FEL TEMP REPARATIO - hut type

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by maridvnvm, Feb 8, 2015.

  1. Jwt708

    Jwt708 Well-Known Member

    DANG IT! I just checked this thread...and I would have been correct...I thought Alexandria!
     
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  3. Mikey Zee

    Mikey Zee Delenda Est Carthago

    Damn, that was my third guess:rolleyes:
     
  4. Gavin Richardson

    Gavin Richardson Well-Known Member

    Hello Everyone,


    I know this thread has cooled off a bit, but I just recently joined this community, and I’m catching up.


    Several years ago I wrote an academic journal article about this very reverse type: “The ‘Barbarian/Hut’ Centenionalis and Vergilian Iconography.” Vergilius 54 (2008): 70-96.


    In the intervening years, I’ve seen a lot of discussion about this coin but no reference to my essay. This silence can only mean one of two things: Either I’m an unconvincing scholar, or not many people have read my essay. Both may be true. But my ego is going to assume that since I published the article in a literary journal and not a numismatics journal, the essay did not get wide readership. So allow me to summarize my arguments briefly here for those interested in this coin type.


    While this reverse type may indeed signify the resettlement of barbarians within Roman territories, I believe much of the mystery surrounding this reverse type can be explained by reading it as a conscious allusion to the “Flight from Troy” imagery from Virgil’s Aeneid –the foundation myth of the Roman people. The “Flight from Troy” imagery was ubiquitous in the Roman Empire and depicted Aeneas leading his son Ascanius from a burning Troy while carrying his father Anchises.


    I have two principal reasons for my Aeneas/Ascanius reading:


    1) As Mattingly noted, 348 A.D. was the 1100th anniversary of the founding of Rome, making a Roman foundation theme appropriate, and with numismatic precedent. Just as Antoninus Pius issued Aeneas-themed coinage in preparation for Rome’s 900th anniversary in A.D. 148, so too might Constans and Constantius II have instituted a similar reverse type alluding to Rome’s foundation coinciding with its 1100th anniversary. The legend “FEL TEMP REPARATIO” is quite appropriate for a reverse type alluding to Rome’s blessed (felix) foundation.


    2. The visual iconographical parallels are very close and, for me, pass the “eye test.” Indeed, reading the small figure as a type of Ascanius solves one of the mysteries of the coin: what the smaller figure is holding in his hand (in some emissions). If the small figure is based on the traditional imagery of Ascanius, then the object in his hand is a pedum, or stick that was a cross between a hunting stick and shepherd’s crook.


    The greatest obstacle to my reading is the absence of an Anchises figure from the centenionalis reverse, but I do go into that a bit in my essay


    Below I’ve supplied some iconographical parallels to various coins and reliefs. In the fifth century, a de luxe manuscript of Virgil’s works (the Vergilius Vaticanus, aka, “Roman Vergil”) was illustrated, and its images offer interesting parallels to those of fourth-century coins. To me, the various depictions of Ascanius and Aeneas in the Vatican Vergil resemble certain features of the figures on the coins, suggesting that the die engravers and manuscript illustrators were working with the same iconographical palette.


    Here’s the final paragraph of my essay, which sums up my reading:


    “The images on the “barbarian and hut” reverse, then, are polyvalent: the hut and overhanging tree are, in the words of Caló Levi, “an abbreviation of a whole landscape and indicate the woods and the huts where the barbarians lived,” as well as an allusion to the ancient cypress in Aeneid 2 and possibly to a protective wall. The leggings/trousers of the smaller figure, as well as his shepherd’s crook or hunting stick, may denote the figure’s pastoral/barbarian status, but they also place him in the iconographical tradition of Ascanius, as witnessed by the roughly contemporary Vatican Vergil. Though Ascanius’ costume suggests the distant Roman past, Alessandro Barchiesi notes that in art and literature Ascanius/Iulus represented the future: “As in the Forum Augustum, in the Aeneid Iulus is the individual on whom history depends.” The same might be said of barbarian youth in the fourth century. In short, the Aeneas/Ascanius interpretation and the barbarian/hut interpretation are not mutually exclusive. An attractive possibility is that Constans and his propagandists skillfully employed traditional Roman iconography in order to celebrate present triumphs and future possibilities—nothing could be more appropriate to the reverse legend FEL TEMP REPARATIO, a concept embodied by the soldier himself who looks backward while striding forward toward future glory. By placing the youthful barbarian in the traditional position of Ascanius on the centenionalis reverse, the sons of Constantine and their die engravers imply that, like Ascanius, barbarians too have a destiny vital to the interests of the empire.”


