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<p>[QUOTE="seth77, post: 8287820, member: 56653"]In 267 a series of coinage is minted for Gallienus (and Salonina), marking the 15th time that the emperor is holding tribunician power (PXV in the exergue). The mint has been identified as a generic Asian mint (in RIC), Cyzicus (by KJJ Elks - The Eastern Mints...) and more recently Antioch (Gobl). Of them all, probably the least likely is Cyzicus -- as this city was still minting its own Greek provincial coinage as late as early Claudius II reign and was minting plenty of it during the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus and Gallienus alone.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, this issue fits nicely into a series of issues that starts soon after the defeat of the Macriani revolt and manages to keep some silver content in the alloy (ca. 8-12% in the PXV issue) and has some interesting and uncommon iconographies. The alloy title and the usual curated style employed by the die cutters are in stark contrast to what was happening in Europe at the time.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, one of these iconographic exceptions that appears in 267 is:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1464561[/ATTACH]</p><p>GALLIENVS AVG; radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right, seen from rear</p><p>AETERNITAS AVG; Saturn (Cronos) veiled, draped, standing right, holding scythe</p><p>PXV in exergue</p><p>RIC 606, Gobl 1662k, Elks 'Hoard A' p.108 (3specs)</p><p><br /></p><p>The relatively few specimens recorded in the studied hoard by Elks is by no means an indication of rarity of the type. The series is copious in trade and in collections, but it seems that this particular representation is often overlooked although it's very interesting and singular in Roman coinage.</p><p><br /></p><p>Saturn is the Roman alias of the earlier Cronos (Khronos from the Orphic Protogonos theogony) and is well known for two things (besides starring in Children of the Corn in the 1980s): 1. castrating his father Uranus with that scythe and 2. devouring his own children (so that they won't do him the way he did his pops). As one of the earlier gods and 'king of the Titans' he was the god of Time -- as an unstoppable and all-devouring force of the Cosmos, a chaotic and extremely destructive force.</p><p><br /></p><p>The legend AETERNITAS AVG is also interesting in this context, as it shows the taming of the original fearful character of Cronos from the overseer of chaos, destruction and decay to the symbol of the eternal Cosmos.</p><p><br /></p><p>Why is this iconography so rare in coinage? I think that not many emperors would have considered advertising a tie to such a dark and archaic character as Saturn, especially since the Roman tradition already had a representation of eternity -- the goddess Aeternitas. Besides that, Saturn did not convey the filial piety that Roman morals enforced, and the attitude Gallienus took after his father's capture by the Persians in 260 might have struck some as rather funny in the context.</p><p><br /></p><p>But what I think is the case here with the pairing of Saturn and the AETERNITAS AVG legend, is to hint at Gallienus as the master of all the turbulence and chaos that was happening at the time during the military crisis -- the defeat and capture of his father, the usurpations, the Gallo-Roman Empire, the death of his son -- and still here was Gallienus, holding tribunincian powers for the 15th time. He had been riding the waves for what seemed like an eternity, all things considered.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="seth77, post: 8287820, member: 56653"]In 267 a series of coinage is minted for Gallienus (and Salonina), marking the 15th time that the emperor is holding tribunician power (PXV in the exergue). The mint has been identified as a generic Asian mint (in RIC), Cyzicus (by KJJ Elks - The Eastern Mints...) and more recently Antioch (Gobl). Of them all, probably the least likely is Cyzicus -- as this city was still minting its own Greek provincial coinage as late as early Claudius II reign and was minting plenty of it during the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus and Gallienus alone. Now, this issue fits nicely into a series of issues that starts soon after the defeat of the Macriani revolt and manages to keep some silver content in the alloy (ca. 8-12% in the PXV issue) and has some interesting and uncommon iconographies. The alloy title and the usual curated style employed by the die cutters are in stark contrast to what was happening in Europe at the time. So, one of these iconographic exceptions that appears in 267 is: [ATTACH=full]1464561[/ATTACH] GALLIENVS AVG; radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right, seen from rear AETERNITAS AVG; Saturn (Cronos) veiled, draped, standing right, holding scythe PXV in exergue RIC 606, Gobl 1662k, Elks 'Hoard A' p.108 (3specs) The relatively few specimens recorded in the studied hoard by Elks is by no means an indication of rarity of the type. The series is copious in trade and in collections, but it seems that this particular representation is often overlooked although it's very interesting and singular in Roman coinage. Saturn is the Roman alias of the earlier Cronos (Khronos from the Orphic Protogonos theogony) and is well known for two things (besides starring in Children of the Corn in the 1980s): 1. castrating his father Uranus with that scythe and 2. devouring his own children (so that they won't do him the way he did his pops). As one of the earlier gods and 'king of the Titans' he was the god of Time -- as an unstoppable and all-devouring force of the Cosmos, a chaotic and extremely destructive force. The legend AETERNITAS AVG is also interesting in this context, as it shows the taming of the original fearful character of Cronos from the overseer of chaos, destruction and decay to the symbol of the eternal Cosmos. Why is this iconography so rare in coinage? I think that not many emperors would have considered advertising a tie to such a dark and archaic character as Saturn, especially since the Roman tradition already had a representation of eternity -- the goddess Aeternitas. Besides that, Saturn did not convey the filial piety that Roman morals enforced, and the attitude Gallienus took after his father's capture by the Persians in 260 might have struck some as rather funny in the context. But what I think is the case here with the pairing of Saturn and the AETERNITAS AVG legend, is to hint at Gallienus as the master of all the turbulence and chaos that was happening at the time during the military crisis -- the defeat and capture of his father, the usurpations, the Gallo-Roman Empire, the death of his son -- and still here was Gallienus, holding tribunincian powers for the 15th time. He had been riding the waves for what seemed like an eternity, all things considered.[/QUOTE]
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