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Captives & Trophy, 8 or 9 examples from Julius Caesar to Constantine (& others, if you have them!)
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<p>[QUOTE="Curtis, post: 6227353, member: 26430"]<b>*Please share what you think relevant. I would also love to be enlightened on info & types I may be unaware of or anything I may have gotten wrong!*</b></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1246165[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>One of my favorite collecting themes is what I call Roman “Barbarians, Captives, and Enemies” coinage (or, my “BCE Collection,” pardon the pun/s; full disclosure: I have a <a href="https://conservatoricoins.com/selections-from-the-bce-collection/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://conservatoricoins.com/selections-from-the-bce-collection/" rel="nofollow">page for it</a> on my just-begun blog/site, for which I may revise this post).</p><p><br /></p><p>Within that area I include coins with a variety of battle or other military scenes, including the Fallen Horseman and other FEL TEMP REPARATIO series, and, also, those depicting captives (i.e., prisoners of war, presumably destined for slavery or execution). Within the “captives” coinage, one of the most interesting is the type depicting two captives bound to a trophy (c. 46 BC – 337 AD).</p><p><br /></p><p>In my view, the most fascinating feature of Roman “Barbarians, Captives, and Enemies” coinage is the continuity of the motifs over six centuries, combined with the changing variety of cultural and political details included in the imagery and message. The most stable of these motifs may be the depiction of two bound captives at the base of a military trophy consisting of confiscated arms.</p><p><br /></p><p>It is routinely pointed out that frequent depictions of the captives of war and other military symbols are unsurprising, given the militaristic nature and ethos of the Roman Republic and Empire. An additional feature of Roman society helps explain their prevalence, particularly during the Imperial Period: it’s reliance upon foreign wars for a steady supply of captives to continuously replenish the slave labor force on which the Empire depended. The portraits of the captives served at once to glorify the Empire and its military, and to dehumanize and depict the vanquished as suitable slaves.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Republican Period</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p>The Roman numismatic tradition of depicting captives bound to a trophy began during the Republican period, at the turn of the 1st cent. BCE. The earliest examples of which I am aware of are the pair of AR Quinari struck by Caius Fundanius in 101 BC (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3538887004/in/photolist-kD34mq-6oHHPb-qvzo48-pyKH5C-8T7oC5-9gNXK9" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3538887004/in/photolist-kD34mq-6oHHPb-qvzo48-pyKH5C-8T7oC5-9gNXK9" rel="nofollow">Crawford 326/2</a>) and Titus Cloelius in 98 BC (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3538077335/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3538077335/" rel="nofollow">Crawford 332/1</a>) in honor of Marius’ military victory in Germania, each depicting a single captive Teuton, bound to the base of a trophy of captured Germanic arms. Likewise, the AR Quinarius of Caius Memmius C.f. in 56 BC (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/45337094502/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/45337094502/" rel="nofollow">Crawford 427/1</a>), similarly commemorated his victory in Asia Minor – a design later imitated by Titus and others. [*Note: Three coins above, not (yet!) in my collection, are linked to examples from <a href="https://andrewmccabe.ancients.info/MHCSurveys.html?" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://andrewmccabe.ancients.info/MHCSurveys.html?" rel="nofollow">Andrew McCabe’s collection</a>.]</p><p><br /></p><p>The coin that would, however, establish the long-running archetype – remaining in frequent use through the time of Constantine – was an AR Denarius of Julius Caesar of 46 BC, commemorating his Gallic Wars (Crawford 468/1; pictured above, <a href="https://i.imgur.com/LxR7Nwt.mp4" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://i.imgur.com/LxR7Nwt.mp4" rel="nofollow">video of my example here</a>). On its reverse, two Gallic captives are seated at the base of a trophy of Gallic arms – shields, helmet, spears, and trumpets/carnyxes. In an important element of the design, often preserved in later homages, the male warrior or leader is depicted bound (in different postures, depending on the issue), while the female personification of Gaul is shown with her hands free but cradling her head in a posture of mourning.