    Perhaps my both/and reading is wishy-washy. If I were to choose one explanation of this coin, I think the Aeneas/Anchises reading makes better sense than the settlement of Franks in Toxandria, which is Kraft’s view. If the coin reverse alludes to the settlement of the Franks in Toxandria, would we expect that the Roman dwelling in Antioch, or Alexandria, or Constantinople would have any idea where Toxandria is, and why they should care? But any reasonably educated Roman would certainly know who Aeneas is, and for such a Roman, the Aeneid iconography at least would be accessible.


    If you wish, you can download my essay here. Even if folks don’t buy all aspects of my reading, I do hope the scholarship review and some aspects of my argument might contribute to a fuller understanding of this coin type. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u...gilian Iconography VERGILIUS with DRAWING.pdf


    (By the way, I will be posting this explanation on at least one other list, so please pardon the cross-posting.)


    Gavin Richardson
     

    Attached Files:

  5. Pishpash

    Pishpash Well-Known Member

    Welcome Gavin :)

    I will be happy to download and read your essay. Most will probably be over my head but it looks to be an enjoyable read.
     
  6. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

  7. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    welcome ...

    please show us everything that you've got (cheers, Gavin)

     
  8. Mikey Zee

    Mikey Zee Delenda Est Carthago

    I'm looking forward to seeing your collection and reading your essay !

    I'm sure many of us will find it interesting, especially @maridvnvm and @dougsmit

    Glad to have you with us!!!:)
     
  9. Valentinian

    Valentinian Well-Known Member

    Gavin, I downloaded and enjoyed your thorough article. The review of what others have proposed the "hut" type means clearly lays out the possibilities and alternatives. Your overall conclusion seems sound.

    Many Roman types have a large figure with a smaller figure. Often the smaller is a defeated foe. Even in this FEL TEMP REPARATIO series the "solder spearing fallen horseman" type has a large soldier and a tiny horseman foe. One of the major types of Valentinian (14 years later, in 364) has a soldier (emperor) dragging a tiny captive:
    VGR.jpg
    Members could show us many types from earlier, say, Aurelian, where a second, smaller figure is foe (Is it ever a friend?). So in the analysis of the "hut" type we might first expect the smaller figure to be a foe. This tends to support the "resettling former defeated foes from across the Rhine" interpretation, which supports using the term "barbarian" with "hut".

    But, unlike most Roman coins with a smaller figure, the hut type does not emphasize degradation of the smaller figure. Doug showed us one Trier mint example. Here is another:
    ConstansHutTrierO.JPG ConstansHutTrierR.JPG
    21 mm. 3.73 grams. 6:00.
    RIC VIII Trier 221, page 153.

    The spear is reversed (point downward, which I think is very significant), suggesting the battle is over. This fits well with both the Aeneas allusion as well as he defeat of barbarians. However, the tree and rude dwelling seem unlike an image of Troy, and the soldier looks very Roman. On the other hand, it had been 1100 years since the founding of Roman which was recognized as a very important anniversary, which brings the connection with Troy to mind.

    I don't usually expect mid-4th century coin references to be multi-faceted and so subtle. But, as you note, perhaps the type allowed the ambiguity and refereed to both the settlement of barbarians and the allusion to the foundation myth.

    Gavin, thank you for providing the article for us to download and thank you for reminding us that even very common types are utterly fascinating. Maybe US coins are generally so dull that an explanation of why one is interesting is dominated by its dollar value because of the rarity of that mint and date, but that is clearly not the case with ancient coins, as this common "hut" type proves. The type itself is interesting.
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2016
  10. Gavin Richardson

    Gavin Richardson Well-Known Member

    Thanks everyone. Yes, Valentinian, if I could write the essay over, I'd back off the assertion that the rude dwelling is anything other than a hut. The images in the Vatican Vergil showing huts are remarkably similar to those on the coin. The iconography of the two figures, though, is very much in the Vergilian vein. I'm just pleased someone took the time to read the essay and think about it. It's all scholar/collector could ask!
     
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  11. Gavin Richardson

    Gavin Richardson Well-Known Member

    One further word about the hut. Below are images of huts from the Roman Vergil manuscript. They don’t illustrate the Aeneid but illustrate either the Georgics or Eclogues (I don’t have my text at hand). These were Vergil’s earlier poems praising the simple, pastoral life. The manuscript huts have much in common with the coin huts, including an occasional overhanging tree that fills the frame. The ms. huts seem to be gathered at the top with some rope or reed loop, which is also featured on the coin by a horizontal line near the top of the hut. So here is another Vergilian connection, though not to the Aeneid. But Vergil’s Eclogues do testify to an idealized pastoral past that might be evoked by these coins.

