List of animals shown at the Colosseum

Thanks for this. It is great to see some discussion of etymology on the board.

 

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Pius' elephant as.

 

Impossible for jaguars to be on this list. They are new world, as was already mentioned.

 

I love this forum. What a quick responses
All beautiful coins.
I did some homework and made a list with all the animals and the first one who attributed a coin......


I made some changes:

• deer and stag are put together on the list;
• antelope and gazelle are put together;
• jackass and donkey are put together;
• panther (is indeed not a species) and leopard are put together;
• ape, chimpanzee and baboon are put together;
• I added (ofcourse!) the ostrich;
• I deleted (ofcourse!) the jaguar

There was some discussion about the buffalo. I changed it into the African buffalo (you know the one from the big five...). Is there no coin from this animal with the bad reputation and mighty horns ? There must have been some brought to Rome.....Then I still hope for a nice coin with a clear donkey on it. I know they are out there.

I guess I can wait a whole lot longer for a coin with a giraffe (what a pity ) or a hyena.

@RomanCollector has a coin with a 'panther' on it. I presume that this could be the image of a leopard or a cheetah ?

Enough animals for me for today

 

How about a stork?

Q. CAECILIUS METELLUS PIUS ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS CAECILIA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Diademed head of Pietas right, stork before
REVERSE: IMPER in exergue, lituus and jug, all within laurel wreath
Spanish Mint 81 BC
3.8g; 20mm
Crawford 374/2; Sydenham 751; Caecilia 44
Ex: Barry Murphy


Q. CAECILIUS METELLUS PIUS ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS CAECILIA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Diademed head of Pietas right; stork standing right before
REVERSE: Q C M P I beneath elephant walking left w/bell hanging from neck
Northern Italy, 79 BC-77 BC
3.75g; 18mm
Caecilia 43; Crawford 374/1; Syd 750; Sear 301

 

I am happy to be able to add this tiger to the list. Successful bidder (competition was FIERCE) at today's Numismatik Naumann auction.


Gallienus, 253-268 AD.
Roman Æ Antoninianus, 2.65 g, 20.1 mm, 5 h.
Rome Mint, 10th emission, 267-268 AD.
Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right.
Rev: LIBERO P CONS AVG, tiger walking left, B in exergue.
Refs: RIC 230K; Göbl 713b; Cohen 586; RCV 10281; Cunetio 1341; Hunter 112.

On his page about the Liber Pater coins, Jim Phelps notes that some of these coins, like this example, show a stocky, striped and tiger-like animal, and others, like the one I posted above, feature a more lithe and panther-like beast. Lastly, he shows some with SPOTS -- a leopard. They are not assigned separate catalog numbers by any of the standard works.

 

That is the best tiger I've ever seen on a Gallienus zoo coin, and the head shape and size make me think the engraver intended to convey a male tiger. Fantastic!! The portrait is also outstanding. What a super acquisition, RC!

 

I agree with TIF. But is it a female tiger? If so, I wonder why that sex was portrayed? We will never know.

 

I thought it was male (larger head size and such) but on second thought the underbelly does seem to show teats rather than loose skin .

Gallienus looks downright regal in that portrait, despite the pustular neck beard .

 

Snake was on the list. Were these used in the arena? There are many animals not on the list but I doubt there was a lot of demand for rabbit wrestling. It bothers me that there are no giraffe coins but I have not seen one. I also find it odd that bears are so rare.

 

New World Jaguars come in two forms, normal spotted/ black "panther" form. They are my favorite cat.

 

I only have one of the animals on list.
AV Antoninius ND Rome Mint struck 215AD
Emperor Caracalla 197-219AD
24mm. 5.23g.
Lion on reverse
ex; Gorny & Mosch

 

Nice idea for a thread! I recently received a very nice Titus - elephant coin, but i have to take pictures of it, so i will show it later some time.

As i am a late arrival to this thread and most of the animals have been added, i hope you wont mind me sharing a tiny, tiny camel (or perhaps Arabia is huge?):


And also another elephant, and a serpant although i dont think it was part of any games in the Flavian Amphitheater.



EDIT:
By the way, reminds me, how about horses? Not the animals perhaps to be brought into the Colosseum to be slaughtered, but weren't there horse races and hunting games held in the theatre? Wikipedia has an image of a mosaic, that, according to the page, shows the games held in the Colosseum. In the bottom you can see a poor hurt horse... See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inaugural_games_of_the_Flavian_Amphitheatre

 

Ofcourse we won’t mind
Although we already have a camel and an elephant it’s nice to see new coins on this thread.
Very nice presentation of the coins btw !

 

You don’t have by any chance a donkey ?

 

Sorry, no donkey in my collection. According to acsearch there are coins with donkeys, including one of Trajan Decius with a part of a donkey: Dacia on reverse holding a staff surmounted by the head of a donkey. Kind of brutal...

 

This elephant denarius of Titus was specifically struck in commemoration of the opening games of the Colosseum.

Titus
AR Denarius, 3.18g
Rome mint, 80 AD
RIC 116 (C). BMC 47. RSC 304.
Obv: IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M•; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, l.
Rev: TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P; Elephant, stg. l.
Ex Harry N. Sneh Collection.

Elephants were featured in those first games and Martial in his book On the Spectacles actually mentions an elephant, who after dispatching a bull in the arena, knelt before the emperor! Perhaps a neat trick the trainer had taught it.

 

Mende struck many coins depicting donkeys/asses (same animal).

In addition to the Septimius Severus Circus denarius I posted which depicts an ass albeit too small to really see, I overlooked this hemiobol from Mende .


MACEDON, Mende
circa 460-423 BCE
AR hemiobol; 7 mm, 0.39 gm, 6 h
Obv: forepart of donkey to right
Rev: Kantharos within incuse square
Ref: AMNG III, 18. SNG ANS 365

 

How about a MULE?


RI Julia Flavia Titi Diva 90-91 CE d-Titus concubine-uncleDomitian AE Sestertius 33mm 20.4g - Carpentum mules SPQR - SC

mule1
/myo͞ol/
noun

1. 1.
   the offspring of a donkey and a horse (strictly, a male donkey and a female horse), typically sterile and used as a beast of burden.