</p><p><br /></p><p>The two figures are believed by many to be the same as those portrayed on the obverse of the pair of “Gallic captives” AR Denarii of Hostilius Saserna, struck c. 48 BC. The male captive is frequently identified as <a href="https://conservatoricoins.com/conservatori-hostilius-saserna-ar-denarius-vercingetorix/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://conservatoricoins.com/conservatori-hostilius-saserna-ar-denarius-vercingetorix/" rel="nofollow">Vercingetorix, leader of the Gallic resistance</a> (or Vercingetorix-as-Pavor) and <a href="https://conservatoricoins.com/conservatori-hostilius-saserna-ar-denarius-dreadlocked-gallia/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://conservatoricoins.com/conservatori-hostilius-saserna-ar-denarius-dreadlocked-gallia/" rel="nofollow">the female as Gallia</a> (or Gallia-as-Pallor; though neither without disagreement).</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Imperial Period</b></p><p>Notably, the emphasis shifts with Caesar's captives (and later types), from an anonymous, defeated soldier to living, emotive, captives, suitable for filling the Empire's demand for slaves.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the first and second centuries, Titus and Commodus both used very similar reverses on their coinage (especially AR Denarii), but images of single captives prevailed particularly on <a href="https://conservatoricoins.com/conservatori-vespasian-denarius-judaea-capta/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://conservatoricoins.com/conservatori-vespasian-denarius-judaea-capta/" rel="nofollow">Vespasian’s historic and famous Judaea Capta</a> series (pictured below), but also notably on Trajan’s Dacia coinage and the Dacia/Parthia series under Lucius Verus. Not strictly speaking the same variety, but, as in Caesar’s depiction of Gallia, Judaea is depicted as a female personification wearing long robes and/or veil, and seated in mourning at the base of the trophy.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1246169[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>In the third century, the pair of captives frequently represented two of Rome’s greatest and most enduring enemies, one to The East, one to The North: Persia and Germania.</p><p><br /></p><p>Caracalla (AR Denarius) portrayed Parthian captives with distinctive pointed headwear, similar to a Phrygian cap:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1246170[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The type was carried over from Septimius Severus' earlier denarius, also with a PART MAX reverse legend, leaving no doubt as to the captives being Parthians, represented below by a base "Limes" Denarius (perhaps issued for use by soldiers defending against Germanic enemies on the northern Limes/border):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1246171[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Third Century coinage of Alexandria (one of the few Provinicial mints that regularly produced captives coinage) often depicted Germas, particularly the Potin Tetradrachm series beginning under Severus Alexander and Julia Mamaea shortly before their murder, but continued under Maximinus:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1246172[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>(Please forgive the use of <a href="https://cngcoins.com/Lot.aspx?LOT_ID=28227" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://cngcoins.com/Lot.aspx?LOT_ID=28227" rel="nofollow">CNG’s (e-484, Lot 610) photo</a> rather than my own, below, for the Maximinus I; I’m waiting for that one to arrive.)</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1246173[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The Severus Alexander tetradrachm seems to include a particularly novel detail: The Suebian Knot. Just as the Gauls were depicted on Caesar’s wearing hair in knotted cords (now known as “dreadlocks”), occasionally the dies depicting Germanic captives portrayed them with the distinctive hairstyle in which the hair is twisted forward and knotted to the side or top. (Roman bronze and stone sculpture, though, uses the hairstyle quite frequently to portray Germans.)</p><p><br /></p><p>At times, though, one wonders if the engravers ignored the details of specific peoples, despite the intended message. On the Antoninianus of Claudius II, below, depicting his namesake Gothic captives, it is uncertain whether the pointed helmet/cap was a carryover from previous designs depicting Parthians/Persians, or if it depicted Gothic headwear:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1246174[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Probus's Germanic captives, bareheaded, are shown in some detail, but without especially distinctive indicators of ethnicity:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1246175[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Just as many have proposed that the Fallen Horseman series depicts numerous “barbarous” tribal enemies of Rome (e.g., Cruz 2019; <a href="http://www.catbikes.ch/helvetica/feltemps.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.catbikes.ch/helvetica/feltemps.htm" rel="nofollow">Dane Kurth</a>; Failmezer 1992, 2002), it seems likely that Constantinian era captives-and-trophy coinage may depict various peoples on various coins, but I’m not aware of anyone having tried to study the topic. The issue below, like several others (but not all) of my examples, seems consistent with Roman portraits of Germanic captives, including the long beard and ragged hair (which sometimes appear on depictions of Persians), but especially the typical loose-fitting, baggy clothing:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1246176[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>(Note: I don't actually have the Constantine with trophy type yet, just vexillum/standards ones.