION, XI 

Dr. Lee will feel any allusion to his constant kindness and attention to those 
who enjoy that privilege, and indeed to archseologists generally, to be perfectly 
unnecessary ; and the general reader would I fear deem it but flattery were I to 
express my appreciation of his worth. Rear-Admiral W. H. Smyth, whose 
valuable and interesting Catalogue of Roman Large Brass has formed the model 
of my own, has for so many years responded to m.y frequent inquiries, and that 
with such care and promptness, that I feel myself at a loss when I attempt to 
offer him adequate thanks. Nor can I place too high a value on the assistance 
rendered to me by my early friend Charles Roach Smith, esquire, the author 
of Collectanea Antiqua, of Roman London, and of other antiquarian works of 
sterling value. I deem myself to have been most fortunate in having been able 
to call the late Mr. Thomas Burgon, of the British Museum, my friend. No man 
with whom I have ever been acquainted possessed a more thorough knowledge of 
numismatics, although in the Museum his attention was directed to one branch 
of this study only, namely, to Greek Coins. My brother Secretary to the Numis- 
matic Society, Mr. John Yonge Akerman, Sec. S.A. ; Professor Donaldson (whose 
recent work, " Architectura Numismatica," I have before referred to) ; the Rev. 
Dr. Bruce, a gentleman deeply versed in the History of England under the 
Romans ; and the Rev. E. Boden, may each and all justly claim the recognition 
of the services they have respectively rendered me. And now, with the hope that 
this work (not originally intended for the press), which has in thirty years grown 
up under my pen from a bare Index to its present size, may prove useful and 
instructive, and trusting that its imperfections may be viewed with a gentle eye, 
I introduce it to all who may feel interested in the history of the most mighty 
nation that has ever existed. 



RECORDS 



ROMAN HISTORY. 



CNJEUS POMPEITJS. 



Cn^us Pompeius, tlie son of Cnseus Pompeius Strabo and Lncilia, was born in the 
year of Rome 648. Haying taken part with Sylla in the Civil War between that 
general and Marius, he acquired by his exploits the surname of Magnus, which 
was bestowed on him by Sylla in the year of Pome 673. Sylla, on his death about 
the year of Rome 678, left behind him Pompeius, then engaged in Spain at war 
with Sertorius, a former lieutenant of Cinna, and a friend of Marius ; Lucullus, 
who was contending with Mithridates in the East; Julius Caesar; Cato, Cicero, and 
Crassus, with several other men of rank, but opposite in their political opinions. 

Mithridates, after suffering several defeats from Lucullus, not being completely 
subdued, Pompeius was sent against him, and overthrew him in a great battle, 
where the Eastern monarch was killed, leaving his kingdom a province of the 
Roman Republic. After this success, on his return to Rome, Pompeius joined 
with Julius Caesar and Crassus, and with them formed that alliance which in the 
Roman History is called the Eirst Triumvirate for the preservation of the Republic; 
this was accomplished in the year of Rome 694. 

Soon after that time the Triumvirate was dissolved by the death of Crassus and 
his son in an expedition against the Parthians, by whom they were slain, and the 
legions which were with them were made j)risoners. Pompeius, who remained, 
although supported by many of the most influential men in Rome, could not com- 
pete with Julius Csesar. It is true Pompeius possessed talents of a very high 
order ; he had met with very great success as a general ; his address was eloquent 
and engaging; but he had been cruel upon several occasions, and had become 
envious of the success of Julius Csesar. 

B 



2 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

In the latter part of his career Pompeius exhibits a great want of firmness and 
self-possession as a leader of armies, and this want of confidence in himself infused 
a corresponding damp into his troops ; so that, when his struggle ensued with 
Julius Caisar as to which should possess the supreme power, neither Pompeius or 
his legions could withstand the moral and physical courage and discipline of Caesar 
and his warriors. 

Cicero, who took part with Pompeius, had desired a peace with Osesar, but 
Pompeius would not entertain the idea, and, being supported by the opinions of 
many men of rank and influence, war with Csesar became inevitable. The result 
was that Pompeius lost the Battle of Pharsalia, and afterwards his life. This 
battle was fought in the year of Eome 706, about 48 years before the Christian 
sera. Pompeius fled to Egypt, where he was assassinated on his arrival by a 
slave, at the instigation it is said of Ptolemy the king, of whom he had sought 
protection. 

As I do not profess to give long detailed biographies in the following pages, I 
must refer my reader to the most complete and scientific Pvoman History of the 
present day, entitled, "The History of the Romans under the Empire," by Charles 
Merivale, B.D., a most excellent and well-written work, in which he will find 
the biography and career of Pompeius and the several emperors carefully and ela- 
borately set out from authentic sources. 

1. 

No legend. The heads of Cnseus Pompeius and his son Sextus back to back, 
in the style of Janus Bifrons, with ears of corn springing from the top. Dark- 
brown, very good. 

1^. No legend. The prow of a galley to the right, with imp Lxnderneath it. 

The ears of corn are said to record the provision of corn made for the city by 
Pompeius when he was elected hj the senate imperator, for the purpose of pro- 
viding the annona or rem frumentariam of the city as usual. 

By some writers the ears of corn are supposed to allude to the threat of famine 
made by Sextus Pompeius to the citizens of Bome if they did not oblige the 
Triumvirs to do him justice on his complaint of being deprived of his ancestral 
honours, Sextus Pompeius and his In-other having at that time the command of a 
large fleet, and being in possession of the Island of Sicily, which was considered the 
granary of Borne. 



CNJEUS POMPEIUS. — JULIUS CiESAK. 3 

2. 

No legend. The heads of Pompeius and his son as Janus Bifrons, with ears of 
corn springing from them; over the heads are the letters mgn. 

^. Pivs over the prow of a galley to the right ; in the exergum imp. 

The obverse of these coins of Pompeius is described by Argelati simply as 
" Caput Jani spicatum." 

There is only one other coin struck in brass to Pompeius, but it is rarely met 
with. It is noted in Occo. 

The present, a fine dark-brown coin, is from the cabinet of Mr. Gwilt, in place of 
a very good one I had long previously possessed. 



JULIUS C^SAP. 



Caius Julius C^sae, was born in Pome in the year of Pome 654, of a most 
ancient Patrician family, assuming to be descended from the goddess Venus. He 
entered the army at an early age and achieved great honour. By birth he was the 
nephew of Marius the opponent of Sylla, who was then at the height of his power. 
At an early period Caesar was married to Cornelia, the daughter of Cinna, the 
colleague of Marius. Caesar was called upon to assert his courage and political 
principles at the very outset of his career ; for Sylla, suspicious of the youthful 
nephew of his rival, and urged perhaps to destroy him by some of his own 
adherents, but restrained by some lurking feeling of mercy or sympathy with a 
kindred genius, required him to divorce his wife Cornelia, and thus loosen his con- 
nections with the Marians. That party at the moment was in its lowest state of 
despair. The proscriptions of Sylla had taken off aU its leaders, and no one dared 
to raise his head above the ranks of the multitude who were j)rotected by their 
insignificance. There was no one among them to whom Caesar could appeal for 
protection ; yet, although then only in his eighteenth year, he refused to comply. 
Sylla was staggered by his boldness, but refrained from striking. Pompeius and 
Piso had both by command of Sylla divorced their wives. 

The firmness of Caesar had caused Sylla to remark that in CcBsar there loas more 
than one Marius, and to warn the magnates of the Senate to beware of that young 

b2 



BECOEBS OF BOMAN HISTORY. 



trifier. Cfssar however did not entirely escape ; lie paid for his conjugal constancy 
by being obliged to fly from Rome and seek an asylum at a distance, and until his 
pardon was assured he wandered about in disguise among the Sabine mountains. 
There he was discovered, but saved his life by a bribe to his captor. He was dis- 
placed from the priesthood and deprived of his wife's fortune. 

After the death of Sylla, Julius Csesar became a prominent leader. With 
Pompeius and Crassus he formed the first Triumvirate for the preservation of the 
Eepublic ; this was in the latter part of the year of Rome 694. In 695 he obtained 
the government of Gaul for five years, which was afterwards renewed to him for 

five years more. 

During the time he was in Gaul, Csesar, under the pretence that the Britons 
had assisted the Gauls in the war against him, passed over the sea to Britain. 
This was the first visit of the Romans to this island. They met with a vigorous 
opposition from the natives, but ultimately effected a landing. On his second 
expedition in the following year, by the valour of his troops and his skilful 
diplomacy with many of the British princes and chiefs, Csesar laid the foundation 
of its future subjugation and conversion into a Roman province. 

The exact place where Julius Cassar landed in Britain has long been the subject 
of much discussion. I do not pretend in these pages to enter into a disputation 
on this topic, but I may refer to Professor Halley's paper, read to the Royal Society 
as far back as the year 1685, and printed in vol. xvii. of the Philosophical Trans- 
actions; likewise to an excellent antiquarian work of the present day, viz. 
Collectanea Antiqua, by my earliest numismatic friend C. Roach Smith, P.S.A., who 
in his first volume gives a paper on the subject by the Pi-ev. Beale Poste, a skilful 
Roman antiquary. There is likewise the 4to work of C. Pv. Smith on Richborough, 
Lymne, and Pk^eculver; likewise the work of Archdeacon Battely on Rutupiee or 
Richborough ; also the Rev. C. Merivale's History of the Romans under the 
Empire, vol. i. p. 464, &C.;'' and the memoir of Professor Airy, Astronomer- Royal, 

" From a close examination of Cesar's description of tire place on the sea-shore where he did land, my 
own opinion leads me to the open beach at Deal, a few miles beyond Dover, although subsequent explorations 
may have led the Eoman commanders to prefer Eutupiaj as their best place of disembarcation and constant 
resort — using Dover nevertheless as an outpost or watch-tower, from its elevated position. In confirmation of 
my opinion I may add, there are no remains at Pevensey or St. Leonard's of Eoman castra or other works to 
show that either of them had ever been used as a place of disembarcation by the Eomans, whereas at Eich- 
borough such remains abound, and show the ruins of Eoman fortifications on a very great scale, as may be 
fully seen in C. Eoach Smith's book on Eichborough, &c.; thus supporting by their existence the opinion of 
Professor lialley, the Eev. B. Poste, the Eev. Mr. Merivale, and Admiral Smyth. 



JULIUS C^SAR. 6 

communicated to the Society of Antiquaries in 1852 by Admiral Smyth, also an 
eminent Astronomer and Hydrographer. Professor Airy considers the spot to 
have been at Pevensey or St. Leonard's, to the west from Dover. Professor Halley, 
the Rev. B. Poste, Mr. Merivale, and a letter I have from Admiral Smyth, speak 
of the landing-place being to the east of Dover, at the Deal beach, just beyond which 
place is the entrance of the Stour river, on the banks whereof are the ruins of the 
Roman castrum of Rutupise. These remains are of such magnitude as to prove 
Richborough or Rutupise to have been a strongly-fortified place, and of great 
importance and resort in the time of the Romans. 

Professor Airy, after giving a lengthened and learned discussion on the question 
of the locality, says, " It is impossible to admit Dover, Deal, or Walmer as Caesar's 
landing-place; that, although there is not the same impossibility of admitting 
Folkstone and Romney Marsh, there are strong improbabilities ; but that every 
possibility and probability are in favour of St. Leonard's and Pevensey." — After aU, 
it is sufficient for our purpose to know that Julius Caesar was the first Roman 
general who ventured to come over from Uaul into Britain. 

Crassus and his son had been defeated and slain in their expedition against the 
Parthians, so that wben Caesar returned to Rome there was only Pompeius, with 
whom he soon after had a quarrel. Pompeius being supported by a great number 
of senators and other men of rank, a civil war ensued between them, which was 
terminated by the defeat of Pompeius on the plains of Pharsalia, in Thessaly, in 
the year of Rome 706. 

After this battle and the subsequent death of Pompeius, Caesar became the only 
surviving Triumvir, — he was afterwards nominated Dictator for one year. The 
title and office were renewed to him the following year, and in the year of Rome 
710 he was created Perpetual Dictator ; and he also held the office of Pontifex 
Maximus. Six months after receiving the honour and dignity of Perpetual 
Dictator, Julius Caesar was assassinated in a full assembly of the senate on the 
15th of March, and in the fifty-sixth year of his age, by Brutus, Cassius, and others, 
men of rank whose lives he had spared at Pharsalia, and Rome was thus in a 
few minutes deprived of her most accomplished statesman and most illustrious 
chieftain. 

Amongst other matters which render the name of Julius Caesar celebrated in 
history as a man of science, is the reform of the kalendar of the year, which had 
been first introduced by Romulus, who was more of a warrior then an astronomer: 
this was corrected by Numa, but the kalendar still continued faulty ; and at last 
Julius Cgesar, with the aid of Sosigenes a celebrated astronomer, brought the year 



6 hbcouds op eoman histokt, 

to the regular period of the earth's aniiiial revolution of 365 days 6 hours. One 
other day was introduced every fourth year by increasing the month of February 
from 28 to 29 days. Thus was established the Julian Kalendar. This calculation 
was again reformed under Pope Gregory XIII. with the advice of Olavius and 
Ciaconius, celebrated men of that day ; and this reformation, or New Style as it 
is called, conmienced on the 4th of October 1582, and is the calculation used at 
the present time throughout all civilized countries. 

Although SchJegel, the German writer, in his Lectures on the Philosophy of 
History, Lecture 9, cannot avoid noticing the ambition which formed a prominent 
part of Csesar's character, yet on the whole he does fair justice to him, considering 
his character by the Roman standard of excellence. Schlegel says, he was by no 
means vindictive, nor in general subject to passion, nor cruel without a motive — 
but, whenever his interest required it, he was careless what blood he spilled. The 
war between Caesar and Pompey extended over all the provinces and regions of 
the Eoman world ; but when conqueror he formed and followed up the plan of com- 
pleting and consolidating his victory by a system of lenity and conciliation. With 
all his indefatigable activity and consummate wisdom, vdth all the equanimity, 
prudence, and energy of his character, he appears to have been still weak enough 
to imagine that the laurels he had acquired, in a way unequalled by any, were in- 
sufiPicient without the diadem ; at least he gave occasion for such suspicion, and so 
the second Brutus perpetrated on his person the act for which the elder had been 
so highly commended, by all Roman historians. 

Prom Kuno Pischer, another German writer, we have another and harsher view 
of Csesar's character. In his chapter " Of the want of Sense for Antiquity in 
Bacon " he speaks of Bacon's view in these terms : — 

" In Julius Caesar he saw combined all that the Roman genius had to bestow 
in the shape of greatness, nobility, cultiu-e, and fascination, and regarded his 
character as the most formidable that the Roman world could encounter, and giving 
what always seems as the proof of the calculation in the analysis of character. 

" Bacon so explains the character of Caesar as to explain his fate also ; he saw, 
like Shakespeare, that Caesar was naturally inclined to a despotic feeling, that 
governed his great qualities and also their aberrations, rendering him dangerous to 
the Republic and blind with respect to his enemies. He wished, says Bacon, not 
to be eminent amongst great and deserving men, but to be chief amongst inferiors 
and vassals ; he was so much dazzled by his own greatness that he no longer 
knew what danger was. This is the same Caesar into whose mouth Shakespeare 
puts the words — 



JULIUS o^sah. 7 

Danger knows full well 
That Caesar is more dangerous than he. 
We were two lions littered in one day, 
And I the elder and more terrible. 

Julius C^esae, Act. 2, Sc. 4. 

" When Bacon at last attributes the fate of Csesar to his forgiveness of enemies, 
that by this magnanimity he miglit impose upon the multitude, he still shows the 
dazzled man who heightens the expression of his greatness at the expense of his 
security." — Pages 211, 212, Kuno Pischer. 

But I consider the most complete and comprehensive and unprejudiced view of 
Julius Csesar, his actions and policy, may be seen in Merivale's History of the 
Romans under the Empire, in which there is an equally good account of Pompeius 
his rival. 

I have been thus diffuse over Julius Csesar, for he was a man who stands alone 
from all the rest of the Roman worthies ; and, being endowed by Divine Providence 
with those commanding and engaging qualities which give ascendancy in society, 
he must have swayed the destiny of his contemporaries in any age or nation in 
which he might have been born. Plutarch describes him as one who w^ould rather 
be first in a village than second in Home, and equally remarkable for bodily and 
mental vigour, courage, and vigilance. Britain, Gaul, Spain, Italy, and JEgjjit 
bear witness to his military skill and prowess. As a writer he stands pre-eminent 
for purity of style and elegance and clearness of expression, and as an orator he 
has been described as only second to Cicero himself. 

There is a siagular village in Gaul that by tradition is connected Avith Julius 
Csesar even at the present day — La Gaude, a village of Provence, containing 800 
inhabitants. Tradition says it owes its name to its famous wine, still much 
prized, and known as far back as the days of Julius Csesar ; who, arriving there 
with his wearied troops, encamped and invited them to drink the wine, saying, 
" Gaudete." The whole country and the people in their habits of life are much 
the same as in the time of Julius Csesar — their dialect borders as closely on the 
Latin as on Prench and Italian. 

The Gold and Silver coins of Csesar bearing his effigies were struck in his life- 
time he being the first of the Romans whose portrait was placed on coins when 

living but the Large Brass coins, which are mostly cast coins, are considered to 

have been minted by order of Augustus after the death of Csesar, and show his 
artifice to obtaia supreme power in thus asserting his adoption by Csesar. They 



g EECOEDS or EOMAN HISTORY. 

may therefore be termed apotlieosis coins of Csesar; and are in no instance 
known to bear the S C, or mark of senatorial authority for being minted. 

3. 

Divos . ivLivs. The laureate head of Csesar to the right. 

^. CAESAR . Divi . F. The youthful unlaureate head of Augustus to the right. 

This inscription denotes the fact related in history of Julius Caesar's adoption 
of his nephew Octavianus, who is here called his son, and was subsequently 
saluted with the name or title of Augustus. 

These coins, although placed under the name of Julius Osesar, may likemse by 
some persons be classed with the coins of Augustus ; but, as they are intended to 
apply more particularly to Julius Caesar, I havei)laced them under his name, which 
is the more usual practice with numismatic writers. 

In DIVOS the o is used instead of the u, a practice not uncommon among the 

Romans. 

The present coin, from the cal)inet of Mr. Gwilt, displaced a very good one I 
had many years back from the Rev. E. C. Brice. 

4. 

DIVOS . IVLIVS. The laureate head of Csesar to the right. 

^. CAESAR. Divi. E. The youthful unlaureate head of Octavianus to the right 
— a star in the field in front of the face. 

After the death of Csesar, his nephew Augustus instituted games to his honour : 
at the first celebration of these games a blazing star or comet appeared, which has 
been recorded by Horace as the Julkmi Sidus, and by Virgil it is called Ccesaris 
Astrimi. 

It appeared at Pk.ome for several days, and Augustus in commemorating Csesar 
has also recorded the star by introducing it in the field of the brass coins, and by a 
denarius, as we shall see in the next coin — 

Micat inter omnes 



Julium sidus, velut inter ignes 
Luna minores. 
HoEACE, Caemina, Ode xii. de Laudihus Deorum et Honiinum. 



Suetonius in Vita J. Cajsaris, ch. 88, says. " Siquidem ludis quos primos con- 
secratos ei hteres Augustus edebat, stella crinita per septem dies continuos fulsit, 



JULIUS CiESAR. 9 

exoriens circa undecimam horam, creditumque est animam esse Csesaris in coelum 
recepti, at hac de causa simulacro ejus in vertice additur stella ; curiam in qua 
occisus est obstrui placuit idusque Martias parricidium nominari ; ac ne unquam 
eo die senatus ageretur." 

5. 

Divvs . ivLivs across the field, on wMcli appear eight points or lines as of a 
star, one of them having several waved lines on each side of it, corresponding 
with the words of Suetonius, stella crinita. 

$c. CAESAR . AVGVSTVS. The head of Augustus to the left, decorated with 
a wreath of oak-leaves and acorns. 

The legend is so placed as to read either way, Caesar Augustus, or Augustus 
Caesar. The wreath of oak-leaves and acorns is very singular in making its first 
appearance on the head of avgvstvs ; the only other instance is to be found on 
the head of Galba. 

The star which is here recorded, and is said to have been visible at Rome in 
broad daylight, is supposed by some antiquaries to be intended for the planet 
Venus, in allusion to the pretended genealogic descent of the Julii ; others consider 
it was an appearance of the planet Venus occasioned by some peculiar state 
of the atmosphere for a few days ; others again say that it refers to Caesar's reform 
of the kalendar. The words stella crinita meaning also a comet, modern astro- 
nomers consider the JuUum Sidus to have been a comet, but what comet cannot be 
determined for want of any data beyond the short account of Pliny, Suetonius, &c. 

A scarce denarius from the cabinet of Mr. GwUt. 

6. 

Divos . rvLivs within a laurel wreath bearing large berries. 

|c. Divi . r. The head of Octavianus to the right ; a star in the field in front 
of the neck. 

The star here recorded is the star we have already noticed on the preceding 
coins. 

A star in the most ancient times was a symbol of divinity. In the Gosjoel of 
St. Matthew it is related that when our Lord Jesus Christ was born the Magi 
from the East were guided to Bethlehem by a star, and they inquired for him by 
words expressive of His divinity : " Where is He that is born king of the Jews, 
for we have seen Sis star in the East and have come to worship him ? " 

The laureated head does not appear on any coin until the time of Julitis Caesar. 
The Senate allowed, as a special honour to Caesar, that he might at all times 

c 



10 EECOBDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

wear a laurel wreath, under the excuse that it was on account of his baldness 
Prom this period the laurel wreath is invariably introduced on the heads of the 
emperors, excepting the instance of the preceding coin, and occasionally of the 
Emperor Galba : on some of his coins he is represented with a wreath of oak-leaves 
and acorns. 

7. 
CAESAR. The unlaureate head of Octavianus to the right. 
9.. No legend. The prow of a galley to the right, having a forecastle and a 
pillar raised in front. The galley has a large scroll fiddle-head. 

8. 

. . p . CAESAR . Divi . F. The heads of Caesar and Augustus back to back ; 
a palm-branch is between them, and bending over the head of Augustus, 
which is to the right. The head of Caesar is to the left, and laureate ; that of 
Augustus is unlaureate. 

]pc. No legend. The prow of a galley to the right, having a bank of oars stretched 
from its side ; close at the bow above them, and within the lines of the upper 
works, is an eye, by the side of which is a small square opening or porthole with 
a dot in it. Beyond this, the side of the galley is ornamented with diagonal 
lines. Standing above the front bar of the bulwark rail is a column, by the side 
of which in the field is a spiked ball. 

The representation of an eye on the fore part of a galley is very ancient ; it may 
be seen on the bow of a Greek galley represented in the paintings of Polygnotus 
in the Lesche at Delphi. The eye also appears on Charon's boat, which is intro- 
duced in the same paintings. 

The eye is a type of the Divine Providence or the Deity, and is still retained on 
some of the Mediterranean craft. It is of the remotest antiquity : among the 
ancient Jj^gyptians the eye was a very frequent emblem, signifying the superin- 
tendence or watchfulness of Divine Providence. It is used by the Chinese at 
the present day on their war-junks as well as on the sampan. It also appears on 
some of the Hetruscan vases which were some years back discovered in the 
ancient tombs of the Hetruscans by Lucien Buonaparte. 

There is in the Arschot Cabinet, as described hj Gevartius, tab. vii. No. xvi. 
a coin which had been struck by Cnaeus Domitius, who was pra^fectus classis in 
Mari lonio temp. Marc. Antonii, similar to the present. Gevartius considers that 
the prsefect placed the spiked globe above the galley as an emblem of the sun, 
meaning Antonius, as being under his auspices or command. 



JULIUS CiESAE. 11 

Vaillant, in Ms work Numismata Imperatorum in Coloniis cusa, p. 4, describes 
a coin of this type as belonging to the Colonia Valentia ; and in liis specimen he 
gives the word copia under the galley, from which word he conjectures that the 
coin may have been struck by another colony, and the letters c. o. p. i. A. as only 
initial, intended to signify Colonia Octavianum Pacensis Julia Augusta. The 
word copia appears indistinctly on the exergum of the reverse of this present coin. 

9. 

Divi . iVLi F . IMP. The unlaureate heads of Caesar and Augustus back 

to back. 

^c. c.i.v. Over the prow of a galley to the right, with a forecastle of four stories, 
in front of which is a straight column. 

This is a colonial coin, the letters c.i.v. meaning Colonia Julia Yalentia, a town 
in Spain, near Saguntum, founded originally by Junius Brutus. Mr. Burgon 
describes a coin of this type in General Ramsay's collection as having been struck 
at Vienne in GaUia Narbonensis ; but I think he is wrong. 

The piUar or upright column in front of the forecastle of the galley repre- 
sented on this and the two preceding coins is an object the use of which I 
do not find noticed by any numismatic writer, and I am indebted to my worthy 
friend the Rev. E. Boden for reminding me of what is noted by Polybius. 
It appears to be described by him in the following manner, as translated by 
Hampton : — 

" They erected on the prow of every vessel a round pillar of wood of about 
twelve feet in height and of three palms breadth in diameter, with a pulley at the 
top ; to this pillar was fitted a kind of stage, eighteen feet in length and four feet 
broad, which was made ladder-wise of strong timbers, laid across and cramped 
together with iron, the pillar being received into an oblong square, which was 
opened for that purpose at a distance of six feet from the end of the stage : on 
either side of the stage, lengthwise, was a parapet which reached just above the 
knee ; at the furthest end of the step or ladder was a bar of iron, whose shape was 
somewhat like a pestle, but it was sharpened at the bottom or lower part, and at 
the top of it was a ring. The whole appearance of this machine very much 
resembled those that are used for grinding corn. To the ring just mentioned was 
fixed a rope by which, with the help of the pulley which was at the top of the 
pillar, they hoisted up the machines, and as the vessels of the enemy came near let 
them fall upon them." 

To this explanation of the pillar I may add the description of the corvus, which 

c2 



12 BECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

it appears was an apparatus to be used for mucli the same purpose. Pitiscus, 
Lexicon Antiquitatum E-omanorum, art. Corvus, says : — 

" Corvus. A manu ferrea sive harpagone diversus fuit, distinguunt enim. 
Curt. iv. 2, 12, Eerrese quoque manus, liarpagones vocant corvique prsepara- 
bantur; et Diodor. xvii. 44, Corvis autem manibusque ferreis in loricis con- 
sistentes abripiebant. — Videtur Corvus ferramentum fuisse triquetrum et acu- 
minatum ad effigiem corvini rostri — inqiie summo cajoite babuisse annulum e ferro 
cui inserebatur catena, sicque postea vel balista vel alia machina conjectum navim 
hostilem aliquando retinuisse, saepius perforasse, describit Polyb. i. 12. V. ilium ; 
Scheffer de Milit. Nav. ii. 7, Lips.; Poliorc. v. 8; Pliiland. in Vitruv. x. 19; 
Bald, lex Vitruv. ; Stewecb in Veget. iv. 44." 

The corvus, or grappling-iron, was the invention of Duillius, the Roman consul 
who gained the first naval victory over the Carthaginians b. c. 260, for which he 
was honoured with a naval triumph, and a column was erected at Rome, in 
marble, decorated with the rostra of ships. This column still exists at Rome, in 
that part which was the Porum ; it is called Columna Duillii. — Donati, p. 137. 

10. 

CAESAR . DIG . TER. The head of Victory to the right, a circular ring in the ear. 
Weight 236^ grains. 

1^. c . CLOVi . PRAEE. Miucrva armed, gradient to the left, the aegis on her 
breast, and bearing the shield with the Gorgon's head on her left arm ; on her 
right shoulder she is carrying a trophy of arms; in front at her feet is a serpent in 
an erect undulatory posture. 

The serpent or dragon was sacred to Minerva, and at Athens there was a 
statue of Minerva by Phidias, representing her with a serpent at her feet. 

There are few facts better attested by historical evidence than that the serpent 
has by all the nations of antiquity been regarded and employed symbolically— it is 
conspicuous in their history, it stands out in their fables, and is visible in their 
religion; conjoined with Minerva on the present coin, it is evil or tendency to evil 
controlled by reason or wisdom — wisdom and prudence likewise, for anion"' the 
most ancient people by a serpent was signified prudence or circumspection : the 
serpent is used in this sense by the Lord himself in St. Matthew, x. 16.— Rendell, 
Antediluv. 

The Athenians had a tradition that the chief guardian of their Acropolis was 
a serpent. Herodotus (Euterpe, 74) informs us the serpent Avas sacred at Thebes. 
The hieroglyphics which have been brought to light in our own times abundantly 



JULIUS CiESAE. 13 

show that it must have been used in an emblematic way among the ancients, 
and it was set apart as one of the objects associated with the religion of Egypt— 
not at first to be worshipped, nor for any good it could bestow — it was the symbol 
of something that might if not guarded against be disastrous to mankind. The 
figure of a serpent biting its own tail is very ancient, and is commonly regarded as 
an emblem of eternity. We would ask, is it not rather a representation of evil 
punishing itself ? 

The serpent surroxinding an egg in Phoenician mythology plainly implies the 
danger of sensuality, with which life is beset from its very beginning. 

Among the Greeks the hair of Medusa is represented as being turned into 
serpents, because she had violated the sanctity of the Temple of Minerva ; the 
serpents representing the evil she had perpetrated. 

The serpent Python, fabled to have sprung from the mud of the deluge 
of Deucalion, was an emblem of the evil occasioned to Greece by the inundations 
of Thessaly ; the arrows of Apollo destroying Python representing the drying-up 
of the waters and marshes by the rays of the sun. 

The serpents wliich the infant Hercules strangled were a representation of inno- 
cence overcoming the blandishments of sensuality ; and the Hydra he afterwards 
slew was a representative of those evils which energy and fortitude may overcome. 

Jilsculapius is always represented with a serpent entwined around his staff, 
(see Caracalla,) to denote the power of the physician over the diseases of humanity. 
Apollo Medicus is also represented leaning on a staff with a serpent entwined 
around it. (See Galba.) 

Of all the degrees of man's life the sensual and corporeal are the lowest, being 
actuated by merely earthly appetites, influences, and causes. As the serpent 
crawls upon the earth, so the sensual principle in man is the nearest akin to the 
earth, which if not elevated by the rational and spiritual principles of his nature, 
typified by Minerva, may be said to crawl upon the earth. 

Erom the instances above mentioned it may be seen that the emblem of that 
whereby man fell from his first integrity was preserved among mankind for a long 
time after the reminiscence of its precise signification had passed away. They had 
retained the emblem with some general idea of its meaning, but had lost sight of 
its definite signification ; for this we must goto analogy and the Scriptures ; these 
will show lis that by the serpent was meant the sensual principle of man ; and his 
submitting himself to its influence, and no longer allowing himself to be led of God, 
was the fall or decline from a state of obedience to the Divine commandments, to 
the rule of self-love, the sensual principle. 



14 BECOBDS OF BOMAN HISTOEY. 

Caius Olovius, or Cluvius, (for it is written both ways,) who struck this coin, 
lived in the time of Julius Csesar, and is held by antiquaries to be the Clovius 
who was sent by Caesar to take the command in Gallia Oisalpina. Before he 
departed for the province he was invited by Cicero to visit him, that they might 
have some conversation regarding his appointment. (Cicero's Letters, lib. xiii. 
ep. 7 and ep. 55.) Clovius was an intimate friend of Cicero, by whom he was held in 
much esteem. Cicero speaks of him in his oration for Roscius — " Petam a C. Cluvio 
equite Romano ornatissimo homine;" also " Venit ad Cluvium, quern hominem 
imo gravissimum nobilem imo constantissimum," &c. — Harrec. Thes. 90. 

In Gruter, p. xiv. No. 2, we have an inscription quoted that was found at 
Puteoli — 

C . CLWIVS . M . F . 

iiivm . 

rVRIDIC . IIVIK . NOLAE . 

IlllVm . QVINQVENNAL . 

DE . SVO . EACIVND . COEBAVIT . 

IDEMQVE . BESTITVIT - 

lOVI . D . M . SAOB . 

11. 

CAESAE . Die . TEE. The head of Victory to the right, a circular ring in the ear. 
|o. c . CLOVi . PEAEP . Minerva armed, and gradient to the left, preceded by the 
serpent. 

The reverse of this coin is finely perfect. 

12. 

CAESAE . DIG . TEE . The head of Victory to the right, having a circular ring 
in the ear, and a star in the field behind the head. 

1^. c . CLOVI . PEAEE . Mincrva armed, and gradient to the left, preceded by 
the serpent. 

The star introduced in the field on the obverse is the star {stella crinita) we 
have already noticed. 

These two coins, in good preservation, are from the cabinet of General Ramsay. 



MARCUS JUNIUS BRUTUS. 15 



MAECUS JUNIUS BRUTUS. 

Marcus Junius Brutus, tlie son of Junius Brutus and Servilia the sister of 
Cato, was born in the year of Eome 669. He joined the party of Pompeius 
against Csesar, and held a command in the army of Pompeius at the battle of 
Pharsalia. After the death of Pompeius he was pardoned by Csesar ; and, being 
of ancient family and a learned man, he was treated by Caesar with much consider- 
ration and favour. The desire of Julius Caesar for curbing the ascendancy of the 
popular party, and his endeavours to make the three distinctions of the government, 
as the supreme head, the deliberative, and the elective, were not, or would not be, 
understood ; and the radical opinions of Brutus, Cassius, and others (most of whose 
lives Caesar had spared after the great battle) were called into action under the 
mistaken notion that they were patriots putting down tyranny, conceiving that 
Caesar aspired to kingly power. These misguided hasty men put their bene- 
factor to death in the year of Eome 710, four years after their lives and fortunes 
had been granted them, and before they had had the opportunity of seeing and 
forming a proper judgment on the plans which Julius Caesar proposed to provide 
for the future security and good governm.ent of the Pi^oman people. 

Brutus was lineally descended from the Lucius Junius surnamed Brutus who 
expelled the Tarquins from Eome on the death of Lucretia, and he seems to 
have inherited all the intolerant republican spirit of his ancestor, and therefore did 
not scruple to plunge his dagger into the breast of his friend and benefactor Julius 
Caesar when he imagined Caesar intended to assume regal authority. 

To persons who are at all acquainted with Eoman history the name of Brutus 
is so conjoined with that of Caesar, principally occasioned perhaps by the affectionate 
exclamation recorded of Caesar, " M tu Brute," when he saw Brutus with his hand 
raised to stab him, that the mention of either brings the other to the mind, with 
all the circumstances related of the death of Caesar and the conduct of Brutus 
on the occasion, and the part he took in the murder. 

The coin of Brutus is only found in gold and silver. 

13. 

BRVT . IMP . li . PLABT . CEST. The head of Brutus unlaureate to the right. 
A denarius, weight 53f grains. 

Jl. EiD . MAB. Underneath a pileus or cap, on each side of which is a dagger. 



16 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

Julius Caesar was murdered on the Ides of March, which would be the 15th, or 
middle of the month, in the year of Rome 710. The actual day of the perpetra- 
tion of the deed is marked on the coin in perpetual remembrance of the fact. 
After the murder of Caesar in the senate-house the conspirators marched through 
the city accompanied by a numerous band of gladiators and many associates, pro- 
claiming liberty to the people and peace to all, declaring they intended no further 
violence to any one. Upon this occasion they were preceded by one of their 
attendants, who carried a cap, the emblem of liberty, raised on the point of a spear. 
Thus the cap on the coin refers to the freedom of the citizens of Rome having 
(been supposed to have) been gained by the use of the dagger, implying that the 
Roman people had been held in slavery by Julius Caesar, from which state of 
bondage they had been released and made freemen by the daggers of Brutus and 
his confederates. 

The mode of manumitting a slave is described in Pestus thus : — " Manumitti 
servus dicebatur cum dominus ejus aut caput ejusdem servi aut aliud membrum 
tenens dicebat, ' Hunc hominem liberum esse volo,' et emittebat eum e manu, servo 
autem praetori se sistente, quod praetor vindicta, id est, virga ejvisdem servi capiti 
imj)osita ita dicebat, ' Dico eum liberum esse more Quiritum ;' inde conversus ad lic- 
torem addebat, ' secundu.m tuam causam, sicuti dixi, ecce tibi vindicta.' Turn lictor, 
accepta a praetore vindicta, caput servi percutiebat, faciem pahna tergumque 
verberabat. Quibus actis nomen manumissi in acta a scriba referebatur." 

"Well-striick coins of Brutus are frequently termed false ; but Mr. Cureton, 
a very skilful hand in detecting a forgery, and who bought this for me at the 
Pembroke sale, remarked to me he had never seen a coin of Brutus called genuine 
but what was equally as false as those commonly called false ; and in fact it was 
only a fashion to say so, for one was quite as good and genuine as the other. This 
he said in consequence of my remarking to him that the similar coin in the sale 
preceding the present had brought 10/., and Mr. Cureton gave it me as his 
real and unqualified oj)inion that the present coin was quite as genuine. 



MARCUS ^MILITJS LEPIDUS. 17 



MAECUS ^MILIUS LEPIDUS. 

Makctjs jEmilius Lepibus was born of a patrician family, although it is not 
known in what year ; he followed the fortunes of Julius Osesar in opposing 
Pompeius, and took a part in the battle of Pharsalia. After the death of Julius 
Csesar he joined with Octavianus and Antonius, and formed with them the second 
Triumvirate for the preservation of the Republic in the year of Rome 710-11. 

He was afterwards deprived of the title of Triumvir, and banished by Octavi- 
anus, in the year of E-ome 718, to Circei, a small town in Italy, where he passed 
his days in private life, and died in the year of Home 741. 

His coins are rare, and are only known in gold and silver. 

14. 

LEPIDUS . PONT . MAX . iiiv . R . p . c. The unlaureate head of Lepidus to the 
right. 

Jl. c^SAK . IMP . iiiviR . R . p . c. The unlaureate head of Octavianus to the 
right. 

The present coin is a denarius, obtained from the cabinet St. Croix ; it is in 
good condition, which is not usual with coins of Lepidus Weight 59^ grains. 



MARCUS ANTONIUS. 



Marcus Antonius was born about the year of Rome 671. H^e entered the 
army, and joined the party of Julius Caesar, and contributed to the defeat of 
Pompeius at Pharsalia. Associating with Lepidus and Octavianus after the death 
of Csesar, he formed with them the second Triumvirate for the preservation of the 
Republic, year of Rome 710. To strengthen this confederacy Octavianus married 
Clodia the daughter-in-law of Antonius ; and Antonius, after the death of his wife 
Fulvia, married Octavia the sister of Octavianus. Antonius subsequently divorced 
Octavia, by whom he had three children, that he might marry Cleopatra the 

Queen of iEgypt. 

Antonius l^eing afterwards at variance with Octavianus, he engaged in war 



D 



18 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

with him, and was completely defeated in a sea-fight off Actium, a promontory 
and sea-port town of Epirus in the year of Rome 723, B.C. 31, 2nd of Sep- 
tember ; and this date has been formally recorded by historians as signalising the 
termination of the Republic and the commencement of the Roman monarchy. 
Octavianus himself considered it as the inauguration of a new sera. As a per- 
petual memorial of this complete and final triumph, he founded a city upon the site 
of his camp, and gave it the name of Nicopolis, the city of victory. 

After this defeat Antonius fled into iEgypt, whither he was pursued by 
Octavianus, and in the following year Antonius killed himself, his fleet and his 
army having surrendered to his opponent. 

15. 

M . ANTONivs . IMP . COS . BES . ITER . ET . TER. The head of Antonius to the 
right, wreathed with ivy. The legend is also encircled with ivy leaves and berries 
alternately. Under the head is a small augural lituus, denoting the rank of 
Antonius as chief of the College of Augurs. 

|e. iiiviR . R . p . c. A small bust placed on a casket ; to the right two snakes are 
entwined underneath, and raise their heads on either side. 

Some authors have considered the bust on the casket as representing Octavia 
the wife of Antonius ; others denote it as the bust of Cleopatra ; while others again 
designate it as the bust of the goddess Libera, the female Bacchus, or more properly 
Ariadne, to whom the name of Libera was given by Bacchus, who was surnamed 
Liber. (Haverc. in Thes., also Oiselius in Antonio, p. 81., ed. 1677.) 

I have little hesitation in considering the bust on the mystic cyst is intended 
for Octavia, for Antonius is termed in the legend iiiviR . r . p . c ., thus shewing the 
coin was struck whilst he was iiiviR., and in amity with Octavianus ; consequently 
it would have been an insult and out of character with the friendly feeling then 
existing between Antonius and Octavianus that the bust of any other lady than 
the sister of Augustus should be introduced on the coins of Rome. 

Argelati in Antonio quotes two coins similar to this, both in brass, one ex 
Thes. Mauroc. J. C. Bon., the other in Musaeo Eedriciano ; and also one in 
silver which he describes, with similar legends to this, containing portraits of 
Antonius and Octavia on the obverse,— and which he quotes from Gorlgeus, f. 5. 

The present coin is a silver medallion from the cabinet of Sir John Twysden 
and is of the class designated Cistophori. Weight 181^ grains. 



MARCUS ANTONIUS. 



19 



16. 

M . ANTONivs . IMP . COS . DESIG . ITEK . ET . TEE,. The head of Antonius to the 
right, crowned with an ivy wreath. The legend is also encircled by a wreath of 
ivy leaves and bunches of ivy berries alternately. 

1^. No legend. A quiver of arrows ; two snakes entwining their tails raise their 
heads one on each side of the quiver, while a snake is seated on the top ; on the 
left of the verge of the field is a star. 

The ivy wreath around the head of Antonius on this and the preceding coin 
appears to record the fact mentioned in history that Antonius, when at Alexan- 
dria with Cleopatra the Queen of iEgypt, amongst other presumptions, allowed 
himself to be called Bacchus, also Osiris. He had before then, after the victory 
at Philippi, entered Ephesus with a procession of men, women, and children, 
clothed as Bacchantes and Satyrs, crowned with ivy and carrying thyrsi. See 
further Plutarch in Antonio p. 926 ; ii. Livy, c. 82. This unseemly conduct is 
also referred to by Eckhel, vi. 65, in Antonio. 

The plant ivy was sacred to Bacchus ; from this (the appropriation of the plant) 
the artist has encircled the head of Antonius with an ivy -wreath, emblem of 
Bacchus, whose godship Antonius had assumed. 

A very good black coin from the cabinet of the Duke of Devonshire. Weight 
487 grains. 




17. 

M . ANTONi . IMP . COS . DES . III. viR . R . p . c. The heads of Antonius and 
Octavianus side by side to the right ; both are unlaureate. Eacing them is the head 
of Octavia to the left, without diadem or any ornament to her hair. Bronze, fine. 

9>. M . OPPius . CAPITO . p . E, . PEAEP . CLASS . p . c . A Sailing galley with a 
bank of oars to the right, under it is the Greek letter F, and a triquetra. 

This coin is classed by Morell as being of the gens Oppia ; it was formerly in 
the Pembroke cabinet, and is weU known from being cited by Eckhel in 
M. Antonio, vol. vi. p. 56, thus : — 

D 2 



20 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

" M . ANT . IMP . COS . BES . Ill . VIR . R . P . C . 

" Capita tria ut supra (id est)— Duo capita virilia nuda, quorum anterius est 
Antonii, posterius juvenile, quibus adversum et tertium muliebre nudum. 

" 9'- M . OPPIUS . CAPITO . PROPR . PRAEE . CLASS . 

" Navis cum velo, infra F et triquetra. 

" M. I. Pembrock. p. ii. tab. 58, et p. iii. tab. 46. 

" Si hujus inscriptio numi talis est qualis perliibetur necesse est, notam iii. 
bis accipiendam, sic ut primam eificiat cos . des . hi ., deinde iii . viR . R . 
P.O. etenim Antonius cos . des . non fuit nisi anno v. c. 709, sed quo 
in tempore in . vir . nondum fuit." 
The present coin is also figured in Havercamp's Thesaurus ; he describes the 
female portrait as being intended for a representation of Cleopatra. Vaillant, in 
his work Numismata Imperatorum, &c. in Coloniis percussa, p. 88, mentions a coin 
of Antonius with an inscription on the reverse similar to the present, giving no 
particulars of the coin from which he obtains his information ; but I cannot 
help forming a different opinion to the numismatic authorities who quote this 
coin, and who all treat this portrait as being that of Cleopatra ; first, I do not 
think the triumviri monetales would have ventured to place on a Roman coin, for 
circulation in Rome, the portrait of a foreigner male or female, more especially 
the portrait of a queen of another country, although she might be the paramour 
of • a man high in office ; next, Antonius must have lived with Octavia several 
years, for he had a family of three or four children by her, and there would not be 
the same objection with the master of the mint for the portrait of Octavia 
appearing on a coin jointly with her husband and her brother ; and again, Octavia 
being afterwards divorced by Antonius to make room for Cleopatra, it is not at 
all probable the portrait of Cleopatra would be allowed to be placed on a Roman 
coin conjointly with the portrait of Octavia's brother. 

The most complete authority in favour of my view is in Argelati in Augusto 
A.u.c. 714, a brass coin, thus, " Capita Aug. et Antonii jugata, cum capite Octaviaj 

ilia respicientis. p.. prae . iter navis prastoria expansis veils, Seguin, f. 95, ubi 

illustrat nummum eruditissimo commentario." In A.u.c. 714, Eulvia, the wife of 
Antonius, died, and he married Octavia, the sister of Augustus. 

The coin which gives in my opinion the greatest colour to the assertion of the 
female portrait being that of Cleopatra is one quoted in Argelati in Antonio 
p. 19 :- 

" M . OPPIVS . CAPITO . PRA.EP . C . L . M . 

" Antonius et Cleopatra in biga Hippopotamorum. Schedce Sponniance." 



MAECTJS ANTONIUS. 21 

The Hippopotami being natives of ^gypt suggests the doubt on the portrait, 
and then this coin must have been struck after the rupture with Octavianus, and 
the divorce of Octavia. 

The battle of Actium took place in a.ti.c. 723, and it was not many years before 
that Antonius, after repudiating Octavia, gave himself entirely to Cleopatra, 
and I think there is no doubt these coins were struck during the time there was 
a good iinderstanding existing between Antonius and Octavianus. The divorce 
of Octavia and marriage with Cleopatra caused a complete rupture between 
Antonius and Octavianus, which had been long brooding in consequence of 
Antonius presuming on the youth of Octavianus. Civil war ensued, which in the 
end proved fatal to Antonius and Cleopatra. 

The Greek letter F shews that the coin was minted in the third year of the 
triumvirate of Antonius, Lepidus, and Octavianus, a.u.c. 713, which therefore 
tends to confirm my view of the female portrait being that of Octavia. Haver- 
camp, Thes. 805, says the F means the third year of opp . capito being prcefectus 
classis, but I think he errs ; the Greek F signifies the year of mintage, and the 
mintage of a coin applies to the person whose effigies is given on a coin, and who 
it was intended to commemorate, and not to a subordinate officer, as a prefect. 

The B/omans usually had a fleet stationed at Misenum in Sicily. Pitiscus in 
his Lexicon, under pbaefectvs, says, " Prsefectus fuit custos potius quam dux.'' 
The triquetra, or three human legs joined together, establishes it as a coin of 
Sicily, of which island the triquetra was the peculiar emblem, from the island 
being triangular and forming three promontories. 

18. 

M . ANT . IMP . TEE . COS . DESIG . ITER . ET . TER . IIIVIE. . R . P . C . The heads of 

Antonius and Octavia adverse, Antonius being to the right. 

1^. L . ATRATINVS . AVGVR . PRAEE . CLASS . E . C . 

A black coin, in good condition. 

This coin is singular and very rare, or I should not have let it have a place in 
the cabinet. The legends above quoted are not on the coin, being worn off", 
except li . ATRATINVS . on the reverse. I have supplied them from Havercamp's 
Thesaurus, where this coin is described, p. 26, in the following words : After the 
legend on the obverse, he says— "Capita adversa Marci Antonii et Cleopatrse." 
The reverse he describes, " Huge icunculsc in curru a quatuor equis marinis tracto, 
subtus litera A et arula, retro icunculas connexse cernuntur in medio literal H.S." 

This is an accurate description of the present coin, less the legends, but I 



22 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

Ijrincipally use it for the reason of the legend describing Antonius as imp - tee . or 
tertvum, or imperator for the third time, and consul designated for the third time ; 
and I consider this legend as shewing Antonius at an early period of the Trium- 
virate, for which reasons I more safely conclude the female head to be that of the 
wife Octavia, although designated by Havercamp as Cleopatra ; so, if this is an 
early struck coin of Antonius, as from the obverse may be concluded by the legend 
impressed, the female portrait cannot be that of Cleopatra. 

Argelati speaks of a coin similar to the present coin being " ex Thes. Mediceo 
PbOverendissimus Noris : " so it is apparently a very scarce coin. 

I find in Argelati also several instances of coins which encourage the opinion 
of the female portrait being that of Cleopatra, but still I think it right to raise 
the doubt, especially as Argelati in Antonio describes a brass coin, " Capita M, 
Antonii, C. Csesaris et Octavise jugata— ^j- Navis expansis velis ; epigraphe non 
legitur. Ex Ind. Polatio;" and it must be conceded by antiquaries that a Roman 
mintmaster could not have dared to put the portrait of a E-oman general's 
mistress on a coin for use in Rome in preference to the portrait of a wife, especially 
that wife being the sister of the reigning emperor. 

In the time of the second triumvirate of Antonius, Lepidus, and Octavianus, 
the E/oman legions played a very conspicuous part, and from some cause not now 
known Antonius had denarii struck recording all the legions. Erom their being 
almost the arbiters of the fate of Rome we have introduced these coins of the 
legions as historic coins of the period, although on their legends they record 
no more than their own names. 

We have in English history books describing the origin and exploits of various 
regiments in the service of the Crown. The regiment is numerically equal to the 
Roman cohort ; and it would be very interesting if a work could be written 
describing in like manner the origin and exploits of the different Roman legions, 
theu- campaigns, their victories, their retreats, then- internal administration, 
anecdotes of the service of their officers, and acts of individual bravery, skill, and 
address. The only paper of the kind is one by the Rev. Beale Post on the Legio xx. 
contained in the volume of the Proceedings of the British Archseological Asso- 
ciation at their meeting held at Gloucester in 1846 ; but it must have occasioned 
him immense labour to have collected sufficient materials to enable him to accom- 
plish his task. 

19. 

ANT . AVG . A galley, rowing to the right, having a short mast, or bowsprit, at 
the head : under it xiiviR . r . p . c . 



MARCUS ANTONIUS. 



23 



Jt, COHORTIVM . PRAETORiARVM . Three standards, the centre one being an 
eagle, standard of the legion. 

20. 

ANT . AVG . A galley, rowing to the right, as before, under it the words 
IIIVIR , R . p . c . 

!pc. coHORTis . SPECVL . Three standards, each bearing a wreath, but no eagle. 

21. ANT . AVG . A gaUey, as before. — '^. leg . ii . Three standards, the centre 

one being an eagle. 

22. -^NT . AVG . A gaUey, as before. — Jl. leg . iii . Three standards, as before. 

23. -^NT . AVG . A galley, as before. — Jl. leg . iv. 

24. A-NT . AVG . A gaUey, as before. — |o. leg . v . 
A galley, as before. — R. leg . vi . 
A gaUey, as before. — |l. leg . vii . 
A galley, as before. — |c. leg . viii . 
A galley, as before. — |c. leg . ix . 
A galley, as before. — |t. leG . x . 
A galley, as before. — |c. leg . xi . 
A galley, as before. — Jo. leg . xii . 
A galley, as before. — $1. leg . xiii , 
A gaUey, as before. — |o. leg . xiv . 
A gaUey, as before. — Jl. leg . xv . 
A galley, as before. — 9.. leg . xvi . 
A galley, as before. — ^. leg . xvii . The three standards. 

Obverse and reverse as before. 

37. LEG . XVIII . 

38. LEG . XVIII . 

39. I-EG . XIX . 

40. I'EG . XX. 

41. LEG . XXI . 

42. I-EG . XXII . 

43. I^EG . XXIII . 

44. I-EG . XXIV. 



25. ANT . AVG . 

26. ANT . AVG 

27. ANT . AVG , 

28. ANT . AVG 

29. ANT . AVG 

30. ANT . AVG 

31. ANT . AVG . 

32. ANT . AVG 

33. ANT . AVG 
,34. ANT . AVG 

35. ANT . AVG 

36. ANT . AVG 



The three standards. 
The three standards. 
The three standards. 
The three standards. 
The three standards. 
The three standards. 
The three standards. 
The three standards. 
The three standards. 
The three standards. 
The three standards. 
The three standards. 
The three standards. 



LYBIC^, 



24 RECORDS or ROMAN HISTORY. 

In Argelati we have notice of thirty legions, and he describes them all on the 
reverse as — " Duo signa Castrensia, Aquila legionaria media." 

All these legionary coins have an eagle as one of their standards. The bird 
called the eagle holds the highest rank, and has been emphatically called the 
King of Birds — in rapidity and power of flight, in strength and in keenness of 
vision, it far excels all others. An eagle with expanded wings formed the im- 
perial standard of the Persians under Cyrus, very long before it became the 
principal standard of the Romans. As an emblem of sovereignty it was adopted 
by the Romans, and their conduct as warriors during the Republic and in the 
early period of the Empire was well symbolised by this emblem. 

The eagle is also the attribute or attendant bird of Jupiter, the chief of 
the Roman deities. As the eagle was considered the chief of birds, it became a 
fitting associate with Jupiter. 



AUGUSTUS. 

Caiits Octaviantis CiEPiTTS, the son of 0. Octavius Rufus, and Atia or Actia, 
daughter of Julius Caesar's sister, was born at Velitrge, an ancient town of Latium, 
on the Appian Road, about twenty miles east of Rome, year of Rome 691 ; his 
father died when he was about four years of age. 

After receiving an excellent education, he was formally adopted by his great- 
uncle Julius Osesar as his son, and by the will of Csesar he was constituted his 
heir. At the time of Caesar's murder he was about eighteen years of age, and 
was then studying at ApoUonia, in Greece. On hearing of what had occurred he 
instantly quitted ApoUonia for Rome, and declared himself Caesar's heir and suc- 
cessor to the government. Antonius, who at first had received him with cordiality, 
grew cool and manifested designs for increasing his own power and diminishing 
the influence of Octavianus, who had received the support of Caesar's soldiers. 

After several disturbances and a little war, Antonius found it was more politic to 
keep friends with Octavianus, and accordingly about eighteen months after Caesar's 
death Antonius, Octavianus, and Lepidus met at Mutina, and agreed to a firm 
friendship ; and then constituted themselves Triumvirs for the preservation of the 
Republic. 

Having taken measures to secure the government to themselves, the Triumvirs 



AuausTUS. 25 

turned their attention to the murderers of Caesar ; and, after successive engage- 
ments, in which many of those who had conspired against Caesar were slain, the 
armies of the two parties met at PhiHppi ; where, after a very severe contest, the 
army of Brutus and Cassius was routed with great slaughter, upon which those 
commanders killed themselves. These events took place in the year of Rome 712. 
The authority of the new Triumvirate was now fully established, the few con- 
spirators who survived the battle of Philippi surrendered, and were favourably 
received ; but soon afterwards a number of men of rank, and among them Cicero, 
were set down in the list of proscriptions, and were searched out and put to death : 
by these means the Triumvirs got rid of all those who were, or were likely to be, 
opposed to their designs. 

In the year of Rome 718, Octavianus having quarrelled with Lepidus, the 
latter was deprived of the honours of Triumvir, but allowed to retain the dignity 
of Pontifex Maximus ; and was banished to Circei, where he died some years after. 
Subsequently the Roman people elected Octavianus Tribune for life. 

Two or three years after this took place, disputes arose between Octavianus 
and Antonius. Tbe former caused Antonius to be accused before the people. 
Antonius quitted Rome and withdrew to the legions that were quartered in 
Greece and Syria. In the end, both parties having taken up arms, various engage- 
ments ensued, and at last at the battle of Actium the forces of Antonius were 
defeated, and he fled to Egypt, where he soon after kUied himself. 

By this event Octavianus became sole master of the state. He consulted with 
his two most particular friends Maecenas and Agrippa as to the course he should 
pursue— the latter recommended him to surrender his authority to the people, 
whilst the former advised he should maintain the power he had gained, but not to 
assume the title of King, it being detested by the Roman people. Octavianus 
preferred the advice of Maecenas ; he perceived on consideration that the Roman 
people had by such a long series of the wars of party factions in the city lost much 
of their ancient vigour and thirst for liberty ; their foreign wars being no longer 
carried on by the citizens, but by hired legions of auxiliaries, the spirit and energy of 
the warriors of the olden time had disappeared, and the old Roman citizen was no 
longer to be found ; while on the other hand the Senate, having lost a great part of 
its nobles and men of rank, influence, and patriotic principles, whose places were 
supplied by men of inferior grade and principle, they had not the firmness of 
character, independence, and resolution of former days. Added to these, so much 
corruption had crept in, especially amongst the military, that nothing but a vigor- 
ous hand to guide the chariot of the state could correct and remove the evils. 

E 



26 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

Octavianus clearly perceived this state of affairs, and lie boldly resolved to abide 
by the advice of Msecenas, and in the end his resolve was successful. Msecenas 
was a nobleman of royal views and opinions, being himself, as noted by Horace, of 
royal descent (Hetruscan) — 

Meecenas atavis edite regibus. — Carm. i. 

His aristocratic royal views coincided with the view of Octavianus, and he retained 
the position he had so gained. 

The victory at Actium was gained in the year of Rome 723, and in commemo- 
ration of the event Octavianus built the town of Nicopolis and a temple to Apollo ; 
and instituted games in honour of Apollo, who was then surnamed Actius. The 
games were called Actia, and were celebrated every five years with great pomp. 
The conduct of the games was placed under the care of the Lacedemonians. 

Octavianus likewise shut up the Temple of Janus, and peace appeared to be 
general. 

The Senate, perceiving it was to their interest to ingratiate themselves with 
Octavianus, after a time bestowed on him the title or surname of Augustus ; by 
which he is now historically known. 

The title of Imperator was also assumed, and he thus quietly obtained the 
whole power of government really in his own hands, although having the appear- 
ance of it being held at the will of the people. 

The title of Imperator or Emperor, which had previously been a military dis- 
tinction given usually on the field of battle to a successful general, became extended 
to signify the supreme governor, arbiter of all civil and military affairs, and thence- 
forward continued to be assumed as the hereditary title of the chief person in the 
state, and marked the change from a E,epublic to a Monarchy ; the title of Rex, 
or King, being studiously avoided. 

After a long life spent in reducing the government to consistency and order, 
curbing the vices of the people, and doing every thing in his power to raise the 
empire in the estimation of surrounding nations, and by his clemency and suavity 
of manner conciliating all parties, Augustus was suddenly taken ill of diarrhsea on 
his returning from a journey to Beneventum, which caused him to stop at Nola, 
near Capua, in Campania, where he shortly after died, being very nearly 76 years 
of age, in the year of E^ome 767, and a.d. 14. 

Augustus is one of the most remarkable of all the Romans of his period, and 
may properly be called the founder of the R,oman empire, mostly on the plan his 
uncle Julius Caesar had proposed to pursue. He won the affections of the Roman 
people to such an extent as to have obtained an absolute monarchy, a charge made 



AUGUSTUS. 27 

against Julius Caesar and causing his death. Caesar appears rather to have 
coquetted with the title of King ; had he, like Augustus, remained content with 
the title of Imperator, coupled with the Tribunicia Potestas as perpetual tribune, 
and the dignity of Pontifex Maximus, he might have reigned securely at Eome ; 
but Caesar was dazzled with the idea of being a King. 

Augustus, on the contrary, took warning from the fate of his uncle. He accepted 
everything the Senate pleased to bestow on him in honours and power, but at the 
same time cautiously and craftily professing to hold his dignity at the will of the 
people, and being ready at all times to lay aside his honours if lie were required. 
The people were however too indolent to resume their power, and, being charmed 
by his bounties and complaisant behaviour, the splendour and frequency of the 
shows he exhibited, and at which he made a point always to attend, they did not 
care to inquire too closely and distract themselves about his titles and government, 
and thus he remained in the undisturbed possession of the sovereignty and they 
became his slaves, and were never after able to throw off the yoke he had placed 
"oiTiheir necks. 

Although the coins of Augustus are generally speaking very common, yet it is 
difficult to fix the period of an event by any ty pewhich appears on them. The 
titles DIYVS and dtvo occur on many of the coins, but they are not all apotheosis 
coins, for it is related that Augustus was so vain as to allow himself to be saluted 
with the title in his lifetime, and even to have altars erected to him and iacense 
burned as to a divine being, as the coins shew to us. See No. 46, post. 

Among those coins which were struck during his life are some that record the 
assumption of the teibvnicia • potestas which was conferred on Augustus for 
life, and other coins which record the restoration of Roman citizens who were 
prisoners of war in other countries, especially those among the Parthians, the 
remains of the legions of Crassus, as well as the preservation of the lives of the 
Roman citizens by the cessation of civil wars. These were struck in conformity 
with decrees of the Senate by various masters of the mint whose names appear on 
some of the coins, and it is a singular fact that after the reign of Augustus all 
mention on coins of the name and title of the masters of the mint quite disappears, 
although the ofS.ce of mint master or iiivm • monetalis was still continued. 

The IIIVIB ■ MONETALis is described — " Pomae magistratus iste Triumvirorum 
MonetaHum dicebatur quorum providere numismata am*ea, argentea, asrea probae 
materiee justique ponderis flatentur ac ferientur." Their origin is considered to 
be aUuded to by Livy — "Et Romse quoque propter penuriam argenti iiiviri 
mensarii, rogatione Minutii Trib. PI. facti L. JEmilius qui Consul Censorque fuerat 

E 2 



28 KECOBDS OF BOMAN HISTORY. 

et M. Attilms Begulm qui bis Consul fuerat et L. Scribonius Libo qui Trib. PL erat, 
ex quo tempore iiiviRi monetales originem traxisse." (Monumenta Patavina, p. 
107, Patin. Imp. Eomanorum Numismata, p. 20.) 

The office of master of the mint was held by three individuals at one time ; 
hence the title of Triumvir Monetalis. There is a sort of numismatic problem 
connected with the Triumviri Monetales, i.e. to ascertain who were in office at the 
same time at any one period. With the exception of the above names quoted from 
Livy, the nearest approach to this fact we shall notice presently on a set of coins 
of Augustus, in their proper place. 

It is to be observed that the initial letters S. C, which now so constantly appear 
on Roman coins, denote that they were struck senatvs . constjlto, by a decree of 
the Senate. Although this is the invariable mark of the brass coins, yet there are 
instances of the S. C, sometimes E. X. S. C, appearing on the gold coins. Augustus 
reserved to himself the right of ordering the issue of gold and silver, leaving the 
brass coinage under the orders of the Senate ; hence it is that no brass coins of the 
Roman mint of the Emperor Otho are as yet to be found, for the Senate, in silent 
disgust with his murder of the Emperor Galba, made no decree for a brass 
coinage. Otho, having power over the gold and silver, caused a coinage in those 
metals. 

The absence of the S. C. is the distinctive signification of the medallion— a larger 
sized brass or silver coin, by some supposed to be proofs for the special use and 
approval of the Emperor and for presents to his friends. Augustus was a great 
coin collector, and had a cabinet of coins of foreign countries, from which he was 
accustomed at times to make presents. 

45. 

AVGVSTVS . TRiBVNic . POTEST . inscribed in three lines within a palm-wreath. 

$b. p . STOLO . iiiviR . A . A . A . E . F .; in the centre of the field S. C. This is a 
Second Brass coin struck by Publius Stolo, a Triumvir Monetalis in the early part 
of the reign of Augustus, a . v. 730. We have on it the official title of the master 
of the mint in the figures and initial letters which follow after his name, which 
signify "Triumvir Auro Argento Mre Elando Eeriundo," corresponding with the 
description given by Livy which we have already noticed. 

Although the present is only a Second Brass coin and without portrait, yet I 
have placed it first, for I consider it one of the most important chronologically in 
the series of this emperor's coins, because it is the first in the order of time on 
which the Tribunicia Potestas appears. 



AUGUSTUS. 29 

Dr. Cardwell in liis Numismatic Lectures, p. 189, believed he had discovered 
the earliest record of the Tribunicia Potestas of Augustus on a denarius of his 
eighth year struck by the Triumvir Monetalis L • viNicivs . L . F . te. . i>OT . viii . 
being, as Dr. Cardwell writes, " The first coin on which the trie • pot • appears, 
although assumed by Augustus eight years before." 

On referring to Occo, small 4to edit. a.d. 1601, p. 60, he places the coin 
mentioned by Dr. Cardwell in anno urbis 737, and at p. 54 Occo quotes a silver 
coin of Augustus " avgvstvs . tr . pot . figura equestris ; Rev. p . stolo . iiivie." 
This coin he places under date A.u. 730, being seven years earlier than the coin 
referred to by Dr. Cardwell. Eckhel, in vol. vi. p. 91., places the commencement of 
the Tribunicia Potestas in A.u. 731. — " Jam nunc Trib. Potestas monetae inscribi 
incipit," quoting as his authority a denarius struck by p . stolo . iiivm . in Mus. 
Caes. (Vienna Cabinet), and thus also reckoning Publius Stolo as the first mint 
master who recorded the tuib ■ pot • of Augustus. Dr. Cooke also in his Medallic 
History of E-ome, vol. i. p. 214., places a similar coin of P. Stolo as the first on 
which the trib . pot . is recorded. And in Argelati in Augusto I find the coins 
by P. Stolo with the tr . pot . placed in the year 731. 

Assuming therefore that all these dates are correctly noted, and the right coins 
are quoted, it is evident p . stolo was the first mint master who recorded the 
TRIE . POT . and would consequently cause this coin and the coins I have cited to 
take precedence of the coin quoted by Dr. Cardwell to the extent of seven years.* 

Mr. Merivale also in his valuable work the History of the Romans under the 
Empire, vol. iv. p. 163, speaking of the time of Augustus, says, " The year 73 is 
memorable in the life of the first Princeps from his acceptance of the power of the 
Tribunate, the most important perhaps in a constitutional point of view of all 
his prerogatives." 

The Publius Stolo we are speaking of was a descendant of that Licinius Stolo, 
the inveterate enemy of the patricians, who, after having introduced the law which 
restricted the possession of land to 500 acres, was himself convicted of having 
double the quantity. Havercamp speaks of him as a descendant of P. Licinius 
Calvus, Tribunus Plebis a. u. c. 377. 

46. 

CAES . PONT . MAX. The laureate head of Augustus to the right. 

|l. ROM . ET . AVG. Underneath a decorated altar between two short columns, 

* When I wrote to Dr. Cardwc41 and called his attention to^the error he kindly replied, saying he would 
correct it in his next edition. 



30 KECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

on each of these a Victory is standing bearing a wreath and palm branch. There 
is no S. 0. 

This altar is usually called the altar of Lyons. The provinces in their servile 
adulation of Augustus erected temples and altars to him as to a deity, but Augustus 
refused these honours unless the city of Rome was to participate with him. Hence 
the inscription romae . et . avgvsto ., and E-ome was personified on the coins of 
the emperors subsequently. 

Tacitus, iv. 56, says, the first temple to TJrbs Eoma was erected at Smyrna in 
the consulship of the elder Cato, a.tj.c. 558. (Merivale, iv. 15.) 

The earliest notice that I find of the type of ROM . et . avg on coins of Augustus 
is in Argelati a. tj. c. 727, and again in 728 and in 741. Argelati quotes also a 
coin in brass entirely correspondent with the present coin, thus, " caesar . pont . 
MAX . Caput Aug. laur. — rom . et. av& . Porticus cum duabus Victoriis." 

The origin of this altar of Lyons as it is termed is thus narrated by Merivale, 
iv. 223-4. At the time Drusus was in Germany A. tj. c. 742, the German nations, in 
their discontent with the exactions made on them, were preparing again to cross 
the Rhine to contend with the Roman legions. Drusus was then at Lugdunum 
(Lyons), when he invited his subjects to display their loyalty to Augustus by 
erecting a stately altar at the confluence of the Rhine and Saone. Sixty of the 
Gaulish communities united in this work of flattery. It was dedicated to Augustus 
and Rome, the names of the sixty states were inscribed upon it, and the colossal 
statue of the Emperor before which it stood was surrounded by smaller represen- 
tations of so many abstract nationalities. On the first day of the month of 
August, Drusus performed the act of consecrating this devotional tribute to the 
majesty of the empire ; and instituted at the same time a festival, which continued 
to be annually solemnized on the spot with shows and musical performances for 
several centuries. The worship which was thus inaugurated in the province 
became extended throughout it, and in one place at least the Empress (Livia) herseK 
was associated in the divine honours of her husband. 

Virgil invokes Augustus as a deity — (Eel. i.) 

Deus nobis h»c otia fecit; 
Namque erit ille miiii semper deus ; illius aram 
Saspe tener nostris ab ovilibus imbuet agnus. 

And Horace says — (L. 3, Od. 5,) 

Prsssens divus liabebitur 
Augustus. 

Argelati prefaces the year of Ptome 741 with the remark that, ^milius 



AUGUSTUS. 31 

Lepidus having died in March., Augustus was created Pontifex Maximus; yet 
Occo, p. 52 A. u. c. 727 quotes a silver coin of Augustus, the legend on the reverse 
being pontip . maxim ., and in p. 62 A. u. c. 740, Occo states, " Hoc anno P. M. fac- 
tus est Augustus :" and describes a gold coin bearing the title pont . max ., and 
also a silver coin with the same legends, obverse and reverse, as the present coin. 

The portrait on this coin is youthful and Apollo-like ; which Augustus affected, 
to correspond with the adulation of his courtiers. "With respect to the dates above 
mentioned, it is possible, in order to account for their seeming discrepancy, that, 
after the banishment of jEmilius Lepidus in 718, inconveniences had arisen at 
certain ceremonials for want of the presence of the Chief Pontiff, and therefore 
Augustus took the office and dignity of Pontifex Maximus in order that such rites 
and ceremonies, in which the Pontifex Maximus must necessarily take a part, 
should not be interrupted or neglected. This would account for the office being 
held by Augustus before the death of Lepidus, who on his banishment, not having 
been deprived of his dignity of Pontifex Maximus, could not by reason of his exile 
perform the ceremonies of the office, although retaining the title. 

It will be observed that the precediag coin records the tribvnicia potestas . 
or kingly power first held by Augustus ; the present coin adds the first assump- 
tion of the chief ecclesiastical power, the Pontifex Maximus, thus making a union 
of the Church and State in the person of Augustus. This condition is correspon- 
dent with the most ancient times, for in the Book of Genesis, chap. xiv. ver. 8, we 
read that Melchisedek was " King and High Priest of Salem." The office of Pon- 
tifex Maximus therefore gave Augustus a large increase of power by the union of 
the imperial and ecclesiastical power and authority in himself; a course which 
caused his successors also to adopt and take upon themselves the office of chief 

pontiff. 

Merivale, vol. iv. p. 210, says, " The year which followed (742) forms an im- 
portant epoch in the life of Augustus ; it beheld his elevation to the chief pon- 
tificate, the last of the great offices of the Republic which remained to complete 
the cycle of his functions as monarch of Rome. At the same time it left him alone 
in the possession of all their honours and burdens. The death of Lepidus, long 
grown grey in disgrace and retirement, removed the scruples he had long punc- 
tiliously maintained against wresting the sacred office from a living occiipant, 
however unworthy; and early in 742 he became formally invested with the 
direction of the national rites, which he had long virtually exercised." 

This is a scarce Second Brass coin, in fine condition. 



32 BECOKDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

47. 

IMP . IX . TR The iinlaureate head of Augustus to the right. 

E,. COM .... ASIAE . On either side of a temple of six columns, having on the 
frieze above the capitals of the columns the words, ROM , et , avgvst . 

A coin in silver similar to the present is mentioned by Argelati m Augusto, 
A. u. c. 735, and the cause of the mintage of the device is thus described : — 

" Eegum Asiae Legati templum Jovis Olympici Athenis antiquitus a Deuca- 
lione inchoatum communi sumptu perficiendum locarunt absolutumque Genio 
Augusti dedicandum acreverunt." 

The present is a silver medallion, in very good condition. 

48. 

CAESAR . AVGVSTVS . Divi . F . RATER . PATRIAE . Reading from the left, the 
laureate head of Augustus to the right. 

1^. ROM . ET . AVG . In the exergum, a decorated altar between two short 
columns, on each of which a Victory is standing, bearing a wreath and pahn 
branch. No S. C. 

49. 

CAESAR . AVGVSTVS . DIVI . F . PATER . PATRIAE. The laureate head of Augustus 
to the left. 

5c. ROM . ET . AVG . in the exergum, under a decorated altar, with Victories on 
either side, as on the preceding coin. No S. C. 

The title of Pater Patriae, which appears on the obverse of this and the 
preceding coin, was first bestowed on Cicero for his discovery and punishment of 
the parties engaged in the conspiracy of Cataline, a. u. c, 691. The title of 
Parens Patriae was given by the Senate to Julius Caesar. Pater Patriae came also 
to be given to Augustus. 

Admiral Smyth, describing a coin of this type and legend. No. 6 in his cabinet, 
says, " Prom bearing pater patriae, this medal was probably struck in his thir- 
teenth and last Consulate, as he only adopted that epithet in the year B. c. 2, or 
A.u.c. 751." 

In Argelati, A. u. c. 729, a coin of Augustus in brass is quoted, with the legend 
CAESAR . AUGUSTUS . PATER . ; and in A. u. c. 741, Argelati cites a gold coin, with 
the legend caesar . avgvstvs . divi . f . pater . patriae . The legend on the 
reverse being pontifex . maximvs . And again, in A. u. c. 746 Argelati quotes a 



AUGUSTUS. 33 

brass coin with the legend on the obverse, avgvsto . divi . F . font . max . te, . pot , 
XVI . IMP . XIV . On the reverse, cos . xi . patri . patriae . s . p . q . r . — S. 0. in 
medio nummi. And the same title pater patriae is to be found in nearly all 
the subsequent years of Augustus. 

I observe also in Occo, p. 62, a similar legend is quoted from a silver coin as 
on the obverse of the present coin ; it is placed a. u. c. 742, and, again p . p . on a 
gold coin, A. u. c. 742, and another, in brass, a. u. c. 747, having cos . xi . as well 
as pater . PATRIAE. So again p . p . in cos . xii ., and up to and after the year 
mentioned by Admiral Smyth, who also, in the coin of Agrippa, No. 16 in his 
cabinet, notices the legend of the crocodile coin of Nemausus or Nismes, being 
IMPERATOR . DIVI . PiLivs . PATER . PATRIAE. The coin of Nemausus with this 
legend was struck after the battle of Actium, about A. u. c. 724. 

It is therefore evident from these coins that the p . p or title of patek 
PATRIAE was bestowed on Augustus many years before the time generally assigned. 
Eckhel, vol. vi. p. 112, states the title pater patriae to have been commenced 
B. c. 2, A. u. c. 751 ; which seems to be quite inconsistent with the before men- 
tioned instances ; and as to the coin of Nemausus, although it may be regarded as 
a colonial coin, yet it is highly improbable that a Roman colony would have dared 
to assign a title to an emperor or any other individual in high authority at 
Eome which had not previously received the sanction of the Senate, under whose 
charge the brass moneys were placed. 

The present is a fine large spread coin from the cabinet of the Duke of 
Devonshire. 

50. 

CAESAR . AV&VST . PONT . MAX . TRIBVN . POT . The laureate head of Augustus 
to the left ; behind is a Victory volant, holding in her left hand a cornucopiie, 
with her right hand she is placing a wreath on the head of Augustus. 

9.. M . SALVivs . OTHO . iiiviR .A. A. A. P.P. In the centre of the field S. C. 

A coin of black bronze colour, from the Devonshire cabinet, weight 330^ grains. 

Havercamp says, " Ab ipsa Victoria propter crebras et magnificas victorias 
coronari fingitur caput Augusti ; cornucopiae gerit Dea, quoniam abunde ut fru- 
mentum omnisque commeatus adesset Italise atque urbi soUicite semper providet 
Augustus." 

We have already remarked on the ofiice of Triumvir Monetalis, or master 
of the mint, cmte, and the type of this coin is singular, as being a means of 
showing who were the three mint masters who were in office at the time it was 
struck ; for this particular type was only struck by the Triumvirs, Otho, Tullus, 

p 



3Jj RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

and Agrippa ; and it is therefore not only probable, but it may also be reckoned a 
certainty, in the absence of any direct proof to the contrary, and it is a fair reason 
to conclude, that the three persons, M. s. otho, maec. tvllvs, and e. agjiippa, being 
cotemporaries, and iiiviRi monetales, were in office at the same time, and, m 
compliment to Augustus, each struck the type. This supposition and inference is 
the more credible from the fact that the type was not struck by any other 

Triumvir. 

The Marcus Salvius Otho who struck this coin was the uncle of Marcus 
Salvius Otho who was emperor after Galba ; he is considered to have been the son 
of the Tribune Salvius, friend of Cicero, whose tragic death is related by Appian, 
Bel. Civ. lib. iv. p. 598. 

51. 

CAESAR . AVGVST - PONT . MAX . TRiBVNic . POT. The laureate head of Augustus 
to the left, with a Victory behind, as on the preceding coin, a globe at the point of 

the bust. 

9>. M . MAECiLivs . TVLEVS . iiiviR . A . A . A . E . E . In the centre of the field S. C. 

Yellow patina ; from the cabinet of General Ramsay. 

The globe at the point of the bust signifies that Augustus now has the empire 
of the world— the Victory placing the wreath on the head and holding a cornu- 
copife implies the happy rule of Augustus, who from his constant victories had 
rendered everything abundant in the Roman empire. (Haverc, Thes. 256.) 

52. 

CAESAR . AVGVST . PONT . MAX . TRIBVNIC . POT. The laureate head of Augustus 
to the left, with a Victory behind as before. 

|o. M . MAECiEivs . TVLEVS . iiiviR .A. A. A. P.P. In the centre of the field S. C. 

A large Secrond Brass coin in red Cyprian copper, from the cabinet of Cavalier 
Campana. 

I have not yet found any record of the length of time during which the mint- 
masters held oflO-ce, whether they were appointed annually or quamdiu se bene 
cjesserint, or durante bene placito, but in my opinion it was a triennial appoint- 
ment, and this I infer from the number of Triumviri Monetales whose names 
appear on the coins of Augustus. 

Oo. 

CAESAR . AVGVST . PONT . MAX • TRIBVNIC . POT. The laureate head of Augustus 
to the left, with a Victory behind, as on the preceding coins. 



AUGUSTUS. 35 

9>. p . LVEivs . AGMPPA . iiiviK .A.A.A.F.P- In the Centre of the field S. C. 

This coin completes the set of mint masters in office at the same time. To 
collect the three is a most difficult task ; I believe they are only to be found in the 
Vienna Cabinet and my own. Having already the first two, I waited several years 
for the present coin ; but hardly expected I should ever see the type of L. Agrippa, 
although I knew it existed, fortunately the present coin made its appearance in 
a hoard found at Tunis. I obtained it against the British Museum bidding, and 
thus was enabled to complete the set and solve the problem. It is a fine dark 
green coin. 

In the Imperial cabinet at Paris there are only the two coins by the Triumvirs 
Otho and Tullus. The British Museum has the same two ; the Tullus bought 
against me from the Thomas Cabinet — so that in England the three coins are only 
to be met with in the present collection. 

A fine coin of l . agrippa of this type was sold at the sale of M. Herpin's 
cabinet, August 1857, but the British Museum did not bid for it or buy, and thus 
lost a chance which may not occur again for twenty years. 

54. 

OB . civis . SERVATOS . inscribed in three lines within a double laurel wreath. 

^. p . LiciTsrivs STOLO . iiiviR .A. A. A. P. P. In the centre of the field a large 
S. C. 

A grass-green coin from the cabinet of M. Trattle; weight 374-|- grains. 

The present coin and those which now follow seem from the inscriptions to 
have been struck after the battle of Actium, where Boman fought against E,oman, 
but, by the defeat of Antonius and the surrender of his army and fleet to 
Augustus, the further effusion of the blood of Boman citizens was stayed. 

This and the other coins with similar legends by different mint masters may 
weU be considered as commemorating such events ; for, although these coins of 
Augustus are reckoned of uncertain date, yet I see no sufficient reason why they 
should not be assigned to the services above mentioned, as well as the restoration 
of the Romans and their standards captured by the Parthians in the unfortunate 
expedition of Crassus. This last event was deemed one of the happiest of this 
reign, and is particularly recorded on the gold and silver coins of Augustus. 

It was an annual custom at Bome to suspend laurel branches and oak wreaths 
at the doors of the palace of Augustus in remembrance of his victories and saving 
of the lives of citizens by the cessation of the civil wars. (Haver. Thes. 331. J 

It will be observed that the i long is substituted for e in gives in all these coins. 

F 2 



gg RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

55. 

OB . civis . SERVATOS . in three lines within a double laurel wreath. 

9>. c . CASsivs . . F . CELER . iiiviR . A . A . A . F . F . In the Centre of the field a 
large S. C. Weight 404|- grains. 

This IIIVIR was of the Gens Cassia. The Celer was common to several 
families— of the present Cassius Celer nothing particular is known in history. 
(Morell.) 

56. 

OB . cIvIs . SERVATOS . within an outer wreath of laurel, the inner one of oak. 

9>. T . QViNCTivs . CRISPIN . svLPio . IIIVIR .A.A.A.F.F. A large S. C. in the 
centre of the field. "Weight 386^ grains. 

The corona quercea or oak wreath is rarely met with on these coins. This 
IIIVIR was Consul with Drusus senior, the brother of the Emperor Tiberius, B. c. 8. 

57. 

OB . cIvIs . SERVATOS . with a double wreath of palm and laurel. 

|o. M . SANQViNivs . Q . F . IIIVIR .A.A.A.F.F. In the centre of the field S. C. 

Weight 4784 grains. 

58. 

OB . cIvIs . SERVATOS . with a double wreath, the outer one of palm, the inner 
being laurel. 

|o. L . NAEvivs . SVRDINVS . IIIVIR .A.A.A.F.F. In the field a large S. C. 
Weight 396g grains. 

Havercamp, (Thes. 292,) quoting this iiiviR, says, " Surdini cognomen proprium 
genti Nsevise fuit, unde bona Naeviana agnoscit Valerius Maximus ubi de liberto 
Surdini agit qui vocabatur Nsevius Surdinus, quique hseredem fecerat Galium 
quendam Magnse Matris sacerdotem Genucium, apud eundem Val. Max. lib. 
vii. c. vii. ex. 6." 

59- 

OB . cIvIs . SERVATOS . with a double wreath of palms. 

9>. CN . piso . CN . F . IIIVIR .A.A.A.F.F. In the field a large S. C. Weight 
387 1 grains. 

Cnseus Calpurnius Piso, who struck this coin, is the Piso who poisoned Germani- 
cusin Syria, at the instigation of Tiberius; but, Tiberius in his dissimulation having 
condemned Piso for the act, the latter killed himself. (Haverc. Thes. 66.) 



AUGUSTUS. S7 

60. 
OB . civis . SERVATOS . with a double wreath of laurel. 

9>- Q • AELius . L . r . LAMIA iiiviB . A . A . A . F . F. In the field S. C. Weight 
302 grains. 

61. 

OB . cIvIs . SERVATOS . with a double wreath, the outer one palm, the other oak. 

9>. c . GALLivs . c . r . LVPERCVS . iiiviR . A . A . A . p . F. In the field a large 
S. C. Weight 388^ grains. 

Among the tribunes of the people a. u. c. 672 there is the name of c . galla s 
LVPERCVS. a provincial quaestor, and it appears that the present coin was struck 
by his nephew c . G . lvpercvs. Suetonius, in Augusto cxxvii., speaks of Gallus ; 
also Appian, Bell. Civ., lib. iii. p. 587. Lupercus was a family name derived from 
the Lupercal priests. (Haverc. Thes. 191.) 

62. 

OB . cIvIs . SERVATOS . with a double wreath of palm and laurel. 

9). c . PLOTivs . RVFVS . IIIVIR . A . A . A . F . F. In the field a large S. C. Weight 
389t grains. 

Caius Plotius Hufus here mentioned is supposed to be the Rufus who was one 
of the conspirators against Augustus, spoken of in Suetonius, in Augusto, c. xix. 

63- 

OB . cIvIs . SERVATOS . witMn a double wreath of palm and laurel. 
Jl. c . ASINTVS , c . F . GALLVS . IIIVIR . A . A . A . F . F. In the field a large S. C. 
Weight 403 grains. 

64. 

OB . cIvIs . SERVATOS . with a double wreath of pahn and laurel. 
9>. Ti . SEMPRONivs . GRACCVS • IIIVIR . A . A . A . F . F. In the field a large S. C. 
Weight 341|- grains. 

65. 

OB . cIvIs . SERVATOS . within a double wreath of palm and laurel. 

Jc. C . MARCI . L . F . CENSORIN , AVG . IIIVIR . A . A . A . F . F. In the field a 

large S.C. 

This coin was struck by Caius Marcius Censorinus, who was Consul with Caius 
Asinius Gallus, a. u. c. 746. On the coins he is called Lucii filius, but on some 



38 RECORDS or ROMAN HISTORY. 

marble inscriptions quoted in Gruter he is called n. (Nepos.) (Gruter^ 196, 
num. i. and ii. 197, ii. 1078, num. x. ; Havercamp, Thes. p. 268.) 

The following coins are all of Second Brass, and on them the different mint 
masters have recorded the tribvnicia potestas. Amongst them are the names 
of the mint masters Otho, TuUus, and Agrippa, whom we have already mentioned, 
and whose present coins have different legends to the others. 

66. 

TRiBVNic . POTEST . CAESAR . AVGVSTVS. The unlaureate head of Augustus to 
the right. 

$0. C . ASINIVS . GALLVS . IIIVIR . A . A . A . F F. In the field S. C. 

67- 

TRIBVNIC . POTEST . CAES The unlaureate head of Augustus to the 

right. 

9>. CN . Piso . CN . p . IIIVIR . A . A . A . p . p. In the centre of the field S. C. 

68. 

TRIBVNIC . POTEST . CAESAR . AVG. The uulaurcate head of Augustus to the 
right. 

9>. c . PLOTivs . RVFVS . IIIVIR . A . A . A . F . P. In the field S. C. Weight 142i 
grains. 

69. 

ST . CAESAR . AVGVSTVS. The unlaureatc head of Augustus to the 

right. 

9>. L . SVRDINVS . IIIVIR . A . A . A . F . P. In the field S. C. Weight 158i grains. 

70. 

CAESAR . AVGVST . PONT . MAX . TRIBVNIC . POT. The Unlaureate head of Au- 
gustus to the right. 

^. M . MAEciLivs . TVLLVS . IIIVIR . A . A . A . p . P. In the field S. C. Weight 
170 § grains. 

71. 

^- AVGVST . PONT . MAX . T The unlaureatc head of Augustus 

to the right. 

9>. M . SALVivs . OTHO . IIIVIR . A . A . A . F . F. In the centre of the field S, C. 



AUGUSTUS. 39 

72. 

CAESAR . AVGVST . PONT . MAX . TRiBVNic . POT. The unlaureate head of Augus- 
tus to the left. 

9>- M . SALVIVS . OTHO . Ill VIB . A . A . A . p . P. In the field S. C. 

73. 

CAESAR . AVGVST . PONT . MAX . TRIBVNIC . POT. The unlaureate head of Au- 
gustus to the left. 

9". P . LVRivs . AGRiPPA . iiiviR . A . A . A . F . P. In the field S. C. Weight 205| 
grains. 

On these last named coins we again have the coincidence of s . otho, m . 
TVLLVS, and L . agrippa, being masters of the mint ; and, from their using a 
legend on the obverse quite different to all the other masters of the mint, but in 
accordance with each other, there appears to be no doubt they were in office at 
the same time, although beyond these evidences we have no written record of 
the fact. 

In all the following coins, which are also of Second Brass size, the T in Augustus 
is made long. 

74. 

AVGVsTvs TRIBVNIC . POTEST . in three lines within a laureate wreath. 

9). c . CASSivs CELER — IIIVIR .A. A. A. P. P. In the centre of the field S. C^ 
Weight 186 grains. 

75. 

AVGVsTvs TRIBVNIC . POTEST . in the three lines within a laurel wreath. 

|o. c . CENSORINVS . L . p . AVG . IIIVIR .A. A. A. P. P. In the centre of the 
field S. 0. Weight 184^ grains. 

76. 

AVGVsTvs TRIBVNIC . POTEST . in three lines within a laurel wreath. 

|l. . C . ASiNivs . GALLVS . IIIVIR .A. A. A. P. P. In the field S. C. Weight 269 
grains. 

77. 

AVGVsTvs . TRIBVNIC . POTEST . in three lines within a laurel wreath. 

JL. Ti . SEMPRONivs . GRACCvs . IIIVIR . A . A . A . p . p . In the field S. C. Weight 

2241 grains. 

78. 

AVGVsTvs . TRIBVNIC . POTEST . in three lines within a laurel wreath. 



40 EECOBDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

9,. c . GALLVS . LVPERCVS . iiiviK . A . A . A . p . r . In the field S.C. "Weiglit 
2181 OTains. 

79. 

AVGVsTvs . TBiBVNic . POTEST . in three lines within a laurel wreath. 
9>. CN . Piso . ON . p . iiiviR . A . A . A . F . P . In the middle of the field S. C. 
Weight 1714- grains. 

80. 

AVGVsTvs . TRiBVNic . POTEST . in three lines within a laurel wreath. 
|t>. c . PLOTivs . RVEVS . IIIVIR .A . A . A . E .P. In the field S. C. Weight 185 
grains. 

81. 

AVGVsTvs . TRiBVNic . POTEST . in three lines within a laurel wreath. 
9.. M . SANQViNivs . Q . P . iiiviE .A. A. A. P. P. In the field S. C. Weight 172^ 
grains. 

82. 

AVGVsTvs . TRIBVNIC . POTEST . in three lines within a wreath of oak leaves and 
acorns. 

9>. T . CRISPINVS . svLPiciAN . IIIVIR .A.A.A.p.F- In the field S. C. Weight 
194 trains. 

This mint master also struck a Large Brass coin ob . gives . servatos . with a 
wreath of oak leaves and acorns. 

83. 

AVGVsTvs . TRIBVNIC . POTEST . in three lines within a laurel wreath. 
|c. L . NAEVivs . svRDiNvs . IIIVIR . A . A . A . p . p - In the field S. C. Weight 
1954 grains. 

84. 

Diws . AVGVSTVS . PATER. The head of Augustus to the right wearing a 
radiate crown. Weight 350|- grains. 

p.. No legend. A Victory volant to the left, bearing a shield in her right hand. 
In the field S.C. 

This and the following coins with diws in the legend would seem to denote 
they were struck after the death of the Emperor, to the honour of the deified 
Augustus and by the decree of the Senate. Yet this and the next coin only 
record the military prowess of the emperor's generals in various parts of the 
empire, in Europe, Asia, Syria, which occurred at diff'erent times during the reign 
of Augustus. 



AUGUSTUS. 41 

The radiate crown was first applied to Augustus by the servile Senate, as 
a type of the sun's rays emanating from the head of the emperor, who was so 
weak-minded as to affect to resemble their idol Apollo. Hence it may be observed 
on many of the coins of Augustus that an endeavour is frequently made by the die 
engraver to give his portrait an Apollo-like cast of co^mtenance. 

A recent writer upon ancient coins, Mr. Noel Humphreys, speaking of the 
Roman coins, says, that the radiate crown which is found on the medallions of 
Trajanus Decius was first used by Jotapianus. This is a very great error, calculated 
to mislead those of Ms readers who might wish to learn a little of coins as con- 
nected with Roman history, and such as no person at all acquainted with the 
coins of the Roman imperial series could be guilty of. Jotapianus is not known 
as an emperor. Trajanus Decius did not assume the sovereignty until the death 
of the Philips in the year of Rome 1002, a.d. 249. Jotapianus was an usurper 
who assumed the purple in Syria in the latter part of the reign of PhUip, and 
was defeated and put to death at the commencement of the reign of Trajanus 
Decius. 

85. 

Diws . AVGVSTVS . PATER. The head of Augustus to the right, wearing the 
radiate crown. 

^. No legend. A Yictory volant to the left, bearing in her right hand a cir- 
cular shield inscribed s . p . Q . R. 

Black, very fine. Weight 216^- grains. 

86. 

DIWS . AVGVSTVS . PATER. The head of Augustus to the right, with radiate 
crown. 

Jc. A wreath of oak leaves and acorns with S. C. in the middle of the field. 

Brown, fine. Weight 226-1- grains. 
An eminent Egyptian antiquary (Mr. Sharpe) treats these and the other coins 
with a similar legend as apotheosis coins, but, for the reasons I have already 
noted, I must differ with him, with all deference to his superior skill as an anti- 
quary. 

The present and preceding coin are of Second Brass size, as the weights 
denote. 



42 KECORBS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 




87. 

Divvs . AVGVSTVS . PATER. The head of Augustus to the left, wearing the 
radiate crown. Weight 212-1- grains. 

^5. No legend. A circular temple, having in front a square door ; the friezes 
wliich encircle the temple are decorated. On the apex of the dome which forms 
the roof is a rohed female figure standing, having in her right hand a wreath, in the 
left a hasta pura. The otiter edge of the domed roof is supported by columns, 
which appear to be apart from the circular body of the building, and we may fairly 
conclude they encompass it. The door of the temple is approached by a flight of 
three steps ; the top step seems to form part of a circular footpath around the 
building and within the columns supporting the roof. On either side of the 
temple, in relief, and apart from it, is a square base or pedestal ; on the top of that 
to the right is the figure of an ox, on the opposite pedestal is a sheep. S. C. in the 
field on either side of the roof. 

The present is a large spread Second Brass coin from the cabinet of the Duke 
of Devonshire. It is very rare and of much interest, but I cannot find it properly 
explained by any numismatic writer. The coin of this type in the cabinet of 
Queen Christina has not the figure standing on the top of the dome. Vaillant, 
(vol. i. p. 3,) describing a similar coin to the present, says it is " Templum Martis 
plurimis columnis suffultum, hinc et inde aries basi impositus." If we consider 
it a temple dedicated to Mars, the two animals represented on the present coin 
would be a bull and a ram, selected for their pugnacious qualities as appropriate 
emblems or attributes of the god of war ; but, although in the worship of Mars 
the Romans paid him the most profound respect, considering him the father of 
the first of their kings and the patron of their city, yet neither the bull or the ram 
were objects of sacrifice to him. The horse, wolf, magpie, and vulture, were ojffered, 
as being of a warlike or ferocious nature. His most celebrated temple at Rome 
was built by Augustus after the battle of Philippi, and dedicated to mars vltor. 
It is represented on the silver coins of Augustus, and, although with a domed roof. 



AUGUSTUS. 43 

and surrounded by columns, yet it is without the adjunct of pedestals with animals, 
and it is differently decorated, as will be seen on the next coin. 

Eckhel, vol. vi. p. 127, notes this coin — " s. c. Templum rotundum bine et illinc 
basis quarum singulis quadrupes insistit, ae. ii. Mus. Cses. ; Sacrarium Romse D. 
Augusto sediflcatum a Tiberio, domumque Noise in qua decessit in Templum lam- 
tatam refert Dio, proponitur illud in nummis Caligulse, serius in nummis 
Antonini Pii inscriptis templvm . divi . avg . rest ." 

In this conclusion I consider Eckhel errs ; the temple represented on the coin 
of Caligula, and that on the coin of Antoninus, are as different in their structure 
as it is possible for two buildings to be, which any one on inspection of the several 
coins vdll at once perceive and acknowledge. 

The Hev. W. Cooke, in his Medallic History of Rome, vol. i. p. 312, speaking 
of this type, says it represents the sacrarium or sanctuary raised in the Palatium 
until the temple to Augustus could be completed, and that the temple so com- 
pleted appears on the coins of Tiberius. I consider Mr. Cooke has committed a 
great error— the temple on the coin of Tiberius is considered to be the Temple of 
Concord. The errors of these writers will quickly be seen by an inspection of this 
coin, and by comparing it with those they refer to of Tiberius, Caligula, and Anto- 
ninus Pius, which are all in this cabinet. 

The present type is the representation of a temple in every way complete in 
itself, and not erected for a temporary purpose. The coin of Tiberius Mr. Cooke 
refers to for the representation of the complete building is a flat-fronted building, 
profusely ornamented with statuary, and is by many antiquaries supposed 
to represent the Temple of Concord, but in reality it more resembles the building 
usually called the Capitol. 

Patin, Numismata Imperatorum, p. 52, noticing a coin of this type, says, " Eo 
spectant et agnus et vitulus juxta templum Augusti dicatum ; sive templum Ulud 
RomEe constructum fuerit, sive Nolanum intelligitur. Noise enim domus in qua 
decessit Augustus in templum mutata est inquit Dio." 

88. 

AVGUSTO CAESARi. Reading from the left. The youthful laureate head of 
Augustus to the right. Denarius. 

|c. A circular temple. — mar — v[lt] on either side. The roof is supported by 
columns, and the frieze above the capitals of the columns has a number of small 
ornaments projecting erect from it ; it is approached by a flight of three steps, which 
appear to be carried all round the building ; the three columns in the front are 

g2 



44 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

wide apart, and between the two in immediate front there is a legionary eagle, and 
on either side of the eagle there are seen between the columns a standard, as of 
cohorts. 

By the ascription of this temple to Mars Ultor it will at once be seen that the 
appropriation of the temple on the preceding coin to Mars Ultor must be quite 
erroneous ; for there is not, except in being of circular form, the least similarity 
between them. 

Before the time of Augustus there had been no temple erected at Rome to 
Mars Ultor ; but he was now introduced into the city which he was supposed to 
have saved from overthrow and ruin ; and the aid he had given in bringing the 
murderers of Caesar to justice was signalized by the title of Avenger, by which he 
was now specially addressed. See also Merivale, iv. 145. 

We read in E,osini, Antiquitatum Bomanarum, p. 128 — " Mars Ultor, ab ul- 
ciscendo dictus. Huic templum in foro suo maximum et sumj)tuosissimum cum 
opere tum artificio Augustus extruxit bello Philippico quod patris ulciscendi causa 
susceperat." (Suetonius.) Also, "Idem Augustus non multo post Templum 
Marti secundum Ultori, sive (ut ipse dici voluit) bis ultori in Oapitolio erexit, in 
quo suspensa signa sunt a Parthis reddita." (Suetonius.) 

Prom the description of the latter temple, as being the one in Avhich the 
standards retaken from the Parthians were placed, one may fairly conclude that 
the present coin represents this latter temple, and the standards of Crassus 
intimated by the eagle and the two other standards there deposited. The 
standards taken by the Parthians were, when returned, taken by Tiberius (then 
general of the army in Armenia) to the Emperor Augustus, by whose order they 
were sent to the Temple of Mars Ultor. 

89. 

Divvs . AV&vsTVS . PATER . The head of Augustus to the left, with radiate 
crown. In front of the face is a fulmen, and over the head is a star. These 
emblems of divinity mark strongly the adulation paid to Augustus. 

^. No legend. A large S. C. on either side of the field. Vesta seated to the 
right on a square seat : her left foot is supported by a low stool ; her right hand, 
resting on her lap, holds a patera ; in her left hand she has the hasta pura 
or wand of divinity. 

This is a fine Second Brass coin (weight 170-^ grains) from the Duke of Devon- 
shire's cabinet, possessing much interest, for it is a type in the Augustan series 
which it appears could not have been known to Argelati, who mentions the 



AUGUSTUS. 45 

coin of Caligula as bearing the earliest representation of the idol Vesta precisely 
as delineated on the present coin. There cannot be a doubt that the sedent figure 
on this coin is intended for the goddess Vesta. Moreover, comparison of the coin 
of Caligula and the present will prove it very exactly. 

Sir Isaac Newton, in his Chronology, p. 175, ed. 1728, speaking of the Vestal 
temples amongst the Greeks, says, " From the word 'Eo-na, fire, came the name 
Vesta, which at length the people turned into a goddess, and so became fire- 
worshippers, like the ancient Persians. 

Clemens Alexandrinus and Blondus consider the worship to have been derived 
from the Egyptians, who they say used lamps, and kept a fire perpetually burning 
in their temples. 

The worship of Vesta, or fire, had been early introduced into Italy. Virgil 
describes Jilneas as carrying away from Troy the statue of Vesta as well as the 
sacred fire — 

Vestanique potentem 
^ternumque adytis effert penetralibus ignem. — ^n. ii. v. 296. 

Numa Pompilius built the first temple at Rome to Vesta, and he appointed 
four priestesses, which number was afterwards increased to six by Tarquinius. 

They were called Vestalia : their principal duties were to preserve the Palla- 
dium or statue of Minerva, which was said to have fallen from heaven, and the 
sacred fire, also asserted to have come from heaven, and keep it ever burning. 
Its being at any time extinguished was supposed to indicate some misfortune to 
the state, and the vestal who allowed the fire to be extinguished was subjected to 
whipping. 