    And even here we might be reminded that there was an association between Ascanius and the shepherding life. Paul Zanker in his commentary on the Pompeii wall painting of the Flight from Troy, itself inspired by a sculptural group which once stood in the Forum Augustum, writes: “[Aeneas], barely out of Troy, is depicted as a future Roman, wearing not only Roman armor, but, as ancestor of the Julian clan, even patrician footwear. By contrast, the little Ascanius is represented like a Phrygian shepherd, in long-sleeved garment and pointed cap, and curiously, he carries a stick of the sort used in hunting rabbit. This is evidently an allusion to the tradition that the Trojan youth were shepherds on Mount Ida.” (Zanker, Paul. 1990. The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus. Trans. Alan Shapiro. Ann Arbor. 202).

    I don’t mean to suggest that we should start calling these coins “Aeneas and Ascanius” coins, but I do think we should retire the bellicose rhetoric of a soldier “dragging” a barbarian from his hut. Everything about these coins—especially their Vergilian resonances—suggest a more positive view of this reverse type, in contrast to, say, the soldier spearing a barbarian on other FEL TEMP coinage. ZZ 5.png
     
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  12. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    You have sold me. Very interesting and believable hypothesis.
     
  13. Aethelred

    Aethelred The Old Dead King

    Wow, I love everything about the OP!
     
  14. randygeki

    randygeki Coin Collector

    Welcome to the board :) Looking forward to reading the pdf.
     
  15. Mikey Zee

    Mikey Zee Delenda Est Carthago

    Fascinating viewpoints!! I'm alway interested in the interpretation of the devices on coins, especially since so much has not survived the centuries and we are left to wonder just what the ancients had in mind..
     
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  16. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    This was an interesting coverage of past theories by scholars, many of whom I doubt looked at the coins as much as they presented their knowledge of Vergil. I would have appreciated more on the meaning of the different trees from each mint (they are not all cypress) and any hint of explanation of the differences between the barbarians from place to place. The question of relocating 'friends' inside the Empire has a two edged situation. Yes, Rome provided for them and, yes, they would serve as human shields to the possible waves of unfriendly barbarians that might otherwise cause more trouble for Roman interests. We need evidence as to how general was the knowledge of the mint officials with such things as previous Vergillian artist renditions that would at least suggest the traditional poses for a soldier leading a less important, therefore smaller, figure. We will never all agree on each point of each of these observations but it was good to see them laid out. How we are to tell what came from the minds of the ancient artists and what was read into it by a century of scholars with their own grindable axes. Thanks for sharing.
     
  17. randygeki

    randygeki Coin Collector

    Here's an small piece I did on Mattingly's Fel Temp article a while ago. Not the best. :)

    Mattingly, Harold. "FEL. TEMP. REPARATIO," Numismatic Chronicle. 1933, pp. 182-201, and plates xvii and xviii.

    An article from 1933, reprinted as a short booklet in the Numismatic Chronicle Reprint Series; New York Attic Books, Ltd. 1977; ISBN 0-915018-22-5.

    This is a handy little booklet setting out Mattingly's ideas about the types found on the various coins on the FEL TEMP REPARATIO series of the late 340s and early 350s. He also covers the naming of the coins of the period. Worth having, but Mattingly himself suggests some caution in accepting his theorising.


    feltemp_600x.jpg


    This review is more of an abridged and incomplete version rather than a critique or analysis of the article. I should add that this about the article its self, and not the articles accuracy. Also, the article goes into much more detail than is presented here, in particular about the denominations and reformations of the coins and I recommend reading it for further study as I have found it enjoyable.

    In a short article (published in Numismatic Chronicle,1933 reprinted in 1977) titled "Fel. Temp. Reparatio," Harold Mattingly attempts to address the nature of the coinage know by the above title of the article. A common fourth century coin series, and a coin lacking a detailed examination or a complete record.Mattingly explains that “for the detailed study the time is not yet ride , but it should not be premature to attempt the initial investigation.”