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Finally, an ironic example of a “barbarous imitation” depicting a “barbarian” captive on the reverse of a Licinius II type AE3 Follis (for comparisons, see <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=licinius+captives+imit" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=licinius+captives+imit" rel="nofollow">a few results on acsearch</a>, especially <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6640877" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6640877" rel="nofollow">the Leu e-10 example</a>; although they mostly get the spelling of EXERCIT correct!):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1246177[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>For <a href="https://conservatoricoins.com/numismatic-bibliography/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://conservatoricoins.com/numismatic-bibliography/" rel="nofollow"><b>References cited: My combined-bibliography page with online links where I can find them</b></a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>*Once again, if you made it this far, please share yours! And thanks for reading!* - CJJ</b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Curtis, post: 6227353, member: 26430"][B]*Please share what you think relevant. I would also love to be enlightened on info & types I may be unaware of or anything I may have gotten wrong!*[/B] [ATTACH=full]1246165[/ATTACH] One of my favorite collecting themes is what I call Roman “Barbarians, Captives, and Enemies” coinage (or, my “BCE Collection,” pardon the pun/s; full disclosure: I have a [URL='https://conservatoricoins.com/selections-from-the-bce-collection/']page for it[/URL] on my just-begun blog/site, for which I may revise this post). Within that area I include coins with a variety of battle or other military scenes, including the Fallen Horseman and other FEL TEMP REPARATIO series, and, also, those depicting captives (i.e., prisoners of war, presumably destined for slavery or execution). Within the “captives” coinage, one of the most interesting is the type depicting two captives bound to a trophy (c. 46 BC – 337 AD). In my view, the most fascinating feature of Roman “Barbarians, Captives, and Enemies” coinage is the continuity of the motifs over six centuries, combined with the changing variety of cultural and political details included in the imagery and message. The most stable of these motifs may be the depiction of two bound captives at the base of a military trophy consisting of confiscated arms. It is routinely pointed out that frequent depictions of the captives of war and other military symbols are unsurprising, given the militaristic nature and ethos of the Roman Republic and Empire. An additional feature of Roman society helps explain their prevalence, particularly during the Imperial Period: it’s reliance upon foreign wars for a steady supply of captives to continuously replenish the slave labor force on which the Empire depended. The portraits of the captives served at once to glorify the Empire and its military, and to dehumanize and depict the vanquished as suitable slaves. [B]Republican Period [/B] The Roman numismatic tradition of depicting captives bound to a trophy began during the Republican period, at the turn of the 1st cent. BCE. The earliest examples of which I am aware of are the pair of AR Quinari struck by Caius Fundanius in 101 BC ([URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3538887004/in/photolist-kD34mq-6oHHPb-qvzo48-pyKH5C-8T7oC5-9gNXK9']Crawford 326/2[/URL]) and Titus Cloelius in 98 BC ([URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3538077335/']Crawford 332/1[/URL]) in honor of Marius’ military victory in Germania, each depicting a single captive Teuton, bound to the base of a trophy of captured Germanic arms. Likewise, the AR Quinarius of Caius Memmius C.f. in 56 BC ([URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/45337094502/']Crawford 427/1[/URL]), similarly commemorated his victory in Asia Minor – a design later imitated by Titus and others. [*Note: Three coins above, not (yet!) in my collection, are linked to examples from [URL='https://andrewmccabe.ancients.info/MHCSurveys.html?']Andrew McCabe’s collection[/URL].] The coin that would, however, establish the long-running archetype – remaining in frequent use through the time of Constantine – was an AR Denarius of Julius Caesar of 46 BC, commemorating his Gallic Wars (Crawford 468/1; pictured above, [URL='https://i.imgur.com/LxR7Nwt.mp4']video of my example here[/URL]). On its reverse, two Gallic captives are seated at the base of a trophy of Gallic arms – shields, helmet, spears, and trumpets/carnyxes. In an important element of the design, often preserved in later homages, the male warrior or leader is depicted bound (in different postures, depending on the issue), while the female personification of Gaul is shown with her hands free but cradling her head in a posture of