The vestals took a vow of chastity, and, if at any time a vestal violated her vow, 
she was punished by being buried alive in the Campus Sceleratus. 

The nuns of the Romish church at the present day are, in their discipline and 
habits of life, very similar to the vestals, and are subject to the same sort of 
punishments. That of death was usually inflicted by being bricked up in a niche 
or recess in a wall of the convent ; and, although we do not hear that the punish- 
ment of death is so inflicted at the present day, yet walls have no voices, and 
female skeletons have been found so bricked up in the walls of convents. 

The Prytaneum in the ancient Greek towns and cities was a court with a place 
of worship, and a perpetual fire kept therein upon an altar for sacrificing. Dio- 
nysius says that the new kingdom of Rome, as Romulus left it, consisted of thirty 
courts or councils in thirty towns, each with the sacred fire kept in the Prytaneum 



46 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

of the court for the senators, who met there to perform sacred rites after the 
mamier of the Greeks ; hut when Numa, the successor of Romulus, reigned, he, 
leaving the several fires in their own courts, instituted one common to them all at 
Rome, whence Rome was not a complete city before the time of Numa. 

Besides the Temple of Vesta built by Numa, of which there are now no 
remains, another was erected on the banks of the Tiber, vestiges of which still 
remain, but by whom it was built is not known. It would seem that both these 
temples were standing in the time of Horace, who, describing (lib. i. ode 2) an 
inundation of the river, says : 

Vidimus flavum Tiberim, retortis 
Littore Hetrusco violenter undis, 
Ire dejectum monumenta regis 
Templaque Vestse. 

By the use of the plural word templa Horace may have intended both these 
temples of Vesta. Plutarch, de Iside et Osiride, speaking of the Temple of Vesta, 
says that it was of an orbicular form, intending thereby to express not so much 
the earth, or Vesta, as the whole universe, in the centre of which the Pythago- 
reans placed fire, which they called Vesta ; thus it is quite probable that the 
worsliip of Vesta, or fire, had been borrowed, although not rightly understood, 
from Asia, and that it was in reality the worship of the Sun, which the astrono- 
mers of more ancient times had placed in the centre of the universe. 

Some authors consider that no statue was erected to the goddess Vesta, but I 
think it probable that there was a representation of her, for we find her figure on 
coins both in a sedent and standing posture. 

The idol statue of Pallas, or the Palladium as it was termed, was supposed to 
have fallen from heaven. It was about three cubits in height, and represented 
the goddess seated and holding a spear in her right hand ; in the left she had a 
distafl^ and spindle. It was said to have been that on which the fate of Troy had 
depended, and had been saved from its ruins by Jilneas, and by him it was brought 
into Italy, and ultimately came into the possession of Numa. 

As universal dominion was svipposed to be conferred on the people who pos- 
sessed and preserved this Palladium. It was committed to the charge of the 
Vestals, by whom, it was deposited in a secret place in the temple. 

At Rome, festivals called Vestalia in honour of Vesta were celebrated on the 
.5th of the ides of June in every year. See further on the subject of Vesta and 
fire-worship in Vossius de Idololatria Gentilium, pp. 131-153. We likewise find 
in Higgins's Celtic Druids, p. 283, that the Druids had a sacred fire which was 



AUGUSTUS. 47 

preserved with the greatest care at Kildare (Ireland). It was guarded from the 
most remote antiquity by an order of Druidesses, who were succeeded in later 
times by an order of Christian nuns. 

About the year of our Lord 380 the Vestals were abolished and their fire extin- 
guished by an order of Theodosius the Great, a Eoman emperor and a Christian. 

To the foregoing remarks on the idol-worship of Vesta, the fire-goddess, we 
may add that fire was an emblem of great import under the Jewish dispensation, 
for Moses, in Leviticus, ch. vi. ver. 13, says of the fire which was to be kept on the 
altar of burnt sacrifice, " The fire shall ever be burning, it shall never go out." 

The sacrifices, whether of bird or beast, which were to be offered on the altar 
of the Tabernacle, were to represent the state of the affections of the person 
offering, and the fire, which was to be always burning to consume the sacrifices, 
represented the Lord's ardent and unceasing love towards his people ; and thus 
by the sacrifice a conjunction between the Lord and his people was effected. 

As the word sacrifice means to make sacred, therefore nothing impure could 
become an offering for sacrifice ; thus it will be observed throughout the whole of 
the Mosaic injunctions no unclean animal or bird there designated could be offered 
in sacrifice, for, by clean animals, or such as were of gentle life, e. g., lambs and 
oxen, were represented the good affections of mankind, and of the offerer in par- 
ticular. By the unclean, as wolves, vultures, and the like, were signified the evil dis- 
positions of mankind, and these, as such, were not allowed to be offered in sacrifice. 

This will explain why several animals among some of the older nations became 
objects of such peculiar attention and respect. This circumstance was very 
remarkable among the ancient Egyptians. There can be no reasonable doubt that 
at some period of Egyptian History the animals had been understood as repre- 
sentatives of certain moral qualities ; but by a succession of corruptions their 
proper signification was lost, and veneration was attached to them, so that the 
worship of certain animals was a perversion of the respect once paid to the human 
principles of which they were originally significant. 

It would appear from Nibby (Foro Romano, 72) that the principal temple of 
Vesta at Rome was at the foot of the Palatine Hill on the Via Nova which led 
from the Eorum to the Circus Maximus ; it had annexed to it an Atrium once the 
Regia of Numa, and it had also a sacred grove. 



48 KECORDS or ROMAN HISTORY. 

90. 

Divvs . AVGVSTVS . PATER. The head of Augustus to the left, with a radiate 

crown. 

|t. PROVIDENT, in the exergum ; S. C. on either side of the field. Above the 
w^ord is a square altar, the front of which is divided into different compartments. 

A well-spread Second Brass coin, in fine condition. Weight 1754 grains. 

This type is considered by some persons to be an altar dedicated to Divine Pro- 
vidence. By others it is supposed to be a representation of the doors of a 
granary or bu.ilding in which Augustus stored corn for the city, thus signifying 
his care and providence for the wants of the citizens. 

91. 

DIVVS . AVGVSTVS. The head of Augustus to the left, with radiate crown. S. C. 
on either side of the field. 

9>. coNSENSV . SENAT . ET . EQ . ORDIN . p . Q . R. A robed figure of Augustus 
sitting on a curule chair to the left, the right hand extended holding an olive 
branch, in the left hand a globe. 

This figure has all the character and appearance of having been taken from a 
statue erected to Augustus, quasi Orbis Pacator, by a general vote of the Senate — 
the equites, and the people. 

The present is a Second Brass coin in very fine condition. The First Brass 
coin of this type, although nothing like so fine in preservation, was bought away 
from me, at the sale of Mr. Thomas's coins, for the British Museum. 

92. 

Diws . AVGVSTVS. The head of Augustus to the left, with the radiate crown. 
S. C. on either side of the field. 

9). DIVA . AVGVSTA. Ceres seated to the left holding ears of corn in her right 
hand, in her left she has a long torch with fire burning on the top. 

A Second Brass coin well spread and fine, from M. BoUiii at Paris. Weight 
263|: grains. 

The figure on this reverse is considered to be intended for Livia the wife of 
Augustus, under the character of Ceres, (Eckhel, vi. p. 168 ; Haverc. Christ. 
Cab. pi. xliv.) but I think this rather a forced interpretation occasioned by the 
reverse legend, amounting to a comparison of Livia with the goddess Ceres. 



AUGUSTUS. 49 

93. 

Diws . AVGVSTVS . PATEK. The head of Augustus to the right, with radiate crown. 
9). S. C. on either side of the field, between which is a massive winged fulmen, 
an emblem of divinity and power. 

A Second Brass coin in fine condition, bronze colour. Weight 148-|. grains. 

94. 

Diws . AVGVSTVS . PATER. The radiate head of Augustus to the right. 

9>. S. C. on either side of the field ; between the letters, is an eagle with ex- 
panded wings, looking upwards, its feet resting on a globe. 

The eagle, as the bird of Jove, was supposed to carry the souls of heroes to 
Heaven. Thus Dio, speaking of the ceremonies at the funeral of Augustus, says, 
" Post hsec centuriones, acceptis facibus, jussu senatus rogum succenderunt ; eo 
absumpto, aquila ex eo emissa sursum volavit quasi animam Augusti in coelum 
ferens." 

A fine Second Brass coin, bronze colour. Weight 169 grains. 

PEOVINCIAL. 

95. 

Divvs . AVGVSTVS . PATER . reading from the left. The head of Augustus to the 
left with radiate crown. 

Jo. No legend. A decorated square altar, the front compartment having on it 
a wreath suspended at each end from bullocks' heads ; on the top of the altar 
is a small palm-tree with the letters c. v. on either side of it, and lower down in 
the field on either side of the altar are the letters t. t. The four letters c . v . t . t . 
are to be understood and read as Colonia Victrix Togata Tarraco. 

Black bronze colour. Weight 388| grains. 

The city of Tarraco here mentioned is now known as Tarragona, in Spain. It is 
said to have been built by the Phoenicians, who called it Tarcon, which the Romans 
turned into Tarraco, and it gave the name to a considerable part of Spain called 
Hispania Tarraconensis. Tarraco was fortified by Scipio Africanus the elder and 
embellished by Scipio, Africanus the younger. 

Augustus, who visited all the provinces of the empire excepting Africa and 
Sardinia, stopped at Tarraco while he was in Spain, having been taken ill ; on his 
recovery the inhabitants, in memory of his visit, and to ingratiate themselves with 
him, erected an altar to Augustus and burned incense before his statue as to a 
divinity. 

H 



50 RECOEDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

At a subsequent period it was reported tliat a palm-tree liad sprung up on the 
altar in a night ; upon this a deputation was sent from Tarraco to E,ome to con- 
gratulate Augustus on the event, as a presage of victory, peace, and eternal felicity. 
Augustus received the deputation, and in reply to their felicitations laconically 
remarked, "apparet quam ssepe accendatis." 

After the death of Augustus the inhabitants of Tarraco used to regard the 
supposed miracle as a felicitous augury of good fortune, and a symbol of the 
immortal glory of Augustus, and placed it as a type on their coins. 

The title T . t . Togata Tarraco, or the togated Tarraco, arises from the custom 
or privilege accorded to the Roman municipia of wearing the toga, the peculiar 
dress of the Roman citizen. Vaillant in his work on the coins of the Romans 
struck in the municipia and colonies, p. 45, speaking of Tarraco, says, " Tarraco 
cognomen Togatce hoc in nummo assumit ut colonia ab aliis Hispanis per tog8e 
usum distincta, cui adstipulari videtur Strabo, lib. iii. p. 151. At qui banc formam 
sequuntur Hispani, stolati, sen togati, appellantur." 

" Togati dicebantur etiam in prsefecturis, coloniis, municipiis, qui Romanorum 
utebantur legibus, et victum cultumque Romanorum asciverant." Pitiscus, 
Lexicon Antiquitatum Romanarum, ii. 976. 

It was termed y^«s togce, or privilege of a R-oman citizen, i. e. the right of wearino- 
the dress of a Roman, and of taking, as they explained it, fire and water throughout 
the Rjoman empire. 

"Roman" was a generical name given to everyone who had a voice in electing 
magistrates or in enacting laws, although they did not reside in the city — whereas 
" Urbanus " or citizen was properly applied to those only who lived within the walls. 

There is also a coin of Tarraco of Augustus mentioned by Yaillant representino- 
Augustus on the obverse with the legend dec . avgvsto ; on the reverse, c . v . t . t . 

AETERNITATIS . AVGVSTI. 

There is also a coin of Tiberius with the same reverse as the present, but the 
legend of the palm-tree miracle is inappropriate to it. 

96. 

Diws . AVGVSTVS . PATER . reading from the left. The head of Augustus to the 
left with radiate crown. 

]^. sciPiONE , ET . MONTANo . iiviR. A winged fulmen in the middle of the field 
with darts and four flames issuing from it ; on. the right side of the fulmen are the 
letters c . c, and a. on the left side. The names of the Duumviri in the legend 
read from the left. Brassy. Weight 403^ grains. 

This coin, like the preceding, bears symbols of divinity, and shows the adulation 



AUGUSTUS. 51 

bestowed on Augustus in the different cities and provinces of the Roman empire. 
The colony here mentioned, and intended by the letters c. c. A, is now the city of 
Saragossa in Spain, situate on the river Ebro, and formerly called Salduba. 

The fulmen on this reverse is a representative of divinity, or we should now 
more justly consider it as signifying Augustus being under the protection of the 
Divine Providence. 

Vaillant in his Colonial Coins, p. 15, describes a coin of this type, and 
designates it " rarisshnus; " it is also mentioned by Havercamp in Thesaurus 137. 

97. 

The unlaureate head of Augustus to the right. 

'^. c . A . inscribed within a wreath of laurel-leaves and berries. 

Havercamp, Pedrusi, and other antiquaries have ascribed this coin to Saragossa 
in Spain, and some give it to Ca^sarea in Mauritania — Eckhel assigns it to Csesarea 
in Palestine, in which city there was a temple and a colossal statue of Augustus, 

Cities of the name of Csesarea were founded in honour of Augustus in Bithynia, 
Armenia, Cilicia, Galatia, Palestine, Pisidia, and Mauritania. (Plin. Nat. Hist. 
V. vi.) 

A large spread brass coin from the Thomas Collection. Weight 418 grains. 

98. 

AVGVSTVS. The unlaureate head of Augustus to the right. 

|d. bilbilis. placed underneath a warrior on horseback, galloping to the 
right, with lance in hand, brought to the charge. 

Bilbilis was a city of Celtiberia in Spain ; it is known as having been the birth- 
place of the epigrammist Martial. 

Celtiberia is now the kingdom of Arragon. The town at present known by the 
name of Calatayud, and situated on the river Xalon, is supposed to be the ancient 
Bilbilis. 

Strabo, lib. iii. p. 162, speaking of Celtiberia, says, " Segobriga et Bilbilis circa 
quas Metellus et Sertorius helium gesserunt," and at p. 163, referring to the horses, 
says, " Multas alit Hispania capreas et equos feros ;" he also adds, " Celtiberioruin 
equi sunt subvariegati et versicolores." 

Martial in Epig. i. 49, alluding to the horses — 

Videbis altam, Liciniane, Bilbilim 
Equis et armis nobilem. 

A well-spread black Second Brass coin. 

H 2 



52 BECOBDS OP HOMAN HISTORY. 



99. 



AVGVSTVS . Divi . F . reading from the left. The laureate head of Augustus 
to the riojht. 

Jc. A bull gradient to the right ; above it are the letters mvn . and in the exer- 

gum ERGAVICA . 

Ergavica, now Alcaniz, was a Roman municipium or city of the Celtiberii in 
Hispania Tarraconiensis. The Roman legions under Gracchus took possession of 
this city, and it was constituted a municipium about the year of Rome 574. 

An ox or a bull is the Roman symbol of an agricultural settlement. Eor the 
distinctions respecting the Colonia, Municipium, Civitas, and Prsefectura, with 
their several rights and privileges, reference must be had to the work of Pitiscus, 
Lexicon Antiquitatum Romanarum, and the Dictionary of Greek and Roman 
Antiquities, by Dr. Smith. 

A well-spread Second Brass coin — brassy. Weight 212-|- grains. 

100. 

AV&VSTVS . DIVI . F . reading from the left. The laureate head of Augustus to 
right. 

|c. A bull gradient to the right ; at the sides are the words b . accio . , . vicel . 
and in the exergum m . festo ., and in front of the bull's neck iivm. 

The size (Second Brass) and style of this coin in every respect resembling the 
preceding coin, designate it as belonging to a Spanish settlement, but its name 
is not mai'ked on the coin. 

A Second Brass coin — brassy. Weight 2044 grains. 

101. 

Diws . AVGVSTvs . PATER . The head of Augustus to the left, with radiate crown. 

9>. iVo legend. A broad arched gateway, having two porches or entrances, 
supported on each outer side by a round tower, in the middle of each tower is a 
square opening or window. An inscription, av&vsta . emerita ., in two lines is 
placed on the broad square front of the gate, over the porches. 

The city of Emerita was situate in Portugal, then called Lusitania, near to the 
river Anas, now called Guadiana, and it is known at the present day as Merida. 
It was first colonised by the veteran soldiers who had been exempted by Augustus 
from further service after the Biscayan War, from which circumstance the city 



AUGUSTUS. 53 

was called Emerita, or the deserved, and was surnamed Atigusta, from Augustus, 
as its founder. 

Havercamp (Christina Cabinet), speaking of this type, mentions three coins of 
Augusta Emerita, differing from each other in the description of the gate, towers, 
and fortifications, but all meaning the same city. 

A well- spread brown coin. 

102. 

Diws . AVGVSTVS . PATER . The head of Augustus to the right, with radiate 
crown. 

^. An agricultural labourer, holding a plough, drawn by two oxen ; to the 
left above in the field are the letters col . a . a ., and in the exergum patrens. 

Havercamp (Christina Cabinet) ascribes this coin to Patras, a city of Achaia, 
founded by Augustus, and he interprets the letters on it colonia . avgvsta . 

AROE . PATRENSIS . 

The present is a Second Brass coin, from the cabinet of the Duke of Devon- 
shire, encircled with a tortoiseshell ring, which was very frequent with coins in 
his cabinet. 

103. 

AVGVSTVS . Divi . p . reading from the left. The laureate head of Augustus 
to the right. 

9.. c . VAR . Rvr . SE . ivL . POL . iiviR . Q . The various pontifical apparatus ; 
i. e. the axe in the centre ; to the left the cap of Pontifex Maximus ; to the right 
the aspergillum and simpulum. 

A Second Brass coin, and evidently colonial, from its bearing the names of the 
duumviri, or chief magistrates of the colony, but the name of the colony is unfor- 
tunately omitted. The pontifical apparatus would seem to refer to Augustus, as 
chief pontiff. A well-spread Second Brass coin. "Weight 225-^ grains. 



COINS STRUCK BY TIBERIUS. 

104. 

DIWS . AVGVSTVS . PATER . The deified Augustus, robed and seated on a square 
stool to the left ; the left foot rests on a footstool, and his head is encircled with a 



54 BECORDS or ROMAN HISTORY. 

radius of twelve points, answering to tlie twelve signs of tlie Zodiac, to denote liis 
divinity ; before liim is a square altar ; in the right hand extended he holds an 
olive branch, in the left hand he has the hasta -pura, or wand of divinity. 

'^. TI . CAESAR . DIVI . AVG . I' . AVGVST . P . M . TB . POT . XXIIII . In the field S. 0. 

After the death and deification of Augustus, Tiberius, who had been declared 
his successor, procured coins to be struck to his memory, bearing emblems of 
divinity ; the present coin is one, and bears the mark of senatorial authority, by 
the S. C, and was struck a.d. 22. 

It is related that the fact of Augustus having been seen to go into Heaven was 
publicly sworn to by one Numerius Atticus, whose sight no doubt was strength- 
ened for the occasion by a handsome donation from the Empress Livia. 

This is a remarkably fine coin, rich brown bronze colour. The portrait 6f 
Augustus is as well delineated as on any of the preceding Large Brass coins, 
although it is extremely small. Weight 419 1 grains. 

105. 

Divo . AVGVSTO . s . p . Q . R . in three lines on the upper part of the field, and 
over the heads of four elephants, that are drawing gently to the right, each 
having his driver. They are harnessed to a richly-decorated square car, adorned 
with wreaths and other emblems of Victory. On this car is placed a square seat, 
whereon is a robed figure of Augustus, wearing a radiate crown, holding an olive 
branch in his extended right hand ; in the left hand he bears the hasta jjtira. 

|t.. TI . CAESAR . Divi . AVG . E . AVGVST . p . M . TR . POT . XXXVII . In the Centre 
of the field S. C. 

This coin was struck a.d. 35, and by its type represents the car bearing the 
image of Augustus in his senatorial robes, as cariied in the procession of the Cir- 
censian games, on which occasion the images of their gods and deified emperors 
and empresses were accustomed to be carried on cars with great pomp. 

There is also another coin of this tyjoe, which has a slight variance from the 
present, inasmuch as the emperor is represented holding a globe in his right hand, 
instead of an olive or laurel branch. 

A fine black bronze well-spread coin, from the cabinet of J. Knight. Weight 
419^ grains. 

106. 

DIVO . AVGVSTO . s . P . Q . R . inscribed within the outer engrailment of the 
edge of the coin, and encircling a wreath of oak-leaves and acorns entwined 
around a small circular shield which is supported by two capricorns or sea-goats 



AUGUSTUS. 65 

placed back to back, their tails resting on a small globe, ob . gives . see, . 
inscribed in three lines on the shield. 

^. Ti . CAESAE, . Divi . AVG . p . AVGVST . p - M . T . R . POT . XXXVII. In the centre 
of the field S. 0. 

This coin was struck by decree of the Senate a.d. 35. The Capricorn is said 
to have been the nativity sign of Augustus. 

In the minting of this coin, the Senate, with a view to please their master 
Tiberius, used the inscription ob . cives . sebvatos . to remind the Homan people 
of the restoration of the soldiers and standards captured by the Parthians in the 
unfortunate expedition of Crassus, which we have already noticed. 

KESTORED COINS. 

107. 

Diws . AVGVSTVS . PATEE . The unlaurcate head of Augustus to the right. 

$c. IMP . T . CAES . AVG . HEST . In the field S. C. A square altar, the front divided 
in compartments, provident in the exergum. 

A Second Brass coin struck by order of the Emperor Titus. Weight IQi^ 
grains. 

108. 

DIWS . AVGVSTVS . PATEE . The head of Augustus to the left, with radiate crown. 
9>. IMP . D . AVG . BEST . In the field S. C. ; a square altar as on the preceding 
coin ; PEOVIDENT in the exergum. 

A Second Brass coin struck by order of the Emperor Domitian. 

These t .vo coins are restorations of the coin 90 ante. Weight 168| grains. 

109. 

DIWS . AVGVSTVS. The head of Augustus to the right, with radiate crown. 

Jc. IMP . NERVA . CAES . AVG . EEST - A globe banded by a zodiac ; in front of it 
is the rudder of a galley; S. 0. underneath it. 

A type signifying the Boman power to be extended over sea and land, or I 
may say over the whole world. A Second Brass coin. Weight 188s grains. 

110. 

DIWS . AVGVSTVS . The laureate head of Augustus to the right. 
9j. IMP . NEEVA . CAESAE . AVG. EEST. In the Centre of the field S. C. Weight 
436g grains. 



56 RECOKDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

111. 

No legend. A square temple approached by steps extending the whole length 
of the front. On either side of the temple is a square base, on which stands the 
figure of an animal, one apparently a sheep, the other an ox. 

p.. IMP . NEUVA . CAES . AVG . REST . In the middle of the field S.C. 

The temple on this coia would not attract so much of our observation were it 
not for the two square bases on which animals are placed, similar to the repre- 
sentation on the coin No. 87 ante. There is, however, this difference, the temple 
we have already noticed is circular, the present is a square building. 

The word rest, on this coin is equivocal, and may be read as applying to a 
restoration of the temple represented on the coin before noticed, which in the 
reign of Nerva may have fallen into a dilapidated state, and occasioned the 
emperor to have the necessary repairs made to it. 

Or it is a representation of a restoration, or republication, of the coin of Au- 
gustus, on which the temple first mentioned is represented — so the word rest. 
may be understood either way. 

This coin is not known in the British Museum, nor do I find it elsewhere in 
any foreign cabinet ; it is of Second Brass size, like its predecessor ; brassy, and 
but in middling condition. 

Some collectors are very desirous of possessing restored coins, or I may say 
coins reproduced by other emperors, but they cannot be approved of in a strict 
and very select cabinet, for this reason : the restored coin being struck in the 
reign of a subsequent emperor, the mint masters, in compliment to the reigning 
emperor, represent the deceased emperor as resemblant in portrait to the reigning 
emperor. Thus such coins are not true in their portraiture, and therefore ought 
not to be considered other than as fancifvil, and not as absolutely necessary to 
constitute a complete cabinet. 

The few restored coins in this cabinet will show ray view of the subject. They 
would not have been introduced, but they have come to me by accident and not 
design. I may also add that restored coins never bring out any new historic fact. 

The only valid plea in favour of a restored coin is, that the original had by 
use disappeared, or nearly so, and the reigning emperor from respect to his prede. 
cesser, or to keep alive the record of some particular fact noticed on the coin, had 
caused a fresh coinage of the particular type ; and, as it was long since past, he 
could not assume the type himself, and so of necessity the original imperial pro- 
prietor of the fact is also reproduced. 



LIVIA. 



57 



LIVIA. 

LiviA Drusilla, the daughter of Livius Drusus Calidianus, was born B.C. 57. 
She was of illustrious descent, her father having been adopted from the Claudian 
family into the Livii, and she herself being raised by the testament of Augustus 
into the family of the Julii. She was first married to Tiberius Olaudianus Nero, 
by whom she had a son, Tiberius, who afterwards became emperor ; having been 
adopted by Augustus in his testament and named as his successor in the empire. 
She was six months pregnant with Drusus when Augustus, divorcing his own wife 
Scribonia, wrested Livia from her husband and married her B.C. 38. After 
the birth of Drusus she bore no other issue, and died a.d. 29, aged 86 years. 
A.U.C. 782. 

Livia was accounted the most witty, agreeable, and beautiful woman of her 
time; from her intellectual power and diplomatic skUl she was termed by 
Caligula " Ulysses in female attire." 

Notwithstanding she had waded through blood to procure the adoption and 
elevation of her son Tiberius to the empire, yet after her decease he expressly 
ordered that no honours public or private should be paid to her memory, espe- 
cially the forms of religious worship and deification. We have therefore no Latia 
coins of Livia as funereal coins. 



112. 




DIVA . AVGVSTA. The veiled head of Livia to the right, shoulders draped. 

9). Diws . AVGVSTvs. The radiate head of Augustus to the left. S . C . in 
the field. 

This coin is I believe unique. It seems to be the only coin in brass on which 
an authentic portrait of Livia is to be found. The coins with heads of Pietas, 
Salus, and Justitia, which are usually claimed to be portraits of Livia, are really 



58 KECOBDS OF BOMAN HISTORY. 

not so ; they are ideal heads created by the artist to represent the moralities or 
virtues the names denote. 

The present coin is a black coin from the cabinet of General Ramsay ; and 
Mr. Eastwood brought it to me as a coin which ought from its historic interest 
to be in this cabinet independently of its rarity, as until this came I had no au- 
thentic portrait of Livia. The portrait represents her to be about forty years of 
age, and, although time and stern passions have made their mark, yet the counte- 
nance bears the character of Livia being a woman of great intellectual capacity 
and power — usually termed a strong-minded woman. 

113. 

IVLIA . AVGVSTA . GENETMX . ORBis. The head of Livia, here called Julia, to 
the left, a globe under the neck which is undraped, and a crescent over the fore- 
head ; her head is encircled by a wreath, but whether it be of laurel or myrtle is 
uncertain. 

Jo. COL . ROM . PERM . Divi . AVG . i. 6. Colonia E-omulea permissione divi 
Augusti. The head of Augustus to the right, with radiate crown, a star over 
the head and a fulmen in front of the face. 

This coin is in tine condition ; it was struck at Romulea, in Spain, a town to 
which the Romans granted the privileges of a Roman colony, and called it Julia 
Romulea, or little Rome ; it was also called Hispalis, from the Phoenician word 
Spala or Spila, a plain or field of verdure : it is now known as the city of 
Seville. 

The adulation of the citizens of this place is very strongly exemplified by the 
decorations and title given to Julia on the obverse, and likewise to Augustus on 
the reverse, each of them being complimented by the emblems of divinity. 

Merivale, in vol. iv. p. 224, speaking of the altars and worship of Augustus, 
says, " The worship of the emperor (Augustus) which was thus inaugurated in the 
province (Gaul) became extended throughout it ; and at one place at least the 
empress herself was associated in the divine honours of her husband." 

In regard to the wreath which encircles the head of Livia, Havercamp, from 
the closeness of the leaves of the wreath on a specimen of this type in his own 
cabinet, considers it was a wreath of myrtle. 



MARCUS AGRIPPA. 59 



MAECUS AGEIPPA. 



Makcits Vipsanius Agrippa was born of an equestrian family about the year 
of Rome 691. Linked to Augustus by the bonds of friendship from an early 
period of their lives, and embracing his fortunes on the death of Julius Csesar, 
he mainly contributed to the victories of Philippi and Actium, and by these 
secured to Augustus the possession of the sovereignty. It was the wish of Agrippa 
that Augustus should place Eome in its original condition as a Eepublic ; but his 
views were overruled by the more aristocratic friend of Augustus, Msecenas. 

After the death of Marcellus, the son-in-law of Augustus, Agrippa by the 
desire of Augustus espoused the widow Julia ; and he thus became most intimately 
allied to liis friend. 

In the year of Eome 736 he was invested by Augustus with the tribunician 
power, which he held during a period of five years, whilst Augustus made a tour 
of the Eoman provinces. 

Agrippa died in Campania about the year of Eome 742, on his return from 
an expedition to quell some hostilities in Pannonia. Augustus received the news 
of his illness while celebrating the festival of the Quinquatria ; and on hearing 
of it he hastened from Eome to meet his son-in-law, but found him dead. 
The body of Agrippa was conveyed to Eome ; Augustus pronounced his funeral 
oration, and caused his remains to be deposited in his own tomb, declaring 
that even in death he would not be separated from his friend. 

After the battle of Actium a magnificent temple was erected by Agrippa at 
Eome, which he dedicated to Jupiter Ultor and all the gods ; whence it derived its 
name of the Pantheon. It still exists, and is used as a place of worship at the 
present day, and is one of the most perfect and most splendid of the ancient 
temples of Eome : from its circular form it is frequently termed the Eotunda. 

In the year of our Lord 607 the Pantheon was purified by Pope Boniface 
IV., who then dedicated it to the Virgin Mary and all the martyrs ; he likewise 
placed the festival of the Virgin Mary and all the saints in the month of May, on 
the day when the festival of Cybele was anciently held in Eome. This was after- 
wards altered by Pope Gregory IV. to the 1st of November at the request of 
King Louis le Debonnaire of Prance, as a more proper time for the festival than 
the month of May on the day of a pagan festival. 



i2 



60 



RECOKDS OF UOMAN HISTORY. 



lU. 

M . AGuiPPA . L . r . COS . III. A fine but stern portrait of Agrippa to the left, 
decorated with the rostral crown, which from the line of Ovid we may presume 
Agrippa was accustomed to wear in public on state occasions. 

Navalique gener cinctus honore caput. 

9.. S. C. in the field. Between the letters a figure of Neptune is standing, with 
a trident in his left hand ; his right hand extended holds a dolphin ; a mantle is 
suspended from his shoulders and pendent over each arm. 

Of all the deities Neptune appears the least frequently upon coins. Augustus 
was offended with his godship, and from this period his effigies does not appear 
again on the brass coins until the reign of Nerva, and then only on one coin. It 
is again absent until Hadrian, after which time I do not find Neptune introduced 
on brass coins. 

On the present coin, it is a complimentary type to Agrippa, who commanded 
the fleet of Augustus at the battle of Actium, and by the victory there obtained, 
he had, like Neptune, acquired for Augustus the sovereignty of the sea ; for which 
services the rostral crown was bestowed on him. 

The great battle of Actium was fought on the 2nd of September, a.u.c. 723, b.c_ 
31. Mr. Merivale in vol. iii. p. 345 gives a very full and interesting account 
of this engagement, which was considered by Augustus as the crowning work in 
the dispersion of those who might interfere with his assumption of imperial or 
regal power. 

This coin is encircled with the black ring of the Devonshire Cabinet ; it is in 
Second Brass, in very fine condition, and black in colour. 

Weight 191| grains. 

115. 




M . AGRIPPA . L . P . COS . III. The head of Agrippa to the left, decorated with the 
rostral crown. 



MARCUS AGRIPPA. 61 

^. JSTo legend. Neptune standing rather to the left, with a mantle suspended 
from his shoulders and falling behind him. In his left hand he holds his trident 
upright. At his right side is a dolphin standing upright on its tail and supported 
by the rudder of a galley ; Neptune's right foot is on the dolphin's tail, and he is 
putting some food into its mouth, which is wide open to receive it ; above the 
large S on the right side of the field are a sun and a star, and below the large on 
the left of the field is a star and a crescent in an oblique or falling position. 

Virgil alludes to the battle of Actium and the part taken in it by Augustus and 
Agrippa respectively ; also the Julium sidus, which he calls Pairium sidus, and 
likewise mentions the corona navalis or rostrata worn by Agrippa. 

Hinc Augustus agens Italos in proelia Caesar 

Cum patribus, populoque, Penatibus, et magnis Dis, 

Stans celsa in puppi; geminas cui tempora flammas 

Lseta vomunt, patriumque aperitur vertice sidus. 

Parte alia ventis et Dis Agrippa secundis 

Arduus agmen agens; cui, belli insigne superbum, 

Tempora navali fulgent rostrata corond. 

uEneid, viii. 678. 
It is doubtful whether the corona navalis and the corona rostrata were one 
or different crowns ; Virgil, in the above passage, combines both terms ; but it is 
supposed that the former was given to any sailor who first boarded an enemy's 
ship, the latter only to the commander of a victorious fleet. M Agi-ippa is said, 
by various authors, to have been the first who received this honour, though others 
state that M. Varro obtained it from Pompeius Magnus. (Smith's Dictionary of 
Roman Antiquities.) 

This is a unique Second Brass coin of brown colour, in excellent condition, quite 
unknown and unpublished ; it was Lot 173 in the sale of some coins from Tunis on 
21 December 1852. The type refers to the battle of Actium, and its interpreta- 
tion may be taken thus, — 

When Antonius was in jEgypt, being fascinated by the charms of Cleopatra, 
he forsook Octavia his wife, the sister of Augustus, and became so bewitched 
by the Egyptian queen as to put on the garb of Osiris, whilst Cleopatra as- 
sumed that of Isis, allowing themselves to be worshipped as the personifications 
of those deities : they were also at times adored as Bacchus and Libera. The 
radiated globe was an emblem of the sun and a mark of divinity, and was 
applied to designate an emperor or royal personage. See the coins of Julius 
Csesar ante. 



62 UECOUDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

The crescent or the moon was the emhlem of divinity applicable to a queen or 
empress. See the coin of Livia. The junction of these two emblems, signifying 
the emperor and the empress, may be seen on the coins of Domitian, Hadrian, and 
of Antoninus Pius, jfios^. 

These emblems premised, we will pass to the battle of Actium, which was a 
sea-fight, where Antonius and Cleopatra, being opposed to Augustus, were defeated, 
and the complete sovereignty of the Roman empire became vested in Augustus. 

The fall of Cleopatra and Antonius is therefore represented by the crescent 
and the star, which are placed low down on the left side of the field in an inclined or 
falling position ; whilst a sun or star is placed high up on the right side of the 
field, to represent the fortune or star of Augustus having attained the ascendancy 
over his competitors. 

With respect to Neptune and the dolphin, it may be stated that the dolphin 
is the peculiar emblem or attribute of Neptune ; he cannot therefore be supposed 
to kill it ; on the contrary, for he holds his trident in the left hand, upright, and 
not in an offensive attitude. With the right hand he is putting some food into 
the mouth of his dolphin, which is raised up on its tail, and supported in that atti- 
tude, with the mouth open to receive the food, by the rudder. 

The Avhole interpretation I consider to be, that figuratively Neptune the god 
of the sea and his dolphin had contributed to the downfall of Antonius and 
Cleopatra, represented by the low and oblique position of the crescent and the star, 
by the engagement having taken place when there was a calm sea that favoured 
the manoeuvres of the fleet of Augustus ; and Neptune is rewarding his attend- 
ant dolphin for the success which has been obtained, and which placed in the 
ascendant Augustus, the friend of Agrippa, the commander of his fleet on that 
occasion. 

This type is peculiarly applicable to Agrippa, and is complimentary to his con- 
duct and success in the engagement at Actium. 

Until a better interpretation of this device is given, the present may be received 
as the correct view of the meaning of the type, and in this view of its signification 
I am supported by my esteemed friends Admiral Smyth and Mr. Burgon. 

116. 

IMP . above in the field, Divi . F . in the exergum. The heads of Augustus and 
Agrippa back to back; that of Augustus to the right is laureate, and that of 
Agrippa, looking to the left, has the rostral crown. P. P. on either side of the 
field. 



MABCTJS AGBIPPA. 63 

9'- A palm-brancli, to which a crocodile appears chained, looking to the right ; 
above the crocodile and across the field are the letters col . nem. A wreath is 
suspended from the palm-branch over the word col. 

This coia in Second Brass was struck by the colony of Nemausus, now Nismes' 
in Gallia Narbonensis, in commemoration of the battle of Actium and the conse. 
quent subjugation of ^gypt, represented by the crocodile being chained to a palm- 
tree ; the animal and the tree being indigenous to iEgypt. 

The mintage and title p.p. patee, . patriae we have already noticed on the 
coins of Augustus, ante. 

117. 

IMP . Divi . F . arranged as on the preceding coin. The heads of Augustus 
and Agrippa back to back : the head of Augustus is laureate ; that of Agrippa 
has a wreath composed half of laurel, and the front half the rostral crown. 
No P. P. 

9>. COL . kem . with the chained crocodile, palm-tree, and wreath, as on the pre- 
ceding coin. 

The city and colony of Nemausus were founded by Augustus after the battle of 
Actium, when he placed there a number of veterans selected from different legions 
who had been engaged in the wars in different cities and colonies, amongst others. 
Nismes ; and, the veterans at Nismes having been engaged in the ^Egyptian war, 
the present coin was struck by the colony. The wreath suspended from the palm- 
tree signifies the victorious result of the war, and also the share taken in it by the 
then veterans of the colony. 

118. 

imp . DIVI . F . as before. The heads of Augustus and Agrippa exactly as on the 
preceding coin. No P . P. 

$0. COL . NEM . with the chained crocodile, palm, and wreath, as before. 
Both of these coins are in Second Brass and good preservation. 



JULIA AUGUSTI FILIA. 

Julia was born in the year of Rome 715. She was the daughter of Augustus 
by his first wife Scribonia, and was married at the early age of fourteen to Mar- 
cellus, the son of Octavia, the sister of Augustus. 



64 RECOBDS or ROMAN HISTORY. 

After the death of Marcellus she was married to Agrippa, and at his 
decease she became the wife of Tiberius. Her very dissolute and abandoned 
conduct was the cause of her being banished by Augustus to the island of 
Pandataria. 

Ten years after this she was transferred to Rhegium, now Reggio, where she 
was left to die of hunger, as is said, a.d. 14, A.u.c. 767, and after her husband 
Tiberius had assumed the reins of government. 

Julia is described as very beautiful and accomplished, and seems to have 
been one of the most elegant and fascinating women at her father's court. Her 
winning graceful ways often turned aside the rebuke of the old emperor, and it was 
long ere he could be induced to banish her to Pandataria, she then being in her 
38th year, a.tj c. 752. Merivale, vol. iv. c. xxxvii. 

119. 

s . p . Q . R . ivLiAB . AVGVST . inscribed in three lines over a carpentum, a sort of 
two-wheeled tilted cart decorated with carvings and drawn by two mules, moving 
at a slow pace across the field, to the right 

Je. Ti . CAESAR . Divi . AVG . F . AVGVST . p - M . TR . POT . xxiiii. ; in the Centre of 
the field S.O. 

The coins of this type and legend are almost universally assigned to Livia, the 
wife of Augustus, called Julia after adoption into the Julian family under the will 
of Augustus. 

I presume to dissent from this usual custom, for I deem it an error to assign this 
coin to Livia, for the following reasons : 

The time of Julia's death was a.d. 14, and Livia did not die until a.d. 29, a period 
of fifteen years after Julia. The tribunician date on this coin shows its mintage 
to have been in a.d. 22, which will thus place it as an apotheosis coin eight years 
after the death of Julia, and consequently seven years before the decease of Livia ; 
and I think it more likely that Tiberius should permit the senate to commemorate 
his deceased wife, when her death, having occurred some years previously, may have 
weakened the impression formerly made on the citizens by her proflgate conduct, 
but with whom she might still hold some favour from her being the only daughter 
of their favourite Augustus, than that the coin should have been struck for Livia, 
who was still living. 

By this arrangement the difficulties which numismatic writers experience in 
making a correct attribution of this coin, arising from the difference between the 
tribunician date and the date of the death of Livia, are avoided. 



JULIA AUGUSTI FILIA. 65 

It is acknowleged by all numismatists and numismatic writers, that the car- 
pentum is a funereal type ; if therefore the present coin is to be considered a 
funereal coin, it is far more reasonable to assign it to a person already deceased, 
or who had been deceased some few years, than to anticipate the death of a person 
still living, and who is proved to have lived for some years after the date when 
this coin was struck ; and, although the hatred of Tiberius against Julia his vdfe 
was not at first to be pacified, yet it is more than probable that, when some years 
had elapsed after the death of Julia, Livia was enabled to persuade her son to permit 
the senate to strike an apotheosis coin to the memory of his wife, who was her own 
step-daughter, and the only daughter of her late husband and benefactor. More 
especially do I think so when we learn from Suetonius in Claudio, sec. ii. that 
Tiberius absolutely forbade all religious forms and deifications being bestowed on 
Livia when she died, and that such a memorial was not bestowed on her until 
Claudius became Emperor ; but we find no coins of funereal or any other type 
struck by Claudius assigned to Livia. And thus while we find Tiberius for- 
bade any honours to be paid to the deceased Livia, his mother, yet we do not 
find any such prohibitions by Tiberius of any such honours to be given to his wife 
Julia. 

For these reasons therefore I have, with respectful deference to other nu- 
mismatic authorities, assigned this coin to Julia, the daughter of Augustus, 
and wife of Tiberius. Rather confirmatory of this view of the appropriation of 
the coin, I find in Occo, under the title of Livia Augusti, mention made of three 
coins, thus. 

One in brass — s . p . Q . b, . divae . ivliae . avgvsti . fil. 
Jl. Carpentum drawn by mules. 

One in silver— livia . avgvsta. 

!P). DIANA . LVCIPEBA. 

One in Brass— diva . livia . divi . av&vst. 
|l. coNSECRATio — a peacock. 

The first of these three coins decidedly refers to Julia, the daughter of 
Augustus, the words avgysti . ]?il[ia] put the question beyond further dispute. 
The other two are as decidedly the coins of the wife Livia, for on these two coins 
Livia is styled Augusta or empress; but on the first coin it is Julia filia 
daughter of the emperor. The distinction is evident ; and, the date of the present 

K 



66 RECORBS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

coin being seven years before tlie death of Livia, I hold that, the first of these three 
coins being confirmatory of my opinion, the appropriation that I have made of the 
present coin is correct. 

The coin which is usually assigned to Julia, and is particularly noticed in 
Admiral Smyth's cabinet, No. 17, as a coin of Julia, is assigned to lol, or Osesarea, 
in Mauritania, and is without any date or mark to show its time of mintage. It 
is therefore clearly a colonial coin, and contains nothing in portrait or legend which 
wiU warrant it being called a coin struck to commemorate Julia, the daughter of 
Augustus. On the obverse there is an ear of corn behind the head, denoting it as 
intended for a Ceres. The portrait on the reverse is clearly a Minerva Galeata. 
Both the heads seem to be of fine Greek workmanship, and the coin is of Second 
Brass size, which circumstances render it stiU more unlikely that it was ever 
intended for a JuliaAugusti Filia. 



TIBERIUS. 

Tiberius Claudius Nero, the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia 
Drusilla, was born in the year of Rome 712. He was married to Vipsania, the 
daiughter of Agrippa, whom he afterwards repudiated. Upon her death he married 
Julia, the widow of Agrippa and daughter of Augustus. In the year of Rome 
748 he was invested by Augustus with the tribunician power for five years. 
After the deaths of Caius and Lucius Caesar, the sons of Agrippa, who 
had been adopted by Augustus, Tiberius was adopted by Augustus at the same 
time with Agrippa Postumus. From that period he was named Caesar, and 
invested anew with the tribunician power, which was at last renewed to him 
every year. 

He succeeded to Augustus in the year of Rome 767, and died at Misenum 
in the year of Rome 790. He had been so bad a man that the joy at Rome was 
universal when his death was known. In the earlier part of his life he had been 
a very good soldier, and had the command of the troops in Pannonia and Ger- 
many, and passed through several campaigns dming the latter part of the life of 
Augustus with much success and applause. 



TiBBums. 67 

120. 

Ti . CAESAR . AVGVST . F . IMPERAT - V . The unlaureate head of Tiberius to the 
right. 

1^. PONTiEEX . TBiBVN . POTESTATE . XII. In the middle of the field S.C. 

A beautiful black Second Brass coin, from the cabinet of the Rev. E. C. Brice. 
Weight 1734 grains. 

121. 

TI . CAESAR . Divi . AVG . p . AVGVST. The unlaureatc head of Tiberius to the left. 

^. PONTIE . MAXIM . TRiBVN . POTESTATE . XII. Vesta Seated on a square seat to 
the right, with the hasta pura in her left hand ; her right hand holds a patera ; a 
large S.C. on either side of the field. 

The earliest notice in Argelati of divi . avg . on the brass coins of Tiberius is of 
the seventh year of empire, or Trib. Pot. xvii., five years later than this coin ; nor is 
Vesta ever noticed by him on the coins of Tiberius. 

The title of pontifex . maximvs, which appears constantly on the gold and 
silver coins of Julius Caesar, was assumed and retained by Augustus, afterwards by 
Tiberius, and all subsequent emperors. It was an office that conferred great power 
on the individual who held it. 

The consecration to the office was performed with extraordinary pomp and 
ceremony, and it exalted the individual to be the sovereign judge and director of 
the public and private obligations of worship. All priests and sacrifices were under 
his inspection. He approved of the Vestal Virgins, and appointed them their 
vestments and clothing ; he chastised them when requisite, and condemned them 
to be buried alive if they violated their vows. To him also belonged the compos- 
ing of the rituals, appointing religious ceremonies, feasts, and institutions, as well 
as digesting the public annals or history of the year, called " Fontijicum Idbri." 
He was also astronomer to the state, and consequently regulator of the year ; for 
it was his care and duty to see that the festivals appointed for certain days fell at 
their appointed seasons. 

Julius Csesar was the first who regularly assumed the office of Pontifex 
Maximus. He well knew the absolute dominion he thereby acquired over the 
minds and actions of men. Ovid says he preferred it to all other honours. In his 
office of Pontifex Maximus he reformed the calendar ; the same thing was done in 
the year a.d. 1582 by the then Pontifex Maximus of Rome Pope Gregory XIII. 
Dionysius Halicarnassus gives a very long account of the functions of the Pontifex 

Maximus. 

k2 



68 EECORDS or ROMAN HISTORY. 

The Roman Catholic pope assumes the title of Pontifex Maximus, and is the 
temporal prince or ruler of those parts of Italy called the Papal States ; but, 
not content with that, he assumes the right of possessing the bodies and souls 
and estates of all papists in whatever country they may dwell, things that 
Julius Caesar neither dreamed of doing or possessing. The lust of dominion, 
temporal and spiritual, over mankind at the present day by the Pope of Rome, and 
his legions of monks and nuns and priests, is far greater than the ambition of 
Julius Cajsar ever led him to. 

122. 

AVGvsTi . p . iMPEKAT . VII . reading from the left. The unlaureate 

head of Tiberius to the left. 

9'- BOM . ET . AVG . No S. C. A representation of the altar of Lyons already 
noticed on the coins of Augustus, ante. No. 46. A countermark of the letter N 
intertwined with a d, is on the left side of the iield by the altar. 

A countermark on a coin may be considered a good proof of its being genuine, 
for I have not yet seen a false coin with a countermark. 

This is a good brown coin from the cabinet of the Duke of Devonshire. 
Weight 366 grains. 

123. 

Ti . CAESAR . AVGVST . F . iMPERAT . VII . reading from the left. The laureate head 
of Tiberius to the right. 

9>. ROM . ET . AVG . in the exergum. No S. C. The altar of Lyons as on pre- 
ceding coins. 

A Second Brass brown coin in good condition. Weight 183|- grains. 

124. 

TI . CAESAR . Divi . AVGVSTI . E . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of Tiberius to 
the right. 

$D. PONT . MAXIM . cos . iiii . IMP - VII . TR . POT . XXI. No S. C. A winged 
caducous upright between two cornucopise in saltier, filled with fruits. Weight 
21 2f grains. 

125. 

TI . CAESAR . DIVI . AVG . p . AVGVST . IMP . VIII. The unlauTcate head of 
Tiberius to the left. 

^. civiTATiBvs . ASiAE . RESTiTVTis . In the field S. C. The emperor seated 



TIBEMTIS., 69 

on a curule chair, to the left ; his head laureate ; his right hand extended holds a 
patera ; in his left he has the hasta pura. 

This coin was struck ahout the year a.d. 23 ; being struck in lead, it is 
extremely rare, and I consider it unique. It was found in the remains of some 
ancient Roman houses discovered at Bath many years since (from whence I had 
it), and which are, I believe, all now demolished. It is in very fine condition, 
the lead a little corroded, but not in any material part. Weight 421^ grains. 

126. 

civiTATiBVS . ASiAE . RESTiTVTis . Either side of the field S. C. The emperor 
laureate and in his robes, seated on a curule chair, to the left ; in his left hand he 
has the hasta pura ; his right hand extended holds a patera. 

An incuse coin having only the impression of the obverse. There is 
one similar to the present in Admiral Smyth's cabinet. No. 22. I quite agree 
with his observation that they are so struck as original designs for coins, or 
proofs, for if it were otherwise the S. 0. would not be on the obverse, the usual 
place for the S. C. being on some part of the reverse. 

This coin incuse is extremely rare. I only know of Admiral Smyth's and the 
present, nor do I find such a coin noticed by any numismatic writer. It is of 
aurichalcum, and very fine ; its weight 276|. grains. 

127. 

CIVITATIBVS . ASIAE . RESTITVTIS. The empcror laureate seated to the left, 
as on the preceding coins. 

9) TI . CAESAR . DIVI . AVG . P . AVGVST . P . M . TR . POT . XXIIII. S. C. in the 

middle of the field. 

This coin was struck at the same period as the preceding. By the legend on 
these three coins is recorded the restoration of various cities in Asia, which had 
been seriously injured or destroyed by an earthquake in a.d. 17. Twelve, as 
some writers say, and, according to Eusebius, thirteen, cities were destroyed. 
Tiberius not only remitted the taxes of the ruined cities for five years, but also 
presented them with large sums of money for rebuilding. Coins similar to these 
in type and legends were struck two years afterwards, and, it being subsequently 
decreed by the Senate that a colossal statue should be erected in honour of 
Tiberius for his munificence, Phlegon, who lived and wrote in the time of Hadrian, 
says the statue was erected in the Eorum Csesaris, with the personification of the 
twelve cities as an accompaniment. 



70 KBCOIIDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

In confirmation of this narratiye, we find that in the year 1693 a piece of 
marble inscribed to the Emperor Tiberius was discovered at Puzzuoli. It had 
evidently been the base of a colossal statue, and around it, in accordance with 
the description of Phlegon, were figures representing the several cities, with their 
respective names. 

In A.D. 30 Tiberius withdrew from Rome, and lived at Puteoli, now Puzzuoli, 
and from the basement so discovered we may conclude that the inhabitants of 
that place erected a statue to the honour of Tiberius, copied from that in the 
Porum at Home, and then added the name of another city, Cibyra, which had 
been destroyed by earthquake after the twelve already mentioned, and had also 
partaken of the emperor's bounty. 

The seated figure on these coins, representing Tiberius, is no doubt copied 
from the statue. It would seem from Dion Cassius that Tiberius was greatly 
respected in the provinces, and kept a check upon the severity and extortions of 
the prsefects, which contrasted strongly with the tyranny he exercised at Rome, 
for proof of which, reference is generally made to the well-known anecdote of his 
reproof to ^Emilius Rectus, governor of J^^gypt, who, when he sent to Rome a 
larger amount of taxes than usual, was told by the emperor he wished his sheep 
to be sheared and not flayed. 

Velleius Paterculus speaks of Tiberius as almost a demigod. It is well 
ascertained from history that he was very considerate towards the provinces and 
the enemies he had to encounter when he was general of the Roman armies in 
distant parts, and thus he made friends everywhere that he went, although he 
was feared, hated, and despised at Ptome. 

A brown coin in fine condition. Weight 395f grains. 

128. 

IVSTITIA. A female head to the right, wearing an ornamented coronet ; the 
bust draped; the word Justitia underneath. 

9.. Ti . CAESAR . Divi . AVG . T . AVG . p . M . TR . POT . xxiiii . In the middle of the 
field S. C. 

A very fine brown Second Brass coin, weight 221f grains, usually assigned to 
Livia ; but, being struck by decree of the Senate while Tiberius was emperor, it 
may therefore be termed an adulatory coin to Tiberius. It is certainly in my 
opinion in no way connected with Livia the wife of Augustus. I think the error 
of assigning the three Second Brass coins of salvs, ivstitia, and pietas to Livia, 
as is so constantly done, arises from the circumstance of Livia having been 



TIBERITJS, 



71 



reckoned in her time a very handsome woman. Antiquaries, finding the virtues 
or moralities of Justice, Health, and Piety represented by the portraits of a 
handsome female, have jumped, without due consideration, to the conclusion that 
these three ideal portraits represent Livia under those three different designations, 
a conclusion without sufl&cient evidence to warrant it, for, although they are 
representations of a handsome female, yet they are each of them different in the 
portraiture, so as in fact to be three handsome young women instead of one. 
Salus has a particularly sprightly cheerful look, and is different in features and 
dress of the hair from either of the others, as might be expected from the per- 
sonification of Salus, or health. 

129. 

SALVS . AVGVSTA. A female head to the right, the hair handsomely dressed 
and formed into a knot at the back ; the whole appearance being of a cheerful, 
lively, pretty woman — different in countenance to Justitia. 

9>. Ti . CAESAR . Divi . AVG . E . AUG . p . M . TE, . POT . xxiiii . In the middle of 
the field S. 0. 

This is a fine large spread Second Brass coin, usually assigned to Livia, but I 
consider it was struck by the Senate with the representation of the goddess Salus 
as guardian of the public health. It may likewise be a supplicatory coin for the 
restoration of the health of the empress Livia, who in a.d. 22, when the present 
coin was struck, was afiiicted with a dangerous illness. Public supplications were 
made for her restoration to health, the great games were decreed, and Tiberius 
came from his residence in Campania to be present on the occasion 

Salus was much worshipped by the ancients in Greece ; she was called Hygeia, 
the daughter of ^sculapius, who was called the son of Phoebus Apollo, the god of 
medicine. 

It is a curious circumstance that the Pythagorean problem of the pentagon, 
when formed in ancient archaic letters, becomes the Greek word v^ei.a, health ; 
and amongst the most ancient oriental nations the women used to work a 
pentagon upon the swaddling-clothes of their infants to protect them against the 
influence of the evil eye ; but in reality it was a prayer for the vr^eua or health of 
the child, a more certain protection against the evil eye. It was subsequently 
called the mark of King Solomon's seal. It was also used on Greek coins, 
and may be seen on the coins of Antiochus Soter, a name significant as connected 
with vr^eia, it meaning saviour. It is also found on the coins of the ancient 
Hetruscans. Lastly, the pentagon is a sign and emblem among Freemasons of the 
royal arch degree. 



72 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

As health is undeniably the principal blessing of life, it is not very surprising 
that the ancients should personify the blessing as a female of sprightly, cheerful 
countenance, and designate her a goddess. The Romans consecrated many 
temples to Salus. Liyy speaks of one dedicated to her by Junius Babulo, the 
censor, near to one of the gates of the city, whence it was called Porta Salutaris. 

130. 

SALVS . AVGVSTA . under the draped bust of a female to the right. 

^. Ti . CAESAR . Divi . AVG . E . AVG . p . M . TR . POT . xxiiii . In the middle of the 
field S. C. ; in a small square above the S. C. is the countermark | N . c . A . P. R . [ 
which letters have been considered by numismatic writers to signify Nobis con- 
cessum a JPopulo Homano. 

131. 

TI . CAESAR . DIVI . AVG . F . AVGVST . IMP . VIII. The laureate head of Tiberius 
to the left. 

9>- MODERATiONi, on the outer verge of the field. A circular shield greatly 
ornamented, and encircled by a laurel wreath. A full-faced bust is in the centre 
of the shield. S. 0. on either side of the field. 

In the year of Rome 787, the 19th of the reign of the emperor Tiberius, 
Imperator VIII., tribunician date 35, 36, the Iiord Jesus Christ was crucified 
at Jerusalem. 

Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. lib. 3, c. 8, places the date of the crucifixion in the 
18th year of Tiberius. Occo, p. 85, places it in the year of Rome 785, and of 
Tiberius 19. Argelati, in Tiberio, p. 61, says " u. c. 787, Christi 34, Tiberii 19, 
et mensibus tribus exactis ante diem viii. kal. April, pro humana salute cruci 
afiixus est, et tertia die post, vivus apparuit ; Olympiadis 202 anno quarto, aut 
Olymp. 203, anno secundo, ut alii." 

The birth and death of the Lord are thus referred to : 

Iniperante Augusto natus est Christus, 
Imperante Tiberio crucifixus. 

The dates vary as to the year of the crucifixion from a.d. 27 to a.d. 33. 
Clinton gives many dissertations of ancient writers, but he seems inclined to fix it 
at A.D. 29, A.iT.c. 782, the 16th of Tiberius. (Easti Rom. vol. i. pp. 10—18.) 

132. 

No legend. A temple of large dimensions, decorated with statues on the 
slopes and apex of the pediment ; in front, on the basement, a statue is placed 



TIBERIUS. 73 

on a large square block on each side of the steps leading up to the front of the 
temple, and between the columns in front a seated figure is placed. The tym- 
panum is quite plain. 

9>- TI . CAESAR . DIVI . AUG . P . AVGVST . P . M . TR . POT . XXXVII. In the 

field, S. C. 

The splendid building portrayed on this and the next two coins is considered 
to be a representation of the Temple of Concord, which was originally erected in 
the capitol by Purius Camillus, the dictator in the time of the Republic, on the 
occasion of the suppression of a popular tumult among the citizens. This first 
temple was burnt down in the reign of Tiberius, who caused it to be rebuilt as 
here represented. There is scarcely any portion of it now remaining. 

133. 

No legend. A temple of large dimensions, similar in every way to the 
temple on the preceding coin ; it is ornamented profusely with statues and sculp- 
tures, but differently arranged, and the tympanum is quite plain. 

|l. TI . CAESAR . DIVI . AVG . P . AVGVST . P . M . TR . POT - XXXIIX. In the 

field, S. C. 

The Temple of Concord, as the site is described by Nibby, was so near the 
forum, that it might almost be considered one of its buildings. It stood however 
between the capitol and the forum, its face turned towards the forum and to 
the comitium, and on its flank it was near to the Mamertine prison. It was 
erected by the Senate and people after Camillus had in his last dictatorship 
(when the two orders of the people, patrician and plebeian, came to an agreement) 
gained the privilege that one of the consuls should be elected from the plebeians. 
During the Hepublic it was a place where the Senate assembled to treat of 
important matters, and they met there on the occasion of the discovery of the 
conspiracy of Catiline. 

134. 

iVb legend. A temple of large dimensions, similar in every respect to the 
preceding, except that in the tympanum of the present there is a large hollow 
circle with some figures on each side of it ; the circle appears to be pierced 
through to give light and air to the interior. 

9,. TI . CAESAR . DIVI . AVG . P . AVGVST . P . M . TR . POT . XXXIIX. In the 

middle of the field, S. 0. 



74 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

135. 

No legend. An empty triumphal chariot drawn by four horses slowly, to the 
right ; it is richly decorated with figures of victories, trophies, and captives. 

9.. TI . CAESAR . DIVI . AVG . P . AVGVST - P . M . TR . POT . XXXVII. In the field S. C. 

A coin struck a.d. 36, and is supposed to allude to the triumph decreed to 
Tiberius many years before, but which was never celebrated owing to the grievous 
defeat of the Romans under Quintilius Varus in Germany, and the loss of three 
entire legions with their eagles and other standards. This event is said to have 
happened in a.d. 9, during the reign of Augustus, who was for a short time in a 
state of distraction from the misfortune, frequently raving and calling out. Varus, 
restore me my legions. The battle took place near to the river Visargis, now the 
Weser. The Homans were drawn into an ambuscade, and Varus, seeing all effort 
to save his army of no avail, threw himself upon his sword and died. His head, 
and afterwards his body, were sent to Rome in derision. The legions which were 
thus destroyed by the Germans were the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth, 
of which scarcely a man escaped ; and most of the chief ofiicers who were taken 
prisoners were offered in sacrifice to the idols of the country. See more of this under 
the coin of Germanicus, post. 

136. 

No legend. A triumphal car drawn by four horses slowly, to the right, with 
decorations as on the preceding coin, but no one in it. 

p.. TI . CAESAR . DIVI . AVG . P . AVGVST . P . M . TR . POT . XXXIIX. S. C. in the 

field. Weight 413 grains. 

These two coins are quoted by Argelati. 

137. 

TI . CAESAR . DIVI . AVG . F . AVGVST . IMP . VIII. The laureate head of Tiberius 
to the left. 

9>. PONTiP . MAX . TR . POT . XXXIIX. S. C. on the sides of the field, between 
which is a globe. On the front of it is a rudder of a galley, with a small globe 
afiixed to it on its lower end. 

The type represents the sovereignty of the Roman people by sea and land. 

There are no funereal or consecration coins of Tiberius. If the senate with its 
usual servility would have acquiesced in the apotheosis of a tyrant who had 
degraded and decimated it, the citizens interfered to forbid the honours, and 
Oaius [Caligula] made no effort to enforce them. Vide Merivale, 375. 



TIBERIUS. 75 



COLONIAL. 



138. 

Ti . CAESAR . Divi . AVG . p . AVGVSTVS . PON . MAX . TR . p . XXXIII. This legend is 
obliterated on the present coin, but I have supplied it from Vaillant. A seated 
figure to the left holding a patera in the right hand ; the hasta pura in the left. 

9). c . c . A - [mJ CATC . L . VETTiAcvs . iiviR. Then in three lines j^jjG. iv. 
across the field the numbers of the legions with three military leg. vi. 
standards, the centre being a vexiUum or cavalry banner. ^^^- ^• 

This coin was struck by Marcus Cato and Lucius Yettiacus, the duumviri of 
the municipivun Cgesarea Augusta in Spain, now Saragossa, already noticed under 
the provincial coins of Augustus. 

The Legions iv. vi. and x. named on this coin as colonists of Csesarea Augusta, 
were transferred to that place by Augustus : these soldiers were of the class termed 
Veteran. Those of the Eourth legion were of the Legio iv. Scythica ; the Sixth 
were taken, part from the Legio Sexta Victrix, and part from the Legio Sexta 
Ferrata ; and the Tenth in like manner, part Legio x. Gemina, and part Legio x. 
Eretensis. 

Some doubt has been expressed whether Legio iv. Scythica was not transferred 
to Syria instead of being located in Spain. 

The standard in the middle is the vexillum, which was the standard of the 
cavalry, consisting of a square piece of cloth extended upon a cross. The standards 
on each side appear to have circular wreaths, and, being unaccompanied by an 
eagle, they indicate that the colonists were parts of the legions, or cohorts of the 
respective legions. The military colonists are usually distinguished on coins by 
the legionary eagle or other military standards, and the ordinary agricultural 
colonists were designated by bulls or oxen. 

It was the custom at Eome, when a colony was to be sent forth, to put up a 
banner in the forum, with a tablet inscribed with the name of the chief under 
whose charge the colonists were to be placed, the number of persons who were to 
depart, and the name and situation of the place, thus inviting the citizens to join 
the emigrants who had already inscribed to go forth. When the intended number 
was completed, the colonists out of every 100 chose ten ; from the whole of these 
tens, or decuriones as they were called, two were selected as the chief magistrates 
and were called duumviri, who were to exercise in the new colony similar powers 
and duties to those performed by the consuls at Rome ; and when the colonists took 

l2 



76 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

their final leave of Rome they were preceded by the vesillarius or standard-bearer, 
who marched at their head, carrying the vexillum or ensign of the colony, or the 
aquila if it were a legionary colony. 

Vaillant describing a coin of Tiberius similar to the present, says, " Hie nnmmus 
majoris moduli olim in cimelio Emin. Card. Maximi, rarissimuset praestantissimus 
est." It is also mentioned in Haver. Thes. 355-6, and an engraving of it in the 
Gens Porcia, tab. 2. 

Of this coin I have never seen any example but the present at sale or elsewhere, 
it is so very rare. It is not in fine condition. 

139. 

Ti . CAESAR . Divi . AVG . P. AVGVST . IMP . VIII. The unlaureate head of Tiberius 
to the left. 

|c. C . VIBIO . MARSO . PR . COS . D . R . CAE. Q . P . R . T . C . RVPVS . P . C . In the 

area of the field d . d . p . p. Caio Vibio Marso pro consule Druso Csesare 
Qusestore Provincise Titus Ceelius Rufus fieri curavit, Decuriones posuerunt. 

A female seated to the right, the hasta pura in her left hand, a patera in the 
right. The figure very much resembles the representations of Vesta already 
noticed. 

Vaillant, pp. 87, 88, speaking of similar provincial coins strixck by the Pro- 
consul Vibius Marso, says, " Ad Uticam pertinet nummus etsi nomen urbis desit." 
This type is also mentioned in Havercamp's Thesaurus, p. 66, as belonging to the 
Caelia Gens. A well-spread Second Brass black-green coin. 

140. 

TI . CAESAR . AVGVSTVS. The unlaureate head of Tiberius to the left ; behind 
the head is an olive branch ; in front of the neck, on the right, is an eagle with 
expanded wings, holding in its beak an ear of corn. 

9>. hiol. A laureate head, evidently female, to the right; her hair braided and 
in tresses falling on her neck, shoulders draped, and in front rather full on the 
bosom ; in the field, in front of the face, is a cithara : the whole is encircled by a 
laurel- wreath. 

Prom the word on the reverse, this coin seems to have been struck at the 
same place, lol, in Csesarea Mauritania, as that mentioned by Admiral Smyth, in 

IVLIA AVGVSTI, p. 14i. 

Black brown, fine. 



DRUSUS JUNIOR. 77 

EESTORED COIN. 

Ul. 

Ti . CAESAR . Divi . AVG . F . Avavs . IMP . VIII. The unlaureate head of Tiberius 
to the left. 

p.. IMP . T . CAES . DIVI . VESP . p . AVG . REST. A caduceus ; in the field S. C. 

A Second Brass coin, in fine condition (weight 194| grains). It is a restored 
coin by Titus, whose resemblance in portrait may be seen disguised as Tiberius, 
a worthy for an unworthy personage. 



DRUSUS JUNIOR. 



Nero Claudius Drusus, the only son of Tiberius and Vipsania Agrippina, the 
daughter of Agrippa, was born at Rome, about the year of Rome 741, or b. c. 13. 
He was made quaestor a. d. 12, and elected consul a. d. 14. He was invested 
by his father with the tribunician power a. d. 22, and poisoned the following 
year by his wife Livilla, at the instigation of her paramour Sejanus. Drusus 
was a man of the most depraved and immoral character. 

142. 

DRVsvs . CAESAR . Ti . AV& . p . DIVI . AV& . N. The unlaurcate head of Drusus 
to the left. 

5c. PONTiF . TRiBVN . POTEST . ITER . In the Centre of the field S. C. 

The coins of Drusus are common, although seldom so fine as the present ; it 
was struck in a.d. 22, and records the title of Drusus as pontiff, and also his 
investiture with the tribunicia potestas, by which, for the time he held it, he 
became associated with his father in the sovereignty. 

A black coin in Second Brass and of fine condition, from the cabinet of the 
Rev. E. 0. Brice. Weight 175^ grains. 

143. 

PIETAS. A beautiful female head to the right, with a plain coronet in front 
on the forehead ; a veil is drawn over the back part of the head, descending on 
the shoulders, which are draped ; the word pietas is under the bust. 

|l. DRVSVS . CAESAR . TI . AVGUSTi . p . TR . POT . ITER . In the centre of the field 
S. C. 



78 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

A large Second Brass coin from the Campana collection, unrivalled for beauty, 
of pale powdery white green. Weight 218| grains. 

Numismatic writers usually assign this coin to Livia, although I do not see 
any reason why. It is possible — nay, more than probable — that it was struck by 
the Senate as a complimentary coin to Drusus as a pontiff, his father Tiberius 
being the chief pontiff, to both of whom piety could well be imputed officially. 
I therefore consider the head an ideal head to represent Piety as a devotional 
matter, and veiled according to the custom of the ancients when offering sacrifice ; 
this custom was taken from the Jews, or the most ancient church. 

144. 

PIETAS . in the verge of the field, behind a veiled female head to the right, 
with a plain coronet ; like the preceding coin. 

9.. DRVSvs . CAESAR . Ti . AV&vsTi . p . TR . POT . ITER . In the middle of the 
field S. C. A smaller Second Brass coin, black. 

145. 

No legend. A winged caduceus between two cornucopiae in saltier, each 
having a child's head on the top, vis-a-vis. 

^. DRVSVS . CAESAR . TI . AVG . F . DIVI . AUG . N . PONT . TR . POT . 11 . In the 

middle of the field S. C. 

This coin was struck a. d. 23, and records the two young princes Drusus 
Gemellus and Tiberius Nero, the twin sons of Drusus. The first died in his 
infancy, and the other was put to death by Caligula. 

The present coin, from the cabinet of Mr. Thomas (w^eight 418| grains), is in 
remarkably fine preservation, showing the portraits of the children with very 
great minuteness, which is owing to its being gilded ; and there is no doubt this 
was done soon after it was struck, and thus is coeval with the coin, and renders 
it a unique specimen. It was one of the gems of the Thomas cabinet ; and Mr. 
Cureton, who bought it for me, gave his decided opinion of it being Eoman gilding. 
The tribunician date being marked iT, having the line above, has created 
discussion with antiquaries. Some consider it to be the word iterum abbreviated, 
while others consider the line above the numerals always to indicate increase by 
one ; thus in the present instance it would mean iii ; but there is no historic 
record of Drusus having on his coins a tr . pot . iii. in full. 

From this coin having been originally gilded when it was struck, it is not 
improbable it was for a birthday present to some young Boman lady or gentleman. 



DRUSUS SENIOR. 79 

and so all the sharpness of the dies has been admirably preserved. Romans 
of respectability were accustomed to make birthday presents of new coins. 
Augustus, who was a geologist, and had a collection of fossils, had also a large 
collection of coins of different countries, from which at times he was in the 
habit of making presents. 

146. 

No legend. A winged caducous between two cornucopise in saltier, each 
having a child's head on the top, as on the preceding coin. 

|e. DRVSVS . CAESAR . TI . AVG . F . AVG . N . PONT . TR . POT . 11. In the middle 

of the field S. C. 



DRUSUS SENIOR. 



Nero CLAtrDiTJS Drusus, the brother of the emperor Tiberius, was born in the 
year of Rome 716 ; he was made praetor in the year B.C. 13, and consul with 
T. Crispinus Sulpicianus, B.C. 8 ; soon after which, in the same year, he died from 
the eflfects of a fall from his horse when returning from a military expedition into 
Germany, a. v. c. 745. After his death he was styled Germanicus, from the 
successes he had gained in Germany. A very interesting account of the military 
achievements of Drusus will be found in the 4th volume of Merivale. 

Argelati in reference to the coins of Drusus observes : " Drusi Germ, nummi 
quibus Ti. CI. Imp. nomen aut efiigies inest a Ti. Claudio filio in honorem patris 
Neronis CI. Drusi Germanici cusa sunt, &c. ad renovandum actorum et vic- 
toriarum paternarum memoriam." 

Claudius became emperor a.d. 41 ; his reign ended in a.d. 54 ; but, as the 
coins of Drusus are void of any distinctive mark of his time, the identification of 
any date of mintage is unimportant, the pieces having allusion only to the 
memorable victories of Drusus in Germany in B.C. 8, &c. 

The coins of Drusus are very common, excepting in a good state of pre- 
servation. 

147. 

NERO . CLAUDIUS . DRUSUS . GERMANICUS . IMP. The unlaurcatc head of Drusus 

to the left. 

9>. TI . CLAVDivs . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR . p . IMP.. In the cxcrgum S. C. 
Drusus seated robed and bareheaded on a curule chair placed over a mundus or 
globe, to the left ; his right hand extended holds a branch of laurel ; his feet rest 



80 BECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

on a cuirass, and around him are strewed broken arms and armour of various 
kiads, to signify his victories over the various tribes of German people. 

Argelati describes this reverse rather differently : he says, " Pigura sedens, 
dextra ramum lauri, sinistra sceptrum, ad pedes plura armorum genera." By the 
figura Argelati may possibly have intended to signify Drusus; there is no 
doubt the figura on this and the next coin is unmistakeably Drusus himself. 
Vaillant, in vol. i. p. 11, describes the reverse thus : " Nero Claudius togatus sedet 
in sella curuli, inter armorum. spolia posita ; dextra ramum, sinistra chartam 
involutam." 

Very fine black coin. Weight 473§. 

148. 

NERO . CLAVDivs . DRVsvs . GERMANicvs . IMP. The unlaureate head of Drusus 
to the left. 

$c. Ti . CLAVDIVS . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. S. C. in the excrgum. 
Drusus seated to the left amongst arms, as above dsscribed. 

149. 

TI . CLAVDIVS . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR . p . IMP. The laureate head of the 
emperor Claudius to the right. 

^. NERO . CLAVDIVS . DRUSUS . GERMAN . IMP. ; in the field S. C. An equestrian 
figure placed to the right on a triumphal arch, intended to represent Drusus on a 
prancing horse, with his right hand raised holding a spear, in the act of striking 
a foe. 



ANTONIA. 

Antonia was the daughter of Marcus Antonius and Octavia the sister of 
Augustus ; she was born at Rome about the year of Home B.C. 38. She was 
married to Drusus Senior, whom she survived until the year a.d. 38, when she died, 
as is supposed by poison, her grandson Caligula being privy to her death. 
She was a lady of worthy and excellent character. 

150. 

ANTONIA . AVGVSTA. The head of Antonia to the right, her hair combed down 



ANTONIA. 81 

the side of the face in plain wavy lines, and tied in a short loop-knot at the back 
of the neck, the shoulders draped. 

$1. Ti . CLAVDivs . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR . p . IMP. In the field S. C. A veiled 
priestess standing to the left holding a simpulum in her right hand. 

By Havercamp, Gevartius, and other writers, it has been supposed that this 
figure represents the Emperor Claudius ; but it is evidently a female figure, and 
no doubt intended for Antonia habited as one of the priestesses of Augustus. 
The title of Augusta was bestowed on Antonia by Caligula when he became 
Emperor. 

The present is a fine Second Brass coin from the cabinet of the Duke of 
Devonshire, mounted in a black ivory ring, according to the custom of the Devon- 
shire cabinet. "Weight 2174 grains. 

151. 

ANTONIA . AVGVSTA. The head of Antonia to the right, her hair dressed as on 
the preceding coin. 

|o. TI . CLAVDIVS . CAESAR . AVG . P . M . TR . P . IMP .P.P. In the field S. C. A 
veiled preistess standing to the left with a simpulum in her right hand. 

A Second Brass coin. The legend on the reverse concludes with the title 
P.p.; not so the preceding coin either obverse or reverse. Weight 256f grains. 

152. 

ANTONIA . AVGVSTA. The head of Antonia to the right, as on the preceding 
coin. 

p.. TI . CLAV . CA. 1 

S. C. > inscribed in three lines within a laurel wreath. 

AVG . p . M . TR . p. J 
A coin similar to this is noticed by Vaillant in tom. i. p. 13 ; and by Haver- 
camp in the Christina cabinet. It is a very rare coin, and not in the cabinets of 
the British Museum. It is a Second Brass, from Dr. Bird's sale. 



GERMANICUS. 

Germanicus was the son of Drusus senior and Antonia. He was born B,c. 15, 
and inherited the name of Germanicus from his father, to whom it had been 
decreed in perpetuity by the Senate, as we have noted ante, in Druso. He was 

M 



82 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

adopted by Tiberius and invested with the title of Csesar B.C. 4 ; he took the office 
of Qticestor a.d. 7, and in a.d. 11 he obtained triumphal honours for his suc- 
cesses over the Marsi, Catti, and other northern nations. 

In A.D. 17 he had a still more brilliant triumph for his victories in Germany, 
on which occasion his children were with him in his triumphal chariot, to the great 
delight of the assembled multitudes who witnessed the procession. After a 
brilKant though short career, he died at Epidaphne, near Antioch, supposed to 
have been poisoned by Piso, the Governor of Syria, by the orders of Tiberius, who 
had become jealous of the fame and popularity Germanicus had obtained with 
the people of Rome. 

Tiberius had also taken great offence with Germanicus for having visited 
vEgypt, where he made a tour and inspected all the antiquities and places of 
celebrity in that country. On this occasion, although he travelled as a private 
gentleman and was received every where in that character only, yet Tiberius re- 
proved him for breaking the law made by Augustus by which eveiy person of 
consular, senatorial, or equestrian rank, was strictly prohibited from entering 
Alexandria, the then capital city of jEgypt, without the permission of the emperor. 

Germanicus was married to Agrippina, the daughter of Marcus Agrippa and 
Julia the daughter of Augustus ; she was a woman of tine elevated character. 
They had nine children. 

153. 

GERMANicvs . CAESAR . in two lincs, across the upper part of the field, above a 
triumphal chariot decorated with sculptures and drawn by four horses to the right, 
in which Germanicus is standing holding in his right hand a sceptre surmounted 
by an eagle. 

1^. siGNis . RECEPT . DEViCTis . GERM . across the field in four lines divided into 
two parts by a whole-length figure of Germanicus in full military costume except- 
ing his helmet ; he is standing looking to the left with his right hand raised in 
the attitude of command, in his left hand he holds a sceptre or short staff mounted 
with an eagle. S.C. under the legend on either side of Germanicus. 

A Second Brass bronze-coloured coin in very fine condition ; it was struck a.d. 
17, the date of his triumph for the German victories, which Argelati, in Germanico, 
places to the kalends of July in that year. Merivale, v. 56, says, the triumph was 
celebrated on the 26th May, a.d. 17, a. tj. c. 770. 

This very interesting type records the victories obtained by Germanicus over 
the Germans, whom he defeated in several battles, and ultimately recovered the 



GERMANICUS. 83 

eagles and standards they had taken from the xvii., xviii., and xix. legions under 
Varus, in the year of Rome 762 ; they were thus recovered in the year 768, 
or according to Occo 769, and Argelati 770. This event gave the utmost delight 
and satisfaction to the people of Home ; and Argelati says the eagle held by 
Germanicus on this coin is one of those lost by Varus. 

Tacitus in the jBrst book of his annals, sect. 71, gives a very interesting account 
of the Roman army under Germanicus, when, in the expedition to Germany a.d. 
15, they arrived at the places where Quintilius Varus and his legions were cut 
off, and the groves and forests where the officers and soldiers who were taken 
prisoners were offered up in sacrifice to the German idols. The Roman army col- 
lected the bones of their slaughtered friends and countrymen, and a memorial to 
the memory of the dead was raised with turf, Germanicus with his own hand laying 
the first sod, thus discharging the tribute of respect due to the legions, and sym- 
pathizing with the rest of the army in the loss of their fellow-soldiers and friends. 

We have noticed this tragedy in the coins of Tiberius, ante. 

154. 

GrERMANicvs . CAESAR. Across the upper part of the field in two lines, above 
Germanicus, who is in his chariot drawn by four horses to the right. The chariot 
displays more decoration than on the preceding coin. 

^o. siGNis . BECBPT . DEViCTis . GERM, S.C. under, on each side of the field. 
Germanicus standing with sceptre and eagle in his left hand, his right hand raised 
as already described. 

This figure has been copied on a medal of the Buonaparte series, but that is not 
equal in its drawing to the Roman. On the Erench medal the body is made too 
elongated, which gives the figure a very awkward appearance. 

155. 

GEEMANicvs . CAESAR . Ti . AVG . E . Divi . AVG . N. The unlaureatc head of Ger- 
manicus to the left. 

9). c . CAESAR . AVG . GERMANTCVS . PON . M . TR . POT. In the middle of the 
field S. 0. 

This Second Brass coin, which is in very fine condition, was struck by Caligula 
A.D. 19. Weight 1811 grains. 

156. 

GERMANicvs . CAESAR . TI . AVG . F . DIVI . AVG . N. The unlaureate head of Ger- 
manicus to the right. 

M 2 



84 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

9>. Ti . CLAVDivs . CAESAR . AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. In the middle of 
the field S. C. 

A Second Brass coin in equally fine condition, struck by Claudius, the successor 
of Caligula. Weight 170|: grains. 



AGRIPPINA SENIOR. 



Agrippina, daughter of Marcus Agrippa and Julia the daughter of Augustus, 
was horn in the year B.C. 15. Afterwards she became the wife of Germanicus, and 
after his death she was banished by Tiberius to the island of Pandataria, a.d. 30, 
where she died three years after, being starved to death by order of Tiberius, a.d. 
33, A.U.C.786. 

She was a woman of lofty mind and most excellent character, exemplary in 
every respect as a wife and a mother. 

157. 

AGRIPPINA . M . P. MAT . c . CAESARis . AVGVSTi. The head of Agrippina to 
the right, her hair in curls in front of the face, and a ringlet straying down 
the neck. The hair behind is drawn into a long knot braided with a string of 
pearls. 

|o. MEMORIAE . AGRiPPiNAE across the upper part of the right side of the field, 
and above them s . P . Q . r. A decorated carpentum drawn by two mules to the 
left, the reins held by a figure in front of the carpentum ; under the tilt or roof is 
a seated figure, and another standing in front, as if in the act of presenting some- 
thing to the one who is seated. The roof of the carpentum is divided in compart- 
ments as if tessellated. 

The s . p . Q . R . denote the honours paid to Agrippina by the Senate and people 
of Rome by general assent in the reign of Caligula. 

Gevartius, Havercamp, Pedrusi, and others, all pronounce coins of this type to 
have been struck by Caligula to the memory of his mother. Admiral Smyth, No. 
32 of his Cabinet, attributes it to the emperor Claudius, but I suggest the former 
opinion to be the correct one. The legend on the obverse describes her as being 
mat[er] c[aii] CAESARIS; and Suetonius, in Caligula, sec. 15, says, " Et ea 
amplius matri circenses carpentumque quo in pompa traduceretur ;" and, althouo-h 
Caligula affected to be ashamed of his really noble grandfather Marcus Agrippa, 



AGRIPPINA SENIOR. 85 

yet that is an insufficient argument in support of the assertion that he did not 
strike a coin to the memory of his illustrious yet unfortunate mother. 
Weight, 398-i- grains. 

158. 
AGRiPPiNA . M . F . MAT . c . CAESABis . AVGVSTI. The head of Agrippina to the 
right, her hair braided as on the preceding coin. 

9>. s . p . Q . B, . over MEMORIAE . AGBiPPiNAE . as already described; a carpentum 
drawn by two mules to the left ; each corner of the roof of the carpentum is 
supported by a figure placed on a small plinth ; the side of the carpentum is 
decorated. 

Weight, 433-I- grains. 

159. 

AaniPPiNA . M . F . MAT . c . CAESABIS . AVGVSTI. The head of Agrippiaa to the 
right, as on the preceding coins. 

1^. s . p . Q . B. over MEMORIAE AGRiPPiNAE. A carpentum drawn by tm) mules 
to the left; the tilt or roof, which, with the sides, is much decorated, is supported 
by four small figures, but is differently adorned to either of the other specimens. 

160. 

AGRIPPINA . M . F . MAT . c . CAESABIS . AVGVSTI. The head of Agrippina to the 
right, as on the preceding coins, 

|o s . P . Q . B , over MEMOBIAE . AGBIPPINAE. A richly-ornamented carpentum 
drawn gently by two mules to the left ; the reins are fastened to a ball projecting 
from the front. The tilt or roof is supported by four figures, but the decorations 
are different to either of the other coins. 

By reason of the varieties of the decorations on the carpentums I have retained 
all these coins ; they are all in fine preservation ; the colour of the first is an 
unpatinated drab colour, the others brown and brownish-green. 

161. 

AGRIPPINA . M . E . GEBMANiGi . CAESARis. The head of Agrippina to the right, 
as on the preceding coins. 

|o. Ti.CEAVDivs . CAESAR . AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. In the middle of 
the field S. C. 

This coin was struck by the emperor Claudius to the memory of his unfortunate 
sister-in-law. On this coin it wiU be observed she is designated Marci Eilia, wife 



86 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

of Germanicus Csesar, the name of her son Cains Csesar, alias Caligula, being 
omitted. 

The difference between the coins struck by Caligula to the memory of his un- 
fortunate mother, and of those struck to her memory by Claudius, is simply this : 
the coins of Caligula represent the funeral car or carpentum, while the coins of 
Claudius merely have an inscription and S. C. in the middle of the field on the 
reverse, as the coins we have just described fully show. The coins of Claudius 
designate her as the wife of Germanicus, while the coins of Caligula represent her 
as the mother of the emperor. 



NEED ET DEUSUS C^SARES. 



Nero and Drustjs were two of the sons of Germanicus and Agrippina. Nero 
was bor^ about the year of Ptome 760, or a.d. 7, and was starved to death in the 
island of Pontia, whither he had been exiled by his great-uncle Tiberius, about the 
year of Pv^ome 784, or a.d. 31. 

Drusus was born about the year of Rome 761, or a.d. 8. He was ajDpointed 
prsefect of Pome in a. d. 25, and in a.d. 32 he was starved to death in a dungeon 
under the palace of Tiberius by that emperor's orders. 

162. 

NERO . ET . DRVSvs . CAESARES . The two princos on horseback, galloping by 
the side of each, to the right. 

9>. c . CAESAR . AVG . GBRMANicvs . PON . M . TR . POT . In the middle of the 
field S. C. 

A Second Brass coin struck by Caligula when emperor to the memory of his 
unfortunate brothers. Weight 2051 grains. 

Caligula went to the islands of Pontia and Pandataria for the purpose of 
bringing to Rome the remains of Nero and of his mother Agrippina. 

The legend on the reverse sometimes concludes with the tribunician date and 
p.p. This coin, from not having a tribunician date, would appear to have been 
struck in the first year of Caligula. 

163. 

NERO . ET . DRVSVS . CAESARES . QviNQ . c . V . I . N . c . The heads of the two 
Csesars adverse to each other. 



CAIUS CALIGULA. 87 

1^. Ti . CAESAR . Divi . AVGVSTi . F . AVGVSTvs .P.M. The unlaureate head of 
Tiberius to the left. 

Prom the legends on the obverse and reverse of this coin it is seen to have been 
struck in the reign of Tiberius, and whilst the two princes were in favour with 
that emperor. 

The legend on the obverse shows it to have been struck by the colony of 
Carthagena in Spain, who, in compliment to the emperor Tiberius, had elected his 
grand-nephews to take the office of quinquennalian duumviri of their city. 

This colony was said to have been originally founded by the Carthaginian 
general Asdrubal, in the year of Rome 527, whence its name Nova Carthago. 



CAIUS CALIGULA. 



Caius d:sAR, one of the sons of Germanicus and Agrippina senior. He was 
surnamed Caligula from the caligce or heavy military boots he used to wear when 
a youth, to inure himself to the fatigue of military duty. 

He was born at Antium in the year of Rome 765, a.d. 12, and succeeded his 
great -uncle Tiberius in the year of Home 790, a.d. 37. He was afterwards assas- 
sinated by Cassius Cherea, a tribune of the Prsetorian Guard, in the year of Rome 
794, A.D. 41. 

The conduct of Caligula as emperor was of the most infamous description. At 
the commencement of his reign, being then quite a young man, his whole conduct 
and demeanour was so proper that the Roman people were in ecstasies at the 
exchange from the tyranny of Tiberius ; but after the first year his conduct 
changed, and he became one of the worst men that ever was placed in sovereign 
power. 

His coins are not partictdarly common, more especially in fine condition, for 
after his death his statues and coins were destroyed by order of the senate, so as to 
obliterate all record of such a man. 

164. 

c . CAESAE, . AVG . GERMANicvs . PON . M . TR . POT . The laureate head of Cali- 
gula to the left. 

|c. s . P . Q . R . P . P . OB . GIVES . SERVATOS . inscribed in four lines within an 
oak-wreath, the corona quercea. 



88 BECOE.DS or ROMAN HISTORY. 

The civic crown here represented was awarded to him who preserved the life of 
a citizen. On the present coin the allusion is to th.e recall of certain exiles and 
other acts of clemency which were performed by Caligula at the commencement 
of his reign, and gained him favour with the people. 

Brown, remarkably fine. 

165. 

c . CABSAB . AVG . GBBMANicvs . PON . M . TR . POT . The laureate head of Cali- 
gula to the left. 

9). ADLOCVT . in the upper part of the field, and COH . in the exergum — no 
S. C. The emperor robed, standing to the left on a low suggestum or tribunal ; 
behind him is a curule seat ; his right hand is raised in the attitu,de of address- 
ing five soldiers, who stand before him armed, and bearing amongst them four 
eagles. 

It was usual on the accession of an emperor for him to make an harangue to 
the Praetorian Guards and soldiers. Caligula is in the act of doing so, and, by the 
coin having no tribunician date, it may be considered as representing the oration 
made by him on his accession, the five soldiers with the eagles signifying the 
whole of the military forces. 

Caligula was the first emperor whose allocution or address to the troops on his 
accession was introduced on his coins, a practice which was adopted by other 
emperors. 

Tiberius died on the I7th of the kalends of April in a.d. 37, and Caligula was 
immediately declared emperor, so the present coin was struck in the first year of 
his reign, a.d. 37. 

A very fine coin from the cabinet of the Eev. E. C. Brice. Weight 382 1 



grams. 



166. 



c . CAESAR . AVG . GERMANiovs . PON . M . PR . POT. The laureate head of Caligula 
to the left. 

9>. AGRIPPINA, DRVSILLA, IVLIA. In the exergum S. C. The three sisters of 
Caligula in the characters of Piety, Constancy, and Fortune. Agrippina, as Con- 
stancy, leans her right arm on a short column at her right side, holding a cor- 
nucopise on her right arm ; her left hand rests on the right shoulder of DrusiUa, 
who as Piety holds a sacred patera in her right hand, on the left arm a cornucopiee. 
Julia, as Fortune, holds a rudder in her right hand, on her left arm she bears a 
cornucopiae. 



CAIUS CALIGULA. 89 

Caligula bestowed on his sisters the rank of vestals, with similar privileges, 
although " cum omnibus sororibus suis stupri consuetudinem fecit." Drusilla, the 
favourite, was publicly espoused by him after her having had two husbands ; and, 
upon her death, which occurred a.d. 38, he caused her to be deified, and one 
Livius Geminus swore that he saw her soul taken into Heaven and there con- 
versing with the gods. 

Agrippina and Julia were each twice married, but afterwards engaged in 
debaucheries with their brother, who subsequently banished them, and seized al^ 
their property. On the accession of Claudius they were recalled from their exile, 
but Julia, afterwards falling under the displeasure of Messalina, the first wife of 
Claudius, was again banished, and subsequently put to death by her order. 

On the death of Messalina, Agrippina became the wife of Claudius, who was 
her uncle, and who she subsequently poisoned to make room for her son Nero. 

167. 

c . CAESAR . AVG- . GERMANicvs . PON . M . TB . POT. The unlaureate head of 
Caligula to the left. 

|l>. VESTA . over a veiled female figure seated to the left on a square high- 
backed chair or throne much ornamented in every part ; her right hand extended 
holds a patera, in her left hand she has the hasta jjura. S. C. on either side of 
the field. 

This coin of Caligula, with the type of Vesta sedent, is the first coin mentioned 
by Argelati as bearing this type, a type we have already noticed in Augusto, ante ; 
which latter coin does not appear to have been then known to Argelati. 

The present is a Second Brass black coin in most perfect condition. 

168. 

c . CAESAB . AVG . GEBMANicvs . TR . POT. A sedent female figure to the left. 
The head veiled in the manner of pietas before noted. No. 143 ; her right hand 
extended holds the sacred patera, her left elbow rests on the head of a small figure 
of a robed female standing on a base at the side of the chair, with one hand on the 
bosom, the other at the side, intended as an ornamental support for the left arm, 
but seems to be quite distinct from the chair, which is perfect without the figure. 
The word pietas is in the exergum. 

;p,. Divo AVG . with S. C. under. Placed on either side of the front of a fine 

square temple of six columns decorated with garlands suspended among the 
columns ; the pediment and tympanum are much ornamented Avith statues. In 
front of the temple is an altar, by which the emperor is standing habited in pontifical 

N 



90 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

robes, holding in his right hand a patera to receive the blood of a steer which is 
held for sacrifice by a victimarius ; behind the emperor is an attendant, who also 
holds in his left hand a patera. 

This coin was struck in the first year of Caligula, the tr . pot . being without a 
number. By the inscription Divo . avg . on the reverse, it denotes the consecration 
of the temple erected to Augustus which was commenced by Tiberius, or, according 
to some writers, by Livia, who died before its completion, and the dedication here 
recorded was performed by Caligula in the first year of his reign. 

On examining the coins of Antoninus Pius, it will be seen that the Temple of 
Augustus, having fallen into a dilapidated state, was repaired by Antoninus, which 
gave occasion to the coin with the legend on the reverse templvm . [sometimes 

AEDES] DIVI . AVG . REST. 

Weight 4891 grains. 

169. 

c . CAESAR DIVI . AVG . PRON . AVG . p . M . TR . p . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of 
Caligula to the left. 

9'- ADLOCVT . in the upper part of the field, and COH. in the exergum. The 
Emperor in his robes standing to the left in front of a curule seat placed on a low 
tribunal, his right hand raised as addressing five soldiers before him bearing four 
eagles. No S. C. Prom the tr . pot . iii . on the obverse of this coin, it appears to 
have been struck a.d. 40, on occasion of Caligula's proposed expedition to Britain. 

The first allocution already noticed was made on his accession, the present 
bearing the third year of tribunician date, being the year that he was in Gaul, and 
purposed making a descent on Britain. It therefore records his address to the 
troops, as related by Tacitus, "for gathering the spoils of the conquered ocean," 
as he vauntingly termed the ridiculous exhibition ; for he did not venture his 
person or troops beyond the shores of Gaul, where by his orders the soldiers to the 
sound of trampets collected in their helmets the shells lying on the beach in token 
of a victory, and he then made them a pompous harangue extolling their bravery. 
After which he had the folly to write letters to the Senate detailing his imaginary 
prowess, and binding his letters with laurel, as usual with generals who had 
gained a signal victory, he demanded a triumph, which of course he did not get. 

Weight 416| grains. 

170. 

c . CAESAR . DIVI . AVG . PRON . AVG . p . M . TR . p . iiii .P.P. A female figure 
seated to the left, her head veiled ; her right hand extended holds a patera, her left 
arm rests on the head of a small female figure at her left side, but apparentlv 



CAIUS CALIGULA. 91 

distinct from the chair, and is also a different sort of figure to that on the pre- 
ceding coin of this type. In the exergum pietas. 

^. Divo . AVG . S. C - across the field, as on the former coin. 

A temple of six columns, with garlands suspended in front, with a sacrifice 
going on in the presence of the emperor, as already described on the former coin. 

This coin was struck in a.d. 41, in the last year of Caligula, who was killed in 
the month of February in that year. It is a repetition of the type of the dedica- 
tion of the Temple of Augustus we have already noticed. 

The sedent figure on the obverse of these coins is usually considered as repre- 
senting the emperor in pontifical robes, but on the coins I have here described the 
bosom of the figure is decidedly that of a female, and I consider it to be a repre- 
tation of the goddess pietas, and emblematic of the piety of the emperor ; for, 
being the Pontifex Maximus, he was pious mrtute officii. 

Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. 1. ii. c. 7, says that in the last year of Caligula, a.d. 41, 
Pontius Pilate, the Governor of Judsea, temp. Tiberii, and who had been banished 
to Lyons [Merivale, vol. v. p. 349, says he was sent to Vienna], killed himself 
there, it then being eight years from the Crucifixion. Josephus, lib. iii. relates 
the same. Pilate was appointed governor of Judsea about the middle of the 
reign of Tiberius. 

Weight 434 grains. 

171. 

c . CAESAE, . Divi . AVG - PKON . AVG . p . M . TR . p . iiii .P.P. The laureate head 
of Caligula to the left. 

|c. ADLOCVT . in the upper part of the field, and coh. in the exergum. No S. C. 
The emperor in his robes standing to the left on a low suggestmn ; behind him is a 
curule seat ; his right hand is raised, addressing five soldiers, who stand before 
him, bearing four eagles ; they wear their swords on their right side, and the first 
carries a shield on which there is the representation of a fulmen. 

This allocutio is a repetition of the type of tr . p . iii . on occasion of the 
soldiers gathering up the shells on the sea-shore of Gaul when Cahgula had an 
idea of crossing over to Britain. 

PROVINCIAL. 

172. 

c . CAES . AVG . GERMANicvs . IMP . reading from the left. The laureate head of 
Caligula to the left. 

IJD. LioiNiANO . ET . GEBMANO . fi . In the cxergum VIP . 

N 2 



92 * KECOBDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

Three military standards, the middle one heing a legionary eagle ; the outer 
ones are with hands or manipuU. cc. on one side of the eagle staff, A. on the 
other. 

This is a coin of the colony Csesarea Augusta, which we have noticed among 
the provincial coins of Augustus. The present coin is described by Vaillant in his 
book on the colonial coins, as " inter rarissimos coUocandus ;" it bears the names 
of Licinianus and Germanus, then being the Duumviri of the colony. 

It would seem that the office of Duumvir was at times an object of competi- 
tion among the colonists, for which there was much canvassing for votes by the 
competitors and their friends. An instance of this was lately discovered at Pom- 
peii, as appears by a notice in the Illustrated News of the 10th March, 1855 — 

" In an establishment of ancient baths discovered some time since at Pompeii, 
in the street called the Odeon, there have been lately uncovered several grated 
windows looking into the street, and a door flanked by two pilasters, above 
which is painted this inscription — 

P . TVR . iiv . V . B . o . V . p . 

Publium Purium Duumvirum, virum bonum, oro vos faciatis. I beg of you to 
name as Duumvir Publius Purius, an honest man." 

Tliis is evidently a placard made for the time of an election for Duumvir of the 
town of Pompeii. 



CLAUDIUS. 

Tiberius Claudius Drusus Germanicus, the son of Drusus senior and An- 
tonia, was born at Lyons in the year B.C. 10. Upon the death of C. Caligula 
in a.d. 41 he was raised to the empire by the soldiers, and afterwards confirmed 
as emperor by the Senate. He was subsequently poisoned by his wife Agrippina 
junior, the sister of Caligula and mother of Nero, a.d. 54. Claudius was the first 
emperor who on his accession made a donation to the soldiers, and this he did from 
fear and to save his life ; but it was a pernicious example that in after-times was 
productive of the most serious evils to the welfare of the empire, and eventually 
caused the sovereignty to be entirely at the disposal of the military, who became 
always ready to sell to the highest bidder. 

Claudius has generally been reckoned by historians as a man of very weak 
intellect and fond of table indulgences. Be that as it may, although he mio-ht 
not have possessed great physical power or courage, yet he possessed considerable 



CLAUDIUS. 93 

thought and diligence. The port of Ostia bears testimony to this view of his 
character. Besides these works, although he might he so called a dull man, yet 
he was learned. He added three letters to the Roman alphabet. He also wrote 
annals of the empire, embracing a considerable period, and to which Tacitus and 
other Roman historians are said to have been indebted for many circumstances 
they have recorded, whereby their works are now the more valuable from the 
annals of Claudius having been lost. 

173. 

Ti . CLAVDivs . CAESAU . AVG . p . M . TR . p . The laureate head of Claudius to 



the right. In the field opposite to the face is a countermark | p . n . ob . ( *. £>. 
Populi Romani Oblatio. 

9>. EX . s . . OB . GIVES . SERVATOS . inscribed in four lines, within an oak 
wreath. 

This coin was struck in a.d. 41, the first year of Claudius, when he suppressed 
the law of lese-majesty, which had been rigorously enforced by Tiberius and 
Caligula — recalled the exiles — relieved the people of many taxes — restored estates 
which had been unjustly seized by his predecessors — and did other benevolent 
acts at the commencement of his reign, and was therefore counted worthy of the 
civic wreath. 

Weight 403§ grains. 

174. 

TI . ciAVDivs . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR . p . PM . p . p . p . The laureate head of 
Claudius to the right. 

9'. EX . s . c . pp . OB . GIVES . SERVATOS . in four lines, inscribed within an oak- 
wreath. 

This coin and the next are peculiar in respect of having the p . p . or title of 
Pater Patriae, both on the obverse and the reverse, and they are both struck from 
the same dies, which is the reason for my retaining both. 

Coins struck from the same pair of dies are scarce and difficult to find, but yet 
are more frequent than is generally supposed. 

