Geographic Personifications

Late to the party, but doesn't mean I cant play right? Below are a few of mine. Most of my 'depiction of ...' coins are from the Hadrian travel series. That series contains some very interesting bronzes as well, eg Mauretania. I wonder if some one from CT has a few of the scarcer bronzes from that series.









And that's a very nice Alexandria denarius @Terence Cheesman! Here's mine, and I'm very glad I was able to obtain this one.



And two LRBs:

 

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Fantastic coins! Do you know what attributes Gallia is supposed to have? I can't really see any. A beret and a Gauloise, perhaps?

 

Here are two coins I have that commemorate the capture of Armenia by Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius. This conquest gave them the title of Armeniacus.


Denarius of Lucius Verus 163 AD - 164 AD, Rome mint, RIC.III.509(m_aur). Obv.: L VERVS AVG ARMENIACVS, Head of Lucius Verus, bare, right. Rev.: TR P IIII IMP II COS I, ARMEN (in ex.), Armenia seated left on ground, surrounded by arms, resting left hand on bow and quiver; before her, vexillum and shield.


Denarius of Marcus Aurelius 163 AD - 164 AD, Rome mint, RIC.III.80(m_aur), RSC.8, BMC.271. Obv.: ANTONINVS AVG ARMENIACVS, Head of Marcus Aurelius, bare, right. Rev.: P M TR P XVIII IMP II COS III, ARMEN (in ex.), Armenia seated left on ground, surrounded by arms, resting left hand on bow; before her, vexillum and shield.

Note, that the personifications here indeed depict some characteristics of the captive region. In particular, the elongated headwear, depending on a specific reverse type, depicts either the Armenian tiara or lesser headwears seen on the coinage of Armenian satrap states, such as Armenia Minor. The style is also different from the personification of Parthia, which appears on analogous coins (also giving the title Parthicus to L.V. and M.A.), but with distinct Parthian bashlyk (see below for an example from http://www.acsearch.info/image.html?id=3582648).


Another geographic personification would be the river Araxes (Arax) swimming below the Tyche city goddess (see F.L. Kovacs 2016). My coin below is from the Tigranocerta (Tigranakert, Armenia) mint.


Tetrachalcoi of Tigranes II (The Great), 80 BC - 68 BC, Tigranocerta (Armenia) mint, Kovacs.81. Obv.: head of Tigranes II right, wearing Armenian flapped five-pointed tiara, decorated with 8-pointed star between two eagles. Rev.: BAΣIΛEΩΣ BAΣIΛEΩN TIΓPANOY, Tyche seated right, holding palm, below, river-god Araxes swimming right, letter A above the river god, and TP monogram above the hand of Tyche.

This type of Tigranes coins, with different mintmarks and denominations, was also produced in other cities, and upon Tigranes' expansion there, in Antioch. For the Antioch coins, the river god is naturally attributed to the river Orontes. Seems the ancients gave proper credit to the rivers that were giving rise to, or were an essential attributes of, the great cities. On another note, there is also a later commemorative issue for Artaxiata (Artashat) city, an Armenian capital, also situated on Araxes river, depicting only the head of Tyche, who could have been a general depiction of a city, hence a city goddess, with the headwear out of a stronghold.

Armenia personification also appears on the coin of Trajan, stating "ARMENIA ET MESOPOTAMIA IN POTESTATEM P R REDACTAE" in its reverse. It shows the reclining figure of Armenia, surrounded by the river gods Tigris and Euphrates (rivers that start from Armenian Highlands). Some listings mistakenly mention "reclining figure of Mesopotamia", but the Armenian headware, and the exact historical events this coin is linked to, confirms the former. An example of that coin is below (from http://www.acsearch.info/image.html?id=2574675).

 

As you know, Donna, this depiction of Britannia (more or less) was on the reverse of all British copper coins for many years. Here is a penny of my birth year:

BRITISH PENNY (Circulated)


Obverse: George V, bare headed, facing left
Inscription: GEORGIVS V DEI GRA BRITT OMN REX FID DEF IND IMP
Reverse: Britannia wearing Corinthian helmet, seated right, holding trident with left hand and supporting shield with right hand

 

I am not a beret wearer but I sure miss the gauloises.(very nice with some real absinthe)

 

One of the multiple reasons that I started collecting Hadrian's travel series was the personification of the countries he visited, as illustrated on each coin's reverse:

Africa:
With lion:


With scorpion:




The Nile (Nilus) with hippo and crocodile:


Aegyptos (with Ibis):


Hispania (with rabbit):


Let's not forget Nero (port of Ostia with the river Tiber personified reclining at bottom):

 

The Orient...

