rome's crazy cat lady

well, i had heard many things about helena, mother of constantine the great. i knew she was a saint. i knew according to legend she found the true cross. i did not know, she was a crazy cat lady. this article is worth reading...

http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/the-holy-monastery-of-saint-nicholas-of-the-cats.html

if you don't want to read it...she commanded a 1,000 cat invasion of cyprus.

yes...i'm serious.

is it a true story? i don't know, but it isn't...it should be.

anyway, here is my new coin of helena.



Helena, Mother of Constantine I. AE Follis, 325-330 AD
O: FL HELENA AVGVSTA, Pearl-diademed and mantled bust right, wearing necklace. R:SECVRITAS REIPVBLICE, Securitas standing left, holding branch pointing down; ∙ΓSIS in ex., Siscia mint, RIC 204. 20 mm, 2.6g

my collection of roman ladies is pretty weak, and a bronze of this lady has been pretty high on my list. this one was hard to get a pic of, gave up and used the sellers. edited, but can't get the color quite right. it's has nice smooth dark green surfaces (except the patch on the reverse).


also,i didn't know she was still hanging around. this may be helena's skull at a cathedral in trier.



is it true? i don't know, but if it isn't...it should be.

feel free to post your coins of helena, and any pictures of your cats.

 

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Thats hilarious. Excellent write up, I don't own a cat, I'm allergic.


You certainly get some beavers for the pictures and coin!

 

I vaguely remember hearing about the cats somewhere.

Nice coin. My only one of her.

 

Nice coin Chris, and a great read on the "cat lady". New stuff to me.

My only Helena

HELENA
AE4
OBVERSE: FL IVL HE-LENAE AVG, draped bust right wearing ornamental mantle, necklace and broad hairband
REVERSE: PA-X PV-BLICA, Pax standing left holding branch and transverse sceptre
Struck at Trier, 337-40 AD
1.36g, 13.91mm
RIC 90

 

No crazy cat lady coins here. However, I do have a photo of my 18 year old cat Robin overseeing things at my desk.

 

robins got some nice lookin' coins there V70!

18, wow...that's awesome. he's old enough to buy you some new cigars!

 

Chris, I used to have a snake problem in my house, with no cats.
Now I have a cat problem, . . . . . . but no snakes

My Helena,

 

Awesome coin! I found a picture of her ready for battle.

 

Nice pick up! Sadly I have no Helenas, but I do have a cat!

He is the only cat that likes belly rubs that I have ever met.

 

Vlaha -- You've got to like that!

 

The cat-snake story seems plausible enough in my opinion, an ancient method of pest control. Evidently these folles of Helena were struck in large quantities, as they're readily available. Here's mine...

 

I regret that I do NOT have an Helena coin! However, @chrsmat71 your write up is great! LOL, did not know that, and I learned something today! Thanks!. I am NOT a cat lover (NOT a cat-hater though...) My Mother-in-Law is infirm, so she is living with us. Part of her migration included her cat:

Charlie does not like me... But we coexist with no problems... (I just never see him!) He does escape the house occasionally, and I do NOT have a Snake Problem!!! WOW...

 

You do realise it is now Charlie's house. Cats have no deference to humans at all.

 

LOL, yes I understand...Charlie...house...
MY deference for cats is that I grew up with scores of Barn Cats, as well as my 6 girls (grown and moved out...) constantly wanting the felines!
I keep this Lion at bay with 3 of my own mutt-hounds...

 

I suppose one could be a cat person, or a dog person, but my experience is that I've met some very friendly cats and dogs, and others that were complete jerks, just like people. I've had both. Some I liked, others got a ride to the SPCA.

 

I agree, all animules, including the Human Animule, have their personalities. Over the years, as well as my childhood...I've had beaucoup animals, and beaucoup varieties...from piranhas to owls... either I enjoy them or tolerate them (cuz somebody else in the home loves them).

 

We had a dog some years ago that proved to be psychotic. Mind you, we treated him very well - got him as a puppy, gave him plenty of affection and exercise. But as he got older, he got it into his head that if he didn't get what he wanted, he could bite you. No amount of training made any difference, and we tried - we weren't ready to give up on him.

But he bit my wife once, and then he bit the boys, and then he bit me and I beat the crap out of him. He left me alone after that out of fear, but at the time our little one was only three, and I was afraid that if he got angry with her, he would bite her face off, because they stood eye-to-eye.

It was a sad day for me and my wife, but we took him to the Humane Society and they put him down. I have not wanted a dog since, and would be quite content to never have another.

 

I love dogs. Cats I will tolerate. But we have neither. We get too attached, especially to dogs. It's like taking one of the kids (or grandma) off to be put to sleep. Hard to do. I still get a tear when I think of holding my last dog while the vet gave her a shot to put her down. That was 15 years ago.

And to keep this about coins:


C HOSIDIUS CF GETA ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS HOSIDIA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: GETA before, III VIR behind, diademed & draped bust of Diana right, bow and quiver on shoulder
REVERSE: C HOSIDI C F, wild boar of Calydon right, pierced by spear and attacked by dog
Struck at Rome 64 BC
3.6g, 17mm
Cr407/2; Hosidia 1

 

I LIKE that denarius! Like that pig (boar) and the dawg! Caesar was one of the Consuls, Pompey was finishing off Mithridates IV and the Pontus "problem"... Been trying to get one.

 

Just read the link about the cat monastery, interesting stuff.

Dog person here...and I married a cat person so I live with two of them. The younger female cat is our hunter - she brings bird eggs, dead birds, a huge caterpillar, and large worms in our house...about every other day!