Weight 467 grains. 

175. 

TI . CLAVDIVS . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate head of 
Claudius to the right. 

Jo. EX . s . c . P . P . OB . GIVES . SERVATOS . in four lines, inscribed within an oak 
wreath. 

This and the preceding coin were struck in a.d. 41, in commemoration of the 



94 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

events already noticed ; on these two coins we have the title p.p. Pater Patriae, 
mentioned twice, for the Senate and people of Rome were overjoyed with the 
bounties of Claudius, and would have bestowed on him all the honours which 
had been usually conferred on his predecessors, but which he declined, and for- 
bade them erecting temples or altars to him. The significant and estimable 
title of Pater Patriae seems however to have been retained on the coins by order 
of the Senate, as well as the honourable badge of the civic wreath. 

Weight 406 grains. 

^ 176. 

Ti . CLAVDivs . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR . p . IMP . P. P. The laureate head of 
Claudius to the right. 

5t. SPES . AVGVSTA . in the esergum S. 0. Hope gradient to the left ; her right 
hand extended holds a flower; with her left hand she holds up her robes to 
enable her to walk more freely. 

This coin was also struck at the commencement of the reign of Claudius, 
and expresses the satisfaction of the Roman people at his benevolent acts, and 
their hope for his continuance in the same path. 

Claudius is the first emperor on whose coins Hope appears thus represented. 

Chocolate brown, very fine. Weight 501:|: grains. 

177. 

TI . ciiAVDivs . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR. p . IMP .P.P. The unlaureate head of 
Claudius to the right. 

9^. LiBERTAS . AVGVSTA . in the field S. C. Liberty, as a robed female, standing 
looking to the left, having a pileus in her right hand, the rudis in her left. 

This and the next two coins are in Second Brass ; they are very rarely, if at 
all, to be found in Pirst Brass ; they were struck a. d. 41. The type on the 
present coin denotes the change of circumstances with the Roman people under 
Claudius, as slaves who had received their manumission and liberty from him, 
as compared with what their condition had been under Tiberius and Caligula. 

178. 

Ti . CLAVDivs . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The uulaureatc head of 
Claudius to the right. 

^. No legend. S. C. in the field. A figure of Minerva Jaculatrix armed, 
striding to the right, holding her spear and shield in a threatening attitude. Her 
helmet is Greek, and crested, and has the peculiar Greek vizor, which seems to be 
drawn down over the upper part of the face. 

Weight 1911 OTains. 



CLAUDIUS. 95 

179. 

Ti . CLAVDivs . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR . IMP .P.P. The unlaureate head of 
Claudius to the left. 

9>. CONSTANTIAE . AVGVSTi . in the field S. 0. The elegant figure of an armed 
female warrior standing full front looking to the left, holding a spear in her left 
hand ; her helmet is open and finely crested ; a short military cloak is pendant 
from her shoulders behind, and held by a clasp or fibula on the shoulder in front. 

Weight 1761 grains. 

180. 

Ti . ciiAVDivs . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The unlaureate head of 
Claudius to the left. 

|o. CERES . AVGVSTA . in the exergum S. C. Ceres robed and seated to the left 
on a throne ; her right hand extended holds some ears of corn, a long torch lighted 
lies across her lap. 

This also is a Second Brass coin, and from its want of a tribunician date 
appears to have been struck in a.d. 41, the first year of Claudius. It is rather 
a scarce coin, especially in good preservation. 

181. 

TI . CLAVDius . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR . p . IMP. The laureate head of Claudius 
to the right. 

|o. NERO . CLAVDIVS . DRVSVS . AVG . GERMAN . IMP. In the field S. C. An eques- 
trian figure placed to the right on a triumphal arch. A trophy of arms is at each 
corner of the building, and on either side of the equestrian figure, which is 
intended to represent Drusus senior, the father of the Emperor Claudius. The 
horse is in a prancing attitude, and Drusus appears with his right hand raised 
brandishing a spear, as against an enemy. 

This coin records the triumphal arch which was erected by Claudius to com- 
memorate the victories and martial achievements of his father, Drusus senior. 
The precise period of the coin's mintage cannot be well ascertained, for want of a 
consular or tribunician date. This circumstance would lead one to consider the 
arch to have been erected in the early part of the reign of Claudius, and the coin 
to have been struck soon after it was completed. 

The arch of Drusus is mentioned by Suetonius, in Claudio, sect. i. It still 
exists at Rome near to the Porta San Sebastiano. 

Weight 4261 grains. 

182. 

TI . CLAVDIVS . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR . p . IMP .PP. The laureate head of 
Claudius to the right. 



96 



KECOEDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 



|c. NERO . CLAVDIVS . DRVSVS . AVG . GERMAN . IMP. In tlie field S. 0. An 
equestrian figure standing on an arcli to the right, as on the preceding coin. The 
title p . P appears on the obverse, but it is not used on the preceding coin. 



Weight 454f grains. 




reading from the left. 



The 



TI . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . P . M . TR . P . VI . IMP 

laureate head of Clau.dius to the right. 

9.. DE . BRiTANN . On the frlcze across the front of a triumphal arch, having 
trophies of arms at each corner of the platform above the arch, and between which 
is an equestrian figure gradient gently to the left. 

The present coin is a denarius, in very good preservation (weight 56|- grains), 
from the cabinet of the Cavalier Campana, and possesses very great interest for 
the historian of Britain, from the circumstance of it having been struck to record 
the victories gained in this island under Aulus Plautius, who was the commander 
of the Roman forces in Britain at the early part of the reign of Claudius. 

In the year of Pv-ome 796, a.d. 43, Claudius went himself to Britain, leaving 
Vitellius, his colleague in the consulship, in charge of the city ; he proceeded by 
the route of Ostia and Massilia (Marseilles), attended by a retinue of oflicers and 
soldiers. His resolution was tried by adverse winds, which twice drove him back, 
not without peril, from the shores of Gaul. When he at last landed, his course 
was directed partly along the military roads and partly by the convenient channels 
of the navigable rivers, until he reached the coasts of the British sea. At Gesso- 
riacum (Boulogne) he embarked for the opposite shores of Cantium, and speedily 
reached the Ptoman legions in their encampment beyond the Thames. The 
soldiers, long held in the leash in expectation of his arrival, were eager to spring 
on the foe. With the emperor himself at their head, a spectacle not beheld since 
the days of Julius Csesar, they traversed the level plains of the Trinobantes, which 
afforded no defensible position until the natives were compelled to stand at bay 
l)efore the stockades which encircled their capital Camulodunum. But the fate 
of the capital was decided by the issue of the encounter which took place before 
it. Tlie Trinobantes were routed ; they surrendered their city, and with it their 
national freedom and independence. The victory was complete, the subjection of 



CLAUDIUS. 97 

the enemy assured ; within sixteen days from his landing in Britain, Claudius 
had broken a powerful kingdom, and accomplished a substantial conquest. He 
left it to Aulus Plautius to secure by the usual methods the fruits of this signal 
success, and returned himself immediately to Rome, from which he had not been 
absent more than six months altogether. 

Claudius had gained a victory— his soldiers had hailed him repeatedly in the 
short space of sixteen days with the title of imperatoe. The high estimation in 
which the exploits of Claudius were held appears from the inscription (the 
deficiencies in which are imperfectly and conjecturally supplied) upon his arch of 
triumph : 

* TI . CLAVDIO . Drusi F. Casari* 
AVGVSTO . Germanico Pio 
PONTIFICI . Max. Trib. Pot. ix. 
COS . V . IMperatori xvi. Pat. Patria; 
SENATVS . POpiilusque Rom. quod 
EEGES . BEITanniEe perduelles sine 
VLLA . lACTVra celeriter ceperit 
GENTESQ. extremarum Oroadum 
PEIMVS . INDICIO . facto E. imperio adjecerit 

(Merivale, vol. vi. p. 26.) 

In the volume of the second annual Congress of the British Archseological 
Association, p. 186, there is a paper on this inscription, by the Bev. Beale Poste, 
and the inscription is given in the volume in the following manner : 

TI . CLAVDIO . CAES. 

AVGVSTO 

PONTIFICI . M . TR . P . XI. 

COS . V . IMP . XXII .P.P. 

SENATVS . POPVLVS . Q . B . QVOD 

EEGES . BRITANNIAE . ABSQ. 

VLLA . lACTVRA . DOMVERIT. 

GENTESQ VE . EXTIMAS . OBBIS 

PEIMVS . INDICIONEM . SVBEGERIT. 

My early and much respected friend Charles Boach Smith, in his excellent 
work CoUectanea Antiqua, vol. v. 1858, gives a very interesting letter from 
Mr. Pairholt, then being at Bome, with remarks on the remaining antiqu.ities in 
the city ; and in reference to the stone with this inscription he says : 



* The letters in capitals are still legible upon the arch, and those in small type are introduced to show 
what time and the elements have destroyed. 

O 



98 



EECOBDS OF BOMAN HISTOEY. 



" In the wall of the court-yard of the Barberini Palace is inserted a slab with 
an inscription commemorating the conquest of Britain by Claudius in the following 
words :* 



Tl<XiW[DIO^Gi£S 

PONtlFIGMAXTRPIX 

GOS^'IMPkXVPP^P^ 

SENATVSPqPYL-QtBcQyOD 

A7LLAIACT\}RA;D0MEKIT 

ESQVE13ATIBARA.S 
PKIMfS'INDKlIOSVBGERlT 



'< 



I 



25^^^^^^ 



" It was found in a.d. 1461 near the Sciarra Palace, in the Corso, where the 
arch is supposed to have stood ; the inscription is deeply cut in the marble for 
the reception of bronze letters, and the holes by which they were fastened can 
be detected in the hollows of each letter. Only one haK of the inscription 
is ancient (the first half of each line throughout) and that is again cut hori- 
zontally through the inscription, so that it is really two long slabs conjoined. 
The remainder is a conjectural restoration formed in stucco. The whole is 
surrounded with a foliated border. The Eev. Beale Poste, in his Britannic 
Besearches, has devoted several pages to a disquisition on this important inscrip- 
tion, and a consideration of the various comments upon, and new readings of, the 
missing half offered by various scholars. It is evident that much confusion might 
have been spared had a drawing of the stone been accessible ; for it does not 
appear to have been clear to them all whether the first or the second half of the 
stone is original, or whether the original portion is not lost, and the whole re-cut ; 
and the conclusion is arrived at '■that it seems to he impossible,' —that it is 
(as it really is) a closely-packed square inscription. In Mr. Hogg's essay in 
The Transactions of the Boyal Society of Literature, vol. iii. he has correctly 
described it ; but some of the conjectural readings of the latter half, given by him 
and other writers, it will be seen, cannot be admissible ; they are too verbose, 
and could not be comprised in the space allowable ; they are also constructed 
with an idea that the lines are irregular in a great degree, which is also not the 



* The woodcut, engraved by Mr. Pairholt from the stone itself, has been kindly lent me by Mr. Fairholt 
and Mr. Koach Smith. 



CLAUDIUS. 99 

case. The mark over the v in line four has been omitted by all writers. This 
is not of much consequence ; but the very important letter which commences 
the word Barbaras, in the eighth line, cannot be certainly pronounced a b, and 
allows the new reading which Mr. Poste suggests {vide Mr. Beale Poste's inscrip- 
tion, p. 97.) But then it must be taken into consideration that Mr. Poste's 
ingenious restoration requires eleven letters to follow the doubtful one in the 
eighth line, while the restoration at Eome has only seven, which the space seems 
to warrant." 

The width of the slab bearing this inscription is eighteen feet ; and, examining 
the words in the copy given by Mr. Pairholt from the inscription itself as it now 
is, and the inscription from Merivale, and from Mr. Beale Poste's paper, the 
preference must be given to the words of Mr. Pairholt's ; for in its words and 
their meaning the copy by Mr. Pairholt certainly shows the object of the 
inscription, and for which the arch was erected, with greater certainty and 
correctness of appropriation than can be traced through the words of either of the 
others. Por what connective signification have the words extimas orbis or extre- 
marwm Orcadum with the exploits of Claudius in Britain, who was only here 
sixteen days, and advanced no further into the country than to Camulodunum ; 
but examine the words in the inscription given by Mr. Pairholt, and the whole 
subject and object of the arch falls into its place at once in connected significa- 
tion and appropriation. 

But the most important event to Britain which occurred in the time of 
Claudius was the defeat and capture of the British prince and chieftain 
Caractacus, one of the sons of the great Cunobelin, who held Camulodunum 
against Claudius when he was in Britain. 

In the year of Rome 800, Aulus Plautius was recalled from Britain to Borne 
to enjoy the rewards of his great services. Claudius himself had been saluted by 
the Senate with the title of beitannicvs on his return to Pome, although we 
have no numismatic record ; it is, however, the name by which his only son is 
known among historians. 

On the return of Aulus Plautius, Ostorius Scapula went to Britain and took 
the command of the legions. Por nine years Caractacus, at the head of the 
independent Britons, had kept the invaders in check : the genius of this patriot 
chief, the first of our national heroes, may be estimated not from victories, of 
which the Romans have left us no account, but from the length of his gallant 
resistance, and the magnitude of the operations it was necessary to direct against 
him. Mr. Merivale, in his History, vol. vi. 21, gives a very long and interesting 

o2 



100 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

account of the struggle between Caractacus and Ostorius ; and, as he appears to 
have personally viewed at some time the scenes of the last encounter of the Briton 
with the Eoman, we must refer to his excellent work for the full details. In 
the end Caractacus, being defeated, fled for refuge to Cartismandua, the Queen 
of the Brigantes, who betrayed him to the Romans. 

Caractacus, whose fame had preceded him, was sent to Rome with his wife 
and family, who were also prisoners. When there, they were brought before 
the Emperor on an appointed day, when Claudius appeared on a tribunal in all the 
pomp of Roman majesty, his wife Agrippina in grand apparel seated by his side, 
the eagles and ensigns of Rome placed about them with the train of officers, 
military and civil, thus to strike terror, as it were, into the British hero. 

On this occasion Caractacus made to Claudius that memorable speech recorded 
by Tacitus, the concluding words of which are truly noble and dignified, and 
must have produced a considerable sensation amongst the audience, accus- 
tomed on such occasions to hear only the exclamations of abject grief, and 
must have inspired the emperor and all who heard him with a profound respect 
for so manly a chieftain. " I am now in your power, — if you are bent on 
vengeance, execute your purpose, the bloody scene will soon be over, and the 
name of Caractacus will sink into oblivion ; — preserve my life, and I shall be to 
late posterity a monument of Roman clemency !" Claudius, struck with the 
conduct and bearing of Caractacus, granted life and liberty to him, and also to his 
wife, his daughter, and his brother. They were enrolled among the clients of the 
Claudian house, and indulgence may be challenged for the pleasing conjecture 
that " Claudia, the foreigner, the offspring of the painted Britons," whose charms 
and genius are celebrated by Martial, was actually the child of the hero Caractacus, 
named Claudia after admission to the Claudia gens. — Martialis, ii. 54; iv. 13. 
Tacitus places this event in the year of Rome 803, a.d. 50. 

A.D, It will be observed that the tribunician date on this coin is vi. 

1st Jan. 42 '. 2 Considering the cross line above the figures to designate i, this coin 

.! 43 . 3 vvould then have been struck in the seventh year of Claudius and 

44 . 4 . 

"^ 45 . 5 A.D. 47 ; it therefore cannot have reference to any other victories 

" 4^ ' 7 ^'^^^^ those of Claudius and Aulus Plautius, or of Ostorius Scapula 

", 48 . 8 before the defeat and capture of Caractacus, and the continued 

" g^ • ^^^ success which accrued to the Roman arms up to that year 47 ; for, 

" 51 . 11 as we have seen, Caligula was killed in Eebruary a.d. 41. The first 

" 53 ; 13 tribunician date would then begin to his successor and end 31 

diedOct 54 . 14 December in a.d. 41. The second, commencing on the first of 



CLAUDIUS. 101 

January 42, would also end 31 December 42, and so on regularly. This would 
place the mintage of the present coin in a.d. 47, supposing the cross line to 
represent 1, and 46 if it does not, the defeat of Caractacus being in a.d. 50, and it 
is not probable this coin would be struck before the arch was erected or until it had 
been erected. 

This much is said regarding the defeat of Caractacus because the arch on this 
coin is generally supposed to have been erected to record that event, from which 
opinion I decidedly differ. 

Argelati, in Claudio, places the triumph decreed to Claudius in a.d. 44, but gives 
no coin with the triumphal arch de . bbitannis . until a.d. 46, which makes two years 
interval between the timfe of celebrating the triumph and the erection of the arch, 
and he places the victory gained by Ostorius over Caractacus in a.d. 50, which also 
agrees with Tacitus, lib. xii., whose date, "anno urbis conditae 803,"agrees with 
a.d. 50. By these calculations the tribunician dates I have described come perfectly 
in order ; but whether the tribunician date on this coin is really vi. or vii. is imma- 
terial to my purpose, for it is perfectly evident that, the defeat of Caractacus being 
in A.D. 50, neither the arch or this coin have any reference to that event. 

Ex Suetonio a Pitisco in Claudio c. xvii. in notis, par. 18 : " Senatus rebus 
gestis cognitis Britannicum ilium nominaverunt, illi triumphum concesserunt, 
ludos annuos et arcum tropsea ferentem in urbe aliumque in Gallia (unde in 
Britanniam trajecerat) decreverunt." Plin. xxxiii. 3. "Claudius, cum de Britannia 
triumpharet, inter coronas aureas, unam vii. pondo habuit quam contulerat 
Hispania citerior, alteram ix. quam Gallia comata, sicut titulus indicavit." 
"Templum in Britannia illi constitutum fuit." Seneca, Apocol. p. 852. This 
temple is also mentioned in Tacitus, Ann. xiv. 31-5 : " Ad hoc templum D. Claudio 
constitutum quasi arx seternse dominationis adspiciebatur, delectique sacerdotes 
specie religionis omnes fortunas efFundebant." Pitiscus also in his Lexicon, 
verbo Templum, mentions a temple erected and dedicated to Claudius at 
Camulodanum. 

The first coin of Claudius mentioned by Occo with the arch de • bkitan. is an 
aureus, which he places a.d. 47. tr . p . vi., and he refers to another aureus a.d. 50 
TR . P . IX. It is therefore evident from the various dates of these coins represent- 
ing the arch that the type, being one of conquest, was a favourite type, and struck 
in different years of Claudius, commencing a.d. 44 up to a.d. 50, but could by no 
means allude to the victory over Caractacus, and could only refer to one triumph 
for Britain, which we have seen took place in a.d. 44, according to Argelati. 

In the Numismatic Journal for 1836, vol. i. p. 272, it is mentioned that the 



102 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

silver coins of Claudius de . britan . bear the legend on the reverse trie . pot , ix . 
cos . V . IMP . XVI . thus making it appear that the triumph decreed by the Senate 
to Claudius was while the emperor held the tribunician power for the ninth time. In 
fact the writer says, "thus showing that the triumph decreed by the Senate to 
Claudius was while that emperor held the tribunician power for the ninth, and not 
the eleventh, time, as Mr. Hogg supposes." This extract is from the letter of my 
friend Mr. J. Y. Akerman, in discussing the paper on the Barberini inscrijDtion 
read by Mr. Hogg before the E-oyal Society. I need hardly say I consider my 
preceding remarks and dates clearly show both these gentlemen to be wrong in 
their attribution of the date of the triumph. 

Tacitus, Ann. xiii. 32. 2, says, " Pomponia Grsecina, insignis foemina, Plautio, 
qui ovaus se de Britanniis retulit, nupta :" and Suetonius, in Clcmdio, xxiv. 8, says, 
" Aulo Plautio etiam ovationem decrevit." Thus Claudius on his return from 
Britain was decreed a triumphal procession, and Aulus Plautius on his return to 
Borne had an ovation, a minor sort of triumph. 

Since writing these notes, I have read a paper in the " Gentleman's Magazine " 
for October 1858, by Dr. Bell, on the Barberini inscription. I see no reason what- 
ever in all that Dr. Bell states to make any alteration in what I have written. 
There is no record whatever of Claudius having extended the walls of Borne so as 
to entitle him to an arch, as insinuated in the first paragraph. There is no historic 
record whatever of Claudius having had two triumphs, as Dr. Bell asserts in his 
second and third paragraphs ; and there is no historic record of the arches of 
Drusus, Titus, Trajan, Severus, Constantine, or any other such arch having been 
erected for any other purpose than to celebrate victories gained ; even the arch of 
Nero was for supposed literary victories. I may boldly assert, for there is no 
evidence to the contrary, that there is no record of Claudius having celebrated two 
triumphs. I am still of opinion, after examining several versions of the inscrip- 
tion, that Mr. Pairholt's copy, as presented by my friend Boach Smith in his 
Collectanea Antiqua, vol. v. is correct, and is of that character as should, in the 
absence of any further and better proof, be considered as final and conclusive on the 
question of the wording and attribution of this Barberini inscription. 

184. 

Ti . CLAVD . CAESAR . AV& . GERM .P.M. TRIE . POT .P.P. The laureate head of 
Claudius to the right. 

!^. AGRIPPINAE . AVGVSTAE. The head of Agrippina junior to the right — the 
wife of Claudius her uncle, and thus became saluted with the title of avgvsta • 



AGEIPPINA JUNIOK. 103 

her head is encircled with a wreath, but whether ears of corn or thin narrow laurel 
leaves I am uncertain. 

The TEIB . POT . having no date shews this coin was struck in a.d. 41, the first 
year of Claudius. It is an aureus, in fine condition. 

EESTOEED COINS. 

185. 

Ti . CLAVDivs . CAESAB, . AVG . p . M . TE, . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate head of 
Claudius to the right. 

It. IMP . T . VESP . . . REST . In the field S. 0. Hope gradient to the left in the 
manner already described, ante, No. 176. 

A restored coin, minted by the emperor Titus; it is a rare coin. Weight 
3541 grains, 

Titus and his father Vespasianus, both of whom subsequently became emperors, 
were, in the reign of Claudius, generals in command in Britain under Aulus 
Plautius. The Isle of Wight, then called Vectis, was taken possession of by 
Vespasian, who held a command in Britain at the time of the visit of Claudius. 

186. 

TI . CLAVDIVS . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The unlaurcate head of 
Claudius to the right. 

Jd. imp . T . VESP . AVG- . REST. In the exergum S. C. Ceres seated to the left, 
holding ears of corn iu her right hand, a long lighted torch placed across her lap, 
and supported by her left hand. 

A very fine Second Brass coin, having the sHver eagle at the back of the head 
on the obverse, showing it has once been in the cabinet of the Duke of Modena. 



AGRIPPINA JUNIOR 



Julia Agrippina, daughter of Agrippina senior and Germanicus, was born in a 
town on the Bhine, afterwards called Colonia Agrippinensis, now the city of 
Cologne, A.D. 16. She was married at thirteen years of age to Cnseus Domitius 
Ahenobarbus, a man of cruel and debauched character, who died a.d. 30, leaving 
one son by her, who became the emperor Nero. Her incestuous intercourse with 
her brother Caligula, and her promiscuous adulteries, were notorious ; but her 



204 EECOEDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

intimacy with Lepidus, tlie son of Julia the grand- daughter of Augustus, brought 
upon her the vengeance of Caligula, who put Lepidus to death and banished 

Agrippina. 

Upon the accession of her uncle, Claudius, in ad. 41, she was recalled, and 
married Orispus Passienus, an orator, whom she soon made away with, and possessed 
herself of his wealth. 

After the death of Messalina, she contrived to inveigle the emperor Claudius 
into a marriage in a.d. 49, and, although he was her uncle as well as her husband, 
yet she caused him to be poisoned to make room for her son Nero, who then 
became emperor. 

Continuing her career of ambition, crime, and profligacy, she at last became so 
tyrannical and overbearing with Nero, that he caused her to be put to death at 
Baise, a.d. 59. 

There are no Latin coins in brass of Agrippina, beyond one in Large Brass 
mentioned by Mionnet, but it is unique. There are gold and silver coins of the 
Eoman mint, but they are generally scarce in good preservation. 

187. 

AFPinniNA SGBASTH, in the field y The head of Agrippina to the right, the 
front of her hair entwined with ivy -leaves, and the back hair fastened in a long 
knot drooped on to the shoulders, the bosom draped. 

NEP . KAAY . KAi . SEBA2. The laureate head of Nero to the right. 

An Alexandrian Greek coin, in fine condition (weight 196^ grains), from the 
cabinet of Mr. Borrell of Smyrna ; it is struck in billon as a substitute for silver. 
It was usual to mark on the Alexandrian coins the year of their mintage ; from 
the mark on the obverse being the third letter of the Greek alphabet, r, is signified 
that the present coin was struck in the third year of the reign of Nero, but it is 
not easy to say what year of our Lord is intended by the J^Igyptian year, although 
by the Eoman computation it would be a.d, 56, calculating by tribunician dates 
from the death of Claudius in October, a.d. 54. 

The Roman new year commenced on the first day of January. The Mgj-ptian 
year had three commencements, — the agricultural commencement, the hierophant 
commencement, and the vulgar period. I suspect, from seeing the Greek letters 
in the field, that the chronologic calculation may have been from one of the 
iEgyptian commencements, and not from the Roman tribunician date. 



NEBO. 105 



NERO. 



Lucius Domitius, son of Cnseus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina junior, 
was bom at Antium. He was adopted by Claudius, at the instigation of his 
mother, and declared Csesar a.d. 50, upon which occasion he took the names of 
Tiberius Claudius Nero Drusus. In the year a.d. 53, he married Octavia, the 
daughter of Claudius and Messalina, whom he soon after repudiated and caused 
to be put to death, ad. 62. She was then only twenty years of age, and beauti- 
ful, virtuous, and accomplished. She was only between ten and eleven years 
old when married to Nero. In a.d. 63 Nero married Poppgea Sabina, whom he 
killed three years after by a kick mth his foot ; and in the same year, a.d. 66, he 
married Statilia Messalina, the daughter of Statilius Taurus, a man of consular 
dignity. 

In the year a.d. 54 he had succeeded to the empire on the death of Claudius. 
His conduct at the first was good, and gave satisfaction, but he afterwards became 
so bad, and was guilty of such infamous practices and wholesale murders, that at 
last, in A.D. 68, the armies in Spain, under Galba, revolted and declared that 
general emperor. The news spread to Home, and, being joyfully received by the 
citizens, Nero fled from the city, and took refuge in a house in the vicinity, 
belonging to Phaon, one of his freedmen, where he killed himself on learning the 
Senate had condemned him to be put to death more majorum, and had sent 
soldiers in search of him, and bring him to Rome for execution, but who arrived 
too late to prevent his death. The punishment of death more majorum was by 
stripping the culprit, and fixing his head in a fork, and beating him with sticks 
until he died. 

The coins of Nero, with some exceptions, are generally very common, but 
when in fine condition they show some of the die-engraving of the period to have 
been equal to any part of the Imperial series. 

There is a peculiarity with regard to the coins of Nero, viz., that, excejDting in 
the cases after mentioned, there is no record on them of consular or tribunician 
date. To form the present coins into chronologic series, as nearly as possible 
approaching the time when the event recorded on the coin took place, has 
occasioned me great research among the numismatic and other antiquarian 
authorities, and it is possible even now there may be some variations in the 
exact year occasioned by the variations in the chronologic reckonings of difi'erent 
authors. 

p 



106 RECOEDS OF BOMAN HISTORY. 

There is one great event in the History of Britain which took place in the 
time of Nero, a.d. 60, and of which it is very remarkahle, and much to be 
regretted, there is no record on any of his coins hitherto discovered, — I allude to 
the rising of the Britons under their queen Boadicea, but who was ultimately 
defeated by Suetonius Paulinus, at Battle Bridge, near London (not far from the 
present Pentonville) . By some persons this defeat is said to have been near 
Camalodunum ; but the localities of Battle Bridge, its name even, and all the 
lands adjoining rising on a gentle slope, yet fiat lands, leading to the foot of the 
hills of Hampstead and Highgate, show it to be a place so admirably adapted for 
a general engagement of armies, such as is described by Tacitus to have taken 
place, that there cannot be much doubt that the fields leading down to Battle 
Bridge was the spot where this fierce encounter took place, the plain formerly 
known as the Eorty-acre Pield being admirably suited for it. 

This opinion and tradition is much strengthened, one may almost be justified 
in saying confirmed, by two or three circumstances. Up to the year 1811, there 
was existing from the Boman times of the occupation of Londinium a large 
square plot of ground, having on each of the four sides a moat ; it used to be 
called " The Roman Camp," and seemed as if intended for a small station for 
convalescent soldiers of the garrison of London, it being about 2^ miles from 
the city : it might have been a sort of watching-station or outpost. This plot of 
ground was on an elevated part of the Pentonville fields, commanding a view of 
the rise of the hills of Hampstead and Highgate on the north and west, on the 
south stretching down to Battle Bridge, and on the east having a view all across 
the fields of Canonbury almost into Essex. The spot is well described in Nelson's 
History of Islington, and is also set out in Hone's Every-day Book. It is 
near to Barnsbury Park, in the manor of Bernersbury ; and is now (1858) all 
built over, and scarcely can be recognised and defined even by those well used in 
former days to visit the spot. In the field adjoining this moated square there 
was formerly a large mound of earth, a sort of barrow, which seemed as if it had 
been a place of sepulture ; and in building over those parts I am told several 
Roman remains and some coins were found. I am therefore inclined to believe 
the battle which decided the fate of Britain at that period took place at the part 
I have mentioned. There was for a long time, adjoining the road leading from 
Battle Bridge up to Hampstead and Barnet, a long range, apparently earthworks 
of defence, and which road intersects the old Roman road to the North known as 
Maiden Lane, Battle Bridge, Avhich had some military tradition of former days 
attached to them ; but what seems to me a very decisive point on the question 



NERO. 



107 



is, that in July 1842 a part of an inscribed stone was dug up at Battle Bridge, 
a description whereof was published in the Times newspaper, 30 July, 1842, and 
also more fully in the Gentleman's Magazine for August, 1842. 
account is what appeared in the Times newspaper : — 



The following 



ANTIQUITIES DISCOVERED. 

A Eoman inscription has within these few days past been discovered at Battle-bridge, otherwise, by an 
absurd change of denomination, known as King's Cross, New Road, St. Pancras. This discovery appears 
fully to justify the conjectures of Stukeley and other antiquaries, that the great battle between the Britons 
under Boadicea and the Romans under Suetonius Paulinus took place at this spot. Faithful tradition, in 
the absence of aU decisive evidence, still pointed to the place by the appellation of Battle-bridge ; the 
inscription, which in parts is much obliterated, bears distinctly the letters leg . xx. The writer of this 
notice has not yet had an opportunity personally to examine it, but speaks from the information of an 
antiquarian friend. The 20th legion, it is well known, was one of the four which came into Britain in the 
reign of Claudius, and contributed to its subjugation. The vexillation of this legion was in the army of 
Suetonius PauHnus when he made that victorious stand in a fortified pass, with a forest in his rear, against 
the insurgent Britons. The position is sketched by Tacitus, and antiquaries well know that on the high 
ground above Battle-bridge there are vestiges of Roman works, and that the tract of land to the north was 
formerly a forest. The veracity of the following passage of Tacitus is therefore fully confirmed : 
" Diligitque locum artis faucibus et a tergo silva clausum satis oognito nihil hostium nisi in fronte et 
apertam planitiem esse sine metu insidiarum." He further tells us that the force of Suetonius was composed 
of " quartadecima legio cum vexillariis vicesimariis et e prosimis auxiliares, decern ferme millia armatorum 
erant ;" and he describes the order of battle of the Roman troops, " Igitur legionarius frequens ordinibus 
levi circum armatura conglobatus, pro cornibus eques astitit." 

The arrangement of the Britons is thus described : " At Britannorum copise passim per catervas et 
turmas exsultabant, quanta non alias multitude et animo adeo fero, ut conjuges quoque testes victorias 
seoum traherent, plaustrisque imponerent, quae super extremum ambitum campi posuerant. Boadicea curru 
filias prffi se vehens ut quamque nationem accesserat ;" and then Tacitus gives her address to her troops 
just before the engagement commenced. Tac. Annal. lib. xiv. 34, 35. 




This is a very important historic relic of Roman record. I think there can be 
no doubt this fragment was part of a sepulchral monument to the memory of some 
officer or soldier of the 20th legion. It was found placed as a stepping-stone in 

p 2 



108 BBCORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

front of the garden of one of the cottages on the eastern side of Maiden-lane, 
Battle-hridge.* 

The K-oman legions which were in Britain in a.d. 43, under the command of 
Aulus Plautius, were the second, ninth, fourteenth, and twentieth. Claudius 
did not take them back with him when he returned to Home. They continued 
under Ostorius Scapula, and part of them were engaged in the combats with 
Caractacus. When Suetonius Paulinus took the command in Britain, the 
twentieth legion, with others, was still remaining in Britain, being quartered at 
Deva, now Chester. Por very fiiU and vei'y interesting particulars of the rising 
and discomfiture of the Britons under their queen Boadicea I must again refer to 
Mr. Merivale's work, a.d. 61, a.u.c. 814. 

We shall have to notice j)resently several coins with the legend victoria or 
VICTORIA AVGVSTi ; but beyond these words there is no note of what events they 
apply to, so that they may have been struck either upon the suppression of the 
insurrection in Britain, or they may refer to the successes of the Boman armies 
in the East, under the command of Domitius Corbulo. 

188. 

NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP. p . P. The laureate head 
of Nero to the left. 

1^. ADLOCVT . COH. in the exergum, and S. C. on either side of the field. The 
emperor in his robes, Avith an attendant standing to the left on a low tribunal in 
front of a building supported by three columns, with a cupola or round dome 
above, his right hand raised in the attitude of addressing three military persons 
who stand before him bare-headed ; two of them bear standards, they wear their 
military cloaks, and their swords are girt on their right side. 

This seems to be the earliest type of Nero's reign, and may therefore be 
well placed in a.d. 54, as recording the AUocutio or address made by Nero 
to the Pretorian soldiers then at the Pretorian camp immediately on his 
accession ; for upon the death of Claudius, Nero, accompanied by . his friend 
Burrhus, who was commander of the Pretorian guards, proceeded to the 
Pretorian camp, and, after making a speech to the soldiers, and promising 
them a donation, he was received with great acclamations by them and saluted 
emperor. 

We therefore see on this coin Nero and his friend Burrhus, the former 
addressing the soldiers at their camp ; the whole band of soldiers is represented 

* By the kindness of Messrs. Nichols I am able to give an engraving of the stone so discovered. 



NEBO. 109 

by the centurion, who stands foremost, and is followed by the two signiferi or 
standard-bearers. 

The present coin is in excellent condition, and was found many years since in 
the excavation of some Eoman remains at Bath. 

It is a light brown or drab unpatinated coin. Weight 392| graias. 

189. 

NERO . CLAVD . CAESAB . AVG . GEB . B . M . TB . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate head 
of Nero to the left, a small globe at the point of the bust. 

p.. ANNONA . AVGVSTi . CBBES. In the exergum S. C. Ceres seated to the 
left, haying in her left hand a lighted torch ; her right hand is extended towards 
a decorated altar placed in front at her feet ; her left foot rests on a low stool ; 
on the altar is placed a small modius or corn measure. A female is standing in 
front of Ceres bearing a full cornucopise on her left arm ; in the background is 
the stern of a merchant galley, signifying the corn represented by Ceres having 
been brought to Home by sea. 

Nero commenced his reign by many acts of liberality to the citizens, and 
distributing a great deal of corn and money amongst them, which at the time 
made him very popular. He granted privileges or bounties to those who built 
large ships for the transport of corn from the provinces, and he continued to keep 
up a good supply for the use of the city — from which circumstance the annona is 
a frequent type on his coins ; but there is not one in any cabinet that bears a 
number to denote it as a first, second, or third annona. The coins of Nero are 
the first of the imperial series on which the annona is depicted. 

The word annona is derived from the word annus, the year; it being 
customary to distribute annually a supply of corn to the humble classes of the 
citizens. 

This coin I consider was struck a.d. 54, in the first year of Nero ; it is in fine 
condition, with beautiful emerald green patina. "Weight 387 grains. 

190. 

NEBO CLAVDivs . CAESAB . AVG . GEBM . TB . p . IMP . p . p - The laureate head of 
Nero to the right. 

1^. ANNONA . AVGVSTI . CBBES. In the cxcrgum S. C. Ceres seated to the left with 
a lighted torch on her left arm ; the altar and modius before her. A female with 
a cornucopise is standing in front, and the stern of a galley appears in the back- 
ground, in the way the same objects are represented on the preceding coin. 



110 EECORDS or ROMAN HISTOKT. 

The modius held about a peck of our corn measure, and was the usual quantity 
distributed. Argelati describes a similar coin in Nero thus : " Fortunae stantis et 
Cereris sedentis typus cum tseda et rostro navis." 

I have observed that there are four varieties of legends on the obverse of the 
annona coins of Nero, and also different positions of the portrait. The annona 
type as represented on the coins of Nero was first used by him ; it was adopted by 
subsequent emjoerors, but not in the full display that is represented on these coins, 
excepting by Domitian, whose die-engravers appear to have copied the type on the 
coins of Nero which we are describing. 

This coin we also place in a.d. 54. Weight 410-|- grains. 

191. 

NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p - IMP . p . p - The youthful head 
of Nero to the left. 

9>. ANNONA . AVGVSTi . CERES . in the cxergum S. C. Ceres as before described 
seated to the left, female with cornucopise in front, part of a galley in the back- 
ground. All the design exactly as on the preceding coins. 

A very fine large brown coin almost medallion size of the earliest mintage, the 
portrait being of a very youthful appearance. 

192. 

NERO . CLAVDivs . CAESAR . AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate 
head of Nero to the right. 

9=. ADLOCVT . COH . in the exergum. No S. C. Nero and his friend Burrhus 
standing to the left on a slightly raised base ; Nero holds up his right hand towards 
three standard bearers who are in front of him, each of them carrying a standard, 
his sword at his right side, and wearing his military cloak. Nero's left hand is 
placed in his girdle. 

This is a specimen of an early medallion, the size at a later period being much 
extended and increased in weight. The figure of Nero on the reverse is easily 
recognized, although the portrait is very minute. It is a first-rate coin — black in 
colour. 

193. 

NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate head 
of Nero to the left, a small globe at the point of the bust. 

^. CONG . . . DAT ... OP. In the exergum S. C. The emperor or his depute seated 
to the right on a curule chair placed on a high tribunal ; beside him on the left hand 
is a statue of Minerva with an owl in her right hand, a spear in the left ; a little in 



NEEO. Ill 

front of Nero another person is sitting in the act of writing at a small table placed 
at his left side, while a third person is ascending the steps of the tribunal to receive 
the donation, and behind him is another person. At the left side of the person 
who is sitting in front, a female figure is standing holding up a tablet in her right 
hand, her left hand extended as if inviting persons to approach. 

The congiarium was a distribution to the citizens of wine and oil, which were 
measured out in a congius, a measure containing seven pints. The annona was 
a distribution of dry substances, as wheat, barley, beans, &c., distinguished from the 
congiarium, which was of liquids. 

The type of congiarium ii. is very different in its arrangement, which makes 
me consider this as a representation of congiarium i. 
Green. Weight 386-f grains. 

194. 

IMP . NERO . CAESAR . AVG . PONT . MAX . TR . POT .P.P. The laureate head of 
Nero to the right, a small globe at the point of the bust in front. 

P". CONGI . , . DAT . POP. In the exergum S. 0. The emperor or his depute and 
the attendant scribe with other persons sitting and standing in the same way as 
represented on the reverse of the preceding coin. 

These two coins represent the distribution made to the citizens by Nero on his 
accession in the year a.d. 54, and they were coined after that congiary had been 
distributed. Argelati, in Nerone, also describes similar coins, and places them in 
a.d. 54. There is a variation between these two coins, but it is evident they are 
intended for the same congiary. 

Brown. Weight 37 7|- grains. 

195. 

NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate of Nero 
to the right. 

Jt. ROMA . in the exergum. S. 0. in the field. Roma as an armed female 
wearing her helmet seated to the left on a cuirass. Three shields are piled up 
behind her ; a helmet on the ground supports her right foot ; her right hand ex- 
tended bears a small image of Victory, which presents a wreath to her. Her left 
hand grasps the hilt of her sword. She does not Avear any military cloak, but the 
upper part of her dress is drawn over her shoulders to the left so as to expose her 
right shoulder and breast. 

Roma is a very frequent type on the imperial coins, and when represented, as 
on the present coin, with a Victoriola or small figure of Victory in her hand, she is 
called E/Oma Victrix ; sometimes she is standing, but never unarmed. Her clothes 
are generally full, but short to the knees, as on this and the two next coins ; at 



112 



BECORDS or EOMAN HISTOET. 



other times the clothes extend to the ankles, but she never wears long clothes 
when standing up. Long hraccce or trousers were peculiar to the oriental or bar- 
barian countries, as the Eomans called all other nations and peoples. The personi- 
fications of countries on the subsequent coins of Trajan and Hadrian show the 
trousers or hraccce of the Dacians and other people. 

Mr. Noel Humphreys has been guilty of a gross error regarding Roma, as we 
shall see in another place. The representation of Eoma on these coins all differ, 
which accounts for my having so many. 

A very fine black coin from the cabinet of Mr. Percival. "Weight 417| grains. 

196. 

NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GERM . PM . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate head 
of Nero to the right. 

51. ROMA . in the exergum. S. C. in the field. Roma seated on a cuirass to the 
left, with shields behind, as described on the preceding coin. Her right hand 
extended holds a Victoriola, her left hand grasps the hilt of her sword. Weight 
428§ grains. 

197. 

NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GER . PM . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate head of 
Nero to the right. 

^. ROMA . in the exergum. S. C. in the field. Roma seated to the left on a 
cuirass with shields behind her ; she wears a cuirass that has no lappets on the 
lower part, but instead of them she has a short petticoat extending to the knees. 
Her right hand supports a Victoriola presenting a wreath, her left hand holds a 
spear upright, and her shield is at her left side. 
Weight 399 grains. 

198. 




IMP . NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . POT . p . P. The laureate 
head of Nero to the right. 

^. ROMA in the exergum. S. C. in the field. Roma seated to the left on a 
cuirass and other arms ; at her left side is her shield, and she rests her left arm on 



NERO, 113 

the tipper edge of it, the lower edge being placed on a helmet lying on the ground ; 
her spear is held upright in her right hand, her right shoulder and breast are un- 
covered, and her clothes are folded over down to her ankles. 

199. 

IMP . NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . p . P. The head of Ncro 
to the right with radiate crown. 

Jl. ROMA . in the exergum. S. 0. in the field. E,oma seated to the left on a 
cuirass and arms ; her right hand extended presents a wreath, her left hand grasps 
the hilt of her sword ; her right shoulder and breast are quite uncovered, and her 
clothes reach to the ankles. 

A fine Second Brass brown coin formerly in the cabinet of the B,ev. E. C. 
Brice. Weight 235-1- grains. 

200. 

NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p , M - TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate head 
of Nero to the left, a smaU globe at the point of the bust. 

9>. ROMA . ia the exergum. S. C. in the field. Roma seated to the left on a 
cuirass, having some shields pUed behind her, and a spear upright projects from 
amongst the shields ; her right hand extended holds a Victoriola presenting a 
wreath, with her left hand she grasps the hilt of her sword, her right foot rests 
on a helmet lying on the ground ; her clothes reach only to the knees. 

A brown coin in very good condition from the cabinet of Sir George Musgrave. 

201. 

NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate head 
of Nero to the right. 

9.. ROMA . in the exergum. S. C. in the field. Eoma seated to the left on a 
cuirass with shields around her, as described on the preceding coin, and in addition 
to the spear amongst the arms are a bow and quiver of arrows. 

This and the preceding type of Roma on the coins of Nero are the rarest 
of all the Roma types. The rarest of the coins of Nero are those with the tribu- 
nician date. 

A bronze coin in very good condition from the cabinet of Mr. Gwilt. 

202. 

NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP . P . P . The head of Ncro 
to the right, unlaureate, a small globe at the point of the bust. 

Q 



114 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

$1. GENio . AVGVSTI. In the field S. C. A semi-nude virile figure standing, 
full front, looking to the left, having a cornucopise on the left arm, the right hand 
extended, holding a patera in the act of pouring on to a fire burning on an altar 
at the right side. 

According to the religious opinions of the ancients, the genii were attendants 
upon the human race, and to every person a good genius vras attached from his birth. 
They also considered a similar tutelage was extended to countries and cities. The 
belief that a spiritual and celestial guardianship is by divine mercy exercised over 
mortals is a truth of most ancient date, beyond either Judaism or Christianity. 
Archbishop Tillotson remarks, " This doctrine [the guardianship] of angels is not 
a peculiar doctrine of the Jewish or Christian religion, but the general doctrine of 
all religions that ever were, and therefore cannot be objected against by any but 
Atheists." In the book of the Acts of the Apostles, ch. xii. the Apostle Peter 
when in prison was roused from his sleep by an angel, who struck him on the side 
to awaken him, and said, " Arise up quickly, gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals, 
cast thy garment about thee and follow me." Peter was at the time bound by 
chains to two Roman soldiers, his chaias fell from him, and the angel and Peter 
left the prison together. When the angel had conducted him into a street where 
he had friends he left him. Peter then went to his friends' house and knocked 
for admittance. The servant girl came to the gate, and seeing who knocked she 
ran back into the house overcome with joy, and told the folks inside, but they 
would not believe her, but they said, " It is his angel." Peter, however, con- 
tinued knocking at the gate, and at last got into the house. There are several other 
accounts in the same book of angels appearing to and conversing with Christian 
men as well as others. In the book of the Revelation of St. John mention is 
made of the seven angels belonging to the seven churches of Asia, all of which are 
named, and an admonition is delivered to each of them in succession ; thus shew- 
ing that each of the churches, that is to say, each of the community of Christians 
in those respective districts distinguished by the title of churches, was in charge of 
an angel. In the earliest literature of classical antiquity we find this beKef. 
Hesiod speaks of angels — 

By great Jove, design'd 
To be on earth the guardians of mankind. 

And both Homer and Virgil in their works furnish instances of apparitions, 
warnings, and predictions of spirits to mortals. The Romans swore by their genius 
or good spirit. The Roman women also swore by their genii, called Junones. 
Both Greeks and Romans had their Lares and Lemures ; the Lemures being 



NEEO. 115 

their evil spirits — the Lares being good spirits, who were believed to exercise a 
special guardianship over families. At the feet of the image of the Lar, or 
guardian spirit, it was usual to place the figure of a dog barking, denoting 
vigilance. Plautus represents a Lar thus speaking— 

I am the family Lar 
Of this house whence you see me coming out. 
'Tis many years now that I keep and guard 
This family; both father and grandsire 
Of him that has it now I have protected. 

The statues of the Lares, resembling monkeys, and covered with the skin of a 
dog, were placed in a niche behind the door of the house or around the family 
hearth. Incense was burned on their altars, and a sow was offered in sacrifice on 
particular days. Their festival was observed at Rome in the month of May, 
when the statues were crowned with flowers and offerings of fruit were made. 

The Lares Publici were the guardians of the city, and had a temple at the 
upper end of the Via Sacra. This temple, JEdes Larum, contained two images, 
probably those of Romulus and Remus, as the public guardians of the city. 

The Koran assigns two angels to every man — one to record his good, the other 
his evil actions ; they are so merciful, that if an evil action has been done it is not 
recorded until the man has slept, and if in that interval he repents they place on 
the record that God has pardoned him. Shakspere introduces a spirit, which is, I 
think, wrongly called the spiritual appearance of Julius Caesar, to Brutus before 
the battle of Philippi, whilst he is in his tent — for why should Csesar visit his 
murderer, and call himself his murderer's evil genius or spirit ? 

How ill this taper burns Ha ! who comes here ? 

I think it is the weakness of mine eyes 

That shapes this monstrous apparition 

It comes upon me Art thou anything ? 

Art thou some God — some angel — or some devil — 

That mak'st my blood cold and my hair to stare ? 

Speak to me What thou art. 

Thy evil spirit, Brutus. 

Why com'st thou ? 

To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi. 

Then, I shall see thee again 

Ay, at Philippi. Julius CjESAe, Act iv. 

A passage in Apuleius, with respect to the d^mon or angel of Socrates, ex- 
plains this whole mythology; he says — " The Genius is the soul of man, dis- 
engaged and set at liberty from the bonds whereby it is united to the body. I 

q2 



116 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

find in the ancient Latin language it was named at that time Lemur. Of these 
Lemures, they whose province it is to take care of those who inhabit the houses 
where they themselves had dwelt, who are gentle and peaceful, are called Familiar 
Lares. Those, on the contrary, who for the punishment of their bad lives have no 
fixed residence, but are condemned to wander up and down, raising panic terrors 
in the good, whom they seek to disturb, and inflicting real evils upon the wicked, 
are named Lance, and both one and the other, whether Lares or Larvce, go under 
the name of dii manes, and the designation of gods is added to them by way of 
honour — Honoris gratia Dei vocabulum additum est." 

In Antoninus we shall see a coin describing Antoninus as the Genius of the 
Senate — a compliment to him as the principal personage presiding over or giving 
life to their deliberations. Another coin, also of Antoninus, is the Oenims Popioli 
Homani. This last reverse was the common reverse in the latter period of the 
empire. Sometimes it was varied in legend by being Genio imperatoris, as we 
shall see amongst the later emperors. 

203. 

NERO . CLAVB . CAESAR . AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . p . IMP . p . The head of Nero 
to the right, with radiate crown. 

9=- SECVRiTAS . AVGVSTi. In the field S. C. A female seated to the right, in 
an easy reclining attitude ; her head, thrown back, rests on her right hand, her 
right arm being supported by the back of her throne ; her left hand holds a hasta 
X>ura upright ; in front at her left side is a decorated square altar, on which a fire 
is burning ; at her feet is a lighted torch, placed obliquely, as if fixed to the side 
of the altar. In the exergum is the mark 11. 

A coin obtained from the Thames. Water golden. 

204. 

IMP . NERO . CAESAR . AVG . p . MAX . TR . p . p . p . The laureate head of Nero to 
the left. 

5c. SECVRITAS . AVGVSTI. In the field S. 0. No mark in the exergum. A 
female seated on a throne to the right, in a reclining attitude, as on the preceding 
coin, with altar and torch in front. 

These two coins are in Second Brass. I do not find that this type was struck 
in the time of Nero after the year a.d. 55. Nero commenced his reign with acts 
of clemency, moderation, and liberality which might well entitle the Senate to 
strike coins of this type, to signify the security likely to be enjoyed under a prince 



NERO. 



117 



whose career commenced so auspiciously for the welfare of the Roman people, and 
in return the good feeling on the part of the people towards Nero would recipro- 
cate a security to him, as the head of the government. 
Green, in fine condition, from Mr. G. Gwilt's cabinet. 

205. 

IMP . NEEo . CAESAR . AVGVSTVS . The laureate head of Nero to the right. 
9>. IVPPITER . cvsTOS. Jupiter seated to the left, having the hasta pura in his 
left hand, the right holding difulmen resting on his lap. 

The present coin is an aureus, in good condition, from the Gwilt collection. 



206. 




NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . Ava . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate head 
of Nero to the right. 

$0. AVGVSTi . inscribed on the upper verge, s . por . OST . c . on the lower verge 
of the coin. Pale brown. Weight 390| grains. 

The port of Ostia, represented on this coin, was situated at the mouth of the 
river Tiber. The entrance of the port is indicated by a statue raised on a square 
base under the word avgvsti ; the right hand of the figure is extended, the left 
holds a long staff. This statue is said to have served as a mark by day and a 
pharos by night, a Hght being placed in the right hand to guide vessels entering 
the port after dark. The outer sides of the field, which at one time were supposed 
to represent granaries and warehouses for the storing of corn and merchandize, 
from more recent explorations are now ascertained to have been archways for the 
currents of water flowing to and fro from the Mediterranean Sea, and also temples. 

The whole of the inner part of the field within the lines of the arches and other 
buildings represents the basin of the port occupied by shipping, consisting of four 
sailing galleys, and three rowing gaUeys. On the lower verge of the field is a re- 
cumbent figure of Neptune to the left ; his right hand rests on the broad part of a 



lis RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

rudder, a dolphin is on liis left arm, and under him are the words s . por . ost . c . 
as already mentioned. 

The construction of the port of Ostia recorded on this coin was commenced by 
Ancus Marcius, the fourth King of Rome, in the year of Rome 127. He reigned 
24j years, and during the last ten or twelve years of that period he was much 
engaged in public works for the benefit of the city ; and Ostia was raised to a place 
of importance and became the port of Rome. When the Romans afterwards began 
to have ships of war, Ostia became a place of greater importance, and a fleet was 
constantly stationed there to guard the mouth of the Tiber. According to 
Plutarch, Julius Csesar was the first who turned his attention to the construction 
of a port at Ostia by raising there a mole and other works ; but it was to the emperor 
Claudius that this harbour was indebted for all the magnificence ascribed to it by 
the ancients : for Claudius repaired the dilapidations of the works erected by 
Ancus Marcius, and completed the port in the state it appears on the coins. A 
period of 669 years had elapsed from the death of Ancus Marciixs, in the year of 
Rome 138, to the year a.d. 54, when this coin was struck. 

There were no coins of Claudius (so far as is now known) recording this port in any 
way ; it was therefore decreed by the Senate to record the completion of the port by 
striking this coin, and to compliment Nero on the politic measures he had taken to 
ensure regular supplies of corn to the city, and by his encouraging by bounties the 
building of large vessels for the conveyance of corn from foreign countries. 

The town of Ostia itself was but a small place at the mouth of the Tiber, and 
built by Ancus Marcius coincident with the port. Being about 18 miles from 
Ptome, it was much frequented by the citizens in the summer season as a watering 
place. Ostia is still remaining, and keeps its name, although no longer what it 
was when this coin was struck. The salt marshes formed by Ancus Marcius at the 
first foundation of Ostia also still subsist near the site now called Casone del Sale. 

The importance of the town and port of Ostia, and which has been so imper- 
fectly and unsatisfactorily explained upon an historical and proper basis by numis- 
matic writers, must apologise for our making a lengthened notice of it, and also 
excuse a little seeming tautology in the following abstract of a very long and 
highly interesting memoir by Mons. Charles Texier, published in the Revue de 
I'Architecture et des Travaux Publics of 1857, vol. 15. Mons. Texier (as a skilful 
engineer) was commissioned by the Prench minister of the Interior to survey and 
examine {inter alia) this ancient port of Ostia ; and from his memoir I derive the 
following account of this port and the additional works of the emperor Trajan, 
together with a plan of the remains as they now exist, and also a copy of a plan 



NERO. 119 

taken about 300 years ago, for both of which I am indebted to my kind friend 
Professor Donaldson. 

" Rome had by the middle of the reign of Ancus Marcius, by an uninterrupted 
succession of victories, made herself mistress of the whole of the country extending 
along the banks of the Tiber from its source to its mouth ; but, as the country did 
not produce an adequate supply of food for the greatly increased population, re- 
course was had to the products of foreign countries, and, the cultivated lands 
offering no reasonable proportion to the number of mouths requiring food, the 
people looked for assistance from the foresight of their kings. Ancus Marcius 
clearly saw the advantages of commerce, and his efforts in endeavouring to estab- 
lish a communication by sea with other countries are thus described by Dionysius 
of Halicarnassus, book iii. c. 45 . 

" After speaking of the inclosure of Mount Aventine, he says, ' The other [public 
work] was of still greater consequence, as it increased the happiness of the city by 
supplying it with all the conveniences of life, and encouraged its inhabitants to 
undertake greater things. Eor the river Tiber, falUng from the Apennine hills 
and running close by Rome, discharges itself into the Tyrrhene Sea, whose shore 
lies exposed to the weather without havens, and this river is of small or incon- 
siderable advantage to Rome by not having at its mouth any strong place to 
receive the commodities brought thither either by sea or by the river from the 
country and to exchange them with the merchants ; but, as it is navigable quite up 
to its source for large boats, and even to Rome for trading ships of great burden, 
he resolved to build a sea-port at the entrance of it, and to make use of the mouth 
of the river itself for a haven ; since the Tiber is very large where it falls into the 
sea and forms great bays equal to those of the best sea-ports. But the most won- 
derful thing is, that its mouth is not stopped up with sandbanks accumulated by 
the sea, which is an inconvenience that happens even to many great rivers, neither 
does it, by wandering through fens and marshes, spend itself in different places 
before its stream mixes with the sea, but is every where navigable, and discharges 
itself at one mouth ; and, notwithstanding the violence of the west wind, to which 
that coast is much exposed, repels the surge that comes from the main. Ships therefore 
with oars, how great soever, and merchant ships of the burden of 3,000 bushels [75 
tons], enter at the mouth of the river and are rowed and towed up to Rome. Those 
of a larger size ride at anchor at the mouth, where they are unladed and laded by 
lighters. Upon the elbow of land which lies between the river and the sea the 
king built a city, and encompassed it with a wall, which city, from its situation, he 
called Ostia ; as we should call it 6u|sa, a door ; and by this means he made Rome 



120 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

not only an inland town, but also a sea-port, and gave it a taste of those advantages 
that flow from a maritime commerce.' (Spelman's translation.) 

" This description by Dionysius of Halicarnassus had evidently been made after a 
minute inspection of the places ; the city of Ostia, although at the present time 
more than three miles distant from the sea, is to be found exactly in the situation 
indicated by the historian. The salt pans founded by Ancus Marcius (Tit. Liv. lib. 
i. c. 33J alone appear not to have changed their place ; they were at first supplied 
from the sea, but, the sand accumulating around them, they have formed a lake 
(Lacus Ostiensis) which exists at this day. 

" In the time of Julius Csesar, the sea, by the accumulation of sand and other- 
wise, had very much withdrawn from the port. To remedy this state of things, he 
proposed to construct another port at the entrance of the river, but he afterwards 
abandoned the idea, being alarmed at the di£6.culties which presented themselves. 

" The emperor Claudius took up the project which had been abandoned by 
Julius Csesar, but, declining to restore the ancient port situate on the Tiber, he 
selected a place in firm ground for the purpose of excavating a basin ; his work 
is thus described by Suetonius, in Claudio, xx. : ' Portum Ostise exstruxit 
circumducto dextra sinistraque brachio, et ad introitum profundo jam solo 
mole objecta. Quam quo stabilius fundaret navem ante demersit qua magnus 
obeliscus ex J^]gypto fuerat advectus, congestisque pilis superposuit altissimam 
turrim in exemplum Alexandrini Phari, ut ad nocturnos ignes cursum navigia 
dirigerent.' 

" Claudius took great pains to superintend the works himself ; he often took 
up his abode at Ostia. Tacitus and Seutonius mention his frequent visits, and 
some fine ruins, as of a palace, have of late been discovered. 

" Under the dictatorship of Julius Caesar, the vessels which brought grain from 
Sicily were obliged to remain for a long time outside at the entrance of the Tiber 
until a dearth began to be felt at Rome. The import had sensibly diminished 
year by year throughout Italy, whence those frequent famines which desolated 
the city urged Claudius to undertake the immense works for the construction of 
the Port of Claudius. 

" Strabo, who lived in the time of the emperor Tiberius, saw in the ancient port 
of Ostia the only emporium of Ptome (Strabo, lib. v. 375). In his time it was 
choked up with the sand, mud, and rubbish brought down by the Tiber ; the 
ships which brought provisions to Rome were obliged to lay outside at the mouth 
of the port, exposed to all dangers ; this inconvenience in landing cargo was 
remedied by the employment of a multitude of barges or barques, which received 



NERO. 121 

the cargoes of vessels and returned to the Tiber, and thence on to Eome, a distance 
of about 16 miles. 

" In reality, the name of the port of Ostia should only be applied to that which 
was founded on the banks of the river Tiber, near to the ancient city of Ostia ; 
but the importance of the works established by Claudius, soon effaced the name of 
the original port, and transferred it to that of Claudius. The greater part of the 
commercial population installed themselves near to the new port, which at first 
was only a naval arsenal ; but in the end, a city having sprung up in its vicinity, 
it absorbed the name of the ancient Ostia. At first is was known as the Portus 
Claudii, and the city was named TJrbs Portuensis; some authors spoke of it 
under the name of Portus Ostiensis. 

" The public acts transmitted to us by inscriptions give it the name of Portus 
Ostise ; it seems that it received this last denomination rather from its situation 
at the mouth of the Tiber, than at the ancient city of Ostia. 

" A little way above the ancient Ostia, the Tiber divides itself into two branches 
of unequal size ; that on the right hand flows beneath the walls of the city, 
forming several sinuosities, and falls into the sea at four miles below the ancient 
Ostia. The other branch, which detaches itself from the principal course of the 
river, takes its course to the left almost in a straight line, and after a course of 
about five miles falls into the sea at about four miles to the north of the main 
entrance of the river; the branches thus form between them a triangular island 
usually called Insula Sacra. 

" Por a long time it was the opinion of antiquaries that the branches of the 
Tiber were of natural formation ; but the Abb6 Pea, in 1824, broached the theory 
that they were the work of Trajan. Prom a sentence in Pliny, it was conjectured 
that the direct communication between the Port of Claudius and the Tiber was 
the work of Trajan ; but in the year 1836, an inscription was found at Ostia, an 
inscription on a marble tablet, pointing out the construction of the naval arsenal 
and the junction of the port and the river as the work of the emperor Claudius. 
The following is a copy of the inscription which was so discovered : 

TI . CLAVDIVS . DRVSI . P . CAESAR. 

AVG . GERMANICVS . PONTIP . MAX. 

TRIE . POTEST . VI . COS . DESI& . IlII . IMP . XII .P.P. 

POSSIS . DVCTIS . A . TIBERI . OPERIS . POBTVS. 

CAVSSA . EMISSISQVE . IN . MARE . VRBEM. 

INVNDATIONIS . PERICVLO . LIBERA VIT. 

R 



122 



KECOUDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 



" The hexagonal port of Trajan adjoins the port of Claudius, and was constructed 
so as to enjoy the benefits of this communication. This basin still exists in a 
perfect state ; it is called Lago Trajano or Trajanello ; it is surrounded by many 
ruins of warehouses and factories. In commemoration of the founding of the port 
by Trajan, a medal was struck, bearing on one side the portrait of Trajan, and on 
the reverse a representation of the hexagonal port. 

" Juvenal, xii. Sat. v. 75, mentions the erection of the port of Trajan, — ' Quia 
Trajanus portum Augusti restaur avit in melius et interius tutiorem sui nominis 
fecit.' Pliny the younger mentions it in the same manner in his Panegyric." 

Thus far I have taken from M. Texier's memoir. 




MEDITEEEANEAN SEA, 



MEDITEEEANEAIT 
SEA. 



Sir John Eennie, President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, in his remarks 
on the port of Ostia, published in 1845, says : 

" Taking into consideration aU the various circumstances, the port of Ostia 
appears to have been one of the most complete of ancient times, and was con- 
sidered by the Eomans themselves as one of their greatest works. In these works 
may be discovered considerable novelty and ingenuity both in design and con- 



NERO. 123 

struction, the whole being artificial and attended with considerable natural diffi- 
culties ; indeed, it should be observed that almost every principle adopted by the 
improved science and superior skill of modern times appears to have been carried 
into effect here with singular perseverance and ability." 

The two coins of Nero and Trajan have hitherto been very unsatisfactorily 
explained ; they have been regarded as referring to separate places, far distant 
from each other ; whereas, now I think it is by this note clearly and satisfactorily 
shown that the two coins, port . ostia of Nero, and portum. trajani, or port . ost. 
of Trajan, should be read together. The two coins will show it quite plainly ; and if 
they are put together, that is to say, the port of Ostia brought in front of the port 
of Trajan, a representation of the plan is produced, to which there is only one 
exception (but that does not alter my proposition) — the modern plan of Mons. 
Texier puts the port of Trajan a little on one side, although the water of the port 
of Claudius flows into it ; whereas the old one makes the two ports conjoined, 
and the water flows in without any bend. I hope, therefore, in future, antiquaries 
who meet with this note will read the two coins as conjoined historically. 

207. 

NERO . CLAVB . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate head 
of Nero to the right. 

Jo. AVGVSTi . s . POR . OST . c. Placed in the same manner as on the preceding 
coin. The statue on its base at the entrance of the port — Neptune, with rudder 
and dolphin at the bottom ; in the waters seven galleys appear, four of them 
being sailing galleys, the others row galleys ; but of the large sailing galleys, 
three of them are at anchor with the sails furled, by which the varieties in their 
build are discernible ; ranges of storehouses appear on one side, and on the other 
the arches to admit the flux and reflux of the waters ; Neptune at the bottom is 
crowned with a wreath, possibly of sea-weed, and water is undulating beneath him. 

Black brown, from Mr. Gwilt's collection. 

208. 

No legend visible. The heads of Ancus Marcius and Numa in profile, 
joined. 

|l. CENS. In the exergum roma. Two arches : under the one on the right 
is a statue standing on a cippus ; under the arch to the left is the prow of a 
galley, as if coming through the arch out into a river or dock basin, 

R 2 



124 EECORDS OF ROMAN HISTOKY. 

This appears intended to represent two of the arches at the side of the 
Port of Claudius, which formed the bracUa spoken of by Suetonius, and at 
times it is not impossible that the waters permitted small galleys to pass under 
the side arches instead of going out of port at the entrance, by the break- 
water. 

A black coin from the cabinet of General Ramsay. 

209. 

NERO . CLAYDivs . CABSAB . AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . p . IMP . P. P. The laureate 
head of Nero to the right. 

^. CONG . ii . BAT . POP. In the exergum S. C. The emperor or his depute 
seated to the left on a curule chair, placed on a suggestum. A person stands 
on his right hand, appearing to converse with him ; beyond, on the right, is 
a statue of Minerva, with a spear in the left hand, a scroll in the right ; behind 
the statue appears the entrance to some building. On the ground in front of 
the suggestum, a person stands holding up a tablet to another person, who is 
standing before him with his robe extended, as if to receive a donation. 

The second congiary was given to the citizens of Rome a.d. 57, which may 
therefore be taken as the date when this coin was struck. 

A very good brown coin. "Weight 424? grains. 

210. 

NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p The laureate head of 

Nero to the right. 

^. PACE . P . R . TERRA . MABIQ . PARTA . lANVM . CLVSIT. In the field S. C. 

The temple of Janus right side, showing the front of the door, which is closed, 
and a garland is suspended across the upper part of the building, crossing the 
top of the door, which is arched ; the side of the building shows the openings 
intended for the admission of light, above which are the scroll decorations. 

This and the two following coins were struck on occasion of the victories 
gained by the Pv^oman armies under Domitius Corbulo, an eminent general 
commanding the armies in Belgium, and afterwards in Armenia. Por the 
former of these Nero was saluted Imperator, and upon the final overthrow of 
Tiridates, king of Armenia, and the destruction of Artaxata, Nero shut up the 
temple of Janus, in a.d. 58, after it had been open for a period of nearly 84 
years. 



NERO. 125 

This coin, on the reverse, is in very fine preservation, and in decorations and 
style of building is a complete copy of the beautiful coin No. 50, in Admiral 
Smyth's cabinet. The two reverses compared are scarcely to be distinguished for 
excellence. The obverse has been a little worn, but not injured ; it was formerly 
in the cabinet of Mr. Neve. 

211. 

IMP . NERO . CAESAR . AVG- . GERMANIC. The laureate head of Nero to the right. 
$c. PACE . p . R . VBiQ . PARTA . lANVM . CLVSiT. S. C. in the field. The temple 
of Janus left side ; a garland above the doors, and also on the side of the building. 
A Second Brass black coin, very good, although rather small. 

212. 

NERO . CLAVDivs . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate 
head of Nero to the left. 

|c. PACE . p . R . TERRA . MARIQ . PARTA . lANVM . CLVSIT. On either side of the 
field S. C. The temple of Janus on the right side, showing the front and side of 
the building rather different to the preceding coin. A garland is suspended across 
the doors, which open in the middle in two halves, in which are fixed two large 
ring-handles or knockers ; the upper part and side are quite plain, without any 
sort of ornament. 

Black, very fine. Weight 434 grains. 

213. 

NERO . CLAVDIVS . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP . p . P. The laureate 
head of Nero to the right. 

9.. PACE . P . R . TERRA . MARIQ . PARTA . lANVM . CLVSIT. S. C. On either sidc 

of the field. 

The temple of Janus on the left side, Avith all its parts, decorations, and 
wTeath suspended across the door in front, are all perfectly set out. 

Auricalchum. Weight 4054- grains. 

These coins, being in very perfect condition, give such correct representations 
of the front and both sides of the temple in all its detail and ornament, that 
complete architectural drawings might easily be made from them. 

There were two sorts of temples at Eome erected to Janus— one to Janus 
Bifrons, and one to Janus Quadrifrons. The latter temples were built with four 
different sides, each having a door and three windows, The four doors represented 



126 RECOBDS OF EOMAN HISTORY. 

the four seasons, and tlae twelve windows represented the twelve months of the 
year. The temple on these coins is the temple of Janns Quadrifrons. 

Janus was said to have been the most ancient king who reigned in Italy. 
After his death he was deified ; subsequently, he was worshipped at Eome under 
different names, as Quirinus, Martialis, Patuleius, and Clausius, because he was 
supposed to preside over peace and war ; whence, in time of peace, his temple 
gates were shut, and he was Clausius — in time of war they were kept open, and 
he was called Patuleius. 

Erom the reign of Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, to the time the 
present coins were struck, a period of 761 years, the temple of Janus had been 
shut only five times. The first in the time of Ancus Martins ; the second ia the 
year of Rome 523 ; the third in the year of Pi,ome 725 ; the fourth in the year 
of Rome 729 ; and the fifth, as here recorded, in the year of Rome 811, and 
A.D. 58. 

The temple of Janus represented on these coins is considered to be the one 
which stood in the Porum ; it was originally built by Romulus and Tatius, and 
was distinguished by the above-mentioned title of Quirinus ; and Suetonius, in 
Augusto, sec. 22, states it to be the temple which was closed after the battle of 
Actium, calling it Janum Quirinum. 

214. 

NERO . CAESAE, . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of Nero to the right. 

|o. PACE . p . B . TERRA . MARiQ . PARTA . lANVM . CLVSiT. A representation of 
the gates or doors in front of the temple of Janus. There are no decorations 
whatever. There is an astragal from top to bottom, and three bars across the 
whole width of the doors. 

An aureus. 

215. 

NERO . CLAVDIVS . CAESAE . AVG . GER . P . M . TR , P . IMP .P.P. The head of 

Nero to the right, with radiate crown. 

9>. VICTORIA . AVGVSTi. In the field S. C. A Victory volant to the right, with 
a palm branch in her left hand, a wreath in the right, 

Weight 254f grains. 

216. 

IMP . NERO . CAESAR . AVG . p . MAX . TR. p . p . p . The laureate head of Nero to 
the right. 

9>. VICTORIA . AVGVSTI. In the field S. C. A Victory gradient to the left. 



NERO. 



127 



holding up a wreath in her right hand ; in the left she carries a palm-hranch. 
A Second Brass coin from the Thames, given me by Mr. C. Eoach Smith. 

Weight 1521 grains. 

217. 

IMP . NERO . CAESAR . AVG . p . MAX . TR . p . p . P. The unlaurcatc head of Nero 
to the right, a small globe at the point of the bust. 

^. No legend. A Victory volant to the left, bearing in her right hand a 
cirular shield inscribed s . p . Q . r. In the field S. 0. 

Weight 1674- grains. 

These three Second Brass coins, one may consider, refer to the victories gained 
by Domitius Corbulo, already mentioned, which would make their date about 
A.D. 58. 

218. 




NERO . CLAVDivs . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate 
head of Nero to the right. 

p.. MAC . AVG. On either side of the field S. 0. The maceUum is represented 
as a circular building, surmounted by a dome and flanked by lateral porticoes, 
the whole having in the height two orders, apparently Doric. The lower columns 
with intercolumniations, the middle being considerably wider than the others, 
and an arch the whole height of the columns with each intercolumniation. A 
flight of steps of the width of the centre intercolumniation, flanked by two 
pedestals, leads up to the middle archway, in which is a lofty naked figure, 
colossal size, on a low pedestal, resting on a spear, or hasta pura, in his left 
hand. The upper order consists of three columns, one being in the centre, 
forming an open colonnade of two intercolumniations, filled in with an open 
parapet of one-third of the height of the opening, and two festoons hanging from 
capital to capital. There is a very lofty entablature equalling two-thirds the 
height of the column ; and the dome is encircled with three rows of palm leaves, 
surmounted by a very remarkable apex, of large proportions, like two wings or 
horns, with a point in the middle. The lateral portion on the right side of the 



128 RECORDS or ROMAN HISTORY. 

coin has two columniations next the centre, interrupted by a small arch, which, 
however, is omitted in some coins. The order above is only three-fourths as 
high as the lower order, and has a double festoon from cai^ital to capital. The 
porticoes on the left side of the coin have three intercolumniations, and are not 
so high as those on the other side. The upper order has a podium under the 
columns, which does not exist on the other side, and only a single festoon hangs 
from capital to capital of the upper columns. There is the appearance of some 
ornament in the frieze over the columns of this upper order. The lateral 
porticoes have only two steps instead of the flight which leads up to the central 
building. With this description I have been favoured by Professor Donaldson, 
who has composed it, not from this coin only, but from comparison with other 
coins in the British Museum, the Erench cabinet, and other sources. 

The building represented on this coin is usually called the macellum, or meat 
market, which Dio says was built by Nero, and consecrated ; but he does not 
say to what deity it was dedicated. The year a.d. 60 is generally placed as the 
date of this coin, on which the building is commemorated. 

The present coin is of the finest aurichalcum; weight 351 1 grains; and is so 
rare as a Eirst Brass coin that I beHeve there is scarcely another known. There 
is not one in the British Museum, or in the Prench cabinet, or in any known 
cabinet, although Eckhel, vol. vi. p. 273, says there are such. The same author, 
describing a Second Brass coin of this type in the Vienna cabinet, says it is 
" gedificium perelegans pluribus columnis fultum." Argelati, in Nerone, describes 
the reverse, " sedificium pulcherrimum quod macellum Neronis vocant ;" but he 
does not give the size of the coin he describes. 

Some writers have supposed the mac . to be mag . reading it as magnvs . avgvsti . 
DOMVS . or MAGNVM . AVGVSTI . AEDiFiciVM . Considering the building to be the 
celebrated domvs . avrea . of Nero. The elegant appearance of the building 
renders it a more fit representation of the Domus Aurea than of a meat market ; 
yet, notwithstanding such remarks, there is no doubt that the word macellum, as 
applied to a market for every description of viand, is correct ; it is to be found 
used as such in Varro, Eulvius, Plutarch, &c., and in the Aulularia of Plautus, 
where in act ii. scene 5, the market is thus described : 

Venio ad macellum, rogito pisces, indicant 
Caros, agninam caram, bubulam, 
Vitulinam, oetum, porcinam, cara omnia. 

The macellum of Nero appears not to have been the only one at Rome. 

This coin has been ignorantly stigmatised as a forgery. It is of pure Roman 



NEEO. 129 

aurichalcum not found in forgeries, and I unhesitatingly aver it to be a genuine 
coin of the Roman mint. 

219. 

NEEO . CLAVD . OAEsAE . AVG . GEE . p . M . TE . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate head 
of Nero to the left. 

^. MAO . AVG. S. C. on either side the field. A representation of the building 
described on the preceding coin. 

A fine brown Second Brass coin. 

220. 

NEEO . CLAVDivs . CAESAE . AVG . GEE . p . M . TE . p . IMP .P.P. The radiate head 
of Nero to the right. 

|l. MAG . AVG. S. 0. in the field. Same type as on the preceding coin. In the 
exergum ii. 

A fine Second Brass coin, green tint. Weight 247-1- grains. 

221. 

NEEO . ciiAVDiiTs . CAESAE . AVG . GEEM . p . M . TE . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate 
head of Nero to the right. 

9>- DECVESio . in the exergum, but no S. C. there or in the field. A warrior 
on horseback to the right, bare-headed, his spear in his right hand couched for 
the charge ; he is preceded by an armed foot soldier, bearing a shield on his left 
arm, and a standard over his right shoulder ; in the back ground, rather behind 
the horse, is another foot soldier, running. 

The word Decursio was applied by the Romans to signify, first, the training 
or discipline of their cavalry ; secondly, it was also used to signify the Ludi 
Trojani ; and, thirdly, the military procession round the funeral pile of a general 
or emperor. 

On this and the following coins of Decursio type, it is a representation of the 
disciplina, or training exercises of the Roman cavalry. On the present coin, the 
horseman is accompanied by two foot soldiers, to represent their being in training 
to join the cavalry, and assist in their ranks during a battle. 

The Decursio coins rank under date of a.d. 60, because in that year Nero 
instituted certain quinquennalian games, and some antiquaries have supposed 
the Decursio to relate to those games, but I am not of that opinion; others 
think it refers in the Ludi Trojani as performed by the young Romans in 
the Campus Martins, and in which Nero at one time took much pleasure, but 

s 



130 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

I do not think so ; it is in my opinion the ordinary and regular exercise of 
the Roman cavahy. 

This type is the rarest of the Decursios, and I have observed it never has 
the S. C. Weight 389| grains. 

222. 

NERO . CLAVDivs . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate 
head of Nero to the right. 

^. DECVRSio . in the exergum. S. C. in the field. Two warriors bare-headed 
on horses galloping to the right. The coin is in such perfect preservation that 
it may be seen the one in front or foreground is a miniature portrait of Nero 
wearing his cuirass and military cloak, his spear in the right hand brought to 
the charge. The other horseman carries a vexillum erect on his right shoulder. 

Pure auricalchum, very fine and perfect. Weight 350-1- grains. 

Nero, in the early part of his reign, was very fond of athletic sports, and 
encouraged the horse and chariot races. He also at times led the Ludi Trojani, 
said to have been instituted by jEneas or Ascanius, to commemorate Anchises, 
the father of JEneas. These games were at times celebrated with great pomp 
and solemnity, and consisted of military exercises, both cavalry and infantry, 
performed by young men of the first families in Rome, their leader being 
either the emperor's heir apparent or the son of a senator of patrician family, 
and he was called princeps . iwentvtis . Prince of the Roman Youth. It sub- 
sequently became a custom to elect the son of the emperor Princeps Juventutis, 
and the title was put on his coins. 

I have seen this Decursio type also on an indiflPerently preserved medallion of 
Hadrian. 

223. 

NERO . CLAVDIVS . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate head 
of Nero to the right. 

^. DECVRSIO . in the exergum. S. 0. in the field. Two warriors on horses, 
bareheaded, and galloping to the right, as described on the preceding coin, the 
one in front being a complete portrait of Nero. 

A very fine red brown coin from the cabinet of the Duke of Devonshire. 
Weight 424i grains. 

224. 

NERO . CLAVDIVS . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate 
head of Nero to the ria-ht. 



NERO. 131 

9>. DECVRSio . in the exergum. S. C. in the field. Two warriors on horses 
galloping to the right as before, the one in front intended for Nero. 

A chocolate-coloured coin, very fine, a duplicate from the British Museum, 

225. 

NEBO . CLAVDivs . CAESAR , AVG . GEB . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate 
head of Nero to the right. 

9>. DECVRSio . in the exergum. S. 0. in the field. Two warriors on horses 
as on the preceding coins, galloping to the left, one in the foreground with his 
spear brought to the charge, the other carrying a vexiLlum. 

Weight 423 grains. 

226. 

NERO . CLAVDIVS . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate 
head of Nero to the left. 

9=. DECVRSIO . in the exergum. S. C. in the field. Two warriors on horses 
galloping to the left as before. 

The vexillum was the regxxlar standard of the Koman cavalry. It is generally 
called the labarum. See in Pitiscus, Lexicon, art. Vexillum. 

These two coins are from the Thames, a present from C. Roach Smith, 

227- 

NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GERMANiGVS. The unlaurcate head of Nero to 
the left, a small globe at the point of the bust. 

|l. PONTiF . MAX . TR . POT . IMP .P.P. In the field S. 0. Nero, as is 
usually supposed, in female attire, with a frontal coronet and the hair confined 
at the back of the head in a knot ; gradient to the right, playing on a cithara 
or lyre of large size, held by the left hand and arm. 

In the museum of the British Royal Academy, there is a colossal statue in 
plaster of Paris (the original marble being at Rome), which is known by the 
appellation of the Apollo Citharista or Citharsedus, in the precise attitude repre- 
sented on this coin, but on an inspection of this coin, and observing what is 
said by Suetonius and others in their biographies of Nero, of his fondness for 
playing the harp and singing on the public stage, the question may be fairly 
raised whether the colossal Apollo Citharista is not, after all, a complimentary 
statue to Nero on his attainments as a poet and musician, two arts in which 
he was very desirous of being esteemed a great proficient. For Suetonius, in 
Vita Neronis, sect. 25, says, " Item statuas suas citharsedico habitu, qua nota 

s 2 



132 KECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

etiam nummum percussit." Here is a direct declaration of Nero being repre- 
sented in sculpture, as well as on the coinage, in the costume of a harp player, 
and, A.pollo being the patron deity of music and poetry, there could not be a 
more appropriate designation and compliment to the vanity of the emperor than 
to represent him as an Apollo Citharista. 

The present coin is from the Thames ; it is of Second size, in red Cyprian 
copper (weight 144-|- grains), and most probably was struck in a.d. 65, being 
the year when Nero first ventured to play and sing in public. The coin is 
sometimes found without any legend on the reverse, simply the figure of the 
Apollo or Nero in the act of playing on the cithara. 

I have never yet seen it in Pirst Brass ; it is not in First Brass in the British 
Museum, or in the French or Vienna Cabinets. See also Patin, 118. 

228. 

NERO . CAES . AVG . IMP. The laureate head of Nero to the right. 
Jo. CER . QviNQVE . ROM. In the exergum S. C. A square table, on which is 
placed a vase, the letter S. at the right side. 

A small fine black coin. Weight lOSf grains. 

This coin records the institution by Nero of the quinquennalian games in 
A.D. 60. They were called Neroniana, and celebrated every fifth year as their 
name denotes, in imitation of the Olympic. They consisted of contests in music, 
gymnastics, and chariot racing. Being an imitation of the Greek games, they 
found no favour with the Bomans, who always looked upon the Greeks as an 
effeminate people. After the death of Nbro, they were not again celebrated 
until the time of Domitian, who revived them in honour of Jupiter Capitolinus, 
and they thenceforth continued to be repeated until the reign of Constantine. 

The numismatic record of these games is only found on Third Brass of Nero. 
Consult Suetonius, in Nerone, sec. 12, and in Domitimio, sec. 4. 

229. 

IMP . NERO . CAESAR . AVG . PONT . MAX . TR . POT . p . P. The laureate head of 
Nero to the left, a small globe at the point of the bust. 

^. ADVENTUS . on the upper verge, and avgvsti . on the lower verge of the 
field. G. P. under the word adventus. No S. C. A large galley, or triremis 
prsetoria, being rowed to the left by twelve rowers in sight, beside other figures. 

This coin was struck a.d. 66, on the return of Nero from Greece, where he had 
been exhibiting at the Olympic games, in which the crafty and politic Greeks had 



NERO. 133 

awarded him the highest honours for the display of his talents and proficiency as 
a poet and musician, and concluded their adulation by crowning him victor. By 
the letters G. P. is signified Grecia Peragrata. 

There is no coin of this type in the British Museum. Vaillant, Numismata 
^rea, &c., p. 122, describes a coin somewhat similar ; but he reads G. P. as 
C. P. and signifying Colonia Patrensis in Achaia, as if struck by that city to 
record Nero's visit there. Prom this I dissent, because in such case no galley was 
required ; but, the galley having a more immediate application to voyaging by sea, 
it is a representation or record of the fact of his having been conveyed by sea to 
and from Greece. 

This is a large flan, the obverse and reverse in fine condition, and engraved 
by the same die engravers who cut the dies for the annona coins before mentioned. 
Prom a continual and close observation of the coins of Nero in this cabinet, there 
do not appear to have been more than three artists employed in executing the dies, 
and they are fine specimens of art. 

A fine coin, green patina, from the cabinet of the Duke of Devonshire. 

Weight 318i grains. 

230. 

NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP . p . p . P. The laureate 
head of Nero to the right, a small globe at the point of the bust. 

9). No legend. S. C. in the field. A triumphal arch ornamented with sculp- 
tures and statues ; the front is divided into several compartments in which are 
various sculptures. In a niche at the right side is the statue of an armed warrior 
standing on a square base ; a garland is suspended from side • to side under the 
crown of the arch. The arch is surmounted by a square base or plinth, whereon 
is placed a quadriga, in which is a figure to represent Nero in a triumphal car. A 
victory is standing to the left of the horses, holding iip a wreath in her right hand, 
in her left hand a palm branch. Below her on the outer edge of the plinth is a 
small figure, as if about to jump off ; on the other side of the horses another figure 
is standing Avith a cornucopise on the left arm ; and another small figure below, as 

if flying off. 

This is considered to be a representation of the Arcus Neronis, erected in the 
capitol on the return of Nero from Greece, a.d. 66. When he arrived ia Italy, he 
entered Naples and other cities in great triumph, through breaches made in the 
city walls, until he reached Rome, where he was received with similar pomp and 
servility. 

Tacitus, lib. xiii. section 41, states that an arch and statues were decreed to 



134 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

Nero for the victories gained by Domitius Oorbulo in Syria, Partliia, &c. ; but 
Tacitus perhaps preferred giving the arcli to the warlike achievements of a general 
of the empire, than that posterity should suppose they were literary victories 
which had caused the erection of the arch, whilst Nero preferred his own literary 
achievements to any military exploits of another person. 

A fine coin from the cabinet of the Duke of Devonshire. Weight 387^ grains. 

231. 

NERO . CLAVDivs . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate head 
of Nero to the right. 

9). No legend. S. C. on either side of the field. The arch of triumph repre- 
sented on the preceding coin ; the front is divided into compartments that are 
ornamented with sculptures ; and on each side of the curve of the arch a figure is 
inserted in position, curving with the curve of the arch. The square base or 
plinth placed on the top of the arch is ornamented with sculptures ; and above is 
a quadriga, with the four horses led on each outside by Yictories ; an armed 
figure in the niche at the side ; but there is no garland suspended from side to 
side under the crown of the arch. 

This coin is in a very perfect state of preservation, showing all the details 
differently and more accurately in the lower part, where there are evidently 
gladiators in combat. It is of brown colour, and was formerly in the respective 
cabinets of E. Edgar, R Heber, and G. Gwilt. 

232. 

NERO . CLAVDIVS . CAESAR . AVG . GER . p . M . TR . p . IMP .P.P. The laureate head 
of Nero to the right. 

p.. No legend. S. C. in the field. The triumphal arch, as on the preceding 
coins; a wi'eath suspended under the arch. The sculptured decorations are 
similar to those already noticed. The quadriga, and Victories, and other figures 
at the sides of the plinth surmounting the arch, are very perfect and fine. 

233. 

IMP . NERO . CAESAR . AVG . PONTiE . MAX . TRIE . POT -P.P. The laureate head 
of Nero to the right, a small globe at the point of the bust. 

1^. ADLOCVT . coH. in the exergum. S. C. in the field. Nero robed, standing 
with an attendant on a low suggestum to the left, his right hand raised as 



NERO. 135 

addressing three soldiers, who stand before him with their swords on their right 
sides, and without their helmets. Two of them carry standards. In the hack- 
ground is the front of a building ; it appears to be circular, and supported by 
columns. 

This coin is supposed to have been struck a.d. 66, to record the circumstances 
related by Suetonius in Vita Neronis, section 19 : "In Achaia isthmum perfodere 
aggressus prsetorianos pro concione ad inchoandum opus cohortatus est, tubaque 
signo dato, primus rastello humum effodit et corbulse congestam humeris 
extulerit." 

The year a.d. 66 is very remarkable in history, not of the Roman empire only, 
but io the world as being the year when the great war with the Jews, which was 
to decide the fate of their country, commenced. The cruelties of Gessius Elorus 
in Judsea had excited an insurrection which Cestius Gallus advanced to Jerusalem 
from Antioch to suppress, but there he encountered the people in arms, and was 
suddenly overpowered and slain with the loss of an eagle and other standards. 
In the next year Vespasian was sent by Nero to take the command, which he 
assumed in February, a.d. 67, and Jerusalem was taken on tlie 8th day of the 
month Gorphseus Eliel, and second year of Vespasian, by the army under the com- 
mand of his son Titus, whom Vespasian had left in charge when he went to Rome 
on his election as emperor after the death of Nero. 
Weight 401^ grains. 

234 

IMP . NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . p . XIII .P.P. The laureate 
head of Nero to the right. 

$c. ROMA . in the exergum. S. C. in the field. Roma armed, seated on arms, 
to the left ; her left arm rests on the upper edge of a circular shield, the lower 
part of the shield resting on a square block, on one side whereof is a helmet, on 
the other side is the cuirass on which she is seated ; her sword, suspended by the 
belt over the right shoulder, is at her left side ; in her right hand she holds her 
spear erect, the point upwards. Her clothing reaches to her feet. 

Black brown colour, very fine. Weight 385|: grains. 

The brass coins of Nero which bear any tribunician date are rare. There is 
not one Large Brass coin of Nero in the French or Vienna cabinets which bears a 
tribunician date, nor is there one noticed in the Christina, Arschot, or Vaillant 
cabinets, nor is it mentioned in Occo. There are three like the present in the 
British Museum, one of them having the wolf and twins on the shield of Roma ; 
and there is one like the present in the collection of Mr. Bergne, which formerly 



136 KEOOBDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

belonged to Mr. Edgar. Excepting what are in this cabinet, these are all the 
Large Brass coins I have been able to trace out having the tribunician date xili. 
Eckhel, vol. vi. p. 267, quotes a Second Brass coin with the trie. pot. xiii., 
rev. ROMA, as on the present, and says : " Singularis est hie nummus, cum quod 
trib. pot. numerum addit, cujus exemplum in alio Neronis nummo seneo nondum 
observare contigit, turn quod in eodem nummi parte utrumque imperatoris titulum 
offert." 

An aureus of tr . p . vii . cos . mi. is among the coins found at Rutupise, now 
E/ichborough, in the cabinet of Mr. Eolfe of Sandwich, in Kent. The coin is 
mentioned in C. E. Smith's Eichborough, p. 124. The collection of Eutupian 
antiquities of Mr. Eolfe is now with Mr. Mayer, at Liverpool. These coins 
Avith TR . POT. were struck in a.d. 66. 

235. 

IMP . NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . p . xm .P.P. The laureate 
head of Nero to the right. 

9>. ROMA . in the exergum. S. C. in the field. Eoma armed, seated on a 
cuirass to the left, holding her spear erect in her right hand. Her left arm rests 
on her shield, which is at her left side, the lower edge of the shield resting on a 
square plinth, and against which ocrea, or armour for the legs, are resting. This 
peculiarity (the ocred) in the device is extremely rare. 

236. 

IMP . NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . p . XIII .P.P. The radiate 
head of Nero to the right. 

;p.. ROMA . in the exergum. S. C. in the field. Eoma armed, seated to the left 
on a cuirass ; her clothes only reach to her knees ; three or four shields are piled 
at her side and at her back. Her left hand holds her spear, the point of it resting 
on the ground. Her helmet is well crested, and her sword is slung at her left 
side by its belt, which crosses her bosom from the right shoulder. In her right 
hand she holds out a wreath. 

A Second Brass coin, black, in beautiful condition. 

237A. 

IMP . NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR , AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . p . XIII .P.P. The radiate 
head of Nero to the right. 

9.. ROMA . in the exergum. S. C. in the field. Eoma seated on a cuirass to the 



NERO. 



137 



left ; her left arm rests on her shield at her left side ; the lower edge of it is placed 
on a helmet, and another helmet is by its side. Her right hand holds her spear 
upright ; her sword at her left side, the belt passing over her right shoulder. 
Her clothes reach to her ankles. 

A beautiful black Second Brass coin. From the description given by Eckhel of 
the Second Brass coin in the Vienna cabinet, with the tr . pot . xiii., it would 
seem the present completely answers to that. 

IMP . NERO . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . GERM . P. M . TR . p . XIII .P.P. The laureate 
head of Nero to the right. 



$0. PACE . P . R . TERRA . MARIQ . PARTA . lANVM . CLVSIT. S. C. in the field. 

Temple of Janus : the left side with garlands. 
A fine coin, in pure unpatinated aurichalcum. 

238. 



The 




NERO . CAESAR . AVG . IMP . TR . POT . xiiii. The laureate head of Nero to the 
right, the bust fuU and in armour,, a military cloak appearing to be buckled on the 
right shoulder and drawn over to the left, thus showing the cuirass and lappets 
on the right shoulder which fasten the front and back parts of the cuirass 
together. 

9>. ROMA . in the exergum. S. C. in the field. Boma armed, seated on a 
cuirass to the left ; behind her are shields. Her left hand grasps the hilt of her 
sword; her right hand extended holds a Victoriola presenting her a wreath. 
Her clothes reach only to her knees. 

A very fine dark green coin, from the cabinet of the Duke of Devonshire. 

This singular coin was struck in the last year of Nero's reign. He kiUed 
himself in the thirty-second year of his age, on the 9th of June, a.d. 68, being 
the same day of the same month on which he had some few years before put his 
young wife Octavia to death, she being then only twenty years of age. 



138 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

The present coin may be considered from two causes unique. The only other 
such coia was said to have been in the cabinet d'Ennery, but on looking there I 
did not find it, nor any note of it, or any trace of it being in existence, so this is 
the only Large Brass coin known on which Nero is represented in armour ; 
secondly, it bears the tribunician date xiiii, which has been supposed not to exist 
on any Large Brass coin of Nero. 

This tribunician date on a Large Brass coin, or on any other coin of Nero, was 
apparently unknown to Eckhel. Erom the observation I have already quoted, in 
describing the coin No. 234 ante, he seems to have considered the Second Brass 
coin he mentions with the tribunician date xiii. as most singular, and in no way 
does he allude to any coin with the trie. pot. xiiii. being anywhere in existence, 
or known to him. The only approach to this tribunician date is a coin quoted by 
Argelati as being ia the Museum Oorrerii, thus : " Aes, nero . caesar . avg- . 
IMP. — XIIII. in medio nummi." It is evident from the position of the xiiii. on that 
coin it formed no part of the legend, and is unconnected with anything that 
may be described on the coin ; it cannot therefore be considered as referring to 
a tribunician date ; and, no other numbers than the above being given by Argelati 
in describing the coin, it is quite clear it is not a tribunician date ; but it is not 
improbable the numerals may have been added at some later period for some 
private or peculiar purpose. Argelati does not give the size of the coin, nor does 
he say what reverse is on it ; but to say simply " xiiii. in medio nummi," would 
imply the numeral was in the middle of the field of the reverse of the flan and 
without any legend, which is a most unusual and improbable act of a Roman 
master of the mint, or of his die-engraver. Upon the whole, no satisfactory 
opinion can be formed from what he says respecting the quoted coin ; but I feel 
perfectly satisfied it was not intended for a tribunician date. 

The only reverses upon coins of Nero that I have found bearing a tribunician 
date have been eoma . and the Temple of Janus. The coins we have described 
are all the varieties of the roma type on which the tribunician date is to be 
found ; and, although they are all roma, yet they all vary, in the same manner 
as the coins of roma without the tribunician date which we have first noticed. 

In the reign of Nero a great persecution was raised against the Christians ; 
and it is said St. Peter was crucified at Eome, and St. Paul beheaded there. 

With the death of Nero the line of emperors and chiefs professing to be 
descended from Jilneas and Augustus was ended. We bid farewell to the Csesars, 
and at the same time to the state of things which the Cajsars created and 
maintained in the empire. A new scene commences ; the old system of 



NERO. 139 

hereditary descent commenced by Julius Csesar is broken ; and, the army having 
found the secret of creating an emperor, the republic is at once thrown into 
their power, and all the rights and authority of the consuls and senate, as the 
true legislators, are at once set aside, and they are treated as mere puppets, to 
be called into play at the caprice of the military. 

239. 

IMP . NERO . CAESAR . AVG . p . MAX. The head of Nero to the right, 

9j. No legend. A person on horseback to the right, his right hand raised 

with a sword to strike at a person who has fallen on the ground in front of the 

horse, and raises his hand in supplication. 
A contorniate. 



POPPiEA. 

Popp^A Sabina, the daughter of Titus OUius, was named after her uncle Poppseus 
Sabinus, a man of consular dignity, who appears to have been consul in a.d. 9, 
jointly with Q. Sulpicius Camerinus. She was married to Rufus Orispinus, a 
Roman knight, by whom she had a son ; but afterwards seduced from him by 
Otho ; and Nero, happening to see her, became so enamoured of her, that he 
repudiated his wife Octavia ; and, sending Otho to be governor of the distant 
province of Lusitania, now Portugal, took possession of Poppsea, A. D. 63. 
Octavia was banished to the island of Pandataria, and put to death in the first 
glow of youth and beauty, at twenty years of age, and her head brought to Rome 
and presented to Poppgea. 

In the year a.d. 66, Poppsea, beiag pregnant by Nero, was kUled by him in a 
fit of passion, by a kick with his foot, and thus the death of Octavia was avenged. 

There are no Latin coins of Poppsea. 

240. 

nonnAiA The head of Poppgea to the right. Her hair in curls 

over the forehead, and drawn down behind, then turned up and tied in a long 
braided knot. A love-lock strays down the neck. Her bosom draped. 

^. NEPQ . kaav , . . KAI2 .... The radiate head of Nero to the right. 

A Greek Imperial coin in billon, from the cabinet of Mr. Borrell of Smyrna. 

T 2 



140 RECORDS OF EOMAN HISTORY. 



GALEA. 



Sergius Sulpicius Galea was born of an illustrious family in the year of Rome 
761, or B.C. 3. He was raised to the consulate in a.d. 33, jointly with L. Cor- 
nelius Sulla Eelix, and was afterwards sent into Germany to supersede Getulicus 
in the command of the Roman armies there. Upon the death of Caligula, he 
was urged to assume the empire, but he declined ; which conduct, when Claudius 
was raised to the sovereignty, he rewarded by appointing Galba to be pro-consul 
of Africa. 

In the year a.d. 68, Galba being then in Spain, the troops revolted against 
Nero and proclaimed Galba emperor, and the death of Nero happening soon after, 
he remained in possession of the empire. Very quickly after Galba had arrived 
in Rome, on his assumption of the sovereignty, he held a meeting of some friends, 
and, by their advice, he associated with him in the empire Piso Licinianus, a 
descendant of the Crassi and Pompeii, of high birth and noble character. He 
afterwards proceeded with Piso to the camp of the Praetorians, and announced to 
them the act he had done ; after that he went to the Senate and made a similar 
announcement, which was received with much satisfaction. Not so with the 
Prgetorians, who, although they did not openly express their dissatisfaction, 
yet, as they had received no largess or donative on the arrival of Galba in Rome, 
nor on his presenting Piso to them, they were ready, as the fact afterwards proved, 
to turn against him, at the instigation of Otho, whose friends took care to secure 
their swords on his behalf by presents of money.* Galba did not long enjoy his 
honours, being slain the following year in a tumult with the soldiers, occasioned 
by Otho, who instigated an insurrection and was proclaimed emperor. Galba had 
then only reigned seven months, and was seventy-two years of age when he was 
killed. Piso was slain at the same time as Galba, by the particular orders of 
Otho, who feared him greatly. 

The brass coins of Galba, with a few exceptions, are not rare, although they 
were all struck between the month of June, a.d. 68, and the month of February, 
A.D. 69. 

241. 

IMP . SER . GALBA . AVG . TR . p . The laureate head of Galba to the right, 
shoulders draped. 

9.. No legend. S. C. in the field. A Victory gradient to the left ; her right 

* Merivale, vi. 379. 



GALEA, 141 

hand, extended, holds a little figure of Minerva Jaculatrix, or probably a Bellona ; 
in her left hand she bears a palm-branch. 

Black brown, remarkably sharp and fine. Weight, 441f grains. 

242. 

SEE, . SVLP . GALEA . IMP . CAESAE . AVG . The laureate head of Galba to the 
right. 

9). ADLOCVTio in the exergum ; in the field, S. C. The emperor, bareheaded, 
and in military attire, standing to the right on a low basement. Behind the 
emperor is an armed figure, who holds him by the right arm ; before them are 
assembled many armed soldiers, and a horse's head and forelegs are intermixed 
with the soldiers, some of whom carry standards, among which are some eagles 
and a vexillum. 

Weight, 4091 grains. 

This coin records the address made by Galba to his troops, infantry and cavalry, 
on their saluting him as Augustus ; the cavalry are represented by the horse ; an 
officer stands in front of the emperor with his back to him, and seems to be 
enforcing the address which is being made by the emperor to those assembled. 

We have said that the revolt of the troops, under Galba, occurred before the 
actual death of Nero ; on that event being notified to Galba, he did not hesitate 
any longer to assume the imperial dignity, and put himself in motion at the head 
of his troops to proceed to Rome. We may therefore fairly conclude that this and 
the next coin were struck to record the address made by Galba to his troops on 
his resolution being taken, when they saluted him Imperator, 

243. 

