I thought I wouldn't receive this coin and one other till well into 2021, but my mail lady was kind to me and brought me a package in yesterday's mail. It's in rather poor shape, but then again, I didn't pay a lot for it. And it's a type I didn't have in my collection, so all is good. C. Poblicius Malleolus AR Denarius Obverse: Helmeted head of Mars right; mallet (malleolus) above Reverse: Warrior standing left before trophy, right foot on cuirass, holding spear; behind, C•MAL and grasshopper above prow. Struck at Rome, 96 BC 3.5g, 19mm Crawford 335/3a; Poblicia 6b Too bad the grasshopper is not more visible
Congrats! An unexpected coin is always nice. Looks like your coin circulated a bit. I received a package yesterday, in the rain, the box got a bit wet, but the coins were dry. I will post them soon.
Happy New Year @Bing, congrats on the end-of-year coin. I too received an example of this coin this week: Crawford 335/3d - with grasshopper, /3a would be missing the grasshopper, see this CNG example of 3a. I can also share some emerging notes on this coin: C. Malleolus, 96 BC, AR Denarius, 18.2mm, 3.92 g, 5h, Rome mint Obv: Helmeted head of Mars right; mallet (malleolus, a play on the moneyer's name) above; mark of value below chin Rev: CMAL, Naked warrior standing left before trophy, holding spear in right hand, and placing right foot on cuirass, on left, a trophy, and behind, grasshopper above prow, border of dots Ref: Crawford 335/3d Note: link here for my other coin of this moneyer The scene on the reverse takes some chasing down of Crawford's reference - Journal of Roman Studies (JRS) 1942 and an article by Momigliano. This leads to a few passages a in Lycophron's Alexandra. Lycophron is thought to have been a poet from the court of Ptolemy II and a theme of the poem is conflict between and dominance of Europe and Asia. Cassandra tells of the fate of her ancestors (i.e. Aeneas and his descendants in Rome, rulers over "earth and sea") in this passage: Lines 1226-82 "And the fame of the race of my ancestors shall hereafter be exalted to the highest by their descendants, who shall with their spears win the foremost crown of glory, obtaining the sceptre and monarchy of earth and sea. Nor in the darkness of oblivion, my unhappy fatherland, shalt thou hide thy glory faded...." and 1434-50 And many contests and slaughters in between shall solve the struggles of men, contending for dread empire, now on land, now on the plough-turned backs of earth, until a tawny lion – sprung from Aeacus and from Dardanus, Thesprotian at once and Chalastraean – shall lull to rest the grievous tumult, and, overturning on its face all the house of his kindred, shall compel the chiefs of the Argives to cower and fawn upon the wolf-leader of Galadra, and to hand over the sceptre of the ancient monarchy. With him, after six generations, my kinsman, an unique wrestler, shall join battle by sea and land and come to terms, and shall be celebrated among his friends as most excellent, when he has received the first fruits of the spear-won spoils. The context for these passages could be one or more of the - Pyrrhic War - Roman defeat of Pyrrus - Second Macedonian War - Roman defeat of Philip V - Roman-Seleucid War - Roman defeat of Antiochus at Thermopylae Regarding Thermopylae a summary of Livy Book 36: "Acilius Glabrio the consul, with the aid of King Philip, defeated Antiochus at Thermopylae and drove him from Greece, and also subdued the Aetolians. Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica the consul dedicated the temple of the Mother of the Gods, whom he himself had established on the Palatine, after being adjudged the best man by the senate. He also received the surrender of the Gallic Boii after their defeat, and triumphed over them. Besides, naval victories over the officers of Antiochus are recorded." - Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 36, Summary, Evan T. Sage, University of Pittsburgh So, if I follow the bread-crumbs correctly, a general expression of Roman "terra marique parta (victoriis) pax" == "peace through victory on land and sea" on the reverse and perhaps specific contributions to Roman victories of the moneyer's ancestors. References: Momigliano, A. (1942). 'Terra Marique'. The Journal of Roman Studies, 32, 53-64. JONES, K. (2014). LYCOPHRON'S "ALEXANDRA", THE ROMANS AND ANTIOCHUS III. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 134, 41-55.
Thanks @Sulla80 for the corrections and information. I have already included them in my notes section of my catalog. I wonder what the grasshopper may represent or is it just a control symbol? BTW, yours is a nice example.
I have another issue of a Denarius from that year 96BCE by those Moneyers... RR Malleolus Albinus Caecilius Metellus AR Den 20.0mm 3.7g Rome mint 96 BCE ROMA, * value of 16 As - Roma seated L pile of shields spear and sword Victory Cr335-1b Syd611a
Interesting coin type, @Bing and made all the more interesting by the wealth of related information provided by @Sulla80! The ancients forum here at CT is the equivalent of studying classics at a university!
Nice coin @Bing and Happy New Year. Alas, my last purchase of 2020 has not arrived yet, so I am going to have to count it as my first of 2021.
As far as I know it is just a control symbol - however, I have the same question: What would a Roman in 96BC have seen in a grasshopper/locust/cicada symbol? - a reference to a location? - some musical reference, perhaps connected to Bacchus or Apollo? - a reference to a plague? - a link with grain crops? - a metaphor for Roman troops who would swarm and destroy their enemies like locusts destroying crops? - other? e.g. reference to a meal enjoyed by weird foreigners "A short distance from this tribe on the edge of the desert dwell the Acridophagi (locust eaters), men who are smaller than the rest, lean of body, and exceeding dark. For among them in the spring season strong west and south-west winds drive out of the desert a multitude beyond telling of locusts, of great and unusual size and with wings of an ugly, dirty colour. From these locusts they have food in abundance all their life long, catching them in a manner peculiar to themselves." - Diodorus Siculus,Library of History, Book III 29.1 There are Ptolemaic references to locusts in the positive (Egyptian army) and negative (enemy armies) & the time period (305 BC to 30 BC) overlaps nicely with the Roman republic. For more than anyone should ever want to know about locust references in Ptolemaic texts, see: Sayed MR. Locust and its signification in Ptolemaic texts. J His Arch & Anthropol Sci. 2018;3(4):584‒588. "make your infantry soldiers as numerous as locusts, and your children as numerous as grains of sand." - Dendara III 176 ,4-5 "lord of eternity, your circle of protection is behind you, the combatants are like locusts, they protect you every day." - Dendara IV 18, 4-6 "numerous of infantry soldiers like locusts, treading the battlefield, to bring an end to one who attacks" - Edfou VII 200, 4-5 Here's another Roman Republican denarius with grasshopper / locust (also from about the same time period?): C. Allius Bala, 92 BC, AR Denarius, Rome mint Obv: Diademed female head (Diana?) right; H below chin Rev: Diana driving biga of stags right, holding spear, reins, and torch; grasshopper below; all within laurel-wreath Ref: Crawford 336/1b; Sydenham 595; Aelia 4
But we pick up a bit of these languages in the process of learning about our coins. Almost everything I know about Greek and Latin comes from my study of numismatics.
Hey Bing Happy New Year Hadrian Sestertius Roma 130-38 AD Hadrian on horseback Reference. RIC 1969; Strack 815; Banti--; RIC II, --; C. -- Bust C2 Obv. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P Laureate, draped bust viewed from side Rev. EXERCITVS; THRACIAE / S C in ex. Hadrian, riding right, with hand raised is gesture of address, towards a crowd of three soldiers with standards; another soldier behind horse 23.59 gr 32.50 mm 12h