    Mattingly then begins to give his interpretation the words "Fel. Temp. Reparatio," either being Felix, or Felicium, Temporum Reperatio, favoring Felix which “seems to fit in with the Roman cry of good luck.” The words refer to a anniversary, or “golden age” of 348 A.D as a "happy renewal of times". He then go into some detail about the Etruscan (Secular Games), and Roman (the anniversary of Rome) Saeculum celebrated every 110, and 100 respectively, citing examples on record, and on coinage. The two saecula coincided in 348, and Mattingly the explains 100x11=1100 and 110x10=1100, which becomes more relevant later on in the article where he discussed the introduction of the centenionalis (1 piece of 100 units) and miliarense (1 of 1,000 units).

    He briefly discusses the types and sizes, and which are mostly attributed a certain emperor or mints, and notes the intermediates type from Aquileia bearing the mark LXXII perhaps meaning “72 to the pound.” He then discusses his the ideas on themes of the coins, there is no obvious relation between the images on the reverse with the legend, but “must in some way bear on the one central idea that binds them together.” The first interpretations as: A renewal of times (the Phoenix) , military prestige of Rome (Emperor and captive), successful government of the state (the Galley), the legionary overthrowing the Persian cavalry (Fallen Horseman), and the legionary leading the barbarian to leave his forest home for settlement in the empire (the Hut type).

    Mattingly seems to suggest a religious and political neutrality between Pagan and Christian, as well as between Christian and Christian (Arianism and Athanasius), with a “general political or military character, with slight reference to religion” on the coins, unlike some coins of Magnentius. Mattingly then suggests the possibility of a theme inspired by Virgil. The Galley type taking on the meaning of “new adventure in the unknown seas of the new age,”for example, or further suggestions, and question about the “Hut” types. Is it a barbarian, or a boy, being “led” out? Or perhaps Mars leading his son Romulus to his military career? He advises caution in accepting these suggestions however. He then, as mentioned before, discusses the denominations and reformation of the coinage and so on, and ending with the “barbarous” imitations of the type and a plate (with a few mistakes) of 50 coins.



    Reference: "Fel. Temp. Reparatio" Harold Mattingly, Numismatic Chronicle,1933 reprinted in 1977

    Images: Anatomy of a "Fel Temp" by Scotvs Capitis (Thanks again)

    http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=FEL TEMP REPARATIO
     
  18. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    Bruck lists four mints which used spear point up. Siscia comes both ways. I do not have a Lugdunum but here are Aquileia and Arles.
    rx6038bb3235.jpg rx6353fd1487.jpg

    A challenge: Show a Roman coin showing the enemy as larger or more powerful than the 'good guys'. I'd also like to see examples where the wo are equal. The natural thing to do is to show the enemy as inconsequential and yourself as strong. The is one exception I can think of but it is controversial.
     
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2016
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  19. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

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  20. Gavin Richardson

    Gavin Richardson Well-Known Member

    Screenshot 2016-12-23 22.21.49.png I think sometimes it’s helpful to consider later reflexes of iconography in venturing an interpretation. As I’ve said and written, I believe that the “Aeneas leading Ascanius” iconography is behind the so-called “barbarian and hut” reverse image in a meaningful way. I also think this iconography later becomes Christianized in Byzantine Anatasis imagery (see image above). Properly speaking, the Anastasis can refer either to the Resurrection or to the apocryphal tradition that during the three days between the Crucifixion and Resurrection, Christ descended into Hell and freed the souls of those who had died prior to Christ’s salvific act. The iconography of the Anastasis depicted a towering Christ holding a cruciform standard, grasping the hand or wrist of Adam or an Old Testament patriarch, and leading him from Hell’s captivity into the Kingdom of Heaven. In 1973 Ellen C. Schwartz surveyed four types of Anastasis iconography, with her third type deriving from the numismatic reverse motifs of Constans and Constantius II. (“A New Source for the Byzantine Anastasis,” Marsyas, 16 (1972-;1973), 30). In short, there are no “good guys and bad guys” here. The Anastasis imagery stresses cooperation, with one figure (Christ) leading another (Adam). I believe the same thing is occurring in the fourth-century coin: perhaps a Roman soldier is leading a barbarian into Romanitas, but such a gesture is deeply indebted to the widespread iconography of Aeneas leading Ascanius from Troy to Rome.
     
  21. Cucumbor

    Cucumbor Well-Known Member

    Nice coins and interesting thread. Did we see any Constans/hut from the Rome mint ?

    [​IMG]
    Constans, AE2 Rome mint, 1st officina
    D N CONSTA NS P F AVG, draped and diademed bust left, holding globe in right hand
    FEL.TEMP.REPARATIO, Virtus walking right dragging captive out of his hut. R*P at exergue
    4.2 gr
    Ref : Cohen # 19, LRBC # 604

    Q
     
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