IMP . c The laureate head of Galba to the right. 

$c. ADLOCVTIO in the exergum, with S. C. under. The emperor addressing a 
band of armed soldiers, both cavalry and infantry, as on the preceding coin, with 
this peculiarity, that one of the soldiers in the fore ground of the group seems to 
have a human head fixed on his shield, as if the head of an enemy for a trophy. 

Weight, 4294 grains. 

244. 

SER , GALBA . IMP . CAES . AVG. The head of Galba to the right, wearing an oak- 
wreath, 

9,, s , p , Q , E . OB . CIV . SEE . inscribed in three lines across the field, within 
an oak-wreath. 



142 RECOBDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

Weight, 376 grains. 

This coin was struck by the senate to compliment Galba, and record his having 
saved the citizens of Rome from the tyranny of Nero and the horrors of civil war, 
by assuming the sovereignty with promptitude ; it therefore stands in order as of 
the earliest part of his reign, in a.d. 68. 

The coins of emperors with the head encircled with an oak-wreath are 
unknown ; I do not believe, excepting the coin I have noticed of Augustus, there 
is any other emperor on whose coins it appears than those of Galba, and his are 
very scarce. 

245. 

SER . GALBA . IMP . CAES . AVG . TR . P. The head of Galba to the right, wearing 
an oak- wreath. 

9.. s . p . Q . R . OB . CIV . SER . inscribed in three lines across the field, within a 
wreath of oak-leaves and acorns. 

The civic crown, corona qiiercea, presented to a citizen who had saved the 
life of a feUow-citizen in battle, was considered more honourable than any other 
reward, although composed of no other materials than twigs of oak-leaves and 
acorns entwined together. It is called by Virgil, iSneid vi., civilis quercus — 

" Atque umbrata gerunt civili tempora quercu." 

It was a particular privilege conferred on the persons who gained this crown, 
that, when they came to any public shows, the whole company present, as weU 
senators as people, should signify their respect by rising up on their entrance, and 
they should take their seat on these occasions among the senators. They were 
also excused from all troublesome ofl^ces, and procured the same exemption for 
their fathers and grandfathers, ex parte paternd. 

Bemg so highly esteemed, the civic crown was frequently awarded to an 
emperor at the commencement of his reign, more especially if Ms predecessor had 
been a man wanting in clemency, or had caused the death or exile of many of the 
citizens; it is in this latter view of the subject that Claudian compliments Stilicho, 
a celebrated general under Theodosius the Great : — 

Of old, wlien in the war's tumultuous strife 
A Eoman saved a brother Eoman's life, 
And foil'd the threatening foe, our sires decreed 
An oaken garland for the victor's meed. 

Thou who hast sav'd whole crowds, whole towns set free 

What groves, what woods, shall furnish crowns to thee ? 



GALEA. 143 

246. 

SER . GALEA . IMP . CAESAR . AVG . TR . P. The laureate head of Galba to the right. 
Jc. EX . s . c . OB . GIVES . SERVATOS inscribed in four lines across the field, 
within an oak-wreath. 
Weight 307|- grains. 
This device was struck on the same occasion as the preceding coin. 

247. 

IMP . SER . SVLP . GALBA . CAES . AVG . TR . P. The laureate head of Galba to the 
right. Shoulders draped. 

^. LIBERTAS . PVBLiCA. In the field S. 0. A robed female standing fuU 
front, looking to the left, with a pileus or cap of liberty in her right hand ; in 
her left she holds the rudis. 

248. 
SER . GAiBA . IMP . CAES . AVG . TR . P. The laureate head of Galba to the right. 
|l. LIBERT . AVG. In the field S. 0. A robed female standing with the pileus 
and rudis, as on the preceding coin. 
Weight 423-1- grains. 

249. 

IMP . SER . SVLP . GALBA . AVG . TR . P. The laureate head of Galba to the right. 
Shoulders draped. 

Bright green, very fine. 

9,. LIBERTAS . PVBLICA. In the field S. C. A robed female standing full 
front, looking to the left, holding a pUeus in her right hand, in the left a rudis. 

This type signifies that, by the death of Nero and the accession of Galba, the 
people of Home had received their manumission, or had become free men instead 
of continuing to be the slaves they had been made under Nero. 

It may also be considered to mean that the Julian and Claudian families had 
ended, and the sovereign power would no longer be permitted to descend from 
father to son, in fanuly gradation; thus giving the citizens the freedom of 
electing the emperor, but which the military took good care they should not 
exercise. 

250. 

SER . SVLP . GALBA . IMP . CAESAR . AVG . TR . P. The laureate head of Galba to 

the right. 

9,. LIBERTAS . RESTiTVTA. In the excrgum S. C. The emperor robed standing 



144 RECOEDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

to the left, his right hand extended towards a female, who is kneeling before him 
on her right knee, her right hand raised towards him in supplication. At her 
left side, in the back-ground, Minerva is standing, her shield on her left arm to 
protect Roma while she is addressing the emperor. 

Black brown. Weight 359^ grains. 

A coin struck upon the same occasion as the preceding coins, but it conveys 
a more extended signification of the restoration of liberty to the Ptoman people. 
The same idea is also represented on the next following coin, which, with the 
present, are both very rare. 

This type has been copied on the coin of Vespasian post, roma . resvrges. 

251. 

SER . svLP . GALEA . IMP . CAESAR . AVG . TR . P. The laureate head of Galba to 
the right. 

^. ROMA . RESTiT. In the field S. C. E-oma wearing her helmet and military 
cloak, kneeling to the right on her right knee, and presenting her right hand 
to the emperor, who stands before her to the left, in military costume, with a 
spear in his left hand ; with his right hand he raises Roma by her right hand, 
she at the same time presenting the emperor with a little child she holds on her 
left arm and knee. 

Black brown. Weight 426 grains. 

Tliis and the preceding coin, struck a.d. 68, by their types express the joy 
of the Roman people on their release from the despotic power of Nero, and the 
expectation of a happy reign, when Rome would be restored to its former youthful 
prosperity and good government, and the hope that such benefits would also be 
enjoyed by their families and descendants, typified by the little child R.oma carries 
on her left arm. They are both of them very rare types, and are but in poor 
condition. 

252. 

SER . svLPi . GALEA . IMP . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR . P. The laureate head of 
Galba to the right. 

9>. SECVRiTAS . p . ROMANi. In the field S. 0. A female naked to the waist 
seated on a throne to the left ; her left arm is resting on a rail crossing the 
upper part of the throne at the back, her right hand raised to her head ; in 
front of her is a small circular altar, by the side of which is a torch with a light 
burning on the top. 

Weight 226 grains. 



GALEA. 145 

This coin, struck a.d. 68, also denotes the security felt by the Roman people 
on the accession of Galba to the sovereignty. A somewhat similar type of similar 
import is in the series of Nero, Nos. 203 and 204 ante, and was struck in the 
early part of his reign, before his vicious character had displayed itself. 

253. 

IMP . SEE . galba . AVG - TB, , P. The head of Galba to the left, wearing a 
civic wreath of oak-leaves and acorns. 

9)- No legend. In the field S. C. A Victory volant to the right, bearing in 
her right hand a wreath, in the left a palm-branch. 



"Weight 422 grains. 



254. 



IMP . SEE, . GALEA . CAE . AVG . TE . P. The laureate head of Galba to the right. 

$1. PAX . AVGVST. In the field S.C. Pax standing to the left ; her right hand, 
extended, holds an olive-branch ; on her left arm she bears a full cornucopise, 
emblematic of riches and plenty, the offspring of peace. 

A good Second Brass coin, weight 200|- grains. 

255. 

SEE, . GALBA . IMP . CAESAB . AVG . TB . P. The laureate head of Galba to the 
right. 

9). No legend. In the field S. C. Three military standards, the centre one 
being an eagle with a fulmen in its claws, mounted on a plain staff. The other 
two have wreaths, and small circles under their signa, below which again are 
large crescents. 

Weight 154-1- grains. 

256. 

SEB . GALBA . IMP . CAES . AVG . TB . P. The laureate head of Galba to the right. 

|c. No legend. S. C. in the sides of the field. Three military standards, 
each placed on the prow of a galley ; the middle standard being an eagle ; the 
staff being decorated with two wreaths, one above the galley and one under 
the eagle. In the centre of the staff, between the two wreaths, is a circular 
ornament. Each of the other standards bears a wreath, and underneath is a 
wreath, below which again is a circular ornament, that is placed within the 
concave bend of a crescent. Weight 1834 grains. 

These two coins, of second size, are in fine condition. By their types they 
denote the fidelity of the army, and by the prows of galleys of the navy also, 
to the cause of Galba. 

u 



146 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

257. 

SER . svLPi . GALEA . IMP . CAESAR . AVG . TR . p. The laureate head of Galba 

to the right. 

^. AEQv S. C. in the field. A female standing in profile to the right, 

leaning on a hasta xmra which she has in her left hand ; in her right hand she 
holds a j)air of scales or balance. 

Weight 184^ grains. 

258. 

IMP . SER . GALBA . CAES . AVG . TR . P. The laureate head of Galba to the 
right. 

:p.. AVGVSTA in the exergiun. In the field S. C. A robed female seated to 
the left on a square seat ; her left hand holds a hasta piira erect, her right hand 
extended presents a patera.. 

Weight 4094- grains. 

259. 

SER . GALBA . IMP . CAES . AVG. The laureate head of Galba to the right. 

9). CONCORD . AVG. In the exergum S. C. A robed female seated to the left 
on a square seat with low back on which her left arm is resting, and holding 
the hasta pura in her left hand transversely ; her right hand extended holds an 
olive-branch. 

Weight 407^ grains. ^.^^ 

SER . GALEA . CAE . AVG . TR . P. The laureate head of Galba to the left. 
9). CONCORD . AVG. In the field S. C. Concordia seated to the left with olive 
branch and hasta pura as delineated on the preceding coin. 
Weight 374 grains. 
The coins of Galba with the head to the left are not very common. 

261. 

SER . GALBA . IMP . CAES . AVG . TR . P. The laureate head of Galba to the right. 

9). VESTA in the exergum. In the field S. C. The goddess seated to the left ; 
her right hand extended holds a patera, on her left arm she supports a small 
palladium. 

Weight 159-1- grains. ^^.-^ 

IMP . SER . GALBA . CAESAR . AVG . TR . P. The unlaureatc head of Galba to the 
right. 



GALEA. 147 

9>. VESTA in the exergum. In the field S. C. The goddess seated to the left ; 
her right hand extended holds a palladium, in her left hand she holds a hasta pura 
transversely. 

Weight 1581 grains. 

263. 

SER . GALEA . IMP . CAES . AVG. The laureate head of Galba to the right, 
shoulders draped. 

9=- ADLOCVTio in the exergum. S. C. in the field. This coin of the emperor 
making an address to the soldiers, such as we have before described, was the first 
coin ever bought by the late George Gwilt, and was purchased when he was in 
Florence in 1824 ; after then he became a collector, but not an historic collector. 
He shewed me this coin soon after his return to England. 

Brown ; no patina. 

264. 

SEE, . GALBA . IMP . CAES . AVG . TR . P. The laureate head of Galba to the right. 

^. EOMA in the exergum. In the field S. C. Homa armed seated to the 
left on a cuirass ; her left arm rests gracefully on the upper edge of her shield, 
the lower part whereof is resting on some shields, by the side of which are the 
ocrea or leg armour of some vanquished foe ; her left foot rests on a helmet lying 
on the ground ; in her right hand she holds her spear erect ; her clothes, reaching 
to the feet, are displayed in rich folds at the left side. 

Mottled greenish earthy colour. Weight 395|- grains. 

The figure of Roma just described has been arranged in a most elegant 
and graceful attitude, showing perfect ease and repose, coupled with firmness 
as the lady warrior. The die has been engraved by a first-rate artist ; and, from 
the perfect condition of the coin, this reverse is a complete and artistic study. 
From the cabinet of Mr. Borrell. 

Roma with ocrea among the armour of the vanquished is rare. 

265. 

SEE . GALBA . IMP . CAES . AVG . TE . P. The laureate head of Galba to the right, 
shoulders draped. 

9>. EOMA in the exergum. S. C. in the field. Roma armed seated to the left 
on arms ; her right hand holds her spear erect ; her left arm placed on her shield, 
the lower edge of which rests on a small square base ; her clothes come to her 
feet. 

Weight 400-1- grains. 

u 2 



148 RECORDS or ROMAN HISTORY. 

266. 

SER . GALEA . IMP . CAESAR . AVG . TR . P. The laureate head of Galha to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

Jc. Roma standing full front, wearing a crested helmet, her spear in the left 
hand erect ; her right hand extended holds a Victoriola presenting a wreath ; the 
word RO — MA . across the field, divided by the female personification of the city. 
S. C. in the field, each letter being placed under the division of the word RO — ma. 

Weight 3623 grains. 

267. 

IMP . SER . GALEA . cAEs . AVG . PON . M . TR . P. The laureate head of Galba to 
the right. 

1^. No legend. S. C. in the field. A victory gradient to the right ; her right 
hand holds a wreath, in her left she bears a palm branch. 

Weight 413^ grains. 

268. 

SER . GALEA . IMP . CABS . AVG . TR . P. The laureate head of Galba to the right. 

|c. No. legend. S. C. in the field. A victory gradient to the left, holding out 
in her right hand a small figure of Minerva Jaculatrix, or Bellona ; in her left 
hand she carries a palm-branch. 

Weight 4074- grains. 

269. 

SER . GALBA . IMP . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR . p . The laureate head of Galba to 
the right. 

|o. xxxx . REMissA. S. C. in the field. A plain double arch, the arcus duplex 
of Argelati. The front is approached by steps ; a garland is suspended within 
the arch ; on the top of the arch are four horses. 

Weight 4991 grains. 

On this coin is recorded the remission of a tax or a collection of taxes to 
which the Roman people had been subjected by the predecessors of Galba, but 
of what the tax or taxes in particular designated by the Quadrigesima 
repealed by Galba consisted, I find no note anywhere. The coin only records 
the emperor's bounty to the citizens. 

Spanheim has recorded this type, and has argued on its import, but is not 
able to come to a satisfactory decision on the question. (Spanheim, de Prses- 
tantia, &c. Elzevir small 4to, p. 797, second edition.) So with Eckhel, in Ocdba, 
vol. vi. p. 296. He notices the legend and coin of the remissio quadrigesima, 



GALEA. 149 

but does not explain the particulars of what tax or taxes were remitted, and so 
gave rise to this coin ; he notices, however, that Vespasian revocasse, revoked, or 
re-imposed the taxes Galba had so remitted. 

270. 

SEE, . svLPi . GALBA . IMP . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TJB . p - The laureate head of 
Galba to the right, a small globe at the point of the bust. 

9>. SENATVS . PiETATi . AVGVSTi . In the exergum S. 0. The emperor in 
military costvime standing full front to the left, holding a Victoriola in his ex- 
tended right hand, in the left he has a small olive branch. At his left side a 
person stands in senatorial robes, who is with his right hand placing a wreath on 
the emperor's head, and holding a large olive branch in his left hand. 

Weight 433| grains. 

Galba was much respected for his exemplary conduct in private life; the 
present type is therefore quite appropriate, and records the sentiments of the 
Roman Senate on the excellent character of the emperor. 

271. 




SER . SVLPI . GALBA . IMP . CAESAR . AVG . p . M . TR . p . The laureate head of 
Galba to the right, the Modena eagle behind the head. 

9). No legend. S. C. in the field. Apollo as the god of medicine, without any 
drapery, standing full front with a staff in his left hand, around which a serpent 
is entwined. 

Prom the Duke of Devonshire's cabinet. Black green, fine. Weight 414:|- 



grams. 



This seems to be a supplicatory coin for the health and life of the emperor, 
who was an aged man ; it is a type very rarely to be met with. The serpent we 
have already noticed ante, on coin of Julius Csesar. 

Amongst the E-omans the serpent was a type of health, and on the coins is 
usually combined with iEsculapius or Hygeia, and almost invariably under the 



150 EECOKDS OP ROMAN HISTOEY. 

legend salvs . avg . or salvs only, as indicating health. There is no doubt its 
origin is oriental, and most likely derived by tradition from the brazen serpent 
raised by Moses in the Wilderness in order to stay the pestilence which broke out 
among the Israelites, that all who looked on it might be restored to health. 
Apollo Medicus is mentioned by Ovid, Met. 1, in the following terms : 

Inventum mediciiia meum est, opiferque per orbem 
Dicor, et herbanim subjeota potentia nobis. 

Helios, or Sol, the Sun, was the same as Phoebus Apollo, the god of day 
and of light, and the father of ^sculapius, who is commonly termed the god of 
medicine ; but he is more properly the god of medicine or healing in his own person, 
for, although in later times there were as many as four ApoUos distinguished, yet 
this was probably but in keeping with the tendency of the Grecian mind to change 
the several attributes of a deity into as many distinct gods. The primitive idea 
was the sun (Helios or Sol), the fountain of light. To this, as a matter of course, 
followed life and health, and by another beautiful perception the same deity pre- 
sided over music, one of the soul's chief comforters and healers, whence its 
medicinal fame from time immemorial. " The poets (says Lord Bacon) did well 
to conjoin music and medicine in Apollo, since the ofEce of medicine is but to 
tune this curious harp of man's body and reduce it to harmony." 

" Apollo was the pagan aspiration after Christ ; one of his names was aanrip, 
saviour. His worship, his festivals, his oracles, all had more weight and influ- 
ence with the Greeks than those of any other deity they worshipped. They would 
never have become what they were without the worship of Apollo ; in him was 
the brightest side of the Grecian mind reflected. He who is the true light, the 
light which is the life of men, reveals himself also as healer of the nations in his 
lovely song of one that playeth well upon an instrument." (Grindon, 147.) 

272. 

SEK . svLPi . GALEA . IMP . CAESAR . AVG . TR . P. The laureate head of Galba 
to the right, shoulders draped. 

9^. HONGS . ET . viRTVs. S. C. in the exergum. Honos robed, and standing to 
the right with a hasta pura in her right hand ; in her left she bears a cornucopise. 
Virtus stands opposite to Honos, in military costume ; her cloak is drawn over 
the left shoulder, leaving the right breast bare, and falling in graceful folds 
behind and at her left side ; her clothes reach to the knees, and are confined at 
the waist by a belt ; her helmet is handsomely crested ; a spear in her left hand, 



OTHO. 151 

the point resting on the ground ; her right foot placed on a cuirass lying on the 
ground, and in her right hand she holds her parazonium or dress-sword. 

Temples were erected at Rome to many of the virtues or becoming acts of 
life. Marcellus erected two— one to Honos and the other to Virtus : they were 
so constructed, that to reach the Temple of Honos, it was necessary to pass 
through that of Virtus, a matter capable of being expanded into a beautiful 
allegory. The type is therefore highly interesting, and denotes the estimation in 
which Galba was held by the Senate and people of Eome. 

Amongst the Romans, Virtus signified courage or valour. Courage was 
esteemed a great perfection, and was therefore represented by Virtus generally. 
Her appearance on coins is like that of Roma, excepting that she usually carries 
a sword in addition to her spear, but never a Victoriola. 

The present coiu is in the finest possible state of preservation (a drab colour), 
and is not easily found in such fine condition. It is from the cabinet of Captain 
Eaber. "Weight 414^ grains. 

273. 

SEE, . suLPi . GALBA . IMP . CAESAR . AVG . Tu . P. The laureate head of Galba to 
the right, shoulders draped. 

$c. MAKS . VICTOR. In the field S. C. Mars unclothed, standing full front, 
with helmet on his head and spear in his right hand ; on his left arm he bears a 
trophy of arms. 

Brown-chocolate, reddish. Weight 460-|- grains. 



OTHO. 

Marcus Salvius Otho was of Hetruscan descent and illustrious parentage. He 
was born a.d. 32, at Ferentum, an Hetruscan city, now caUed Ferento, or Ferenti, 
five miles north of Viterbo, At the time of Galba's accession he was governor of 
Lusitania, now Portugal. He joined in the revolt against Nero, a.d. 68 ; and in 
the following year he conspired against Galba, who being slain, Otho was pro- 
claimed emperor. Vitellius was at the same time proclaimed emperor in Gaul, 
and marched to Rome. Otho, who was at Rome, led out his troops to oppose 
Vitellius, and at the commencement of the war was successful in several 
skirmishes. A general engagement afterwards took place near to Bedriacum, 
now called Caneto, a village situate between Cremona and Verona. In this battle 



152 HBCORDS OF EOMAN HISTOBY. 

the troops of Otho were defeated ; and, although he was entreated by his friends 
and followers to raUy his troops and try again, and retrieve the fortune he had 
lost, he chose rather to kill himself, which he did on the 17th of April, a.d. 69, 
having reigned three months and seven days, being in the thirty-seventh year of 

his age. 

Coins of Otho in Tirst Brass are unknown. Some brass coins of Second size 
were struck at Antioch ; but I avail myself of the denarii of the Roman mint, 
for both aurei and denarii were struck to him at Eome, and very probably 
coins in Large Brass, but they are all lost to us for the present. 

274. 

IMP . M . OTHO . CAESAB . AVG . TR . P. The head of otho to the right, wearing a 



wig. 



1^. SECVRITAS . p . R. A female standing looking to the left, having in her 
left hand a hasta pura ; with her right hand she holds up an olive branch. 
A denarius. 

275. 

IMP . M . OTHO . CAESAR . AVG . Tu . P. The head of Otho to the right, wearing 
a wig. 

|o. PAX . ORBis . TERRARVM. Peace standing looking to the left, holding a 
long caduceus on her left arm ; her right hand holds a branch. 

A denarius. 

The brass coins of Otho usually introduced in cabinets are from the Antioch 
mint. The type of the reverse is simply a laurel wreath with S. C. in the middle 
of the field. In the Numismatic Chronicle for January, 1841, there is mention 
made of a Large Brass Otho having been found at Autun, in France, the ancient 
Augustodunu.m ; and an elaborate history of it is given by a gentleman who went 
to see it, and declares it is genuine ; but at the same time he acknowledges his 
inexjierience to detect a real coin from a forged one. I took the trouble to have 
some inquiry made at the Royal Library in Paris, for the opinion of the curators 
of the coins, as to the said Otho. The reply was that it was false. When I was 
in Paris, in September, 1847, I inquired of Mons. Le Normand, and the other 
gentlemen in the medal-room of the Royal Library, and they told me it was a 
Paduan. I had not the opportunity of going to Autun to see it, or I would have 
done so ; and, taking some of the well-known forgeries of Large Brass Otho to 
compare with it, Avould have formed my own personal decision. 



OTHO. 153 

It is observed to me by my respected friend the Rev. E. Boden, that there 
may be a chance of a Large Brass coin of Otho being found in Portugal, for, as 
we have noticed {ante, Popp^a), Nero, having taken a fancy to Poppsea, divorced 
her from Otho by sending him to Lusitania as governor, and took Poppsea to 
himself. On the revolt of the troops under Galba against Nero, and saluting 
Galba as emperor, Otho was stUl governor of Lusitania, and did not return to 
Eome until Galba was emperor. Poppsea, however, had been brutally killed by 
Nero long before the return of Otho. The governorship of Otho in Lusitania, 
calculating from the probable time when Nero took Poppsea, might be about 
three years, and during that time colonial Lusitanian coins may have been struck 
to Otho ; but history says that Otho instigated the murder of Galba when they 
were both at Rome, and then Otho assumed the sovereignty, but no coins could 
before then be struck to him as emperor, and it was not allowable for the portraits 
of pro-consuls or provincial governors to be placed on the coinage, so that if any 
brass coins of Otho are to be discovered in Lusitania, they were struck there or 
at Rome, and sent there after Otho had assumed the imperial purple. 

Eckhel, vol. vi. in Othone, p. 304, speaking of the absence of any brass coins 
of Otho, says: "Major eorum pars adservere negatum hunc Othoni ab Senatu 
honorem (nam ad Senatum feriundse monetae senese jus pertinuit), quoniam ei 
infensus erat ob csesum violent^ Galbam, quodque a militibus, non ab se dictus 
fuerat Augustus, quod omnia ex militum voluntate gererentur ; Senatus autem 
nihO. haberetur, cujus varia exempla ipsis ex Tacito, Suetonio, Plutarcho, Dione 
prsesto sunt." 

Such was the jealousy of the election of Otho by the army, without reference 
to the Senate, who, feeling themselves offended at the usurpation of their rights 
by the soldiery, refused to exercise their right and power of striking a brass 
coinage ; whereas Otho as the emperor had the power to coin in gold and silver. 
Hence gold and silver coins of Otho exist, but none in brass. 

In Murphy's Tacitus, appendix to book xy'i., speaking of Otho, it is noted 
that " Otho considered himself no better than a state prisoner (he was then 
governor of Lusitania) in a remote part of the empire. Resentment prompted 
him to revenge, and ambition like his was eager to come forth from obscurity and 
act a principal part on the great stage of public busiaess. He melted down all 
his massive gold and silver [plate], and, having converted it into coin, went with 
his whole treasure and the forces of his province to support the enterprise of an 
old man (Galba) who he knew in the course of nature could not long enjoy the 
supreme authority. The other governors and proprsetors followed his example." 

X 



154 RECORDS or ROMAN HISTORY. 

In converting his gold and silver plate into coin, what dies were used ? were 
they dies of Nero or Galba ? and whence did he obtain them ? Or, did he strike 
coin with his own effigies ? If coin was struck with the head of Otho, some 
would be found in Portugal, or in the adjoining parts of Spain. Not much would 
be carried to Rome, except in the military chest. Therefore, Mr. Boden's con- 
jecture may come right at last. 



VITELLIUS. 

AuLUS ViTELLius was born about the year a.d. 15. In ad. 48, year of Rome 
801, he was elected consul jointly with L. Vipsianus Poplicola. In a.d. 68 he 
was sent by the emperor Galba legate to Germany, where he revolted, and on 
news of the death of Galba he was proclaimed emperor by the troops under his 
command, and he then marched against Otho, who was defeated at Bebriacum, 
and after the battle slew himself, a.d. 69, by which event Vitellius was left in 
possession of the sovereignty, an honour he enjoyed but eight months and a few 
days, when he was killed in his turn on the 21st December, a.d. 69, by the 
soldiers of Vespasian, who had been proclaimed emperor in the East, and had 
marched to Rome to assume the reins of government. 

The coins of Vitellius are rare, and are all of the mintage of a.d. 69. 

276. 

A . viTELLivs . IMP . GERMAN. The laureate head of Vitellius to the left. 

1^. FIDES . EXERCiTVVM . in two Mncs across the field, between which are two 
right hands joined. S. C. in the exergum. 

A Second Brass coin of red Cyprian copper, and by the legend being without 
the P.M. or TR . POT., or avg., it may be considered one of the first struck to 
record the elevation of Vitellius to the sovereignty, as well as to conciliate the 
army, of whom ViteUius was doubtful and rather in fear. For these reasons I 
have placed it first in the series. 

Weight 146- grains. 

277. 

A . VITELLIVS . GERMAN . IMP . AVG . p . M . TR . P. The laureate head of Vitellius 
to the right, shoulders draped. 

|L. No legend. S. C. in the field. Mars gradient to the right, bearing a 



VITELLIUS. 155 

trophy of arms on his left shoulder ; in the right hand he carries a spear, the 
point forward. 

Weight 363-1- grains. 

278. 

A . viTELLivs . GERMAN . IMP . AVG. p . M . TR . P. The laureate head of Vitellius 
to the right, shoulders draped. 

|t. MARS . VICTOR. In the field S. C. Mars armed, striding to the left ; his 
right hand extended holds a Victoriola. In his left hand he holds the staff of a 
trophy of arms, resting on his left shoulder ; a short sword is girded on his left 
side. 

A good red brown coin, presented by Mr. Oureton. Weight 387 grains. 

279. 

A . VITELLIVS . GERMANicvs . IMP . AVG . p , M . TR . P. The laureate head of 
Vitellius to the right, shoulders draped. 

9'. MARS . VICTOR. In the field S. C. Mars in full military costume striding 
to the left hastily, with a Victoriola and trophy, as on the preceding coin. 

280. 

A . VITELLIVS . GERMANicvs . IMP . AVG . p . M . TR . P. The laureate head of 
Vitellius to the right, shoulders draped. 

9>. VICTORIA . AVGVSTi. In the field S. C. A winged Victory naked to the 
waist, standing to the right, her left foot resting on a helmet lying on the ground ; 
with her right hand she is inscribing on a shield aflB.xed to the trunk of a tree, and 
held by her left hand, the words ob . gives . ser. 

Black green, very fine. Weight 424-§ grains. 

The present and three preceding coins record the cessation of the war between 
Otho and Vitellius, and the stay of all further effusion of the blood of Roman 
citizens in contention with each other. 

281. 

A . VITELLIVS . GERMAN . IMP . AVG . p . M . TR . P. The laureate head of Vitellius 
to the right. 

$c. No legend. S. C. in the field. A Victory gradient to the left, holding a 
Victoriola in her right hand, and in the left carrying a palm-branch. 
Weight 359-1- grains. 

x2 



156 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

282. 

A . viTELLivs . GERM . IMP . AVG . p . M . TR . P. The laureate head of Vitellius to 
the right. 

^. PAX . AVGVSTi. In the exergum S. C. E,oma armed, standing to the right, 
her sliield on her left arm and her sword on her right side; her right hand 
extended to the right hand of Vitellius, who is robed and stands before her to 
the left. 

Weight 183f grains. 

283. 

A . VITELLIVS . GERMANicvs . IMP . AVG . p . M . TR . P. The laureate head of 
Vitellius to the right, shoulders draped. 

^. PAX . AVGVSTI. In the field a large S. C. Pax standing full front, looking 
to the left ; her right hand holds out an olive branch ; on her left arm she bears a 
full cornucopise. 

Black green, very fine. 

284. 

A . VITELLIVS . GERMAN . IMP . AVG . p . M . p . P. The laureate head of Vitellius 
to the right. 

$c. ROMA . in the exergum. In the field S. C. Homa armed, seated on a 
cuirass to the left; two shields are behind her for support; her right hand extended, 
her left hand placed on the hilt of her sword. 

It has been doubted whether the title p.p. Pater Patriae, was given to Vitel- 
lius ; but in Argelati, tit. Vitellius, there are three instances, one in silver 
SPQR .p.p.OB.c.s.in corona civica, musaso P. Cattanei ; another in silver, 
A . VITELLIVS . GERM . IMP . p . p . ex thesauro Mauroceno J. C. Bon ; and the third, 
in brass, but he does not mention the size, A . vitellivs . German . imp . avg .p.m. 
p.p. musoei Moscardi. 

Eckhel, iu Vitellio, vol. vi. p. 309, gives examples of all the numismatic titles 
of Vitellius, but there is not one among them having the p.p.; but that is no 
reason why this coin and Argelati should be erroneous. It is in pure auricalchum, 
badly cleaned, from the cabinet of the Duke of Devonshire. 

285. 
A . VITELLIVS . GERMANicvs . IMP . AVG . p . M . TR. P. The laureate head of 
Vitellius to the right. 

9.. CONCORDIA . AVGVSTI. In the exergum S. C. A robed female seated to the 



VITELLIUS. 157 

left on a square seat; in her right hand she holds a patera, at her feet is a decorated 
square altar on which a fire is burning ; on her left arm she bears a cornucopise 
filled with fruits. 

A Second Brass coin, black green, very fine. 

286. 

A . VITELLIUS . GERMAN . IMP . AVG . p . M . TE, . P. The laureate head of Vitel- 
lius to the right, shoulders draped. 

^. L . viTELL . CENSOR . 11 . In the exergum S. C. The elder Vitellius, father 
of the emperor, is seated in his robes on a curule chair placed on a suggestum to 
the left. Before him are three citizens, the foremost of whom he takes by the 
right hand ; above them to the right, and facing the censor, another person is 
seated, apparently attending to what is going on. 

This is a complimentary coin to the emperor, who was thus flattered by the 
cringing Senate recording the dignity to which his father had been advanced. The 
father of Vitellius was three times consul and once censor, as recorded in written 
history; but in numismatic history he appears to have held the latter office twice. 
By the Pasti Consulares, L. Vitellius was censor jointly with the emperor Claudius, 
A. D. 48, yet his name does not appeai- again in the Pasti as censor ; but the coin 
cannot err, although written record may err or be uncertain, or omit a fact. 

It is a dark brown coin from the cabinet of the Duke of Devonshire. "Weight 
5244 grains. 

287. 

A . viTELLivs . GERMAN . IMP . AVG . p . M . TR . P. The laureate head of Vitellius 
to the right, shoulders draped. 

Jo. L . VITELL . CENSOR . II. In the exergum S. C. L. ViteUius in his robes 
seated to the left on a curule chair placed on a suggestum ; three citizens are in 
front, and a person is seated above them on the right, being a group similar to 
the preceding. 

A brown coin from the cabinet of the Earl Pembroke. Weight 3504- grains. 

We have noticed the censorship of L. Vitellius on the preceding coin. The 
office of Censor was more honourable than that of consul ; and its power was very 
great, without being amenable to any other. The censors were originally created 
in the year of Rome 310, and were of patrician family ; the office was placed in 
the hands of two individuals for five years, and if either of them died while in 
oflice, there was no successor appointed, but the survivor continued for the 
remainder of the five years. 



158 EECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

The first patricians wlio were appointed to the office were L. Papirius Mugil- 
liamis, and L. Sempronius Atratinus. Amongst other powers they had authority 
for correcting and reforming the manners of individuals of all ranks, not even 
excepting a dictator or consul ; and if they thought necessary, could degrade 
senators, could take away a knight's horse and ring, and turn plebeians out of their 
tribes into lower rank. In every fifth year, the censors were to take a census of 
the Roman people in the Campus Martins, and this was called a Lustrum. 

About the year of Rome 420, their time of office was reduced to eighteen 
months, and their powers were abridged ; but, the republic subsequently becoming 
an empire, the censors were abolished, and the emperors took upon themselves the 
official duties. The robes of the censors were of scarlet cloth, with all the insignia 
of consular dignity, excepting the lictors. 

The first enumeration or census of the Roman people was attributed to the 
founder of the state, and a law ascribed to Servius Tullus, the sixth king of Rome, 
B.C. 534, required that every birth should be registered by payment of a piece of 
money in the temple of Juno Lucina. At every death a piece of money was simi- 
larly offered at the shrine of Libitina. And the assumption of the robe of manhood 
{toga virilis) was verified in the same way by a fee to the goddess Juventas. 

By these means TuUas was enabled to ascertain the number of the inhabitants 
of Rome, the living as children and men of full age, also the number of deaths. 
The census of Tullus shewed him 84,000 inhabitants of Rome. 

The goddess Juno Lucina, supposed to preside over child-birth, had a temple 
erected to her in Rome, A.u.c. 396. 

Libitina, supposed by some to be the same as Diana or Proserpina, presided 
over funerals; Servius Tullus first raised a temple to her at Rome, in which 
tlie registers of deaths Avere kept. 

The goddess Juventas was the Hebe of the Greeks. 



VESPASIANUS. 



Plavius Vespasianus was born a.d. 9, of a Sabine family, at Reate, now called 
Rieti, a place of very great antiquity, considered to have been the first seat of 
the Umbri in Italy. Vespasian became a senator, and, under the emperor 
Claudius, was appointed to the command of the Pvoman army in Britain, where 
he obtained many successes and made himself master of the Isle of Wio-ht, 



VESPASIANUS. 159 

called by the Romans Vectis. On the broad plains of Britain, Vespasian learned 
the art of war, which he was to practise among the steep defiles of Palestine, and 
against the walls of Jerusalem. He was afterwards appointed proconsul in 
Africa, and subsequently, on the defeat of Cestius Gallus, was appointed by Nero 
to the government of Palestine, and the command of the army destined for the 
conquest of Judgea. 

In the disorders which ensued upon the death of Galba, the troops of 
Vespasian compelled him to assume the imperial title and dignity, and march 
towards Rome. The subsequent deaths of Vitellius and Otho left Vespasian sole 
master of the empire at the close of the year a.d. 69. Merivale says the date of 
the commencement of his reign was from the 1st of July, a.d. 69, being the day 
when the legions swore fidelity to him at Alexandria. It was from this city that 
he afterwards crossed the Mediterranean to Italy. His two sons, Titus and 
Domitianus, were named Caesars ; Titus being also appointed the colleague of his 
father in the censorship. And the census of the Roman people taken by them in 
A.D. 74 is the last recorded in history. Vespasian died at Reate in July a.d. 79, 
(Clinton says June,) and was succeeded by his son Titus. The coins of Vespasian, 
with the exception of some few particular types, are common. 

288. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AvG . p . M . TR . p . p . p . COS . III. The laureate head of 
Vespasian to the right. 

^c. s . p . Q . R . OB . GIVES . SERVATOS . inscribed in four lines within an oak- 
wreath. 

The civic crown has already been very fully explained under preceding coins. 
This is a congratulatory coin upon the cessation of the strife between the armies 
of Otho and Vitellius, occasioned by the accession of Vespasian, by which the 
further eflPusion of the blood of Roman citizens was stayed. It was struck a.d. 71, 
in the third consulate of Vespasian. 

A black coin, very fine. Weight 405 grains. 

289. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG .p.M.TR.p.p.p. COS . III. The laureate head 
of Vespasian to the right. 

9=. VICTORIA . AVGVSTi. In the field S. C. A winged Victory naked to the 
waist standing to the right ; her left hand supports a shield against a palm-tree ; 



160 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

on the shield she has inscribed or . gives . ser . ; her left foot rests on a helmet 
placed on the ground at the foot of the palm-tree. 

From the words inscribed on the shield, this coin was struck at the same 
period and to record the same circumstances as the preceding coin. 

The inscription OB . gives . servatos . within a wreath, or inscribed on a 
shield, seems to have been usually adopted at the commencement of a reign 
from the time of Augustus, when it first appears on the imperial coins. 

Tliis beautiful coin was in the cabinet of the Duke of Devonshire, at the sale 
whereof it was bought away from me by Dr. Rawlings, but I kept on watch, and 
afterwards got it at the sale of the doctor's coins. 

From comparison of the reverse of this coin with the similar reverse type 
of Vitellius, I consider them as being struck from the same dies, which is not 
improbable. From the short reign of Vitellius, the dies of his coins were very 
little used, and with a fresh die for the head of Vespasian, the reverses of Vitellius 
were applicable, and would come in well ; besides, the two coins are precisely alike 
in size and colour. 

The weight of the Vitellian coin is 424^ grains, that of this 413| grains. It is 
verv fine, and of a black green colour. 



D 



290. 

IMP . CAESAR . vespasianvs . AVG .p.M.TR.p.p.R. COS . III. The laureate 
head of Vespasian to the right. 

^. FIDES . EXERCITWM. In the exergum S. C. Two right hands joined, 
holding between them a nailitary ensign surmounted by an eagle; the foot of the 
ensign staff rests on the prow of a galley. 

The present coin records the unanimity subsisting in the armies of the empire 
on the election of Vespasian, to Avhich are added the naval forces, represented by 
the prow of the galley on Avhich the stafl' of the eagle is set ; thus signifying the 
conjunction of the army and navj^ in the selection of Vespasian for their emperor. 

This coin (weight 425 grains) is one of the rare types of Vespasian. It was 
in the cabinet of Cavalier Campana, from whence I obtained it. I had never met 
with it before, nor have I seen it at sale since ; and the same remark will apply to 
the next coin. 

291. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . COS . III. The laureate head of Vespasian to the 
right. 

]^. No legend. In the field S. C. Three military standards, that in the 



VESPASIAN. 161 

centre being an eagle. Each standard is fixed on the prow of a galley. They 
are precisely the same in every respect as the type on the coin of Galba already 
described No. 256 ante. 

It signifies the adhesion or fidelity of the army and navy to the cause of 
Vespasian. 

This coin I obtained from the cabinet of Mr. Thomas, £(nd its rarity is almost 
as great as that of the preceding coin. Weight 1634- grains. 

292. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . COS . III. The radiated head of Vespasian to the 
right. 

$1. LIBERTAS . PVBLiCA. In the field S. 0. Liberty standing looking to the 
left, holding a pileus in her right hand, a rudis in the left. 

A fine Second Brass coin expressive of the fortunate change of the times and 
the benefits anticipated from the accession of Vespasian. Weight 235|: grains. 

293. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG .P.M.TE..P.P.P.C The laureate head of 

Vespasian to the right. 

|o. s . P . Q . R . ADSERTOBi . LiBEBTATis . PVBLICAE . inscribed in four lines 
within an oak-wreath. 

This coin is unique in its singular compliment, for the legend does not occur 
on any coin of any emperor before or after Vespasian, and strongly indicates, 
as well by the words used in the legend as by the civic wreath which sur- 
rounds them, the satisfaction that was felt by the citizens of E-ome on the ac- 
cession of Vespasian to the sovereignty* 

The coin itself has been rather ill-used, and no doubt was formerly in the 
cabinet of the Duke of Modena ; the small silver eagle at the back of the head 
has been cut out, but its place of insertion remains. Weight 361§ grains. 

294. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG .p.M.TR.p.p.p. COS . III. The laurcate head of 
Vespasian to the left. 

|L, s . P . Q . E. . ADSEBTOEl . LiBERTATis . PVBLICAE . inscribed in four lines 
within an oak- wreath. 

This type we have described on the preceding coin. 

A very good coin, of black-brown hue. Weight 401^ grains. 

T 



162 KECOBDS or KOMAN HISTOBY. 

295. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG .P.M.TR.P.P.P. COS . III. The laureate head of 
Vespasian to the right. 

Jc. SPES . AVGVSTA. In the exergum S. C. Hope standing to the left, holding 
up her robes with her left hand ; her right hand is extended towards three mili- 
tary officers who stand before her. The first carries a standard, the second 
extends his right hand towards her, the third holds the hilt of his sword with 
his right hand, the sword being girded on his right side. 

The present coin represents the salutation of Vespasian as emperor by 
the legions of jEgypt, Judaea, and Moesia, who were the first to declare him 
emperor. It was only upon great persuasion, and almost threats of personal 
violence, that he was induced to consent to take the imperial dignity. 

There is a similar type in the coins of Claudius. It is also the type of a 
coin that was sold in Dr. Mead's sale in 1756, but it is rather curiously described 
in the catalogue. " imp . caes . vespasian . avg . p . m . tr . p . p . p . cos . m. cap. 
lau. SPES . AVGVSTA. S. 0. Dea Spes dextram porrigit Imperatori galeato, 
adstantibus Tito et Domitiano." It is a strange error to describe the soldiers 
as the emperor and his sons, for it may be observed on a careful inspection of 
such figures on a reverse, when it is intended to represent an emperor, that he 
is never depicted wearing a helmet ; but soldiers, or Mars, or Minerva, or Roma 
always wear their helmet. 

This is one of the very rare types of Vespasian. Weight 3774- grains. 

296. 

imp . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . p . M . TK . p . p . p . COS . m. The laureate head 
of Vespasian to the right. 

$t. ROMA . RESVRGES. In the exergum S. C. The emperor in his robes stand- 
ing to the left. With Ms right hand he is raising a female who is kneeling 
before him on her left knee. At her left side is Minerva with her spear and 
shield, who seems to be addressing the emperor. The legend is addressed by 
the emperor to the personification Roma, whom he is raising from the ground 
and promising to restore to her former state and dignity. 

This coin was struck a.d. 71, and it would not only apply to the rebuildino- 
of the capitol and other public and private buildings which had been burnt and 
destroyed in the civil commotions that followed upon the death of Galba, but 
also, morally, to the reform of abuses which had crept into almost every depart- 



VESPASIAN. 163 

ment of the state during the reign of Nero, and which the short reigns of Galba, 
Otho, and Vitellius had not given those emperors time to look into and reform 
had they been disposed to do so. 

The grouping of the figures on this reverse resembles the group on the reverse 
of the coins of Galba, already noted. 

This is also one of the very rare coins of this emperor. 

297. 

IMP . CAESAu . VESPAsiANVS . AVG .p.M.TR.p.p.p. COS . III. The laureate 
head of the emperor to the right. 

Jo. No legend. In the field S. C. A Victory flying to the right, bearing a 
palm-branch in her left hand, in her right hand she holds up a wreath. 

This coin was struck a.d. 71, and refers to the conquest of Judaea and destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem, an event which occasioned great rejoicings at Rome, and pro- 
cured the honours of a triumph for Vespasian and his son Titus. 

This type, although frequent with some emperors, Galba for instance, is very 
uncommon for Vespasian. 

Weight 434-i- grains. 

298. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG -P.M.TR.P.P.P. COS . III. The laureate head 
of Vespasian to the right. 

|l. rvDAEA , CAPTA. In the exergum S. C. A palm-tree rising in the middle 
of the field, on the left side of which a female captive is seated ujDon armour, her 
head reclining upon her left hand in the attitude of grief. The emperor is standing 
on the right side, bare-headed and in military costume ; in his right hand he holds 
a spear erect, and in the left hand a parazonium ; his left foot rests on a helmet 
lying at the foot of the palm-tree. 

Weight 395| grains. 

This and most of the following coins relate to the conquest of Judaea and the 
victories of Titus ; they were all struck about a.d. 71 and 72. They form a series 
of great interest, being the records of a heathen people, minted for the purpose 
of magnifying their own importance ; but verifying to us that our Lord's prophecy 
of the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews, as 
related in the gospels, was fulfilled to the very letter, when, speaking of the mag- 
nificent temple which was in the city, he declared that not one stone should be 
left upon another. 

y2 



164 UECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

At the death of Vitellius, Vespasian was in the East, and on his election by the 
armies as emperor, he quitted Judgea to proceed to Alexandria on his way to 
Rome, leaving his son Titus general of the Roman armies to complete the Jewish 
war and conquest of Judaea, which had been commenced by Vespasian when 
general under Nero, a.d. 67. 

The siege of Jerusalem was prosecuted with great vigour by Titus, who ulti- 
mately made himself master of the place, notwithstanding the skilful and 
powerful resistance of the Jewish generals, more especially of Simon Gioras, who 
was eventually taken prisoner and sent to Rome. Titus, who had observed the 
beauty and grandeur of the temple, became desirous of saving it from destruction, 
and, when the final assault was made on the city, he gave strict orders for its pre- 
servation ; but, in spite of his directions that this splendid structure should not 
be injured, a Roman soldier raised himself on the shoulders of a comrade and 
threw a lighted torch into one of the apartments, where some drapery taking fire 
it communicated to the rest of the building, and ultimately reduced the whole to 
ashes and ruin. Titus and some followers rushed into the Holy of Holies and 
other sacred apartments, and brought out the golden candlestick and several other 
superb ornaments and furniture of the temple, which were saved and afterwards 
carried in the triumphal procession at Rome. 

The arch of Titus, yet extant at Rome, bears many sculptures, in which are 
represented various objects from the temple at Jerusalem being carried by Roman 
soldiers. 

In this memorable siege, it is recorded that nearly two millions of Jews 
perished in various ways ; but, notwithstanding so much slaughter, the end was 
not yet, for it was not until the time of Hadrian that the expulsion of the Jews 
from the city finally took place, as we shall see under the coins of Hadrian, post. 

In the 79th Psalm we have four beautiful and affecting verses lamenting the 
devastation of Jerusalem, which it is supposed was to take place by the Chaldees 
under their king Nebuchadnezzar; but, although that king made great havoc 
amongst the Jews, yet the verses are continuous, and more strongly apply to the 
destruction committed by Titus and completed by Hadrian than to what was 
done by the Chaldees. Prom the periods of Titus and Hadrian to the present 
times, the Jews have ceased to be a nation. 

" O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance ; thy holy temple have 
they defiled : they have laid Jerusalem on heaps. 

" The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls 
of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. 



VESPASIAN. 165 

" Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem ; and there was 
none to bury them. 

" We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them 
that are round about us." 

And in the book of Deuteronomy, chap, xxviii. 64, 65, 66, 68, we read,— 

" And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the 
earth even unto the other ; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither 
thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. 

" Aud among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of 
thy foot have rest : but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and 
faUing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. 

" And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee ; and thou shalt fear day and 
night, and shalt have none assurance of thy hfe. 

" And the Lord shall bring thee into ^gypt again with ships, by the way 
whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again : and there ye shall 
be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall 
buy you." 

No man shall buy you was exhibited by the fact, that so many Jews were 
made slaves in Judaea, that three were sold for one piece of silver— taking the 
piece of silver to mean the denarius, it was at the rate of two pence each ; if it 
were the drachma or tetradrachma, it would be about two shillings and six pence 
each. 

299. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG .P-M.TB.p.p.p. COS . III. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

Jl. rvDAEA . CAPTA. In the exergum S. C. A type similar to the preceding 
coin, excepting that the figure of the emperor reaches nearly to the top of the 
palm-tree, on the left side of which a weeping female is seated on a cuirass. 

Weight, 411i grains. 

In addition to our Lord's prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, as related 
in the Gospels, there are, in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter xxviii., dreadful 
denunciations against the Jews for their disobedience, which were fulfilled in the 
siege of Samaria by Ben-hadad, king of Syria, as related in 2 Kings, chapter vi. 
verses 28, 29, as well as in the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, as related by 
Josephus. 

In Patin, page 148, we read : — " Effossum fuit superiori sceculo marmor in 
Circo in quo titulus Mc erat sculptus — 



166 RECORDS OF ROMAK HISTORY, 

IMP . TITO . CAESARI . DIVI . VESPASIANI . E . 

VESPASIANO . AVG . PONTIEIOI . MAXIMO . 

TRIE . POT . X . IMP . XVII . COS . VIII .P.P. 

PRINCIPI . SVO . S . P . Q . R . 

QVOD . PRAECEPTIS . PATRIS . CONSILIIS . QVE . ET . 

AVSPICIS . GENTEM . IVDAEORVM . DOMVIT . ET . 

VRBEM . HIEROSOLTMAM . OMNIBVS . ANTE . SB . 

DVCIBVS . REGIBVS . GENTIBVSQVE . AVT . ERVSTRA . 

PETITAM . AVT . OMNINO . INTENTATAM . DELEVIT - 

Thus adding a further record to the fact of the destruction of the city of 
Jerusalem. 

300. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG -P.M.TR.p.p.p. COS . Hi. The laureate head of 
Vespasian to the right. 

9). iVDAEA . CAPTA. In the exergum S. C. A palm-tree, on the right side of 
which a man is standing with his hands bound behind him ; he is looking at a 
female who is sitting on a cuirass on the other side of the tree weeping ; behind the 
man are some shields and armour lying on the ground ; a shield is also resting 
against the left side of the fem.ale. 

Weight 399i- grains. 

This coin was struck on the same occasion as the preceding ; but, instead of 
the emperor, on this reverse we have a male captive, who, by the arms strewed on 
the ground behind him, is intended to represent a military personage. It is 
generally considered by antiquaries that the military captive represented on this 
coin is intended for Simon Gioras the Jewish general, who was taken prisoner and 
led in the triumphal procession at Rome, and on the same day put to death 
according to the barbarous custom of the Romans with such prisoners. 

The female sitting weeping represents Jerusalem, or, we may say, the country 
of Judsea. A triumph being decreed for the conquest of Judsea, an arch was 
erected bearmg an inscription, as follows : 

SENATVS . 

POPVLVSQVE . ROMANVS 

dIvO . TITO . dIvI . VESPASIANI . E 

VESPASIANO , AVGVSTO . 

A good part of this arch is still remaining, but houses are built by the sides of it. 
On the sides under the arch are basso-relievos representing the Roman soldiers 



VESPASIAN. 167 

carrying the golden candlestick of seven branches, the tables of the law, the 
trumpet of jubilee, and other sacred instruments used in the Temple, as they were 
borne in the triumphal procession. 

301. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG .p.M.TE.p.p.p. COS . El . The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

9). IVDAEA . CAPTA. In the exergum S. 0. A palm-tree, on the left side 
whereof a man stands with his hands bound behind him, looking at a female 
seated on the other side of the palm-tree, with her head resting on her hands ; in 
front of her are some shields, and some shields are on the ground behind the 
man. 

Weight 4071 grains. 

A coin struck on the same occasion as the preceding coins. The prisoner, with 
his hands bound, is to represent the Jewish general, as on the last coin. 

Jerusalem was taken by the Homans on the seventeenth of the Jewish month 
Tamuz, coinpiding with the nineteenth of the month of July. The temple was 
destroyed about the ninth of the month of August, or ninth of the Jewish month 
Ab ; both of these days are kept by the Jews at the present time as days of 
fasting and humiliation. 

302. 

SPAS . AVG . p . M . TR . p . p . p . COS . III. The laureate head of the 

emperor to the right. 

9). IVDAEA ... In the exergum S. 0. A female in the attitude of grief, her 
head resting on her left hand, seated on armour on the left side of a palm-tree ; 
on the other side of the tree, is a man who appears to be tied to the tree with his 
hands behind him ; a heknet is on the ground before him. 

Weight 393f grains. 

303. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . p . M . TE . P . P . P . COS . III. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

$1. VICTORIA . AVGVSTi . In the exergum S. C. A palm-tree on the left side, 
to which a shield is affixed, and before it is a Victory, who, while supporting the 
shield with her left hand, is inscribing on it with her right hand ; her left foot 
rests on a helmet lying on the ground; on the other side of the palm-tree a female 
is seated weeping. 

Weight 3781 grains. 



168 BECOEDS OF BOMAN HISTORY. 

304. 

IMP . OAES . VESPASIAN. AVG.p.M .TR.p. p .p. cos.iii. The laureate head 

of the emperor to the right. 

|c. VICTORIA . AVGVSTi. In the field S. C. A Victory inscribing a shield 
affixed to a palm-tree as described on the preceding coin, but there is no captive 
seated at the foot of the tree. 

Weight 408 grains. 

These two coins refer to the capture of Jerusalem as already noticed. 

305. 

IMP . cAEs . VESPASIANVS . AVG .p.M.TE.p.p.p. COS . III. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right. 

|l. VICTORIA . AVGVSTI. In the exergum S. 0. The emperor, bare-headed and 
in military costume, standing to the left with a spear in his left hand ; his right 
hand is extended towards a Victory, who stands before him and presents him a 
small figure of Minerva Jaculatrix. 

Weight 380| grains. 

This coin also commemorates the conquest of Judaea. The little figure of 
Minerva, presented by Victory to the emperor, is a compliment to the wisdom and 
judgment he displayed in the arrangement of his plans for prosecuting the war 
to a successful termination. 

306. 

IMP . CAES . VESPAs . AVG . p . M . TR . p . p . p , COS . III. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

]^. No legend. In the field S. C. Mars unclothed, gradient to the right, 
bearing a trophy of arms on his left shoulder, in his right hand he carries a spear 
with the point forward. 

307. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . PM . TR . p . p , p . COS . m. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

9.. MARS . VICTOR. In the field S. C. Mars unclothed, standing fuU front, 
his head incUned to the right ; in his right hand he holds a spear, and bears a 
trophy of arms in the left hand; at his right foot is an altar. 

Reddish brown, very good. Weight 411| grains. 



VESPASIAN. 169 

308. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . p . M . TB . p . p . p . COS . III. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right. 

9.. MARS . VICTOR. In the field S. C. Mars armed, striding hastily from left 
to right, holding out in his right hand a Victoriola, in his left hand he carries a 
small trophy of arms. 

309. 




IMP . CAESAR . VESPASIANVS . AVG . p . M . TR . p The laureate head of 

the emperor to the right. 

$0. siGNis . RECEPTis. In the exergum S. C. The emperor in military costume 
and bareheaded, standing on a low basement to the left, bearing a spear in 
his left hand, the point held downwards; his right hand extended to receive 
from a Victory who stands before him a legionary eagle, which she presents to him 
with her right hand, whilst in her left she holds a wreath and a palm branch. 

Black brown, fine. Weight 4284- grains. 

This is one of the rarest and most interesting coins in the Vespasian series. 
It records an event which occurred in the Jewish war, which is very imperfectly 
explained in history or by any antiquaries. Admiral Smyth follows Pellerin 
in describing a coin of similar type, No. 76, in his cabinet. He says, " It is 
very difiicult to explain what event gave birth to this type. It may, in imitation 
of one by Augustus, allude to a recovered eagle, or perhaps to some standards 
taken from Ponteius Agrippa by the Sarmatic Jazygian." 

This is the nearest explanation I have been able to obtain from any numis 
matic antiquary. Even Eckhel, vol. vi. p. 329, considers this type to refer to 
the recovery of the standards taken from the Eomans in Belgium by CivUis in 
A.D. 78 ; but in that opinion Eckhel must also be in error, for the coin under 
consideration was struck in the third consulate, which was in a.d. 71, and therefore 
cannot by any possibility correspond with an event which took place in a.d. 78. 
But the solution of the question I venture to give as follows : — Tacitus, lib. xvi. 

z 



170 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

appendix, sect. viii. (Murphy), speaking of the Jewish war in its early part during 
the time of Nero, a.d. 67, states, " The Jews were in the field with a powerful 
army ; they had defeated Oestius Gallus with great slaughter, and taken an eagle 
from one of the legions." Cestius Gallus, who was at that time governor of 
Syria, was himself slain upon this occasion, soon after which period Nero 
gave the command of the forces in Syria, including the country of Judaea, to 
Vespasian. 

The legions which were usually quartered in Syria were the legio . iii . 

GALLICA. — LEGIO . IIII . SCTTHICA. — LE&IO . VI . EERRATA . and LE&IO . XII . EVLMI- 

NiEERA. — And in Judaea, the legio . v . Macedonia. — legio . x. — and legio . xv . 
APOLLiNARis. It was therefore one of these seven legions which lost its eagle, 
but the particular legion is in no place mentioned, and Tacitus nowhere sub- 
sequently speaks of the eagle being recovered. Merivale, vi. 514, says, " Cestius 
Gallus put himself at the head of the twelfth legion with 6,000 men picked from 
other corps and several thousands of auxiliaries." This would make it appear 
that the captured eagle was that of the twelfth legion. 

The present coin, with its peculiarly interesting type, steps in and supplies 
the omission of Tacitus, and we are thus enabled to complete the narrative of 
the loss of the eagle by the record of its recovery. 

The coin in the cabinet of Admiral Smyth, from the corrosion of age, is 
imperfect in its detail on the reverse. The present coin, which was found at 
Pompeii, is very perfect in every resjiect, shewing what is not found on Admiral 
Smyth's coin, or on any other that I have been able to get access to, for the 
reverse represents Victory with a wreath as well as a palm-branch in her left 
hand, the one as an emblem of conquest, and the other the reward of success : 
with her right hand she presents an eagle to the emperor, and thus shows 
that the lost eagle had been recovered, and that she restored it td the emperor 
as the head of the army. The wreath that Victory holds in her left hand 
with the palm-branch is not mentioned by any writer ; I apprehend because 
all previous specimens have been defective and corroded like Admiral Smyth's 
coin. is. 

The words on the reverse signis . recbptis being in the plural number, signify 
that more than one standard was recovered, although Victory presents only the 
eagle ; but that is selected as being the chief standard of a legion, and therefore 
more appropriately the standard to be presented to the emperor. No doubt the 
defeat of Cestius Gallus supplied the Jews, not only with an eagle, but several 
other standards, for Josephus, lib. vii. eh. 9, of the Jewish war, mentions that 



VESPASIAN. 171 

during the siege of the city the Jews killed a great number of standard-bearers, 
keeping such ensigns as they got possession of. 

In the series of Titus, post, there is a Second Brass coin, the reverse being 
Victory placing a wreath on a vexUlum fixed in the ground before her, the 
legend being victoria . avgvsti. The two coins, I apprehend, may be considered 
conjointly, and will clearly make up and account for the loss and recovery of the 
eagle and standards, and supply the omission in Tacitus and other historians; 
for, as the capture of Jerusalem was the grand event of Vespasian's reign, 
including the entire reduction of Judaea, there is no reason why we should seek 
a solution of the tyjDes on this coin and the coin of Titus from any other events 
than those connected with the Jewish war, and in which both Vespasian and 
Titus were personally engaged, for Vespasian himself was wounded at the taking of 
Jotapata, which was defended by Josephus the governor, (the Jewish historian,) 
who was very soon after taken prisoner, and conveyed to Vespasian, who spared 
his life. 

Another solution of the type has been suggested to me — that it does not 
refer to the recovery of any eagle, but is complimentary to the valour of the 
army, and, instead of erecting a trophy, an eagle is presented to the emperor as 
to the whole army, he, as the chief, being the impersonation of the army ; but 
this is inconsistent with the words of the reverse legend and the facts we have 
noticed. 

310. 

IMP . CAESAR . VESPASIAN . AVG . P . M . TR . POT .P.P. COS . III. A Smaller 

laureate head of the emperor to the right ; the shoulder of the bust is notched. 

|l. siG S. 0. in the exergum. The type of this reverse is similar 

to that of the preceding coin ; but, from the corrosion of time and some ill u.sage, 
the wreath and palm-branch in the left hand of Victory are obliterated, and the 
remaining portions of the type are very defaced. 

This coin, which is black and of poor condition, (weight 398f grains,) is retained 
in the cabinet for the following reasons : the obverse appears struck from a bold 
Second Brass die. The coin in the cabinet of Admiral Smyth is from the same 
dies, both obverse and reverse, as the present coin, and it is equally injured 
by time. There is a coin also I have seen in the rrench cabinet, precisely similar 
in every respect, as well as in a like poor state of preservation, and by the plate 
of a coin of this type in Pellerin, the coin there delineated was precisely the same 
in every way — Pellerin calls it unique or presque unique, and I believe the three 
coins to have been struck from the same dies ; but there is no coin of this type 

z 2 



172 RECOEDS or KOMAN HISTORY. 

in the British Museum, nor in the Vienna cabinet, nor was it known to Occo, or 
Argelati, or Vaillant, nor in the Oliristina or Arschot cabinets. 

311. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . p . M . TR . p . p . p . COS . III. The laureate head 
of Vespasian to the right. 

^. ROMA . viCTRix. In the field S. C. Roma armed, standing to the right, 
holding a spear in her right hand ; in her left hand she has a parazonium, and 
her left foot rests upon a cuirass lying on the ground. 

From the date on this coin it is likewise one recording the successful result of 
the Jewish war. It was struck a.d. 71, and is rather a scarce coin. 

"Weight 389 grains. 

312. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . p . M . TR . p . p . p . COS . III. The laureate head 
of Vespasian to the right. 

9>. PAX . p . ROMANi. In the field S. C. Peace standing to the left, her right 
hand extended, holding an olive branch. On her left arm she bears a cornucopiEe, 
filled with fruits. 

"Weight 398j grains. 

The type is emblematic of the benefits conferred on the people by the peace 
which followed the wars and deaths of Otho and Vitellius, as well as consequent 
upon the taking of Jerusalem, when the Jewish war ceased. In this year, 
A.D. 71, and the third consulate of Vespasian, he shut up the Temple of Janus, 
for the sixth time since the building of Rome. 

In this year, likewise, a grand triumphal procession of the emperor and his 
son Titus was celebrated with great pomp, for the conquest of Jerusalem. 

313. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIANVS . AVG . p . M . TR . p . p . p . COS . III. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right. 

9.. PAX . AVG. In the exergum S. C. Peace standing to the right ; facing 
her on the left side of the field is a square altar ; some arms are piled up before 
it, to which she is setting fire with a torch ; in her left hand she holds erect what 
seems an olive-branch ; behind her on the right is a column surmounted by a 
small figure ; at the foot of the column in front are a helmet and shield, and a 
spear leans against it on the other side. 

Weight 425;^ grains. 



VESPASIAN. 173 

The present type shows an offering made to Mars of arms, the spoils of the 
vanquished, as was customary with the Komans. It has been suggested that this 
coin refers to the period when Vespasian, having by his son Titus finished the 
Jewish war, closed the Temple of Janus. That ceremony took place in a.d. 71, 
in the third consulate of Vespasian. 

The small figure on the column behind Peace is by most writers termed a 
BeUona ; and the column is itself supposed to be that from the side of which it 
was the custom of the Romans to throw a spear in the geographical direction 
of the country against which they declared war. 

The custom of burning arms and military weapons gathered up from the field 
of battle, as an offering to Mars, is thus described by SUius Italicus, in his poem 
on the second Punic war : 

Ast tibi Bellipotens, sacrum constructus aoervo 
Ingenti mons armorum consurgit ad astra : 
Ipse manu oelsam pinum flammaque comantem 
AttoUens, ductor Gradivum in vota ciebat; 
Primitias pugnae et Iseti Kbamina belK, 
Hannibal Ausonio cremat hsec de nomine Victor. 
Et tibi, Mars genitor, votorum baud surde meorum 
Arma electa dicat spirantum turba virorum. 
Turn face conjecta populatur fervidus ignis 
Flagrantem molem, et rupta caligine in auras 
Actus apex clara perfundit lumine campos. 

Lib. X. 

314. 

IMP . CAESAR . vESPASiANvs . AVG .P.M.TE.P.P.P- COS . III. The laureate 
head of the emperor to the right. 

9). PAX . ORBis . XERRARV. In the field S. 0. Peace standing to the right 
with a loaded cornucopise on her left arm, her right hand placed behind her 
back. Before her is a square altar, on which a fire is burning. 

Weight 3904- grains. 

This coin was struck upon the conquest of Judaea ; and, when all the provinces 
had been reduced to tranquillity after the agitation created throughout the whole 
Roman empire upon the death of Galba, Vespasian then closed the temple of 
Janus, and peace prevailed over all the Roman world, whence the significant 
legend on this reverse. 

315. 

IMP . CAESAR . VESPASIAN . AV& .p.M.TR.p.p.P. COS . III. The laureate 
head of the emperor to the right. 



X74 EECOBDS OF KOMAN HISTOEY. 

^. PAX . AVGVSTi. In the field S. 0. Peace standing to the left. Her right 
hand extended holds an olive branch ; on her left arm she bears a cornucopise 
filled with fruits. 

Weight 4111 grains. 

316. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . P. M . TK . P . P . P . COS . III. The laureate head 
of Vespasian to the right. 

9>. PAX . AV&vsTi. In the field S. 0. Peace seated to the left on a square 
seat with a low back. Her right hand extended holds an olive branch ; her left 
arm rests on the back of the chair; in her hand she holds a hasta jmra trans- 
versely. 

Weight 376|- grains. 

All these varieties of Pax relate to the cessation of strife at Rome and abroad, 
as we have already noticed. 

317. 

IMP . OAES . VESPASIAN . Avo . COS . III. The laureate head of the emperor to 
the right. 

R. No legend. In the field S. C. Victory gradient to the left, seemingly in. 
great joy, with a trophy of arms over her right shoulder, her left hand raised to 
support it. 

Weight 146^ grains. 

318. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN , AVG . COS . Ill, The head of Vespasian to the right, 
with radiate crown. 

$c. No legend. S. C. in the field. Victory volant to the left, holding in her 
right hand a circular shield bearing the inscription s . p . Q . n. 

Weight 212| grains. 

These two coins are of Second Brass, and were struck a.d. 71, on the same 
occasion as the preceding. 

319. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG - COS . III. The head of Vespasian to the right, 
with radiate crown. 

Jl. TVTELA . AVGVSTI. In the exergum S. C. A female seated on a square 
seat to the left. At her left side is a child, who she embraces with her left arm. 
Before her is another chUd, on whose shoulder the female places her right hand. 

Mionnet, Tit. Vespasien, describes this type as " Pemme assise entre Titus et 
Domitien," which seems to be its proper solution, considering these two indi- 



VESPASIAN. 175 

viduals represented by the two children as the future support or guardians of the 
empire. It is a Second Brass coin of rare occurrence. 

Weight 221§ grains. 

320. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG .p.M.TR.p.p.p. COS . III. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right. 

T^. BOMA. In the field S. C. Roma armed, standing fuU front looking to 
the left ; her right hand extended holds a Victoriola, which presents her a wreath ; 
in her left hand she holds her spear upright ; her dress reaches only to her knees. 

Weight 426 grains. 

321. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . COS . III. The radiate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

9). ROMA, in the exergum ; S. C. in the field. Roma armed, seated on arms 
to the left ; her right hand extended presents a wreath ; with the left hand she 
grasps the hilt of her sword ; her clothes reach only to her knees. 

The present is a Second sized coin, and with the preceding seems to be compli- 
mentary to the emperor on the successful termination of the Jewish war. 

Weight 234 grains. 

322. 

IMP . CAES . VESPAS . AVG .p.M.TR.p.P-P- COS . III. The laureate head of 
Vespasian to the right. 

p.. EOBTVNAE . REDVCi. In the field S. C. Fortune, standing full front, 
looking to the left ; her right hand extended holds an olive branch, and also the 
tiller of a rudder, the bottom of which rests on a globe ; the left arm bears a cor- 
nucopise loaded with fruits. 

As Yespasian did not come to Rome directly on his election to the empire, but 
remained in the Eastern provinces for a time, and ultimately came over to Italy 
from Alexandria, it is evident from the consulate marked on this coin that it was 
struck A.D. 71, to express the satisfaction of the people at Rome at the return of 
Vespasian from Syria, Judaea, and ^gypt, especially as his presence in Rome put 
down commotions and restored tranquillity to the city. 

323. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG .P.M.TR.P.P.P. COS . ill. — The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

$5). CAESAR . AVG . p . DES . IMP . AVG . E . COS . DES . 11. In the cxcrgum S.C. Titus 



176 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

and Domitian standing on either side, eacli bare-headed and in military costume ; 
each holds a spear in the right hand ; the one standing on the left has also a 
sceptrum on his left arm. 

Rough mottled green; good condition. Weight 411 § grains. 

According to theTasti Consulares, it would seem this coin was struck in a.d. 71, 
when Domitian was nominated for consul the second time ; for in a.d. 71 the 
consuls were the emperor Vespasian and M. Cocceius Nerva, afterwards emperor, 
and in a.d. 73 Domitian was full Consul II. with M. Valerius Messalinus. 

In the year a.d. 71, being the year of triumph for the capture of Jerusalem, 
Titus was nominated Csesar, and received the Tribunicia Potestas also ; he became 
Imperator, and associated with his father in the government, and Domitian was 
nominated for Consul the second time. 

324. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . COS . III. The radiate head of Vespasian to the right. 

|o. CONCORDIA . AVGVSTi. In the exergum S. C. A female seated to the left 
on a square seat, her right hand extended holds a patera ; the left arm supports 
a cornucopise. 

Weight 17l§ grains. 

325. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . COS . III. The laureate head of the emperor to 
the right. 

1^. AEQViTAS . AVGVSTI. In the exergum S. C. A female standing to the left ; 
her right hand holds a pair of scales, in the left hand she has a palm-branch. 

The two coins, of second module, were struck a.d. 71, to compliment the 
emperor on the peace, good order, and upright conduct with which the government 
of Rome was now managed. 

326. 

IMP . CAES . VESPAS . AVG .p.M.TR.p.p.p. COS . III. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

A brown coin. Weight 389|- grains. 

^. No legend. S. C. in the field. The fountain, or, as it is usually termed, 
the meta sudans, which stood near to the amphitheatre. The present coin 
represents the fountain in the same manner, (excepting as to the flowing of the 
water, which is the artist's licence,) as it is figured by A. Donati in his excellent 
work, Pvoma Vetus ac Pi^ecens, ed. 1694, p. 188, and described by him, " Ante 



VESPASIAN. 17*7 

Arcum Constantini et Amphitheatruin metam sudantem, fontem videlicet eorum 
qui ludos frequentabant extinguendae siti percommodum, eminente Jovis simulacro, 
extante adhuc vestigio ; constituunt, quam in nummis expressam habemus." 

And he gives the portraiture of a coin of Titus exactly similar in its detail 
of the fountain to that the present coin exhibits. 

The coin in Admiral Smyth's cabinet, and described as the meta sudans, is 
very different, being simply a column with very small base. I would suggest, 
may not Admiral Smyth's coin represent the milliarium aureum and not the 
meta sudans ? Some slight remains of the meta sudans are still to be seen in the 
locality mentioned by Donati. 

The coia of Titus with the meta was in the sale of Mr. Langdon's coins in 
fine condition ; and very good in the sale of the Earl of Gainsborough's coins, 1858. 

327. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . p . M . TE, . p . p . p . COS . III. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right. 

^. SALvs . AVGVSTA. In the exergum S. C. A female seated to the left, her 
right hand extended holding a patera, in her left hand she holds a hasta pura 
erect. There is no altar or serpent. 

This is one of the scarce coins of the Vespasian series. 

328. 

IMP . CAES . VESPAS . AVG .p.M.TR.p.p.p. COS . iiii. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

|c. No legend. In the exergum S. C. The emperor on horseback, galloping 
to the right, casting a javelin at a warrior who has been thrown down under 
the horse, but is half raised from the ground, with a shield on his left arm and 
sword in his right hand, protecting himself from the assault of the emperor. 

Weight 390-i- grains. 

There does not appear to be mention in history of any act of single combat 
with an enemy having been performed by Vespasian in Britain or in the Jewish 
war. We must, therefore, consider this type, which was struck in a.d. 72, as 
allegoric, and referring generally to the military prowess of the emperor as a 
commander, and not to any specific act of valour. 

Vaillant, Numismata, ed. 1692, p. 32, describing this type, says, " Hie 
nummus primse magnitudinis rarior est quam in Tito et Domitiano." 

2 a 



178 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

329. 

IMP • CAES . VESP . AVG . p . M . TR . p . p . p . COS . iiii . CENS . The laureate head 
of Vespasian to the right. 

|c. VICTORIA . NAVALis . In the field S. C. A winged Victory standing to the 
right on the prow of a galley, holding a palni-hranch in her left hand, in her right 
hand she holds up a wreath. 

On referring to the Easti Consulares it will be seen that Vespasian's fourth 
consulate was in a.d. 72, jointly with his son Titus, and by coins they were joint 
censors in the same year, and as the legend on the obverse of this coin concludes 
with the title of censor, the coin was struck in a.d. 72. 

The event to which this coin and two coins of Titus and Domitian refer is 
related by Josephus in the JcAvish War, lib. iii. ch. 17, and ch. 19, Avho says 
that Titus, having assaulted and taken Tarichsea on the lake of Genesareth, many 
of the beseiged embarked and escaped. The day after Titus commenced the con- 
struction of some vessels, and in a few days Vespasian himself pursued the 
fugitives, whom he encountered and overthrew, and occasioned a loss of near 
ten thou.sand men, including those who were afterwards slain at Tiberias, and 
about eight to ten thousand more Avere sent into slavery. Josephus, speaking of 
the triumph of Vespasian and Titus for the capture of Jerusalem, must refer to 
this naval victory when he says, " K^ostra navium a militibus portata esse." 

This coin, and those of Titus and Domitian with similar type, are all of 
Second Brass. It is not known as a Eirst Brass coin. 

Black green, very good. Weight 168-|- grains. 

330. 

IMP . CAESAR . VESPASIAN . AVG . COS . IIII. The radiate head of the emperor 
to the right. 

9>. PAX . AVG. In the field S. 0. A female standing to the left with a 
caduceus and olive branch in her left hand ; her right hand holds a patera, from 
which she is in the act of pouring a libation on a fire that is burning on a deco- 
rated square altar placed on the ground at her right foot. 

Weight 188-1- grains. 

331. 

VESP . AVG . p . M . TR . p . p . p . COS . iHI . CENS. The laureate head 

of the emperor to the right. 

9>. No legend. In the exergum S. C. The emperor in a triumphal quadriga 
decorated with figures, passing slowly to the right ; on the side a Victory is 
sculptured presenting a wreath. Weight 390^ grains. 



VESPASIAN. 179 

The triumpli for the conquest of Judsea was celebrated in a.d. 71, and there 
are coins of that date with this type ; the present coin was struck a.d. 72. The 
triumph was decreed to Vespasian and his son Titus. 

Josephus gives a very full account of the procession. Amongst the trophies 
and spoils displayed were the golden candlestick, the golden table, and other 
articles of the costly furniture of the Temple ; and amongst the captives walking 
in the procession was the Jewish general, Simon Gioras, who was put to death 
while Vespasian and Titus were ascending the steps of the capitol, and his body 
afterwards dragged to the Gemonia. 

Occo places the triumph in the kalends of July, a.d. 72 (p. 14i8), and Argelati 
places it in ad. 71. 

332. 

IMP . CAES . VESP . AVG . p . M . TR . p . COS . iiii . CENs. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

1^. No legend. S. 0. in tlxe field. A person in military costume on horseback 
to the left, his right hand raised as in the act of addressing spectators ; on his left 
arm he bears a trophy of arms. 

Weight 159 1 grains. 

Were it not that Vespasian had already been in Rome, and passed there the 
second and third consulates, this might be considered as representing his adventus. 
I should consider it most probably refers to the return of Titus from the Jewish 
war, when he was received into the city with demonstrations of great joy, and 
public festivals were held and the triumpli decreed. We may thus fairly consider 
the person represented on this reverse to be Titus, on his arrival in Rome after 
his victorious campaign. Although the coin (Second Brass) was struck in the 
fourth consulate, it may still have reference to past events. 

333. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . COS . IIII. The laureate head of the emperor to 
the right. 

9>- PROVIDENT - under the base of a square altar. S. C. on either side of the 
field. Weight 165| grains. 

334. 

IMP . CAES . VESP . AVG . p . M . TR . p . COS . V . CENS. The radiate head of the 
emperor to the left. 

9'. PELiciTAS PVBLiCA. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left ; her 
right hand extended holds a caducous, on her left arm she bears a cornucopise filled 
with fruits. Weight 195|- grains. 

2 A 2 



180 RECOEDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

335. 

IMP . CAESAR . VESPASIANVS . AVG. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
left. 

1^. PON . MAX . TR . POT .P.P. COS . V . CENS. No S. 0. Two comucopise filled 
with fruits, in saltier, a caduceus between them. 

Weight 201-^ grains. 
These are three Second Brass coins, and, taken together, aj)pear to represent the 
tranquillity, abundance, and consequent happiness the Roman people experienced 
from the discreet measures adopted by Vespasian for the preservation of the public 
peace and security. 

336. 

IMP . CAES . VESPAS . AV& . p . M . TR. p . p . p . COS . iiii. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

^. PAX . AVGVSTi. In the exergum S. 0. Peace burning arms, as already 
described on the coin No. 313 ante. 

Weight 413|- grains. 

The termination of the Jewish war, and capture of Jerusalem, to which this 
type refers, was a prolific subject for the Triumviri Monetales and their die- 
engravers, during the reigns of Vespasian and Titus. 

337. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . p . M . TR . p . p . p . COS . VII. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right. 

9>. EORTVNAE . REDVCI. In the field S. C. Fortune standing fuU front, 
looking to the left ; her right hand extended holds an oUve branch, and rests on 
the top of a rudder, the left arm bears a cornucopise filled with fruits. 

Black, very fine, from cabinet of Eev. E. C. Brice. Weight 413^ grains. 

When Augustus returned to Rome from his tour in Greece and Sicily in the 
early part of his reign, he built and dedicated a temple to Eortuna Redux, which 
is recorded on the gold and silver coins of Augustus, in the fourth tribunician 
date, the eleventh consulate and year of Rome 735 ; but the type does not appear 
on any brass coins of Augustus that are at present known. Prom this it became a 
custom with the emperors on their return to Rome from any expedition to a 
foreign country to make an off'ering at the temple of Fortuna Redux. 

Although it does not appear from history that Vespasian ever went upon any 



VESPASIAN, 181 

foreign expedition after lie came to Rome as emperor, yet Titus did. This coin I 
consider may therefore be appropriated in its type to commemorate the return of 
Titus from a tour of inspection in the provinces, for it is well known that after 
Vespasian had restored order in E-ome he began the rebuilding of the capitol and 
other public buildings which had been injured or destroyed in the civil commo- 
tions of Otho and Vitellius. He also made reforms in the government and 
management of the provinces ; and, as he did not travel himself, there is no reason 
to doubt but that Titus was deputed to carry out his father's plans and inspect 
the different provinces of the empire ; and on the return of the prince he was 
received with great joy, and the present coin struck, with an appropriate type and 
legend, to record the event and the public satisfaction at his presence amongst 
them once more. 

The date of the consulate, vii. would give this coin the date of its being struck 
A.D. 76, when Yespasian and his son Titus were joint consuls. 

338. 

IMP . CABS . VESPASIAN . AVG .p.M.TR.p.p.p. COS . VLC. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right. 

|o. No legend. S. 0. in the exergum. A temple of six columns approached 
by steps ranging the whole front of the building; under the portico in front in 
the central compartment are the statues of three deities ; two other statues are 
placed at the wings withoutside of the columns or portico. Of the three deities 
under the portico that in the centre is seated, and we may consider it to repre- 
sent a Jupiter ; the statue on the right hand is a figure of Minerva standing ; 
and that on the left hand, also standing, would be a Juno. On the outside on 
the sloping lines of the roof are many sculptured figures, and in the tympanum 
there is an assemblage of figures ; that in the centre is seated, and one standing 
on each side with other figures at the sides extending up to the corners of the 
base of the tympanum ; two on the left side are like smiths forging iron on 
an anvil. The whole composition and arrangement of the building, architectural 
and sculptural, forms a very busy and brilliant group. 

Although the temple portrayed on this and the following coin is by some 
writers supposed to refer to the Temple of Peace erected by Vespasian, yet, as 
the capitol had been burned in the civil commotions of former years, I believe 
from the deities in front being the Dii Majores, that it is a representation of 
the capitol which was rebuilt by Vespasian. The rebuilding*' commenced in a.d. 
70, the first stone or ceremonial being laid on the 20th June of that year. The 



182 EECOEDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

proceeding is described by Tacitus (Histor. iv. par. 52). It is noted by Mr. 
Merivale (vol. vi, p. 483) in the following terms : — 

" With the return of abundance and tranquillity, the first care of the Senate 
AYas to commence the restoration of the capitol, for while the Temple of Jupiter 
lay in ruins the fortunes of the empire seemed to suffer an eclipse. This pious 
work was entrusted according to ancient precedent to one of the most respected 
citizens by name L. Vestinus, who, although only of knightly family, was equal 
in personal distinction to any of the senators. The Haruspices whom he con- 
sulted demanded that the ruins of the fallen building should be conveyed away 
and cast into the lowest places of the city, and the new temple erected precisely 
on the old foundations, for the gods, they declared, would have no change made 
in the form of their familiar dwelling. 

" On the 20th of June [a.tj.c. 823],* being a clear and cloudless day, the 
area of the temple precincts was surrovmded with a cord of fillets and chaplets. 
Soldiers, chosen for their auspicious names, were marched into it, bearing boughs 
of the most auspicious trees, and the vestals, attended by a troop of boys and 
girls, both whose parents were living, spriniled it with water drawn from bub- 
bling founts or running streamlets. 

" Then, preceded by the pontiffs, the prsetor Helvidius Priscus stalking round 
sanctified the place with the mystical washing of sows', sheep's, and bulls' blood, 
and placed their entrails on a grassy altar. This done, he invoked Jupiter, Juno, 
and Minerva, and all the patrons of the empire, to prosper the undertaking, and 
raise, by Divine assistance, their temple founded by the piety of men. Then he 
touched with his hand the connected fillets, and the magistrates, the priests, 
the senators, the knights, with a number of the people, lent their strength to 
draw a great stone to the spot where the building was to commence. Beneath 
it they laid pieces of gold and silver minted for the occasion, as well as of un- 
wrought metal, for the Haruspices forbade either stone or metal to be used which 
had been employed before for profane purposes. 

" The temple rose from the deep substructions of Tarquinius exactly as was 
required on the plan of its predecessor. In the eyes of the citizens one thing 
only might seem wanting on this occasion to their prince's glory, that he should 
himself be present at the solemnity and conduct it in person. So natural was it, 

* Tacitus says-" uudecimo kal. Julias serena luce spatium omne quod templa dictabatur evinctum 
vittis coromsque. Ingressi milites quibus fausta nomina felicibus ramis, dein virgines vestales cum 
pueris &c. Turn Helvidius Priscus praetor, pra=eunte Plauto Eliano pontifioe, lustrata suovetaurilibus 
area, &c. 



VESPASIAN. 183 

indeed, to suppose him there taking the part of an Augustus or Claudius in 
the expiation of his country's sins, that it came to be commonly believed that 
he was actually present, and such is the assertion of some writers of authority. 
Yet the circumstantial account of Tacitus proves clearly that this was not the 
case, and the discrepancy is worth noting from the hint it gives us of the causes 
which have helped to obscure the truth of facts at this period." 

Admiral Smyth, p. 54, when he says that Vespasian himself was present and 
assisted at the ceremonial of laying the first stone for the rebuilding of the 
capitol, and carried the first basket of earth himself, is guided to that conclusion 
by what is said by Suetonius in Vespasiano 8* 

This is a dark brown coin from the collection of the Duke of Devonshire. 
Weight 371^ grains. 

339. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . p . M . TR . p . p . p . COS . VH. The laureate head 
of Vespasian to the right. 

$0. No legend. S. C. in the exergum. A representation of the temple 
displayed on the preceding coin. 

The present and preceding coins came from the same dies. There are two 
coins of this type in the Erench cabinet, and when I examined them I found 
they were marked in precisely similar manner to these two coins, having like 
them a line arching over the top of the temple, which satisfied me that all were 
from the same dies. The present coin had been in my possession several years 
before I obtained the preceding coin from the Duke of Devonshire's cabinet. 

Havercamp, in the Christina Cabinet, p. 38, ascribes this coin to the capitol 
rebuilt by Vespasian. Weight 335-^ grains. 

340. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . COS . viTi .P.P. The laureate head of Vespasian 
to the right ; a small globe at the point of the bust. 

$c. No legend. S. C. on either side of the field. A small temple of six 
columns, having a flight of steps the whole breadth ; the two centre columns are 
braced by an arch ; in front under the portico are three figures, apparently 
intended for Jupiter, with Minerva on his right hand, Juno on the left ; each 
figure is standing on a square base. Jupiter is standing up undraped, holding 

* " Ipse restitutionera capitolii aggressus, ruderibus purgandis mauus primus admovit, ac suo collo 
qusedam extulit." 



184 EECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

tlie hasta pura in his left hand. Minerva has her spear in her right hand, 
her shield held by the left hand, the lower edge of it resting on the base. Juno 
has nothing in her hands. In the tympanum above a figure is standing, with a 
hasta pura in the left hand, a recumbent figure on each side. On each angle of 
the pediment is a chariot with horses, and a quadriga is faintly appearing on the 
apex of the pediment. 

This coin, which is of Second size, may be a representation in smaller form 
of the capitol; the Dii Majores are in front, and sculptured figures above, 
though much fewer in number than on the preceding coins. Weight 153i grains. 

341. 

IMP . CAESAR . VESP . AVG . CENSOR. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

'^. VES — TA . on either side of a dome, or baldaschino, supported by four 
columns, two in front and two of rather smaller circumference, as if retired ; the 
top of the dome is divided in compartments, and the apex is decorated with a 
large ornament. Under the dome is a figure fully draped, holding a hasta pura 
in the left hand, the right hand extended. At each of the smaller columns is a 
figure holding a spear, or hasta pura ; that to the right in the right hand ; on the 
left the figure holds it in the left hand. 

This is an aureus. A coin like it is noted in the Arschot Cabinet, plate xxx. 

342. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . p . M . TR . p . p . p . COS . vm . reading from the 
left. The laureate head of the emperor to the left. 

9=. ANNONA . AVGVST. In the field S. C. A female seated to the left on a 
throne, her left foot resting on a footstool. 

This tyioe records a supply of corn provided by Vespasian for the support 
of poor citizens in his eight consulate, a.d. 77. 

It is a coin of rare occurrence. Weight 412f grains. 

343. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . COS . VIII. The laureate head of the emperor to 
the right. 

^. FIDES . PVBLICA. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left ; in her 
right hand she holds a patera, on her left arm she bears a cornucopia filled with 
fruits. Weight 160i grains. 



VESPASIAN. 185 

344. 

IMP . CAES . VESPASIAN . AVG . COS . VIII .P.P. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right. 

9.. AEQVITAS . AV&VSTI. Ill the field S. C. A female standing to the left, 
holding a pair of scales in her right hand ; in the left a hasta pura. 

These two coins are by their types expressive of the confidence the Roman 
people still continued to have in the wisdom and good government of Vespasian. 

Weight 130^ grains. 

APOTHEOSIS COINS. 

Vespasian died in July, a.d. 79, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, at his 
estate near Reate, his birth-place. The greatest stain on his character for unne- 
cessary cruelty was the murder of Sabinus, told by Plutarch, Mor. pp. 770, 771. 

345. 

Diws . AVGVSTVS . VESPASiANVS. The laureate head of Vespasian to the right. 

9). No legend. Spes gradient to the left. S. C. on either side the field. 

Weight 403f grains. 

The title diws . implies the divinity assigned to the deceased emperor, 
reminding one of Vespasian's own impious boast, in allusion to the honours and 
titles awaiting his approaching decease, ut puto Deus fio. 

346. 

Divo . AVG . VESPAS . in three lines in the upper part of the field, s . p . q . r . 
in the exergum. A robed figure of the deceased emperor seated on a throne 
placed to the right, on a decorated car drawn by four elephants, each of them 
having a rider. The left hand extended holds a Victoriola, standing on a small 
globe, and has a wreath and palm-branch in its hands. A hasta pura is held in 
the right hand of the figure of Vespasian. 

|o. IMP , T . CAES . DIVI . VESP . P . AVG .P.M.TR.P.P.P. COS . VIII. S. C. in 

the middle of the field. 

A coin struck by Titus, and represents the efiigies of the deceased emperor in 
the state in which it appeared at the annual procession of the deities to the 
Circensian games. Weight 328? grains. 

347. 

DIWS . AVGVSTVS . VESP. A robed figure of the deceased emperor seated to 
the left, his head with a radiate crown ; his right hand extended, holds an olive- 

2b 



186 BECOUDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

brancli ; in liis left is the hasta pura held upright ; his left foot rests on a 
footstool. 

9.. IMP . T . CAES . DIVI . VESP . F . AVG .P-M.TR.P.P.P. COS . VIII. In the 

middle of the field S. C. 

Weight 410f grains. 

The inscription denotes that this coin was struck by Titus to the memory of 
his deceased father. The effigies of the emperor, as exhibited on the obverse, is 
taken from a similar type on the coin of Augustus, ante, No. 104. The miniature 
portrait of Vespasian is very fine and perfect. 



DOMITILLA. 



Flavia Domitilla, the daughter of Flavins Liberalis, a Questorian scribe, was 
married to Vespasian in the year of Rome 793, a.d. 40. She died before Ves- 
pasian became emperor. 

348. 

MEMORIAE DOMiTiLLAE in three lines on the upper part of the field. A 
carpentum or funeral car, decorated with sculptures, placed on two wheels and 
drawn by two mules slowly, to the riglit. 

|o. IMP . T . CAES . DIVI . VESP . P . AVG .P.M.TR.P.P.P. COS . VIII. In the 

middle of the fields. C. 

A coin struck by Titus in a.d. 80. It has been much doubted by some 
antiquaries, whether the coins of this type are intended for the memory of his 
mother DomitiUa, or of his sister, who was of the same name. Mionnet considers 
the coin to be applicable to the daughter only. It is however usual to rank 
Domitilla as the wife of the emperor Vespasian. I have therefore done so on 
the present occasion. Weight 382§ grains. 



TITUS. 

Titus Flavius Vespasianus, son of Vespasian and Domitilla, was born at 
Rome in January a.d. 41. After his father's elevation to the throne, he was 
named Prince of the Ptoman Youth, in a.d. 69. In a.d. 71, he was invested with 
the title of Imperator, and associated with his father in the sovereignty, and also 
in the censorship. On his father's election to the empire, and departure from 



TITUS, 187 

Judaea for Rome, Titus was left by him in command of the armies at the siege of 
Jerusalem. The capture of the city being accomplished, he returned to Rome, 
and, with his father, enjoyed the honours of a triumph for the conquest of Judsea. 
A magnificent triumphal arch was afterwards erected, decorated with sculptures 
recording many of the events of the Jewish war, and which remain nearly entire 
at the present day. 

On the death of his father in a.d. 79, Titus succeeded to the empire, but died 
in two years, supposed to have been poisoned by his brother Domitianus, who 
then took upon himself the sovereignty. 

With some few exceptions, the coins of Titus are not very rare, except for the 
condition of their preservation. 

349. 

T . CAES . VESPASIAN . IMP . PON . TB . POT . COS . II. The laureate head of Titus 
to the right. 

9=. CAESAE, . DOMiTiAN . COS . DES . II. In the field S. C. A robed equestrian 
figure to the left bearing a long staff in the left hand, being the staff of the office 
of consul. 

Weight 355| grains. 

Titus was consul for the second time, jointly with his father, in a.d. 72. This 
coin records Domitian being nominated {designatus) for consul the second time. 

350. 

T . CAES . VESPASIAN . IMP . PON . TR . POT . COS . II. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

'^. No legend. S. C. in the upper part of the field. Titus, armed and on 
horseback, to the right, has struck down an armed warrior, who is under the horse 
and partly rising from the ground, and protecting himself with his shield from 
the impending blow, with sword in his right hand ready to repel the attack of 
Titus, whose right arm is raised holding a javelin in his right hand. 

Weight 375i grains. 

This coin has reference to the conquest of Judrea, represented by the prostrate 
warrior under the horse ; it was struck in a.d. 72. We have noticed tliis device in 
Vespasian, ante, No. 328, and it is repeated in Domitian post. The three coins 
are rarely met with. 

351. 

T . CAES . IMP . PON . TR . p . COS . II . CENS. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right. 

2 B 2 



188 KECOEDS OF ROMAN HISTOBY. 

9>. VICTORIA . NAVALis. In the field S. C. Victory standing on the prow of a 
galley to the right ; her left hand bears a palm branch ; in her right hand she 
holds up a wreath. 

Weight 1554- gi"ains. 

The events recorded by this fine Second Brass coin have been already noticed 
under the coin of like device in Vespasian, ante. No. 329. It occurs again in 
Domitian, post. 

352. 

T . CAES . VESPASIAN . IMP . PON . TR . POT . COS . II. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

$L. VICTORIA . AVGVSTi. In the field S. C. A winged Victory standing to the 
right ; her left foot rests on a helmet lying on the ground at the foot of a palm 
tree, to which a shield is afiixed, whereon she is writing. 

This coin, struck in a.d. 72, records the capture of Jerusalem as already fully 
noticed on the coins of Vespasian, ante. It is a very rare coin. 

Weight 400| grains. 

353. 

T . CABS . VESPASIAN . IMP . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9>. VICTORIA . AVGVSTI. In the field S. 0. Victory standing to the right with 
a palm-branch in her left hand ; before her is a cavalry standard, the vexillum, 
fixed in the ground ; a wreath is fastened on the staff below the silk banner ; the 
whole is surmounted by an ensign, but what it is, is too indistinct. Victory is 
placing a wreath on the top of the standard. 

Weight 172-1- grains. 

This coin is contemporaneous with the coin of Vespasian, signis . receptis . 
already noticed, ante, No. 309, and I consider it should be read together with that 
coin. It is, as to its legend, a coin apparently unknown to any numismatic 
writer; and, although Eckhel considers the coin of Vespasian to refer to the 
recovery of the Eoman standards from Civilis the Belgian chieftain, which he had 
taken from the Bomans, yet I am decidedly of opinion that Eckhel and those who 
take the same view of the types are quite wrong, as I have noticed in Vespasian, 
ante. No. 309, and that the present coin, coupled with that of Vespasian, make 
out a clear case that it is the recovery of the eagle and standards lost by Cestius 
Gallus at Jerusalem, which is recorded by these coins, and not the standards 
retaken fron Civilis in a.d. 78, being a period of 7 years after the coins under 
consideration were struck. 

There is no coin of signis . receptis . of Vespasian in the Arschot Cabinet, 



TITUS. 189 

but there is a brass coin of Titus, pi. xxx., a Victory crowning a standard, as here 
represented, but without any legend on the reverse. It is described thus : 
" Victoria alata labaro Titi lauream imponens," but no reference to any event 
intended by the device. A similar coin of Titus is also mentioned by Oiselius, 
tab. xciv. 6, but he makes no reference whatever to the event it records, nor is 
there any legend, as on the present coin. 

354. 

T . CAES . VESPASIAN IMP . PON - TR . POT . COS . II. The laureate head of Titus 
to the right. 

9>. C0N& . PRiMVM . p . R . DATVM. In the exergum S. C. Titus or his legate 
seated to the left on a curule chair placed on a low suggestum, his right hand 
extended ; Minerva is standing in front on his right hand. On the ground before 
him a person is standing holding up a tablet to a citizen who is before him, and 
extending his robe to receive a donation. 

Weight 402-1- grains. 

This coin was struck a.d. 72, and records the first donation made by Titus to 
the Roman people being citizens of Rome. Argelati, in Tito, quotes the present 
type on a coin of cos . ii. ; and in the same consulate, a.d. 72, he quotes a coin of 
CONGIARIVM . TEETiVM . in MuscBO Moscardi, the grouping of the figures being 
similar to the present, and the coin in fine preservation. Eckhel, in Tito, vol. vi. 
p. 364, quoting the present type, and referring to the coin described as being in 
the Musseo Moscardi, designates it as a false coin. He says : " Nemo sanus erit 
cui non nummus spurius videbitur." 

I do not find anywhere any mention made of the second congiary, and I 
should very much doubt the coin quoted from the Musseo Moscardi on account of 
its consular date being the same as the congiarium primum. It would be rather 
peculiar to make three congiaries in one year, of which I find no instance 
throughout the Imperial series ; but there is a congiarivm . tertivm . cos . viii . 
in the Arschot Cabinet which seems to have been overlooked by Eckhel. Gevartius, 
in his description of that coin, tab. xxix., refers to Zonaras as his authority for 
Titus having made three congiaries, but he does not pretend or assume that they 
were all made in the same year. 

355. 

T . CAES . VESPASIAN . IMP . PON . TR . POT . COS . II. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

|b. ROMA . on the verge at the right side of the field. S. C. in the field. 



190 KECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

Roma armed, standing full front, looking to the left ; lier right hand extended 
holds a Victoriola having in its right hand a wreath, in the left a palm-branch ; 
in her left hand she holds her spear upright, her cloak pendant from her shoulders 
in graceful folds at her left side ; her clothes reach just to the knees. 
Weight 4181 grains. 

356. 

T . CAES . VESPASIAN . IMP . PON - TR . POT . COS . . . The laureate head of Titus 
to the right. 

9,. No legend. S. C. in the field. Mars gradient to the right, bearing a 
trophy of arms on his left shoulder, and carrying a spear in his right hand, the 
point forwards. 

Weight 351i- grains. 

357. 

T . CAES . IMP . PON . TR . p . COS . II . CENS. The laureate head of Titus to the 



right. 

9.. VESTA. In the field S. C. A circular dome supported by four columns as 
if to protect from the weather a robed statue placed under it standing on a base, 
its left hand raised towards its head. 

Weight 118|- grains. 

Excepting the figures one on each side of the temple or dome not being here 
represented, one would consider this type to be a repetition of the type on the 
aureus of Vespasian already noticed, ante. No. 341. 

358. 

T . CAES . VESPASIAN . IMP . PON - TR . POT . COS . II. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

9^. EORTVNAE . REDVCi. In the field S. C. A female standing full front look- 
ing to the left ; on her left arm she bears a cornucopise filled with fruits, in her 
right hand she holds the tiller of a rudder. 

Weight 3941 grains. 

This is one of the rare types of Titus, for in Large Brass it is not to be found 
in Occo, Vaillant, Argelati, Ilavercamp, Gevartius, Eckhel, or Mionnet. There 
are two in tlie Vienna cabinet, one cos . 11 . and one cos . v . des . vi . although 
neither of them is noticed by Eckhel. 



359. 

T . CAESAR . IMP . cos . Ill . CENS. The laureate head of the emperor to the 



rii?ht. 



TITUS. 191 

p.. VICTOEIA . AVGVST, In the field S. C. Victory standing to the right on 
the prow of a galley which has a large goose-neck ; in her right hand she holds up 
a wreath, in her left hand she carries a palm-branch. 

The Victory standing on the prow of a galley would seem to refer this coin to 
the same events that are recorded by the coin victoria . navalis . although the 
legend and consulate are different; like the other it is a Second Brass coin. 
Weight 158| grains. 

360. 

T . CAES . IMP . PONT. The laureate head of Titus to the right. 
]pc. TE, . POT . cos . Ill . CENSOR. No S. 0. Two cornucoplse filled with fruits 
placed saltier-wise with a caduceus between them. Weight 119x grains. 

361. 

T . CAES . IMP . AVG . F . PON . TK . p . COS . V , CENSOR. The laureate head of Titus 
to the right. 

|l>. IVDAEA . CAPTA. In the exergum S. 0. A palm-tree in the centre of the 
field, on the right side of which is a man with his hands bound behind him ; on the 
ground, behind him, is a shield ; the man is looking at a female sitting on the left 
side of the palm-tree on a cuirass in an attitude of grief, resting her head on 
her left hand ; some shields and spears are before her. 

Weight 391| grains. 

