Tiberius caesar, dupondius minted in Lugdunum (Lyons, France). AE 27-28 mm, 12.43 g. 12-14 AD. Obv.: TI CAESAR AVGVST F IMPERAT VII, laureate head right. Rev. Front elevation of the Altar of Lugdunum, decorated with the corona civica between laurels, flanked by stylized male figures; to left and right, Victories holding wreaths on columns, facing one another; below, ROM ET AVG. The Altar of Lugdunum was the focal point of the Sanctuary of the Three Gauls built under Augustus for the imperial cult. Every year, on August 15, delegates from every Gallic city gathered in the amphitheatre nearby and in the sanctuary itself, to perform official ceremonies of the imperial cult and also to debate common pangallic topics. This monumental altar was then the well-known landmark of the Capital of the Three Gauls (Paris was a modest remote provincial town at this time, the city would only gain importance in the 4th c. and become the capital of the Frankish kingdom in the late 5th c.). Under Augustus the Lugdunum mint issued bronze coinage in the 5 Roman denominations : sestertius, dupondius, as, semis and quadrans. This coinage did not show the name of Lugdunum, it was intended to be a coinage for the whole Gallic territory, circulating as far as Britain. The coins were minted with the portrait of Augustus or of Tiberius, but all coins had the same reverse: the Altar and its two columns topped by victories. Nothing is left of it on the spot where it once stood, the Croix Rousse hill in Lyons, but several fragments have been discovered here and there in the city. A half gilded bronze laurel-wreath, probably from one of the two wreaths held by the victories on top of the columns, was found near there. The half gilded bronze wreath, thought to be one of the two wreaths of the altar. In the same display, a gilded bronze statuette found in the river Saone, in Lyons : it reproduced one of the two victories on top of columns. There are also marble fragments of the podium, decorated with oak garlands, and even another marble fragment of a huge monumental inscription, very probably the RO[MAE ET AVGVSTO] dedication, reproduced on the coins' reverse. Fragment of the ROM ET AVG inscription of the altar. The most visible remains are the columns themselves : they have been cut in two and reused as 4 columns in a medieval 12th c. church 2 km from there, Saint Martin d'Ainay church. They were monolithic columns of grey granite (called Syenite) from quarries near Aswan, in Egypt. The four half-columns in the Saint Martin d'Ainay church (12th c.). These columns made of Egyptian granite were originally the two monumental columns flanking the altar. The two victories on top of these monumental columns taken from Egypt symbolized the Actium victory of Augustus and his conquest of Egypt. Please post your Lugdunum altars!
AUGUSTUS AE Sestertius (26.20 g.) Lugdunum circa 9 - 14 A.D. RIC 231a CAESAR AVGVTVS DIVI F PATER PATRIAE Laureate head of Augustus r. Rev. ROM ET AVG Altar of Lugdunum. From the Gasvoda collection. TIBERIUS AE Sestertius (26.12 g.) Lugdunum circa 8 - 10 A.D. RIC 240 (Augustus) TI CAESAR AVGVTVSTI F IMPERATOR V Bare head of Tiberius l. Rev. ROM ET AVG Altar of Lugdunum. And let's not forget that Lugdunum (modern day: Lyon) was the birthplace of emperor Claudius on 1 August 10 (BCE).
Well then, what could be more fitting for this thread than a coin that used to be in @Bing's collection? Augustus, 27 BC - AD 14. Roman Æ as, 8.41 g, 26.1 mm, 10 h. Lugdunum, 10 BC - 6 BC. Obv: CAESAR PONT MAX, laureate head, right. Rev: ROM ET AVG, altar of Roma and Augustus, flanked by two columns, each surmounted by a statue of Victory. Refs: RIC 230; BMCRE 549-556; Cohen 240; RCV 1690; CBN 1634.