mourning. The two figures are believed by many to be the same as those portrayed on the obverse of the pair of “Gallic captives” AR Denarii of Hostilius Saserna, struck c. 48 BC. The male captive is frequently identified as [URL='https://conservatoricoins.com/conservatori-hostilius-saserna-ar-denarius-vercingetorix/']Vercingetorix, leader of the Gallic resistance[/URL] (or Vercingetorix-as-Pavor) and [URL='https://conservatoricoins.com/conservatori-hostilius-saserna-ar-denarius-dreadlocked-gallia/']the female as Gallia[/URL] (or Gallia-as-Pallor; though neither without disagreement). [B]Imperial Period[/B] Notably, the emphasis shifts with Caesar's captives (and later types), from an anonymous, defeated soldier to living, emotive, captives, suitable for filling the Empire's demand for slaves. In the first and second centuries, Titus and Commodus both used very similar reverses on their coinage (especially AR Denarii), but images of single captives prevailed particularly on [URL='https://conservatoricoins.com/conservatori-vespasian-denarius-judaea-capta/']Vespasian’s historic and famous Judaea Capta[/URL] series (pictured below), but also notably on Trajan’s Dacia coinage and the Dacia/Parthia series under Lucius Verus. Not strictly speaking the same variety, but, as in Caesar’s depiction of Gallia, Judaea is depicted as a female personification wearing long robes and/or veil, and seated in mourning at the base of the trophy. [ATTACH=full]1246169[/ATTACH] In the third century, the pair of captives frequently represented two of Rome’s greatest and most enduring enemies, one to The East, one to The North: Persia and Germania. Caracalla (AR Denarius) portrayed Parthian captives with distinctive pointed headwear, similar to a Phrygian cap: [ATTACH=full]1246170[/ATTACH] The type was carried over from Septimius Severus' earlier denarius, also with a PART MAX reverse legend, leaving no doubt as to the captives being Parthians, represented below by a base "Limes" Denarius (perhaps issued for use by soldiers defending against Germanic enemies on the northern Limes/border): [ATTACH=full]1246171[/ATTACH] Third Century coinage of Alexandria (one of the few Provinicial mints that regularly produced captives coinage) often depicted Germas, particularly the Potin Tetradrachm series beginning under Severus Alexander and Julia Mamaea shortly before their murder, but continued under Maximinus: [ATTACH=full]1246172[/ATTACH] (Please forgive the use of [URL='https://cngcoins.com/Lot.aspx?LOT_ID=28227']CNG’s (e-484, Lot 610) photo[/URL] rather than my own, below, for the Maximinus I; I’m waiting for that one to arrive.) [ATTACH=full]1246173[/ATTACH] The Severus Alexander tetradrachm seems to include a particularly novel detail: The Suebian Knot. Just as the Gauls were depicted on Caesar’s wearing hair in knotted cords (now known as “dreadlocks”), occasionally the dies depicting Germanic captives portrayed them with the distinctive hairstyle in which the hair is twisted forward and knotted to the side or top. (Roman bronze and stone sculpture, though, uses the hairstyle quite frequently to portray Germans.) At times, though, one wonders if the engravers ignored the details of specific peoples, despite the intended message. On the Antoninianus of Claudius II, below, depicting his namesake Gothic captives, it is uncertain whether the pointed helmet/cap was a carryover from previous designs depicting Parthians/Persians, or if it depicted Gothic headwear: [ATTACH=full]1246174[/ATTACH] Probus's Germanic captives, bareheaded, are shown in some detail, but without especially distinctive indicators of ethnicity: [ATTACH=full]1246175[/ATTACH] Just as many have proposed that the Fallen Horseman series depicts numerous “barbarous” tribal enemies of Rome (e.g., Cruz 2019; [URL='http://www.catbikes.ch/helvetica/feltemps.htm']Dane Kurth[/URL]; Failmezer 1992, 2002), it seems likely that Constantinian era captives-and-trophy coinage may depict various peoples on various coins, but I’m not aware of anyone having tried to study the topic. The issue below, like several others (but not all) of my examples, seems consistent with Roman portraits of Germanic captives, including the long beard and ragged hair (which sometimes appear on depictions of Persians), but especially the typical loose-fitting, baggy clothing: [ATTACH=full]1246176[/ATTACH] (Note: I don't actually have the Constantine with trophy type yet, just vexillum/standards ones.) Finally, an ironic example of a “barbarous imitation” depicting a “barbarian” captive on the reverse of a Licinius II type AE3 Follis (for comparisons, see [URL='https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=licinius+captives+imit']a few results on acsearch[/URL], especially [URL='https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6640877']the Leu e-10 example[/URL]; although they mostly get the spelling of EXERCIT correct!): [ATTACH=full]1246177[/ATTACH] For [URL='https://conservatoricoins.com/numismatic-bibliography/'][B]References cited: My combined-bibliography page with online links where I can find them[/B][/URL]. [B]*Once again, if you made it this far, please share yours! And thanks for reading!* - CJJ[/B][/QUOTE]
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