A coin recording the capture of Jerusalem, as we have already mentioned, 
under the coins of Vespasian. The dies for the portrait on the obverse of this and 
the next coin are engraved by the same artist. 

362. 

T . CAES . IMP . AVG . p . PON . TR . p . COS . VI . CENSOR. The laureate head of 
Titus to the right. 

9.. ROMA . on the verge at the right side of the field. S. 0. in the field. Roma 
armed standing to the left ; her right hand, extended, holds a Victoriola ; in her 
left hand she holds her spear, the point resting on the ground. 

Weight 3501 grains. 

363. 

T . CAES . IMP . AVG . F . TR . p . COS . VI . CENSOR. Thc laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

|o. IVDAEA CAPTA. In the exergum S. 0. A palm-tree, on the right side of 
which are some shields and spears ; on the other side a female is seated on arms, 



192 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

with spear and shield before her, resting her head on her left hand in attitude of 
grief. 

Weight 137i grains. 

The type of this coin is an additional record of the conquest of Judaea and 
capture of Jerusalem. 

364. 

T . CABS . VESPASIAN . IMP . PON . TR POT . COS . VI. The laureate head of Titus 
to the right. 

|c. No legend. In the exergum S. C. A temple of six columns in front, in 
every way resembling the temple already described on the coins of Vespasian ante. 
Were it not that the two centre columns are a little wider apart, it would seem 
the reverse of this coin and those of Vespasian were from the same dies. It may 
1ie therefore fairly considered that the temple on the present coin is intended 
for the temple represented on the coins of Vespasian, and which we have decided 
is intended for a representation of the capitol destroyed in the Otho and Vitellian 
disturbances, and rebuilt in the early part of Vespasian's reign. 

365. 

T CABS . IMP . AVG . p . TR . p . COS . VI . CENSOR. The laureate head of Titus to 
the right. 

p.. PAX. AVG. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left; her right 
hand extended holds a patera, from which she is pouring a libation on fire that 
is burning on an altar standing in front. On her left arm she bears a caduceus 
and olive branch. 

Weight 222^ grains. 

366. 

T . CAES . IMP . AVG . F . TR . p . COS . VI . CENSOR. The laureate head of the em- 
peror to the right. 

9>. PAX. AVG. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left; her right 
hand extended holds a caduceus ; in her left hand she carries an olive branch. 

Weight 182i grains. 

This and the preceding coin, both of Second size, allude to the peace procured 
by the conquest of Judgea and capture of Jerusalem. 

367. 

IMP . TiTvs . CAES . VES . AVG . p . M . TR . p . p . p . COS . VII. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 



TITUS. 193 

$t. No legend. S. C. in the field. Spes gradient to the left. 

Weight 34i5:^ grains. 

A fine coin of the seventh consulate of Titus, struck a.d. 79, and from its 
bearing the title imp . precedent, and p . p added, there is no doubt it was struck 
soon after the death of Vespasian, which took place in July a d. 79. The spes is 
representative of the hopeful expectations of the Roman people from the accession 
of their favourite, Titus, as emperor ; and that the advantages and blessings of 
peace they had enjoyed under Vespasian would still continue. 

Coins of the seventh consulate (and I may say generally) bearing the name of 
Titus in full are rather scarce; they generally have the letter t only, dis,tin- 
guishing them from Tiberius, whose name is usually with the letters ti. 

The year a.d. 79 is also memorable for the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which 
overwhelmed the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii. This event took place on 
the 23rd and 24th August We are fortunately in possession of a very full and 
interesting account of the whole affair, in the letters of Pliny the younger, whose 
uncle lost his life on the occasion, in his desire to examine minutely into the 
progress of the eruption ; for he was unfortunately suffocated by the sulphureous 
vapours, in spite of the precautions he had taken to prevent accidents. 

368. 

IMP . t . CAES . VESP . AVG .p.M.TR.p.p.p. COS . VIII. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the left. 

|c. rvD. — CAP. across the field, under the branches of a palm-tree, by which 
the words are divided, and S. C. under the words in like manner. A female is 
seated in mournful attitude at the foot of the tree on the right side, her head 
resting on her right hand ; on the left side of the tree a male captive is standing 
with his hands bound behind him to a tree ; on the ground in front of him, and 
at the foot of the tree, are some arms and pieces of armour strewed about. 
Weight 418| grains. 

369. 

IMP . t . CABS . VESP . AVG . p . M . TE . p . p . p . COS . VIII, The laureate head of the 
emperor to the left. 

Jl. IVD. — CAP. across the field, with S. C. under, as delineated on the preceding 
coin. A captive and female on either side of the field, as before described. 

Weight 41 8i grains. 

These coins were struck in a.d. 80, and, although obtained from different 

2 c 



194 BECOKDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

sources, I have found, on minute comparison in every particular, and also by their 
weights, that they were struck from the same dies. 

They commemorate the capture of Jerusalem, as already set forth at length in 
Vespasian. 

370. 

IMP . T . CAES . VESP . AVG . P. M - TR.p . p.p . COS . VIII. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

^. No legend. In the exergum S. C. The emperor in a quadriga moving 
to the right ; the body of the chariot decorated with sculptures of victory, 
wreaths, &c. ; in his right hand he holds an olive-branch. 

The present coin, although struck in a.d. 80, yet represents the emperor in a 
triumphal car as forming part of the triumphal procession which took place in 
A D. 71, for the conquest of Judaea and capture of Jerusalem, as already noticed in 
Vespasian. It is a very scarce coin. 

Weight 491-1- grains. 

371. 

IMP . T . CAES . Divi . VESP . F . AVG .p.M.TR.p.p.p. COS . VIII. The laureate 
head of the emperor to the right. 

9>. No legend. In the field S. C. Mars gradient to the right, bearing atrophy 
of arms on his left shoulder. 

This is also a scarce coin, but is in middling condition. 



Weight 3801 grains. 

372. 



IMP . T . CAES . VESP . AVG . p . M . TE, . p . p . p . COS . VIII. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the left. 

p.. PiETAS . AVGVST. In the exergum S. C. Two robed figures representing 
Titus and Domitian standing opposite each other, the figure to the left being 
intended for Titus ; between them in the background is a veiled female to repre- 
sent the goddess Concordia, M^ho joins their right hands ; her head is turned 
towards Titus on her left hand, as if she were speaking to him ; he bears a sceptre 
in his left hand. The person opposite seems likewise to bear a sceptre. 

This coin was struck a.d. 80, and most probably records a reconciliation between 
the two brothers, they being joint consuls for the year a.d. 80. 

Weight 368^ grains. 

373. 

IMP. T. CAES. VESP. AVG. p. M.TR. p. p. p. COS. VIII. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the left. 



TITTJS. 195 

$t. No legend. S. C. in the field. Spes gradient to the right, in the usual 
manner. 

Weight 425^ grains. 

A coin struck a.d. 80, signifying the continued hope and wishes of the Roman 
people for the tranquillity and good government of affairs under the rule of Titus, 
being a repetition of the expectations already noticed, ante. 

374. 

IMP . T . CAES . VESP . AVG . p . M . TE, . p . p . p . COS . VIII. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the left. 

P>. PROVIDENT . AVGVST. In the exergum S. C Two robed figures repre- 
senting Vespasian and Titus standing opposite to each other. Vespasian, who is 
to the right, is delivering to the other, Titus, a globe, which Titus receives with 
his right hand, which at the same time rests on the top of a rudder. 

Weight 395^ grains. 

Vespasian died in July a.d. 79, and, although this coin was struck in the fol- 
lowing year, yet it seems to express the descent of the sovereign power to Titus by 
the demise of his father, signified by Vespasian delivering to him the mundus or 
globe, meaning the B,oman world or empire. 

A similar type is introduced on the coins of Hadrian in the first year of his 
reign, where he is represented receiving a globe or mundus from the emperor 
Trajan, who had adopted him as his successor in the sovereignty. 

375. 

IMP . T . CAES . VESP . AVG .p.M.TR.p.p.p. COS . VIII. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

9). FELiciT . PVBLic. In the field S. C. A robed female standing to the left ; 
her right hand holds a hasta pura ; on her left arm she bears a cornucopias filled 
with fruits. 

Weight 3541 grains. 

376. 

IMP . T . CAES . VESP . AVG . p . M . TR . p . p . p . COS . VIII. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the left. 

9,. FELiciT . PUBLIC. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left, with 
hasta pura and cornucopise, as on the preceding coin. 

Weight 380g grains. 

These coins were struck A. D. 80, and express the joy of the Roman people 

2 c 2 



]^96 RECOUDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

on the accession of Titus, which we have noticed being likewise indicated by the 
coin of Spes. 

377. 

T . CAES . DIVI . VESPASIAN . IMP . E . AVG . P . M . TR . P . P.P . COS . VIII. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

$1. No legend. A representation of the temple already noticed, ante. No. 338. 
On this reverse the graving tool has been used unsparingly to bring out the 
temple with its deities and sculptures in high relief ; the work has been done 
with great skill and judgment, preserving the patina, and neither adding to or 
taking from any part of the device. Erom the Herpin collection. 

378. 

IMP . T . CAES . VESP . AVG . p . M . TR . p . p . p . COS . vjii. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

$c, PAX . AVGVST. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left ; her right 
hand holds an olive branch, on her left arm she bears a cornucopise filled with 
fruits. 

Weight 4221 grains. 

379. 

IMP . T . CAES . VESP . AVG .p.M.TR.p.p.p. COS . VIII. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the left. 

9). ANNONA . AVG. No S. 0. A female standing to the left ; her right hand 
extended holds a small figure of Equity with her balance and hasta pura ; on her 
left arm she has a full cornucopise ; at her right side is a basket, from which ears 
of corn project ; in the background at her left side is the stern of a galley orna- 
mented in wreath-work, and terminating in the neck and head of a goose with its 
mouth open. 

By the galley is signified that the supply of corn for the city was brought in 
ships by sea. 

This is rather a scarce coin, and not in very good condition. 

Weight 371-5- grains. 

380. 

IMP . T . CAES . VESP . p . M . TR . p . p . p . COS . VIII. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the left. 

9-. PAX . AVGVST. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left ; her right 
hand holds an olive branch ; on her left arm she bears a full cornucopite. 

Weight 403f grains. 



TITUS. 197 

This and the preceding coin of Pax are of the mintage of a.d. 80, and com- 
memorate the peace after the Jewish war, the cornucopise filled with fruits being 
an indication of the usual results of peace and tranquillity by agriculture and 
commerce bringing abundance for the use and enjoyment of the people. 

381. 

IMP . T . CAES . VESP . AVG . p . M . TR . p . p . p . COS . VIII. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the left. 

^. No legend. In the field S. C. Two cornucopise filled with corn and fruits 
in saltier ; between them is a winged caduceus. 

Weight 4094- gi'ains. 

This coin, also of the date a.d. 80, like the preceding coins, indicates the 
abundance and benefits enjoyed under the government of Titus. 

382. 

IMP . T . CAES . VESP . AVG . p . M . TE, . p . COS . VIII. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the left. 

9). GENi . p . B . In the field S. 0. A male figure unclothed to the waist 
standing full front. On the left arm he bears a full cornucopise ; at his right side 
is a decorated altar, on which a fire is burning ; with the right hand he holds a 
patera, in the act of pouring on to the fire. 

Weight 186-1^ grains. 

383. 

IMP . T . CAES . VESP . AVG . p . M . TR . p . COS . VIII. Head of the emperor to the 
left, with radiate crown. 

|d. secvritas . p . r. In the exergum S. C. A female seated to the left on a 
throne having arms to it, and from the square of the back a circular top rises, 
which at first view seems to be a veU floating round her head, but it is not so ; 
her right hand holds a hasta pura, and her left arm rests on the elbow of the 
throne ; in front is what appears to be a decorated altar, but it more strictly 
resembles a short pedestal terminating with the prow of a galley. 

A Second Brass coin, in. aurichalcum, in excellent condition, from the cabinet 
of Sir George Musgrave. 

384. 

imp . T . CAES . VESP . AVG . p . M . TR . p . COS . VIII. The head of the emperor 
to the right, vrith radiate crown. 

Jo. CERES . AVGVST. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left ; her 



19S RECORDS or ROMAN HISTORY. 

right hand extended holds some ears of corn ; in her left hand she has a long 
jointed torch. 

Weight 2251 grains. 

385. 

. . T CAES . VESP . AVG . p . M . TR . p . COS . VIII. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right. 

9^. VICTORIA . AVGVST. In the field S. C. A Victory standing to the right, on 
the prow of a galley, holding up a Ma'eath in her right hand ; in the left hand she 
carries a palm-branch. 

Weight 165§ grains. 

Although the word navalis may not occur in the legend of a type like the 
present, yet when a Victory is represented standing on the prow of a galley, as on 
the present coin, it cannot, I consider, be otherwise understood than as referring 
to some advantages gained over some adversary at sea. The only naval encounter 
by Titus with any enemies was the destruction of the vessels at Tarichsea and 
Gennesareth, which have been already noticed under the coin of Vespasian, 
\vith the legend victoria . navalis. I do not find any other naval affair during 
the times of Vespasian or Titus, or even Domitian. 

386. 

T . CAES . VESPASIAN . IMP . PON . M . TR . p . p . p . COS .... The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

^. No legend. S. C. at the sides of the field. A temple of six columns ; the 
two centre columns seem to project beyond the others, and the frieze and other 
columns are apparently retired, and the ascending steps at their bases project and 
retire at the sides to correspond. Between the centre columns is an arched recess, 
on which a statue is standing on a base ; in the tympanum above are some 
figures, and figures are placed on each apex of the triangle of the pediment. 

The appearance of this temple is difl'erent to that of any other temple usually 
depicted on coins. At first view it seems circular, but on examining closer the 
efi'ect is produced by the positions of the columns being partly advanced and partly 
retired. 

It is very doubtful what temple is intended. It is related that Vespasian 
erected a temple to Pallas that surpassed every building of the kind that had 
before been seen in Rome, not for its size, but for the beauty and elegance of its 
sculptures, paintings, carved work, and gilding. The temple delineated on this 
coin is very compact ; and, having but one statue under the arch in front, the 



TITUS. 199 

present may probably be intended as a record of the temple so erected to Pallas. 
We find on the coins of Domitian, post, a reverse with the emperor offering sacri- 
fice to Minerva, whose statue is placed under an arch, or, as it may be termed by 
some, a shrine or baldaschino ; bnt, although Minerva was the favourite deity of 
Domitian, we have no record of his having erected a temple to her. 
Weight 327-1- grains. 

387. 

IMP . T . CAES . VESP . AVG . p . M . TB . p . COS . VIII. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the left. 

$1. AETERNIT . AVGVST. In the field S. C. A female standing to the right, 
with a hast a pur a erect in her right hand, in the left she holds a cornucopise filled 
with fruits, and her left foot rests on a globe placed on the ground. 

Weight 1871 grains. 

There is a coin of Vespasian with this legend on the reverse, but I have not 
yet been able to obtain a specimen. 

388. 

IMP . T . CAES . VESP . AVG .P.M.TR.p.p.p. COS . VIII. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the left. 

9>- Divo . AVG . T . Divi . VESP . E . VESPASIAN. In the exergum S. C. A robed 
figure of Titus seated to the left, on a curule chair with a globe between the 
legs, holding in his right hand an olive branch ; on the ground are various 
sorts of arms strewed about, and in front of him is an oblong shield standing 
upright, with a helmet on the top of it. 

Weight 386^ grains. 

This device is similar to the one we have noticed on the coins of Drusus 
Senior, ante, No. 147. From the legends on these two coins, one using the word 
AETERNiTAS and the other divo . avgvsto . tito, it would seem as if they were 
intended for apotheosis or deification coins. 

389. 

divo . AVG . T . DIVI . VESP . F . VESPASIAN. In the excrgum S. C. A robed 
figure of Titus, seated to the left amongst arms, as described on the preceding coin. 

Weight 4141 grains. 

|b. IJ'o legend. The Flavian amphitheatre, having the meta sudans on the 
right side, and what is termed the domus aurea on the left. It represents the 
buUding full of spectators ; in front there appears an arched box for the Prsefectus 
Ludorum. There are two flights of steps in view leading from the bottom or area 



200 BECOBDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

of tlie building to the upper row of seats, and for the use of all the intermediate 
rows. The outside of the building is decorated with many figures in small niches, 
and in one large space is the representation of a triumphal car with several 
horses. 

There are three coins of this type in the French cabinet, but all of inferior 
preservation ; the present is in very fine condition, and dark brown colour ; it was 
found at Pompeii, and was obtained by Colonel Stewart, of whom I had it. 

From the obverse and reverse legends of this and the preceding coin having 
the word Divo, it gives them the character of apotheosis coins. I consider the 
present was struck soon after the death of Titus and inauguration of the Flavian 
amphitheatre. 

This stupendous building was, from its vast size, originally called the Colos- 
seum, now altered to Coliseum ; it was also called the Flavian amphitheatre, from 
Flavins, the family name of Vespasian and Titus. It was commenced in a.d. 77, 
by Vespasian and Titus, but Vespasian did not live to see it completed ; that was 
done by his son Titus, who kept about 30,000 Jewish captives employed in its 
erection ; and in a.d. 81, it was finished and dedicated. Titus died shortly after 
on the 13th September in the same year, poisoned, as is supposed, by Domitian. 

The amphitheatre is described by Publius Victor as containing seats for 87,000 
spectators ; but Admiral Smyth, when at Rome, took the pains to measure its 
vestigia, which stUl exist, and, allowing sixteen inches to each person, he could not 
find it would accommodate more than about 50,000 spectators. 

A full description of the remains, as they were to be seen in a.d. 1694, is to 
be found in Donati, p. 192, and also in Pitiscus. 

The festival of its dedication extended over a hundred days, during which the 
spectators were entertained with the slaughter of 6,000 wild beasts of various 
sorts, besides a large show of gladiators. 

In the year a.d. 523 it ceased to be used for the games and contests of wild 
beasts, the gladiators having long before then been withdrawn from contests in 
the arena. 

During the time of Macrinus, the Coliseum was struck by lightning, and 
greatly injured by the conflagration that ensued. Elagabalus and Severus 
Alexander made restorations, and a coin was struck by Severus on the occasion 
and also one by Gordian III. 

In the time of Trajanus Decius, it again suffered from fire, and was restored 
by him. Under Theodosius II. the Prsefect Rufus Cecina Felix Lampadius 
restored the seats, and the podium and arena, which had become dilapidated. 



JTJLIA TITI. 201 

There is little doubt that the theatres and amphitheatres at Eome originated 
from the theatres and amphitheatres of the Hetruscans ; for at the ancient 
Hetruscan town of Sutrium the remains of an amphitheatre or coliseum in little 
are still (in 1847) to be seen perfect. The first permanent theatre erected in 
Rome was by Pompey, in the year of Eome 699, and it is still remaining. 

390. 

IMP . CAES . VESP . AV& . p . M . TB . p . p . p . COS . VIII. S. C. in the field. Titus 
seated on a curule chair to the left, holding out an olive-branch in the right hand ; 
armour and arms of various sorts are strewed around him on the ground. 

9). No legend. The Coliseum, with meta sudcms and domus aurea, as on the 
preceding coin. 

Pale white green, very good. 

Prom the legend on the obverse, I consider this coin' was struck at the time 
of the completion of the amphitheatre, and during the life of Titus. 



JULIA SABINA, TITI PILIA. 

Julia Sabina was the daughter of Titus and Julia Purnilla. She was married 
to her first cousin, Plavius Sabinus, the son of Titus Plavius Sabinus, the brother 
of Vespasian the emperor. Domitian, her uncle, when emperor became enamoured 
with her ; and, causing her husband to be put to death, he took her to himself, 
but she soon after died in a miscarriage. She was consecrated by Domitian, who 
struck coins in her commemoration. Nothing certain is known among historians 
as to the time of her birth or her death ; the nearest approach to a knowledge 
of the day of her birth is an expression of Suetonius, in Tito, sect. 5 ; but in what 
year is not specified. 

Her coins are not uncommon, but I have not yet seen a consecratio type of 
Julia with a rogus or a peacock, but only the carpentum type. 

391. 

ivlia . IMP . T . AVG . F . AVGVSTA. The head of Julia to the right, her hair 
dressed in curls round the face, the rest drawn back and made into an ornamented 
knot behind. The shoulders and bust draped, with a beading on the edge of her 
dress over the neck and bosom. 

2d 



202 KECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

9>. VESTA . in the exergum. S. C. in the field. Vesta seated to the left on a 
square seat, with a hasta pura in the left hand; her right hand extended holds a 
little figure of Minerva Jaculatrix. 

This coin is encircled with the black ivory ring of the Devonshire cabinet, 
from whence I had it. 

It is fine, and of a black bronze hue. Weight 2101 grains. 

392. 

IVLIA . IMP . T . AVG . F . AVGVSTA. The head of Julia to the right, her hair 
dressed much like the representation on the preceding coin ; shoulders and bust 
draped. 

9=. CERES . AVGVST. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left ; her 
right hand extended holds some ears of corn ; in her left hand she has a long 
j ointed torch, the end resting on the ground. 

Of a brassy green. "Weight 190|. grains. 

Julia was styled Augusta by her father in his lifetime. These coins, which 
are of Second Brass, were struck in his lifetime ; those which were struck to her 
after his death give the obverse legend, ivlia . avgvsta . Divi . titi . f. 

393. 

IVLIA . IMP . T . AVG - F . AVGVSTA. The head of Julia to the right, her hair 
dressed to resemble the style on the other coins, but more prettily arranged and 
minute in its details ; shoulders and bust draped. 

^. No legend or device, because it is incuse, and so perfect in all its detail of 
face and head-dress, I should not think it likely to be a flan, by accident placed 
on the obverse of a coin, accidentally left in the die. Its minute particularity 
seems to denote it as an entire or perfect and intended incuse coin. It is in 
Second Brass, and of a fine yellow tinge, very flat and a little split at an imma- 
terial part of one side. It looks as if it came from an independent die, as a trial 
of the engraver at the mint. It was formerly in the cabinet of Sir George 
Musgrave. 

394. 

DiVAE . IVLIAE . AVG . DIVI . TITI . F. A dccorated carpentum dra^vTi by two 
mules to the right ; in the exergum s . p . q . r . 

:^. IMP . CAEs . DOMiT . AVG . GERM . COS . XV . CENSOR .P.P. In the middle of 
the field S. C. 

Pale white green, very fine. 



DOMITIAN. 203 

By the consular date of this coin, which is an apotheosis coin, it was struck 
A.D. 90, when Domitian, being emperor, was consul jointly with M. Cocceius 
Nerva, who afterwards became emperor. 

395. 

DIVAE . IVLIAE . AVG . Divi . Ti . P. A decoratcd carpentwn drawn by two mules 
to the right ; in the exergum s . p . Q . r. 

^j. TI . CAESAE . DIVI . AVG . p . AVGVST . p . M . TR . POT . xxiill. In the middle 
of the field S. C. 

Eine, a brown bronze. Weight 322 grains. 

The present is a very singular coin from the cabinet of the Duke of Devonshire ; 
it has been examined by several most experienced numismatists, who have all 
pronounced it to be genuine in every respect, but the legend on the reverse is the 
legend of Tiberius, as may be seen by the coin of Tiberius, ante, No. 127. If it were 
not for the ti . f . at the close of the legend on the obverse, it would be quite 
apparent as a coin of Julia, the daughter of Augustus, and wife of Tiberius, and 
the reverse legend would fall in correctly. 

In discussing the question of the reverse legend with my late esteemed friend 
Mr. Burgon, he was of opinion (in which I concur) that the only way in which the 
difficulty could be solved was, that one of the workmen, a tyro at the Mint, had 
accidentally used a reverse die of Tiberius, mistaking, for the moment, the com- 
mencement of the legend on the reverse, as applicable to Julia's father Titus 
CAESAR. There is no coin like it in any cabinet, neither in the Erench cabinet or 
in the British Museum. If it ever occurred before it has escaped notice. 



DOMITIAN. 

Flavius Domitianus, the second son of the emperor Vespasian and Domitilla, 
was born in the year of Home 804, a.d. 51. On the accession of his father in a.d. 61, 
Domitian and his brother Titus were invested with the title of Caesar, and also 
with that of Princeps Juventutis. On the death of his brother Titus, in a.d. 81, 
Domitian succeeded him in the sovereignty, and during the greater part of his 
reign his cruelty and immorality were quite equal to anything perpetrated by 
Caligula or Nero ; his conduct became so bad at last, that a conspiracy was formed, 
and he was, in consequence, assassinated in October a.d. 96. With him ends the 
series of emperors usually termed "the Twelve Csesars." 

His coins are in gold, silver, and brass, and, with a few exceptions, are not 

2 D 2 



204 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

particularly rare, except as to preservation. Coins with the head to the left are 
very rare ; so also are coins representing him in armour, or the hust draped. A 
complete series of coins on which the celebration of the ssecular games is recorded 
is very difficult to obtain in good condition. 

396. 

CAESAR . AVG . p . DOMITIANVS . COS . DBS . II. The laureate head of Domitian to 
the right. 

^. No legend. A temple of sis columns ia front approached by a flight of 
four steps, extending the whole width of the building ; there is a group of figures 
in the tympanum, and at each apex of the triangle of the pediment is a group 
with horses ; in front of the temple, under the portico, are tliree arches, under each 
of which is a statue placed on a low base. 

This is a Second Brass black coiu of the first consulate, and of the time when 
Domitian was proposed for election to the consulate for the second time ; it is 
therefore the first coin of the series of Domitian, and is in very beautiful 
condition. 

397. 

CAESAR . AVG . p . DOMITIAN . COS . II. The laureate head of Domitian to the left. 

|o. AEQViTAs . AVGVSTi. In the field S. 0. A female standing to the left 
holding a balance in her right hand, in the left a hasta pura. 

The types on the early coins of Domitian show the regard with which he was 
at first treated, but, as the early coins of Domitian were struck during the reigns 
of Vespasianus and Titus, the real character of Domitian was not then known. 

398. 
CAESAR . AVG . p . DOMITIAN . COS . II. The laureate head of Domitian to the 



right. 



9>. VICTORIA . NAVALis. In the field S. C. A Victory standing to the right 
on the prow of a galley, holding up a wreath in her right hand ; in her left she 
has a palm-branch. 

This type we have already noticed in Vespasian No. 329, and in Titus No. 351. 
The present coin being struck upon the same occasion, and being the third, com- 
pletes the series of coins with this legend apphcable to Vespasian, Titus, and 
Domitian. They are all of Second Brass size, and are not known in any o'ther. 
This is in a very good condition. Weight 146 grains. 



DOMITIAN. 205 

399. 

CAESAR . AVG . p . DOMITIAN . COS . II. The laureate head of Domitian to the 
right. 

^. No legend. S. C. in the exergum. Domitian in a quadriga moving gra- 
dually to the right. 

A Second Brass coin struck a.d. 73, Domitian being consul for the second 
time jointly with M. Valerius Messalinus. It is no doubt struck to commemo- 
rate the triumph in a.d. 71 for the conquest of Judsea, for it does not appear 
that any sole triumph was decreed to Domitian until his eleventh consulate, 
when he claimed a triumph for his imaginary victories over the Germans. 

Eckhel, noticing this coin, says, " Indicat hie typus processum Domitiani 
consularum." 

In First Brass this coin is very rare ; it is far from common in Second Brass, 
like as the present, which is in Cyprian copper, but poor condition. Weight 
145 grains. 

400. 

CAESAR . AVG . F . DOMITIAN , COS . II. The laureate head of Domitian to the 
right. 

|l. PAX . AVGVST. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left, holding 
out a caduceus in her right hand ; in her left hand she has an olive-branch, and 
rests her arm on a short column standing at her left side. 

A coia of the year 73. In this year his son by his wife Domitia Longina 
was born. 

"Weight 185|- grains. 

401. 

CAESAR . AVG - E . DOMiTiANVS . COS . iiii. The laureate head of Domitian to 
the right. 

9.. PRiNCBPS . iWENTVTis. Domitian bareheaded on horseback to the left, 
his right hand raised, in his left hand he bears a long staff having a ball at one 
end. S, C. under the forefeet of the horse, which is apparently in a gentle 
gallop. 

Weight 184i|: grains. 

402. 

CAESAR . AVG . F . DOMITIANVS . COS . V. The laureate head of Domitian to the 
right. 

9). ANNONA . AVGVST. In the field S. C. A robed female seated to the left 



206 EECOBDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

on a throne, her right hand holding a veil ; her left elbow reclines on what seems 
a rest or short arm affixed to the left side of the throne, a fringed drapery is 
pendent from the seat of the throne on the left side, her left foot rests on a stool. 

This type of Annona is very scarce ; the more usual type will be noticed at a 
subsequent period. 

Weight 376* grains. 

403. 

CAES . Divi . VESP . p . DOMiTiANVS . COS . VII. The laureate head of Domitian 
to the left. 

9>. No legend. Minerva Jaculatrix advancing to the right. A large S. C. 
on either side. 

Were it not for the word Domitianus in the legend on the obverse, the portrait 
could well be spoken of as the portrait of Titus. The early coins of Domitian 
invariably bear portraits very much resembling his brother Titus, so that at 
first glance he might be mistaken for Titus, but the legend on the obverse will 
always correct the eye. 

404. 

CAES . DIVI . AVG . VESP . p . DOMITIAN . COS . VII. The laureate head of Domi- 
tian to the right. 

Jl. No legend. S. C. in the field. Minerva Jaculatrix advancing to the 
right, her right hand raised to throw a spear which she holds ; on her left arm 
she bears a circular shield. 

Of all the deities Minerva received the most adoration from Domitian, whence 
it is her effigies appears so often and variously on his coins, and he caused the 
Quinquatria to be exhibited every year with great magnificence. 

The Quinquatria was a festival of five days' duration held at Rome in honour 
of Minerva, and answering to the Panathensea of the Greeks. On the first 
day sacrifices and offerings were made without the shedding of blood, on the 
second, third, and fourth days there were shows of gladiators. On the fifth 
day a solemn procession throughout the city. 

The scholars in the various institutions for learning offered prayers to Minerva 
as the goddess of wisdom, the patroness of literature, and they were accustomed 
to present their masters with a gift, which was called Minervalia. 

405. 

CAESAR DIVI . AVG . E . DOMITIANVS COS . VII. The laureate head of Domitian 
to the right. 



DOMITIAN. 207 

|{. No legend. S. C. in the field. Spes gradient to the left, in the usual way. 

A fine Second Brass coin, one of my original purchases when about sixteen 
years of age. Weight I70i grains. 

406. 

CABS . Divi . AVG . VESP . F . DOMiTiANVS . COS . VII. The laureate head of Domi- 
tian to the right. 

^. PAX . AVGVST. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left ; on her 
left arm she bears a full cornucopise ; her right hand extended holds an olive- 
branch. 

Weight 399^ grains. 

The portrait now begins to be corrected, *. e. less Titus-like. 

407. 

.• . . AVG - VESP . F . DOMITIANVS . COS . VII. The laureate head of 

Domitian to the left. 

9>. VESTA iu the exergum. S. C. in the field. Vesta seated to the left, her 
left foot restiug on a stool ; her right hand extended holds a small statue of 
Minerva or Palladium ; in her left she has the hasta pura. 

Weight 346 grains. 

This is one of the scarce coins of Domitian. 

408. 

IMP . CAEs . DIVI . VESP . E . DOMITIAN . AVG .P.M. The laureate head of Domi- 
tian to the right. 

|l. TR . p . COS . VII . DES . VIII .P.P. In the field S. C. Minerva Jaculatrix 
in her goat-skin dress, with tags at the side, standing to the right in an attitude 
of offence, having a spear in her right hand raised to strike and a circular shield 
on her left arm. 

This coin was struck after the thirteenth of September, a.d. 81, the day of the 
death of Titus, and before the first day of January, a.d. 82. Domitian is de- 
scribed as the consul elect for the eighth time. The consuls entered on their 
duties on the 1st of January, and took the oaths of office within five days after. 

The legends on this coin show Domitian to have assumed aU the titles of 
sovereignty. It will be seen on subsequent coins, that he further assumed the 
title of CENSOR and censor. . perpetws. The title of germanicvs is also to be 
found on coins of the seventh consulate ; but they are very scarce, it being at that 
period assumed for the first time. 



208 EECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

Beautiful dark green coin, from the cabinet of the Eev. E. C. Brice. Weight 
3844- grains. 

409. 

IMP . CAES . Divi . VESP . F . DOMITIAN . AVG .P.M. The laureate head of 
Domitian to the right. 

^. TR . p . cos . VII . DBS . VIII .P.P. In the field S. 0. The emperor robed, 
standing to the left, holding a palladium in his right hand. 

This is one of the rare coins of Domitian ; the robes of the emperor have been 
refreshed very injudiciously with a graver, the rest of the coin is untouched. 

Brown. Weight, 4221 grains. 

410. 

IMP . DOMITIAN . CAES . DIVI . VESP . F . AVG .P.M.TR.P.P.P. COS . VIII. The 

laureate head of Domitian to the right. 

9). No legend. S. 0. in the field. Mars gradient to the right bearing a trophy 
of arms on his left shoulder, in his right hand a spear with the point forward. 

Weight 391 grains. 

A coin of the date A D. 82, in which year Domitian made another expedition to 
Germany, where he made an incursion into the territories of the Catti, but 
meeting with no enemies he returned to Rome and claimed the honours of a 
triumph for an imaginary victory, and the servile adulation or timid spirit of the 
senate granted his request for the triumph. 

In this year likewise, the son of Domitian, born in a.d. 73, died, and was con- 
secrated l^y his father ; this event is recorded on a denarius of Domitia, on the 
reverse whereof the child is represented sitting on a globe on which stars are 
depicted, an emblem of the celestial sphere, and of his reception into Heaven. 

411. 

IMP . D . CAES . DIVI . VESP . F . AVG -P.M.TR.P.P.P . COS . VIII . The head 
of Domitian to the right, with radiate crown. 

^. ROMA . to the right of the field. S. C. in the esergum. Roma armed 
seated on arms to the left ; her right hand extended presents a wreath, her rio>ht 
foot rests on a helmet placed on the ground, her left hand grasps the hilt of her 
sword at her left side, her clothes reach only to her knees. 

A Second Brass coin struck a.d. 82, and is an adjunct to the precedino- coin. 
The present type indicates Roma ready to present a wreath to the emperor for 
his supposed successes in Germany. Weight 188^ grains. 



DOMITIAN. 209 

412. 

IMP . CAES . Divi . VESP . F . DOMITIAN . AVG .P.M. The laureate head of 
Domitian to the right. 

9.. TB . p . cos . VIII . DES . villi .P.P. In the field S. C. Minerva standing 
full front looking to the left ; her right hand holds her spear upright, her left 
placed at right angle on her left hip. 

"Weight 3551 grains. 

413. 

IMP . CAES . DOMITIAN . AVG . GEE, . COS . X. The laureate head of Domitian to 
the right. 

Jc. No legend. S. C. in the field. Victory gradient, bearing apparently a 
standard or standards on her left arm, her right hand raised above her head to 
support what seems an eagle on the top of the standard. 

Weight 192| grains. 

A coin struck in a.d. 84, and the first on which the title of germanicits 
appears to have been assumed. 

In A.D. 83, it appears the Homans first became certified of the fact of Britain 
being an island surrounded by water, for Agricola, then being in Britain, directed 
his gaUeys to sail to the north, keeping along the shore ; some deserters seized 
three of the galleys and went entirely round by the west side, over the north, on 
to the east side, and were ultimately wrecked on, we should say, the coast of 
Holland. (Tacitus, Vit. Agricol. sec. 25 to 28 ; Eckhel, vol. vi. p. 378.) 

414. 

IMP . CAES . domit . AVG . GERM . COS . XI . CBNS . POT .P.P. The laureate head 

of Domitian to the right, an amulet on his breast. 

|l. No legend. S. C. in the field. The emperor in military costume standing 
to the left, having a sceptrum or parazonium in his right hand ; in his left a spear, 
one end resting on the ground ; his right foot is placed on an old man prostrate at 
his feet, and whose right elbow rests on an urn from which water is flowing. 

This coin was struck in a.d. 86, and, with the ten coins which now foUow, 
represent the supposed subjugation of Germany. The present type represents the 
passage of the Rhine, that river being represented under the figure of the old 
man with his urn of water. 

A black coin, in fine condition. Weight 454^ grains. 

415. 

IMP . CAES . DOMITIAN . AUG . GERM . COS . XI. The laureate head of Domitian to 
the right, amulet on the breast. 

2 E 



210 RECORDS or ROMAN HISTORY. 

$0. No legend. S. C. in the exergum. The emperor on horseback galloping 
to the right, his right hand raised to throw a javelin at a warrior on the ground 
under the forelegs of the horse, and who is protecting himself from the attack with 
his sword and a long oblong shield ; the emperor also has on his left arm a long 
shield like that of his antagonist. 

An allegoric representation of the conquest of Germany. A similar type we 
have already seen on the coins of Vespasian and Titus, as applying with greater 
propriety to the conquest of Judsea. 

"Weight 337 grains. 

416. 

IMP . CAES . DOMiTiAN . AVG . GERM . COS . XI. The laureate head of Domitian to 
the right, amulet on the breast. 

|o. GERMANiA . CAPTA. In the exergum S. C. A trophy of armour and shields, 
on the right side whereof Germania, represented as a female naked to the waist 
seated on the ground, is bewailing her fallen condition, while her warriors are 
subdued and captive, which is represented by the man with his hands behind him, 
and apparently bound to the trophy on the left side. Various sorts of arms are 
strewed on the ground, indicating the violent resistance of the Germans. 

A fine green coin. "Weight 447b- grains. 

417. 

IMP . CAES . DOMiT . AVG . GERM . COS . XI . CENs . POT .P.P. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right. 

^. GERMANIA . CAPTA. In the cxergum S. C. A trophy of arms and captives, 
as on the preceding coin. On this coin, the helmet which surmounts the trophy 
is elegant and peculiar, having long horns at its sides, as seen sometimes in 
mediseval helmets. 

The trophy and group on this and the preceding coin, when compared with the 
JUDiEA . CAPTA of Vespasian and Titus, will be found to have been copied from 
original designs. 

A yellow-coloured coin from the cabinet of Mr. Thomas. Weight 349f grains. 

418. 
IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . COS . XI . CENS . POT . p . p . The laureate head 
of Domitian to the right, amulet on breast. 

9.. No legend. In the field S. C. The emperor in mUitary attire standing to 
the left, his right hand placed across his breast ; in his left hand he bears a long 



DOMITIAN. 211 

pointless spear or hasta pura ; at his left side is a short sword ; a female is kneeling 
before him on her right knee ; she is naked to the waist, and her hair streaming 
over her shoulders ; she is presenting to him with both hands an oblong German 
shield, one end of it resting on the ground. 

This type is an assumption of arrogance on the part of Domitian in supposing 
Germania, represented by the female, in so humble and abject a posture, making 
her submission to the emperor as to a conqueror. 

The device is used on the coins of Marcus Aurelius, under the designation of 
CLEMENTiA . AVG., and with much greater justice and truthful assertion than on 
the present coin. 

Black, very fine. "Weight 428-1- grains. 

419. 

IMP . OAEs . DOMITIAN . AVG . GERM . COS . XI. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right. 

Jl). No legend. In the field S. 0. Victory standing to the right ; her left hand 
supports a circular shield afiixed to the trunk of a ; tree with her right hand she is 
inscribing on the shield de geb ; her left foot is supported by a helmet lying on 
the ground at the foot of the tree ; on the other side of the tree a female is seated 
on arms in an attitude of grief. 

This is a very scarce coin, in good condition ; it is copied from the coin of Ves- 
pasian, ante. No. 303. 

A brown coin. Weight 321-|, grains. 

420. 

IMP . OAES . DOMITIAN . AVG . GERM . COS . XI. The head of the emperor to the 
right, with radiate crown. 

9). No legend. S. C. in the field. The trunk of a tree ; on the upper part of 
it is aflBxed some body armour, completed by a helmet ; on either side is a shield, 
each being different in form ; on the ground, with their backs to the tree, are two 
figures seated ; the one on the right of the field is a man with his hands tied 
behind him, on the other side is a female ; they are both naked to the waist. 

This coin, in Second Brass, of black brown colour, is rare ; like the preceding 
coins, it is to signify and represent the pretended conquest of Germany. 

421. 

IMP - CAES . DOMITIAN . AVG . GERM . COS . XI. The radiate head of Domitian to 

the right. 

2e 2 



212 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

Jo. viCTORiAE . AVGVST. A winged Victory standing to the left, with, a palm- 
branch in her left hand ; before her is a trophy of arms affixed to the trunk of a 
tree, her right hand extended towards it as if placing some portion of the arms to 
complete the trophy. S. 0. on either side the trunk. 

422. 

IMP . CAES . DOMiT . AVG . GERM . COS . XI . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of Domitian to the right. 

9). viCTORiAE . AVGVST. Victory standing to the left arranging a trophy of 
arms, as on the preceding coin. S. C. as before. The arms are somewhat different 
to the others. The title censor . perpetws now first appears. 

423. 

IMP . CAES . DOMiTiAN , AVG . GERM . COS . XI. The radiate head of Domitian to 
the right. 

9). No legend. S. C. in the field. Two oblong German shields; crossed 
above them in the middle is a fringed square banner resembling the Eoman 
cavalry standard, the vexillum, which is surmounted by a crescent ; on either 
side of the shield is a trumpet. 

It seems from these insignia of war, which represent German arms, that the 
Germans used a standard like that of the Roman cavalry noticed ante, in Nero. 

A water-gold Second Brass coin, from the Thames. Weight 156-|- grains. 

424. 

IMP . CAES . DOMITIAN . AVG . GERM . COS . XI. The laureate head of Domitian 
to the right, with amulet on the breast. 

9- No legend. Peace standing to the left with a cornucopise on the left arm, 
and setting fire to a collection of arms piled in front of her with a torch she 
holds in her right hand. S. 0. on either side of Peace. 

The type represents an oifering of arms to Mars for the successful termination 
of the pretended German war. 

A coin with green patina. Weight 4161 grains. 

42.5. 

IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . COS . XI . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right. 

9>. lovi . viCTORi. In the exergum S. C. Jupiter unclothed to the waist. 



DOMITIAN. 



213 



seated on a low square seat to the left ; his right hand extended holds a Victoriola, 
in his left hand he has the hasta pura erect. 

Weight 3644- grains. 

Domitian affected great gratitude to Jupiter as his preserver in his imaginary 
campains in Germany, and also against Decebalus, the King of the Dacians, and 
likewise against the Marcomanni. "Whilst he was emperor he is said to have 
caused a magnificent temple to be erected to Jupiter. 

426. 

IMP . CAES . DOMITIAN . AVG . GERM . COS . XI. The radiate head of Domitian to 
the right. 

51. No legend. S. C. in the field. Mars in full armour advancing hastily to 
the left bearing a Yictoriola in his extended right hand ; on his left arm he carries 
a small trophy of arms ; his sword at his left side, his military cloak pendent 
from his shoulders ; his cuirass terminates with a double row of lappets. 

This type of Mars Victor has reference to the pretended victories over the 
Catti, Daci, and other German nations. I have not yet seen the device in First 
Brass. The present is a pale green Second Brass coin in very good condition. 

427. 

IMP . CAES . Divi . VESP . p . DOMiT . AVG . GEEM . COS . XI. The laureate head of 
Domitian to the right, an amulet on the breast. 

Jo. No legend. No S. C. Roma armed sitting to the left on a square liigh- 
backed throne ; her right hand extended holds a Victoriola, in the left she holds 
her spear transversely, the point resting on the ground; her left foot rests on 
a stool ; her left arm resting on a circular shield, which, on its lower edge, rests 
on the side of the throne. The throne itself is supported by a low plinth, on 
which are two seated figures, whose heads support the seat of the throne in lieu 
of legs. On the shield is the representation of a building, and three persons are 
standing in front viewing the edifice. 

The present coin, of the mintage a.d. 85, is unique, its type being unknown 
to any numismatic writer. The most peculiar feature is, that the shield of E-oma 
should have on it the representation of a building. It is probable that the 
buUding is intended for the capitol, which was destroyed in the civil wars of 
Otho and Vitellius, and rebuilt by order of Yespasian, but accidentally was burnt 
in the last year of Yespasian, and again rebuilt and completed at great cost by 
Domitian, when the gilding alone is said to have cost twelve thousand talents. 



214 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

In his twelfth consulate, a.d. 86, Domitian instituted a more famous sort of 
Capitoline Games, to be observed every five years, the first celebration whereof 
took place in a.d. 86. 

A dark green coin from the cabinet of Mr. Thomas. Weight 332| grains. 

428. 

IMP . CAES . DOMiT . AVG . GERM . COS . X . c . . The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

|o. No legend. S. 0. in the exergum. The emperor standing to the right ; 
in front is an altar, on which a fire is burning ; over this he joins right hands 
with a soldier who stands before him ; by the side of the first soldier another is 
standing bearing a standard ; two others are behind them, one bearing a standard, 
the other in armour, with his spear and shield. 

Weight 405i grains 

429. 

IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . COS . XI . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of Domitian to the right, amulet on the breast. 

'^. No legend. S. C. in the exergum. The emperor and a soldier join hands 
over an altar standing between them ; behind the soldier is another in armour 
with spear and shield ; a standard also on the right of the first soldier is held by 
another soldier. 

Weight 388i grains. 

430. 

IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM .COS . XI . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of Domitian to the right, with amulet on the breast. 

9'. No legend. S. C. in the exergum. The emperor standing to the right, 
an altar in front with fire burning, joining hands with a soldier before him; 
another soldier in armour with spear and shield is standing behind his comrade ; 
a standard is by the right side of the first soldier. 

Argelati, m Bomitiano, quotes a coin with this type in cos . x., the legend 
being fides . exercitvvm, which shows that this and the two preceding coins 
exhibit the army, represented by the soldiers and standards, taking the oath of 
fidelity or allegiance to Domitian. I am therefore surprised it should bear a 
consulate equal to a.d. 85, four years after he had possessed the sovereignty. 

A dark green coin, in fine condition, from the cabinet of Eev. E. C. Brice. 
Weight 405| grains. 



DOMITIAN. 215 

431. 

IMP . CAES . DOMiTiAN AVG . GERM . COS . XI. The laureate head of Domitian to 
the right, with amulet on the breast. 

9). No legend. S. 0. in the field. The emperor with his head veiled standing 
to the left, offering sacrifice at an altar on which a fire is burning, placed in front 
of a shrine or baldaschmo, under which is a statue of Minerva. 

Question has been made what deity is intended to be represented on this 
reverse. The statue is that of a female with helmet and spear ; and, as Minerva 
was adopted by Domitian as his patron, there cannot be much doubt that she is 
the deity represented. The specimens which have given rise to the doubt must 
have been imperfect in her figure. 

A fine dark brown coin, a present from my respected friend Dr. Lee. 

432. 

IMP . CAES . DOMITIAN . AVG . GEEM . COS . XI. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right. 

^. SALVTi. above a square altar, the front being divided in compartments. 
AVGVSTi. underneath the altar. S. 0. on either side of the field. 

"Weight 1701 grains. 

433. 

IMP . CAES . DOMITIAN . AVG . GERM . COS . XI . CBNS . POT .P.P. The laureate 
head of the emperor to the right. 

|c. AETERNITATI . AVGVSTI, In the field S. 0, A female standiag to the left ; 
both her hands extended, the right hand being more elevated than the left ; in 
each hand she holds a bust, the one in the right hand is with a radiate crown, 
that in the left hand has a crescent. 

By these busts are represented the emperor and empress under the symbols 
of the sun and moon ; and they not only express the adulation, but also by the 
legend the hypocritical prayer of the Senate and people of Eome for the perpetuity 
of the imperial breed of Domitian. 

This type is used with greater propriety on the coins of Antoninus Pius, post ; 
also in the Hadrian series. 

Weight 1841 grains. 

434. 

IMP . CAES , DOMIT , AVG . GERM . COS . XI . CENs . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of Domitian to the right, amulet on the breast. 



216 



RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 



^. ANNONA . AVGVST. In the exergum S. C. Ceres and Annona with attri- 
butes exactly as represented on the couis of Nero abeady noticed ante. No. 189. 



Weight 415-1- grains. 



435. 



The laureate head 



IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . COS . XII . CENS . PER .P.P. 

of Domitian to the right, amulet on the breast. 

^. ANNONA . AVGVST. In the exergum S. 0. Ceres and Annona with attri- 
butes as on the preceeding coin and the coins of Nero ; both Ceres and Annona 
wear wreaths of wheat-ears on their heads. 

A very fine brown coin. Weight 513 grains. 

436. 

IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . COS . XII . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right. 

^. ANNONA . AVG. In the exergum S. C. A robed female seated to the right, 
her right arm resting on the back of her chair ; her left hand is extended towards 
a person who stands before her with hands held out to receive some gift she 
appears to hold in her left hand ; the stern of a galley appears in the background. 

Weight 17 1| grains. 

437. 




IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . COS . XII . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of Domitian to the right, with amulet on the breast. 

p.. PACis . on the upper part of the field. S. C. in the exergum. The reverse 
of this coin represents an altar rather in the form of a temple, with a tetrastyle 
portico of the Ionic order, raised on a base which is extended on each side beyond 
the outer column at the front corners of the altar ; the entablature is highly 
enriched, and terminated by large acroterial ornaments at the angles formino- the 
horns of the altar ; the doorway of the temple in the centre intercolumniation 
is divided by a central muUion, and approached by four steps formed in the base 
of the temple ; the two other intercolumniations are ornamented with groups of 



DOMITIAN. 217 

figures in bas-relief, in two heights — the figures in the lower squares or compart- 
ments being standing figures, and those in the upper squares being sedent figures ; 
on each part of the lower base, which extends on each side outward beyond the 
square of the building, a robed figure is standing, having a patera in the right 
hand ; there is also a small altar by the side of the figure on the right. 

I do not find this singular reverse noticed in any writer. It is intended, no 
doubt, as an ara . pacis, from the word pacis . being above the altar ; thus 
leaving the altar itself to supply the word aba. The ara pacis of Nero is a 
square altar, like to that usually on coins with the word provident., as seen in 
the series of Augustus ante, No. 90. 

A dark green Second Brass coin, in very good condition. 

438. 

IMP . CAEs . DOMiT . AVG . &ERM . COS . XII . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of Domitian to the right, amulet on the breast. 

9'. PiDEi . PVBLiCAE. In the field S. C. A female standing with her head 
turned to the right ; her left hand raised is holding a small basket of fruits ; in 
her right hand she has two ears of corn and a poppy. 

A pale green Second Brass coin. Weight 1421- grains. 

This type in Domitian is not in Large Brass, but it is to be found on the Large 
Brass coin of Antoninus Pius, post. 

439. 

IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . COS . XII . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of Domitian to the right, amulet on the breast. 

$0. MONETA . AVGVST. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left with a 
pair of scales in her right hand ; on her left arm she bears a full cornucopise. 

"Weight 1661 grains. 

This type also is not found in Domitian in Large Brass, but it occurs in the 
Large Brass of Hadrian, and also of Antoninus Pius. 

440. 

IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . COS . XII . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of Domitian to the right, with amulet on the breast. 

9. No legend. A large S. C. in the field. The emperor in military costume 
standing to the left, his right foot on an old river-god prostrate before him. 

Weight 317-5- grains. 

This type has been fully noticed ante, No. 414. 

2p 



218 BECOBDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

Ml. 

IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . COS . XII . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right, with amulet on the breast. 

9p. iovi . coNSERVAT. In the field S. C. Jupiter standing full front looking 
to the left ; a robe pendant behind the left side from the left shoulder, and passed 
round the loins ; the rest of the figure is undraped. In the right hand he holds 
n^fulmen, in the left a liasta piira. 

In this consulate, a.d. 86, the first celebration of the new games, instituted by 
Domitian to the honour of Jupiter Capitolinus, was made with much ceremony. 

A fine black Second Brass coin. Weight 190| grains. 

442. 

IMP . CAES . BOMiT . AVG . GERM . COS . xiii . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of Domitian to the right. 

9.. EORTVNAE . AVGVSTi. In the field S. C. Fortune standing to the left, her 
right hand resting on a rudder ; on her left arm she bears a cornucopise fiUed with 
fi'uits. 

A Second Brass coin of the mintage of a.d. 87. Weight 1541 grains. 

443. 

IMP . CAES . DOMiT . AVG . GERM . COS . xiiii . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right. 

Jo. viRTVTi . AVGVSTI. S. 0. in the field. An armed female standing to the 
right ; in her right hand she holds a spear ; in the left she has a sceptrum, and 
rests her left elbow on her left knee, her left foot being placed on a helmet lying 
on the ground. 

A Second Brass coin in Cyprian copper, but middling. Weight 164 grains. 

444. 

IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . COS . XIIII . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of Domitian to the right, amulet on the breast. 

9=. No legend. S. C. in the exergum. The emperor in full military costume, 
except his helmet, standing to the left, holding a fulmen in his right hand, a spear 
in his left hand ; at his left side Victory is standing with a palm-branch in her left 
hand, with her right hand she is placing a wreath on the head of the emperor. 



DOMITIAN. 219 

This large and splendid coin was struck a.d. 88, and it refers to a victory 
gained this year over the Dacians, not by Domitian in person, but by one of his 
generals. 

A very fine black coin from the cabinet of the Duke of Devonshire. Weight 
420 grains. 

The next following thirteen coins relate to the ssecular games which were cele- 
brated at Rome in the time of Domitian ; they form a more complete series in 
brass than are to be found in any other cabinet, either public or private, and are 
all in excellent preservation, nothing being wanting in any one of them to eluci- 
date the subject of its type. There is only one other coin of this series known 
(in Eirst Brass, I believe), and that I have never yet seen, although for many 
years I have watched for it. 

445. 

IMP . CAES . DOMiT . AVG . GEKM . P. M . TB . p . VIII . OENS . PER .P.P. The lau- 
reate head of the emperor to the right. 

^. cos . xiiii . LVD . SAEC. On the exergum S. C. A robed figure seated to 
the left on a curule chair placed on a low tribunal supported by four balls ; on 
the side of the tribunal is inscribed sve . p. d. Two large vases stand in front on 
either side of the tribunal ; a citizen stands in front with his right hand extended, 
as receiving something from the person who is seated ; by the side of the citizen 
is a boy holding up his hands also to receive a donation ; in the background is a 
building, having four columns in front. 

"Weight 3721 grains. 

This coin was struck in a.d. 88, and is the first of a very interesting series on 
which are recorded the ssecular games which were celebrated in the fourteenth 
consulate of Domitian, L . minvcivs . rvfvs. being consul jointly with the emperor, 
and in the year of E-ome 841. 

The donation represented on this reverse is of the purifying stufi's and per- 
fumes, which were distributed to the people before the commencement of the 
festival by the Quindecemviri in the capitol, and also at the Palatine Hill, whence 
the inscription in front of the tribunal SVE .P. D. — stfffimenta 2>opido data. The 
person seated on the tribunal is supposed by most writers to represent the emperor, 
but to me it seems more likely to mean the tribunal of one of the Quindecemviri 
in the exercise of his ofiicial duties on the occasion. 

These games, the most celebrated in Roman history, were instituted in com- 
pliance with the Sybilline Oracles, to the honour of Pluto, Proserpine, Juno, 

2 E 2 



220 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

Apollo, Diana, Ceres, and the Parcse, and according to the oracle they were 
(as recorded by Horace) to be celebrated every 110 years : 

Certus undenos decies per annos. 

Some account of the ceremonials, as illustrated by these coins, may not be 
uninteresting here. 

In the Sybilline Oracles was one famous projihecy to this effect,—" That if the 
Romans, at the beginning of every age, should hold solemn games in the Campus 
Martins to the honour of Pluto, Proserpine, Juno, Apollo, Diana, Ceres, and the 
Parcse, their city should ever flourish, and all nations be subjected to their 
dominion." 

The whole manner of their celebration was as follows : — Previously to the com- 
mencement of the festival, the feciales or heralds traversed the city, and made a 
pompous proclamation inviting " all the world to come to a feast they never had 
yet seen, and should never see again." 

Some few days before the beginning of the games, the Quindecemviri, taking 
their seats in the capitol and in the palatine temple, distributed among the people 
parcels of torches, brimstone, and other stuffs, for purification. Prom thence the 
people went to the temple of Diana, on the Aventine Hill, cai'rying wheat, barley, 
and beans as an offering at her shrine. This done, they passed several nights in 
prayer and devotion to the Parcse. At length, when the time of the festival was 
actually arrived, and which lasted three days and three nights in succession, the 
people assembled in the Campus Martins, and offered sacrifices to Jupiter, Juno, 
Apollo, Latona, Diana, the Parcse, Ceres, Pluto, and Proserpine. 

On the first night of the festival, the emperor, accompanied by the Quindecem- 
viri, caused three altars to be erected on the banks of the Tiber, which altars they 
sprinkled with the blood of three lambs, and then proceeded to burn the offerings 
and victims. 

After this a space was marked out which served for a theatre, and was illu- 
minated with a large number of torches and fires ; here certain hymns composed 
for the occasion were sung, and various sports performed. 

On the second day, sacrifices and victims were offered at the capitol; the 
people then returned to the Campus Martins, and celebrated sports in honour of 
Apollo and Diana. These lasted until the following day, when noble matrons, at 
an appointed hour, went to the capitol to sing hymns to Jupiter. 

On the third and last day of the festival, twenty-seven young boys, and as 
many girls, both of whose parents were living, went in procession with palm- 



DOMITIAN. 221 

brandies in their hands to the temple of the Palatine Apollo, where hymns and 
verses in Latin and Greek were sung in praise of the deities to whom the city was 
recommended for their protection. The Carmen Sceculare of Horace was com- 
posed by him for the last day of the ssecular games held by Augustus, and it was 
always afterwards used at their celebration. 

It has been a subject of much controversy whether the Ludi Sseculares were 
celebrated every 100 years or every 110 years. Por the former oj)inion, Censorinus, 
De die natali, c. 17, cites Antias, Varro, and Livy, the derivation oi sceculares being 
from scecuhim, an age, a computation among the Romans amounting to 100 years. 
Por the contrary view of the question, Censorinus quotes the book of the Quin- 
decemviri and the edicts of Augustus, besides the evidence of Horace in his 
poem already named : 

Certus undenos decies per annos. 

The last period of 110 years is the time expressly enjoined by the Sybilline 
oracle, the verses of which are transcribed by Zosimus in the second book of his 
history ; but as the emperors felt the uncertainty of their living to celebrate them 
if they let the full period of time elapse, we find that they were generally anti- 
cipated. The dates of their celebration seem to be as follows : — 

The first was held in the year of Rome 245 or 248. 

The second in the year of Rome 305 or 408. 

The third in the year of Rome 518. 

The fourth either Y. R. 605—608, or 628. 

The fifth by Augustus, Y. R. 736 ; sive ut alii numerant 737. 

The sixth by Claudius, Y. R. 800. 

The seventh by Domitian, Y. R. 841 ; he took his computation from the cele- 
bration by Augustus. 

The eighth by Septimius Severus, Y. R. 957. 

The ninth by Philip, Y. R. 1000, when he struck a coin with the legend 

SAECVLVM . NOTVM. 

The feciales or heralds, when they proclaimed the games in the life of Claudius, 
were scoffed at by the people, for many persons were then still living at Rome 
who had witnessed the festival celebrated by Augustus. 

See Pitiscus, Lexicon, &c. art. Ludi Sceculares ; also Hooke's Roman History. 
In Merivale, vol. iv. p. 179, we have the following note : — " Much has been written 
upon the mode of computing the time to which the ssecular games should be 
referred ; I will try to compress within the limits of a note the most important 
points for consideration. We learn from Censorinus (c. 17), that Valerius, Antias, 



222 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

VaiTO, and Livy make 100 years the period of the sseculum, while Augustus him- 
self, and Horace, specified 110. The notices we have of the celehration of these 
games anterior to the time of Augustus are so inconsistent, that we must conclude 
there was no such regular celebration of them at all. The discrepancy, however, 
in the number of years as stated to us (100 and 110), may, perhaps, he accounted 
for by comparing the ordinary year of Numa, 355 days, with the intercalary years 
of 377-8 days ; multiplying the first of these numbers by 110, and the second by 
100, the results will come sufiiciently near to one another to satisfy the condition 
of a round number. I take the hint of this solution from Walckenaer (Hist. 
d'Horace, ii. 269) though I cannot subscribe to the method by which he arrives 
at still closer results ; but, however this may be, succeeding ages soon lost the 
clue to this synchronism. The emperor Claudius repeated the games A.u.c. 800, 
disregarding those of Augustus as irregular. Claudius was disregarded again in 
his turn by Domitian, who renewed the celebration in 841, anticipating in his 
impatience by six years the period prescribed by Augustus. To the Augustan 
computation Severus conformed precisely, and repeated the solemnity in 957, after 
two intervals of 110 years each. Philippus, however, returned once more to the 
j)recedent of Claudius in the year of the city 1000 ; this was the last celebration, 
although Zosimus, in the year 1067, suggests that the time has arrived for another 
ssBCular festival according to the computation of Severus." 

446. 

IMP . CAES . DOMiT . AVG . GERM . P. M . TR . P. VIII. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

9). A cippus, or square upright tablet, on the right side whereof in the field 
cos . on the left side xiiii . on the tablet is an inscription : 

LVD. 
cos . SAEC . XIIII. 

EEC . 

the whole surrounded by a laurel wreath. 

A denarius that has been originally gilded; from G. Gwilt's cabinet, very 
perfect. 

447. 

IMP . CABS . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . p . M - TR . p . VIII . CENS . PER .P.P. The lau- 
reate head of the emperor to the right. 

]^. cos . XIIII . LVD . SAEC. In the exergum S. C. A coin similar in every 



DOMITIAN. 223 

respect to the preceding, save that there are no vases placed at the sides of the 
tribunal on which the quindecemvir is seated. 
Weight 3721 grains. 

448. 

IMP . CAES . DOMiT . AV& . GERM . p . M . TE . p . VIII . CENS . PER .P.P. The lau- 
reate head of the emperor to the right. 

$0. cos . xiiii . LVD . SAEC . A . POP. In the esergum S. C. A person robed 
and seated to the right on a low square seat placed on a tribimal supported by 
four balls ; on the side and front of the tribunal are the abbreviated words prvg . 
AC : before him are three persons standing, the foremost of whom empties out a 
quantity of fruits from a sort of sack on to the ground ; in the background is a 
building with four columns in front. 

Weight 4271 grains. 

Some writers consider this reverse represents an offering of first-fruits made to 
the emperor on the occasion of the game ; but, as after the people had received 
their purifying stuffs and perfumes they proceeded to the temple of Diana, on the 
Aventine hill, where they made offerings of wheat, barley, and beans, the present 
type may represent the receiving of the fruits for the pui'pose of offerings, and 
which may be the offerings here recorded, for I do not find the word primitiae, 
or first-fruits, used on any coin, or any mention made of first-fruits being 
offered to the emperor, nor was it usual at this festival to make any offering 
whatever to him. 

Eckhel, in vol. vi. p. 387, mentioning a coin similar to the present in the 
Vienna cabinet, quotes an opinion that the words on the reverse should be read — 
A . POPULO . FRUGES . ACCEPTAE. Thus it was not the emperor, but the people of 
Rome " a quo fruges acceptse sunt." 

It may be so read, but that reading does not bear out the view I take of this 
type, viz. — that it represents the quindecemvir on his tribunal, receiving/roOT 
the people {a populo) the offerings at the temple of Diana, or the offering- 
made (« popido) by the people. 

449. 

imp . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . p . VIII . CENS . PER .P.P. The lau- 
reate head of the emperor to the right. 

'^. COS . XIII . LVD . SAEC . A . POP. In the exergum S. C. A coin similar in 



224 BECOBDS OP ROMAN HISTOET. 

every respect to the preceding ; no vases, however, on the suggestum, but the 
words PRV& . AC. are on the side and front. 
Weight 4071 grains. 

450. 

IMP . CAES . DOMiT . AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . P . VIII • CENS . PER .P.P. The lau- 
reate head of the emperor to the right. 

9,. cos . xiiii . LVD . A . POP. In the exergum S. C. A person robed and 
seated to the right on a curule chair placed on a low tribunal resting on four balls, 
having on its side and front ervg . AC. ; at each corner of the tribunal are vases, 
and the person seated on the curule chair extends his right hand, in which he 
holds a patera, towards two other persons who stand before him, the foremost of 
whom also extends his right hand with a patera as if to receive something ; in the 
l^ackground is a building having fom' columns in front. 

Weight 383| grains. 

The acts of the persons represented on this reverse are more in accordance 
with the reading of the words on the present and preceding coins as quoted by 
Eckhel ; but the letter a I consider duplex : in one reading it may be A populo, 
hy the people ; in another it may be A populo, from the people : thus on the first 
two coins it woiild be the sufimenta received A by the people ; and the second 
series would read, the offerings received a from the people. I consider by these 
various readings the acts represented on these reverses are to be reconciled ; thus, 
considering the first two coins to represent the first part of the ceremonial, the 
presentation and acceptance of purifying stuffs, — the next two coins as the 
ofi^erings made by and received from the people at the temple of Diana, on the 
Aventine Hill, — and the present coin descriptive of the offering as made by the 
people ; all the types would represent the ceremonies of distributing the perfumes 
and receiving and giving the fruits ; then follow the coins of the sacrifices made 
by the emperor. Thus as nearly as possible the coins would bear record of all the 
proceedings on so interesting an occasion, closing with the procession which took 
place on the third day. 

It is to be observed also that the word pec only appears on the coins repre- 
senting the sacrifices, which coins, with one exception, are only known in Second 
Brass. The coins already cited represent acts done by the people, — their share of 
the ceremonials ; the others represent the acts of the emperor, closing with the 
procession. 



DOMITIAN. 225 

451. 

IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GEEM . P . M . TR . P . VIII . CENS . PEE .P.P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

$0. cos . xiiii . LVD . SAEO . PEC. On the exergum S. C. The emperor standing 
to the right ; before him is an altar, with fire burning, on which he is making an 
offering ; two musicians are standing near him, the one [on his left hand at the 
back of the altar is playing on a cithara, the one opposite to him is playing on 
the double flute ; on the opposite side of the altar is a hog ; by its side is a 
victimarius, in a stooping attitude, as if preparing to slay the animal ; in the 
foreground in front to the right is a female naked to the waist, and reclining on 
the ground, having on her left arm a cornucopise. 

This coin is very rare ; it is the type I missed at the Pembroke sale, but the 
present coin is finer and untooled. It was bought at the sale of the coins of M. 
Herpin, of Paris, by the Rev. E. Boden, who very kindly exchanged with me for 
other coins, and thus he let me complete a Large Brass series of the coins of the 
saecular games. It is in very nice condition, and is one of the rarest. It is 
figured very accurately in Morell m Domiticmo. There is only one Large Brass 
coin more rare than this, which I have not yet seen anywhere, although I know 
it exists, but I cannot tell where. 

452. 

IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GEEM . P . M . TE . P . VIII . CENS . PER .P.P. 

'^. COS . XIIII . LVD . SAEC . PEC. On the exergum S. C. The emperor robed 
standing to the left ; in front of him is an altar with fire burning, on which 
he is pouring a libation ; two musicians are standing before him, one of whom is 
playing on a cithara ; on the ground to the right is a bearded male figure 
recumbent, with his back and face in profile ; in the background is a temple 
having a triangular pediment on each side, and a cupola in the centre between the 
two pediments ; the whole front is supported by six columns, evidently being a 
portico, from the intercolumniations which appear within the first row of columns, 
giving to the whole the appearance of a large building. 

Second Brass. Weight 177i grains. 

The temples or buildings represented on this and the five following coins 
are nearly all different, and the types I consider represent the emperor 
offering sacrifice at the temples of difi'erent deities during the three days of 
the festival. The temples were on the banks of the Tiber, which river is 

2 G 



•22Q KECOUDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

here represented by tlie recumbent figure of the bearded old man or river- 
god. 

These sacrificial coins are all in Second Brass. With the exception of the 
preceding coin, they do not appear in First Brass. 

453. 

IMP . CAKS . DOMiT . AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . p - VIII . CENS . PER .P.P. The radiate 
head of the emperor to the right. 

P>. cos . xiiii On the exergum S. C. A temple of six columns, in front 

of which is an altar with fire burning on it ; the emperor robed is standing to the 
left in the act of sacrificing by pouring a libation on the altar ; opposite to the 
emperor are two musicians, one of them is playing the double flute, the other a 
cithara ; by the side of the second musician is a person holding a goat and a 
lamb, as if intended to be offered in sacrifice. 

454. 

IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . p - VIII . CENS . PER .P.P. The lau- 
reate head of the emperor to the right. 

|o. cos . xiiii . LVD . SAEC . PEC. On the exergum S. C. The emperor robed is 
standing to the left in the act of performing sacrifice by pouring a libation from 
a patera in his riglit liand on to a fire burning upon an altar before him ; in 
front are two musicians, one playing on a cithara, the other a double flate ; at 
the right side is a victiniarius in the act of striking a mallet on to the head of an 
ox, which is held yn.i\v its head bent down by another person who is kneeling in 
front of the animal. 

455. 

IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . p . VIII . CENS . PER .P.P. The lau- 
reate head of the emperor to the right. 

9.. cos . xiiii . LVD . SAEC . PEC . On the exergum S. C. A type similar to 
the preceding coin ; the animal on this coin is evidently an ox, by the horns 
which appear ; on the preceding coin it is possible the animal may be a sheep 
which is being slain by the victlmarlus, for the sheep was an object of sacrifice at 
these ceremonials. > 

456. 

IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . P.M . TR . p . VIII . CENS . PER .P.P. The lau- 
reate head of the emperor to the right. 

9.. cos . XIIII . LVD . SAEC . PEC . In the exergum S. C. The emperor standing 



DOMITIAN. 227 

to the left before a temple of six columns ; a wreath is in the tympanum of the 
pediment ; in front is an altar, whereon a fire is burning, and the emperor is 
pouring on to it a libation from a patera he holds in his right hand ; before the 
emperor is a person playing on the double flute, behind whom is another person 
playing on a cithera. 

457. 

IMP . CAES . DOMiT . AV& . GERM . P. M . TR . p . VIII . CENS . PER .P.P. The lau- 
reate head of the emperor to the right. 

^. cos . xiiii . LVD . SAEC . PEC . In the exergum S. C. A coin of precisely 
similar type to the last, except that in the tympanum of the temple there is the 
figure of a bird, which I should consider is intended for an eagle, not only as the 
(attribute) bird of Jove, but also as the distinctive ensign of Rome and the Roman 
people. 

458. 

IMP GERM . P. M . TR . p . VIII . CENS . PER . P. P. The laureate 

head of the emperor to the right. 

Jc. cos . xiiii . LVD . SAEC . FEC . In the exergum S. C. The emperor with a 
scroll in his left hand, an official personage at his left side, both of them in robes, 
are following a procession of young people walking to the right and carrying 
branches in their right hands, which branches should be either of laurel or 
palm. 

This is a representation of the procession of youths and virgins Avhich took 
place on the third day of the games, and concluded their celebration. Twenty- 
seven youths, and as many young girls, all of the best families in Ptome, and of 
each of whom both parents were still living, chaunted in procession throughout 
the city the well-kno\^Ti Carmen Sceculare of Horace, as well as other hymns of 
praise both in Greek and Latin, as mentioned by Zosimus. 

This is a very rare type ; the present coin came out of the cabinet of General 
Ramsay, displacing a very good one I had from the cabinet of Mr. Thomas. It is 
a very fine green coin, but the finest coin of this type I have yet seen is in the 
cabinet of Admiral Smyth. 

Yaillant, Numism. Imperat. Rom. Selectiora, says of a coin of this type, " Hie 
nummus primi moduli inter rarissimos Saecularium Ludorum collocatur." 

Further particulars of the nature of the ceremonies of the ssecular games may 
be collected from Horace, Carm Sgec. ; Tacit., Ann. xi. 11 ; Zosimus, ii. init. The 
origin of the festival is narrated by Zosimus and Valerius Max. ii. •1-6. For a 

2 g2 



228 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

lively description of them see also Walckenaer, Dezobry, Borne, &c. ii. 412 fol. 
and Merivale, iv. 181. 

459. 

IMP. CAES . DOMiT . AVG . GERM . COS . XV . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of Domitian to the right. 

1^. No legend. In the exergum S. C. The emperor in military costume, 
except the helmet, standing to the left, holding in his right hand a fulmen, in 
his left hand a spear ; at his left side Victory is standing with a palm-branch 
in her left hand, with her right hand she is placing a wreath on the head of 
the emperor. 

Weight 400|: grains. 

A coin struck in a.d. 89, and occasioned by the continued success of the 
Roman armies in Germany. 

In this year also the Vota Decennalia were performed ; but I have not yet 
met with a Eirst or Second Brass coin recordiiig them. 

460. 

IMP . CAES . DOMiT . AVG . GERM . COS . XV . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of Domitian to the right. 

Jo. lovi . viCTORi, In the exergum S. C. Jupiter, unclothed to the waist, 
seated on a square seat to the left ; his right hand extended holds a Victoriola, in 
the left he has the hasta pura. 
Weight 332| grains. 

461. 

IMP . CAES . DOMiT . AVG . GERM . COS . XVI . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of Domitian to the right. 

9.. lovi . VICTORI. In the exergum S. C. Jupiter seated to the left as before 
with a Victoriola and hasta ptira. 



Weight 355i grains. 



462. 



IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . COS . XVII . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right. 

^. No legend. S. C. on either side of a winged Victory who is standing. on 
a globe to the left ; in her right hand she holds up a wreath, on her left arm she 
bears a small trophy of arms. 



DOMITIAN. 229 



"Weight 214f grains. 



This coin in its type is taken from the gold and silver coins of Augustus. 
The type is repeated on the coins of Antoninus Pius relating to Britain, minus the 
trophy. 

463. 

IMP . CAES . DOMiT . AVG . GERM . COS . XVII . CENs . PBB .P.P. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right. 

9'. lovi . viCTOBi. In the exergum S. C. Jupiter seated to the left as on the 
preceding coins with Victoriola and hasta pura. 

Weight 351-1- grains. 

All these last-mentioned coins have reference to successful actions of the 
E/omans with the Quadi, Dacii, and other German nations, although of no parti- 
cular note in history. 

464. 

IMP. CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . COS . XVII . CENS . PER . P.P. The laureate head 
of Domitian to the right, shoulders draped. 

Jc. Ho legend. S. C. on either side the field. A square building having an 
open archway on each side. On the top are two quadrigae of elephants placed 
back to back, each car having a charioteer. 

This coin is of the mintage a.d. 96. The arch is considered as referring to 
the emperor's supposed German victories. Vaillant describing this type says 
of the arch, " Ille erectus est in Germanico triumpho." The coin in First Brass 
he terms " rarissimus." Eusebius speaks of Domitian having a triumph for 
victories over Dacians and Germans in his sixteenth consulate. 

The coins of Domitian that represent him in armour, or with the shoulders 
draped, are extremely rare. 

465. 

IMP . CAES . DOMIT . AVG . GERM . COS . XVII . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right. 

|l. No legend. A fine eagle, with his wings partly expanded, standing 
on the stem of an ear of corn ; in its beak it holds a wreath. S. C. on either side 
of the bird. 

This type signifies the victories supposed to have been gained in Germany, 
the wreath held by the eagle being a complimentary adulation of the emperor 
as having triumphed over his enemies ; its standing on the ear of corn signifies 
the benefits of agricultural abundance being obtained by a return of the armies 
to a peaceful occupation of the country. 



230 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

This coin is of the date a.d. 96, and last of the reign of Domitian. It is, I 
believe, an unlmown type. 

A beautiful dark green and very perfect coin. 

466. 

IMP . CAES . DOMiT . AVG . GERM . COS . XVII . CENS . PER .P.P. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right, the bust apparently in armour with military cloak 
over. 

^. No legend. S, C. in the exergum. The emperor on horseback to the 
right ; his right hand raised as if he were addressing spectators. 

This coin was struck a.d. 96, being the last year of the life of Domitian, who 
was slain in October a.d. 96, in the forty-fifth year of his age. 

This type I have never yet seen in any cabinet. The equestrian statue of 
Domitian in bronze gilded, " Equum seneum auro superfusum," stood near the 
centre of the Forum, near to the Milliarium Aureum. It is supposed to be 
alluded to by Statins in the lines — 

Ipse loci custos cujus sacrata vorago 
Famosusque locus nomen memorabile servat. 

SiLV. lib. 66. 

The present coin represents that statue as it was originally placed in the 
Porum, on that part of it which was in former days the lake into which Quintus 
Curtius was said to have cast himself, and it was near this spot that the emperor 
Galba was slain. 

This type is copied on the coin of Antoninus Pius, post, on which an eques- 
trian statue of that emperor is represented. Types on coins of equestrian figures 
representing such statues as were erected to various emperors are very rare, and 
very difl&cult to be procured. 

The present type of Domitian is extremely rare. The coin is rather injured by 
time and not by wear in any purse or scrip. Weight 335^ grains. 



DOMITIAK. 231 



DOMITIANI EILIUS. 

467. 

No legend. The veiled head of a child to the right, with a wreath of sedge or 
sea- weed. 

|o. S. C. within an olive garland or wreath. 

This coin is of Third Brass size, and in fine preservation, of a pale green 
colour, and from the cabinet of General Ramsay. It is of the workmanship 
of the Domitian period, but hitherto has not been appropriated to any one 
person. After a thorough consideration of the subject, I coincide with Mr. 
Sparkes : 

" TFTiere certainty is not attainable, probability is desirable, and with this view 
I would suggest the appropriation of this coin to the infant son of Domitian — 

" 1st. Because the fabric resembles that of the other Third Brass coins of 
Domitian. 2nd. Because the infant is commemorated in other metals and sizes, 
and is therefore probably commemorated in Third Brass, a coinage which under 
Domitian was struck in such unusual quantities and with such variety of type. 
3rd. The infant is anonymous on all coins, and the omission on this coin of any 
inscription, as Diws . caesae, . may possibly have arisen from his being the first 
deceased infant thus honoured. 

" Por testimonies as to the importance attached at the time both to his birth 
and death, see Eckhel, vi. p. 400 ; with respect to the crown of sea-w^eed, if sea- 
weed it be, I have neither explanation or conjecture to off'er." 

The crown is one of sea-weed or sedge, and is quite similar to one of the same 
material encircling the head of the river-god Tiberis on the reverse of the coins of 
Antoninus Pius, post. I find no other Small Brass coin of the time of Domitian, 
or of any other emperor, like this coin, or with any similar or apparently similar 
device or portraiture upon it. I feel therefore the less hesitation in folloAving the 
opinion of Mr. Sparkes. The child not only being mentioned, but actually repre- 
sented on the coin of his mother, the empress Domitia, still adds to the proba- 
bility of the appropriation of this coin to the young son of Domitian being correct. 
The boy died, it must be observed, when he was about eight to nine years of age. 



232 



EECOUDS OF KOMAN HISTORY. 



DOMITIA. 

DoMiTiA LoNGiNA, claugliter of the celebrated general Cnseiis Domitius Corbulo, 
was married to Lucius Lamia, who was murdered by order of Domitian, that he 
might obtain possession of his widow. After the death of her husband, Domitia 
lived with Domitian, and was subsequently married to him. 

Prom an inscription found among the ruins of Gabii, a city formerly of the 
Volsci, and taken by the Romans and afterwards inhabited by them, but now in a 
state of ruin, which inscription was published by Visconti, in the Musseo Pio 
Clementino, it would appear that she lived to attain extreme old age, and died 
about the year ad. 140. 

The coins of Domitia are of the greatest rarity in brass. The denarii are 
occasionally seen at sales. Her portrait is also found occasionally on Greek 
colonial coins. 

468. 




domitiae . AVG . IMP . cAEs . Divi . p . DOMITIAN . AVG. The head of Domitia 
to the right. Iler hair in front is dressed like Julia Titi ; the back hair is 
wound round in large bands, and the ends turned in ; the shoulders and bosom 
draped. 

9>. Divi . CAESAEis . MATRi. In the cxergum S. 0. The empress robed and 
seated on a throne to the left ; her right hand is placed on the shoulders of a 
little boy, who stands with his back to her, holding up his right hand ; in her left 
hand she holds a hasta pura transversely. 

Prom this reverse it is seen that the persons here represented are the empress 
and her little son, who was born in the second consulate of Domitian, a.d. 73, 
and created Cajsar by his father, but died a.d. 82. The present coin was, from 
the legend on the reverse, apparently struck after the death of the child. 

This very interesting coin is of dark green patina, a streak of brown red oxide 
being mixed with the green in the hair at the back of the head. It was obtained 
from the cabinet of the Cavalier Campana. Weight 332| o>rains. 



DOMITIA. 233 

Eckhel, vol. vi. in Domitia, describing a similar coin in Mtisceo Ccesareo, 
says, " Nummus hie rarissimus est, si modo certse fidei." It is a coin rarely 
to be seen in any cabinet. That which is in the British Museum was formerly 
in the cabinet of M. D'Ennery, of which coin Eckhel says, " Etiam is qui 
fuit in Musseo D'Ennery nonnuUius suspectus est visus." The Museum coin 
is exactly like the present in legends and head-dress, but is without patina, 
and brassy. 

There is also another in the British Museum, which is certainly genuine. 
It is of the same type and legends as the D'Ennery coin, and as the present ; 
but this second coin is in a very poor condition, and the reverse is cut out 
almost entirely anew from the metal, and thoroughly blacked afterwards. The 
figures on the reverse also are made very stiff and erect, and the obverse has been 
very much tooled. It was in the Duke of Devonshire's sale. Lot 279, and was 
purchased by Dr. Rawlings ; and at the sale of his coins was bought for the 
British Museum at a small price. It is by no means a coin to be desired, or I 
would have bought it at the duke's sale. 

In the Erench cabinet there are two with similar legends and types, and with 
the hair dressed similar to the present ; and there are two other coins like the 
next mentioned coin ; but they are none of them very good or fine. 

The D'Ennery coin, now in the British Museum, is thus described in the 
printed catalogue of the Cabinet D'Ennery, a thick volume quarto : 

" Grand Bronze. No. 2,617. domitiab . avg . imp . caes . divi . f . domitian . 
AVG . Tete de Domitia. 

" 9"- Divi . CAESAR . MATRi. Domitia assise, tenant un sceptre de la main 
gauche, etend sa droite sur I'epaule du jeune Domitien son fils (qui ne vecut que 
neuf ans) ; il est debout a ses pieds. 

" On a eu quelques doutes sur cette medaille, qui est d'un grand prix si elle 
est vraie comme elle le paroit. Elle vient du cabinet du Prince de Eubempre, qui 
M. D'Ennery n'acheta que pour avoir cette Domitia." 



469. 

DOM ... A s . Divi . r . DOMITIAN . AVG. The head of Domitia to the 

right, her hair dressed in front as on the preceding coin ; but the back hair is 
drawn and tied in a long looped knot, similar to the coins of Agrippina Senior 
and Antonia. Shoulders and bust draped. 

9> AES . . . MATEB. In the exergum S. C. The empress seated to 

2 H 



234 RECORDS or roman history. 

the left ; lier right hand placed on the shoulders of a child standing before her ; 
in her left hand she has the hasta para. 

Prom the words divi oaesaris in the legend of the preceding coin, some persons 
have considered these coins as apotheosis coins of the child of Domitian. 

There are two coins of this style of obverse in the French cabinet, one of them 
having the Modena eagle in the field on the obverse. They are but in middling 
condition. The head on one of them has a sprig of laurel drawn through the 
hair, and the other has been tooled. The present coin is of brown colour, from 
the cabinet of Baron KoUer, and is perfectly genuine, although in but mid- 
dling preservation ; but it is untooled, and is almost unique, even in its present 
condition. 

The Domitia in Admiral Smyth's cabinet I need only mention, for the 
purpose of saying, without any the least disres2:)ect to him, that it certainly is not 
genuine. 

A really genuine and well preserved coin of Domitia has never made its 
appearance at a sale but in the Campana cabinet, and it may well be classed as 
one of the rarest of the rare Roman coins in Large Brass. 

With these coins of Domitia, the series of the coins of the Twelve Caesars, as 
they are termed, is ended. 



NERVA. 

Marcus Cocceius Nerva was born in a.d. 32, at Narnia, in TJmbria. His 
parents were M. C. Nerva, a man of consular dignity, and Plautilla, a lady of 
respectable family. He was early distinguished by civil dignities, and rendered 
himself exceedingly popular by his mildness, his generosity, and the active part he 
took in the management of public affairs. After having served as prsetor and 
twice as consul, he was elected emperor on the death of Domitian, in October, 
a.d. 96. 

Finding, after a time, the soldiery becoming turbulent and troublesome, he 
chose for his successor IJlpius Trajanus, a measure which gave great satisfaction 
to the people of Rome. 

After a reign of sixteen months and a few days, he died of fever in January, 
A.D. 98. 

His coins are not particularly common. 



NERVA. 235 

470. 

IMP . NERVA . CABS . AVG . p . M . TR . p . COS . II . p . P. The laureate head of Nerva 
to the right. 

9>. CONCORDIA . EXERCITWM. In the field S. C. Two right hands joined ; 
between them is a military standard surmounted by an eagle, signifying the fidelity 
plighted to the emperor by the army. The foot of the staff rests on the prow of a 
galley, indicating the good feeling of the naval forces, as well as of the army, 
towards the newly elected emperor. 

Erom there being no number to the Tribunicia Potestas, this coin was doubt- 
less minted early in the first year of Nerva's reign, probably very soon after his 
accession to the sovereign power. 

A good water-gold coloured coin. "Weight SSTi grains. 

471. 

IMP . NERVA . CAES . AVG . p . M . TR . p . COS . II . p . P. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

Jc. CONGIAR . p . R. In the esergum S. 0. The emperor or his deputy seated 
to the right on a curule chair, the legs being crooked like an S. and placed on a 
high tribunal. Hather before him another person is seated on a low square seat ; 
at their left side is a figure standing, and below another person stands holding iip 
the tessera frumentaria. On the ground is a person about to ascend the steps in 
the front of the tribunal, and behind him is another citizen. 

A good coin, green colour. Weight 346-|- grains. 

472. 

IMP . NERVA . CAES . AVG . p . M The laureate head of the emperor to 

the right. 

|c. CON The emperor or his deputy, and another person in front seated 

to the right, with the other persons standing as on the preceding coin, but there 
is only one citizen who is ascending the steps of the tribunal. 

These coins were struck in a.d. 96, and record the first donation made to the 
people on the emperor's accession to power. 

A mottled green coin. Weight 393| grains. 

473. 

IMP . NERVA . CAES . AVG . p . M . TR . p . COS .II P.P. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

2 h2 



236 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

9>. ROMA . RENASCENs. In the exergum S 0. Eoma seated to the left on a 
throne ; her left foot rests on a stool, her right hand extended holds a Victoriola 
presenting a wreath to her ; in her left hand she holds her sjoear erect. 

A coin of the year a.d. 96, recording the hopes of the Roman people for the 
restoration of good order in the city, and empire generally, after the arbitrary 
power and cruelties which had been so wantonly exercised by Domitian, that the 
city should, as it were, be born again, or restored to its former healthy, moral 
state. 

A dark brown coin. Weight 418§ grains. 

474. 

IMP . NERVA . CAES . AVG . p . M . TR . p . COS . II . p . P. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

9=. Eisci . ivDAici . CALVMNIA . svBLATA. In the cxergum S. C. A palm-tree 
with fruit. 

The palm-tree, indigenous to Judsea, is introduced as the type, which, with the 
legend, records the remission of a tax laid on the Jews as tributaries before the 
conquest of Judsea, and which had been oppressively increased by Domitian. 
Nerva, in his liberality and love for liberty of conscience, abolished this tax : 
and the senate, to applaud and commemorate the kind feelings and benevolence of 
the emperor, caused this coin to be struck in a.d. 96. 

Mr. Sharp says, " The word calvmnia marks that the tax was an insult to 
the sacred tribute granted to the Temple (at Jerusalem), but diverted by the 
conquerors." 

A good black coin from the Devonshire cabinet. Weight 402^ grains. 

475. 

IMP . NERVA . CAES . AVG . p . M . TR . p . COS . II . p . P. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

^. CONCORDIA . EXERCiTVVM. In the exergum S. C. Two right hands joined ; 
no military standard. 

This type has the similar signification as the coin first mentioned, with a like 
legend. 

A Second Brass coin. Weight 1654 grains. 

47G. 

IMP . NERVA . CAES . AVG . P . M . TR . p . COS . II . p . p . The radiate head of the 
emperor to the right. 



NERVA. 237 

5o. ivsTiTiA . AVGVST . In the exergum S. C. A female seated to the right, 
unclothed to the waist ; her feet resting on a stool ; her left hand, extended, holds 
a branch, seemingly olive, her right hand has the hasta pura. 

A very good dark Second Brass coin. Weight 191^ grains. 

477. 

IMP - NEBVA . CABS . AVG . p . M . TE, . p . COS . II . p . p - The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

|c. PBOVIDENTIA . SENATVS . In the excrgum S. C. The emperor, standing to 
the left, is receiving a mimdus from a senator who is on the right, and holds in 
his left hand a sceptrum, or a wand of ceremony. 

A very rare coin, unlinown to Occo. It is a record of the confidence the 
senate felt and reposed in Nerva when entrusting him with the sovereignty, repre- 
sented by a senator delivering a mundus, signifying the Roman world or empire, 
to the care of the emperor. 

A very good brown coin from the cabinet of General Ramsay. 

478. 

IMP . NERVA . CAES . AVG . p . M . TB . p . COS . II . DESIGN . Ill . p . p . The laureate 
head of the emperor to the right. 

9>- PORTVNA . AVGVST . In the field S. C. Portuna standing to the left, 
holding a full cornucopise on the left arm ; her right hand rests on the tiller of a 
rudder. 

The present coin, struck a.d. 97, records the circumstance of Nerva being 
nominated consul for the third time ; his first two consulates having occurred 
before he was elected emperor. 

A beautiful pale green colour, fine condition. Weight 350| grains. 

479. 

IMP . NEBVA . CAES . AVG . p . M . TR . p . II . COS . Ill . p . P . The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right. 

|o. PORTVNA . AVGVST . In the field S. C. Portuna standing to the left with 
rudder and cornucopise, as on the preceding coin. 

Whilst on the preceding coin we have the nomination of Nerva for the con- 
sulate for the third time, on the present we have the second tribunician date 
acknowledged, and the third nomination for the consulate confirmed, which shews 



238 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

the mintage of this coin to have been after the election of consuls had taken 
place. 

A fine bright green coin. Weight 378| grains. 

480. 

IMP . NERVA . CAES . AVG . p . M . TR . p . II . COS . Ill . P . P. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

9.. EORTVNA . p . R. In the exergum S. C. Portuna seated to the left, her 
right hand extended, holding some wheat ears ; in her left hand she has the hasta 
ptira. 

This reverse is the Portuna of the people of Rome : the other coins are the 
Fortuna of the Augustus or emperor. 

A very good dark brown coin, from the Devonshire cabinet. Weight 462|- 
grains. 

481. 

IMP . NERVA . CAES . AVG . p . M . TR . p . II . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

^. PAX. AVG. In the exergum S. C. Peace seated to the left; her right hand 
extended holds an olive-branch, in her left she bears the liasta pura. 

In A.D. 97, and the third consulate of Nerva, Trajan, who commanded in part 
of Germany, gained a successful victory in Pannonia, on which occasion Nerva 
was saluted imperator for the second time, and received the title of gbrmanicvs, 
but which honours I have not yet met with on a Large Brass coin until the 
fourth consulate, as may also be observed in Argelati, whose work contains the 
most extensive numismatic series. 

On this occasion also, and in this consulate, Nerva adopted Trajan as his 
successor, and in the month of October cos . iii. nominated him caesar. 

A good brown coin from the cabinet of Count Bruna. Weight 403^ grains. 

482. 

IMP . NERVA . CAES . AVG . p . M . TR . P. COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

9.. CONCORDIA . EXERCiTVVM. In the field S. C. Two right hands joined ; 
between them is a military ensign with a legionary eagle at the top ; the foot of 
the standard is placed on the prow of a galley. 

In the third consulate of Nerva disturbances were made by the Praetorian 
Guards, under pretence of avenging the death of Domitian. Nerva endeavoured 



NERVA. 239 

to pacify them, but they would not be appeased until they had killed Petronius 
Secundus and Parthenius, who had been the principal actors in the death of 
Domitian. This conduct awakened Nerva to a sense of his precarious position as 
head of the state, and he at once very prudently made choice of Marcus Ulpius 
Trajanus, then being one of his generals, as his successor, and adopted him, and 
associated him in the sovereignty shortly before his death. 

The date of this coin being of a later consulate than the first coin of this 
reign, it may therefore be considered as expressing the satisfaction of the armies, 
both of land and sea service, in the choice which had been made, as well as the 
return to their duty by the military and naval commanders after they had 
gratified their revenge upon Parthenius and others. 

A fine brown coin, from the Devonshire cabinet. Weight 419| grains. 



483. 

IMP . NERVA . CAES . AUG . p . M . TR . p . COS . Ill . p . p . The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

Jo. LiBERTAS . PVBLiCA . In the field S. C. Liberty standing to the left, 
having the rudis in her left hand, a piletts in the right. 

A type emblematic of the peace and tranquillity, as well as the freedom, which 
the Roman people now enjoyed under the rule of Nerva, contrasted with the 
tyranny they had before endured under his predecessor Domitian. 

A fine brown coin from the cabinet of the Rev. E. C. Brice. Weight 
418t grains. 

484. 

IMP . NERVA . CAES . AVG . p . M . TR . p . COS . Ill . p - P. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

^. VEHICVLATIONE . ITALIAE . REMISSA. In the excrgum S, 0. Two mules 
grazing, their heads being respectively outward to the legend ; behind them are 
two carriage-yokes. 

This coin was struck to record the munificence of the emperor in relieving 
the Italian states from the obligation of providing horses, mules, and carriages for 
persons professing to be travelling on the btisiness of the state — a privilege which 
was a constant source of imposition. These things had become so burthensome as 
to cause several of the towns to petition the emperor for relief, who at once 



240 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

abolished the obligation, and regulations were adopted for preventing a repetition 
of the grievances 

This interesting subject is most aptly represented by the mules relieved from 
their yokes and quietly grazing ; the date of its mintage is a.d. 97. 

See this subject very fully discussed in Spanheim, De Prsestanti^ et Usu Num- 
morum Antiquorum, Elzevir 4to, ed. 1570, p. 800 et seq. 

A fine dark green coin from the Devonshire cabinet. Weight 491| grains. 

485. 

IMP . NERVA . CAES . AVG . p . M . TR . p . COS . Ill . P . R . The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

^. PLEBEi . VR33ANAE . ERVMENTO . CONSTITVTO . In the field S. C. A corn 
modius with ears of corn and a poppy sticking out of it at the top. 

The present coin records another proof of the benevolence of Nerva's character 
in his directing that the towns of Italy should supply their poor with corn and 
other necessaries, or, in other words, making a decree for the institution of 
j^arochial relief in the several towns of Italy. There is another coin of similar 
import bearing the legend of tvtela . italiab . but it is extremely rare. I have 
not yet seen it at any sale. 

There is a continuance of these benefactions to the poor in the towns of Italy 
by Trajan, as we shall have to notice under the coins of Trajan. 

A good coin, without patina. Weight 406| grains. 

486. 

IMP . NERVA . CAES . AVG The laureate head of the emperor to the 

right. 

p.. NEPTVNO . CIR VT . . . In the field S. C, Neptune unclothed 

standing to the right, in his left hand holding a trident, in his right hand a 
branch ; at his feet is a prostrate figure. 

The legend on this reverse evidently refers to the Circensian Games, which were 
originally instituted in honour of Neptune. Eckliel considers it to be one of the 
rarest coins of this emperor. He seems only to have known of three specimens. 
A fourth is in the cabinet of my friend C. R. Smith; it was dug up opposite to 
his house in Lothbury ; and the present is the fifth, but where it was found I 
never could learn. Yet, strange to say, not one of the five possesses the reverse 
legend legibly perfect, so that whether the words are neptvno . circenses . con- 



NEEVA. 241 

STiTViT . or RESTiTViT . ov RESTiTVTi . Or coNSTiTVTi . or RESTiTVTORi . is a dis- 
putable point, until some truly perfect specimen is discovered. 

Some reverses at sea occasioned the exclusion of Neptune from among tlie 
Dii Majores by Augustus; possibly Nerva restored the honours vphich weve 
formerly accustomed to be paid to Neptune, and restitvti vs^ould then be the 
as yet undiscovered word. The figure at the feet of Neptune represents the 
river Tiber, near to which the Circensian Games were exhibited. 

There is no coin of Nerva of this type in the British Museum ; for, except the 
instances I have given, I believe it to be as yet inedited and unknown, and it is 
a curious circumstance that all the specimens I have referred to are Second Brass 
coins like the present. 

In addition to the preceding note, I may add the following extract from 
Eckhel, vi. 406, respecting a coin of Nerva of this type, which he had never seen, 
but found it in an English publication : — 

" IMP . NERVA. . CAES . AVG . p . M . TR . p . COS . Ill . p . P. Caput laureatum. 
It. NEPTVNO . circens . coNSTiTVT . S . C . Neptunus nudus stans d . demissa . s . 
tridentem, pro pedibus ancora. JE. ii. 

" Nummum hunc a Rev''" Ashby, Anglo, editum, reperio in opere quod Archceo- 
logia, published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, inscribitur, ubi exstat 
volumine iii. p. 165. Auctor eum integerrimum, tectum viridi patina, repertumque 
ante annos non multos in horto prope Colcestriam adserit. Explicandse epigraphes 
tres modos proponit, legendo, vel neptvno . circens^s . constitvt* . vel neptvno . 

CIRCEKSi . COjSrSTITVT« . Scilicet Statua, vel neptvno . CIRCENSmW . CONSTITVTOri . 

onmesque varies hos modos exemplis ex vetere moneta petitis stabilere satagit. 
Praeterea jure unicum vocat, neque ex quocunque alio musseo, vel catalogo cogni- 
tum. Obtulit is dissertationem suam eruditse Societati mense Maio anni 1772. 
Verum en tibi similis argumenti nummum alium et hunc quoque unicum, quern 
singulari dissertatione academise Cortonensi dedicata illustravit Philippus Bec- 
chettus, Ord. Prsed. Eccum ! 

" IMP. NERVA. CAES. AVG. p.m. TR. p. COS. iiii. Caput laureatum. |l. neptvno. 
oiRCENSES . restitvt . S . C . Neptunus nudus stans d. flagellum s. hastse innixus, 
hutni genius Tiberis jacens. M. ii." 

See a further notice of coins of Nerva with this reverse, published long after 
these notes were written, in the Numismatic Chronicle, vol. vii. ; Proceedings of 
the Numismatic Society, p. 22. 

A Second Brass coin of pale green, in good condition. Weight 156f 

2i 



242 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

487. 

IMP . NERVA . CAES . AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . P . II. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

R. IMP . II . cos . nil .P.P. In the field S. C. Portuna standing to the left, with 
a rudder in her right hand, a fuU cornucopise on her left arm. 

This coin was struck in a.d. 98, and commemorates the fortune of the emperor 
in having, by means of his general, Ulpius Trajanus, gained considerable successes 
in Pannonia, which occurred a.d. 97, and for which Nerva was saluted Imperator 
the second time, and was also decreed the title of Germanicus ; both of which 
circumstances we see recorded on this coin. It was struck in the last year of the 
reign of Nerva, and Large Brass coins with these inscriptions and of this year's 
mintage are rare. Such coins, however, as have the trie . pot . in . are much 
more rare. 

It has been a question whether it is correct to count the years of an emperor's 
reign by the tribunician dates ; but on comparison of times I have generally found 
it correct. In the case of the present emperor it is doubted by some whether the 
TR . POT . Ill . is a correct date, but the proof would, I think, be as foUows : — 

Domitian was killed, according to some authors, in September, others say 
October, year of Ptome 849 ; and Nerva, immediately after that event, succeeded 
Domitian. Now, to reckon as the Romans did, from September or October 849 to 
31 December 849, would be trie . pot . i. January 1st 860, to 31 December 850 
would be TRIE . POT . ii . and, having commenced January 851, he would commence 
TRIE . POT . Ill . and, although dying in January 851, or as some say February 851, 
would bring three annual dates in little more than sixteen months, and trie . 
POT . Ill . would be quite correct. 

An instance of dating coins somewhat analogous to the present notice may be 
seen in the coinage of our own sovereigns, William the Pourth and Queen Victoria. 
William died in June, 1837, and coins were struck with his efiigies in 1837 ; and 
coins were struck also to Queen Victoria in 1837, yet neither of them reigned the 
whole of the year 1837. 

There are coins of Nerva quoted, in gold, and brass also, tr . pot . in . in Occo, 
though not in Eckhel. 

A very good brown coin from the Devonshire cabinet. Weight 346i grains. 









TRAJAN 


• 














TEAJAN. 




)unician 


dates of the reign of Trajan are as follow : — 




Anno Domini- 









98. 