 

@IdesOfMarch01.....WOW....Beautiful coins man!

 

Yes I have Britannia. I believe Hadrian was the first to depict her, and those are very expensive. This is Antoninus Pius:


Bronze As, 154-155. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XVIII. BRITANNIA - COS IIII, SC. Probably minted for use in Britain.

 

Thank you. And a good question. Im not sure. Interesting about this coin vis-a-vis other travel series coins and this reverse lacks an attribute of Gallia. No rabbit, scorpion, globe or whatever.
The head wear perhaps is a specific attribute. I do not see it in the description of any other coin of the same type, however. One hint perhaps is given via the deiscription of a very rare antoninianus of postumus: on that reverse, Gallia is wearing a mural crown. I wonder if anyone else has an idea?

 

Does this Sarmatian captive count?
Constantine I, AD 306-337. SARMATIA DEVICTA
Obv: CONSTANTINVS AVG, laureate head right
Rev: SARMATIA DEVICTA, Victory advancing right, holding trophy on right arm, branch in left hand, spurning captive seated on ground right, head turned back,
PTR(cresent) in ex.
Trier 323-4 AD

And a few river-gods.

River-god Kilbos


Lydia, Cilbiani. Geta AE18. River-god Kilbos
Obv: L CEP GETAC KAI, laureate, draped bust right.
Rev: KILBIANW N TWNANW, River-god Kilbos reclining left, holding reed and cornucopiae, resting arm on overturned urn from which waters flow.

River-god Meandros

Phrygia, Hyrgaleis. Boule / Meandros reclining.
Obv: IERA BOYLH / Veiled bust of Boule r.
Rev: YRGALEWN TO TS' / River-god Meandros reclining l.
Between 221 and 222

River-god Kazanes
Phrygia, Themisonion. AE22. Sozon/Kazanes
Obv: Radiate and draped bust Sozon right.
Rev: River-god Kazanes, holding reed, reclining left on overturned amphora.
3rd cent AD.

 

Magnificent coins as always @IdesOfMarch01 - thank you for posting them.

 

Well, Rhenus does at least have his pointy little horns...



I do agree that the depictions of some of the personifications lack abit of imagination, though.

I'm pretty sure the bare breasted one on the Domitian denarius is female? I've also always assumed the Dacia on the Decius coins was female.

 

I guess you're right. I didn't look that closely at the Germania figure before, and that's definitely a female breast on one side! On my initial glance, I saw short hair and thought the figure looked rather strapping to be a female personification. But, then again, she's German! My Decius Dacia is sort of androgynous -- the hair isn't nearly as long as on yours -- but again, I suppose she could be female.

 

At some point, I think I'll try to make a list of all the personifications shown in this thread, as well as others mentioned but not shown (such as some of the more obscure provinces visited by Hadrian, like Mauretania).

 

Hadrian. 117-138 AD. AR Denarius. (18mm; 3.31 gm; 6h). Struck circa 134-138 AD. Obv: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, laureate head right. Rev: RESTITVTORI HISPANIAE, Hispania kneeling right, holding branch; Hadrian standing left, holding roll, about to raise her; long-eared rabbit between them. RIC II 327; BMCRE 889; RSC 1260.

 

Roman Imperatorial. The Pompeians. Cnaeus Pompey Jr. Summer 46-Spring 45 BC. AR Denarius (3.75 gm, 6h,19mm). Corduba mint. Marcus Poblicius, legatus pro praetore. Obv: Helmeted head of Roma right. Rev: Hispania standing right, shield on her back, holding two spears over shoulder and presenting palm frond to Pompeian soldier (Pompey the Great?) standing left on prow, armed with sword. Crawford 469/1a; CRI 48; Sydenham 1035; RSC 1 (Pompey the Great).

 

Quote: "But, then again, she's German!"

@DonnaML = she educates AND entertains!

Awesome!

 

Doesn't look like a wabbit to me!

 

it's amazing what well placed commas say to those who understand.