Not many know that the series of the shrine of thr Tres Galliae extended into the reign of Claudius. Here's a very rare 'altar' coin of this emperor. Frans
A bit rough, but.... Tiberius; 14-37 AD. Æ As (26mm; 10.96 gm; 5h). Struck at Lugdunum under Augustus, 12-14 A.D. Obv: His laureate head., right. Rev: Altar of the cult of Roma and Augustus at Lugdunum, flanked by two columns, each of which is surmounted by the statue of Victory. SM 1756
Just to add to the excellent write up by @GinoLR, the following description can be found in a thread written at the German forum by Invictus, on November 23, 2021, page 7 https://www.numismatikforum.de/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=36449&start=90 I think it is very interesting, and translated most of it: --------------- "The altar, which was dedicated to the goddess Roma and to the Roman emperor, was located near Lugdunum at the confluence of the rivers Rhone and Saone on an elaborately built terrace at a large grove (in today’s Croix-Rousse, a neighborhood in Lyon). In its west was the amphitheater (built under Tiberius) where the games in honor of the emperor were held. The site was dedicated by Drusus on August 1, 12 BC. This date was chosen because it was the anniversary of the conquest of Alexandria in 30 BC. After the dedication, Drusus went to the Rhine to start his first Germanic campaign. Every year on August 1, the delegates of all the Gallic tribes from the three provinces, Gallia Aquitania, Gallia Lugdunensis and Gallia Belgica, met at the Lugdunum sanctuary to attend the concilium provinciae for the sacrifice and preparation of the games in honor of the Roman emperor. Thus, the altar was a symbol of the Gallic loyalty to Rome. The front of the rectangular altar shows the corona civica between two upright laurel branches and two nude Lares (protector spirits). On the altar was an inscription with the names of the Gallic tribes, sixty in number, and in front of each name was a statue, besides a large statue of the emperor ((Strabo IV 3,2). The altar was flanked by two columns, on each was a standing victory holding a victor’s wreath in the extended right hand and a shouldered palm branch in the left. In 1859, several fragments of marble plates (from the altar?) decorated with oak leaves garlands and the letters RO(mae et Augusti?) were discovered. They had been used as cover plates for a sewer tunnel. Both Ionian columns made of gray granite are today in the church of St. Martin at Ainay. They had been sewn up in the middle ages http://qse.free.fr/IMG/jpg/colonne_ainay.jpg. Conclusive evidence about the altar is not available. It is notable to mention that there are no letters “SC” on any coins of the Lugdunum series, though the legend ROM(A) ET AVG(VSTVS) can be seen as the authority guaranteeing the value and acceptance of the coins in the region. The Lugdunum coins were issued only for use within Gallia and the Germanic frontier region, and under Tiberius there were four different editions (9 – 21 AD). To overcome the general shortage of small change and the enormous needs of the military, huge amounts of these coins were struck. The emperor cult at Lugdunum changed in the course of the victory of Septimius Severus over Clodius Albinus: Septimius had the image of Dea Roma removed and only living and dead emperors were worshiped." ------------------ AE As, Gallia, Lugdunum, 12 - 14 AD, struck under Augustus 25 mm, 11.182 g RIC² 245; Giard 114; BN 1769; BMC 585. Cohen 37; RCV 1756; Ob.: TI CAESAR AVGVST F IMPERAT VII laureate head of Tiberius to r Rev.: ROM ET AVG Front elevation of the altar of Lugdunum decorated with a corona civica between laurels, these being flanked by stylized figures; to either side, Victories on columns facing each other. On the altar two shrines for Roma and Augustus, alongside perhaps busts of the imperial family.
Thank you very much for the archaeological context. I think its incredible that as much of that monument survives. The bronze wreath is absolutely incredible, as we all know how incredibly rare bronze statuary of any sort is. Do you know how big the altar was? I'd like to know the height of the letters of the relief. Also, I am of mixed opinion on the spoliated columns of the altar in that church. On the one hand, the only reason they survive is their spoliation into the church. On the other, they cut them in half which makes the archaeologist in my cringe to my soul.
The marble fragment with RO[...] is 0.70 x 1.35 m. Height of letters: 0.38 m. If Romae et Augusto was written in full letters, the whole panel should have been c. 1.00 x 8.00 m. There is a paper by Daniel Frascone about this monument. For him the Altar of Lugdunum was of the same kind as the Ara Pacis in Rome. He proposes these dimensions : see https://journals.openedition.org/rae/6654