February to 31st December . . . Trib. Pot. 


1 


99. 


1st 


January 


to 31st December 




ditto 


2 


100. 




Ditto 


ditto 




ditto 


3 


101. 




Ditto 


ditto 




ditto 


4 


102. 




Ditto 


ditto 






ditto 


5 


103. 




Ditto 


ditto 






ditto 


6 


104. 




Ditto 


ditto 






ditto 


7 


105. 




Ditto 


ditto 






ditto 


8 


106. 




Ditto 


ditto 






ditto 


9 


107. 




Ditto 


ditto 






ditto 


10 


108. 




Ditto 


ditto 






ditto 


11 


109. 




Ditto 


ditto 






ditto 


12 


110. 




Ditto 


ditto 






ditto 


13 


111. 




Ditto 


ditto 






ditto 


14 


112. 




Ditto 


ditto 






ditto 


15 


113. 




Ditto 


ditto 






ditto 


16 


114. 




Ditto 


ditto 






ditto 


17 


115. 




Ditto 


ditto 






ditto 


18 


116. 




Ditto 


ditto 






ditto 


19 


117. 




Ditto 


to August, tunc 


biit. 




. 


20 



243 



Marcus Ulpius Trajanus Crinittjs, a Spaniard by birth and extraction, was 
bom at Italica (Italica Hispanise), in Bgetica, in the year of Rome 806, a.d. 51. 
His father had the command of troops in the East at the same time as Vespasian, 
who became emperor. Trajan was the governor of Lower Germany under 
Domitian, and afterwards under Nerva, by whom he was subsequently adopted, 
A.D. 97, and associated with him in the empire. On the death of Nerva, which 
took place in January (or February "ut alii numerant ") of the following year, 
A.D. 98, he assumed the government with the title of Augustus, and continued to 
reign until A.D. 117, when he died of paralysis at Selinus, in Cilicia. 

There is a tine anecdote related of Trajan on his accession to the empire. He 
said to the commander of the prsetorian guard on delivering to him his sword, 
which was the usual mode of conferring the rank and appointment, " Hoc pro 
me si juste imperavero, si perperam contra me utere." 

Shakespere would seem to have used this anecdote in the delivery of the 

2i2 



244 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

sword of justice by Henry the Fifth on his accession, to the Lord Chief Justice 
Gascoigne, who is said to have committed him to prison on one occasion for his 
youthful misconduct during his father's life : 

That you use the same 



With the like bold, just, and impartial spirit 
As you have done 'gainst me. 

With some few exceptions the coins of Trajan are not rare or of great value. A 
very interesting series may be collected together ; but it is their state of 
preservation that forms their real value. They are found in gold, silver, and 
brass. 

488. 

IMP . KERVA . CAES . TRAiANi . AVG . GERM .P.M. The laureate head of Trajan 
to the right. 

Jo. TR . POT . cos . II. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left, veiled 
and in full robes ; at her feet is an altar with fire burning ; her right hand is 
raised as if in supplication, her left hand supports her robes. 

This is a type of JPietas, and is appropriate to the first mintage of Trajan's coins, 
imploring a blessing on the newly created emperor. The first consulate of Trajan 
was in a.d. 91, temp. Domitiani; the present coin is of the date a.d. 98, imme- 
diately on the death of Nerva, for there is no number to the tribunicia potestas ; 
it therefore takes place as first in the series, although only in Second Brass. 

A good light green coin. Weight 1721 grains. 

489. 

IMP . CAES . NERVA . TRAiAN . AVG . GERM . p . M . TR . P. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

Jo. cos . II . p. p . CONG .PR. In the exergum S. 0. The emperor, or his 
deputy, seated to the left on a curule chair placed on a high tribunal ; another 
person is seated in front on a lower tribunal, making a donation to a third 
person who is standing before him, whilst a fourth is ascending the steps. 

The coins of Trajan hitherto known only record three congiaries bestowed on 
the people of Eome. The present coin is pr, which is ambiguous, and may be 
read THimmn or Vopulo Tlomano ; but I incline to the opinion that the PR. 
refers to the word 'P'Rimtim, because the coins recording the second and third 
donations are marked secvndvm and tertivm respectively at length ; and Eckhel, 



TRAJAN. 245 



vi. 413, says the letters mean PRimum, because there is no dot between the 
p and R as in Populo Romano. 

At the time of Nerva's death Trajan was in Germany, but he only continued 
there part of the year following his accession, and Pliny in his Panegyric, cap. 25, 
sec. 6, speaking of Trajan's liberality, says that " a congiary was given to the 
people and a donative to the soldiers when Trajan first arrived ia Rome ;" which 
circumstance, in the absence of a tribunician date, would clearly indicate this 
PR to be the first congiary, and in the year 98. Although he was in Germany 
during his first year, yet the donation might have been made in his absence by 
his legate or deputy for the occasion. 

A good dark green coin. Weight 369f grains. 



490. 

The legend obliterated. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9>- PROPECTio . AVG . in the exergum, and S. C. under. 

The emperor on horseback, bareheaded, trotting to the right with a spear in 
his right hand, the point forwards. He is preceded by an armed warrior march- 
ing with his spear in his right hand, and his shield on his left arm. Three other 
armed soldiers follow the emperor. 

The present coin is much corroded on the obverse. I have never seen but 
this one at sale, for it is a coin of great rarity. In Argelati in Trajano, a.d. 100, 
it is noted in the Gold and the Brass series, but with this difference, the Brass 
has the legend profectio . avg . germaniae. Vaillant speaks of this type, " Hie 
nummus primse formse inter elegantiores -reponendus ;" and in the Gold series 
he describes the expedition recorded as referring to the Parthian war, because 
the word optimtjs on the obverse legend of the coin he quotes was not used 
until after the reduction of Armenia, and he designates the coin " ex rarissimis 
habendus ;" but Argelati quotes two coins with optimo in the reverse legend in 
a.d. 101. Thus Vaillant is wrong in ascribing this coin to the expedition to 
Parthia, for that did not take place until several years after the Dacian war ; but 
from legends on coins described by Argelati, which are more perfect than on the 
present, there is no doubt that this coin was struck on the expedition against 
Dacia, and the date, a.d. 100, given to it by Argelati is correct. 

A coin of this type is in the British Musuem, but in very poor condition. 



246 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

491. 

IMP . CAES . NERVA . TRAiAN . Ava .GERM.p.M . TR.p. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

9). TR. POT. COS. Ill . p.p. Ill the exergum S. C. A robed female wearing 
a coronet or frontal crown, seated to the left on a throne, her feet crossed resting 
on a foot-stool ; her right hand extended holds an olive-branch ; her left hand 
bears a hasta pura. 

A coin of the mintage of a.d. 100. 

YeUow green in colour, and very fine condition. Weight 379-1- grains. 

492. 

IMP . CAES . NERVA . TRAIAN . AVG . GERM .P.M. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

^c. TR . p . cos . Ill . p . p. In the field S. C. A soldier fully armed standing 
to the right ; his left hand rests on his shield ; in the right hand he holds his 
spear. 

A coin of the year a.d. 100. In this year Trajan undertook an expedition 
against Decebalus, to abolish the infamy which attached to the Homan name 
occasioned by the tribute which Domitian had been accustomed to pay to 
Decebalus, under the disguise and pretence of his being a stipendiary ally of the 
Ptoman empire. 

A very good dark green coin. 

493. 

IMP . CAES . NERVA . TRAIAN . AVG . GERM .P.M. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

^. TR . POT . cos . nil. P- p. In the exergum S. C. A robed female seated 
to the left, on a square seat ; at her right side is a decorated altar on which a 
fire is burning ; in her right hand she holds a patera, from which she is pouring 
a libation on the fire ; on her left arm she bears a fuU cornucopise. 

A fine brown coin from Mr. Cureton. Weight 385.J- grains. 

494. 

IMP . CAES. NERVA . TRAIAN . AVG . GERM . p. M. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

9=. TR . POT . COS . nil .p.p. In the exergum S. C. A female seated on a 



TRAJAN. 247 

throne to the left, having an olive-branch in her right hand ; her left arm rests 
on the arm of her chair or throne. 

A very fine earthy green coin, from the Ramsay cabinet. "Weight 431|- grains. 

495. 

IMP . CAES . NERVA . TRAiAN . AVG . GERM .P.M. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

9>- TR. POT . COS. nil . p. p. In the field S. C. A winged Victory standing 
full front naked to the waist, her head turned to the left ; her right hand raised 
holds a wreath ; in the left she bears a palm-branch. 
A good black Second Brass coin. 

496. 

IMP . CAES . NERVA . TRAIAN . AVG . GERM .P.M. The head of the emperor to 
the right, with radiate crown. 

^. TR . POT . cos . nil . p. P. On the exergum S. 0. A female seated to the 
left on a seat, formed of two cornucopise ; her right hand holds a hasta pura, her 
left elbow rests on the top of one of the cornucopise. 
A good brown Second Brass coin. 

497. 

IMP . CAES . NERVA . TRAIAN . AVG . GERM . TR . p . VI. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

Jl. IMP . iiii . cos . mi . DES . V . p . p. In the exergum S. C. A female seated 
on a throne to the left ; her right hand extended holds an olive-branch ; the left 
bears a hasta pura, her left foot resting on a stool. 

This coin was struck a.d. 103. The Dacian war was ended in the course of 
this year by the taking of the capital of Dacia, called by Eckhel, vi. 414, 
SarmizegetJmsa, whereupon Decebalus became a suppliant to Trajan and obtained 
a peace. For these exploits the emperor was saluted with the title of Dacicus, 
and decreed a triumph, which was duly celebrated with much ceremony. The 
olive-branch held by the female is therefore an emblem of the peace. 

Dacia comprised the countries which are known in modern times as Transyl- 
vania, Wallachia, and Moldavia. The former of these is at present under the 
dominion of Austria. Wallachia and Moldavia are termed principalities, and are 
under the control of Turkey. 

Some of the fortifications raised by Trajan are still to be found in the part 
called the Dobrudscha, and are called Trajan's Wall, and were of some use during 



248 RECORDS or ROMAN HISTORY. 

tlie recent war Avitli Russia ; and witliin the last three years an ancient Roman 
canal has been discovered leading from the lower part of the River Danube, which 
flows by Trajan's Wall into the Euxine Sea, and a company is now forming to 
cleanse and re-establish this canal, so as to allow merchant vessels to pass into the 
Danube by a shorter cut than by Sulina, and what are called the mouths of the 
Danube. Trajan's Wall, and the track of the canal, I have also seen delineated 
on a very old Dutch map of Turkey, &c., and of which a small map is published 
by a railway company intending to run a line parallel with the canal. The opening 
of these works on the Black Sea or Euxine is at a place called Kostendjie. 

A good dark green coin from the Devonshire cabinet. Weight 3585^ grains. 

498. 

IMP . CAES . NERYAE . TUAIANO . AVG . &ER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of Trajan to the right. 

9>- s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the field S. C. Spes gradient to the left, 
holding up her dress with her left hand ; in her right hand she has the lotus 
flower. 

This type seems to express the joy of the Roman people at the prosperity 
likely to ensue under the reign of Trajan, and the device is aptly joined with the 
title of OPTiMvs bestowed on the emperor. 

The coins of Trajan up to the fifth consulate are without this title of optimvs, 
which would prove that, although Trajan was greatly applauded by the Senate 
and citizens when he returned to Rome, and was then called optimvs, yet it was 
not until some time afterwards that the word was used on the coins. 

The present coin is of the mintage a.d. 104 ; and it is to be observed that all 
the following coins referring to the final overthrow of Decebalus and the conquest 
of Dacia are of the fifth consulate of a.d. 104 ; but there is not much doubt 
that the pride of the Romans was so elevated by these events that the types were 
continually renewed for several years in succession, still bearing the date cos . v. 
as they had been originally struck, and to record the time when the overthrow 
of Decebalus took place. The title dacicvs now appears on the coins in further 
record of the Dacian victory. 

A good brown coin. Weight 422.1 grains. 

499. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GBR . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 



TRAJAN. 249 

p,. s . P. Q . E . OPTIMO . PEiNCiPi. In the exergum S. C. A river-god to tlie left, 
pressing with his right knee and right hand against a female who wears a Dacian 
cap and long trousers to the ancle, and is falling backward on the ground ; in his 
left hand he holds a sedge or reed, and a robe floats around him at the back. 

This type is considered to represent the passing of the river Danube by 
Trajan and his armies on his route for another campaign in Dacia. 

Trajan built a stupendous bridge of hewn stone over the river Danube in the 
course of the summer, to enable him to pass into the country of Decebalus, who 
we have seen had shortly before been obliged to acknowledge himself vanquished, 
and sue for peace ; but on Trajan and his armies retiring from the country he 
had rebelled, and refused to fulfil the conditions of the peace, and iU-used 
Longinus, the ambassador deputed to him by the Senate. For this conduct 
Decebalus was declared by the Senate to be an enemy of the state, and Trajan 
again marched his army into the country to take revenge upon him. 

A very fine light brown coin, from the Devonshire cabinet. Weight 380 
grains. 

500. 

IMP - TRAiANO . AVG . GEB . DAC . p.M . TE . P. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right. 

|o. cos . V. p . p . s. P. Q.R . OPTIMO . PEiNCiPi. In the exergum DANvvivs. The 
river-god reclining to the left ; his right hand resting on a boat ; the left appears 
supported by an urn, from which water is flowing ; his robe is floating around 
his head, forming an arch. 

This type has reference to the preceding coin, as representing the river Danube 
yielding to the pressure of the emperor. 

A fine denarius, from the cabinet of Mr. George Gwilt. 

501. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9). s.p.Q.R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the exergum S. 0. A bridge or an arch of 
a bridge, generally appropriated to the bridge said to have been constructed by 
the order of Trajan for the purpose of crossing the river Danube ; but, on examin- 
ing various coins of this type in various cabinets as well as my own, and on confer- 
ring with my friend Professor Donaldson, the architect, I have decided on adopting 
his view of the question in his own words, viz. : " This and the arched bridge on the 
coin of Sept. Severus are two most valuable illustrations of the wooden bridges of 

2k 



250 KECOBDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

the ancieDt Eomans. There is a conventional indication of running water, upon 
which there appears to be a small boat attached to the bridge by a rope [the boat I 
consider was for the use of the soldiers on guard at the guard-room of the bridge]. 
To the left is a species of arched entrance to the bridge, surmounted by an entabla- 
ture ; and above there is a figure of a warrior, with a spear between two trophies ; 
on the opposite side of the bridge are indications of a like group at top. Steps 
seem to lead up to the archway ; and probably there was a guard-room at either 
end to defend the approaches, as indicated by the blank space next the entrance 
on the left. The bridge itself consists of a one-spanned arch, with apparently 
three tiers of curved ribs and upright storey posts, securely framed together, 
the storey posts of both sides of the bridge being seemingly intended to be 
indicated. The ends of the transverse beams of the roof (for it is evidently a 
vaulted covered bridge) are distinctly shown. To the right the under part of 
the bridge is in perspective, and exposes to view the transverse ribs, to form 
the floor or gangway, and diagonal wind-braces to tie in securely the whole 
framing. 

"It is obvious that wooden bridges were of frequent occurrence with the 
Romans, and doubtless there were many in the campagna of Rome thrown across 
the Tiber, which above the city narrows to a moderate width, and might be 
spanned easily by a single arch. From a passage in Plutarch's life of Numa we 
are led to conclude there was only one wooden bridge in Home, pi'obably that 
which Iloratius Codes defended against the Hetruscans, while the Romans were 
cutting it away behind him in order to prevent the enemy entering the city 

by it." 

After mentioning the tradition, which he condemns as ridiculous — that the 
term pontifex for the high priest was derived from pons, from their offering 
sacrifices on the bridge — Professor Donaldson adds, "their priests too are said 
to have been commissioned to keep the bridges in repair, as one of the most 
indispensable parts of their holy office, for the Romans considered it as an 
execrable impiety to demolish the wooden bridge which we are told was built 
without iron, and put together with pins of wood only, by the direction of some 
oracle. The stone bridge was built many years after when vEmilius was quaestor. 
Some, however, inform us that the wooden bridge was not constructed in the 
time of Numa, having the last hand put to it by Ancus Marcius, who was grand- 
son of Numa by his daughter. Pliny, lib. xxxvi. cap. xv. describing the altar of 
Proserpine at Cyzicum, noticvis a building at Oyzicum built of wood, the timbers 
of which were put together without iron fastenings, so that the beams appear 



TRAJAN. 251 

without joinings {sine suturis) ; which, he adds, is also scrupulously observed 
in the Pons Sublicius, when it was restored after being defended by Horatius 
Codes. 

It is not impossible that the present reverse may be intended to represent the 
Pons Sublicius, so called because it rested on posts and beams, and which united 
the Janiculum to the Mons Aventinus at Rome. 

The earliest complete description we have of a wooden bridge is that in the 
commentaries of Caesar, lib. vi. c. 17, who threw one over the Rhine; in that case 
it consisted of piles driven into the river, and beams to form the roadway, over 
which the army had to pass. An able illustration of this was made by PaUadio, 
and is also given by Rondolet, Art de B^ir, and by Canino in his Architettura 
E.omana. 

The next example is that of Trajan's bridge over the Danube, the piers of 
which were in stone, and the superstructure of wood with arches, and which was 
considered by Dion. Cassius the finest of all the works of that emperor. The 
architect was ApoUodorus of Damascus, who was subsequently put to death by 
Hadrian for some expression he used which gave offence to that emperor ; there 
were twenty solid stone piers, each one 120 feet high above the foundations, and 
60 feet wide, they were 170 feet apart. His successor, Hadrian, fearing that the 
bridge might equally serve the purpose of the enemy, and afford the barbarians 
the facility of invading the Roman territory, had the upper parts destroyed, so 
that the piers alone remained in the time of Dion. 

A valuable illustration of this stupendous work exists on the Trajan column, 
and may therefore be considered as an authentic record of its construction. This 
is shewn in the seventy-ninth plate of Bartoli's work, descriptive of the Trajan 
column ; the piers are marked with their courses of stone that serve as abutments 
to the wooden arches ; above is a framework ; on these piers is a horizontal plate 
which supports the transverse beams of the gangway ; the open parapets on both 
sides are shewn, framed with cross braces. As there were nineteen arches, it must 
have been above a mile in length." 

502. 

IMP . CABS . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

Jl.. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the exergum S. C. 

Another specimen of the bridge, showing in perspective the transverse ribs 
and under part intended for the support of the flooring or roadway of the bridge. 
Both of these bridge coins are in fine condition. 

2k 2 



252 



RECORDS OF BOMAN HISTORY. 



503. 

IMP . CABS . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS , V . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right, bust in armour, with military cloak over. 

9>- s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the exergum S. C. The emperor, bare- 
headed, on horseback at full speed to the right, darting a javelin at a person who 
has fallen on one knee in front of the horse, with his hands raised in attitude of 
supplication. 

A fine dark green coin from the cabinet of Mr. Thomas. Weight 393-|- grains. 

This type represents the Victory gained over Decebalus by Trajan on his 
second visit to Dacia, after building the bridge over the Danube to facilitate the 
operations and advance of his armies. 

In this campaign Decebalus was completely overthrown, his kingdom and his 
life being taken, and his head sent to E-ome as a trophy of conquest. His trea- 
sures had been buried in the bed of the river Sargetia, now called Jotrigu, the 
stream of which had been for a time diverted to admit of the necessary excavations 
for concealment being made ; but that work was subsequently disclosed to Trajan, 
who again turned the course of the river and recovered the hidden treasures. 



504. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC .P.M. TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of Trajan to the left, the whole bust full front and in armour. 

9>. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the exergum S. C. The emperor armed 
on horseback at full speed to the right, throwing a javelin at a person bending in 
front of the horse with hands uplifted, as on the preceding coin. 

Coins of Trajan with the head to the left, and especially with the bixst full 
front and in armour, are very rarely to be met with. 



A fine dark green coin from the Devonshire cabinet. 



Weight 3954 grains. 



505. 




IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER , 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 



DAC . P.M.TR.P. cos .V .P.P. 



The 



TRAJAN. 253 

|o. s . p . Q . E, . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the esergum S. C. The emperor bare- 
headed in full armour on horseback at full speed to the right ; his horse is richly 
caparisoned, and he is casting a javelin at a person who is under the horse sup- 
porting himself on his left hand and left knee. 

The condition of this coin is so extremely perfect as to show every minute 
article of dress as well on the emperor and his horse as on the person who is 
prostrate under the horse, and is attired in a close-fitting tunic with a band round 
the waist and a cloak pendent from the shoulders, long trousers on the legs, and 
a round pointed cap or mitre on his head. 

As the type records the victories gained over Decebalus, it is no great stretch 
of the imagination to presume that the prostrate figure under the horse is 
intended to represent that monarch cast down by the powers of Trajan. 

This is a remarkably fine black brown coin from the Brice cabinet. Weight 
408 § grains. 

506. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

s . P . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the exergum S. 0. A winged Victory in 
full flowing robes standing to the left, with a palm-branch in her left hand 
decorating a trophy before her consisting of coat armour, helmet, and shields, 
fixed on the trunk of a tree, at the foot of which are two shields of different 
shapes, and a spear with two falchions or curved swords. 

A very fine black coin from the Gwilt cabinet. 

507. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAB . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TE . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

Jc. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the exergum S. C. A winged Victory 
decorating a trophy as on the preceding coin, but the arms suspended are rather 
different, and there are no swords or spear at the foot of the tree, only two 
ornamented shields, each of different form. 

A very fine black coin from the Percival cabinet. Weight 402^ grains. 

508. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P. M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

T^. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the field S. C. A winged Victory naked 



254 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

to below the waist, standing to tlie right ; lier left foot rests on a helmet 
placed at the foot of the trunk of a tree, on which a shield is resting supported 
by her left hand, whilst mth her right hand she has inscribed on the shield 

VIC . DAC. 

A very good brown coin. Weight 3941 grains. 

509. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P.M . TR . P . COS . V . P.P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

|c. s.p.Q.R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the exergum S. C. A trophy of arms on 
the right consisting of body armour, helmet, and shields, fixed on a trunk of a tree, 
and at the foot on the ground are decorated shields of various forms, with spears 
and swords ; in front of the trophy, and looking to the left, is a female wearing a 
peaked-round cap and seated on a pile of arms of different sorts, with her head 
resting on her right hand in the attitude of grief. 

A very fine dark green coin from the Devonshire cabinet. Weight 390^ 
grains. 

510. 

IMP. CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO .AVG. GER .DAC . P.M . TR .P .COS . V . P.P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

Jo. s.p.Q.R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the exergum S. C. A trophy of arms on 
the right, with a female seated in front as on the preceding coin, only there are 
arms and decorated shields different to the other. 

A fine yellow brown coin. 

511. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

radiate head of tlie emperor to the right. 

9>. s.p.Q.R. OPTIMO. PRINCIPI. In the field S. C. A fine trophy of Dacian 
arms, consisting of coat armour with helmet above, a circular shield and spear on 
the left hand, an oblong shield and spear on the right ; two smaller shields on 
the ground. 

A fine black Second Brass coin. 

512. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

radiate head of the emperor to the right, the bust in armour and draped. 

9-. s.p.Q.R. OPTIMO .PRINCIPI. In the field S. C. A trophy of arms composed 



TRAJAN. 255 

of Dacian shields, spears, a standard like a Roman vexillum, and other arms ; the 
front shield has a peculiar decoration. 

The display of the arms of the vanquished o:|;i these different trophies are inter- 
esting, for they make known to us the variety of arms and armour used by the 
Dacians and their allies, all of whom the Romans were accustomed to call 
barbarians. 

A good black Second Brass coin. 

513. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the i*ight. 

Jo. s.p.Q.R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the exergum da . cap. A pile of arms of 
different sorts, on which a person entirely naked is kneeling to the right with his 
hands bound behind him as a captive ; on his head is a round cap. 

This and the next coin also refer to the capture of Dacia. 

Another good black Second Brass coin from the collection of M. Bollin, of 
Paris. 

514. 

IMP . TRAIANO . AVG. GER . DAC . p.M . TR.P. The laureate head of the em- 
peror to the right. 

9>. cos .v.P-P.s.p.q.r: optimo . principi. In the exergum dac . cap. A 
Dacian captive, with his hands bound behind him, seated to the left on a pile of 
arms. In front of the pile are several ornamented shields, behind which are 
several spears and two falchions. The man is in Dacian dress, long trou.sers 
fastened at the ankle, and a loose sort of shirt, and a peaked cap on his head. 

Arms of the vanquished were usually burned on the battle-field as an offering 
to Mars ; but I find no record of any captive soldier having been offered upon 
the pile as a victim in sacrifice to the god of blood and slaughter. It can, 
therefore, only be viewed as representing the very complete destruction made 
by the emperor, and not the sacrifice of any human being. 

A fine denarius from the cabinet of Mr. Gwilt. 

515. 

imp . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

radiate head of the emperor to the right. 

Jo. s.p.Q.R. OPTIMO . principi. In the exergum S. C. Peace standing to 
the left with a fuU cornucopige on her left arm ; in her right hand she holds a 



256 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

torch, with which she is setting fire to a pile of arms on tlie ground before 
her. 

This type refers to the conclusion of the Dacian campaign, and the cessation 
of the war upon the death of Decebalus ; thus aptly illustrating the motto on 
the coins of Cromwell, " Pax queritur hello." 

A good unpatinated Second Brass coin. Weight 2084 grains. 

516. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P.M . TR . P . COS . V . P.P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9.. s. p. Q.R.OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the exergum. S. C. Roma armed, seated to 
the left on a cuirass, with ornamented shields and various arms around her. 
Her clothes do not quite reach her knees. Her right hand extended holds a little 
winged Victoiy, who presents her with a wreath ; her left hand holds her spear 
erect ; her right foot is resting on a helmet lying on the ground, and her left foot 
is placed on a human head wearing a round cap. 

This device representing E-oma treading on a human head is intended to 
signify the complete subjugation and conquest of Dacia. Decebalus, the king, 
being slain in the last battle, his head was taken off and sent to Rome as a 
trophy and token of the victory and conquest. It is an appropriate device, 
therefore, that the engraver should represent Roma treading on the head of her 
vanquished foe. 

It is very rai'e to find this type in so perfect a state as to show the bearded 
head with a cap, for generally the head here so clearly shown is so rubbed 
down as to render it impossible to distinguish whether it be a globe, a 
head, or a helmet. The only specimen I ever saw in similar perfection was in 
the cabinet of M. Herpin, Paris. 

A remarkably fine light brown coin, weight 424§ grains, from the Devonshire 
cabinet. 

517. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9>. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the field S. C. A female standing to 
the left ; her right hand extended holding an olive-branch ; on her left arm she 
bears a cornucopise filled with fruits ; at her feet is a human head and bust in 
profile, and wearing a cap ; her right foot is pressing on its shoulders. 

This type is considered by some as Peace pressing her foot on the head of 



TRAJAN. 257 

Tellus, as if to signify that Peace caused the earth to give out its abundance. 
That is true one way ; but for that purpose the head was not necessary. I con- 
sider it a type of peace being gained by the defeat and death of Decebalus, and 
the resumption of agricultural employments, producing abundance as their 
natural results. 

A fine water-gold-coloured coin, from the Ramsay Cabinet. 

518. 

IMP . CAES . NEEVAE . TRAIANO , AVG . GER . DAC . P .M . TR . P . COS . V . P .P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

|o. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO , PRiNCiPi. In the exergum S. 0. The emperor 
standing in a chariot decorated with Victories and trophies, and drawn by four 
horses at a gentle pace to the left ; in his right hand he holds out an olive branch ; 
in the left hand he bears a sceptre surmounted by an eagle ; the reins of the 
horses are fixed in front of the chariot. 

A coin commemorating the second triumph, which was decreed to Trajan for 
his victorious campaign and conquest of Dacia. This triumph was celebrated in 
A.D. 107. 

A very fine dark green coin, from the Devonshire Cabinet. Weight 408-1- 
grains. 

519. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIAN6 . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of Trajan to the right. 

9). s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the exergum S. C. The emperor bare- 
headed and in military costume standing to the left, his right hand holding a 
fulmen ; in the left a spear, rather behind ; at his left side is a winged Victory, 
bearing a palm-branch in her left hand ; with her right hand she is placing a 
wreath on the head of the emperor. 

Another type referring to the Dacian victories. 

A very fine brown coin. Weight 37l| grains. 

520. 

IMP - CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

|fc. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the exergum S. C. The emperor 
standing to the left, bareheaded and in military costume, his cloak pendent 

2l 



258 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

from his shoulders ; in his left hand he holds a sjDear ; the right hand is placed 
on his right knee, and his right foot rests on a human head which is upon the 
ground. 

Also a type referring to the conquest of Dacia. 

A good sound coin without patina. Weight 362| grains, 

521. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GBR . DAC . P .M . TR . P . COS . V . P.P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right, 

|o, s.p.Q.R .OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the field S. C. Eoma armed standing to 
the left, her spear in the left hand ; her right hand extended holds a Victoriola 
bearing a palm-branch in its left hand, and with the right presenting a wreath. 
At the feet of Homa is a person in Dacian dress, kneeling on the right knee with 
hands uplifted as if supplicating for mercy. 

A very good bronze coin. Weight 402|- grains. 

522. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO , AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P , P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

^. s.p.Q.R. OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the field S. C, Roma armed, standing 
to the left, as on the preceding coin, but the suppliant at her feet is a female, 
whose hair is tied behind the head in a Grecian knot. 

A very good light brown coin. Weight 391 grains. 

523. 

IMP . CABS . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GBR . DAC . P.M . TR . P . COS . V . P, P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

|c. s.p.Q.R. OPTIMO , PRINCIPI. In the exergum S. C. A female naked 
below the waist seated on a throne to the left ; her right hand extends an olive- 
branch towards a Dacian kneeHng before her with his hands raised in suppliant 
attitude. 

These coins all refer to Dacia, which was the grand event and subject of record 
with the mint -masters at this period of the reign of Trajan. These three coins 
are not very frequent, especially in so fine a state, 

A fine bronze coin from the Gwilt Cabinet. 



TKAJAN. 259 

524. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAiANO . AVG . GERM . DAC .P.M. The laureate head of 
the emperor to the right. 

9) TR . p . VII . IMP . nil . cos . V . p.p. In the exergum S. C. Eoma armed, 
seated on a cuirass to the right, her spear in the left hand, her left foot resting on 
a helmet lying on the ground ; her right hand is extended to receive a small 
Victory presented to her hy the emperor who stands before her in senatorial 
costume. 

The TR . POT . VII . gives the date of this coin in A d. 104i, to commemorate the 
return of the emperor to Rome from his successful campaign in Dacia, signified 
by his presenting Roma with the Victoriola, and being himself clothed in the 
garments of peace. 

Claudian gives the character of Trajan as follows : 

Victura feretur 



Gloria Trajani ; non tarn quod Tigride victo, 
Nostra triumphati fuerint provincia Parthi, 
Alta quod invectus stratis oapitolia Daois : 
Quam patria3 quod mitis erat 

A dark green coin, in fine condition ; from the GwUt Cabinet. 

525. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P.M . TR . P The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

^. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi . In the exergum S. C. A narrow-looking 
temple with eight columns in front ; a statue is standing between the two centre 
columns. The pediment triangular, and decorated with several statues, also 
statuary in the tympanum, and the friezes are ornamented likewise. 

A nice pale green coin. Weight 312| grains. 

526. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P.M . T . TR . P . V . P.P. The 

head of Trajan to the right, with radiate crown. 

|o. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRINCIPI . In the exergum S. C. A temple of eight 
columns, very beautifully delineated. 

A remarkably fine pale green coin in Second Brass. 

2l2 



260 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

527. 

IMP . CABS . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVa . GER . DAO . P . M . TR . P , COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9>. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi . s . c . inscribed in four lines within a broad 
wreath of oak-leaves and acorns. 

A coin incident upon the Dacian victories. 

A very iine coin in red Cyprian copper. Weight 4004- grains. 

528. 

IMP . CAES . NERVA . TRAiAN . AVG . GERM . DACicvs .P.M. The laureate head 
of the emperor to the right. 

9= coNGiAR . . . SECVND . In the exergum S. C. The emperor, or his 

legate, robed, seated on a curule chair to the left, placed on a high suggestum ; 
at his right hand is a tripod brasier as if to burn perfume. In front of the legate 
is another suggestum, rather lower than that on which he is seated. On this is a 
small square seat, with a person seated employed writing at a small table before 
him. A person is standing at the right side of the legate, holding up a fru- 
mentarian tablet. A citizen is ascending the steps, in front of the person who is 
writing, with his robe extended, as to receive the donation. Argelati, Clinton, 
and Eckhel put the date of this congiary a.d. 104. Vaillant says of this type, 
" Hie nummus primse formse pro raro recensetur." 

A black coin, from the Devonshire Cabinet, but not in very good preservation. 
"Weight 402| grains. 

529. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P .M. TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right, the bust in armour, with a military 
cloak. 

5c. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the exergum S. C. A triumphal arch 
with outer wings and very much decorated with sculptures ; over the arch is a 
triangular pediment filled with sculptures, and above that a square plinth bearing 
in front the letters i.o.m. (iovi . optimo . maximo.), and surmounted by a 
chariot with six horses ; trophies and Victories at the sides, and captives at the 
foot of the trophies ; sculptures are also in different compartments all down the 
front of the outer wings, the last compartment on each side appearing to have a 
wolf and twins in it. 

This is considered to be a representation of the arch of Trajan, which, in com- 
memoration of his victories, was erected at Home near to the amphitheatre, and 



TRAJAN. 261 

of wliich there are some remains still existing. Admiral Smyth, No. 128 of his 
cabinet, looks upon this arch as " probably forming the vestibulum or porch of 
the Capitol mentioned in the Panegyric," but I do not find any reference of this 
sort in the Panegyric : chapter ix. of that work refers to a triumph, but not in 
such terms as to designate any arch. 

This coin is not, I believe, mentioned by Eckhel in his work, vol. vi., which is 
rather singular. 

It is in remarkably fine preservation, of a dark or black brown colour, from 
the cabinet of the Earl of Pembroke. Weight 404-1- grains. 

530. 

IMP . CAES . NEBVA . TRAiANO . AVG . GEE, . DAC The laureate head 

of the emperor to the right. 

^. s . p . Q . B . OPTIMO . PBiNCiPi. In the field S. C. A column spirally 
ornamented with sculptures standing on a square base, at the angles of which 
eagles are placed ; the column is surmounted by a robed statue of the emperor 
with the right hand extended, in the left a spear or hasta pura. 

This column was erected by the Senate and people of Rome to the military 
fame and honour of the emperor on the final overthrow of the Dacians and the 
reduction of their country to the condition of a Roman province. When com- 
pleted it was 128 feet high, having within it 185 steps to reach the top, and 
45 openings or windows for light. The statue of the emperor on the top was 
20 feet in height, making 148 feet in the whole. It was placed in the centre of 
Porum Trajani, where it stands at the present day, and is one of the most 
remarkable objects in Rome. The sculptures with which it is adorned form a 
most valuable and interesting historic record for enabling artists and antiquaries 
to obtain a knowledge of the arms, accoutrements, ceremonials, military habits 
and tactics both of the Romans and of the Dacians, amounting in the whole to 
2,500 figures, each figure being nearly three feet high, and appearing all to be 
executed by the same artist. 

It was these sculptures that it is said Raffaelle studied, and confessed that 
whatever was found to be elegant in his paintings he was indebted for to the 
sculptures on this column. Julio Romano and others have also studied from it. 

It was designed and executed under the superintendence of the celebrated 
ApoUodorus of Damascus, who erected the bridge over the Danube. 

In the year 1588 Pope Sixtus V. ordered the architect Pontana to repair 
the column in such places as were dilapidated by time, and he set up the statue of 



262 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

St. Peter in gilded metal from a model by Tomasa della Porta in lieu of that of 
Trajan, but I do not find what became of the statue of Trajan. 

Dion, in Sadriano, says, " Trajani ossa in illius columna condidit;" or as 
Cassiodorus, " Ossa in urna aurea coUocata sub columna Pori quae ejus nomine 
vocatur recondita sunt." 

In the pontificate of Paul III. the base of the column being much hidden by 
accumulated earth and ruin, it was ordered to be cleared, and the following 
inscription was discovered on the base : 

SENATVS . POPVIiVSQVE . ROMANVS 

IMP . CAES . DIVI . NEBVAE . E . NERVAE . TRAIANO 

AVG . GERMANICO . DACICO . PONT . MAX . TRIE. 

POT . XVII . IMP . VI . cos . VI . P . P . AD . DECLARANDTJM 

QVANTAE . ALTITVDINIS . MONS . ET . LOCVS . TANTIS 

RVDERIBVS . SIT . EGESTVS. 

Various readings of the latter part of this inscription have been given, in con- 
sequence of the absence of the letters is in tantis, and rvderi in rvderibvs. 
This is taken from Salmon, i. 242. See also Donati, Eckhel, Pitiscus. Another 
inscription describes the victories of the emperor. 

The tribunician date xvii. as the time when the column was inaugurated, would 
place it in the year a.d. 114. 

A coin in very good condition, dark brown colour. Weight 443|- grains. 

531. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P . The 

laureate head of Trajan to the right. 

^. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the exergum S. C. A temple of eight 
columns : between the two centre columns is a statue standing on a square 
plinth ; the pediment is triangular, and ornamented with statuary at its apices, 
and there are various sculptures in the tympanum. 

A dark brown coin. Weight 380-|- grains. 

532. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9>. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the field S. C. A large club standing 
upright, its thickest end resting on the skin of a lion's head and shoulders. 



TRAJAN. 263 

A complimentary coin, comparing the victories of Trajan over the Dacians to 
the success of Hercules in Ms combat with the Nemean lion. 
A very good black Second Brass coin. "Weight 168| grains. 

533. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

head of the emperor to the right, with radiate crown. 

9.. s.p.Q.R . OPTIMO .PRiNCiPi. In the field S. 0. A Roman cuirass or suit 
of body-armour more adapted for a general oflS.cer than a common soldier, but 
no helmet. 

A very good browoi Second Brass coin. 

534. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

$1. s.p.Q.R. OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the field S. C. Three military standards ; 
the middle one bears an eagle holding a fulmen in its claws ; the standard on the 
right side is surmounted by a wreath, that on the left side bears a hand ; there 
are wreaths and other decorations on the staff of each standard. 

I take this device as intended to compliment the army on the successful 
campaign in Dacia. 

A pale green coin, very fine indeed, of Second Brass. Weight 184i- grains. 

535. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M. TR . P . COS . V . P. P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

^. s.p.Q.R . OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the field S. C. A female standing to the 
left ; at her right side is the prow of a galley ; in her right hand she holds the 
tiller of a rudder ; on her left arm she bears a cornucopise filled with fruits. 

A very good light-brown coin.. Weight 4354- grains. 

536. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P.M . TR . P . COS . V . P.P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

5o. s.p.Q.R. OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the field S. 0. and in the exergum alim . 
ITAL. A female standing full front looking to the left ; her right hand holding 
some wheat-ears, and extended over a small figure at her right side, wrapped in 
a toga and holding some object in its left hand ; on her left arm she bears a full 
cornucopise. 



264 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

By some writers this coin is represented to have heen struck to commemorate 
the relief afforded by the emperor to many of the provinces of Italy, which had 
suffered from famine, floods, and earthquakes. 

By others it is considered as referring to the institutions founded and endowed 
with lands by Trajan, for the maintenance of the poor citizens of Rome and their 
children, as well as affording relief to the poor citizens and their families in the 
various provinces of Italy, institutions which the local authorities of the different 
districts were compelled to provide for, on similar principles to the relief created 
in England for the assistance of the poor by the statute of Qtieen Elizabeth. 

It would appear that this system was first commenced by the Emperor Nerva, 
as we have seen recorded on his coin. In Gruter, Inscriptions, p. 1084, there is 
the following tablet : — 

IMP . NBRVAE . TRAIAN . 4VG . GERM . 

P . MAX . TRIE . POTEST . COS . IIII .P.P. 

NOMINE . PVELLORVM . PVELLARTJMQVE . 

VLPIANORVM . 

EXSC. 

A very fine brown coin. Weight 383^ grains. 

537. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GEB . DAC . P.M . TR . P . COS . V . P.P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

Jc. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi . ALiM . ITAL . in the cxcrgum ; S . C . in the field. 
A female with a small togated figure by her right side, as on the preceding coin, 
but she holds no wheat-ears over him, nor has he anything in his left hand, but 
holds his dress with his right hand. 

This coin was struck on the same occasion as the preceding. 

A fine bronze Campana coin, tinged with green. Weight 419| grains. 

538. 

[imp. CAES .NERVAE . TRaJiANO . AVG . GER . [daC .P.M. TR . P . COS. V. P.P.] The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9=- s . p. Q . R . OPTIMO . PRINCIPI . In the exergum alim . ital . In the field 
S. C. The emperor robed, seated to the left on a curule chair ; his left hand holds 
a hasta pura, his right hand extended towards a female who stands before him 
and presents an infant child to him. 

This coin was struck on the occasion related in the two preceding coins ; it is 
the rarest of the series. 



TRAJAN. 265 

The conduct of Trajan in providing for the poor, as already detailed, forms a 
prominent subject in the Panegyric of Pliny the younger upon the character 
and conduct of Trajan, ch. xxvi. xxvii. and xxviii. ; and, although Pliny was the 
personal friend of the emperor, and may be supposed to have written with par- 
tiality, yet it is supported by other ancient writers. 

In the year 1747 there were found at Veleia, an ancient town about eighteen 
miles from Piacenza, some brazen tablets, recording the fact of large sums of 
money being given by Trajan, and describing all the lands and farms which had 
been purchased with these benefactions, both at Veleia and elsewhere. Eckhel, 
in Trajano, vol. vi. p. 424, thus speaks of the circumstance : " Proximum pro 
temporis serie monumentum quod banc Trajani beneficentiam comprobet est 
insignis tabula senea quantivis pretii anno 1747 in agro Placentino eruta, lata 
^edes xs. alta pedes vs. pondere librarum do . in quam commentati sunt Mura- 
torius et Gorius in opere Plorentige edito in folio, 1749, et quse describitur a 
Sebastiano Donato in Supplem. ad Nov. Thes. Muratorii, part ii. page 437, in cujus 
exordio legitur : obligatio. peaedioevm.ob . ^s . decies.qvadraginta.qvatvor. 

MILLIA .VT . EX . INDVLGENTIA . OPTIMI . MAXIMIQVE . PRINCIPIS .IMP. CAES.NERVAE. 
TEAIANI . GEE.MANIGI . DACICI . PVEEI . PVELLAEQVE . ALIMBNTA . ACCIPIANT, &C. 

Ex titulo DACICI . eruimus tabulam hanc confectam inde ab anno v.c. 856." 
A dark green coin, in middling condition, from the Pembroke collection. 
Weight 436f grains. 

539. 

IMP . CAES . NEBVAE . TEAIANO . AVG . GER . DAG . P.M . TR . P . COS . V . P.P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

|c. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the field S.C. A female standing full 
front looking to the left, her right hand holding wheat-ears ; at her feet is a corn- 
modius, out of which ears of corn are rising ; on her left arm she bears a 
cornucopise filled with fruits ; in the back-ground on her left side is the stern 
of a galley, implying the supply of corn for the city brought by sea from some of 
the provinces. 

A very fine dark green coin. Weight 400f grains. 

540. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P.M . TR . P . COS . V . P. P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

Jl. CONGIARIVM . TERTIVM. In the excrgum S. C. The emperor or his legate 
seated to the left on a curule chair, placed on a raised tribunal, in front of whom 

2 M 



266 KECOEDS OF EOMAN HISTORY. 

another person is seated, and is making a donation to a citizen who is ascending 
the steps to receive it ; in the background at the side of the second person 
another is standing holding up a tablet, and at the right side of the legate 
is placed a large tripod brasier. 

This coin was struck a.d. 107, in which year Trajan had his triumph for the 
conquest of Dacia, when he made a distribution of his third congiary to the 
people of Rome. Yet Eckhel seems afraid to decide, and says, " Quo anno 
Trajanus tertiam banc liberalitatem erogaverit decidi nequit." Vaillant says, 
"Hie nummus primge magnitudinis inter rariores coUocatur." 

A very fine black brown coin from the Campana Cabinet. Weight 432§ 
grains. 

541. 

IMP . CAES . NEEVAB . TUAIANO . AVG . GEK . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9-. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRINOIPI. In the field S. C. Roma armed standing 
looking to the left ; her right hand extended holds a Victoriola presenting a 
wreath. In her left hand Roma holds her spear, the point resting on the ground 
in token of peace. 

A very good black coin. Weight 4014- grains. 

542. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P.M . TR . P . COS . V . P.P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

^. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the exergum Arab, adqvis. In the field 
S. C. A female standing full front looking to the left and holding an olive-branch 
in her right hand ; at her right side is a camel, an emblem of Arabia ; her left 
arm supports her robes and also bears a sceptrum; or it may be intended for the 
calamus aromatious, also an emblem of Arabia. 
Arabia is thus spoken of by Ovid : — 

" Sit dives amomo, 

Cinnamaque, costumque suam, sudataque ligno 
Thura ferat, floresque alios Pancliaia tellus, 
Dum ferat et myrrliam." 

Metam. lib. X. 

Seneca likewise : — 

" Cinnami sylvas Arabes beatos 
Vidit." (Edip. act. i. 

A very fine brown coin, exchanged with Mr. Gwilt. Weight 410-1- grains. 



TRAJAN. 267 

543. 

IMP . CAES . NEEVAE . TRAIANO . AV& . GEE . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V.P.P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

^. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the exergum Arab . adq. In the field 
S. 0. A female standing as described on the last coin, only instead of a camel 
there is an ostrich at her right side ; her left arm supports her robes, and also 
bears a sceptrum, or calamus aromaticiis. The ostrich and camel are both of 
them natives of Arabia ; they are therefore fit emblems of the country. 

These two coins are intended to record the subjugation of Arabia. Prom the 
time of Augustus until Trajan, neither the emperors or their generals had been 
able to subdue the Arabs. In a.d. 104), 105, Trajan, by his generals, managed to 
reduce the greater part of Arabia to the Roman dominion ; but, as with the Arabs 
of the present day, it was only a temporary submission, which was thrown off at 
the first convenient opportunity. 

This event is considered to have been completed, and Arabia rendered part of 
the empire in the eighth year of Trajan's reign, when A. Cornelius Palma was the 
governor of Syria, and accomplished this affair. 

Occo describes this coin of Arabia with the ostrich as being in the cabinet of 
Ph. Ed. Pugger, a celebrated and wealthy family in Germany, which possessed a 
fine collection of coins and other antiquities 

A good brown coin. "Weight 393-1- grains. 

544. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS .V.P.P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9>. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the exergum S. C. The emperor robed 
standing to the left on a square base placed on a long plinth, decorated in front 
with festoons ; in his left hand he holds a hasta pura, and an olive-branch in his 
right hand ; a Victory floating in the air on his left side is placing a wreath on 
his head ; on each side at his feet is a figure with uplifted hands ; on the plinth 
in front on each side of the emperor are four eagles, each holding in its beak a 
military standard. 

Admiral Smyth, No. 183 of his Cabinet, considers this coin to have been struck 
A.D. Ill, to commemorate the peace bestowed by Trajan on Armenia and Parthia, 
sed queer e, for Trajan had not subdued Armenia or Parthia at the date of the 
consulate marked on this coin. May it not have been struck to record the distri- 

2 M 2 



268 EECORDS OF ROMAN HISTOKY. 

bution of lionours to several of the petty kings of the various countries traversed 
by Trajan on journeying to Parthia and Armenia ? 

A good dark brown coin from the Devonshire Cabinet. Weight 354|- grains. 

545. 

IMP . CAES . NEE, . TRAIANO . OPTIMO . AVG . &ER . DAC . P.M. TB . P. The laureate 

head of the emperor to the right, shoulders draped. 

^. coNSERVATORi . PATRis . PATRIAE. In the excrgum S. C. Jupiter standing 
to the left, a large cloak pendent from his shoulders ; his right hand extended 
holds one side of the cloak spread out as a protection to the emperor, who is robed 
and stands on the right side of Jupiter, and holds up his right hand as if addressing 
some persons, or in token of thanks for protection afforded. 

This is a highly interesting coin. It is mentioned by Argelati only in the silver 
series of Trajan, and he places it under the date of cos. vi. a.d. 114. 

Jupiter is frequently introduced on coins of the emperors, but only on the 
coins of this emperor in this peculiar character of conservator or preserver of the 
father of his country, the usual legend being lovi . conservatori, and applicable 
to Jupiter only, meaning Divine Providence. 

Domitian had great reverence for Jupiter Conservator, and erected a temple 
to him. 

I do not find this type is mentioned by Eckhel in Trajano. 

A middling black coin from the Campana Cabinet. Weight 384|- grains. 

546. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAB . TRAIANO . AVG . GEE . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P. P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

^j- s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PEiNCiPi. In the exergum S. C. A temple of eight 
columns in front, having on each side a columnar arcade or portico, not in width 
or continuation of the front of the temple, but extending from it in an oblique 
direction ; between the two middle columns of the temple, which are a little 
apart, an idol is seated ; in the tympanum of the pediment another figure is 
seated with a recumbent figure on each side ; on the apex above is a statue 
holding in its right hand a hasta pur a, and at each corner is another statue ; the 
tops or gable-like roofs of the side porticoes bristle with ornaments. 

This is supposed to represent a temple erected by Domitian to Jupiter Gustos ; 
but from its peculiar construction and porticoes, I do not believe that to be a 
correct opinion. As the emperor Trajan erected many costly temples and public 



TKAJAN. 269 

buildings at Rome, lie may have repaired the temple of Jupiter Gustos and 
made additions to it. There is no coin of Domitian having on it the repre- 
sentation of a temple like that on the present coin, and had such a temple 
been built in his time, his vanity would scarcely have allowed it to go unrecorded 
on a coin. 
A very fine black green coin from the Ramsay Cabinet. Weight 413 grains. 

547. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V.P.P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

!p). s . p . Q . R . OP A temple of eight columns in front, having 

on each side a columnar arcade or portico in the same way as on the preceding 
coin ; in the tympanum and on the apices of the pediment there are statues, as 
on the last coin. 

The outer column on each side of the temple has a square base in front on 
which a statue is standing ; there is also a sedent figure, apparently a Roma, on 
a base between the two centre columns, which are a little apart to display the 
idol. There are six steps to approach the temple extending the whole width, 
but the first or lowest step is made to extend on each side of the porticoes so as to 
become the first or lowest of the steps ; there is also in front of the steps, opposite 
to the division of the columns where the idol is seated, an altar, square, large 
size, and decorated in the front and on the top ; there are four steps in front of 
the altar to enable a person to ascend and reach on to the top ; on either side of 
the altar is an S. C. 

The type of this coin is much more rare than that of the preceding. I have 
never yet seen it in a sale. I procured this coin from the cabinet of Mr. Gwilt, 
E.S.A., the architect, the renovator of the church and ladye chapel of St. Mary 
Overy in Southwark, at the foot of London Bridge. 

A fine aurichalcum. 

548. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GBR . DAC . P . M . TR . P COS .V.P.P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9). s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the exergum S. C. Hygeia seated to the 
left, feeding a snake which rises from an altar standing at her feet. 

A fine coin, mottled orange and red colour. Weight 327^ grains. Erom 
Oureton the dealer. 



270 



RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 



549. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVa . GER . DAC ,P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P .P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

$c. s . p . Q . R , OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. No S. C. The laureate head of the em- 
peror to the left, the bust in armour with a military cloak. 

"Weight 140f grains. 



A good dark green Second Brass coin. 



550. 




IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AV& . GER . DAC .P. M . TR . P . COS . V . P.P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

$c. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the exergum S. C. The emperor and an 
attendant standing on a low base to the left ; they are both in robes, and the 
emperor has raised his right hand in the act of addressing four citizens who stand 
before him with their hands raised in applause ; behind the citizens are three 
obelisks, at the base whereof is a recumbent iigure to the right, resting the left 
arm on a chariot wheel, and embracing the obelisks. 

I agree with Oiselius in the attribution of this type, as being the allocntio 
to the citizens, to be " ob Ludos Circenses exhibitos, id enim obeliscus sive potius 
fragmentum ejus cui foemina seminuda adjacet indicare videtur." 

The consulate of this coin is v. which causes it to be ranked with the coins 
of the Circus Maximus. It is very rare indeed, especially in anything like a good 
condition. I obtained this fine black coin by exchange with Mr. Gwilt's, my own 
not being quite so good. Vaillant says " rarissimus est." 

551. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . . . The laureate 

head of the emperor to the right. 

^. s . p . Q . R . OPTI ciPi. In the exergum S. C. A view of the Circus 

Maximus, in which appears rising from the centre of the spina, that runs the 



TBAJAK. 271 

whole length, the Egyptian obelisk brought to Rome by Augustus ; at each end 
of the spina are the metcB ; in the front of the building are the ostia or openings, 
for the admission of the spectators to the interior of the building. 

The Circus Maximus is said to have been constructed origiaally by Tarquinius 
Priscus (Livy, i. 35 ; Dion. Hal. p. 200) ; and, he being of noble Hetruscan famUy, 
and one of the early kings of Rome, he sent to Hetruria for race-horses and 
pugilists to perform in the circus. Valerius Maximus, on the contrary, says 
that the Circensian Games, or games of the Circus, were first instituted by 
Romulus, under the name of consualia. 

The Circus was placed in the vaUey between the Aventine and Palatine hills. 
It was first built of wood, but after several reparations it was ultimately con- 
structed of stone. Oiselius, in tab. xcvii. gives from a very rare coin of Augustus 
a very good view of the Circus as it was in the reign of Augustus : subsequently 
to that time it was again repaired, and Trajan, on his return from Dacia, enlarged 
it so as to render it capable of containing, as is said, 200,000 spectators. (Donati, 
222.) 

In Eckhel, vi. 427, after quoting from Dio, he says, " Etiam Pausanias inter 
magnifica Trajani opera recenset Hippodromum duorum stadiorum longitudi- 
nem equans." 

A very good yellow brassy coin, from the Pembroke Cabinet. Weight 379f 
grains. 

552. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GEE, , DAC . P . M The laureate 

head of the emperor to the right. 

9). s . P . Q . B In the exergum S. C. A view of the Circus Maxi- 
mus, in which an animal is seen running on the right between the obelisk and 
the met(S ; in front of the building are the ostia. 

This coin was struck on the same occasion as the preceding and following 
coins. After the return of Trajan to Rome, he exhibited a grand display of 
games for the amusement of the Roman people, extending to a period of 123 
days. The Circensian Games on this occasion caused the slaughter of a large 
number of wild animals which had been collected for the purpose, besides the 
gladiators. 

A good dark green coin. Weight 378| grains. 



272 



RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 




IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . V . P , P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9>. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the exergum S. C. A view of the Circus 
Maximus in which an animal is seen (apparently a horse with his rider) between 
the obelisk and the metes ; in front are the ostia ; leading into the interior of the 
building. 

This coin is the most perfect of the kind that one could wish to see or possess. 
It is untouched by acid or engraving tool, remarkably fine, and of black colour ; 
from the Uamsay Cabinet. A coin of this type, but I consider not quite so fine, 
although very nearly, was sold in the Earl of Gainsborough's sale for 40 
guineas, at Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson's, in November 1858. 

Vaillant says, " Hie nummus primse formge rarissimus est." 



554. 

ALEXANDER. Heroic head covered with or wearing a lion's skin as a cap. In 
the field in front of the face there is a small leaf or part of a palm-branch. 

!^, No legend. The interior of the Circus Maximus consisting of the obelisk 
and two metce standing on the spina ; no other part of the building appears. On 
the spina, between the obelisk and metce, are bestiarii, as they were termed, com- 
batants engaged with wild beasts ; while in the upper and lower parts of the field 
are chariots with drivers, called essedarii, who are racing with each other, or 
engaged in combat, which last was frequently the case. 

In having to mention the Circus Maximus represented on the preceding coins, 
and the games which were there exhibited, I have added the present and next 
piece (or coin) as continuing the representations of the games or combats which 
were performed in the Circus. The present is from the Pembroke Collection, and is 
well known from its having been referred to by various authors, and engraved in 



TRAJAN. 273 

numismatic works, where reference has been made to the exhibition of the Cir- 
censian Games. It is of the class called contorniati, and, although such medals 
are well authenticated and acknowledged to be of Eoman mintage, yet it has 
been a vexata quesUo with numismatic antiquaries for a very long period of time, 
whether the contorniati were coins, or missilia or tickets of admission to parti- 
cular seats or parts of the theatre appropriated to individuals of a certain rank ; 
they are generally of the size of medallions, and have the appearance usually of 
having been cast in moulds for the occasion ; sometimes they were struck from 
dies, as the next piece wiU shew. 

" Venuti, who wrote in a.d. 1730, is of opinion that the contorniati are chiefly 
of the period of Honorius, a.d. 395 — 423. "We think they were struck somewhat 
earlier, about the time of Constantinus Maximus, 306—337. Moreover, Honorius 
having abolished the games of the amphitheatre for ever, it is not probable that 
he should strike contorniati, which pieces are generally supposed to have been 
given away at public games, the Circus, &c. ; there was a ' trouvaille ' of fine 
contorniati at Rome, in 1844." — Curt. 

The above is about the usual estimate of the time when the contorniati were 
first minted, but I consider it is quite erroneous ; for they occur from the time of 
Julius Caesar (vide Morell), and frequently have good representations or portraits 
of the different emperors, besides better workmanship than can be found among 
the regular coins of Constantine or Honorius. In my opinion, the contorniati 
were struck in the times of the emperors whose portraits they represent, for it is 
not likely that they would be the offspring of a degraded and debased coinage 
and very inferior artists, incapable of producing the fine work that is on some of 
them. 

Although they may in great strictness and propriety be considered as relating 
to the Eternal City, yet they are seldom introduced into cabinets as historic 
records, which is an error in judgment, in my opinion, and I differ in that view of 
the subject. The obverse of this contorniate bears the fictitious head of Alexander 
the Great, which no doubt was intended as an heroic illustration applicable to 
the combats of the Circus. 

A fine brassy medallion-sized contorniate, from the Pembroke Cabinet. Weight 
470^ grains. 



2n 



274 



EECOEDS or ROMAN HISTOUT. 



555. 




Divo . NERVAE . TRAiANO. A laureate head to the right, being a very rude 
attempt at a portrait of Trajan. 

9). No legend. The spina of the Circus Maximus, with the obelisk in the 
centre, and the metce at either end, and on the right another object likewise, similar 
to that which on the preceding token is on the left side of the spina. Beyond 
the spina is a person on horseback to the right ; and to the left is another person, 
a bestiarius, on foot, engaged in combat with an animal resembling a lion. 
Before the spina, in the exergum, a chariot combat of essedarii seems to have 
been concluded by the death of one of the parties ; and in the field above are two 
quadrigse racing after each other, one on either side of the obelisk. 

Erom the subjects above represented, this token is different from the Pem- 
broke token, and, being in very fine first-rate condition, well struck, and not cast, 
as usually happens, and as large as a medallion, the whole subject is very distinct, 
and no doubt the field above and below the sjjina was intended by the artist to 
represent the arena, with the races and combats of the essedarii and other 
gladiators. 

A remarkably fine black contorniate with green tinge, from the cabinet of 
M. Sabatier, St. Petersburg. 



556. 

IMP. CABS .NERVAE .TRAIANO . OPTIMO .AVG. GER . DAC . P.M .TR. P. COS .VI. P. P. 

The laureate head of the emperor to the right, shoulders draped. 

9'. SENATVS . poPVLVSQVE . ROMANVS. In the exergum fort . red. ; S. C. under- 
neath. A female seated to the left ; her right hand holds the tiller of a rudder, 
her left arm supports a cornucopise filled with fruits. 

A brown bronze-green coin, very fine. Weight 4311 grains. 



TRAJAN. 275 

557. 

IMP. CAES . NEBVAB . TRAIANO . AVG . GBR . DAO . P.M . TR . R . COS . VI . P.P . The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

1^. PORTVNAE . REDVCI . In the exergum S. 0. A female seated to the left 
with rudder and cornucopise, as on the preceding coin, her left foot resting on a 
stool. 

A j&ne hlack coin. Weight 395f grains. 

558. 

IMP. CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P. M . TR . P . COS . VI . P.P. The 

laureate head of Trajan to the right, shoulders draped. 

!po. DACIA . AVGVSTA . In the exergum provincia . with S. 0. underneath. A 
female seated on a piece of rockwork to the left; on her head she has a round cap; 
in her left hand she has a standard bearing an eagle, held transversely over her 
left shoiTlder ; she has on her knees two young children. 

This type betokens the annexation of Dacia and her inhabitants (the children) 
as a province of the Roman empire, and from respect to the courage of the 
Dacians, the province was honoured with the title of Augusta. 

A black coin in very good condition. 

559. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . OPTIMO . AVG . GER .DAC . P . M .TR . P. COS . VI. P.P. 

The laureate head of the emperor to the right, shoulders draped. 

|o. IMPERATOR . VII . in the exergum, with S. C. underneath. The emperor in 
military costume seated on a curule chair placed on a tribunal to the right; two 
attendants, also in military attire, are standing there on his left hand, one rather 
behind the other. The emperor extends his right hand towards a number of 
soldiers who stand before him fully armed, and with several eagles and standards ; 
a horse is mixed with them, and apparently carries a soldier with a vexillmn, the 
cavalry banner. In front of the tribunal, with his back to the emperor, a soldier 
is standing bare-headed, seeming to repeat and enforce the words of the emperor, 
who is much apj)lauded by the assembled military, as indicated by the number of 
hands held up by the soldiers. 

This coin, with the subsequent coins of imperator viii. and imperator viiii- 
are supposed to relate to the successes of Trajan over the Parthians, for which he 
was saluted with the title of Imperator by the soldiers. 

A very good black coin from the cabinet of Baron Roller. Weight 396 grains. 

2 N 2 



276 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

560. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAB . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . VI . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right, shoulders draped, 

1^. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the exergum via traiana. S. C. under- 
neath. A female naked to the waist reclining to the left against a bank, her face 
turned to the right ; she holds a branch in her left hand, and on her right knee 
supports a chariot wheel, an emblem of travelling. 

This type records the repairs executed by order of Trajan in the ninth year of 
his reign on the Via Appia, a road which passed through the Pontine Marshes ; 
it was originally made by the censor Appius Claudius Csecus (whence its name), 
a celebrated orator in the time of the Republic, but he carried it only from Home 
to Capua, a distance of 130 miles. Augustus continued it to Brundusium. 
Trajan, at a very great expense, put it in repair the whole distance from Rome to 
Brundusium, from which circumstance it was named ViaTrajana. Some portions 
of it are still remaining in the vicinity of Naples. In vol. ii. of Hillard's " Sis 
Months in Italy," published in 1853, there is a short and pleasing account of the 
Appian Way, written from the author's own personal view of the road, its 
numerous objects, and the surrounding country.* The whole length was 350 
miles, and was well paved throughout the whole line, for Trajan spared no 
expense to render it complete in every respect. Boad-making was a prominent 
characteristic of Boman government. In Glruter, pp. 151, 152, we have the 
following inscription : 

IMP . CAESAR . DIVI . NERVAE . E - 

NERVA . TRAIANVS . AVG- . 

GERM . DACIC . PONT . MAX . TR . P - 

XIII . IMP . VI . COS . V . P. P - VIAM . A . 

BENEVENTVM . BRVNDVSIVM . PECV 

NIA . SVA . PECIT . 

On which Eckhel, vol. vi. p. 421, says : " Exstat hoc marmor hodieque in 
oppido dicto Biscigallia. In marmore Gruteri habemus curatorum viae . novae . 
TRAiANAE . ct apud eundcm, curatores trium trajanorum." The subject 
represented on this reverse formed part of a basso-relievo in the arch of Trajan, 
from which it was taken down and worked into the arch of Constantine, erected 

* A more scientific account of the Via Appia may be seen in Lumisden's Remarks on the Antiquities 
of Rome, 4to. 



TRAJAN. 277 

to record the victories gained by Constantine over Maxentius, and it is still to 
be seen at Rome. 

A very nice green and mottled red coin in fine condition. Bought of the late 
Matthew Young. Weight 418^ grains. 

561. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GEB . DAC . P. M . TR . P . COS . VI . P.P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9'- s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRiNCiPi. In the exergum s . aqva . traiana . c. A 
river-god reclining to the left under (or I should say in front of) an arched 
grotto ; in his right hand he has a sedge or reed, which he rests on his right 
knee ; beneath him in the stonework is a small opening from which water is 
flowing, instead of from an urn, the usual attribute of a river-god. 

This type commemorates the construction of the conduit by which Trajan 
caused the stream called Aqua Marcia to be conveyed to that part of the city 
lymg about the Aventine Hill; it was called the Aqua Marcia from the early 
king Ancus Marcius, who originally conveyed the water from the lake Eucinus, 
situate about thirty miles from Rome, and now called Celano 

It appears by an inscription quoted by Donati, p. 263, that the conduit of 
Trajan was repaired by order of the emperor Caracalla. The water was the 
sweetest and most wholesome that was brought to Home. 

A very good brown coin. 

562. 

imp . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . p .M The laureate 

head of the emperor to the right. 

p). s. p. Q.R. OPTIMO. PRiNCiPi. In the exergum eorvm . traiani. with S. C. 
underneath. A grand edifice, adorned with sculptures, columns, and trophies, 
which was erected by order of Trajan by the architect Apollodorus, after the 
Dacian war had terminated. On the portico was a representation of Trajan in a 
chariot drawn by six horses, attended by Victories, with trophies at each side. In 
the niches at the sides of the building were placed the statues of the different 
generals and chief ofiicers and others who had distinguished themselves in the 
Dacian war. In the area of the portico attached to the forum there was placed 
an equestrian statue of Trajan, and in the middle of the forum stood the famous 
column surmounted by his statue. 

This was the most splendid of all the various edifices erected by Trajan, and it 
remained in great perfection to the time of Constantius, who is described by 



^78 EECOUDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

Ammi amis Mar cellinus to have been astonislied when he beheld it— "hserebat 
attonitus" — an expression well borne out by Cassiodorus and others in their 
remarks upon this magnificent building, which seems to have surpassed every 
other building of the kind that had ever before been erected in B;ome. 

In the life of Pope St. Gregory, it is said that when he saw the vestigia of this 
forum, he was so astonislied — " tantse substructionis admiratus consilium auderet 
supremum Numen implorare ut ab seternis inferni poenis eximeretur Trajani 
architectus" — superstition of another class — Eckhel, vi. 432, in Forum Trajani. 

A good dark green coin. Weight 4091 grains. 

563. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AYG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P The lau- 
reate head of the emperor to the right, shoulders draped. 

9=. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRiNciPi. In the exergum basilica , vlpia. with S. 0. 
underneath. A grand edifice very much resembling the Porum in its external 
appearance, being adorned with statuary figures above, but no statues in the 
niches at the sides. 

This building was erected by Trajan at the same period as the Forum. The 
basilicte, of which there were several at Home, were public buildings covered over 
at the top, and thus diS'ering from the Eorum, which was open to the air. In these 
buildings, all the causes and law-suits were tried before the judges of the courts. 
The basilica of Trajan was much frequented, and was decorated with many 
statues. 

These two buildings, the Forum and Basilica, are supposed to have been erected 
in A.D. 114, after the reduction of Armenia and Mesopotamia. 

I have observed on various coins of these types of the Forum and Basilica, that 
the buildings are very indistinctly made out by the die-engraver ; the present 
coins are a fair criterion of their workmanship. 

A pale green coin in good condition, from the Campana Cabinet. Weight 
3284- grains. 

564. 

imp . CAES . NERVAE . TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . VI . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right, shoulders draped. 

9.. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRINCIPI. In the exergum S. C. An equestrian figure 
of Trajan to the left, the horse in the attitude of stepping forward. The emperor 
in civil attire and bareheaded, holding a spear in his right hand, the point resting 
on the ground. 



TRAJAN. 279 

This type I consider represents the equestrian statue of the emperor which 
stood in the area of the portico of the Forum. A coin of similar type in the 
cabinet of the Duke of Croye and Arschot is marked in its legend adventvs . 
AVGVSTi ; but the catalogue does not distinguish its metal or size, and attributes 
its coinage to the return of the emperor to Rome mentioned in the Panegyric 
of Pliny ; but this, I think, is incorrect, for although the word adventus is used, 
yet the figure is more in the character of the equestrian statues of other Roman 
emperors, and the die-engraver may have borrowed the figure from the statue 
in the Porum to save himself the trouble of making a new design for an Adventus. 

A good dark brown coin. Weight 344-^ grains. 

565. 

IMP . CAES . NERVAB . TRAIAKO . OPTIMO . AVG . GEE, . DAC . P . M . TR . P . COS . VI . P.P. 

The laureate head of Trajan to the right, shoulders draped. 

9'. IMPERATOR . VIII . in the exergum, with S. C. underneath. The emperor 
in military costume seated to the right on an X-shaped stool placed on a high 
tribunal ; behind him, at his left side, are two persons in military attire ; on the 
ground a person is standing with his back to the emperor, and facing the 
soldiers, who are in front of the tribunal ; some of the soldiers bear standards, of 
which one is an eagle ; amongst them also is a horse, but without a rider. 

This coin and device is usually considered to relate to the victories obtained 
by Trajan and the Poman armies over the Parthians ; but it is, I think, doubtful 
whether it applies to the first or the second of his campaigns against them. My 
opinion is, that the coin applies to the first of the campaigns in the sixth con- 
sulate. Por Trajan subsequently in the eighteenth year of his reign, a.u.c. 868, 
had a rupture with Cosrhoes, the then PartMan king, and marched his armies 
into Parthia and seized Ctesiphon the capital city of Cosrhoes, who fled and thus 
saved his life, and Trajan received the title of Parthicus, which is not in the 
obverse legend of this coin. 

It is very probable that the salutation of Trajan as Imperator for the ninth 
time, which we shall see on a subsequent coin, was given on this latter occasion, 
for, although there does not appear any change in the date of the consulate, yet 
we have some little guide in the words of the legend. 

A fine black coin. Weight STS^ grains. 



280 



BECOEDS OF EOMAN HISTORY. 



566. 




IMP . OAES . NERVAE . TBAIANO . OPTIMO . AVG . GER . DAC . P. M . TR . P. COS . V. P. P. 

9>. PORTVM . TRAiANi. lo the exergum S. G. The representation of an hexa- 
gonal port or basin for shipping, the entrance being placed on the lower part of 
the coin, with the S. C. in front at the exergum ; it is surrounded with buildings 
of different descriptions ; the entrance is narrow, having buildings on each side 
of it ; three vessels appear lying at anchor, or moored to the wharves, which we 
should say were before the buildings fronting the basin. 

Argelati, in Trcijano, a.u.g. 858, a.d. 105, notices the coin portum . traiani . 
as " Portus variis gedificiis ornatus in cujus medio triremis Imperatoria ornata 
et alise triremes," which he describes as referring " ad Portum a Trajano prope 
Centum Cellas sedificato cujus meminit Plinius, epist. 31, lib. vi. referendus 
nummus." And the next following coin he describes " port . OST . portus Ostiensis 
qualis in Neronis nummis cum tribus navibus ;" and he refers to the coin he so 
quotes as being in the Arschot Cabinet, tab. xxxiii. No. 23, adding, " Portum 
Ostiensem aliqua insigni refectione a Trajano auctum nummo hoc intelligere licet 
silentibus historicis." 

Occo describes the coin portum traiani as "Portus Ostiensis forma octangula 
variis sedificiis ornatus, ut tabernis mercium, armentariis, catena ferrea prseclusus, 
in cujus medio navis Imperatoria et alise triremes;" and mentions the coin as 
being " inter picturas Alb. Pr. nummus est apud Jul. Rom." 

Eckhel also speaks of it in an uncertain manner in his vol. vi. 426, " Portus 
variis gedificiis ornatus in cujus medio triremes;" he then says, "Tres sunt 
Italise portus qui hunc Portus Trajani titulum vindicari sibi posse videntur : 
I. Centum Cellse, hodie Civita Vecchia, de quibus sic cosevus (Plinius), Villa 
pulcherrima apud banc urbem cingitur viridissimis agris, imminet littori cujus in 
sinu fit cum maxime portus [et ciim prolixe enarrasset rationem novi operis, 
addit] habebit hie portus etiam nomen auctoris. II. Ostia ex vetere schoHaste 
Juvenahs qui ad hujus versus 76 et 77, satyra xii. : 



TRAJAN. 281 

Tandeur intrat positas inclusa per equora moles, 
Tyrrhenamque Pharon porrectaque brachia sursum. 

Sic commentatur — inclusa per sequora — portum Augusti dicit sive Trajani — 
porrectaque — quia Trajanus portum Augusti restauravit in melius et interius 
tutiorem sui nominis fecit. III. Ancona — nam in Arcu Trajani qui integer 
adhuc adstat in portu Anconse, hoc legitur — epigramma premissis ejus titulis et 
TR. POT. XVIII. (Oiselius says te, . p . xviiii.) Inscrip. Gruteri, pp. 246, 247. 

PKOVIDENTISSIMO . PRINCIPI . SENATVS . P. Q. B. 

QVOD . ACCESSVM . ITALIAE . 

HOC . ETIAM . ADDITO . 

EX . PECVNIA . SVA . 

POETV . TVTIOREM . NAVIGANTIBVS . REDDIDERIT . 

Omnibus rite expensis verisimillimum videtur hunc portvm . traiani . esse 
Portum Centum Cellarum qui totus Trajani opus fait, quemque diserte Plinius 
habiturum nomen cmctoris testatur — atque etsi Ostiensis etiam portus dicatur 
Trajani Igevius tamen prse Pliniano est sclioliastis testimonium qui in veris 
nominibus poterit hallucinari ; et ut illud demus quoque verisimile non est 
voluisse Senatum in moneta prsedicare portum a Trajano tantum restauratum 
auctumque, et negligere alterum Centum Cellarum ab eo immensis sumptibus e 
fundamento excitatum ; multo minus intelligi poterit Portus Anconitanus, quern 
amplificatum quidem a Trajano et tutiorem redditum constat, at non ab eo 
appellationem traxisse." 

Thus Eckhel inclines to attribute the type on this coin to the port at Centum 
Cellse. Seeing how inaccurately the coin and its intent is described by these 
writers, it makes me think they never saw the coin or the port of Civita Vecchia 
itself; for the port is not octangular, nor is there any mark of or for a chain or 
boom across the entrance. They could not surely have had the coin before them, 
for the port of Trajan in all the coins (very few indeed) and engravings I have 
seen is six-sided, or hexagonal. 

This coin of the portus Trajani has (like the coin of Trajan with the arch 
of a bridge on it) been a vexata questio with numismatic antiquaries ; but now, 
with the assistance of Monsieur Texier's discoveries and drawings of the remains 
of the Port of Ostia, which we have already noticed on the coin of Nero, looking 
at the vestigia he has excavated, traced, and designed, the question seems to be 
put at rest, for there appears to be no doubt now that the portus Trajani 

2o 



282 UECOBDS or soman history. 

depicted on this coin is the Trajanello indicated on his plan, which we have given 
in Neroiie, and here repeat ; the Trajanello, or port of Trajan, being the inner basin 
to the port of Claudius (or Ostia) ; and if the two coins be put together and com- 
pared with the drawings of M. Texier they will be seen to form the outer port of 
Ostia and the inner basin of Trajanello. 

In confirmation of my view of the question, I find, on referring to the Arschot 
Cabinet, the port there depicted, as the coin that is quoted is an exact representa- 
tion of the Portus Trajani on the present coin. And it is thus described by 
Gevartius : " Portus Ostiensis a Trajano ornatus aut firmatus," Scholiast Juvenalis 
ad Sat. xii. " Trajanus Portum Augusti restauravit et interius tutiorem sui 
nominis fecit. Vide Cluverium in Italia." Likewise, Oiselius in the cixth plate 
of his Thesaurus, gives the type of a coin precisely like the Portus Trajani on 
the present coin, and it is called on the reverse port . ost., and the preceding 
coin which he depicts is the reverse — avgvsti . port . ost, of Nero, the latter being 
a circular haven, as we see on the coins of Nero, the other being a six-sided or 
hexagonal basin, as we see on the present coin. Oiselius describes it as a coin of 
Trajan " cum inscriptione port . ost. quia et ipse Trajanus Portum Ostiensem 
ornavit et firmavit — ut habet Scholiastes vetus ad Juvenal, sat xii. — Trajanus 
portum Augusti restauravit in melius, et interius tutiorem sui nominis fecit : 
ita ut jam ^eminus esset portus ; alter exterior Augusti Portus dictus, interior 
alter Trajani Portus appellatus. Vid. Ph. Cluverius, Italise Antiquge lib. iii. cap. iii." 
Oiselius describes the port as geminus ; thus being like unto Mons. Texier's plan, 
the inner and the outer ports being conjoined. So that I consider, whether the 
legend around the hexagonal port of Trajan on his coins be port . ost, or porttjm 
TRAiANi, it refers to the construction of the port Trajanello added to the Claudian 
port Ostia, and forming the interior harbour or basin of that port — the words 
PORT . OST. being an indication on the coin of Trajan of the share taken by Trajan 
in enlarging the port of Ostia, and rendering it more commodious for shipping ; 
so that, whether the words are port. ost. or portum traiani, the port intended 
and represented is precisely the same in each coin, and the port now called 
Trajanello is the only port intended. Eckhel is wrong in supposing this coin 
can in any way apply to Centum Cellse or Civita Vecchia as it is now called, for 
Civita Vecchia, although originally constructed by direction and order of Trajan, 
yet is a circular port, like the port of Ostia ; so that, after all research and 
inquiry, this coin, showing an hexagonal port, refers to the increased accommoda- 
tion and extension given by Trajan's orders to the port of Ostia, forming the inner 
basin termed in Mons. Texier's plan Trajanello. 



TRAJAN. 



283 



This coin is very rare ; it is a black coin, in good condition, from the Herpin 
Cabinet. VaUlant calls it "rarissimus" 




MEDITEERANEAN SEA. 



MEDITEEEANEAH 
SEA. 



567. 

IMP . CAES . NEK . TRAIANO . OPTIMO . AVG . GEE, . DAC . PAKTHICO . P . M . TK. P . COS . 

VI . P.P. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, shoulders draped. 

9>. ARMENIA . ET . MESOPOTAMIA. IN . POTESTATBM . p. R. RED ACTAE. In the 

field S. C. The emperor in military costume standing full front holding a spear 
in his right hand, with a sceptrum on his left arm ; at his feet, on his left side, a 
female is seated, wearing a short tunic and trousers as an Oriental, with a mitre 
or pointed cap on her head ; behind her is a recumbent river-god holding a sedge 
or reed in his right hand, his left arm resting on an urn, from which a stream 
of water is flowing. On the ground, at the right foot of the emperor, is another 
river-god, in the same posture, with a sedge or reed in his left hand, his right arm 
resting on an urn, from which also water is flowing. 

A very good brown coin, more particularly the reverse. Weight 331^ grains. 

2 o 2 



284 BECOEDS OP ROMAN HISTOBT. 

568. 

IMP . CAES . NEB . TBAIANO . OPTIMO . AVa . GEB . DAC .PABTHICO . P. M . TR . P. COS . 

VI . P.P. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, shoulders draped. 

^. ABMENIA . ET . MESOPOTAMIA . IN . POTESTATEM . P . B . BEDACTAE . In the 

field S. 0. The emperor in military costume standing full-front, holding a spear 
in his right hand, and on his left arm bearing a sceptrum; his left foot is placed 
on the body of a female who is prostrate at his feet, her face turned away from the 
emperor; she wears a pointed cap, short tunic, and trowsers, as an Oriental. 
Behind her is a river-god in recumbent position, resting his left arm on an urn, 
from which water is flowing. On the other side of the emperor, at his right foot, 
is another river-god with Ms right arm resting on an urn from which water is 
flowing. 

The rivers personified on these coins are the Tigris and Euphrates, between 
which Armenia and Mesopotamia are situated. The successes obtained by Trajan 
in his last expedition against the Parthians are the subjects recorded. The con- 
quered provinces were under the dominion of the Parthian kings, and were the 
first territories of any importance in the East that Trajan reduced to the sway 
of the Romans, after which he marched against Cosrhoes, and ultimately reduced 
his country also to the Roman yoke, for all which successes the Senate bestowed 
upon Trajan the title of Parthicus, as appears by the obverse legend on these and 
subsequent coins. Argelati, in Trajano, places these coins in the date a.d. 115. 

A fine Campana coin of pure aurichalcum. Weight 432 grains. 

569. 

IMP . CAES . NEB . TBAIANO . OPTIMO . AVG . GEB . DAC . P . M . TB . P . COS . VI . P . P . 

The laureate head of the emperor to the right, shoulders draped. 

]^. IMPEBATOB . villi . in the exergum, with S. 0. underneath. The emperor 
in military attire, seated on an X stool to the right, addressing several armed 
soldiers who stand before him bearing eagles and other standards ; amongst them 
is a horse, to signify the cavalry being partakers in the assemblage ; their hands 
are raised towards the emperor as applauding his address to them. 

Argelati, in Trajano, places this coin in a.d. 116, and cites it as "ex Col. 
Trajan. 6," thereby implying that this type is represented on the Column of Trajan. 
Morell in his plates of the sculptures on the Trajan Column, at No. 6, gives a repre- 
sentation of an allocutio to the troops, but there is no number viiii, or any number 
to it to signify what allocutio is intended. The allocutio on the column cannot 
refer to any other than an address made to the troops at some period of the 



TRAJAN. 285 

Dacian war ; for, as the whole of the figures and groups on the Trajan Column are 
representative of the Dacian campaigns, the allocutio on the column depicted in 
Morell cannot refer to any other than one made in that war. The allocutio 
recorded on the present coin, having been made some years after, must therefore 
refer to a transaction some years subsequent to the Dacian campaigns, and there 
is no subject so appropriate as the campaigns in Parthia, and the reduction of 
Armenia and Mesopotamia, being the last of Trajan's campaigns, and impeeator 
villi, being the last salutation of Imperator that is recorded of Trajan. 

A fine dark brown coin from the cabinet of Colonel Stewart. "Weight 3671 
grains. 

570. 

IMP . CAES . NER . TRAIANO . OPTIMO . AVG . &ER . DAC . PARTHICO . P . M . TR . P . 

COS. VI. P. P. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, his shoulders 
draped, 

5o. sENATVS . POPVLVSQVE . ROMANVS. In the exergum S. 0. Two elegant 
trophies of arms side by side. 

Havercamp, in describing this and the foUoMong coin as they appear in the 
Christina Cabinet, refers them both to the conquest of Dacia, and he calls them 
Dacian trophies. In this I differ with him. The Dacian victories occurred in 
the early part of Trajan's reign, and the coins on which they are recorded are of 
the fifth consulate. 

In the fourth consulate the titles of Trajan end with that of Germanicus, as 
referring to his victories in Germany. In the fifth consulate the title Dacicus 
was added, and continued into the sixth consulate. In the sixth consulate the 
title Parthicus is added. These two trophies being on a coin of the sixth con- 
sulate, and the title Parthicus being introduced, evidently authorizes this coin 
to be applied to the successes gained over Dacia as the first trophy, and to 
Parthia as the second trophy. If it were confined to Dacia only, one trophy 
would suffice, although it may be said the two trophies refer to the two Dacian 
campaigns, which I do not consider likely, for, if it were so, the word parthico 
wotdd not be added to the titles on the obverse of this coin. 

A very fine earthy or grey-tinted black Second Brass coin from the Campana 
cabinet. "Weight 158^ grains. 

571. 

IMP . CAES . NER . TRAIANO . OPTIMO , AVG - GER . DAC . PARTHICO . P . M . TR . COS . 

V . p . P. The head of the emperor to the right with radiate crown, his shoulders 
draped. 



286 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORT. 

1^. SENATrs . POPVLVSQVE . ROMANVs. In the exergum S. C. The emperor 
in military costume, full front to the right, is in the act of rushing out from 
between two trophies ; on the one to the right he has placed his right hand, 
in his left hand he holds a spear and is touching the trophy at his left side. 

Referring to the note on the subject of the type on the preceding coin, it may 
be further said that the present type may not only be considered as recording all 
that is commemorated on the other coin, but it likewise shows the emperor in the 
act of hastening from his successes over the Dacians in search of further 
victories, which ended in his campaigns in Parthia, and the complete overthrow 
of the Parthian king, and the taking of Ctesiphon and Babylon, the chief cities 
possessed by the Parthians, the former being the metropolis of their empire and 
the chief residence of their kings. It was at Ctesiphon that Trajan found the 
massive golden throne of the Parthian kings which he sent to Rome, where it 
remained in the time of Hadrian, who promised the Parthians he would retui^n it 
to them, but he forgot to do so. 

The capture of Ctesiphon extended the Roman empire beyond the river 
Tigris. The senate, in their joy at Trajan's constant success, and having bestowed 
so many titles on him, at last, as embracing all their praise, passed a decree 
that he should be at liberty to enter the city of Rome in triumph as a conqueror 
whenever he pleased. 

At the sale of the collection of the coins of M. Herpin of Paris at Messrs. 
Sothebys' in 1857, there v/as a coin of Trajan in Pirst Brass I should have liked 
to have purchased. No explanation was given of its type; it was beautifully 
perfect, and the reverse was, I think, described as a countryman or colonist 
ploughing ; but it represented Trajan in civilian costume ploughing with two 
oxen, signifying his enlargement or extension of the empire, virtually of the 
boundaries of Rome. We see a similar type on the coins of Commodus ; with 
him it was the affected vanity of a crack-brained fellow, who had never been out 
of Rome whilst emperor ; but in Trajan it was the energetic progress of a 
warrior extending the boundaries and conquests of the empire. 

A fine brown Second Brass coin. Weight 2271 grains. 

572. 

IMP . CAES . NER - TRAIANO . OPTIMO . AVa . GER . DAC . PARTHICO . P.M . TR . P. 

cos . VI . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, his shoulders 
draped. 

^. REX . PARTHis . DATVS. In the exergum S. C. The emperor bare-headed, 



TRAJAN. 287 

in military costume, seated to the left on an X shaped seat placed on a raised tri- 
bunal ; a military officer is standing at his left hand, and appears to have his sword 
in his right hand, which he holds across his breast, having the point in his left 
hand in the same style as the military salute of an officer of a battalion infantry 
company at the present day. In front of the tribunal, with his back to the 
emperor, a person is standing, on Avhose head the emperor is placing a crown or 
diadem as king ; before this person, and kneeling on her right knee, is a female 
personifying Parthia with hands extended to receive the king. 

This type represents the crowning of Parthamaspates, a prince of Parthia, who 
was selected by Trajan to be their king, and whom he crowned himself when at 
Ctesiphon, with much pomj) and ceremonial. This prince continued a faithful 
ally to the Romans until the death of Trajan, upon which event the Parthians 
drove their new king from his throne, and, with other Eastern nations, revolted 
from the dominion of the Romans, who for many years after were unable to reduce 
any portion of those countries again to their power. 

The ceremony represented on this coin is thus described by Dio., lib. Ixviii. 
s. 30 — " Itaque ut Ctesiphontem venit, Romanis omnibus Parthisque qui tum 
aderant in magnam planitiem congregatis, conscensoque alto tribunali Parthamas- 
patem imposito diademate Parthis regem prsefecit." 

This coin was struck a.d. 116. The sixth consulate is the last that is men- 
tioned on the coins of Trajan ; and it is to be observed, from the number of coins 
bearing the fifth and sixth consulates, whereon events are recorded which have 
occurred through a series of many succeeding years, that, as regards the emperor, 
the consulates were evidently not successively annual. 

It is a fine coin of yellowish green tint, from the Devonshire Cabinet. Weight 
4214 grains. 

573. 

IMP . CAES . NEE, . TRAIANO . OPTIMO . AVG . GER . DAC . PARTHICO .P.M. The lau- 
reate head of the emperor to the right, shoulders draped. 

9). REGNA . ADSiGNATA. In the exergum S. C. The emperor in military cos- 
tume seated to the left on a X shaped chair placed on a tribunal ; a person stands 
on each side of him. Three persons are standing in front ; the first holds out his 
right hand to receive something which is presented to him by the emperor ; the 
person on the emperor's left also extends his hand to the second person in front. 

This type relates to the assignment of dominions to the kings of Armenia, 
Mesopotamia, and Parthia, which Avas done by Trajan in the nineteenth year of 
his reign, for in the year following he made a second expedition against Arabia, 



288 KECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

from whicb. country lie was, however, obliged to retire after several severe engage- 
ments. He afterwards died at Selinus, where his body was burned with the usual 
honours, and his ashes conveyed to Eome by his widow the empress Plotina, who 
had accompanied .him to the East. Selinus was afterwards called Trajanopolis ; it 
is a town in Cilicia, and is now called Salinti. Admiral Beaufort describes many 
remains of antiquity there ; among them the most remarkable is a low massive 
edifice composed of well-cut large blocks of stone containing a single vault ; there 
is every reason to suppose this was the basement of some splendid superstructure, 
nothins: of which now remains. 

" I cannot find (says Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort) what honours were paid 
to his (the emperor Trajan's) memory by the Cilicians, but it seems highly probable 
that a mausoleum should have been erected in the city where the decease of so 
accomplished and so popular an emperor took place ; and, if so, it is equally pro- 
bable that this building was designed for tliat purpose," (Lares et Penates, p. 34.) 

We have no funereal coins of Trajan. 

A brown coin in middling condition, from the Devonshire Cabinet. Weight 
412^ grains. It is a rare coin, and very seldom in good condition. Vaillant says 
"rarissimus est." 

574. 

IMP.CAES . NEE. TRAIANO . AVG- . GER . DAG .P.M.TR . P . COS . VI . P.P. The lau- 
reate head of the emperor to the right, shoulders draped. 

9>. SENATvs . POPVLVSQVE . ROMANvs. In the field S. 0. A female standing 
fuU front, looking to the left ; in her right hand she holds a caducous : on her left 
arm she bears a cornucopise filled with fruits. 

A water-gold coin from the Thames, from my friend C. B. Smith. Weight 
385f grains. 

575. 

[imp . CAES . nervae] - TRAIANO . AVG . GER . DAC .P.M. The unlaureato head 
of the emperor to the left, the bust full front and in armour. 

9>. s . p . Q . R . OPTIMO . PRiNciPi. In the field S. 0. A female standing to 
the left holding a hasta ptira in her left hand ; in her right hand she has some 
ears of corn ; at her right foot is a corn-modius. 

A dark green coin. Weight 413i- grains. 

576. 

IMP . CABS . NER . TRAIANO . OPTIMO . AVG . GER . DAC . PARTHICO . P . M . TR . p . COS . 

VI. P. P. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, shoulders draped. 



TRAJAN. 289 

$c. PROVIDENTIA . AVGVSTi . s . p . Q . R. In the field S. C. A stately female 
standing full front, looking to the left ; her right hand holds a short staff pointed 
downwards towards a glohe on the ground at her feet to the right, and, being 
circular, it represents the world, or Roman world, orbis Bomanus ; her left hand 
holds a hasta pura, and her left elbow rests on a short column that is placed at 
her left side. 

A fine bronze coin. "Weight 364f grains. 

577. 

IMP . CAES . NER . TRAIANO . OPTIMO . AVG . GERM. The head of the emperor to 
the right, with radiate crown. 

$0. DAC . PARTHico . p . M . TB . POT . XX . COS . VI . p . p . A large thick wreath 
of laurel ; S. 0. within it. 

This reverse records the honour of the triumphal wreath which was bestowed on 
Trajan upon the accompKshment of his successes in the East, and which, by the 
tribunician date, would be in a.d. 117. 

The Senate had already struck a coin with the civic wreath of oak-leaves and 
acorns in honour of the emperor's victories over the Dacians, and the reduction of 
their country to the condition of a E-oman province, as we have already noticed ; 
but the legend on the present coin has the titles optimo and parthico. By the 
latter word it is evident that the honours now accorded were for the success of the 
emperor and his armies in Parthia. This coin, therefore, of the mintage a.d. 117, 
in the twentieth and last year of Trajan's reign, refers to the complete overthrow 
of the Parthian kingdom in the preceding year : and with this coin we end our 
series of the Latin coins of Trajan. 

A fine black Second Brass coin. Weight 123| grains. 



The following coins are Alexandrian coins in Large Brass, and are retained for 
the excellence of their preservation, as well as for their historic interest. Several 
of them are unique and unpublished. They were obtained some years back from 
Mr. Borrell, of Smyrna, a gentleman well known in the numismatic world for his 
skill and abilities. 

Mr. Samuel Sharpe, in his work of " --Egypt under the Romans," ed. 1842, 
p. 57, says, "The -3]jgyptian coinage of the eleventh year of Trajan is very 
remarkable for its beauty : " also, " on this series of the coins of Trajan we find a 
rich variety of fables, taken both from ^Egyptian and Greek mythology." 

2p 



290 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

Mr. Sharpe might, with great propriety, have taken the whole range of the 
Alexandrian coins of Trajan, for in the few specimens now following it will be 
seen that up to the twentieth year of Trajan the Egyptian mint produced many 
very beautiful specimens of great historic interest. 

The ^Egyptian year was different in its arrangement to the year of the B;omans, 
The Roman year commenced on the first day of January, and ended on the thirty- 
first day of December, and consisted of 365 days, according to the plan of Julius 
Csesar, and which mode of reckoning is now almost universally adopted throughout 
Europe. The j^lgyptian agriculturists commenced their year on the day of the 
heliacal rising of the Dogstar, that is, about the 18th day of July ; while for the 
dates of king's reigns and civil purposes a year was used of 365 days, which would 
consequently have a moveable new year's day. By a decree of Augustus, the 
year of Julius Csesar or the JuHan year of 365 days and a quarter was used. 

We must, therefore, consider that in the following coins, the years to which 
they refer are calculated by the Julian periods, as established by the decree of 
Augustus. 

We have made these few remarks on the ^Egyptian and Roman modes of 
reckoning the term of a year, because on the imperial Alexandrian series of coins, 
as applicable to the Romans, the Julian mode of reckoning was taken and used at 
the mint, and the date of its coinage was impressed on each coin, and reckoned by 
letters of the Greek alphabet answering to numbers, thus rendering certain what 
is uncertainty in the Roman coinage, which we are obliged to reckon by consulate 
or tribunician power, the former of which is by no means accurate for fixing the 
date of an event, as we have had occasion to remark in the coins of cos . v . ranging 
through several years, and cos . vi . the same. 

The tribunician date is the most certain means of fixing the period of an event 
on a Roman coin ; but on the coins of some of the emperors the tr . pot. is 
marked without the addition of the number or date of the tribunician year. 

578. 

rePM . AAK The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

|c. No legend. The emperor in a quadriga passing gently to the right ; his 
right hand is raised, and in his left he holds a sceptre ornamented at the top with 
an eagle. In the field above the horses are the letters lia, or Leucubantos II., 
being the date of the eleventh year of the reign of Trajan, when it was struck at 
the mint. 



TRAJAN. 291 

It is most probable from the legend on the obverse bearing the word aakik, or 
DACicvs, that this type has reference to the successful campaigns'of Trajan in 
Dacia, and the emperor is in his triumphal chariot for these successes ; but by 
the Roman coin the triumph for Dacian victories took place a.d, 107, in the tenth 
year of Trajan's reign. StiU, aUowing Alexandria to be a distant province of the 
empire, the triumphal record might without any impropriety appear on a coia 
minted in a province some time after the event had occurred, and yet have 
reference to such event. I consider there can be no doubt this type refers to the 
triumph for Dacian victories. 

A fine brown coin. Weight 319i grains. 

579. 

avt . TPAiAN . ceB . rePM . AAKIK. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

51. A square temple with a large triangular pediment ; in the tympanum is a 
round object; each of the lower angles of the pediment is supported by two 
massive colmnns, and apparently intercolumniated ; in the centre between the 
columns is the large figure of an idol holding a liasta pura in its left hand, its 
right hand extended towards an altar which is at the right side ; in the field 
at the sides are the letters lia. 

A very good brown coin. Weight 3421 grains. 

580. 

AVT . KAi . Nep . tpaia . CGB . rep The laureate head of the emperor 

to the right. 

Jo. No legend. The emperor in a car drawn by two centaurs to the right, his 
right hand raised, the left holding a sceptre. The centaur to the right has turned 
his head to the emperor, and with its right hand presents him a Victoriola ; the 
centaur to the left hand of the emperor is looking forward, and extends its left 
hand with a Victoriola which is presenting a wreath ; above them in the field is 
the date lib or 12. 

A brown coin with fine reverse. Weight 3154 grains. 

581. 

Legend defaced. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 
9). No legend. A small figure in a car drawn to the right by two large 

2p2 



292 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

winged serpents, in an undulatory posture and motion, each of them having a 
sort of feathered plume on its head. In the exergum lib. 

The car drawn by winged serpents is the attribute of Ceres. See the Dialogues 
of Agostini, the Archbishop of Tarragona. See also Ceres described, in a car 
drawn by serpents, in a painting discovered in an ancient Hetruscan tomb at 
Tarquinii. (Dennis, Hetruria, vol. i. p. 348, in notis.) The winged serpents also 
belong to the jEgyptian mythology. 

A brown coin, with fine reverse. Weight 425^ grains. 

582. 

AVT . TPAiAN . ces . pepM The laureate head of the emperor to the right, 

shoulders draped. 

Jc. No legend. A Victory in a car drawn by two horses to the right, having 
the reins in her left hand, whilst with her right she holds up a wreath, lib . in 
the field above the horses. 

A very good brown coin. The device beautifully designed. Weight 342 
grains. 

583- 

repM . AAKiK. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9>. No legend. A trophy of arms to the right, before which is a Victory with 
a palm-branch in her left hand; in her right hand she holds some ornament 
she is about to affix to the trophy. In the field lib. 

A good-conditioned brown coin. Weight 405-|- grains. 

584. 

. . . TPAIAN . ceB . repM . aakik. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

^. No legend. Isis seated on a throne to the right ; she is crowned with a 
lotus-flower, and in her lap she has a small figure of Horus ; a hawk is perched 
at each corner of the back of her throne. In the field lib. 

A fine brown coin. Weight 363f grains. 

585. 

AVT . TPAIAN . cee . repM . aakik. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

9>. No legend. A triumphal arch of three entrances, the centre arch being 
large and high, those at the side being smaller ; broad friezes go across the whole 
front over the arches ; on the summit above the centre arch are six horses abreast, 



TEA J AN. 293 

as if drawing a chariot ; at each side at the ends are sculptured figures. In the 
field Lir, or the year 13. 

Another fine brown coin. Weight 371| grains. 

586. 

AVT . KAi . TPAiAN . CGB . rep . AAKiK. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

$1. No legend. A large figure of Osiris, full front, haying a modius on his 
head ; on each side, in the upper part of the field, are two ornamented German 
or Dacian shields, crossed ; his left hand is extended towards an eagle which 
is perched on a short column at the left side, and his right hand holds a patera 
over a peculiarly-formed altar at his right side. In the field Lir. 

This figure is not that of an Osiris proper, but of Osiris Apis or Serapis. 

A good brown coin. Weight 456^- grains. 

587. 

AVT . TPAIAN . cGB . TSPM The laureate head of the emperor to the 

right, the bust in armour. 

9). No legend. The front of a temple supported by a single column at each 
end of the pediment, which is narrow, and has in the tympanum apparently a 
scarabceus or a globe with extended wings. In front is a figure which appears 
to be crowned with wheat-ears, bearing a cornucopise on the left arm. In the 
right hand she holds up a sistrum ; at her feet, on the right, an animal is seated, 
which, by the arching of the back, seems to be a cat ; on the left side a dog is 
seated ; both of these animals being objects of Mgj-ptian veneration. In the 
field LIT. 

A very good brown coin. Weight 314| grains. 

588. 

AVT . TPAIAN . CGB . rePM . AAKIK. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9>. No legend. The emperor in a car drawn to the right by four elephants 
without their riders ; his right band extended holds an olive branch, iu his left 
hand he has a sceptre surmounted by an eagle. Over the elephants, in the field, 
is the date lia, or year 14. 

This coin is unpublished ; it is a very fine brown coin. Weight 3081 grains. 



294 EECORDS OF ROMAN HISTOBY. 



589. 




AVT.TPAiAN.ceB.rePM. AAKiK. Tlie laureate head of the emperor to the 
left. 

9.. No legend. The twin brothers Castor and Pollux with stars over their 
heads, each having his horse by his side, and holding his spear, the one in his 
right hand, the other in his left hand, so that their points cross at the top. The 
date of this coin is Lie, or year 15. 

This is also an unpublished coin ; it is in very fine condition, brown in colour. 
Weight 280| grains. 

590. 

AVT . TPAiAN . CGB . rePM . AAKIK. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

9>. No legend. Nilus recumbent to the left ; in his right hand he holds a reed 
or sedge, in the left a cornucopise filled with fruits ; underneath him is a crocodile 
moving to the right ; above in the field Lie . 

A very good brown coin. Weight 319^ grains. 



591. 

AVT.TPAiAN.ceB.rePM. AAKIK. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right ; the bust in armour, the front of the breast-plate decorated with victories. 

^. No legend. Jupiter seated to the left, with the hasta pura in his right 
hand ; in his left he has what appears to be a reed or sedge ; on the ground, at 
his right side, is a large eagle with its head turned looking at Jupiter. In the 
field LIS, or year 16. 

Another very good brown coin. Weight 349? grains. 



TRAJAN. 



295 



592. 




AVT . TPAIAN . ces . rePM . AAKiK . The laureate head of Trajan to the right ; the 
bust in armour. 

9'. No legend. A female standing to the right, holding with both hands a 
ship's sail, which has swollen outward ; at her left side is a short round column, 
on the upper part of which are two tritons, one on each side, and above, on a 
short projection from the first part of the column, a small figure is standing ; 
above in the field are the letters lis, year 16. 

This coin was struck on the occasion of the emperor leaving jEgypt. He took 
his departure from the port of Alexandria, as represented by the sail in the hands 
of the female being swollen outward, a type of his leaving with a fair wind. The 
type on this coin, which is not particularly rare, except for state of preservation, 
is usually called Isis Pharia ; the female figure signifying Isis as Preserver, and 
the short column intending a pharos, watch-tower, or lighthouse. 

A very fine coin, black colour, from the Price Cabinet. Weight 427 1 grains. 



593. 

AVT. TPAIA. ces. rePM. AAKIK. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

|l. No legend. Two females, one seated to the left holding a hasta pura 
in the left hand ; in her right hand she has some ears of corn ; on her head there 
appears a lotus-flower. The other female is standing before her as if she were 
speaking to her, and holds in her right hand a long jointed torch with fire bm'ning 
on the top ; with her left hand she places a small globe on the lap of the seated 
female ; there appears to be a veil at the back part of the head falling on to her 
shoulders. The date is lis, or year 16. 

A brown coin ; very fine reverse. Weight 420f grains. 



296 



RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 



594. 

AVT . TPAiAN . CGb . rGPM . AAKIK. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

eiPHNH . KAi . OMONOiA. Peace and Concord. Two females standing opposite 
each other, their right hands joined ; the one to the right holds up in her left 
hand some ears of corn ; the one to the left has on her left arm a cornucopise 
filled with fruits ; the date in the field lis, or year 16. 

A very fine brown coin. Weight 313^ grains. 

595. 




AVT . TPAIAN . CGb . rGPM . AAKIK. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

^. No legend. The emperor in militai'y costume is standing full front and 
looking to the left, holding a spear erect in his right hand, his cloak folded round 
his left arm, and a sceptre or parazonium in his left hand ; at his feet to the 
right is a person in Oriental costume kneeling down, his face raised towards the 
emperor as if speaking to him, his hands extended forward in token of supplica- 
cation. In the field lih. 

This coin is inedited ; its type signifies the same event as on the Latin coin 
ante relating to Dacia. 

A fine brown coin. Weight 230 grains. 



596. 

AVT. TPAIAN. C6B.repM. AAKIK. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

|d. JSfo legend. A graceful female figure reclining on a couch to the left, 
supported at the shoulders by cushions ; at her left side is a rudder ; her right 
hand crossed over holds the tiller ; on her head is a lotus-flower. In the field 
above her is the date Lie, or year 19. 

A very fine brown coin. Weight 295 grains. 



PLOTINA. 

597. 



297 




AVT . TPAIAN . ces . rePM . AAKIK. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9>. No legend. The emperor laureate, and in full military costume, is seated 
on a curule chair to the left, holding a spear in his left hand ; his right hand is 
extended towards a female who stands before him wearing a turreted crown, 
representing Alexandria ; her left hand holds a hasta pura, with her right hand 
she presents a wreath to the emperor. In the field Lie. 

Another very fine brown coin. Weight 250|: grains. 

598. 

AVT. TPAIAN. ceB.rePM. AAKIK. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped, and in armour. 

$0. No legend. Jupiter laureate, seated on a throne to the left ; on his left 
arm he supports rather a clumsy representation of a fulmen, in the right hand he 
holds a hasta pura ; at the right side of his seat is a large eagle with its head 
turned looking towards him. In the field are the letters Lie, or year 19. 

Another very fine brown coin. "Weight 300| grains. 



PLOTINA. 
PoMPEiA Plotina, the wife of the emperor Trajan, was one of the most estimable 
of the Roman empresses. Her family, and the place and time of her birth, are 
unknown. She had been married to Trajan for a considerable period before his 
adoption by Nerva, and died childless in a.d. 129, having survived her husband 
twelve years. She was a woman of amiable manners, and lived in the greatest 
harmony with Marciana and Matidia, the former being the sister of Trajan and 
the mother of Matidia, whose daughter Sabina was married to Hadrianus, who, 
by the influence of Plotina, was adopted by Trajan (although the old emperor did 
not much like him), and afterwards succeeded him. in the sovereignty. 

2q 



298 BECOEDS OP EOMAN HISTORY. 

The coins of Plotina, Marciana, and Matidia are very rare, but not equally rare 
with Domitia and two or three other empresses whose coins are almost un- 
attainable. 

599. 

PLOTINA . AVG . IMP , TRAiANi. The head of the empress to the right wearing 
a frontal coronet, the hair dressed in plaits and hung in a long plaited loop 
behind ; her shoiilders slightly draped. 

]^. FIDES . AVGVST. In the field S. C. A female standing to the right ; her 
left hand extended holds a patera or small punnet containing fruits ; in her right 
hand she has some ears of corn. 

A good aurichalcum coin. Weight 347 grains. 

600. 

PLOTINAB . AVG . TRAiANi . AVG. The head of the empress to the right, her hair 
dressed as on the preceding coin. 

9'. VENEBi . GENETKici. In the field S. 0. Venus standing to the right ; her 
right hand raises her veil ; the left presents an apple. 

This type is again represented on the coins of Sabina, and also of Faustina 
Senior. At E,ome a temple was erected to Venus Genetrix by Scipio Africanus 
the younger. 

The precise counterpart of this coin was sold in the Earl of Pembroke's collec- 
tion. The Pembroke coin is mentioned in Eckhel, vi. p. 466 ; it is so similar to 
the present coin as to make me believe they both came from the same dies. 

A black coin in good condition. 

601. 

PLOTINA . AVG . IMP . TRAiANi. The head of the empress to the right ; hair 
dressed as before. 

^. AETERNiTAS. In the field S. C. A veiled female standing full front 
looking to the right with the hasta pura in her left hand, her right hand raised as 
if speaking. 

There is no doubt this coin is genuine, but, it being unknown in any collection, 
and the coins of Plotina being very rare, any coin with a new reverse is generally 
doubted ; in the present case it is a most appropriate type. It is a struck coin of 
Koman aurichalcum, and in fine condition. It was formerly in the cabinet of 
Mr. BenweU. Weight 463|- grains. 

A similar reverse is to be seen on the coins of Faustina Junior. 



MAECIANA— MATIDIA. 299 

MARCIANA. 
Marciana was the sister of the emperor Trajan ; the period of her birth is 
■tmlmowrL ; she was married, but to whom and when is also unknown. It is 
considered she had become a widow before the adoption of Trajan by the emperor 
Nerva. She continued on terms of great friendship with her brother and the 
empress Plotina up to the time of her death, which occurred in about a.d. 114. 

Marciana was the mother of Matidia and the grandmother of Sabiaa the 
empress, wife of Hadrian. 

602. 

DIVA . AVGVSTA . MAKCIANA. The head of Marciana to the right, with orna- 
mented frontal coronet, her hair braided with great taste at the back of her head ; 
the shoulders draped. 

9>. coNSBCRATio. On the exergum S. 0. An eagle standing fuU front with 
expanded wings, its head turned to the right. 

A fine large well-spread First Brass coin of yellowish green earthy look. 
Weight 405| grains. 

603. 

Divi . AVGVSTA . MAHOIANA. The head of Marciana to the right, as on the last 
coin ; shoulders draped. 

Je. EX . SENATVS . CONSVLTO. In the excrgum S. C. A decorated car drawn 
to the left by two elephants, each having its rider ; on the car is placed a throne, 
on which is a seated figure with veiled head to represent Marciana, holding a 
patera in the right hand, in the left a hasta pura. 

A black brown coin, fine condition. Weight 346 grains. 



MATIDIA. 

Matibia was the daughter of Marciana and niece of the Emperor Trajan, and 
mother of Sabina, who was married to Hadrian. The time and place of her 
birth are not known, nor have we as yet any record of the person to whom she 
was married or when, or the date of her decease. History supplies very scanty 
materials of information regarding her, and coins stiU less. 

604. 

MATIDIA . AVG . DivAE . MABCIANAE . E. The head of Matidia to the right, with 
frontal coronet ; the hair is carefully dressed, and drawn up behind and braided 
with strings of pearl ; shoulders draped. 

2q2 



300 EECOEDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

9>, PIETAS . AVGVST. In the exergum S. C. A female standing to the left ; 
her hands are placed on the heads of two children, who stand one on each side 
looking up to her. 

This type represents the princess and her two daughters Sahina and Matidia, 
the latter of whom died in early life, although it is not known when. Sahiaa, 
the other daughter, hecame the wife of Hadrian. 

Pietas, as a virtue, is on the Roman coins mostly represented veiled, but 
when that is the case, it is usually accompanying some act of religious cere- 
mony, not so when merely of a moral character. 

A good dark green coin from the Thomas Cabinet. Weight 445 f grains. 



HADRIAN. 

The tribunician dates of Hadrian's reign are as follows. The Emperor Trajan 
died August a.d. 117 ; thus — 



A.D. 117. 


August to 31st December, 


117 


Trib. 


Pot, 


1 — 


COS. 1. 


118. 


January 


1 to December 31, 


118 


!) 




2 — 


„ 2. et Ti. CI. Fuscus Salinator. 


119. 


f) 


)j 


119 


» 




3 — 


„ 3. et Q. Junius Eusticus. 


120. 


jj 


)) 


120 


» 




4 




121. 


)j 


j; 


121 


J? 




5 




122. 


j> 


J> 


122 


» 




6 




123. 


ji 


31 


123 


3) 




7 




124. 


)? 


3J 


124 


37 




8 




125. 


tj 


JJ 


125 


33 




9 




126. 


>i 


)J 


126 


33 




10 




127. 


jt 


JJ 


127 


33 




11 




128. 


J7 


)> 


128 


» 




12 




129. 


?J 


?J 


129 


33 




13 




130. 


TJ 


)? 


130 


33 




14 




131. 


V 


>> 


131 


33 




15 




132. 


}} 


3? 


132 


!3 




16 




133. 


» 


» 


133 


33 




17 




134. 


>t 


!) 


134 


33 




18 




135. 


J) 


)) 


135 


33 




19 




136. 


JJ 


)J 


136 


33 




20 




137. 


J) 


J? 


137 


33 




21 




138. 


IJ 


to June 


138 


Hadrian died 22 





PuBLius JilLiiJS Hadeiantjs was the son of tEKus Hadrianus Afer, (a cousin of 
the Emperor Trajan,) and Domitia Paulina, descendants of an ancient Hetruscan 



HADRIAN. 301 

family in Umbria. He was born at Rome a.d. 76. At the age of fifteen he 
joined the army, and in a.d. 101 he was made quEestor ; afterwards, in a.d. 105, 
he was elected tribune of the people. 

Before he became qnsestor he married Sabina, the daughter of Matidia, and 
thus became nearly allied to the imperial family. Nevertheless, he was no 
favourite with the old emperor Trajan, who never conferred any particular 
honours upon him. 

The empress Plotina not having any children of her own to succeed to the 
imperial purple, she used her friendly offices and influence with Trajan, and 
procured him to adopt Hadrian as his successor. Hadrian succeeded in a.d. 117 ; 
and after reigning prosperously for nearly twenty-two years, he expired at Baiae 
A.D. 138, leaving no child. He had, however, adopted ^lius Caesar as his suc- 
cessor ; but he dying in a.d. 136, he selected Marcus Antoninus, afterwards 
called Antoninus Pius, to be the future emperor. 

The coins of Hadrian are very numerous, and with some exceptions are easily 
to be obtained at sales ; and in Large Brass they are generally of a good-sized 
module, and rounded flan ; but as a general rule, the ordinary coins of Hadrian 
are difficult to be obtained in fine preservation, which renders it by no means 
easy to have a series of coins in good regular size and condition. Some devices 
are very rare indeed, especially when in fine condition. 

The coins in this series are all of fine module, the earlier coins especially. 

605. 

IMP . CAES . DIVI . TEA . PARTE . F . DIVI . NER . NEP . TRAIANO . HADRIANO . AVG. 

The laureate head of Hadrian to the right, the bust in armour. 

|)o. PONT . max.tr. POT. COS. In the exergum port. red. In the field S. C. 
Fortune seated to the left on a throne ; her right hand extended holds the tiller 
of a rudder ; on her left arm she bears a full cornucopise. 

At the time of the emperor Trajan's death, Hadrian, who commanded the 
army in Syria, was at Antioch, to which place the news was conveyed to him ; 
and he then returned to Syria, and from thence to Rome. 

By the tribunicia potestas not having any number, this coiu was struck 
A D. 117, to record the return of Hadrian to Rome from Syria. Although according 
to Eckhel, vol. vi. p. 477, Hadrian returned to Rome through lUyria a.d. 118 ; 
and he refers to Spartianus in proof, and the type adventvs is quoted. If that be 
so, and the adventvs type is to mean the actual arrival of Hadrian in Rome, then 
the present type is anticipatory and supplicatory for the safe arrival of Hadrian. 



302 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

The coins of Hadrian, with, the designations of the emperor Trajan, are those 
which were struck at the commencement of the reign. Soon after then the titles 
of Trajan are omitted, and ultimately it is merely the legend hadrianvs . 

AVGVSTVS. 

A good brown coin. Weight 364-|- grains. 

606. 

IMP . CAES . BIVI . TRAIAN . AVG . F . TRAIANO . HADRIAN . OPT . AVG . GER . The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right, the bust in armour. 

$c. DAC . PARTHico . p . M .TR . p . COS .P.P. In the field S. 0. and in the exergum 
CONCORDIA. A female seated on a square seat to the left ; her right hand 
extended holds a patera, her left elbow rests on the back of her chair, on the 
ground by her left side is a cornucopise. 

By the concordia I apprehend is implied the good understanding which had 
been jsroduced between the emperor Trajan and Hadrian by the good offices of the 
empress Plotina which occasioned the adoption of Hadrian. It would not have 
been proper to have made the legend concordia . avgvstorvm as we find on the 
coins of Aurelius and of Verus, for, although it was understood that Hadrian 
would become the successor of Trajan, yet the latter had not nominated Hadrian 
either caesar or avgvstvs. The mint-master could therefore only use the 
word concordia to signify the event, and then only ea: post facto, and to compli- 
ment Hadrian when he became emperor. 

The present coin is of the first consulate, and the first tribunician period, 

A.D. 117. 

A yellowish black coin very fine. Weight 504| grains. 

607. 

IMP . CAES . DIVI . TRAIAN . AVG . P . TRAIANO . HADRIANO . OPT . AVG . GER . The 

laureate head of Hadrian to the right, the bust in armour. 

9). DAC. PARTHICO . P.M. TR. p. COS. p. p. In the field S. C, and in the 
exergum concordia . A female seated to the left ; her right hand extended 
holds a patera, her left elbow rests on the head of a small figure placed on a 
square base at the side of the chair, on the ground by her left side is a full 
cornucopise. 

In noticing the preceding coin, we have already stated the cause which we 
apprehend occasioned this type. It is evident, from the inscriptions and titles 
on this and the preceding coin, the word cos . being used singly without any 



HADRIAN. 303 

numeral, that they were struck on the accession of Hadrian, and in his first 
consulate, thus shewing by the termination p.p. or pater . patriae that the title 
was conferred on Hadrian immediately on his accession to the sovereignty in 

A.D. 117. 

Argelati, in Sadriano, describes two denarii of Hadrian with the respective 
types ADOPTio and pietas having cos. p.p., and two other denarii, pietas and 
IVSTITIA, having cos , p.p ., placing aU four coins under the date a.d. 117, and the 
same with two brass coins inscribed Concordia with cos .p.p. 

Occo likewise, in describing a denarius of Hadrian of the type pietas, and 
also one of the type ivstitia, with the legends very nearly alike, and also a brass 
coin with legends similar to those on the present coin, including the p. p. on each, 
places them all under the date a.d. 118. 

That the word cos . singly without numeral is applied to the first consulate or 
year of his accession is evident from another coiu noticed by Occo, a denarius, the 
reverse concordia, with the reverse legend te . pot . cos . des . ii., shewing the 
cos. to be for the first consulate, the tr . pot. to be for the first tribunician year, 
and that the des. was a notification that he was nominated [designatus) to be 
elected consul for the second time, having already been Consul I. This coin is 
also placed under the date A d. 118 ; beside the cos. singly, there is the tr . pot. 
singly ; had it been in the second or third year, it would probably have been 
TR .p. II. or TR.p.iii. ; but the cos. and tr . p. being without any number clearly 
show this and the other coins whereon they are found to be of the first year of 
the reign. 

Eekhel, in vol. vi., p. 515, enters into a very long dissertation on the time 
when the title p.p. or pater . patriae was conferred on Hadrian, and which, 
from marbles and ancient histories, he seems to consider as commencing in the 
eleventh year of his reign ; but coins struck in his first and second consulates, that 
is in A.D. 117 and 118, clearly establish the fact that the title was borne by him 
at that period. Historians who do not consult coins may easily fall into mistakes ; 
but coins struck at the very time cannot err, and it is by them that the conjectures 
of historians are to be rectified. Eekhel, judging from marbles, may have been 
misled by an inscription terminating vrith the numerals ii. to signify two or second 
consulate, or second year, and he may thus have been led to call it eleven. 

I will add further this remark as to the p.p. — that no master of the mint would 
have allowed his coin dies to have been thus engraved, unless the title had been 
authorised by the Senate ; for had he ventured so to do, he would have stood in 
danger of great disgrace, if not of his life ; besides the S. 0. or senatus consulto, 



304 EECOBDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

is evidence of the coin having been struck by a decree of the Senate ; therefore, 
with all due respect for those excellent writers, I see no reason at present for 
denying the ascription of the p.p. to Hadrian on becoming emperor, or why he 
should have waited eleven years for it. 

I will just add a remark by Eckhel regardiug the p . p., that it may be borne 
in mind in collecting coins of Hadrian of cos . ii. After observing upon a coiu 
said to have the reverse legend cos . ii . p . p. only — " Satis est enim advertere 
nullum nummum Consulatus II. hactenus cognitum oiferre memoratam hanc 
capitis epigraphen, aut etiam caput quale pictura exhibet loco protomes, quam hoc 
anno fuisse in usu iu prolegominis ad nummos Consulatus III. affatim probavi." 

The coin Eckhel alludes to he thus describes : 

HADRiANVS . AVGVSTVS. Caput laureatum. 

!p). cos . II . p.p. Cybele quadrigis leonum invecta. 

The head he speaks of is the large-sized head to the right, without any drapery 
on the shoulders ; and I have never yet seen it on the coins of Hadrian untU the 
third consulate, although Eckhel quotes it as of cos . ii. 

A fine green coin. Weight 381f grains. 

608. 

IMP . CAES . DIVI . TRAIAN . AVG . F . TRAIAN . HADRIAN . OPT . AVG . GER. The 

laureate head of Hadrian to the right, bust in armour. 

Jo. DAC . PARTHico . p . M . TR . p . COS . II . P.P. In the cxcrgum S. C. Two per- 
sons robed standing opposite each other, the one on the right delivering a mimdus 
or globe to him who stands on the left ; this type is emblematic of the adoption of 
Hadrian by Trajan. In Occo, p. 223, there is a denarius quoted with nearly the 
same legends as the present coin, struck in the first consulate of Hadrian, and on 
which the word adoptio appears, the type being described thus : " duse figurse 
togatae jungentes dextras; " and in p. 224 he quotes a brass coin having similar 
legends to the present, with the addition of concordia, with the type, " duse 
figurse dextris tenentes globum." 

The present type is the first noticed by Admiral Smyth in the series of Hadrian's 
coins in his cabinet. It is a fine dark green coin. Weight 359 grains. 

609. 

IMP . CAES . TRAIANVS . HADRIANVS . AVG. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right. 

|o. PONT . MAX . TR . POT . CCS . II. In the exergum adventvs . avg and S. C. 



HADRIAN. 305 

underneath. Eoma seated to the right on a cuirass, behind which is a shield ; her 
left hand holds a spear upright; her right hand extended joins the emperor's 
right hand, who is before her in his robes. 

This type records the arrival of Hadrian in Rome, on his accession to the 
sovereignty ; from its consulate, it appears to have been struck soon after his 
arrival, which would place the mintage early in the year 118. 

A very fine dark green coin. Weight 400| grains. 

610. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANVS . HADRiANUs . AVG. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right. 

9'. PONT . MAX . TR . POT . COS . II. In the exergum port . red . and S. C. under- 
neath. A female with her head veiled, seated to the left, her left foot resting on a 
stool ; in her right hand she holds the tiller of a rudder ; her left arm bears a cor- 
nucopise filled with fruits. 

This type refers to the return of Hadrian to Rome from Syria, and may, with 
propriety, be taken in conjunction with the preceding coin adventvs. 

A fine dark green coin. 

611. 

IMP . CAES . DIVI . TRA . PARTH . E . DIVI . NER . NEP - TRAIANO . HADRIANO . AV&. 

The laureate head of the emperor to the right, bust in armour. 

9>. PONT . MAX . TR . POT . COS . II. In the exergum S. 0. Three military stan- 
dards. The centre one bears an eagle, type of the legionary forces. That on the 
right has the manipulus, and that on the left bears a wreath, both of them 
applying to cohorts. 

The type records the fidelity of the army to the new emperor. The full 
legend on the obverse shows this coin to have been struck in the first years of the 
emperor's reign. 

A very fine light green coin in Second Brass. Weight 184| grains. 

612. 

IMP . CAES . DIVI . TRA . PARTH . F . DIVI . NER . NEP . TRAIANO . HADRIANO . AVG. 

The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

|c. IMP . CAES . DIVI . TRA . PARTH . E . DIVI . NER . NEP . TRAIANO . HADRIANO . AVG. 

The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

Both these heads are in the same style, and it is very evident they are not 
the produce of accident in mis-placing the dies, but that the coin was struck from 

2r 



306 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

dies engraved for the occasion. There are two or three sorts of these bicipitous 
coins of Hadrian, and there is also one of Trajan ; but I do not remember ever 
to have seen similar coins of other emperors, and all I have seen have, like this, 
been in Second Brass. 

A very good brown coin from the cabinet of Sir George Musgrave. 

613. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAiANvs . HADRiANVS . AVG. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right. 

9>. PONT . MAX . TR . POT . COS . II. In the field S. C. and in the exergum 
ANNONA . AV&. A female standing in profile to the right, a cornucopise by her 
left arm ; at her left foot on the ground is a corn-modius ; in the background, 
on the left, is part of a galley, intimating that the supply of corn had come 
by sea. 

A very good brown coin. 

614. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANVS . HADRIANVS . AVG. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right, with full bust. 

|c. PONT . MAX . TR . POT . COS . II. In the field S. C. and in the exergum 
LIBERALITAS . AVG. The emperor or his deputy seated to the left on a curule 
chair, placed on a high square suggestmn, his right hand extended. In front 
of him is another person seated on a stool placed on a square base, but a little 
lower down ; he is in the act of putting something into the lap of a citizen who 
stands before him with his robe extended to receive the donation. At the right 
hand of the second sedent figure a female is standing with her right hand raised 
holding a tablet. 

This type records the first of the liberalities or donations made by Hadrian 
to the citizens of Rome, and being the first it was made on his accession. Eckhel, 
in Hadricmo, vol. vi. 476, cites a coin in the Vienna Cabiaet representing a libe- 
rality bestowed by the emperor Hadrian by proxy before he arrived at Rome, 
and bearing the date of cos. only, thus denoting that it was made in the first 
consulate; but the liberalities of Hadrian are all numbered, and, the present 
having liberalitas . avg. only, we may fairly conclude it is the type of the first 
donation. Eckhel accounts for the distribution of two liberalities being so quickly 
made, by quoting Spartianus, cap. vii. — " Hadrianus ad refellendum tristissimam 
de se opinionem quod occidi passus esset uno tempore quatuor consulares Romam 



HADRIAN. 307 

venit, et, ad comprimendam de se famam, congiarium duplex prsesens populo 
dedit, ternis jam per singulos aureis se absente divisis," 

This is a remarkably fine light green coin, from the Devonshire Cabiaet; 
rarely met with in so good a condition. Weight 3934 grains. 

615. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAiANUS . HADEiANUS . AVG. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right, with full bust. 

9). PONT . MAX . TK . POT . COS . II. In the exergum LiBEHAiiiTAS . avg , ii. with 
S. C. underneath. The emperor or his deputy, with other persons seated and 
standing in the manner represented on the preceding coin. 

Prom this coin being struck in the same consulate as the preceding Uberalitas, 
it may be considered to be the liberality mentioned by Spartianus under the words 
" congiarium duplex," as quoted above, thus making two liberalities in one year, 
which Spartianus says were bestowed that the attention of the citizens might be 
withdrawn from the circumstance of four men of consular dignity having been 
put to death by Hadrian. 

A good brown coin. Weight 366-|, grains. 

616. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANTJS . HADRiANVS . AV&. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right. 

|c. PONT . MAX . TR . POT . COS . DES . III. In the field S. C, and in the exergum 
ANNONA . AVG. A female standing to the left, a corn-modius at her right side, 
with ears of corn rising out of it ; ears of corn are also in her hand ; on her left 
arm is a full cornucopise ; behind her, in the background to the left, is the stern 
of a gaUey, intimating it was an importation of corn from a province beyond 
sea. 

A remarkably fine greenish-black coin. Weight 411|- grains. 

617. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANUS . HADRIANUS . AVG . P . M . TR. P . COS . III. The laureate 

head of the emperor to the right. 

51. RELiQUA . VETERA . HS . NOViEs . MILL . ABOLiTA. In the field S. 0. A lictor 
bearing his axe and fasces on his left arm standing to the left ; in his right hand 
he holds a torch, with which he is setting fire to a bundle of papers piled up before 
him. 

2 r2 



308 KECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

This coin and the two that follow record the munificent act of Hadrian soon 
after his arrival in llonie, in ordering all the bonds and registers of public debts 
which had been accumulating for many years, and were owing to the treasury by 
a great number of the patricians and citizens of Rome, and the provinces and 
municipia, amounting to between seven and eight millions of pounds sterling, to 
be burned, which was done accordingly in the Porum Trajani. 

A good brown coin. Weight 37*7-1- grains. 

618. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANVS . HADRIANVS . AVG . P . M . TR . P . COS . III. The laureate 

head of the emperor to the right. 

5c. RELIQVA . VETERA . HS . NOVIES . MILL . ABOLITA. In the excrgum S. 0. A 

lictor with his axe and fasces on his left arm standing to the left, holding a torch 
in his right hand and setting fire to a pile of papers on the ground ; in front of 
him are two citizens with hands raised in applause. 
A good brown coin also. Weight 368^ grains. 

619. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANVS . HADRIANVS . AVG . P . M . TR , P . COS . III. The laureate 

head of the emperor to the right. 

9>. RELIQVA . VETERA . HS . NOVIES . MILL . ABOLITA. In the excrgum S. C. A 
lictor with his axe and fasces on his left arm standing to the left, and with a torch 
in his right hand ; he is setting fire to a pile of papers on the ground before him ; 
in front are three citizens, who raise their hands in applause. 

We have just stated the cause for these types being struck. It seems, although 
this munificent act of Hadrian took place on his first arrival in Rome, there is no 
doubt, from the type being repeated in the third consulate, the Senate considered it 
a matter most worthy to be kept in remembrance on the coinage. Spartianus, in 
Hadriano, c. vii. says — " Ad colligendum autem gratiam nihil prsetermittens, 
infinitam pecuniam quae fisco debebatur privatis debitoribus in urbe atque Italia 
in provinciis vero etiam ex reliquis ingentes summas remisit, syngraphis in foro 
Divi Trajani quo magis securitas omnibus roboraretur incensis ;" and Dio also, 
lib. Ixix. s. 8, says, " Ut Romam venit quidquid aut fisco aut publico Romanorum 
serario debebatur remisit, sexdecem annorum definiens tempus ex quo et usque ad 
quod tempus beneficium istud observandum esset." 

Eckhel, vol. vi. p. 478, calculates the value of these debts at about sixty millions 
of Austrian florins, or thirty millions of Roman scudi — " scutorum Romanorum." 

A very good brown coin from the Devonshire Cabinet. Weight 360^ grains. 



HADRIAN. 309 

620. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANVS . HADRIANVS . AVG . P . M , TR . P . COS . III. The laureate 

head of the emperor to the right. 

9'- LIBERTAS . PUBLiCA. In the exergum S. C. A female seated to the left on a 
throne ; her right hand holds an olive-branch, the left bears a Msta pura, her left 
foot resting on a stool. 

This type was probably occasioned by the satisfaction the Senate and people of 
E-ome felt on finding themselves enjoying a state of public peace and liberty 
brought about by the emperors Nerva and Trajan, and which it was evidently the 
intention of Hadrian to keep undisturbed. 

A fine brown coin. "Weight ^^2\ grains. 

621. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANVS . HADRIANVS . AVG. The laureate head of the emperor, 
with full bust. 

Jl. PONT . MAX . TR . POT . COS . III. In the field S. C. ; and in the exergum 
LIBERTAS . RESTITVTA. The emperor seated to the left on a curule chair placed on 
a square base, his right hand extended towards a female who stands before him as 
speaking to him, and presenting an infant with her left hand ; the child's hands are 
stretched out towards the emperor ; by her right hand the female leads another 
child who is at her right side. 

A fine greenish brown coin. Weight 407| grains. 

622. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANVS . HADRIANVS . AVG. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right. 

9). PONT . MAX . TR . POT . COS . III. In the field S. C. In the exergum 
LIBERTAS . RESTITVTA. The emperor and the female and children, as on the other 
coin, save that the female has placed her left foot on a high stool to enable her to 
lean nearer towards the emperor. 

On the coins of Trajan, ante, we have the type alimentvm . italiae on three 
coins recording the bounty given and provided by the late emperor Trajan for the 
maintenance of the children of poor citizens throughout Italy and the provinces, 
the third coin we have so described being in its representation very like the 
two present coins. 



310 



KECOUDS or ROMAN HISTORY. 



The emperor Hadrian carried his benevolence in these matters far beyond 
what had been done by the emperor Trajan ; hence arose the significant type of 
the present coins, although the legends on the reverses do not impute any such 
benevolences as the words on the coins of Trajan imply. 

A fine coin in aurichalcum. "Weight 438| grains. 

623. 

IMP . CABS . TRAiANvs . HADRiANvs AVG . The laureate head of the emperor to 
the right, bust in armour, with his military cloak on the shoulders. 

9>. p.M .TR .p. COS. III. In the fields. C. Spes gradient to the left in her 
usual manner. 

A fine earthy green coin. Weight 334|- grains. 

624. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANVS . HADRiANvs . AVG. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right, bust in armoiu', with his military cloak fastened on the shoulder. 

9>. P. M . TR . p.cos .III. In the field S. 0. Minerva standing to the left 
with her spear in the left hand, her shield at her left side ; at her right side a 
fire is burning on a brazier altar supported on a single stem resting on three 
extended feet ; she is in the act of strewing something on the fire. 

A rich coffee-coloured brown coin, remarkably fine, from the Thomas Cabinet. 
Weight 392t grains. 

625. 

HADRIANVS . AVGvsTvs .P.P. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

^. COS. III. in the exergum, and S. 0. in the field. The emperor standing 
to the left, his right hand extended towards the empress Sabina, who stands on 
the right, her right hand extended towards the emperor ; between them Roma 
is standing armed, with her spear in her left hand, while with her right hand 
she is joining the hands of the emperor and empress. 

Argelati, in Hadriano, quotes an aurevis of the first year of Hadrian, with 
the reverse conivgivm . avg . ; and he describes it " Imp. jungit dextram Impera- 
trici, inter medio sacrificio cupidines tres supervolant," a coin which refers to 
the marriage of Hadrian with Sabina, the grandniece of the emperor Trajan. 
This took place in the year of Eome 853, a.d. 100, at the commencement of 
the reign of Trajan. The present coin refers to the same subject, and by the 
presence of Roma it is clear the marriage was agreeable to the citizens. 

The aureus in Argelati was struck t.r 870, a.d. 117. Occo says it was in 



HADEIAN. 311 

A.D. 118, and tliat the legend on the obverse, combining all the titles of Trajan 
with Hadrian, shows it was struck at the commencement of the reign of Hadrian ; 
whereas the legend on the present coin shows it was struck several years after, 
for the legend hadbianvs . avgvstvs first began to be used about the year 872, 
and was continued for the remainder of his reign. 

The type is appropriately of the early part of the reign ; I have, therefore, 
introduced it after Spes and Minerva, as the hope of the people that wisdom 
would guide the emperor during his reign ; but the legend on the obverse denotes 
it as having been struck many years after the event had taken place. Sabina is 
supposed to have been poisoned a.d. 137. 

A good black coin from the Oampana Cabinet. Weight 484-1- grains. 

626. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANVS . HADRIANVS . AVG . P . M . TR . P . COS . III. The laureate 

head of the emperor to the right. 

9). AETERNiTAS . AVGVSTi. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left, 
having in each hand a bust ; that in the right hand has a radiate crown, and the 
bust in the left hand has a crescent. 

These types of the sun and moon are representations of the emperor and 
empress, and are intended to signify or express the wishes of the people, that 
as the sun and moon were eternal, so they hoped for a long reign of the emperor, 
and that he might have posterity to succeed him to all eternity. 

We have noticed a similar coin of Domitian, ante, and it occurs again in 
Antoninus Pius, post. We have also noticed in Augusto the signification of the 
radiate crown and crescent, as applicable to Augusta and Livia. 

A Second Brass dark brown coin. Weight 209^ grains. 

627. 

IMP . CAESAB . TRAIANVS . HADRIANUS . AVG . P . M . TR . P . COS . III. The laureate 

head of the emperor to the right. 

9). CONCORDIA EXERCITWM. In the esergum S. C. A female standing full 
front, her head turned to the left, supporting a military standard in each hand ; 
that to the right has an eagle, the one in her left hand has a wreath. 

The type of this coin is to signify the fidelity to, and satisfaction of, the armies 
with the government of Hadrian, although he was not a man of military enter- 
prize and adventure. 

A fine black coin. Weight 395^ grains. 



312 RECORDS or ROMAN HISTORY. 

628. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAiANvs . HADRiANVS . AVG. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right. 

|l. PONT . MAX . TR . POT . COS . III. In the exergum S. 0. Roma armed seated 
on arms to the left ; her right hand extended holds a Victoriola, in her left hand 
she has her spear, her right foot supported by a helmet lying on the ground. 

A dark green coin in very fine condition. By Mr. Oureton ; from the Trattle 
and Neve Cabinets. Weight 3701 grains. 

629. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANVS . HADRIANVS . AVG. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right. 

5c, PONT . MAX . TR . POT . COS . III. In the exergum secvr . avg ; in the field 
S. C. A female seated on a throne to the left ; her right hand holds a liastapura, 
her left arm rests on the back of the throne supporting her head with her hand, 
her left foot resting on a stool. 

A very fine dark green coin. Weight 464| grains. 

630. 

IMP CAESAR . TRAIANVS . HADRIANVS . AVG . P . M . TR . P . COS . Ill, The laureate 

head of the emperor to the right. 

5c. LiBERALiTAS . AVG . III. In the exergum S. C. The emperor or his deputy 
wearing a cap, seated to the left on a curule chair placed on a low siiggestum ; 
behind his left shoulder a person is standing as if prompting him ; a female 
stands at his right hand holding up a tablet ; in front of the suggestmn a citizen 
is standing holding up his robe to receive a donation. 

Argelati, m Hadriano, places this type under the date a.d. 118. Occo places it 
in A.D. 119. 

A very fine dark green coin. Weight 386 grains. 

631. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIAN . HADRIANVS . AVG . P . M . TR . P . COS . III. The laureate 

head of Hadrian to the right ; bust in armour, with military cloak. 

1^. PIETAS . AVGVSTi. In the field S. C. A female veiled and robed standing 
to the right, her head rather thrown back, both her hands raised in supplication ; 
at her feet is an altar, on which a fire is burning. 

A very fine brown coin with green tinge. Weight 428^ grains. 



HADRIAN. 313 

632. 

HADEiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

$6. PIETAS . AVG-. In the field S. 0. A female standing fall front, both her 
hands extended as if in prayer ; at her right side is a decorated altar, on which a 
fire is burning ; at her left side is a stork — a bird that with the ancients was an 
emblem of piety. 

A very fine green coin from the Ramsay Cabinet. Weight 400 grains. 

633. 

IMP . CAESAB, . TBAIANVS . HADBIANVS . AVa . P . M . TE . P . COS . III. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

|l. PROViDENTiA . DEORVM. In the field S. 0. The emperor gradient to the 
left, his right hand raised towards a sceptre held in the talons of an eagle, which 
appears before him with expanded wings, as if floating down to him with the 
sceptre from the sky. 

By some persons the eagle may be supposed to be bearing a fwlmen^ as the 
bird of Jove ; but the legend would rather make me consider that by the Divine 
Providence, " Providentia Deorum," the sceptre of power had been conferred on 
Hadrian, that through him the gods might be disposed to bestow blessings on the 
Romans. 

A black coin ; middling good. Weight 358| grains. 

634. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAiANYS . HABRiANVS . AVG. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right. 

9>. PONT . MAX . TR . POT . COS . III. In the field S. 0. A female standing 
full front, looking to the left, holding a caduceus in her right hand, on her left 
arm she bears a cornucopise filled with fruits. 

A fine pale yellow green coin. 

635. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANVS . HADRIANVS . AVG . P . M . TR . P . COS . III. The 

laureate head of Hadrian to the right. 

Jo. LocvPLETATORi . ORBis . TERBARVM. In the excrgum S. 0. The emperor 
seated to the left on a curule chair placed on a suggestum. By his right side a 
female is standing, who is pouring the contents of a cornucopise into the lap of 
two citizens, who stand in front holding up their robes to receive the donation. 

Hadrian is the only emperor on whom the Senate conferred this complimentary 

2s 



314 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

title, expressive of his liberality and munificence to the citizens of Eome as well 
as to the Provinces — the words orbis . terrarvm having a wide-spread signifi- 
cation, but in reality meaning the Eoman World. By this conduct Hadrian 
justified the assumption of the type and legend of the preceding coin, providentia 
DEORVM, intimating that he was deputed by Divine Providence to be a blessing to 
mankind. 

The conquests of Sylla, Lucullus, and Pompeius, and latterly of Trajanus, 
opened a new world to the Romans, and extended their dominion beyond the 
rivers Tigris and Euphrates. 

Horace says — 



Ovid says — 



Possis nihil urbe Eoma visere majus. 

Jupiter arce sua totum cum spectat in orbem, 
Nil nisi Romanum quod tueatur habet. 



These were the praises bestowed in the time of Augustus, but Hadrian was 
100 years later. The legend on the coin is highly adulatory ; at the same time, 
in conjunction with the lines of Horace and Ovid (who, be it remembered, were 
courtiers as well as poets), it exhibits the inflated style of boasting which the 
B/Omans were in the habit of assuming within their own city, to be afterwards 
circulated to the world and posterity. But with how much greater truth can 
these compliments be bestowed on Britain of the present day — the despised 
Britannia, the scevos Britannos of the boastful Boman. 

Vaillant describes this coin, "inter prsestantissimos et rarissimos recensetur." 
A sort of pale green mottled red Campana coin. Weight 396 grains. 

636. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAiANVS . HADRiANUs . AUG. The laureate head of the 
emperor to the right, bust in armour. 

9.. p . M . TR . p . cos . III. In the field S. C. Ceres standing full front 
looking to the left, holding wheat-ears in her right hand ; in her left hand she 
bears a long torch, the end of it resting on the ground, and a fire burning on the 
top. 

A dark brown coin ; very fine. Weight 402^ grains. 

637. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANVS . HADRiANvs . AVG. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right. 

^. PONT . MAX . TR . POT . COS . III. In the field S. C. A female standing 



HADRIAN. 815 

full front looking to the left ; in her right hand she holds a caduceus, on the left 
arm she supports a cornucopise filled with fruits. 
A very fine green coin. Weight 377^ grains. 

638. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANVS . HADRIANVS . AVG . P . M . TR . P . COS . III. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

|l. ANNONA . AVGVSTi. In the exergum S. 0. A female seated on a throne 
to the right, supporting with both hands a full cornucopise ; at her feet is a corn- 
modius, with ears of corn from the top, her right foot resting on a small foot- 
stool. 

A dark green coin. "Weight 405| grains. 

639. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAiAN . HADRiANus . AVG. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right, bust in armour, with cloak. 

Jl. p . M . TR , p . COS. III. In the exergum exped . avg. and in the field 
S. C. The emperor, bareheaded and on horseback, prancing to the left ; his right 
hand raised, his left hand holding a spear upright, his cloak flying from his 
shoulders behind. 

This coin appears to have been struck on the declaration of war with the 
B;Oxolani and Sarmatii, whom Hadrian defeated, and returned to Home after he 
had made a peace with those countries. This is the only military campaign made 
by Hadrian during the whole of his reign ; his visit to Britain was just ia time to 
prevent the necessity of a campaign. Argelati places this event in a.d. 120, the 
fourth year of the reign of Hadrian. 

A good brown coin. Weight 372^ grains. 

640. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANVS . HADRIANVS . AVG . P . M . TR . P . COS . III. The laureate 

head of the emperor to the right. 

5o. VICTORIA AVGVSTI. No S. 0. A Victory volant to the right, bearing in 
her hands a trophy carried transversely in an attitude of oflFence. 

A light green coin, in very good condition. Weight 411^ grains. 

641. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIAN . HADRIANVS . AVG. The laureate head of the emperor to 
the right, bust in armour. 

2 s 2 



316 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

Jc. p , M . TR . P . COS . III. V . RT. — AVG. across the field on either side of 
Eoma, with S under the words so separated. Roma armed standing to the 
right, holding her spear in her right hand, a parazonium in her left hand ; her left 
foot rests on a helmet placed on the ground. 

A very good brown coin. "Weight 380^ grains. 

642. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAiAN . HADRiANvs . AVG. The laureate head of Hadrian to 
the right, bust in armour. 

^. p . M . TR . p . cos . III. Across the field virt. — avg . with S. C. under the 
words. Roma as on the preceding coin, only standing to the left; her spear in 
her left hand, in her right a parazonium ; her right foot rests on a hehuet lying 
on the ground. 

This coin and the two which precede refer to the victories gained over the 
Roxolani and Sarmatii. 

It is a fine dark green coin. Weight 422^ grains. 

643. 

IMP . CAESAR . traianvs . HADRIANVS . AVG . p . M . TR . p . COS . III. The lau- 
reate head of the emperor to the right. 

|l. SALvs . PVBLICA. In the field S. 0. A female standing to the left, holding 
in her left hand a rudder against her left shoulder, the blade of it being above the 
shoulder ; her right hand extended holds a globe, and her right foot rests on a 
globe. This is a very uncommon type of Salus. 

A good green Second Brass coin. Weight 1971 grains. 

644. 

IMP . CAESAR . TRAIANVS . HADRIANVS . AVG . P . M . TR . P . COS . III. The 

laureate head of Hadrian to the right, shoulders draped. 

^. MONETA . AVGVSTi. In the field S. C. A female standing full front, 
looking to the left ; in her right hand she has a pair of scales, on her left arm 
she bears a full cornucopise. 

This is a very rare type. I never saw it at a sale until it appeared amongst 
General Ramsay's coins, from whence I obtained it. 

A very fine pale green coin. 



HADRIAN. 317 

645. 

IMP . CAES . HADRiANVS . AVG . COS . III. The laureate head of the emperor to 
the right, bust in armour, with military cloak. 

1^. ANN . DCCCLXXiiii . NAT . VRB . p . ciR . CON. A male figure unclothed to 
the waist, having a cap on his head, is reclining at full length to the left ; the 
face bearded and turned to the right towards three obelisks standing on a base, 
and which are embraced by the left arm of the figure ; the right hand supports a 
chariot-wheel on his lap. 

This is an aureus, in excellent preservation, from the Pembroke Collection. 
Weight 1101 grains. 

It is a most interesting type and legend, and differs from all others of the 
same or any other metal, inasmuch as numismatic writers invariably describe the 
recumbent figure as being a female. This error I apprehend is occasioned by the 
present device on the reverse being taken from that of the via . traiana, ante 
No. 560. On that coin there can be no doubt of it being a female figure, and thus 
has arisen the opinion of it being a female on the present device. But the figure 
on the present coin is evidently a male figure ; the cap on the head, the beard, 
and the anatomical delineation of the bust and abdomen are large and muscular, 
resembling the bust of the Jupiter Victor on the coins of Domitian, and the 
recumbent figure of Tiberis on the coins of Antoninus Pius ; all which appearances 
are inconsistent with the idea and figure of a female. 

Admiral Smyth in his Cabinet, No. 152, describing the Large Brass coin of this 
type, places it as the first of the coins of the third consulate ; but there is a 
great difiiculty in saying in which of the early years of the third consulate 
it was struck. It is evidently in one of the early years on account of the 
date of the legend, which according to some calculations would be in a.d. 121, 
and according to others in a d. 123. Again, it is by the legend on the obverse 
evidently an early struck coin of the third consulate, for we shall see in subse- 
quent coins that, in about three years after the commencement of the third 
consulate, or even earlier, the obverse legend was much shortened by having it 

only HADBIANVS . AVGVSTVS. 

The difiiculty the coin presents by its peculiar device is not the date only, but 
also the particular occasion for which it was struck. 

It is described by Oiselius in his work, p. 483, ed. 1677, " ann . dccclxxiiii . 
NAT . VRB . CIR . CON. Figura feminea fere nuda humi sedens, dextra rotam genu 
alteri impositam sustinens, et sinistro brachio complectens tres metas circi. 
Inscriptio indicat circum quendam ab Hadriano conditum, quamvis nemo veterum 



318 RECOBDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

meminerit, nee ejus rei iilla mentio uspiam prseterquam in hoc nummo fiat, 
tempusque una adsignet istud nempe factum anno octingentissimo septuagesimo 
quarto natae vrbis ; per rotam autem et metam cursus certamen bigis aut 
quadrigis circuni metas in circo fieri soliti denotatur." 

When the learned Oiselius wrote this description he must have had before 
him a coin with an imperfect legend, or he would not have omitted the p. with the 
ciB . CON. Argelati, in Sadriano, is of a similar opinion that the coin comme- 
morates the building of a circus by the emperor, of which no vestige is now 
remaining. The coin he quotes has the p. in the legend. Occo also quotes an 
aureus with the legend similar to the present, having the p. and the figure with 
the wheel and the three obelisks. He likewise cites an aureus of the same year 
with the reverse defined simply by the words " cum circo ; " thus stating that an 
engraving of a circus was to be found on an aureus of Hadrian, but there is no 
legend of the reverse given by Occo, if it had one. 

Vaillant reads the inscription as " Anno 874 natali urbis populo circenses 
concessit." Hardouin considers it should be read " Anno 874 natali urbis primum 
circenses constitutse." Others again dispute whether the p. means " populus," 
" plebeii, " publici," or "primus." 

It is something singular that on the coins mentioned in the Christina Cabinet, 
and the Florentine Cabinet, and in Oiselius, the p. is omitted. 

After all the conjectures of numismatic writers respecting this device the more 
reasonable supposition appears to be that, on the birthday of Roma, in the year 
of the city 874, the emperor, to increase the festivities of the anniversary, or for 
some other cause now unknown, in addition to the games then usually celebrated, 
ordered the exhibition of the Cu'censian Games, and thus gave, as Vaillant writes, 
"populo circenses concessit," a greater entertainment to the people on the 
occasion. 

This I consider to be the more proper and reasonable solution of all the 
difficulty, for had Hadrian erected a circus on the occasion to be a lasting record 
of the event, the aureus " cum circo" cited by Occo would have had a legend 
similar to the present legend, or of similar import, and accompanied by a repre- 
sentation of the circus so erected ; and there is every reason to suppose we should 
have had, in addition to the aureus, a denarius, and also a representation of the 
building on some Large Brass coins, like as we have the Circus Maximus on the 
Large Brass coins of Trajan and the Coliseum of Titus ; but there are no such coins 
known. 

One thiQg however is clear, the three metce or obelisks and the wheel of the 



HADRIAN. 319 

chariot evidently refer to the chariot-races which formed part of the Circensian 
Gaines. Eckhel, in vol. vi. p. 501, describes a similar coin in gold in Mus. Cses. 
reverse " mulier humi sedens d. rotam. s. tres obeliscos seu conos complexa;" 
but he does not give any solution of the question why this was struck. 

Vaillant, describing an aureus of this type says, "Ctim nulla sit circi ab Hadriano 
conditi mentio apud Historise Scriptores, mulier per rotam cursus bigarum et 
quadrigarum certamen, per metas illud in circo peractum denotat." Adding, 
" Hie nummus aureus rarissimus est." 

The conclusion I arrive at, therefore, is this— that the legend is fairly to be 
rendered thus : — 

ANNO DCCCLSXIIII . NATALI . VRBIS . POPVIiO . CIRCENSES . CONCESSIT. The date 

874 also is equal to the year a.d. 121, as indisputably shown by calculation 
from Tacitus, who places the submission of Caractacus before Claudius to 
A . u . c . 803 or A.D. 50 ; then add the number of years passed between the time of 
Claudius to the early part of Hadrian, being 71, which, added either to the 803 or 
the 50, the two dates will be produced thus : — 

A . u . c . 803 A.D. 50 

71 71 



874 equal to a.d. 121 

and it will be proved that the present coin was struck in 874, as its legend 
implies. 

The foundation-day of Rome was accustomed to be celebrated on the 21st day 
of April, being the festival day of Pales, the goddess of sheepfolds and pastures ; 
her festivals were called Palilia, when the country people, who were the earliest 
inhabitants of Rome, besought the goddess of shepherds to protect and increase 
their flocks, and to pardon their involuntary violation of consecrated spots ; puri- 
fying themselves by passing through a fire of straw, like those which were kindled 
on May-day in the Middle Ages. (Niebuhr, i. 226.) 

From this period, that is to say, the third consulate, the legend on the 
obverse of the coins of Hadrian is altered ; the titles caesar and traianvs cease, 
for which omission Hadrian has by some writers been accused of ingratitude in so 
soon forgetting the memory of Trajan, and the benefits he had received from his 
adopted father and patron. This change took place in the early part of the third 
consulate, or third year of his reign. Soon after then he began his travels, and 
the coins record the third consulate only, throughout the remainder of his reign. 



320 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

PoR the purpose of rendering the following series of Hadrian's coins more 
interesting, and with an endeavour to fix the probahle periods of his reign which 
the events recorded on them illustrate, I shall now introduce a short narrative 
of the succession of events by way of index or reference to the coins which follow. 

Numismatists, for want of proper attention, generally class them all together, 
and place them in order alphabetically ; thus their historic reference and chro- 
nology are confounded and lost. I shall therefore place them historically, accord- 
ing to the following short narrative of the journeys taken by Hadrian : — 

Upon the death of the Emperor Trajan, Hadrian, being declared his successor, 
arrived at Rome from Antioch and Syria in the first year, and in the same year he 
remitted the debts due to the imperial treasury. 

In the second year there was a war with the Roxolani and Sarmatii, who were 
defeated, as we have already noticed. 

In the third year Hadrian began his travels, and visited Gaul and Germany ; 
he thence returned to Gaul and crossed over to Britain ; while in Britain he 
traversed all those parts subject to the Roman arms, and gave directions for 
building the wall across the northern part of the island, to repress the incursions 
of the Picts. He afterwards returned to Gaul, and proceeded towards the southern 
parts, and at Nismes, amongst other public works, he built the Amphitheatre, 
remains of which are still in existence. 

Prom Gaul he went into Spain, and at Tarraco he rebuilt the Temple of 
Augustus. There also he narrowly escaped assassination by an insane man. He 
afterwards returned to Rome. 

In the fourth and fifth years he proceeded to Athens, and returning he passed 
through Cilicia, Lycia, Pamphylia, Cappadocia, Moesia, Bithynia, Phrygia, giving 
directions for rebuilding temples and other edifices in different cities and places. 

In the fifth year also he visited Achaia, and from thence he proceeded to 
Athens, where he was initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries. 

In the sixth and seventh years he appears to have visited Egypt for a short 
time, and then returned to Rome. 

In the eighth year he visited Nicomedia and Bithynia, where he rebuilt 
temples and other public buildings which had been recently destroyed by earth- 
quakes, whence the coin was struck, restitvtori . BiTHTNiiE. Also the coin with 
the temple koinon. 

In the ninth year Hadrian passed over into Africa, from whence he afterwards 
returned to Rome. 

In the tenth year he remained in Rome, and built a temple to Roma, and one 
to Venus. 



HADRIAN. 321 

In the eleventh, year Hadrian returned to Asia and visited Cappadocia ; from 
thence he went to Syria, Palestine, and Arabia. 

In the twelfth and thirteenth years he was travelling in Egypt. 

In the fourteenth and fifteenth years he completed his visit to Egypt, and 
went into Syria. 

In the sixteenth year he went to Thracia, Macedonia, and Athens. In this 
year also the Jews revolted, but were finally overthrown and ejected from 
Jerusalem, and completely dispersed. 

In the seventeenth year he quitted Athens, and returned to E-ome, where he 
continued. 

In his twenty-second year, being ill, he retired to Baise, where he died a.d. 
138. 

The years of reign and the years of travel vary two to three years or so, 
occasioned by the chronologies as reckoned by different writers having a variation, 
a point we have already noticed. Excepting this, we believe the preceding notes 
of Hadrian's travels to be nearly correct, and they show that the coins of the 
provinces visited by him cannot be arranged in an alphabetical order to be 
historic. If so, Arabia, visited by him in his eleventh year, would precede Gaul 
and Britain, which were visited by Hadrian eight or nine years before. 

As some guide, also, we have the coin just noticed with the age of the city 
upon it, which can thus be brought in conjunction with the reckonings of the 
years of the Christian sera. 

I have compared the foregoing arrangement with that proposed by Eckhel, 
vol. vi. p. 480, and on fuUy considering it with the events occurring at each 
period, and the before-mentioned allowance of variations of two or three years, 
and which even Eckhel himself admits occur with some writers, I see no reason 
to be dissatisfied. By the arrangement I have made, to which I have been 
guided entirely by the coins themselves, the visits of the emperor to the different 
provinces of the empire, and the military reviews of the different legions and 
auxiliary troops quartered in the provinces, fall into their proper places ; although 
it is not presumed that the dates are entirely perfect, the absence of any notice of 
the tribunician dates as they arose precluding all possibility of making a com- 
plete arrangement. 

646. 

HADEiAKVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 
Jc. cos . III. In the exergum S. C. Roma armed, seated on a cuirass to the 

2 T 



322 BECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

left, a shield behind her ; her right hand extended holds a Victoriola presenting a 
wreath and bearing a palm-branch ; on her left arm she supports a cormicopise 
filled with fruits ; her right foot rests on a helmet lying on the ground. 

The obverse of the coins now begins to bear a large head of Hadrian, with 
name and title only, like as the present ; occasionally the consulate is added, as on 
the next coin. 

The present is a fine black coin. 

647. 

HADRiANus . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9'. ADVENTvi . AVG . ITALIAE. In the field S. 0. The emperor standing to the 
right, his right hand raised in the attitude of addressing a female who stands 
before him to the left, having a cornucopise on her left arm ; in her right hand 
she holds a patera, and is in the act of pouring on to a fire burning on an altar, 
standing between her and the emperor. 

The types of these two coins seem to represent the emperor being in Rome, 
after his expedition against the Roxolani, and previous to his starting upon his 
travels to Gaul and other places. 

A roughish green coin. 

648. 

HADRiANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

5e. COS . III. In the exergum exped . avg. S. C. in the field. The emperor, 
bare-headed and in military costume, on a prancing horse, to the left, his right 
hand raised as if addressing some persons. 

Hadrian commenced his visits to the different provinces of the empire in about 
the third year of his reign. We therefore place an expedition coin to denote his 
starting off on a tour. When it is intended as a military departure to the army 
for a campaign, the legend is propectio . avg. and the emperor is accompanied by 
armed soldiers (see the coin of Trajan, ante) ; not so when it is a tour of inspec- 
tion. And, as Hadrian was not a warrior seeking conquests over adjoining 
nations, there is no coin of propectio representing him starting with his soldiers 
on a military expedition. 

The present is a fine brown coin. Weight 373| grains. 

649. 

HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 



HADRIAN. 323 

|t). ADVENTVi . AVG . GAiLiAE. In the exergum S, C. The emperor robed 
standing to the right ; opposite to him on the left a female is standing to personify 
Gallia ; she is in the act of pouring from a patera on to fire burning on a decorated 
altar which stands between her and the emperor ; a beast is lying on the ground 
at the back of the altar, as if intended for sacrifice ; the emperor holds his robes 
with his left hand ; his right hand is raised as addressing a speech to Gallia. 

The arrival of Hadrian in Gaul is here recorded, upon which occasion much 
public rejoicing took place. It was usual with Hadrian to review the Roman 
troops in garrison in the provinces at the different cities he passed through on his 
tour of inspection. Many of these reviews are recorded on the coins, and present 
very interestiug devices. We shall see them noticed on different occasions ; but I 
have not seen a coin with a review of the troops, or any of them, which were 
stationed in Gaul, although there were several Roman garrisons in that country. 

This is a beautifully coloured orange-red coin. 

650. 

HADBiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of Hadrian to the right ; 
shoulders draped. 

|l. EESTiTVTORi . GAiiLiAE. In the excrgum S. C. The emperor robed 
standing to the right ; with his right hand he is raisiug a female (representing 
Gallia) who is kneeling on the ground before him. 

This is a remarkably fine black coin from the Ramsay Cabinet. 

651. 

HADKiANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . P . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
left ; shoulders draped. 

9,. EESTiTVTOKi . GALLIAE. In the exergum S. 0. The emperor robed 
standing to the right; with his right hand he is raising a female (Gallia) who is 
kneeling on the ground before him. 

These coins not only record the fact of Hadrian's visit to Gaul, but also the 
benefits he bestowed on the different cities and towns he visited, and the restora- 
tion of their fallen condition. 

After passing a considerable time in Gaul, engaged in redressiug complaints 
and grievances, and setting the various municipal institutions to rights, he 
departed for Germany. 

A very good brown coin from the Devonshire Cabinet. Weight 433|- grains. 

2t 2 



324 EECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

652. 

HADRIANVS . AVG The laureate head of the emperor to the right ; 

shoulders draped. 

9>. EXERC. in the upper verge, germanicvs. in the exergum, S. C. under- 
neath. The emperor on his horse to the right, his right hand raised, addressing 
three soldiers who stand before him ; the first bears an eagle, the other two have 
standards. 

By these ensigns it was intended to represent the Eoman legions and other 
troops which were reviewed by the emperor when he visited a province. In the 
present instance it is a representation of the troops in Germany which Hadrian 
reviewed during the time he was there. 

After a tour in Germany, and visiting different places, he returned to Gaul, 
and passing over the sea went to Britain. 

A black coin, the reverse being very good. Vaillant calls it " rarissimus." 

653. 

HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right ; shoulders draped. 

Jc. exercitvs at the right side ; raeticvs in the exergum, with S. 0. under- 
neath. The emperor on his horse standing to the right, addressing three soldiers 
who stand before him with standards of various sorts. 

Bgetia, the modern Tyrol and Grisons, was a Roman province. The inhabi- 
tants rendered them.selves formidable to the Romans by their frequent incursions 
into the Roman territories. They were at last vanquished and their country 
reduced to the condition of a Roman province by Drusus. 

A good brown coin, scraped a little. Said by Vaillant to be " rarissimus." 

654. 

HADRIAN vs . AVG . COS . III. The laureate head of the emperor to the right ; 
shoulders draped. 

^ RAETic ... in the exergum. The emperor standing on a low 

dais to the right, an attendant behind ; in front of him, on the ground at his left 
side, is a lictor. Three soldiers are standing before the emperor, each bearing a 
standard. 

These two coins record the review of the troops stationed in Rsetia by Hadrian 
in the early part of his reign, when, passing through Germany and Gaul, he visited 
the northern provinces of the empire, including R^etia, in his tour. 

A brown coin, but middling for condition. 



HADRIAN. 325 

655. 

HADRiANVS . AVGVSTVS. The unlaureate head of the emperor to the left; 
shoulders draped. 

9>. PELiciTATi . Ava. in the upper verge, and cos. iii. p.p. in the exergum ; 
S. C. on either side the field. A large gaUey rowed to the left, having a small sail 
on a sort of bowsprit at the head. In the stern two standards erect, one bearing 
an eagle, showing that some person of rank is on board. 

A very good black coin from the cabinet of Sir Eobert Abdy. Weight 
437i grains. 

656. 

HADRiANVS . AVGVSTvs. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9>- cos . III. In the field S. C. Neptune standing to the left, his right foot 
resting on the prow of a galley with the rostrum outward. Some drapery is 
thrown in easy carelessness across the right thigh. In his right hand he holds 
an acrostolion, or the ornament from the stern of a galley. In his left hand he 
has a trident, the prongs upward. On his head he wears a round-shaped cap, 
with a spike at the top. 

This device appears to have been taken from the Greek tetradrachm of 
Demetrius I. surnamed Poliorcetes, who lived and reigned B.C. 294 to 287. 

A very good dark-green coin. 

657. 

HADRiANVs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right ; shoulders draped. 

|l. ADVENTvi , AVG . [bri]tanLni]ae. In the exergum S. C. The emperor 
robed, standing to the right; his right hand raised, addressing a female who 
stands opposite to him, wearing a short dress, with apparently a helmet on her 
head, and holding a spear in her left hand, thus denoting the character of the 
Britons. In her right hand she has a patera, from which she is pouring on to a 
fire burning on an altar standing on the ground between her and the emperor. 
At the foot of the altar an animal is lying as if for sacrifice. 

This type records the arrival of Hadrian in Britain, which occurred ia a.d. 
120 or 121, and according to some other writers in a.d. 122 or 123. It would 
seem by the narrative of Camden, in his Britannia, that Hadrian came to Britain 
just in time to prevent the Britons from throwing off the Roman yoke. Speed, in 
his Chronicle (chap, xvii.), describes Hadrian as coming to Britain accompanied by 
three legions (a force of about 13,000 men, infantry and cavalry), to enable him 



326 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

more effectually to put down the insurrection which had arisen, and which he 
ultimately suppressed. Speed places the arrival of Hadrian in Britain in 
A.D. 124. 

Whilst he was in Britain the emperor made many very useful regulations for 
the government of the province, and visited several parts of the island. He also 
caused a wall to be buUt, extending from the river Eden in Cumberland to the 
Tyne in Northumberland, for the purpose of repressing the incursions of the 
northern tribes of Picts and Caledonians. This wall was afterwards repaired and 
increased in strength by Antoninus Pius, and afterwards by Septimius Severus. 
It is very commonly called the Eoman Wall, Hadrian's Wall, and the like, at the 
present day. The most recent account of it, containing all the valuable materials 
of his predecessors, is contained in the work of the Rev. J. C. Bruce, LL.D. of 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 

The present coin is brown, but in middling condition. It is an extremely rare 
device. Weight 361-i- grains. 

VaiUant says this type " primi moduli eximise raritatis est." 

658. 




The legend obliterated. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

^. Legend obliterated. Britannia seated two-thirds front to the left ; her left 
elbow rests on the upper edge of a large oval shield at her left side ; the lower edge 
of it is on the ground. In her left hand she holds a spear transversely, her right 
elbow resting on her right knee. Her right foot is placed on a mound of earth, or 
piece of rock-work. 

We have a type representing Britannia precisely in this attitude in Hadrian's 
Second Brass coins. The Large Brass Britannia coins of Hadrian are not known, 
the present is the only one I ever saw. They are met with frequently in Second 
Brass, and generally in very middling condition. 

VaiUant describes a Pirst Brass coin of Hadrian Britannia in these terms : 
"J37Htannia. Pigura muliebris sedens— pede dextro rupibus imposito, sinistra caput 



HADEIAN. 327 

sustentans, dextr^ liastam gcrit, innixa cubito ingenti clypeo ; " adding, " Hicnum- 
mus primfB inagnitudiuis rarissimus, secunda3 inter rariores computatur. " This 
description is also fully borne out by the next coin. 

The present coin is in very poor condition, it being much rubbed by ancient 
wear ; but suiiicient of the type, »&c. is remaining to have enabled Mr. Eairholt 
to make the drawing of Britannia from it. It is a Large Brass coin from the 
Thomas Cabuaet, and if perfect would be remarkably rare, and of very great price. 
Weight 3221 grains. 

659. 

RAiANVS . HADuiA VG. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

^s. PONT . MAX . TK . POT . COS . III. In the excrgum bmtannia. In the field 
S. C. A female seated two-thirds front to the left, her right foot resting on a mound 
of earth, or piece of rock -work ; her right elbow resting on her right knee, her head 
leaning upon her right hand ; at her left side is a large oval shield with a spike in the 
middle ; her left elbow rests on the upper verge of the shield, and she holds a long 
spear in her left hand transversely, the point resting on the ground near her left foot. 

The present coin was found in digging in a garden in Whitechapel Mount. 
It was given me by the late Mr. Spencer (frequent aeronaut with Mr. Green), who 
had it from the person who found it. The metal is red copper, and the coin is 
much corroded on the obverse ; the reverse is good. 

A Second Brass coin, and answering on the reverse to the description we have 
given from Vaillant of a Britannia in Large Brass. Weight 135|^ grains. 

660. 

IMP . CAESAR .THAI ANVS . HAD III The laureate head of Hadrian to the right. 

9>. PONT . MAX In the exergum Britannia. In the field S. 0, A 

female seated in the manner represented on the preceding coins, but leaning more 
forward, and her shield more slanting. 

This coin, also a Second Brass, was obtained by young Edwards * from a London 
excavation. It is in good condition considering. "\^^eight 1211 grains. 

661. 

IMP . CAESAR. . TRAIANVS . HiUJRiANVS . AVG. The laureate head of the emperor 
to the right. 

^ OT . COS . III. In the exergum Britannia. In the field S. C. 

A female with spear and shield seated, as represented on the preceding coins. 

* August, 1859. This month young Edwards died at his house in Aldersgate Street, London. He 
was a kind, intelligent, painstaking young man, and a good antiquiu-y. I had known him many years. 



328 EECOEDS OF ROMAN HISTOHY. 

Hadrian remained in Britain nearly a year, after wliich he passed over to Gaul, 
and from thence lie went to Spain before lie returned to Rome. 

Mr. Noel Humphreys in his work on Roman Coins, p. 196, contradicting what 
is said by VaUlant ia his Numismata Selectiora, says, " The so-called Britannia on 
Roman coins beneath the inscription beitannia is not Britannia, but the goddess 
Roma seated on a rock, symbolising the subjugated province. A similar jS.gure 
appears on coins recording other conquests." 

It is evident from this remark that Mr. Humphreys knows very little of 
Roman coins. He cannot be a collector, nor has he taken the trouble to inquire 
and examine any good cabinets, public or private, wherein are found any of the 
coins of emperors on which provinces of Rome or subjugated countries are 
symbolised. I should like to know what coins " recording other conquests " have 
such a figure ? Besides, what business has Roma to be sitting on a rock ? Ptome 
is not an island, or built on an island. Had he compared Roma, as represented 
on the coins of Nero only, with the representations of provinces on any of the 
coins of the emperors, he would never have written the above comment. 

The coins on which Roma is represented, whether of Nero or any other 
emperor, almost invariably have the word roma on the reverse, either in the 
exergum or on the side of the field, thus indicating who and what is intended by 
the figure. The attributes of Roma are always of a warlike and aggressive 
character ; she always wears her helmet, and has her sword, spear, and shield ; 
she is almost always seated on a cuirass with arms of various sorts around her to 
signify the spoils of the vanquished ; in her right hand generally a Victoriola, or 
small image of Victory, and her right foot placed on a helmet or an orb, signifying 
by the latter her subjugation of the world — so great was the vanity of the 
Romans, 

But a conquered province is almost invariably represented bearing a Roman 
standard ; sometimes it is a legionary eagle, but no sword, with the exception of 
Dacia; not wearing any helmet on the head; often a cap or some covering, according 
to the custom of the country ; sometimes trousers, as may be seen on a coin of 
Antoninus, and also in the coin of Britannia of Antoninus, where she is represented 
sitting on a rock to signify the insulation of the country ; a cap on her head, a 
standard in her right hand, a spear in her left hand, and shield at her left side, 
all signifying the warlike character of the people. So also Dacia is represented ; 
but, instead of a spear in her left hand, she has a curved sword or falchion, 
something siixdlar to what the Dacians are represented with on the Trajan 
column : this sword some writers have erroneously designated a sickle. 



HADRIAN. 329 

How does Mr. Humphreys interpret the representation of a Britannia on a 
coin of Antoninus, where, without any helmet, but having a standard in her right 
hand, with her spear and shield, she is sitting on a globe placed on water ? 

I feel, therefore, bound to say, that Mr. Humphreys, as a popular author, ought 
to be more cautious ? 

A good brown Second Brass coin. 

662. 




HADEIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . P . P. The unlaurcate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

9>. EXEEC . BRiTANNi . in the exergum ; S. C. at the sides of the field. The 
emperor is standing to the right on a dais raised a little from the ground ; he is 
in military costume, and bareheaded ; his right hand is raised addressing three 
soldiers, who stand before him carrying military standards. 

This coin possesses much interest. It is an ancient forgery, and is retained in 
the cabinet for the following reasons : — It was purchased more than twenty years 
ago ; and on comparing it with Speed's Chronicle (chap, xvii.) there is a wood-cut 
of an alloGutio of Hadrian — a very correct resemblance of this coin — so that it 
might be said this very coin was before the artist when he made the engraving. 

The allocutio of Hadrian to the forces in Britaiu is also recorded on a coin 
bought out of the Campana Collection for the British Museum ; it is but in 
middling condition, as may be seen by the cast of it which follows this coin, and 
the emperor is there represented on horseback addressing the soldiers. That coin 
is said to be unique, but that is an error, for the present is a very good cast 
from an original coin ; and if Speed's wood-cut were taken from a genuine coin 
instead of the present one, that would prove that the British Museum coin is 
not unique; besides, Argelati, in Kadriano, a.d. 126, refers to two coins; he 
states the first, " Imp. in suggestu stans alloquitur milites," and quotes VaiUant, 
torn. 1, fol. 61 ; the next he states short, " Imp. aUoquitur miUtes." 

2u 



330 



EECOUtlS OF ROMAN HISTOBT. 



Vaillaiit describes the exekcitits bbitannictjs thus : " Imperator paludatus 
stans in suggestu adloquitur cohortes — in aliis Imperator eques," and he puts it 
"inter rariores." 

Occo, in Kadriano, a.d. 121, cites a coin, " adlocvtio bbitannica. Imp. 
alloquitur coliortes pedestres, M. Fug." ; and in a.d. 125 he cites another, "exek. 
bmtannicvs, S. G. Imp. cum tribus militibus :" tlius some of the coins so quoted 
entirely resemble the type of the present coin, and they prove that the British 
Museum coin is not unique, either as to it being a single coin or a coin of peculiar 
type. 

The same coins are likewise referred to by Eckhel, in Sadriano, vol. vi. p. 403. 

The wood-cuts of coins introduced in Speed's Chronicle were made from the 
collection of Sir Robert Cotton, to which Speed was allowed access, a.d. 1610. 
Many coins which were so borrowed were never returned to Sir Robert Cotton, and 
thus were dispersed to other collections ; the coins that remained are in the 
British Museum, and went there with the Cottonian MSS. They are now so 
commingled with others that they cannot be distinguished ; but there was no exer- 
CITIJS. BE.ITANNICUS in the British Museum until the Campana coin was bought, 
so that Sir Robert Cotton never had his — it may be this — coin returned to him. 

The present is a good brown coin. Weight 34i2| grains. 



663. 




HADBiANVs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The unlaurcate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

^. DisciPLiNA in the exergum, with avg underneath. The emperor bare- 
headed, with military cloak, marching to the right, followed by three soldiers in 
single file also bareheaded. Instead of bearing standards, they carry their personal 
baggage on their spears, packed in parts, in the same way as is i^epresented on 
the Trajan column, where Ptoman soldiers are represented in marching order with 
their personal baggage, and bareheaded. The emperor is holding a scroll or short 
staff in his left hand ; the soldiers have their swords on their right side. 

This excellent coin, an aureus, was obtained some years back from the bed of 
the Thames at Chelsea by young Edwards, who, with his brother long since dead 



HADRIAN. 331 

and Mr. Eastwood, were the principal parties engaged in collecting antiquities 
from the Thames, and from excavations made in London, for Mr. Charles Roach 
Smith, whose collection, called Roman London, was bought by the British Museum, 
where it is now to be seen. 

The type of disciplina, representing the emperor on a march at the head of 
some soldiers, is frequent on the coins of Hadrian ; but I have never met with it 
on the coins of any other emperor, although there is such a type in Antoninus. 
So also the number of galley coins, and coins of expeditio and roRTUNA . bedux, 
which I consider were struck as representative of Hadrian moving about frona 
place to place during the whole of his reign ; also the frequent representation of 
Neptune, signifying the freedom from tempest when the emperor went anywhere 
by sea, thus giving him a safe passage ; for some of these types are not found 
on the coins of any other emperor so as to contradict the interpretation I say that 
they have under Hadrian. 

There are types of allocutio to the army of almost every province Hadrian 
visited, and there is no doubt that, coupled mth the disciplina, they allude to 
the evolutions and manoeuvres at his different reviews of the armies in the 
provinces when he visited them, and inspected the several legions quartered there. 
In allusion to Hadrian's military drills, and the hardships he was accustomed to 
endure at times as an example and to encourage his troops, the poet Elorus 
wrote — 

Ego nolo Cffisar esse, 
Ambulare per Britannos, 
Scytliicas pati pruinas ; 

alluding also to the scanty fare Hadrian at such times subsisted upon ; for it is 
related of Hadrian that he inured his legions to military discipline by his own 
example, partaking also of the usual coarse food of the E,oman soldiers. It is to 
this conduct Spartianus, in his Life of Hadrian, attributes his death from disease, 
brought on by his continual exposure to the weather ; but by his perseverance, 
and the refonus he introduced, Hadrian had the satisfaction, without being a 
prince of warlike disposition, of restoring the Roman armies throughout the whole 
empire to a most eificient state of discipline. 

Admiral Smyth, in noticing his coin of this type. No. 159 in his Cabinet, says, 
"Hadrian established pioneers and a staff corps;" but Antonius and Augustus 
had, in a great measure, done this before in the Coliors Speculatoria, of which 
a coin is to be found among the legionary coins of Antoniu.s we have already 
noticed. The Coliors Speculatoria Avas a detachment as guides or field engineers ; 

2 IT 2 



332 EECOBDS OF EOMAN HISTOUT. 

they are not mentioned by Vegetius, De Re Militari ; but Varro, a military 
commander in Spain in the time of Julius Caesar, and an earlier writer, defines 
the word speculator " quern mittimus ante ut respiciat quae volumus." (Varr. lib. 
V. 8.) The speculatores were really spies or scouts, their duty being " ad omnia 
esploranda" (Adam, p. 377) ; thus strictly to examine or explore the nature of 
the country the army was to pass through or occupy, and its adaptation and 
fitness for military manoeuvres. The same course was observed in their naval 
expeditions ; the speculator was to observe from the masthead of the galley the 
nature of the shore the vessel was approaching, and where about would be the 
best landing-place, or the nature and disposition of an enemy's fleet in time of 
war. 

We now add a coin as an invocation to Neptune for the emperor's safe journey 
across the sea on his retiu'n to Gaul on his way back to Rome. It is rather 
strange, but it does not appear from their index that the Vienna Cabinet have 
this type. 

664. 

.... lANVs . AVGVSTVS. The lam-eate head of Hadrian to the risrht. 

9"- cos . III. In the field S. C. Neptune standing to the right holding his 
trident erect in his right hand, his left foot resting on the prow of a gaUey, the 
rostra outward; some drapery loosely spread across his left knee, and his left 
elbow resting on his knee ; in his left hand he has a dolphin — type of the tran- 
quillity of the waters of which Neptune was ruler, to let the emperor have a safe 
and pleasant passage. 

A fine black coin from the Gwilt Cabinet. 

665. 

HADRiANvs . AVGVSTVS. The unlaureate head of the emperor to the rio'ht, 
shoulders draped. 

9>- FELiciTATi . AVG. in the upper part of the field, and cos . iii . p . p. in the 
exergum, with S. C. on either side of the field. 

A fine galley rowing to the left ; the gubernator in the stern is with his rio'ht 
hand giving some directions, it would seem, to a person who stands at the head of 
the vessel looking towards him, and extending his hand also to the gubernator. 

The figure-head or sign of the galley is a Mars, or warrior, armed and in a 
fighting attitude; there are three standards fixed upright in the stern, one of 
them being an eagle. 

After Hadrian had completed his inspections in Britain he crossed the sea to 



HADRIAN. 333 

Gaul. Rutupise, on tlie south coast of Britain, now known as Richborough, was 
the port to which and from which the Romans were in the habit of sailing when 
passing to and from Gaul. Its importance at that period is testified by the 
immense remains of a fortified castellum which have been discovered there, of 
which a relation is made by my respected friend 0. Roach Smith in his work on 
Richborough, Lymne, and Reculver. Erom Rutupise the Romans crossed to 
Boulogne, and so entered or quitted Gaul. We therefore regard this galley as 
placed at the emperor's command, and that a person of high rank is on board is 
signified by the eagle in its stern. 

I do not recollect to have seen anywhere a galley with an armed warrior at 
the bow, either as a figure-head or a warrior combating with a supposed foe ; the 
present figure has a shield on the left arm, the right hand raised in the act of 
throwing a spear. 

A very fine brown coin from the cabinet of Mr. Durmer. 

666. 

HADRiANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9>. ADVENTVi . AVG . HiSPANiAE. In the cxcrgum S. C. The emperor robed 
standing to the right ; his right hand raised as addressing a female who stands 
facing him to the left, pouring from a patera on to a fire burning on an altar 
standing between them ; at the foot of the altar, is an animal for sacrifice ; the 
female holds an olive-branch on her left arm. 

The type records the arrival of Hadrian in Spain, which was about the latter 
part of the year a. d. 122 ; and then he wintered at Tarraco (Tarragona). Mter 
he had inspected the legions and visited several places, Hadrian returned to 
Rome. 

During the time he was at Tarraco he was attacked by a slave and nearly lost 
his life, but he contented himself with treating the man as a maniac and con- 
signing him to the care of medical men to be taken charge of, instead of putting 
him to death. 

I cannot learn what particular coins relating to Spain are in the royal cabinets 
at Madrid. I have had the inquiry made, and been informed there is no printed 
index ; but, considering that Spain, including Lusitania, now known as Portugal, 
was for a very long period in the power of the Romans, and held in much esti- 
mation, there should be considerable collections of Roman coins in the public 
libraries of Spain, as well as in the hands of private individuals. 

A fine water-gold coloured Campana coin. Weight 404^ grains. 



334 BECOKDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

667. 

HADRiANvs . AV& . COS . Ill . p . P. The unlaureate head of Hadrian to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

^. RESTiTVTOiii . HISPANIAE. In the exergum S. C. The emperor standing 
to the right in his robes ; before him a female is kneeling who he raises from the 
ground by her right hand ; she bears an olive-branch over her left shoulder. 

A very good red-brown coin. Weight 389-1- grains. 

668. 

HADRiANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The unlaureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

;p>. RESTiTVTOM . HISPANIAE. In the cxergum S. C. The emperor robed 
standing to the left ; he is raising a female from the ground by her right hand ; on 
her left shoulder she bears an olive-branch. 

A black-green coin, in very good condition. Weight 364-| grains. 

669. 

HADRiANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9>- HisPANiA in the upper verge of the field ; S. C. in the exergum. A female 
reclining in easy posture to the left ; her left arm rests on a mound of earth or 
piece of rock, her right hand extended holds an olive-branch, at her feet is a 
rabbit. 

A dark green coin. Weight 396-|- grains. 

670. 

HADEiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . p. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

|c. HISPANIA . in the upper part of the field ; in the exergum S. C. A female 
reclining to the left as on the preceding coin, but no rabbit at her feet. 

By the testimony of several of the ancient writers, Spain in many parts abounded 
in rabbits, whence the little animal was used as a type of the country. It is thus 
alluded to by Catullus — 

Cuniculosa; Celtiberias fili. 

It was likewise renowned for its abundance of olive-trees, which it retains at 
the present day, and their fruit still continues to be an article of considerable 
commercial benefit to the country. This is alluded to by the olive-branch which 



HADRIAN. 



335 



HisPANiA bears on the coins. The two Roman poets, Martial and Clandian, 
speak of the olives of Spain as an attribute of the country — 



Bcetis oliviferii crinem redimite corona, 

Aurea qui nitidis vellera tingia aquis, 
Quem Bromius, quem Pallas amat. 

glauois turn prima Minervse 



Mart. lib. xii. ep. 99. 



Nexa comam foliis, fulvaque intexta micantem 
Veste Tagum, tales profert Hispania voces. 

Claud, de Laud. Stil. 1. 2. 

A yellow -brown coin, very good condition. Weight 438 grains. 

671. 




HADKIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . p . The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, bust in armour. 

^. EXERC . HisPAN . in the exergum ; S. 0. underneath. The emperor bareheaded 
and apparently in military costume, with a cloak on his shoulders and left arm, and a 
short spear in his left hand, is standing to the left on a low dais raised from the 
ground ; his right hand is extended as addressing the soldiers who stand before 
him ; before the emperor and facing the soldiers a lictor is standing, with his axe 
and fasces on his left shoulder ; the soldiers bear military standards, one of 
them being an eagle ; the head and forelegs of a horse appear amongst them, 
to represent the cavalry of the legions, as on the allocutio coins of Galba and 
Trajan already noticed. 

This coin is unique in this country ; it is large in size, black in colour, and in 
very fine preservation, and particularly interesting as recording the review of the 
Spanish legions by Hadrian whilst he was in Spain. Having concluded his tour of 
inspection of the Roman towns and garrisons, Hadrian returned to Rome, when 
he had been absent more than a year. 

It is from the cabinet of Captain Faber. Weight 368f grains. 



336 KEcoBDs or koman histobt. 

672. 




HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The unlaureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

$c. DisciPLiNA . AVG. in the exergum ; S. C. on either side of the field. The 
emperor bare-headed, with military cloak, and a short staff in his left hand, 
marching to the right, followed by an officer and four signiferi bearing different 
standards; their swords on their right sides. All are marching in single file. 

This is a fine large spread black coin. 

673. 

HADRiANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the left. 

!P). cos . Ill . p . P. The emperor or some cavalry officer on a horse to the 
right, having a spear in his right hand, brought to the charge, as on the decvusio 
coins of Nero, ante'. 

This is a device of cavalry review ; the officer is in armour with his military 
cloak flying from his shoulders, and the attitude of the horse is as if it were 
stopped in its career by the word of command to halt. It is an uncommon device 
of Hadrian, but is well applicable to a review of troops, therefore I introduce it 
with the Spanish army. 

It is a very good black Second Brass coin. Weight 164|- grains. 

674. 

HADMANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

|l. POKTVNA . BEDVCi. In the exergum S. C. The emperor, robed and bare- 
headed, standing to the right ; his right hand joined with the right hand of a 
female who stands opposite to him, having a cornucopise on her left arm. 

This type expresses the satisfaction of the Roman people on the return of 



HADRIAN. 337 

Hadrian to the city, and the two following coins are of like import, in acknow- 
ledgment of his safe arrival. 

A very fine red-green Campana coin. Weight 3571 grains. 

675. 

HADMANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

1^. ADVENTVS . AVG. In the exergum S. 0. Roma armed standing to the 
right, with her spear in her left hand ; her right hand clasps the right hand of 
the emperor, who is robed and standing before her, 

A fine green Campana coin. Weight 395^ grains, 

676. 

HADuiANUS , AVGVSTUS . The laureate head of the emperor to the left. 

9>. cos . III. In the exergum S. 0. Roma, armed, seated on arms to the 
left, holding a Victoriola in her right hand presenting a wreath ; on her left arm 
she bears a full cornucopias ; the arms, being a cuirass, helmet, shield, quivers, 
and a bow, are all well displayed. 

A dark brown coin in fine condition, ' 

677. 

HADBIANVS . AVG , COS , III , P.P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

Jo. SALVS . AVG, In the exergum S. C. A female standing full front looking 
to the left ; her left elbow rests on a short column placed at her side ; a snake is 
winding round her left arm, and, crossing her bosom, raises its head over her 
right shoulder towards a bowl, which she holds up in her right hand for the snake 
to feed out of. 

A supplicatory coin or type for the health of the emperor on his return to 
Rome. 

A dark green coin in fine condition. Weight 362 grains. 

678. 
HAimiANVS . AVGVSTVS .P.P. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 
9>. HiLARiTAS . P.R. In the field S. C, and in the exergum cos . in. A 
female standing to the left, holding in her right hand a palm-branch, the stem of 
it resting on the ground ; on her left arm she bears a full cornucopias ; at her 

2x 



338 RECOKDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

rigM side is a small male figure liolding up Ms hands ; and on her left side is a 
small female figure also holding up her hands. 

This and the two following coins seem to have been struck to express the joy 
of the people of Rome (p.r.) under the government of Hadrian. It is useless to 
attempt to refer such coins to any particular year or event in the reign of Hadrian, 
for, being all marked cos . iii., they may range through the whole period ; but I 
consider them as appropriate to a return of Hadrian to Rome, especially in the 
early part of his career. I have therefore introduced them at this period, which 
would be about the years a.d. 122, 128. 

A very fine black coin. Weight 374 grains. 

679. 

HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9>. FELiciTAS . AVG. In the exergum S. C. The emperor standing to the 
right, holding a scroll in his left hand ; his right hand joined with the right hand 
of a female standing to the left, holding a caducous on her left arm. 

A very fine bronze Campana coin. Weight 437|- grains. 

680. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9=. FELiciTAS . AVG. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left ; her 
right hand extended holds an olive-branch ; in her left hand she holds a long 
caduceus stafiP, resting the end on the ground. 

A water-gold Campana coin. Weight 4011 grains. 

681. 




HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

^. cos . ill. in the exergum, but no S. C. An eagle standing on afulmen, 



HADRIAN. 339 

its head turned to the right ; at its right side is an owl standing on an ornamented 
shield, and at its left side there is a peacock with its tail fully expanded. 

Admiral Smyth, No. 26, Addenda in his Cabinet, commenting on a coin of this 
type, calls it pantheistic, hut it is not explained ; however, I look on the type as 
a very adulatory compliment to the emperor, for, being interpreted, it signifies 
love, wisdom, and power, the three attributes of divinity. 

In the Christina Cabinet there is a Greek coin with a type of the same import; 
it represents Jupiter seated on a throne, with Minerva on his right hand, Juno 
on the left, the signification being the same as on the present coin, the three 
birds being those assigned in the mythology of the ancients to those three deities, 
the eagle to Jupiter, the owl to Minerva, and the peacock to Juno. Minerva, or 
Wisdom, is said to have sprung armed from the braia of Jupiter, and Love, or 
Juno his sister, was united to Jupiter, or Power, as his wife, — thus Power, ruled 
by Love and Wisdom. 

In Vaillant's work " Numismata Selectiora," being a description of the 
medallions in the cabinet of the Abbe de Camps, there is a medallion of Trajan, 
with a reverse of Jupiter, standing in the middle with an eagle at his right foot, 
and holding a fidmen in his right hand, the hasta pura in his left. At his right 
side is Minerva wearing her helmet, and with spear in her right hand, a shield at 
her left side, and an owl at her right side ; on the left of Jupiter is Juno with her 
peacock beside her on the right, holding the Jiasta pura in her left hand. 

A remarkably fine large black coin from the cabinet of Capt, Paber. Weight 
446 1 grains. 

682. 

HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9>. CAPPADOCIA. In the field S. C. A female in warlike attire, standing full 
front, her head turned to the left, wearing a turreted crown; her right hand 
extended holds what is generally termed a representation of Mount Argseus ; in 
her left hand she holds a banner, or vexUlum, the staff resting on the ground ; 
the skin of some wild animal is pendent behind from her shoulders ; the paws are 
seen on each side of her dress, which reaches just above her knees, with buskins 
half-way up on her legs. 

After Hadrian's return from Spain he remained at Home for a time, attending 
to the affairs of the state. In the following year he went to Athens ; from 
thence he returned by way of Cilicia, Lycia, Pamphylia, Cappadocia, Phrygia, 
and Bithynia. 

2x2 



340 HECOUDS OP EOMAK HISTORY. 

The present type is a personification of Cappadocia in Asia Minor, between 
the rivers Halys and Euphrates and the Euxine Sea. The inhabitants were 
reckoned, in the time of the republic, of a dull and submissive disposition, and 
addicted to vicious courses ; they refused freedom and independence when offered 
them by the Eomans, but begged for a king ; and a man of rank, named Ariobar- 
zanes, was appointed. Subsequently, ia the civil wars of Pompey and JuMus 
Caesar, Ariobarzanes joined with Pompey; after whose defeat and death, and also 
the subsequent death of Julius Caesar, Ariobarzanes was continued in his govern- 
ment by the powerful interest of Cicero. Cappadocia is also a type on the coins 
of Antoninus Pius, post. 

A good water-gold Campana coin. Weight 392§; grains. 

683. 

HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p - P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

^. EXEB . cappad[ocivs] in the exergum, and S. C. at the sides of the field. 
The emperor, bare-headed and on horseback, standing to the right ; his right 
hand raised, addressing soldiers who stand before him, each of them bearing a 
standard, the one who is first in front having his sword on the left side. 

A very rare coin, recording the review of the E-oman forces in Cappadocia by 
the emperor, on his visit to that province in his way back to E/ome. 

A fine water-gold coin. Yaillant says this type, in Pirst Brass, " eximise 
raritatis et elegantise est." 

684. 

HADBiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

Jc. EXER . MOESicvs . in the exergum, and S. C. on either side of the field. 
The emperor standing to the right, a little raised from the ground by a turf, or 
dais, addressing four armed soldiers ; the first is in front, with his back to the 
emperor, and bearing a legionary eagle, and there are three other standards with 
the rest of the soldiers. 

This is also a very rare colq, recording a review of the Pi-oman forces in 
Moesia by Hadrian, after he had left Cappadocia on his way, returning to Rome. 
Moesia is the Bulgaria of the present day. 

Another fine water-gold coin. 



HADRIAN. 341 

685. 

HADRiANvs . AVG. COS . Ill . p.p. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

^. ADVENTVi . AVG . PHRTGiAE The emperor, robed aud bareheaded, 

standing to the right ; his right hand raised, addressing a person who stands on 
the left wearing a short tunic to the knees ; on his head he has a cap, rather high, 
and ornamented at the top with a crescent ; in his left hand he holds a shepherd's 
crook ; between the two there is an altar with a fire burning, over which the 
person holds a patera as if pouring on it a libation ; at the back of the altar some 
animal is lying as for saciufice. 

Phrygia was divided by the ancients into Major and Minor. It appears to have 
been situate between Bithynia, Lydia, Cappadocia, and Caria ; its inhabitants were 
reckoned an effeminate race of people. 

A fine mottled green red coin from the cabinet of Sir George Musgrave. 
Vaillant says, "inter raros numeratur." 

686. 

HADBiANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . P.P. The unlaureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

|c. RESTiTVTOiii . PHRTGIAE. In the exergum S. C. The emperor, robed, stand- 
ing to the left, extends his hand to a female kneeling before him on her right knee ; 
a robe or mantle is pendent from her shoulders, and an ornamented vest or tunic 
reaches to her knees ; it resembles the lappets of a cuirass : in her left hand she 
has a shepherd's crook ; on her head she wears the cap, or Phrygian bonnet, as it 
is often termed, which was peculiar to the country, and singular in its form at the 
top, being curved as if intended to represent the crest or ornament of a helmet. 

The visit of Hadrian to Phrygia here recorded took place on his way back to 
Kome in the same year that he visited Cappadocia. The benefits bestowed by him 
on the Phrygian province are implied in the term or title Restitutor. 

A fine black coin from the Gwilt Cabinet, which Vaillant terms rarm only. 

687. 

HADRiANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right ; shoulders draped. 

51. RESTiTVTORi . ACHAIAE. In the exergum S. C. The emperor, robed, 
standing to the left ; his right hand extended, raising a female who is kneeling 
before him; between them is a vase with a flower rising out of it. 



342 EECOEDS OP EOMAN HISTORY. 

Hadrian appears to liave visited Achaia when on his way to Athens ; after 
finishing his inquiries and bestowing his benefactions he went on to Athens, and 
afterwards returned to Rome. 

Oiselius, p. 101, quoting from Spartianus, says, in reference to this type, 
" Post lioc per Asiam et insulas ad Achaiam navigavit, &c. et in Achaia quidem 
illud obscrvatum ferunt quod ciun in sacris multi cultros habereiit, cum Hadriano 
nuUus armatus ingressus est." 

A very fine black Campana coin. Weight 466| grains. 

688. 

HADiiiANVS . AVGVSTVS. The radiate head of tlie emperor to the right. 

^. cos . in the upper verge of the fiekl over a winged horse that is galloping 
to the right at full speed ; under the horse S. C. and iii. 

The Pegasus or winged horse was a Greek emblem ; we therefore place it to 
represent Athens, which was visited by Hadrian after he left Achaia. Pegasus 
in the ancient mythology is said to have sprung from the blood of Medusa when 
killed by Perseus, and as soon as born, according to Ovid, he flew to Mount 
Helicon and there fixed his residence ; on which spot he raised a fountain, called 
Hippocrene, by striking his foot on the earth. 

Whilst Hadrian was at Athens he was initiated in the Eleusinian mysteries. 
The mythology of the ancient Greeks was in its origin not a mere mass of wild 
and idle fables, but rather a series of beautiful allegories embodying elevated 
lessons of wisdom. The story of Pegasus the winged horse is an interesting 
instance of this. The horse is a symbol of the intellect by whose energies we 
advance on the path of truth — a winged horse is an intellect gifted with sublime 
ideas, thus having the power to soar. Bellerophon could not destroy the triple 
monster Chimsera until he obtained the assistance of Pegasus ; and in like manner 
Chimsera, representing the monstrous fallacies which waste the minds of the 
superstitious and ignorant, can only be overcome by a vigorous and heaven-taught 
understanding. 

Pegasus also struck the side of Mount Helicon, the abode of the Muses (by 
whom the ancients represented Science), and opened the fountain Hippocrene, 
out of which the sacred waters flowed which give to genius of every kind its 
inspiration. By this the wise among the ancients sought to intimate, in their own 
graceful imagery, that, when the heaven-taught and vigorous intellect penetrated 
beneath the surface of things, the waters of truth furnish the votaries of the 
Muses (the Sciences) with all the gushing streams of poetry, music, and grace, and 



HADRIAN. 343 

other sciences. Now, from this explanation, and from the circumstance of 
Hadrian having visited Egypt, the metropolis of hieroglyphics, — from his having 
dwelt at Athens, the capital of ancient mythology, — from his reputed love of 
learning, — to say nothing of his capabilities as a Avriter, or of his genius as a poet, 
—I am inclined to think that the Pegasus was employed by the mint-master in its 
primary use and meaning among the ancient Greeks, and consequently it was 
intended as a compliment, symbolically to express Hadrian's admiration for high 
and recondite learning — the Pegasus representing Athens as the seat of learning. 
A fine pale yellow-green Second Brass coin. 

689. 

HADKIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The unlaureatc head of the emperor to the right, 
shoulders draped. 

9). FELiciTATi . AVG. In the exergum cos . iii . p . p. at the sides of the field 
S. C. A fine galley rowed to the left ; two standards are at the stern, signifying 
that some person of rank is on board ; a small bowsprit and sail at the head ; the 
gubernator sits in a hutch or covered place at the stern. 

We place a galley now to signify the emperor embarked on his return to 
Rome, after visiting Athens and other places. 

A good black coin. 

690. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The unlaureatc head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9). POBTVNAE . REDVCi. In the exergum S. C. The emperor standing to the 
right, his right hand joined with that of a female, who stands on the left opposite 
to him, bearing on her left arm a cornucopise filled with fruits. 

A type of Hadrian having arrived at Rome after his tour. 

A fine red bronze Campana green coin. Weight 378 1 grains. 

691. 

HADKIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

^. cos . III. In the exergum S. 0. Eoma armed sitting on a cuirass to the 
left ; her clothes reach to her knees only ; her right haiid extended holds a 
Victoriola ; on her left arm she bears a full cornucopias, her right foot placed on 
a helmet lying on the ground ; her buskins reach half up her legs, and show their 
lacing and ornaments very plainly. 

A mottled red coin from the E^amsay Cabinet, very fine. 



344 EBOORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

692. 

HADRiANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of Hadrian to the right, shoulders 
draped. 

|c. lovi . OPTIMO . MAXIMO . s . p . Q . R . inscribed in four lines within an oak- 
wreath. 

A compliment to Hadrian. After Hadrian had returned to Rome from 
Athens, he remained at home for two or three years before he started again on his 
travels, and during this time it would seem many coins were struck, of which the 
reverses all represent subjects of a peaceful character. 

A very good bronze coin. 

693. 

HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS . The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

p.. cos . Ill . and in the exergum liberalitas . avg . iiii . S. C. at the sides 
of the field. The emperor, or his deputy, seated to the left on a curule chair 
placed on a raised tribunal ; at his right hand is a female, pouring corn, or some 
other article, from a cornucopise into the lap of a citizen, who stands in front, 
holding his robe with both hands to receive the donation. 

This type is quoted by Argelati in Hadriano, a.d. 125, as being ex Angel, 
f. 148, No. 36. He describes it thus, " Imp. sedens cui assistit alia figura in 
sinam fundens ex cornucopise pecunias tertise adstanti ;" and adds, " Liberalitas 
liaec quarta, videtur esse ilia de qua Spartianus scribit, 'Absente Hadriano 
congiarium p. r. datum ternis Aureis in singulos divisis;' qui verb sedet in sub- 
structione vel consul, vel alius imperatoris vicem gerens." 

It is a very scarce coin, and, when found, it is seldom in a condition fit to put 
in a cabinet, and the legends rarely readable. The present is a good black coin ; 
and Vaillant says, " Hie nummus primi moduli eximise raritatis est." 

694. 

HADRIANVS . AVGUSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right ; 
slioulders draped. 

5o. CLEMENTiA . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. In the field S. 0. A robed female 
standing to the left, with a hasta pura in her left hand ; her right hand extended 
holds a patera. 

A good brown coin, e Cureton. Weight 456^ grains. 



HADRIAN. 345 

' 695. 

HADRiANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of Hadrian to the right, shoulders 
draped. 

9.. iNDVLGENTiA . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. In the exergum S, C. A female 
seated to the left on a throne, with a hasta pura in her left hand ; her right hand 
extended and open. 

A beautiful wax-like coin, from the Brice Cabinet. Weight 377 grains. 

696. 

HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The unlaureate head of Hadrian to the right. 

$D- INDVIGENTIA . AVG .P.P. In the exergum cos . in. and in the field S. 0. 
A female seated to the left, as on the preceding coin, her right hand extended 
and open. 

A fine black Campana coin. "Weight 428 grains. 

697. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of Hadrian to the right. 

9.. FIDES . PVBLicA. In the field S. 0. A female standing to the right, 
holding wheat-ears in her right hand ; with her left hand raised she presents a 
small basket or punnet of fruits. 

A fine green bronze coin, from the Thomas Cabinet. Weight 411^ grains. 

698. 

HADRIANVS . AVG. cos . III. p. p. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

9). AEQViTAS . AVG. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left holding 
a pair of scales in her right hand ; in the left hand she has the hasta pura. 

A good brown coin from the cabinet of H. Eobson. Weight 4B8f grains. 

699. 

HADRIANVS . AVG. cos .III .p.p. The laureate head of the emperor to the 

right. 

Jc. ivsTiTiA . AVG. In the exergum S. C. A female seated to the left ; her 
right hand extended holds a patera ; in her left she bears the hasta pura upright. 

These two coins seem to record an acknowledgment by the Senate of the 
integrity of Hadrian's conduct in the administration of justice. The emperor was 
so desirous of having one uniform system of law throughout the empire and pro- 

2 Y 



346 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

vinces that lie caused the whole of the laws to be revised and digested under the 
superiatendence of Salvius Julianus, an eminent lawyer of that period, and 
ultimately they were compressed into one body or code, which was called " The 
Perpetual Edict;" thereby intending that from thenceforth this code of laws 
should be in use throughout the empire, and serve as the standard for any amend- 
ments which might be required at a future period. 
A black green middling coin. Weight 326f grains. 

700. 

HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

P>. cos . III., and in the exergum S. C. The emperor, robed, standing in front 
of a temple or other public building ; his right hand raised in the act of addressing 
some citizens, who stand before him with their hands raised in token of applause. 

A brown coin in good condition. Weight 369| grains. 

701. 

HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . P.P. The laureate head of Hadrian to the right. 

|o. PELiciTAS . AVG. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left ; in her 
right hand she holds a caduceus, at her right foot is a wheel, on her left arm 
she bears a full cornucopige. 

The wheel is more usually attributed to Eortune, but it is equally appropriate 
here, as showing by the revolving of a wheel how uncertain is human happiness — 
ever changing and revolving in its daily course with the life of man. 

A middling good brassy coin. Weight 372? grains. 

702. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . cos . Ill . p.p. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

9.. FORTVNA . AVG. In the field S. C. A female standing to the left ; her right 
hand rests on the tiller of a rudder, on her left arm she bears a full cornucopise. 
A brown bronze coin. Weight 392 grains. 

703. 

HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9>- [cos .III], and in the exergum [liJberalitas The emperor or his 

deputy seated to the right on a curule chair placed on a suggestum ; at his left 
side a person is standing, and in the act of pouring some articles from a cornu- 
copise into the lap of a person who stands in front holding up his robe to receive 



HADEIAN. 347 

the donation, whilst another person Avho has received his gift is folding his rohe 
and "walking away. 

This donation, although it is not marked as the fifth, yet seeing all the others 
except the first are numbered, but none of them representing the persons engaged 
to be standing and sitting in the same positions in which the figures on this 
reverse are placed, we may fairly consider it to be the fifth liberality, and mark it 
accordingly, until the fifth does appear with its number defined ; but if any coin be 
so marked it must be remarkably scarce, for I have never yet seen it in any 
cabinet, public or private, nor at sale, neither do I find it in Occo or in Argelati ; 
but Vaillant, describing the different liberalities, notes them as to rarity in the 
following manner: — "Diversi sunt Liberalitatis typi cum plurimis figuris. Primus 
obvius, secundus rarus, tertius et quartus triti, quintus rarissimus, sextus inter 
rariores, septimus rarus; omnes sunt primse magnitudinis ; " and, in regard to 
the type of a single figure, he says, "Omnes Liberalitates cum sola figura inter 
rariores coUocandi exceptis prima et sexta." 

A bro^vn coin in middling condition. Weight 391^ grains. 

704 

HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 
|o. cos . III. In the field S. 0. A female robed to the feet standing to the 
right ; in her left hand she holds a bow, in her right hand an arrow. 
A drab-coloured coin, very fine. Weight 386 grains. 

705. 

HADEiANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of Hadrian to the right. 

51. No legend. S. C. either side of the field. A female robed to the feet 
standing to the left ; her right hand extended holds an arrow; in her left hand she 
has a bow. 

A very good dark green coin. Weight 399 grains. 

706. 

HADMANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

|c. cos . III. In the field S. 0, A female with arrow and bow in her hands 
standing to the right, as on the first preceding coin. 

There is no doubt from the bow and arrow held by the female represented on 
these three coins that it is intended as a personifiation of Diana, the bow and 
arrow being peculiar to her ; but her clothing, as here represented, is rather an 
impediment to her for the chace. Generally, Diana is represented with her legs 

2t2 



348 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

bare, wearing buskins, her clothes only to the knees, and a quiver of arrows over 
her shoulders. See her in Antonino, post. 

A very fine black coin from the Gwilt Cabinet. 

707. 

HADRIANVS . AvG - COS . Ill . p . p . The laureate head of Hadrian to the right. 
Jo. PROVIDENTIA . Ava. In the field S. C. A. female standing looking to the 
left ; at her right foot is placed a globe, to which she poiats with her right hand ; 
in her left hand she has the liasta ptira. 

A type signifying the watchfulness of Hadrian for the weKare of the Eoman 
world, denoted by the globe to which the hand of the female is pointing. 

A good brown coin. Weight 376-|- grains. 

708. 

HADRiANVS . AV& . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of Hadrian to the right. 
!p.. No legend. S. C. in the field. Victory standing to the right, her right 
hand raised towards her face ; in her left hand she has an olive branch, which she 
holds in a drooping position towards the ground. 
A fine bright green coin. Weight SIS^ grains. 

709. 

HADRiANVS . AVGVSTVS . The laureate head of Hadrian to the right. 

9j. cos . III. In the field S. 0. A female warrior standing to the left ; her 
right hand extended presents a sword with the belt ; her right foot rests on a 
helmet lying on the ground ; in her left hand she holds a spear, the point on the 
ground. 

We have already noticed two coins like the present on the reverse, excepting 
they have the word virtvs, or virt. short, on each of them. The figure on this 
reverse has the same import, although the word virtvs is not introduced. We 
therefore rank it as a compliment to the valour of the emperor, for by virtvs the 
Romans meant valour or courage, and not virtue in the modern designation of 
the word, and it is thus used in describing a warrior — 

" Hand ulli veterum in virtvte secundus." 

A light brown coin, in fine preservation. Weight 463| grains. 

710. 

HADRiANVS . AVGVSTvs. The laureate head of Hadrian to the right. 
^. cos . III. In the exergum exped . avg. S. 0. It is not noticed in history 



HADRIAN. 349 

at what precise period Hadrian visited Dacia ; but, as lie started off in about his 
eighth year to visit Nicomedia and Bithynia, we put his visit to Dacia as forming 
part of the tour he then made. 

The emperor is represented on this coin on horseback galloping to the left ; he 
is in armour, with his military cloak floating from his shoulders ; he looks forward, 
his right hand is raised, and he seems to wear a helmet or a pointed cap. 

A dark brown coin. 

711. 
■ HADEiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9>. DACIA in the exergum ; S. C. in the field. A warlike figure seated to the 
left on a rock ; the right hand holds a Roman military ensign, the left a curved 
sword. 

A rich light broAvn. Weight 409| grains. 

Dacia was conquered by the emperor Trajan, as we have already seen recorded 
on his coins. Trajan built a bridge over the river Danube, thus connecting the 
Dacian territory to the E-oman, and Dacia became a Roman province, with Roman 
garrisons. Although history is silent as to the date of Hadrian's visit to Dacia, 
yet that he did go there is proved by this coin and the others which refer to 
Dacia; besides, after his view of Trajan's magnificent bridge, he gave orders for it 
to be demolished, observing that by the same means that the Roman armies 
passed the Danube the Dacians and other barbarians could likewise pass over. 

Dacia, as we have said, in Trajano, ante, is now known as the principalities of 
Moldavia, Transylvania, and AVallachia, forming parts of the Austrian and 
Turkish empires. It comprises the whole of the immense district lying between the 
river Dneister, which takes its rise in the Carpathian Mountains in Gallicia, and 
falls into the Black Sea or Euxine at Akerman, and the Lower Danube. Hungary 
and Transylvania were originally called the kingdom of Dacia. 

712. 

HADBIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

|c. DACIA in the exergiim; in the field S. C. A warlike figure personifying 
Dacia sitting to the left on a rock, wearing a cap, a cloak passing across the 
bosom and falling over the left shoulder, a short tunic to the knees, and trousers 
reaching to the ancles ; the right hand holds a Roman military standard sur- 
mounted by an eagle ; in the left hand a curved sword. 

A very fine light brown coin, from the cabinet of Sir George Musgrave. 



350 EECOBDS OF BOMAN HISTOEY. 

713. 

HADMANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The unlaureate head of tlie emperor to 
the right. 

P> BACio ... in the exergum. The emperor on a horse to the right, his 

right hand raised addressing three sohliers who are before him bearing military 
standards, the first of them being an eagle. The emperor wears a cap or helmet 
without crest, which is uncommon, for amongst all the representations of Hadrian 
on the reverses of coins the head is rarely to be seen covered. 

714. 

HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . III. p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

^i. EXERC . DACicvs. S. C. underneath ; all in the exergum. The emperor on 
his horse to the right, his right hand raised addressing three soldiers who stand 
before him, each of them bearing a military standard, the one in the middle being 
an eagle. 

A good black-green coin from the cabinet of General E-amsay. 

715. 

HADBiANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

^. DisciPLiNA . AUG. In the exergum, with S. C. The emperor, bareheaded, 
holding a short staff in his left hand, is marching gently to the right, followed by 
an officer whose head is also uncovered, and he is followed by three signifei-i, who 
wear their usual and peculiar costume of an animal's skin with its head over their 
heads ; the first of them carries an eagle. 

A very good brown coin. 

These three coins record the reviews of the Eoman legions quartered in Dacia 
at the time of Hadrian's visit there. After these expeditions the emperor returned 
to Rome; but we wiU pass over that interval, and proceed with the tour to 
Nicomedia and Bithynia. 

716. 

HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . III. p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9^. RESTiTVTORi . NicoMEDiAE. In the exergum S. 0. The emperor standino- 
to the left, raising with his right hand a kneeling female, who wears a turreted 



HADRIAN. 351 

crown, and carries a rudder in her left hand, the blade of it appearing over her 
left shoulder. 

A brown coin in good condition. Weight 376 grains. 

Nicomedia was the capital of Bithynia ; it was founded by Nicomedes, the 
first king of Bithynia, about 278 years before the Christian sera. The kings of 
Bithynia were maintained on their throne by the Eomans, who treated the 
country rather as a province of the empire than as an independent state. 
Nicomedes IV. dying B.C. 75 without issue, left his kingdom and all his 
possessions to the Roman people, and it thus became a complete Boman province, 
and Hadrian visited it as a province of the empire, as he did the other provinces. 

Admiral Smyth, referring to the coin of Nicomedia in his cabinet, reckons it 
one of the rarest of the Hadrian series. I never had another opportunity of 
obtaining this coin, although waiting for years to do so, and I have only seen it 
once since then. Vaillant says, " Hie nummus primes formse rarissimus et 
elegantissimus est." 

717. 

HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The unlaurcate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoTilders draped. 

|o. ADVENTVi . AUG . BiTHTNiAE. In the exergum S. C. The emperor in his 
robes standing to the right, his right hand raised, addressing a female who stands 
before him to the left ; between them is a decorated altar on which a fire is 
burning, and the female is pouring on to the fire from a patera she holds in her 
right hand. In her left hand she holds a rudder to her shoulder, on her head is &, 
turret crown ; at the side of the altar, on the ground, there is an animal lying, as 
for sacrifice. 

A good brown coin, from the Devonshire Cabinet. Weight 341 grains. 

These two coins, and the four which follow, commemorate the visits of 
Hadrian to the province of Bithynia, where he bestowed many benefits on the 
cities, and especially Nicsea and Nicomedia, which had sufiered severely from 
earthquakes. 

The most known of these two cities is Nicsea, now called Isnic, and belonging 
to Turkey ; at Nicaea the first general council of Christian bishops was held, in 
A.D. 325. There is now nothing to be seen of its ancient splendour but an 
aqueduct. The greater part of the inhabitants used to be Jews. The country 
around is famous for corn and wine. The rudder borne by the female represent- 
ing the province, is occasioned by the northern part of the country bordering on 
the Euxine Sea, the inhabitants of those parts being a maritime people. 



352 RECOEDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

718. 

HADRIANVS . AVG. COS .III. p.p. The laureate liead of tlie emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

^. RESTiTVTOEi . BiTHTNiAE. In the cxergum S. C. The emperor standing 
to the right, his right hand extended towards a female in plain head-dress 
kneeling before him on her left knee ; on her left arm she bears a rudder. 

A dark green coin, from the Campana Cabinet. 

719. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . P. P. The unlaureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

^. RESTiTVTORi . BiTH .... In the exergum S. C. The emperor standing to 
the right, his right hand extended towards a female kneeling before him on her 
left knee, wearing a turreted crown and bearing a rudder on her left arm. 

A dark green coin. "Weight 3781 grains. 

720. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . . . The unlauroate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

Jd. RESTITVTORI . BITHTNIAE. In the exergum S. 0. The emperor standing 
to the left; his right hand extended, raising a kneeling female, who wears a 
turreted crown, and has the rudder of a galley in her left hand. 

A good brown coin. Weight 409-^ grains. 

721. 

ATT . KAic . TPAi . AAPIANOC . CGB. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

^. A temple of eight columns. In the tympanum is a sculpture of the wolf 
and twins. The word Koi — non divided, and half placed on each side of the field 
by the side of the columns. In the exergum is the word BeieTNiAC. 

The temple on this coin is supposed to represent the magnificent temple built 
by Hadrian on his visit to Bithynia, and dedicated to all the gods, in imitation of 
the Pantheon at Eome. The word koinon signifying common to aU [the gods] ; 
pantheon meaning the same thing. 

Montfaucon quotes this coin ; he says that the words signify that it was struck 
by the community of Bithynians. 

After Hadrian had completed his tour in Bithynia and adjacent parts he 



HADEIAN. 353 

crossed the sea to Africa ; this was in the ninth year of his reign. We therefore 
place a sailing galley at his disposal, and invoke the kiadness of Neptune to let 
him have a safe passage. 

722. 




HADUIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The unlaureate head of Hadrian to the right ; bust in 
armour, and draped. 

9>. FELiciTATi . AVG . On the Sail of a galley ; cos . iii . p . p . in the exergum. 
A large galley with mast and square sail steering away to the right ; military 
standards are erect in the stern, and a figure is standing at the head ; but whether 
it is a person belonging to the vessel or the sign or figure-head of the vessel is 
rather doubtful. 

A splendid coin, in the very finest preservation, from the Devonshire Cabinet, 
displaying every part of the vessel very perfectly, its apparel and tackle all 
clearly defined. This coin is very rare indeed in so perfect a state. It is 
frequently found as a forgery, of which the next coin is a good specimen, and I 
retain it in the cabinet because it was sold to a gentleman by a workman employed 
in the removal of Old London Bridge, who said he had just dug it up in clearing 
among the foundations, and the gentleman, not understanding coins, believed 
the man's story and bought the coin. It was then covered with dirt, easily 
washed off, and was given by the gentleman to my friend, C. Eoach Smith, as a 
great curiosity, and he gave it to me. 

Weight 463 f grains. 

723. 

HADEIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The unlaureate head of Hadrian to the right ; bust 
in armour, and draped. 

|l>. PELiciTATi . AVG. on the sail of a large gaUey steeriug away to the right, as 
on the preceding coin. 

A yellow-brown coin. 

This is the forgery above-mentioned. 

2 z 



354 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

724. 

HADRIAN . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right ; the 
Modena silver eagle in the field, at the back of the head. 

^. COS . III. In the field S. 0. Neptune standing to the left holding his 
trident in the left hand ; his right foot rests on the prow of a galley, the beaks 
outward ; in his right hand he holds an acrostolion, and some drapery is thrown 
over his right knee. 

We place these coins to represent the passage of Hadrian across the Medi- 
terranean Sea to Africa after he had completed his visitation of Bithynia and the 
adjacent countries. 

Neptune being so frequent a type on the coins of Hadrian, I am led to believe 
it was used to signify the safe passage of Hadrian to different places by water, so 
likewise vnth the great number of coins having galleys on the reverse ; I have 
therefore introduced them whenever a journey by water required the use of a 
gaUey. 

The types of the gaUey, of Neptune, and the Expeditio, are almost exclusively 
confined to Hadrian, which I consider was occasioned by his being continually 
visiting some one or other of the provinces, 

A fine coin, bronze ; formerly in the cabinet of the Duke of Modena, as proved 
by the small silver eagle at the back of the head. 

725. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

'^. AFRICA in the iipper part of the field. S, C. in the exergum. A female 
reclining to the left, wearing as a head-dress the skin of an elephant's head with 
its trunk raised in front ; her right hand extended holds a scorpion ; on her left 
arm she bears a cornucopise filled with fruits, and leans on a mound of earth or 
piece of rock ; at her feet is a basket vsdth ears of corn coming out of the top. The 
scorpion held by Africa is thus spoken of by Lucan — 

quis fata putaret 



Scorpion, aut vires maturfe mortis habere ? 
lUe minax nodis et recto verbere Sffivus 
Teste tulit coelo victi decus Orionis. Lib. ii. 



A good brovm coin. Weight 372f grains. 



HADRIAN. 355 

726. 

HADEiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill .p . p . The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9>. ADVENTvi . AVG . APRiCAE, In the exergum S. C, The emperor standing 
to the right, his right hand raised, as addressing a female who stands before him 
wearing the elephant head-dress ; her right hand extended holds a patera, from 
which she is pouring on to the fire burning on an altar placed between them ; at 
the foot of the altar an animal is lying for sacrifice. 

Hadrian passed into Africa about the year a.d. 128, and returned to E-ome the 
same year. The present coin came from some excavation about Boxmoor in 
forming the London and Birmingham Railway. There were several B;oman urns 
and other Roman remains found about Boxmoor. 

The coin is of yellow colour, as from water, in perfect condition ; it is a scarce 
reverse. Weight 335^ grains. 

727. 

HADBiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

5c. RESTiTVTORi . APRiCAE. In the excrgum S. C. A female wearing the 
elephant head-dress kneeling on her right knee before the emperor, who stands to 
the left, with his right hand raising her from the ground ; in her left hand she has 
some ears of corn, and three plants of corn spring from the ground between her 
and the emperor. 

Africa was the great granary of Rome ; hence the introduction of the ears of 
corn. Horace also alludes to it thus — 

Fnimenti quantum metit Africa. — Sat. iii. lib. 2. 

728. 

.H ADMAN vs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The unlaurcatc head of Hadrian to the 
right. 

9). BESTiTVTOiM . AERicAE, In the oxcrgum S. C. A female wearing the 
elephant head-dress kneeling to the right before the emperor, who stands to 
the left, and with his right hand raises her from the ground (as depicted on the 
preceding coin), with ears of corn in her hand, and ears of corn on the ground 
before the emperor. 

Hadrian did not stay for a long period in Africa before he returned to Rome ; 

2 z2 



356 BECOEDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

we will therefore accompany him in a visit to Mauretania, and afterwards take 
shipping for Rome. 

These two coins are black in colour, and in fine preservation ; the latter of 
them is from the cabinet of General Eamsay. 

729. 

HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The unlaureatc head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

^. ADVENTVi . AVG . MAVRETANiAE. In the excrgum S. C. The emperor robed 
standing to the right ; before him is a female wearing a short dress to the knees 
with a round cap on her head, and bearing on her left shoulder a standard ; her 
right hand extended holds a patera over a fire burning on an altar standing 
between her and the emperor ; the altar is a narrow circular altar, apparently of 
stone, and by its side is a lamb. 

A good brown coin of greenish tint. 

730. 

HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

|c. ADVENTVI . AVG . MAVRETANIAE. In the exergum S. C. The emperor robed 
standing to the right, his right hand raised as addressing a female who stands 
before him wearing an elephant head-dress ; in her left hand she holds upright a 
vexilkmz or cavalry banner, the staff resting on the ground, her dress reaching 
only to her knees ; her right hand, holding a patera, is extended to a fire burning 
on a tripod altar, at the foot of which is seemingly the head and trunk of an 
elephant. 

A good coin, the reverse yellow-brown, very distinct. 

These coins record the arrival of Hadrian in the province of Mauretania, now 
Morocco ; the difference of the reverses renders them very interesting. 

731. 

HADRIANVS. AVG. COS. III. p. p. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9.. MAVRETANiA. No S. 0. The province personified by a female standing to 
the right, by the side of a spirited horse, which she holds with her left hand, as if 
by a bridle, or by its mane ; in her right hand she has two spears ; her dress, 
very scanty, reaches to her knees. 



HADRIAN. 367 

Mauretania, th.e present kingdom of Pez and Morocco, became a province of 
the Roman Empire in the time of the Emperor Claudius. Horace, in allusion to 
the use of the spear by the Moors, says. 

Integer vitse scelerisque purus 
Nou eget Mauri jaculis. 

The native inhabitants were black, or of very dark complexion, whence their 
name, Mauri. It would seem, by the female (or province) being represented with 
a horse, that they were then as celebrated for their breed of horses as they are 
at the present time. Their skill in horsemanship resembled that of their neigh- 
bours, the Numidians, thus described by Silius Italicus : 

Hie passim exultant Numidas, gens inscia frseni : On his hot steed, unused to curb or rein, 

Queis inter geminas per ludum mobilis aures The blaot Numidian prances o'er the plain ; 

Quadrupedum flectit non cedens virga lupatis : A wand betwixt his ears directs his course, 

Altrix bellorum bellatorumque virorum Ajid, as a bridle, turns th' obedient horse. 
Tellus. 

A black coin, in good condition. 

732. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

$1. MAVEETANiA. In the exergum S. C. The province personified by a 
female standing to the left by the side of a fiery horse, which she holds with her 
right hand ; in her left hand she has two spears ; her dress reaching to her knees, 
and a cap on her head. 

A good black-coloured coin. 

The Mauri were also inhabitants of Mauretania in that part now called 
Algiers ; it was the eastern part of Mauretania. They are sometimes classed as 
distinct provinces ; but each was equally noted for its breed of horses, and skill 
in horsemanship. 

The horse on these coins of Mauretania may also be considered an emblem of 
the warlike genius of the people, thus aUuded to by Virgil, iEneid, lib. 3 : 

Bello armantur equi, bella h£ec armenta minantur. 

733. 

HADRIANVS . AVG. cos .iii.P.P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9). MAVRETANiA. In the exergum S. C. A female, representing the province. 



358 



EECOEDS OF ROMAN HISTOUT. 



walking to the right, and leading a horse with her right hand ; her dress reaches 
to the knees ; on her left shoulder she carries two spears. Olaudian, speaking of 
the Numidian cavalry, asks the question : 



An Mauri fremitum raucosque repulsus 

Umbonum et vestros passuri cominus enses ? 
Non contra clypeis tectos galeisque micantes 
Ibitis ; in solis longe fiducia telis. 
Exarmatus erit, cum missile torserit, hostis, 
Dextra movet jaculum, prsetentat pallia laeva, 
Cetera nudus eques, sonipes ignarus habens, 
Virga regit, non ulla fides, non agminis ordo, 
Arma oneri, fuga prassidio — 



Can Moors sustain the press in close-fought fields 
Of shortened falchions and repelling shields ? 
Against a host of quiv'ring spears ye go. 
Nor helm nor buckler guard the naked foe ; 
The naked foe, who vainly trusts his art. 
And flings away his armour in his dart : 
His dart the right hand shakes, the left uprears 
His robe, beneath his tender skin appears. 
Their steeds, unrein'd, obey the horseman's wand, 
Nor know their legions when to march or stand : 
In the war's dreadful laws untaught and rude ; 
A mob of men, a martial multitude. 



A fine light green coin, from the cabinet of General Ramsay. 

734. 

HADRiANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . P.P. The unlaurcate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

$0, MAVEETANiA. In the esergum S. C. A man walking to the left in front 
of a horse, which he is leading with his right hand, and carrying two spears in his 
left hand. 

These four coins, representing Mauretania, delineate the province in various 
positions. There are no other representations of the province than as on these 
coins, which are not easUy procured as a complete series. 

The present is a brown coin, rather worn. Weight 402f grains. 



735. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . cos .III .p.p. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9>. EXERCiTVS in the upper verge of the field. In the exergum mavbetanicvs, 
with S. C. under it. The emperor on a horse to the right; his right hand raised 
addressing three soldiers who stand before him, each of them carrying a standard, 
the foremost of them being an eagle. 

A fine green coin from the cabinet of General Eamsay. 

VaUlant calls the coin " rarissimus." 



HADRIAN. 359 

736. 

HADEIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . P.P. The unlaureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9i. DisciPLiNA . AVG. in the exergum ; S. C. at the sides of the field. The 
emperor, bareheaded, with military cloak, is marching to the right followed by 
four soldiers, three of them bearing military standards ; the emperor holds a scroll 
or short staff in his left hand. 

The types on these two coins commemorate the review and manoeuvres of the 
Roman legions and forces stationed in Mauretania when Hadrian visited the 
province during his tour in Africa. 

A brown coin in good condition. 

737. 

HADRiANVS . AVGvsTvs. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

$c. cos . III., and across the field nep. — ked., with S. C. under the words, 
which are divided by the figure of Neptune, who stands to the right, wearing a 
large round cap. In his right hand he holds a trident, the prongs upward ; his left 
foot rests on the prow of a galley, the rostra outward ; his left arm resting on his 
left knee ; in his left hand he holds a bunch of coral or sea- weed, or perhaps an 
acrostolion ; some drapery is hanging in a careless manner over his left knee. 

The inscription of nep. — bed. across the field of this coin records a return by 
sea from a distant country. OiseUus, in PI. xxxvi. No. 12, speaking of a coin of 
Titus with the legend nep. — bed. says, " 'S^vtuno VJEDuci dicatus hie nummus ob 
reditum Titi Romam per mare." Neptune had great honours paid to him at 
Rome. During the Ludi Consuales horses and mules were exempt from labour, 
and were led through the streets decked with garlands. 

Admiral Smyth, describing a Neptune reverse of Hadrian, No. 155, says that 
he holds a hasta pura. I think his coin must be a little imperfect, for the trident 
is Neptune's peculiar weapon, and the hasta pura belongs to Jupiter and peaceful 
deities, or personifications of moral virtues — the hasta piora, or pointless spear, 
being the wand or staff of Divinity. The wand, or hasta pura, is used by certain 
officers of state attendant on royal personages on state occasions at the present 
day — by the Lord Chamberlain and other like officers — called Gold Stick, or Silver 
Stick, or Black Rod, according to its ornamentation ; also, the office of Lord High 
Steward for the trial of a peer is created by the delivery of a wand, the hasta pura, 
and on the termination of the trial the Lord High Steward breaks the wand, and 
declares the court dissolved. 



360 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

I should prefer considering Neptune as holding a buncli of coral or sea-weed 
instead of the acrostolion, which was the ornamental part of the stern of a galley, 
and was a token of a naval victory, it being customary to break away the 
acrostoUon from the stern of any hostile ship that might have been taken in 
battle, and there is no record of any naval engagement having occurred during 
the reign of Hadrian. The coral or sea-weed would therefore be an appropriate 
emblem to the peaceful reign of Hadrian. 

A very fine pale green coin. 

738. 

HADRiANYS . AVGVSTYS . The unlaureatc head of the emperor to the left ; 
shoulders draped. 

9). FELiciTATi . AV&. In the exergum cos . iii. S. 0. at each side of the field. 
A large galley, very high in the stern, in which are placed a vexilliim and another 
standard ; at the head is a sort of bowsprit with a small sail, a round or fiddle- 
head scroll, below which are the rostra. It is full of men, who are rowing away to 
the left. The gubernator at the stern is giving some directions to a person who 
stands at the head of the vessel. The standards indicate some person of rank 
being on board. 

Hadrian's journeys by sea were fit subjects for the die-engravers to comme- 
morate. It is to be observed that a galley was made by the ancients to signify a 
government, as the vessel of the state under the guidance of the emperor and 
senate, as the pilots and g%bernatores ; yet, as there are more galley coins of 
Hadrian than of all the other emperors, we may fairly consider that, although 
some were emblems of his good pilotage of the state vessel, yet others were 
intended to express the satisfaction of the people at finding the emperor return in 
safety from, a sea-voyage after visiting distant provinces of the empire, for they 
invariably have the legend eelicitati . avg. on the reverse with the galley, and 
on the sail at times, when the galley carries sail. 

A fine black-green coin. Weight 3881- grains. 

739. 

HADRiANvs . AVGVSTYS .P.P. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, 
shoulders draped. 

9. cos . III. In the exergum port . red. and S. 0. in the field. Fortune 
seated to the left holding a rudder in her right hand ; on her left arm she bears 
a fidl cornucopiEe. 

The Fortima i^edux seated with a rudder I consider refers to the emperor's 



HADRIAN. 361 

return to Eome by sea, indicated by the rudder, as part of tbe tackle of a galley. 
The type of Fortv/na redux, a female standing, her hand joiaed with the emperor's, 
seems a greeting of the emperor when he has returned from a journey by land. 
There is, doubtless, a distinction in the coins of the emperor Hadrian, implied by 
Fortuna redux being in different attitudes ; which I can only account for by 
considering one class as referring to a voyage by sea, and the other to a journey 
by land. 

A brown coin, from the cabinet of Mr. Robson. Weight 419|- grains. 

740. 

HADRiANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . p . The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

9>. lovi . CVSTOD. In the exergum S. C. Jupiter seated to the left, holding a 
fulmen in the right hand, which he rests on the right knee ; in the left hand he 
holds a hasta pura. 

The type of this coin seems to be a recommendation of the emperor to the 
protection of Jupiter. 

A black coin. Weight 4331 grains. 

741. 

HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, 

$0. HILARITAS . p . R. In the exergum cos . iii . and S. C. in the field. A 
female standing to the left, holding a palm-branch in her right hand ; on her left 
arm she bears a fuU cornucopise, a child on each side of her with its hands raised. 

This type has been already noticed ante ; but I introduce it again here to 
signify the joy or satisfaction expressed by the people of Rome on Hadrian's 
return to the city after his tour ia the distant provinces of the empire ; for it is 
a type that was frequently minted in the reign of Hadrian, and may be termed a 
common reverse of his time, excepting as to its state of preservation. 

A good brown coin. 

742. 

HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

|l. CO . . I . . . In the exergum annona . avg . and in the field S. C. A female 
seated to the right making a donation to a person who stands in front to receive 
it ; in the background is the stern of a galley, thus indicating that the supply of 
corn came to Rome by sea. 

A Second Brass black coin, very good. Weight 214|- grains. 

3 a 



362 RECOEDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

743. 

HADRiANVs . Av&vsTvs. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, 
shoulders draped. 

p.. TEANQviLLiTAS . AVG .P.P. In the exergum cos . iii ; in the field S. C. A 
female standing full front, her head turned to the left ; in her right hand she has 
a hasta pura ; her left arm rests carelessly on the top of a short column at her 
left side. 

This type is rare ; the coin is of gold colour, from lying in water. Weight, 
414-| grains. 

744. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . III. p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

9^. SALVS . AVG. In the field S. C. A female standing to the right feeding a 
snake, which rises from an altar before her. 

A good brown coin. "Weight 428f grains. 

745. 

HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9>- cos . III. In the field S. C. A female standing full front looking to the 
left ; in her left hand she bears a hasta pura ; in her right hand she holds a pair 
of scales, the emblem of justice. 

This type is most likely in allusion to the emperor's righteous conduct as 
judge and chief officer of the state. 

It is a fine black coin. Weight 398^ grains. 

746. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . P . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9=. TELLVS . STABiL. In the exergum S. C. A female reclining to the left, her 
left arm resting on a basket of fruits, her right hand placed on a globe, which is 
at her right side. 

A good coin, yellow brassy. Weight 3921 grains. 

747. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . II . . . . The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 
9.. PAX . AVG. In the exergum S. C. A female seated on the throne to the 



HADRIAN. 363 

left ; her right hand, extended, holds an olive branch ; in her left hand she has the 
Jiasta pwra. 

Argelati, in Hadriano, places this type in a.d. 131, but there is no historic 
record of a war followed by a peace in that year ; the only affair of the kind was 
the revolt of the Jews, but that was in a.d. 134!-5 ; so I place the coia in the 
present period, about a.d. 128-9, as signifying the peaceful state of Rome and the 
provinces at that period of Hadrian's reign. The only type of Pax mentioned by 
Occo is described "Pax typus, dextra ramum, sinistra, cornucopise ; " and it is 
placed in a.d. 11.9, in the second consulate of Hadrian. In that case the type 
would apply to the repression of the insurrection of the Roxolani. The legend on 
this coin on the obverse is a little corroded; but I consider, from its general 
appearance and similitude to the others, that it is a coin of cos . iii. 

A good brown coin. Weight 395f grains. 

748. 

HADRiANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

93. liiBERALiTAS . AVG- . VI. In the exergum S. C. A female standing full 
front, looking to the left, holding up a tablet in the right hand ; on her left arm 
she bears a cornucopise filled with fruit. 

It is not easy to give any specific dates to these coins of liberalities bestowed on 
the citizens. By Occo this liberality is placed in a.d. 126 ; but that date cannot 
be correct, for he places liberal . vii. ia the same year, and also in a.d. 121, 
which are quite inconsistent with each other. 

This is a fine black coin, from the cabinet of the Duke of Devonshire. "Weight 
417 grains. 

749. 

HADRiANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, 
shoulders draped. 

|o. ROMVLO . CONDITORI. No S. C. The emperor, bare-headed, in military 
costume, walking at a quick pace to the right, bearing on his left shoulder a 
trophy of arms ; in his right hand he carries a spear, the point forwards. 

Hadrian remained at Home for a long period after his return from Africa, and 
built some temples and other edifices, whence the compliment of this legend. 

The coin is of a dark mottled green colour, in very fine condition, from the 
cabinet of General Eamsay. 

3 a2 



36i RECORDS or ROMAN HISTORY. 

750. 

HADRiANUS . AVG . COS . Ill . t . P. The unlaureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

9). VOTA . PUBLiCA. The emperor in pontifical vestments and veiled head, 
standing to the left ; in his right hand he holds a patera, with which he is making 
a libation on a fire burning upon a tripod altar placed before him on the right. 

We have already noticed, in Augusto, the custom established by Augustus 
for the reigning emperor, in every tenth year of his reign, to make his ofifering of 
the decennalian vows on resuming the Tribunicia Potestas. I therefore intro- 
duce this fine denarius as belonging to the tenth year, or at furthest the eleventh, 
of Hadrian ; for the legend being vota pvblica, in my opinion this type has 
reference to his performing the ceremony of the decennalian vows, although I 
have not found any other record of the fact. Vaillant mentions a First Brass 
coin with the reverse legend voT . pvb. and thus describes the type : " Imperator 
velatus sacrificans supra tripodem, victimario, popa et tibicine assistentibus ;" 
adding, " Hie nummus primi moduli prsestantissimus et rarissimus est." On 
the present coin the emperor is performing sacrifice alone ; but the description 
of Vaillant and the present coin prove, I should say beyond a doubt, that the 
ceremonial usual on renewal of the decennial vows was all duly performed, and 
at the proper period, although history is silent on the question. 

751. 

HADuiANVs . AV&vsTvs. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, 
shoulders draped. 

^. PELiciTATi . AVG. above a galley rowing to the left ; cos . iii . p . p. in the 
exergum, and S. C. at the sides. The gaUey has two ensigns set up in the stern, 
to denote a person of rank is on board. 

Hadrian, after being some time quiet at Eome, started off to visit the pro- 
vinces in the eastern part of the empire. We thus see and consider him on board 
the galley sailing to Asia. The figure-head of the galley appears to be a triton 
blowing a large open-mouthed trumpet or sea-shell. 

A very good brown coin. 

752. 

HADRiANvs . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 
^. cos . III. In the field S. C. Neptune standing to the left resting his right 
foot on the prow of a galley, the beaks outward ; some drapery is thrown across 



HADRIAN. 365 

his right thigh, and his right elbow rests on it ; his right hand holds an acro- 
stolion, in his left he holds his trident upright. 

This type we may consider as praying the aid of Neptune to give the emperor 
a safe passage in his journey over the seas. 

It is a brown coin in good condition. 

753. 

HADRiANUS . AVG . COS . Ill . P.P. The unlaurcate head of Hadrian to the right, 
bust in armour. 

9=- ADVENTVi . AVG . ASIAE. In the cxcrgum S. C. The emperor robed 
standing to the right, his right hand raised addressing a female who stands before 
him to the left, and with her right hand is pouring from a patera upon a fire 
burning on an altar between them ; on the ground, by the side of the altar, an 
animal is lying for sacrifice. 

After his arrival in Asia and inspection of the towns, Hadrian went into Syria, 
Judea, Arabia, and Mgjipt, passing the latter part of his journey mostly in ^gypt. 

A green coin, from General Ramsey's cabinet. 

754. 

HADEiANVS . AVG . COS .P.P. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, 
shoulders draped. 

9>. EXERC . SYRIAC. S. C. underneath ; aU in the exergum. The emperor 
bareheaded, on his horse, to the right ; his sword at his right side, his right hand 
raised, addressing five soldiers who are before him, bearing four standards, the 
first a vexillum, the second a wreath, the third an eagle, the fourth a hand ; the 
fifth has no standard, thus showing that the figures on the standards represent all 
the divisions of the troops quartered in Syria 

It is a good brown coin, from the Duke of Devonshire's Cabinet. Weight 3861 
grains. Vaillant says this coin "inter rariores scribendus est." 

755. 

HADBIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The unlaureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

|l. EXERC . SYRIACVS, in the exergum ; S. C. underneath. The emperor on 
horseback, to the right, is addressing four soldiers who stand before him, each 
bearing a standard. 

A good brown coin. Weight 368f grains. 



366 BECOBDS or koman history. 

756. 

HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . P. P. The Tinlaixreate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

1^. S. 0. in the field. The word disciplina, usually in the exergum, is cor- 
roded. The emperor, with his head uncovered, and wearing his military cloak, is 
marching to the right, holding in his left hand a scroll, or short staff. He is 
followed by an officer in military attire ; and behind them are three soldiers, each 
bearing a standard. 

We place this coin as commemorative, with the two preceding coins, of the 
reviews, and marches, and manoBuvres of the troops in garrison in Asia, at the 
time Hadrian visited the province. 

The present is a good green coin. 

757. 




HADKiANvs. AVG.cos.iii.p.p. The unlaureate head of Hadrian to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9>. IVDAEA in the exergum; no S. 0. The emperor robed, seated on a 
curule chair to the left ; an official person is standing at his right hand, holding 
up a wand of office, as if to command silence among the spectators, or audience. 
The emperor extends his right hand to a female wearing a turret crown, who 
falls on her right knee before him. Two naked children are in front, between her 
and the emperor, one of whom approaches the emperor's feet ; the other raises its 
right hand to its mother, and the third is at her left side, in the background. 

This beautiful and interesting coin, from the cabinet of the Vicomte Jessaint 
at Paris, is unique ; I do not find it noted anywhere ; the nearest approach to it, 
if it may be so considered, is in Oiselius, pi. xvii. p. 86, also, Occo's description of 
a coin, in Eriz. Ant. Aug. Tab. 71, which may represent the coin given in 
Oiselius ; but the engraving of that coin in Oiselius shows it to be a different 
device to the present, though the nearest I have found. The description given by 



HADRIAN. 367 

Occo is but meagre, yet one must conclude it embraces all the device would admit 
of : he saySj in Hadriano, p. 230, *' ivdaea. figura muliebris cum puerulis cm 
Imp. dextram porrigit." 

The present coin is in pure aurichalcum, without patina. When I first had it 
there was much dirt upon it. I cleaned it all away, and found it a pure brass, 
and imtouched by graving tool, or any trick played with it ; which satisfied me of 
its being a genuine coin, as perfect as it came from the Roman mint. 

758. 

HADEiANvs . AV& . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9>. ADVENTVi . AVG . IVDAEAE. In the exergum S. 0. The emperor robed, 
standing to the right, his right hand raised, addressing a female who stands 
before him, with her right hand presenting him a globe; between them is an 
altar, on which a fire is burning, and some animal on the ground by the altar for 
sacrifice. A little child is standing on each side of the female. 

A good brown coin, from the Devonshire Cabinet. Weight 320-1- grains. 

759. 

HADEIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to, the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9>. ADVENTVi . AVG- . IVDAEAE. In the cxcrgum S. C. The emperor robed, 
standing to the right, his right hand raised, addressing a female who stands 
before him ; she appears to have an acerra, or incense box, on her left arm, and, 
with her hand held over a fire, to be burning incense before the emperor on an 
altar which stands on the ground between them. On each side of the female 
stands a child; the one on her left side appears to have in its hands what is 
usually termed a palm-branch, from which circumstance it is considered a rarer 
type than the preceding ; but they are both difficult to obtain, even ui a poor 
condition. 

Admiral Smyth, No. 176 in his Cabinet, under the title of this reverse, men- 
tions the expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem. That event, however, did not 
take place untU the nineteenth year of the reign of Hadrian, whereas these coins 
were struck to commemorate the visit of Hadrian to Judsea in the eleventh year 
of his reign. 

In the sixteenth year of his reign Hadrian was compelled by the rebellious 
conduct of the Jews to chastise them, and they were quieted for a time ; but on 



368 KECOEDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

their resuming tlieir turbulent conduct he subsequently took possession of 
Jerusalem and entirely expelled and dispersed them, and from that hour they 
have ever ceased to exist as a nation. The walls of the city, which had escaped 
destruction in the siege of Titus, were broken down and razed to the ground ; and 
the name of the city was changed, it being called aelia . capitolina; and Hadrian 
decreed death to any Jew who should set his foot in the city. 

We have already, in Vespasiano, noticed the denunciations against the Israelites, 
mentioned in Deuteronomy, ch. xviii. v. 64-68 ; we need not therefore repeat them 
on the present coin ; but the Jews are, and will be for several ages, a living 
testimony of the truth of the Holy Scriptures, of which they have been the 
custodes, and of our Lord's prophecies, recorded in the Holy Gospels, until they 
are gradually absorbed among other peoples and nations of this earth. 

The present is a good green coin, from the Campana Cabinet. 

760. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

|l. ADVBNTVi . AVG . ARABIAE. In the excrgum S. 0. The emperor standing 
to the right, addressing a female who stands to the left, having in her right hand 
a patera from which she is pouring on to a fire burning on an altar before her ; 
on her left arm she bears a sceptrum, or as some say the calamus odorata, which 
we should now call a stick of cinnamon, a produce of Arabia. 

A good coin of green tint. Weight 380 grains. 

761. 

HADRiANVs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . p . The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9>. RESTiTVTORi . ARABIAE. In the exergum S. C. The emperor standing to 
the right, with his right hand raising a female who is kneeling before him on the 
ground on her left knee ; at her right side is a camel, and in her left hand she 
bears the calamus odorata. 

After Hadrian had visited Syria he went to Palestine and Jud^a ; from thence 
to Arabia, and then to iEgypt. His visit to Arabia is thus recorded on these 
coins. 

A brown coin, procured from Mr. Hoffman of Paris. Weight 880-1- grains. 
These two coins are seldom to be met with. 



HADRIAN. 369 

762. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . p. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9). AEGYPTOS in the upper verge of the field ; S. C. in the exergum. A female 
reclining to the left, her left arm resting on a basket of fruit ; in her right hand 
she holds up a sisfrum, set her feet is an ibis perched on a short column. 

After Hadrian had visited Palestine and Judaea, passing by Arabia, he travelled 
into iEgypt, and remained there about two years. Lucan thus describes jEgypt : 

Syrtibus hino Libycis tuta est ^gyptus : at inde 
Gurgite septeno rapidus mare summovet amnis : 
Terra suis contenta bonis, non indiga mercis, 
Aut Jovis ; in solo tanta est fiducia Nilo. Lib. viii. 

A dark green coin in fine condition, from the Devonshire Cabinet. Weight 
4162- grains. 

763. 

HADBIANVS . AVG- . COS . Ill . P . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

5l>. AEGYPTOS, in the upper verge of the field ; S. C. in the exergum. A female 
reclining to the left, her left arm resting on a basket filled with fruits ; in her 
right hand she holds up a sistrum ; at her feet is an ibis perched on a short column 
with wings nearly expanded, as if about to fly, or just returned from a flight. 

In Vaillant, ed. 1743, vol. i. p. 57, there is a coin cited of this type, but of a 
prior date, thus : " imp . caes - thai an . hadrianvs . avg . p . m . tr . p . cos . 11. 
Caput Hadrian! laureatum. rev. aegtptos. Pigura muliebris humi sedens, dextra 
sistrum, cubiti Isevo innixo canistro frugum. Ibis ante pedes." 

YaUlant adds this comment : " Hie nummus primae formae rarus est." It 
would seem that a coin of jEgypt of the date cos . iii. was unknown to him ; but 
the date cos . 11. puts the quaere, when did Hadrian visit vEgypt ? or did he visit 
jEgypt twice, and thus account for cos . 11. ? On referring to Mr. Sharpe's book, 
I find Hadrian visited ^Egypt in the sixth year of his reign, a.d. 122, and again 
in his fifteenth year, a.d. 131, when he was accompanied by the Empress Sabina; 
and Mr. Sharpe refers to triumphal coins (Alexandrian) bearing the date of that 
year. Argelati, in Sadriano, also quotes the coin mentioned by Vaillant, but no 
other is noticed by him. Eckhel does not mention any aegyptos . s . c . cos . iii. 

A very fine dark coin, from the Gwilt Cabinet. 

3b 



370 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

764. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The unlaureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

Jl. AEGTPTOS in the upper verge ; S. 0. in the exergum. A female reclining to 
the left, her left arm resting on a basket of fruits ; in her right hand is the sistrtim, 
and at her feet the ibis stands perched on its column. 

The ibis was held as a sacred bird among the ancient jEgyptians ; it was viewed 
in the light of a beneficent deity, from its living upon and destroying the serpents 
and other noxious reptiles with which the country abounded. 

The sistrtim is also an emblem of ^Egypt, it being an instrument like an 
elongated horseshoe, made of brass, fixed on a handle, with loose bars across from 
side to side (as shown on the coin), which made a jingling noise when it was 
shaken, and I should consider that some specimens were made with the horseshoe- 
like part hollow, to increase the sound. It was carried by the priests of Isis, 
and used by them in their religiovis ceremonies. 

Juvenal, ridiculing the Egyptian deities, speaks of the ibis also : 

Quis nescit, Volusi Bithynioe, qualia demens 
^gyptus portenta colat ? Crocodilon adorat 
Pars ha3c, ilia pavet saturam serpentibus Ibim ; 
Effigies sacri nitet aurea Cercopitheci. Sat. xv. 

The sistrum is also noticed by Claudian as — 

■ Nilotica sistris 

Eipa sonat 



Lucan also, alluding to the introduction of ^Egyptian gods, says — 

Nos in templa tuam Eomana accepimus Isin 
Semideasque canes, et sistra jubentia luctus. 

A very good dark green coin. Weight 415| grains. 

765. 

HADRiAKvs . AVG . COS . Ill . P. P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9.. AEGYPTOS in the upper verge of the field ; S. C. in the exergum. A female 
reclining to the left, her left arm resting on a basket of fruits, with the sistrum 
and ibis, as represented on the preceding coins. 

This coin is singular, being of lead ; it was formerly in the Dimsdale Collec- 



HADRIAN. 371 

tion, lot 531 in the sale catalogue, and was bought by M. Young, the dealer, for 
thirty-one shillings. It is unique. It is not mentioned in Ficoriui's work Di 
Antichi Piombi. 

766. 

HADBiANUS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9). NiLvs in the upper verge of the field ; S. 0. in the exergum. A river-god, 
representing Nilus, reclining to the right ; in his left hand he holds a cornucopise 
filled with fruits, and a child stands on each side supporting it. A hippopotamus 
is coming out from some sedges at the feet of Nilus. 

It will be seen there is no urn with water flowing from it introduced in the 
coins of J^jgypt which represent the Nile, thus signifying that the source of that 
celebrated river was at that time unknown ; it is not yet discovered, but in the 
course of time there is little doubt its source will be traced in the mountains of 
Abyssinia, or a far interior country bearing some other name. 

"We need not enter into long remarks about this celebrated river. Antiquarian 
curiosity may be fully satisfied in reading the works of Bruce, and other persons 
who have at different times made excursions to explore the less frequented parts 
of ^gypt, Abyssinia, and Ethiopia, 

A fine green mottled red coiu. -Weight 350 grains. 

767. 

HADRiANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . p - The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

JL. Legend corroded. In the exergum S. 0. The river-god NUus, reclining 
to the right, his right arm resting on the head of a sphinx, by the side 
whereof a figure is standing ; in the right hand Nilus bears a reed or sedge ; on 
the left are three children playing, one of them sitting astride on a great hippo- 
potamus ; the floating water of a river appears under Nilus, and beneath the water 
is a crocodile at full length moving to the left. 

A good dark green coin. Weight 341 grains. 

768. 
HADRiANVs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . p - The unlaurcate head of the emperor to the 
left, shoulders draped. 

$c. NiiiVS. In the exergum S. 0. The river-god reclining to the left, his left 
arm resting on the head of two small figures ; his right hand supports a cornucopige 

3b2 



372 EECOEDS OP EOMAN HISTORY. 

filled with fruits, by the side of which is a chUd ; a child's head also appears 
peeping over his left shoulder ; at his feet is a hippopotamus coming towards him 
with a little child on its hack ; under him are the undulations of water bearing a 
crocodile swimming to the right. 

A good dark green coin. Weight 446|- grains. 

769. 

AVT . KAi . TPAiAN .... The laureate head of the emperor to the right, 
shoulders in armour and draped. 

1^ LAWABN in the exergum. NUus reclining to the left, his head crowned 
with reeds ; in his left hand he holds a reed or sedge, and under him is a large 
crocodile moving to the right ; in his right hand he supports a full cornucopise ; 
above in the field are the Greek letters ir . signifying the thirteenth year of the 
reign of Hadrian, a.d. 129, as the year of its being struck at the mint at Alex- 
andria, for it is an Egyptian coin of Alexandria. 

There is a celebrated colossal figure of Nilus, with all the attributes of children, 
crocodile, sphinx, &c. as on the coin, in the Vatican Collection at Rome. It is 
sculptured in black basalt, or ^Ethiopian marble, and was brought by Vespasian to 
Rome and placed in the Temple of Peace. A representation of it may be seen in 
Oiselius, p. 666. 

The sixteen children attendant on Nilus have been supposed to signify the 
sixteen mouths of the river. Mr. Sharpe designates the sixteen children, or cupids, 
to mean sixteen cubits, the desired overflow of the Nile. 

The coin is dark brown in colour and in fine condition ; the weight 406|- grains. 

770. 

HADEiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The unlaurcate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9>. NiLvs . in the upper part of the field ; S. C. in the exergum. The river- 
god reclining to the right, holding a full cornucopi£e in his left hand ; at his feet 
is a crocodile looking towards him, and under him is another crocodile swimming 
to the left ; there are no children about him. 

A fine Second Brass yellow coin; no patina. Weight 1741 grains. 

771. 

HADRiANVs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9>. NiLVS in the upper part of the field ; in the exergum S. C. The old river- 



HADRIAN. 373 

god reclining to tlie left, holding a sedge in his left hand, his left arm resting on 
the head of a small figure like a sphinx ; his right hand holds a fuU cornucopise ; 
at his feet is a hippopotamus coming towards him ; underneath him is a crocodile. 
There are no children introduced. 

Both of these creatures, the crocodile and the hippopotamus, are emblems of 
iEgypt, they being indigenous to that part of the world. 

A fine black green Second Brass coin. 

772. 

HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

9.. No legend. S 0. in the field. The emperor, bareheaded, in military- 
costume, standing to the right ; in his right hand he holds a spear upright, in 
his left hand a parazonmm; his left foot is placed on a crocodile that is on the 
ground, its head much raised. 

By the attitude of the emperor, and the position of the crocodile, it would 
seem to represent a conquest ; but that event was accomplished in the time of 
Julius Caesar, recorded on the gold and silver coins of Augustus ; the present is 
therefore to be considered as signifying the continued subjection of ^gypt to the 
dominion of the Romans. 

773. 

HADMANVS . AVG . COS . III. p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

|o. ALEXANDRIA. In the exergum S. 0. A female reclining to the left, a reed 
or stem of wheat in her left hand ; her left arm rests on a basket filled with 
fruits ; in her right hand she has some ears of corn, and at her feet some stems of 
wheat are represented growing. 

Alexandria, the city of ^Egypt so celebrated in history for its schools of philo- 
sophy, was built originally by Alexander the Great B.C. 332, on the western side of 
the Delta. He intended to have made it the capital city of iEgypt, its situation 
giving it great commercial advantages. The commodities of India were brought 
there by the caravans, and from thence dispersed throughout the coasts of the Medi- 
terranean. Amongst other things, Alexandria was renowned throughout the then 
known world for its extensive and valuable library, as well as its schools for mathe- 
matics and philosophy. In the early Christian times it also acquired a name for its 
abounding in theological disputants, and its controversies upon diff'erent religious 



374 



RECOUDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 



opinions. During the first centuries, the names of Origen, Herodian, Eusebius, 
Arius, Athanasius, and many others, as well pagan as christian, are well known to 
theological antiquaries, and were all connected at different periods with Alexandria. 
Murders and massacres of all sorts, both christian and pagan, were perpetrated 
at different periods in a long succession of years. One remarkable in history is 
the murder of Hypatia, a young female of most excellent beauty and character, 
and one of the most eminent teachers of mathematics and philosophy. She was 
deemed a pagan, and was barbarously murdered by the Christians, as they were 
called. 

The city, however, continued to flourish as a commercial city until the seventh 
century, when, on the invasion of ^Egypt by the Saracens, Alexandria was taken 
by Amrou, the general of the Caliph Omar ; and on the first day of the month 
Mohana, the Mahometan new year's day, being the 22nd December, 640, ^gypt 
ceased to be a Roman province. The then existing magnificent library was 
burned by order of the caliph, who used the maxim of ignorance, saying, whatever 
books that were good in the library their goodness would be found in the Koran, 
and whatever were of an opposite character it was right should be destroyed ; 
and with this direction all were burned, and it is said its numerous volumes 
supplied during six months fuel for the 4,000 public baths which were in the city. 
A very interesting account of Alexandria, as the chief city of iBgypt under the 
Romans, is to be found throughout Mr. Sharpe's book. It is still a place of 
considerable commercial importance in relation with Europe, although chiefly 
inhabited by the followers of Mahomet. 

The present is a fine black coin. Weight 410|: graius. 



774. 




HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . p . The unlaureatc head of the emperor to the 
right. 

9,. ADVEisfTVi.AVG.AXEXANDRiAE. In the exergum S. C. The emperor in 
the foreground robed and standing to the left ; with his right hand he clasps the 



HADRIAN. 375 

right hand of a person before him, also robed, and holding in his left hand transversely 
a hasta pura; on his head he has the modius, the emblem of Jupiter Serapis, 
or Osiris. Between them on the ground is an altar with fire burning on it. By 
the side of the emperor another person is standing in profile, whose hand is raised 
as addressing a fourth person, who in like manner stands in profile by the side of 
Jupiter Serapis with hand raised holding a sistrum, and having on the head an 
ornament — we should say a minute lotus flower, the emblem of Isis. 

Argelati classes this coin under a.d. 123, which would be in the seventh year 
of the reign of Hadrian, but I think he is in error ; for, although Hadrian visited 
Jilgypt in the sixth year of his reign, yet it nowhere appears that the Empress 
Sabina was then with him, so that the four figures would not be all applicable to 
the visit in the sixth year, when he was alone. But it was in the fifteenth year 
of his reign when he again visited ^Egypt accompanied by the Empress Sabina, of 
which fact Mr. Sharpe says there is the record by an inscription to that effect cut 
on the colossal statue of Amunothph, at Thebes. Eckhel, also, descanting upon 
the visit of Hadrian to Alexandria in his fifteenth year, refers to other authors, 
saying, " lUud Pocockius ipse cruri sinistro celebratse in superiore iEgypto 
Memnonis statuse insculptum excepit," and gives the date coinciding with the 
date cut on the statue "ut videre est apud DorvUlium (in Charitonem, p. 524). 

Audivi loquentis ego Publius Balbinus 

Voces divinas Memaonis qui et Phamenoph, 
Veni vero una cum amabili regina Sabina, 

Horse vero primaB Sol habuit cursum, 
Domini Hadriani quinto decimo anno, 

Dies vero habuit Athyr viginti et quatuor.'' 

Thus we learn from this inscription, transcribed from the left leg of the statue, 
that the Empress Sabina, being in ^gypt, visited the statue in the fifteenth year 
of the reign of Hadrian, and on the 24ith day of the (^Egyptian) month Athyr, 
which, by Julian computation, would be on the 20th day of November. (Eckhel, 
vi. p. 490-1.) 

This is a very fine black coin, from the cabinet of Mr. Gwilt, formerly in the 
cabiaet of Colonel Bainbridge. It is very rarely to be seen. 

775. 

AVT . KAic . TPAIAN . AAPiANoc - CEB. The laureate head of the emperor to the 

right, shoulders draped. 

$t>. No legend. Isis and Osiris, or Jupiter Serapis, in profile, side by side, to the 
right. It is an elegant portrait of the goddess, having the lotus-flower on her head. 



376 EECOEDS OP ROMAN HISTOKT. 

Osiiis in fine profile, in the style of Jupiter Olympius, has the modius on his 
head ; l on the right of the field. 

Prom the beauty of Isis and the majestic features of Osiris, the die of this 
coin's reverse was evidently cut by some skilful Greek artist. It is a coin of the 
Alexandrian mint; the date is obliterated. From the cabinet of the OavaUer 
Campana. It is of a pale drab colour. Weight 304| grains. 

776. 

AVT . KAic . TPAiAN . AApiANOC . CEB. The laureate head of Hadrian to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9>. No legend. Isis to the left, and Osiris to the right, in profile ; between 
them Horus. Isis has the lotus-flower on her head, Osiris has the modius. Horus 
standing opposite to Osiris places his right hand to his mouth ; in his left hand 
he carries a cornucopise ; on his head he has a flower ; underneath is a royal eagle 
with expanded wings ; by its side is the date lih, or 17, A.D. 133. 

A very fine black coin. Weight 332i grains. 

777. 

AVT . KAIC . AAPIANOC. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, shoulders 
draped. 

9>. No legend. Two serpents standing opposite each other, upright, on their 
tails ; the one on the left is so thick in the throat and body that if it had feet it 
would represent a crocodile ; each has a flower on its head, and their tails are so 
coiled as to give them good support in the erect posture ; a large ear of corn 
seems to protrude from the coil of the tail of the serpent on the right, and a 
flower from the tail of that on the left ; underneath in the exergum are the letters 
of date LIH, or year 17, a.d. 133. 

With the ancients the serpent was an emblem of immortality; for this reason, 
it served as a general sign of consecration. The serpent was sometimes repre- 
sented with a radiated head, and sometimes with the crest or comb of a cock. 
It was made an emblem of immortality, because of its renewing itself annually 
by casting off its skin. 

This type is mentioned and figured in Spanheim, p. 265 ; the only differences 
are, the serpent on the left delineated in his work is mammifera, or with the 
breasts of a female, and neither of them has any flower at the tail. Spanheim 
states them as intended to represent Isis and Osiris, the one on the left being 
intended for Isis. 



HADRIAN. 377 

778. 

PAiAN . . ABIAN The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

^. No legend. A sphynx couchant to the left ; in front of her forefeet is a 
wheel. 

A brown coin, rather worn, from the cabinet of Mr. Sabatier of St. Petersburg. 

These four ^Egyptian coins record the visit of Hadrian to JEg-ypt ; and, as he 
had been residing there for two or three years, visiting most of the cities 
and towns, and causing public buildings to be erected, there was a considerable 
mintage of coins to him struck at different times at the Alexandrian Miat, and 
all the reverses of these coins are eminently types appropriate to Egypt. 

When Hadrian visited Alexandria he caused the decayed parts of the city to 
be repaired, and bestowed many benefits on its citizens, who, after he had quitted 
their country, amused themselves in writing satires upon him. 

The signification of a sphynx is given by Clemens of Alexandria in his 
Stromata, lib. v. where he says, " That the ^Egyptians were accustomed to place 
sphynxes at the doors of the temples, animals which are a symbol of obscurities 
and enigmas ; signifying by this that things divine were not to be noised abroad 
everywhere and to all, but ought to be kept secret, in order that, carrying with 
them as they did so great a majesty, they might be held in the greater reverence." 
Clissold, p. 393. 

The sphynx of the heathen mythology is represented with the head and breasts 
of a woman, the body of a dog, the tail of a serpent, the wings of a bird, the paws 
of a lion, and a human voice. It is supposed that this figure was emblematic of 
a warrior-daughter of Cadmus, who laid waste the country about Thebes by her 
incursions, and was thus interpreted : the lion's paw expressed her ferocity, the 
body of the dog her lasciviousness, her enigmas the snares she laid for strangers 
and travellers, and her wings the dispatch she used in her expeditions— being a 
sort of feudal or baronial robber of very ancient times. 

The enigma of the sphynx, which was solved by (Edipus, is well known. 

779. 

HADBIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 
9>. cos . III. and across the field on either side of Neptune the words nep . . . . 
BED. with S. C. under them respectively. 

Neptune, unclothed, standing to the right, his left foot resting on the prow of a 
galley, the beaks outward, his left elbow on his left knee ; in his left hand he 

3 c 



378 RBCOEDS or boman history. 

holds an acrostoUon, some drapery is lying ia careless manner across his left thigh ; 
in his right hand he holds a trident, the teeth of which rest on the ground. 

A very fine hrown coin, from the cabinet of Mr. Yint of Colchester, the ancient 
Camulodunum. 

780. 

HADRiANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, 
shoulders draped. 

;p>. PELiciTATi . AVG. ; in the exergum cos . iii . p , p. ; and on either side S. C. 
A galley in fall saU to the left with bending mast, the wind apparently blowing 
strong ; there are several persons also at the oars ; in the stern a vea^illtmi and 
another standard are set up. 

These two coins are placed here to represent the emperor crossing the sea to 
Italy on his return from Syria, whither he, had gone after visiting Egypt. 

Hadrian, after quitting Egypt and Syria, crossed over to Thracia and Mace- 
donia, and thence returned to Rome, taking Athens in his route. The devices on 
the two coins imply a safe and prosperous passage. 

The present coin is a fine black Second Brass coin. "Weight 204| grains. 

Coins representing a galley with mast and saU as well as rowers, are very rare. 

781. 

HADRiANVS . Ava . COS . Ill . p . P. The unlaureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

^. FORTVNAE . BEDVCi. ; in the exergum S. C. The emperor robed standing to 
the right, Eortune to the left, their right hands joined ; Eortune is supporting on 
her left arm a cornucopise filled with fruits. 

A very fine pale-green coin from the Campana Cabinet. Weight 368 1 
grains. 

782. 

HADEiANVS . AVG . COS . HI . p . P. The unlaureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

^. ADVENTVi . AVG . ITALIAE. In the exergum S. C. Hadrian standing to the 
right with his right hand raised, addressing a female who stands before him, and 
bears a full cornucopise on her left arm ; her right hand, holding a patera, is ex- 
tended towards the emperor ; between them is a small circular altar, at the foot 
of which an animal is lying for sacrifice. 

A good brown coin. Weight 3934- grains. 



HADRIAN. 



379 



783. 



HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

1^. RESTiTVTORi . ITALIAE. In the exergum S. C. The emperor standing to 
the right, raising from the ground a female who is kneeling hefore him, bearing on 
her left arm a full cornucopise. 

These three coins record the return of Hadrian to Rome after his excursion to 
the provinces ; the coins of these types have no tribunician dates by which to 
know the particular periods of journey they refer to, they therefore admit of being 
placed to each return of Hadrian after visiting distant countries ; they appear to 
be a welcome to him on his return to Rome, but the next coin is the most inter- 
esting of them all, upon the subject of his travels. 

Weight of this coin 3531 grains. 

784. 




HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, 
bust in armour, with military cloak. 

9>. iVb Legend. Roma armed standing to the right, with her spear in the left 
hand, the point resting on the ground. The emperor stands before her robed, 
their right hands joined ; in his left hand the emperor has a small baton scroll, 
or cJiartam involutam ; behind him a female is standing naked, with her hands 
tied behind her back. At the feet of Roma is a reclining female figure, bearing 
on the left arm a cornucopise filled with fruits, whilst at the feet of the emperor 
and the captive is a sea deity having a dolphin on his left arm, a type of Oceanus. 
There is no S. C. 

From the peculiarity of the figures on this reverse, and in the absence of a 
legend, it is not easy to decide positively and with a certainty the intent and 
meaning of this device. It seems to me to be a commemoration of the return of 
the emperor to Rome after his visiting the different provinces of the empire, when 

3 c 2 



380 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

Roma gives him a welcome on tlie occasion. The various provinces, both those to 
be reached by a sea voyage as well as those overland, are represented by the two 
figures at the feet of Eoma and the emperor respectively. The object, which of 
the whole at first appears the least capable of explanation, is the captive female 
standing behind the emperor ; unless we suppose that the female in a state of 
bondage is to represent all the provinces he visited, and that he found them all 
settled and quiet (or still content to bound) under the Roman dominion. 

I think I may say this coin is unique and unknown ; the nearest approach, 
after much research, that I have been able to find, is in Vaillant, who in his work 
" Numismata Imperatorum " (ed. 1692, p. 194), describes a medallion of Hadrian 
in these terms : " Sine epigraphe Imperator togatus stans dextram porrigit 
mulieri galeatse — pone Hadrianum genius stat seminudus — hinc figura insidet 
monticulis quibus nititur, illinc mulier decumbens humi, Iseva innixa urnae aquas 
vomenti cui impositus est delphinus." 

It does not appear from Vaillant what is the condition of the above-quoted 
medallion ; if it were imperfect from the corrosion of time, it is possible it may 
have been like the present medallion, and Vaillant, misled by the corrosion, may 
have imagined those parts of the medallion which he describes that are not on the 
present coin; but the known attributes or adjuncts of the different figures 
warranted him in supplying those deficiencies ; for instance, the figure with the 
dolphin may have had some oxydation near to it, disfiguring or obliterating the 
dolphin, and he mistook it as intended for an urn, but the urn is not the attribute 
of a mulier, but of a river deity, the urn being an emblem of the mountain, and 
the water flowing out of the urn an emblem of the stream descending from the 
mountain, which ultimately becomes the river. 

The figure with the dolphin on the present coin is a male figure, and with a 
beard, and, by his not having any urn, the dolphin, as a sea fish, becomes an 
attribute or emblem of the sea, or Oceanus ; the urn being the attribute of an 
inland river, as on the coin of Antoninus Pius, the reverse tiberis, or the river 
Tiber, personified, with an urn at his left side, from which a stream of water is 
flowing. 

The other reclining figure on the right is a female, and, being represented with 
a cornucopise filled with fruits, personifies abundance. The captive female may 
be considered as representing collectively all the provinces visited by Hadrian, by 
whom she is standing, and which still continued bound or at peace under the 
Roman dominion. 

We may thus conclude that the device signifies the abundance and tranquillity 



HADRIAN. 381 

that E-ome and the provinces enjoyed from the prudent government, care, and 
foresight of the emperor, as well as being the result of his constant watchfulness 
and inspection of the various provinces of the empire, causing them to be content 
to remain subject to the government of the Romans ; for all which Rome congra- 
tulates the emperor on his return to the Eternal City. 

The present medallion has been very carefully cleaned from dirt, without 
adding to or in any way taking from or altering the figures, the whole of which 
remain entire, and their distinctive characters are uninjured in the smallest 
degree. 

It is a beautiful brown coin from the Devonshire Cabinet, but passed 
unnoticed at the sale. "Weight 425| grains. 

785. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . P . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

|e. LiBERALiTAS . AVG . VII. In the cxcrgum S. 0. The emperor or his legate 
seated to the left on a curule chair raised on a square suggestum ; at his right side 
a female is standing, and is in the act of pouring from a cornucopise some of its 
contents into the lap of a citizen, who stands in front with his robe extended to 
receive the donation. 

This is the last donation recorded by coins to have been made by Hadrian. It 
is not easy or scarcely possible to arrange the dates when his donations were 
made ; but as they happen to be marked so as to show their number, one can place 
them in fair proportion to the different periods of his reign, being assisted a little 
by the titles given him on the obverse legend. Had the tribunician number been 
put in the legend, the date could have been immediately and correctly ascertained. 

A very fine black coin from the Devonshire Cabinet. Weight 382| grains. 

786. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The unlaureatc head of the emperor to the 
left, shoulders draped. 

9,. ADVENTVi . AVG . THRACiAE. In the excrgum S. C. The emperor standing to 
the right, his right hand raised addressing a female, who stands to the left with 
a patera in her right hand pouring a libation on a fire burning on an altar, at the 
side whereof is an animal for sacrifice. 

After his visit to ^Egypt, Hadrian returned by Syria, and crossing the sea went 
into Thrace and Macedonia, and other parts adjacent ; he then returned to Athens, 



382 EECOBDS OP ROMAN HISTOBT. 

where he remained some time, for it was a favourite place with him, and then 
went back to Eome. 

A good black coin from the Cabinet of Mr. Benson. Weight 363^ grains. 

787. 

HADBiANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9>. RESTiTVTOBi . MACEDONiAE. In the exergum S. C. The emperor robed 
standing to the left, with his right hand raismg a female, who is kneeling on the 
ground before him. 

Macedonia, the kingdom of Alexander the Great and his father Philip, was 
adjoining Thracia. It continued to be an independent monarchy until the time of 
Perses, or Perseus, the last king of Macedonia. He had reigned about seven 
years when he got into war with the Romans, and after four years' contest with 
them he was defeated by L. J^]mLlius Paulus at the battle of Pydna, B.C. 168. 
Perseus being taken prisoner was brought to Rome, when, after walking in the 
triumphal procession, he was allowed to retire into private life, and died at Alba, 
and his kingdom became annexed to the Roman empire as a province. 

A very good brown coin. Weight 346^ grains. 

788. 

HADBIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

5o. ADVENTVS . AVGVSTi . In the exergum S. 0. Roma armed standing to the 
right, her spear in her left hand, the point resting on the ground ; she joins right 
hand with the emperor, who is robed, standing before her to the left, with his head 
uncovered, thus bidding him welcome back to Rome. 

A good dark green coin. 

789. 

HADBIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . p . The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

Jc. POBTVNAE . BEDVCi . In the exergum S. C. The emperor robed standing 
to the right ; his right hand clasps the hand of Eortuna, who stands before him to 
the left, bearing on her left arm a full cornucopise. 

A good brown coin. 



HADEIAN, 383 



790. 



HADRiANvs . AVGVSTVS . The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

P>. cos . Ill . In the exergum S. 0. Eoma armed, seated to the left on a 
cuirass ; behind her is an ornamented shield, the edge resting on what appears to 
be a helmet ; her right hand extended holds a Victoriola having a wreath and palm 
branch in its hands ; on her left arm she bears a cornucopige filled Avith fruits. 

A very good black coin. 

791. 

HADRiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . p . The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

9>. HADEIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . p . The uulaurcate head of the emperor to 
the right. 

"We have before noticed a similar instance of bicipitous coin in the Trajan series. 
Such coins are rarely met with, and are very singular and curious ; they are not 
the result of accident, but are intentional ; but I have been unable as yet to 
learn the reason why they were so struck. I have never met with them in Large 
Brass. 

A poor conditioned Second Brass coin from the Cabinet of Sir George Musgrave. 

792. 

HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . p . The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right. 

Jl. S. C. within a laurel-wreath. This seems to be a coin of compliment or 
congratulation to the emperor, being as if a laurel-wreath were presented to him 
in full senate to express their opinion and satisfaction with his conduct. 

A fine brown coin. Weight 186i grains. 

* 

793. 

HADBiANvs . AVG . COS . Ill . p . p . The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

9). ANNONA . AVG . In the field S. 0. A corn modms with two poppies rising 
from the centre, and four ears of corn, two on each side. 

A memorial of the annual supply of corn for the city. 

A fine brown coin. Weight 211§ grains. 



384 HECORDS OF ROMAN HISTOKY. 

794. 

HADEiANVS . AVG . COS . Ill . p . P. The laureate head of the emperor to the 
right, shoulders draped. 

$c. jELiciTAS . AVG . ; in the field S. 0. A female standing to the left bearing a 
full cornucopise on her left arm ; in her right hand she holds a caduceus. 

A fine dark green coin. 

795. 

IMP . CAESAE . TEAIANVS . HADRIANVS . AVG . P . M . TE . P . COS . Ill . P . P. The 

laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

1^. RESTiTVTORi . OEBis . TERRARVM. In the exergum S. C. The emperor 
robed with head uncovered standing to the left, raising with his right hand a 
female who is kneeling before him to the right wearing a turret crown, and 
bearing on her left knee a globe. 

This coin records the advantages gained by the provinces from the visits of 
the emperor. By the legend on the obverse it would seem to have been struck 
before the time when Hadrian had made his tours of the various provinces of the 
empire ; but by the words of the reverse legend it is more applicable to the period 
when the emperor had completed all his visits ; certainly the latter period would 
be the most fitting and appropriate for bestowing upon him the title of " Restorer 
of the world," i.e. of the Roman world, or provinces under their dominion, of 
which he had been so liberal a benefactor. The coin of locvpletatori . orbis . 
TERRARVM bears a similar signification. Spartianus, in Hadriano, says, " NuUus 
fere principum tantum terrarum tam celeriter peragravit;" and soon after, "in 
omnibus pene urbibus et aliquid edificavit et ludos edidit." 

Although the obverse title is in full as on the earlier coins, yet it bears the 
cos . III. This last consulate, and the subject of the device and title on the reverse, 
mark it as a coin belonging to the time when all the visits of Hadrian had ended : 
for that reason I have placed jt the last in the series except the galleys. 

It is a fine black coin from the Cabinet of General Ramsay. Weight 356^ 
grains. 

796. 

HADRiANvs . AVGVSTVS. The uulaureatc head of the emperor to the right, 
shoulders draped. 

9>. EELiciTATi . AVG . On the upper verge of the field ; cos . iii . p . p . in the 
exergum ; S. C. at the sides. A large galley rowed to the left by six men ; the 
pilot appears in the hutch at the stern giving his directions ; an acrostolion rises 



HADEIAN. 385 

above the hutcli, and beside it are two military standards ; a small sail, or some 
object of singular form, appears on the head of the vessel. 

In this and the subsequent galley coins there are varieties ia their construction 
and fittings ; I have therefore retained them as proper subjects of reference when 
required. Galley coins of Hadrian are very frequent, and, being usually treated 
unceremoniously, their peculiarities pass . unobserved. The galley is seldom 
represented as rowed to the right, or under sail. 

The figure at the head of a galley was sometimes viewed as the deity under 
whose tutelage the vessel was placed; at other times it signified its name. 
Virgil, Jilneis, lib. x. and Silius Italicus, lib. xiv. aUude to the figure-head of a 
Triton : — 

Hunc velut immanis Triton et cjerulea conclia 
Exterrens freta, &c. — Virgil. 

Ducitur et Libya puppis signata figuram 
Et Triton captivus. — Sil. Ital. 

Est mihi sitque precor flava3 tutela Minervae 
Navis. — Ovid. Teist. 1. i. El. x. 

These galley coins are in excellent condition, mostly brown and dark green in 
colour, and were selected nearly all from the cabinets of Sir Robert Abdy, Sir 
George Musgrave, the Duke of Devonshire, &c. 

797. 

HADRiANVS . AV&VSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

|c. FEiiiciTATi . AVG. In the exergum cos . iii . p . p. S. 0. at the sides. A 
galley with five men rowed to the left ; the pilot is seated in the hutch at the 
stern, over which is an acrostoUon, but no standards ; a small sail on a bowsprit 
at the head, which has a fiddle scroll, and the rostrum underneath ; the vessel 
sits low in the water, as if it were heavily laden. 

798- 
HADE.IANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the left, shoulders 
draped. 

P). FEiiiciTATi . AV&. In the exergum cos . in . p . p . and S. C. at the sides. 
A gaUey rowed to the left by six men ; in the stern are two standards ; the stern 
is raised high ; the pilot appears under the hutch, and an acrostoUon rises above ; 
at the head there is a figure like a Triton. 

The Triton being a sea-deity is a very frequent sign on gaUeys. In the Acts 

3d 



386 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

of the Apostles (chap, xxviii.) the departure of St. Paul, and the crew and soldiers 
who were aU wrecked at the island of Melita, is narrated ; and in verse 11, the 
vessel they embarked in is thus described : " And after three months we departed 
in a ship of Alexandria which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and 
PoUux," the sign being what is now called the figure-head, and intimating the 
name of the vessel. 

799. 

HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The unlaureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9>- PEiiiciTATi . AVG . on the upper verge of the field, cos . iii . p . P . in the 
exergum, S. 0. at the sides ; a fine gaUey rowed by six men to the left ; a pilot sits 
in the hutch in the stern, over which is an acrostolion ; two standards erect in the 
stern ; instead of a figure at the head there is a short bowsprit with a sail on it. 

800. 

HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, 
shoulders draped. 

9>. PELiciTATi . AVG . on the upper verge. In the exergum cos . iii . p . p . and 
S. 0. at the sides. A gaUey rowed to the left by six men ; the pilot sits in the 
hutch in the stern, over which there is an acrostolion ; two standards are erected 
in the stern ; at the head there is no sail or figure. 

801. 

HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The uulaurcate head of the emperor to the right, 
shoulders draped. 

|t.. PELICITATI . AVG. on the upper verge ; cos . iii . p . p . in the exergum, and 
S. C. at the sides. A large galley rowed by six men to the right; the pilot sits in 
the stern, where two standards are hoisted ; at the head is the figure of a Triton, 
but no small sail or bowsprit. 

802. 

HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the left, shoulders 
in armour, and draped. 

9>. PELICITATI . AVG . on the upper verge ; cos . iii . p . p . in the exergum, and 
S. C. at the sides. A long galley rowed by five men to the left ; the stern rather 
high, with the hutch and the pilot much aft ; over the hutch an acrostolion ; two 
standards erect in the stern ; at the head is some figure, but no sail or bowsprit. 



HADRIAN. 387 

803. 
HADRIANVS . AVGVSTTJS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 
'^. FELiciTATi . Ava . on the upper verge of the field ; cos . iii . p . p . in the 
exergum, and S. 0. at the sides. A large gaUey rowed by six men to the left ; the 
pilot sitting in the hutch at the stern ; two military standards erect in the stern 
also. 

804. 
H ADRIAN vs . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, bust 
in armour. 

9>. I'ELiciTATi . AVG . On the Upper verge of the field ; cos . ili . p . P . in the 
exergum ; S. 0. at the sides. A galley rowed to the left by five men ; the pUot 
is in his hutch at the stern, with acrostolion over it ; two standards erect at the 
sides ; a small bowsprit with a saU on it at the head. 

805. 

HADRiANVs . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, bust 
in armour, with military cloak. 

9). PELiciTATi . AVG . On the Upper verge ; cos . iii . p . p . on the exergum ; 
S. C. at the sides. A smartly-built galley rowed by five men to the left ; a small 
bowsprit with sail at the head. In the stern the pUot is sitting ia his hutch, 
with acrostolion above and two military standards, one a vexillum. 

806. 

HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

|o. cos . Ill . on the upper verge ; S. 0. in the exergum. A small straight-buUt 
galley moviag to the right ; the stern has no raised work or poop, but is a straight 
run from the bulwark at the side, upon which is the pilot's hutch, with a sort of 
pillar behind surmounted by a large acrostolion ; at the head is a small bowsprit 
with a sail furled in two folds ; a very long upright scroll-head with beaks under, 
one of them being level with the water ; the run of the stern from the bulwarks 
gives the stern a long overhanging counter. There are no standards in the stern. 

807. 

HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9>, cos . Ill . above and S. C. under a small galley rowed by five men to the 
right, having a straight bulwark at the side, running out to a long counter at the 
stern, as on the preceding coin ; the pilot's hutch at the stern with acrostolion 

3d 2 



388 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

above ; no standards set np ; a long bowsprit and small sail at the head ; a fiddle- 
head scroll in front and three rostra beneath. 

808. 

HADRiANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right. 

9>. cos . Ill . above ; S. C. in the exergum. A small galley rowing to the 
right, three men engaged, and the pilot is standing in front of his hutch, behind 
which is an upright curved work formed of the termination of the counter at the 
taffrail, which does not rake away from the body of the vessel, as on the last two 
coins. A small bowsprit without sail ; a scroll-head, with three beaks or rostra 
under. 

809. 

HADRIANVS . AV&vsTVS, The unlaureate head of the emperor to the right, 
shoulders in armour, and draped. 

|io. FELiciTATi . AVG- . above, in the field ; cos . iii . p . p . in the exergum ; S. C. 
at the sides. A handsome weU-formed galley rowed by five men to the left ; the 
pilot sits in a large hutch at the stern, where there are also two standards, but no 
acrostolion ; at the head is a bowsprit, with' a small sail on it. 

810. 

HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The laureate head of the emperor to the right, 
shoulders draped. 

;p>. PELiciTATi . AVG- . above, in the field ; cos . iii . p . p . in the exergum ; S. C. 
at the sides. A galley rowed by six men to the left, having at the head a bowsprit 
and small sail, and two standards set up in the stern ; the pilot is standing in 
front of his hutch, giving directions. 

811. 

HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS, The laureate head of the emperor to the right, 
shoulders draped. 

P>. PELiciTATi . AVG . in the field above ; cos . ili . p . p . in the exergum ; S. C. 
at the sides. A galley rowed by six men to the left, having a bowsprit and small 
sail at the head ; two standards erect in the stern ; the pilot sitting in front of his 
hutch. 

812. 

Legend obliterated. The laureate head of Hadrian to the right. 



HADRIAN. 389 

9>. coNSECHATio. S. C. On either side of a globe, on which an eagle is stand- 
ing with expanded wings looking to the right. 

I do not find this type in brass, either in Occo, Argelati, or Eckhel ; but Occo 
and Argelati have it in silver. Eckhel has it in gold likewise; it is thus 
described : 

HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS. Aquila insistens globo. 

I do not doubt but a consecratio coin was struck in brass as well as in gold and 
silver. The present coin came from the cabinet of the Cavalier Oampana. It is a 
Large Brass coin ; but, although a real Roman minted coin, I doubt its having 
been struck with this particular reverse on it. 

The Emperor Hadrian, to prepare for the reception of his body after death, 
caused a large and magnificent buUding to be erected on the banks of the Tiber ; 
it was called Mausoleum Hadriani. The mausoleum which was erected by 
Augustus as his burial-place and that of his successors had given the first idea to 
Hadrian, and as the mausoleum of Augustus was nearly full, Hadrian by this 
building intended to provide a resting-place for the mortal remains of himself and 
his successors. 

The mausoleum Hadriani was constructed at great cost and was much orna- 
mented with statuary and sculpture, all which have during successive ages been 
destroyed, but the main body of the building remains. It was occupied in 
A.D. 985 by Crescentius Nomentanus, whence it was called the fortress or Tower 
of Crescentius. He being expelled by Otho the Third, it was reduced by Boniface 
the Ninth to the form of a citadel, and Alexander the Sixth surrounded it with 
fortifications. Pope Urban the Eighth furnished it with cannon and mortars 
made from metal which he had plundered from the Pantheon of Agrippa, and he 
placed a governor and garrison in the building and called it the Castle of 
St. Angelo, by which designation it is known at this day. 



SABINA. 

Julia Sabina was the daughter of Matidia, the granddaughter of Marciana, 
and the grandniece of the emperor Trajan ; by the aid of the empress Plotina she 
was married to Hadrian in a.d. 100, and died in a.b. 137-8, either by her own 
hand or, as is supposed, poisoned by the orders of Hadrian, who treated her very 
iU, although it was ia consequence of his marrying her that he was, at the insti- 
gation of Plotina, adopted by the emperor Trajan as his successor to the empire. 



390 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

The coins of Sabina are not particularly common ; the devices generally allude 
to moral virtues. 

813. 

SABINA . AVGVSTA . HADRiANi . AVG . P.P. The head of the empress to the right, 
her hair braided in many plaits, and decorated with a coronet, which in some 
respects resembles the coronets of Marciana and her mother Matidia ; shoulders 
draped. 

Jl. No legend. S. 0. in the exergum. Ceres seated to the left on a basket 
shaped like a barrel ; with her right hand she presents three ears of corn, ia her 
left hand she holds a long torch with a fire burning on the top. 

The coronet worn by the empress on this coin is of three parts ; the first band 
is narrow and joined to the second, which is broad, and both are ornamented with 
indentations joining into each other ; added to these is a third band, narrow at 
the side, and progressively rising to a sort of pointed crown or coronet, which 
seems in the original crown worn by Sabina to have been ornamented with jewels ; 
the narrow band is flattened out at the end, as if to fix it by its elasticity on the 
side of the head by the temples, reminding one of the flat gold bands worn over 
the forehead and sides of the head by the women in Priesland, in Holland, at the 
present day. 

I do not find the peculiar construction and ornamental work of the Sabina 
coronet mentioned in its particulars by any numismatic writer, and I may be 
catechised for pedantry in noticing it with such minuteness, but I consider every 
thing that presents itself to notice on a coin should be specified, for it is by 
such particulars that we become more acquainted with the personal customs, 
habits, and appearance of individuals of rank, whose influence in society generally 
had an important weight in the course of human affairs. 

This is a fine dark green coin. Weight 37l:| grains. 

814. 

SABINA . AV&V8TA . HADRIANI . AVG . P.P. The head of Sabina to the right, her 
hair braided close to the head, and a short tad-knot behind, a very small coronet 
in front, and behind that a broad wreath of wheat-ears ; the shoulders draped. 

9.. No legend. S. C. in the exergum. Ceres seated to the left on a basket, 
as on the preceding coin. 

The wreath of wheat-ears I do not find to occur on the coins of any of the 
empresses but Sabina. Livia Augusti has a wreath of myrtle. Domitia the same. 



SABINA. 392 

or laurel, but the wheat-ears are for the empress Sabina, and, excepting on the 
present coin, they are only to be seen on the Second Brass coins of Sabina. 

The present is a black coin, from the Oampana Cabinet ; the obverse fine, but 
the reverse not so good. Weight 346 grains. It is a very rare coin. 

815. 

SABINA . AVGVSTA . HADRiANi . AVG .P.P. The head of the empress to the right, 
her hair braided and decorated with a coronet as on the first coin, shoulders 
draped. 

p.. No legend. In the exergum S. C. Vesta seated to the left, having the 
hasta pura in her left hand ; her right hand, extended, holds a little idol palladium. 

A fine bright green coin. Weight 480f grains. 

816. 

SABINA . AVGVSTA . HADRIANI . AVG .P.P. The head of the empress to the right, 
her hair braided and decorated with a coronet as on the precedmg coin, the 
shoulders draped. 

9'. No legend. In the exergum S. C. Vesta seated to the left, as just before 
described. 

A fine black coin. These types of Ceres and Vesta are represented so like each 
each other that they may be easily mistaken if a little worn. To distinguish the 
types it must be observed whether the seated figure holds in the right-hand ears 
of corn or a palladium, and the coin should not have a permanent place in the 
cabinet unless the distinction be clearly made out. There is also another distinc- 
tion to be observed, and more likely to be seen, even though a little worn. Ceres 
is almost, I may say, invariably seated on a basket, which at times has a neatly- 
worked pattern. Vesta is constantly found seated on a throne or decorated chair. 

The coins of Sabina, on which she is represented with a head-dress like that 
of Marciana Matidia, are much less frequent than the coins representing her with 
her hair dressed as we shall see on the next coins. 

817. 

SABINA . AVGVSTA . HADRIANI . AVG .P.P. The head of the empress to the right, 
her hair dressed in a broad rolled band raised in the front of the head like a 
coronet, and fastened with a narrow fillet passing round the head and just over 
the forehead ; the back hair falling behind ends in a knot or broad loop, shoulders 
draped. 

9i. VESTA. In the exergum S. C. Vesta seated on a throne to the left holding 



392 EECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

a hasta ptira in the left hand ; her right-hand, extended, bears a little idol palla- 
dium ; her left foot rests on a stool. 

The head-dress here given to the empress is the one most frequently found 
delineated on her coins ; it may therefore be fairly considered as representing that 
style in which she was most usually accustomed to appear. 

The style of head-dress on other coins, such as on the first in this series, may 
have been adopted out of compliment to her mother and aunt, or may have been 
such as the empress may herself have used on some particular occasions of state 
ceremony. 

The present is a fine brown coin from the Campana collection. Weight 
483§ grains. 

818. 

SABiNA . AV&vsTA HADRIANI . AVG .P.P. The head of the empress to the right ; 
her hair dressed with roUed band and long loop knot, as on the last preceding 
coin, shoulders draped. 

$0. CONCORDIA . AVG . in the field S. C. A female standing to the left ; her 
right-hand extended holds a patera, on her left arm she bears a double cornucopise. 

This type is generally found on the coins of empresses to signify the amity 
existing between the emperor and his wife ; the cornucopise being double, also 
denotes that plenty and happiness in a twofold quantity are the result of the good 
understanding between the parties. 

Considering the barbarous manner in which the wives of some of the Roman 
emperors were treated by their husbands, the type of Concordia is a fulsome 
adulatory falsehood executed by a servile mintmaster to endeavour to cover or 
palliate the iniquity of his emperor, and infer blame to the empress, should she 
be disgraced by him at some future time. 

Seneca, in his tragedy of Medea, Act i., wishes Concordia to be propitious to 
the marriage with Jason, and, although he does not mention Concordia by name, 
yet by the qualities described she is well delineated. 



Asperi 



Martis sanguineas qus3 cohibet manus, 
Quae dat belligeris fcedera gentlbus, 
Et cornu retinet divite copiam. 

A good brown coin Weight 419z grains. 

819. 

SABINA AVGVSTA . HADRIANI . AVG . p . P. The head of the empress to the right, 
her hair dressed in the ordinary way, shoulders draped. 



SABINA. 393 

p.. CONCORDIA . AVG. In the exergum S. C. A female seated to the left on a 
throne ; in her right-hand she holds a patera, her left elbow rests on the head of a 
small statue placed on a pedestal at the left side of her throne, 

820. 

SABINA AVGVSTA HADRiANi . AVG .P.P. The head of the empress to the right, 
with a laurel- wreath and a small coronet over the front hair at the forehead, the 
hair in large folds (not a roll hand), and tied in a small thick knot at the hack of 
the neck, shoulders draped. 

9. CONCORDIA . AVG . in the exergum S. C. A female seated on a throne to 
the left ; her right-hand holds a patera, her left elbow rests on the head of a small 
statue standing on a pediment by the side of the throne. 

Although the wreath on the head of Sabina appears formed of small laurel- 
leaves, it might be termed a myrtle wreath, but that the leaves appear very thick, 
and thus more like to laurel. 

A fine Second Brass black coin from the cabinet of Monsieur RoUin at Paris, 
1847. 

821. 

SABINA . AVGVSTA , HADRIANI . AVG .P.P. The head of the empress to the left, 
her hair dressed plain with the back hair in a long loop-knot over her shoulder ; a 
broad wreath of ears of corn encompasses the head, the shoulders draped. 

$1. CONCORDIA . AVG. In the exergum S. C. A female seated on a throne to 
the left, her right-hand extended holding a patera ; at the side of the throne 
within the bars of the lower part is a fuU cornucopiae ; her left elbow rests on the 
head of a small statue at the side of the throne, as on the preceding coins. 

The cornucopise seems to be an emblem of the benefits arising from a good 
understanding, or concord, existing between the emperor and his wife; but I take 
it the type applies only in strictness to the early period of the marriage, for not 
only were there no children, but in a few years after their marriage disagreements 
arose, Hadrian treated his wife very ill, and he discreditably allowed her to be as 
badly or even worse treated by others. 

The head of Sabina being bound with a wreath of wheat-ears is compli- 
mentary, as representing her in the character of Ceres. The sacred rights of 
Ceres, or the Bona Dea, were celebrated by females only, and the empress on 
such occasions would be likely to be the chief actor in the ceremonial, and be 
distinguished by a wreath of wheat-ears. At Home there were five diff'erent 
temples erected to Concordia. 

3 E 



394 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

The coins of Sabina which give portraits to the left are not very usual, and 
the wreaths render them more uncommon. 

822. 

SABINA . AVGVSTA . HADRiANi . AVG .P.P. The head of the empress to the 
right, her hair dressed with rolled bands as on the former coins, shoulders 
draped. 

9>. PiETAS. In the field S. C. A female standing full front looking to the 
right ; a child is standing on each side of her, on each of whose heads she places 
one of her hands. 

This is one of the rare devices of Sabina ; it is a beautiful bright green coin, 
from the cabinet of General Ramsay. Weight 425| grains. 

823. 

SABINA . AVGVSTA . HADRIANI . AVG . p. p. The head of the empress to the 
right, her hair dressed as on the preceding coin. 

^. PIETAS. In the exergum S. C. A female seated to the left, her right 
hand extended, holding a patera ; in her left hand she holds a hasta pura trans- 
versely. 

This is a nice yellow bronze coin. Weight 404-2- grains. 

824. 

SABINA . AVGVSTA . HADRIANI . AVG .P.P. The head of the empress to the right, 
her hair dressed in rolled band confined by a ribbon, as on the preceding coins. 

9>. iVNONi , REGiNAE. In the field S. C. A female robed and standing to the 
left, bearing a hasta ptira in the left hand ; the right hand, extended, holds a 
patera. 

There were two or three temples at Rome dedicated to Juno Uegina, who was 
so called — " Quod et conjux Jovis deorum atque hominum Regis esset." She was 
represented in sculpture, according to the description of Albricius, " Erat foemina 
in throno sedens sceptrum regium tenens in dextra— ejus caput nubes tenebant 
opertum super diadema quod capiti gestabat." 

Juno had several other offices or duties attributed to her, for which correspond- 
ent temples were erected, wherein she was worshipped — as Juno Pronuba ; Juno 
Lucina ; JunoMoneta (as such she was guardian of the treasury), and the Roman 
mint for the coining of the money was in her temple on the Capitoline Hill ; and 
as Jxmo Sispita, or Sospita, a temple was erected to her at Lanuvium, the birth- 
place of Antoninus Pius. 



SABINA. 395 

This is a scarce type of Sabina ; the coin is but in poor condition ; and, though 
of Large Brass size, is of very light weight, being only 166^ grains. 

825. 

SABINA . AVGVSTA . HADBiANi . AVG .P.P. The head of the empress to the right, 
her hair dressed with rolled bands, as on the other coins, shoulders draped. 

9.. VBNERi . GENBTBici . in the field S. 0. Venus draped, standing fuU front 
looking to the right, her left hand raised holding an apple, her right hand lifted 
to her head supports a veil. 

Venus as the goddess received great veneration from Julius Csesar, who affected 
to be descended from her through ^neas the Trojan hero. At the battle of Phar- 
salia, Caesar gave as his watchword or signal " Venus Victrix," and made a vow 
that if he obtained a victory he would erect a temple to Venus ; having gained the 
battle, Caesar soon after caused a temple to be built to Venus Genetrix, " eique 
spolia de hostibus dedicavit." He also placed on the statue of Venus which was in 
the temple the celebrated gorget or breast ornament of pearls, which he had 
brought from Britain, "thoracem de margaritis Britannicis." 

After the death of Caesar, Augustus placed in the temple a statue of Caesar, 
having a star represented above his head, in token of the flaming star or comet 
which was seen at Eome after the death of Caesar, as we have already noticed in 
Ccesare. 

The festival of Venus Genetrix was held at Rome on the kalends of October. 
This type is also introduced on the coins of Faustina senior, post. 

A good yellow coin, presented me by Professor Donaldson. 

826. 

SABINA . AVGVSTA . HADBiANi . AVG. P.P. The head of the empress to the right, 
her hair dressed in roUed bands with long looped knot as before noted, shoulders 
draped. 

|t. PVDiciTiA. In the exergum S. C. A female seated on a throne to the left; 
her right-hand raised to her head appears slightly to lift a veil from her face ; her 
left foot rests on a stool. 

At Rome Pudicitia was worshipped as a goddess, and had her temples, the 
one to Pudicitia Patricia, the other to Pudicitia Plebeia. The origin of the latter 
temple is said to have been occasioned by the foUo-wing incident. The temple of 
the goddess Pudicitia Patricia could only be entered by Roman ladies who were 
of patrician families by birth, and this rule was kept so strictly, and with so much 

3 F 



396 RECORDS OP ROMAN HISTORY. 

jealousy, that when Virginia, the wife of Yolumnius, a Roman of consular dignity, 
determined to enter, she was forcibly put out because she was herself of plebeian 
birth. However, in revenge for the affront so put upon her, she exhorted the 
plebeian women to venerate the goddess Pudicitia, and erected a temple in part of 
her house that equalled the temple of Pudicitia Patricia. 

I believe the temple of Pudicitia Plebeia is now embodied with the church of 
St. Mary Cosmedin. 

The Athenians were content to dedicate only an altar to Pudicitia, without 
distinction of Patricia or Plebeia. 

Pudicitia is thus described by one of the Roman poets : — 

Ergo sedens velat vultus, obnubit ocellos, 
Ista verecundi signa pudoria erant. 

She sits, her visage veiled, her eyes concealed ; 
By marks like these was chastity revealed. 

These lines most aptly designate the figure on the reverse of this coin, or of 
any other coin of an empress on which Pudicitia is represented sitting. 

827. 

SABiNA . AVGVSTA , HADRiANi . AVG. The head of Sabina to the right, with the 
Marciana coronet head-dress, shoulders draped. 

$c. HADRIANVS . AVGVSTVS. The uulaureatc head of Hadrian to the right. 

This is a brown Second Brass coin in good condition ; it is a very rare coin ; 
for Eckhel in Sabina, vol. vi. p. 521, quotes one in Mus. Cses. in Second Brass, 
with the following legend on the obverse : 

SABINA . AVGVsTA . IMP . HADRIANI . AVG . epigraphe rarissima ; the reverse being 
" S. C Ceres sedens d. spicas s. facem;" and he says, "Hanc capitis epigraphen 
in nullo hactenus Sabinge nummo videre mihi contigit, intelligo, omissum juxta 
HADRIANI . nomen patris . patriae titulo." 



^LIUS CtESAR. 

Lucius Aurelius Cejonius Commodus Verus, known by coins as ^lius 
Caesar, descended from an illustrious Hetruscan family, was adopted by the 
emperor Hadrian, a.d. 135, as his successor, by the names of Lucius JiJlius Verus. 
He thus became Csesar, and was elected consul a.d. 136 ; afterwards he was created 
prsetor, and sent to govern in Pannonia. He subsequently returned to Rome, and 



iELITIS CiESAR. 397 

died in January a.d. 138, t.b. 891. Upon which event Hadrian, in the month of 
March following, adopted Marcus Antoninus, surnamed Pius, who succeeded him 
in the sovereignty in the month of June, 138. 

The coins of jElius are not numerous and are of very few types ; they are not 
very generally met with, and the brass coins are almost generally in very poor 
condition. 

828. 

AELivs . CAESAR. The unlaureate head of Mlixxs to the right. 

$0. TE, . POT . cos . II. ; in the field S. C. Spes gradient to the left ; in her right- 
hand she holds up a lotus flower, with her left hand she supports her clothes. 

A fine dark green coin from the Cabinet of the Duke of Devonshire. Weight 
370^ grains. 

829. 

L . AELius . CAESAR, The uulaureate head of ^Sllius to the right, shoulders draped. 

9.. TR . POT . cos . II. ; in the esergum concord., and S. C. in the field. A 
female seated to the left ; her right hand extended holds a patera, her left elbow 
rests on the top of a cornucopise, which is at the side of her chair. 

Concordia on this coin may be considered as signifying the good understanding 
which existed between Hadrian and ^lius. 

A good brown coin. Weight 474J grains. 

830. 

L . AELIVS . CAESAR. The unlaurcate head of iElius to the right, shoulders 
draped ; very fine ; head struck up high ; showing fine bold workmanship. 

1^. TR . POT . cos . II. ; in the field S. 0. Fortune standing full front, looking 
to the right, supporting a cornucopise on her left arm ; in her right hand she holds 
the tnier of a rudder. Spes approaches close to her on her left, as if about to 
address her, holding up a lotus flower in her right hand ; with her left hand she 
supports her robe. 

A very good black coin from the Cabinet of Mr. Gwilt, by exchange. 

831. 

L . AELIVS . CAESAR. The unlaurcate head of ^lius to the right. 

|l. TR . POT . cos . II. ; and across the field the divided word pan-nonia, with 
S. C. underneath ; between the divisions of the word a female is standing to the 
left, full front, holding her robe with her left hand ; in her right hand she holds a 
vemllum. 



398 RECORDS OF ROMAN HISTORY. 

iBlius was, after his adoption by Hadrian, appointed governor of Pannoma, 
which I conclude was the occasion of this type being struck to him. 

This is an unpatinated coia from the Cabinet of Sir G. Musgrave ; it is very 
unusual to find this scarce type in such good condition, although not first rate. 

832. 

L . AELius . CAESAR. The unlaureate head of ^lius to the right, shoulders 
draped. 

9>. TR . POT . cos . II, In the field S. C. A female standing to the left, her 
right hand extended holds up a lotus-flower ; on her left arm she bears a full cor- 
nucopise, and her left hand rests on the top of a rudder. 

833. 

L . AELivs . CAESAR. The unlaureate head of jSJlius to the right. 
1^. TR . po . . . . II. S. C. in the field. In the exergum salus. Hygeia seated 
to the left, feeding a snake that rises from an altar before her. 
A good mottled brown coin, from the cabinet of M. St. Croix. 

834. 

L . AELIVS . CAESAR. The Unlaureate head of ^lius to the right. 

^. TR . p II. across the field pibtas, with S. C. underneath. A female 

standing full front, looking to the left ; her hands are raised in the attitude of 
prayer ; at her right side is an altar, with fire burning on it. 

A good brown coin.