Dear Friends of ancient mythology! I want to start a series of Roman mythology. Here is the first coin: Roman Republic, P. Accoleius Lariscolus, gens Accoleia AR - Denarius, 3.90gm, 19.7mm. Rome, 43 BC Obv.: P. ACCOLEIVS - LARISCOLVS Archaized bust of Diana Nemorensis, draped, r. Rev.: Triple cult statue of Diana Nemorensis (Diana, Hecate, Selene) facing, supporting with their hands and shoulders a bar; behind them a grove of five cypresses; the figure on the left (Diana) holds a bow in her outer hand, the figure on the right (Selene) a poppy. Ref.: Crawford 486/1; Sydenham 1148; Accoleia 1 gVF, light toning, with a reasonably unobtrusive banker's mark. Note: (1) According to Andrew Alföldi this coin is a type from the later time of this issue recognizable by the hairdress of Diana Nemorensis on the obv.: The first type has a double row of knob-like curls bordering the flatly combed hair which clings closely to the skull. An intermediate type has a braid falling down on the neck and the last one has a hair-dress covering the flatly combed crown of hair with a turban-like cloth wrapping - as we can see here. (2) The family of the mint-master is originated from Aricia at the Lake Nemi were the grove and the temple of Diana Nemorensis stood. Here too votiv-inscriptions of the Accoleii have been found. Octavian's mother was from Aricia. Perhaps Octavian himself has influenced the selection of this coin-motive. Sadly most often the description of this coin is wrong. Often the bust on the obv. is called Acca Larentia. But more errors can be found on the rev. (A. Alföldi): (1) Often the three figures were called Nymphae Querquetulanae. But it could be seen clearly that the depicted trees are cypresses and not oaks which would be expected for oak-nymphs. Cypresses usually remind the Romans of fear and death matching the ambit of Diana-Hecate. So the trees are neither poplars too. (2) The figures don't hold beams with trees on it, but it is a bar which they hold on their shoulders to stress their connection (like the statue of the Dioscurs in Sparta), and the trees belong to a grove in the background. The misinterpretation is understandable because of the alterations made by the die-cutters during the issue of this series. So the three figures look like caryatids and the lower parts of the trees have been left out. On the first types they are seen clearly. (3) The object held by the left figure (Diana) naturally is a bow and not a poppy. A poppy could be held by the right figure (Selene) even though in later issues the plant looks more like a lily. Diana Nemorensis literally means 'Diana of the Wood'. Her sanctuary was found at the northern shore of a lake below the cliffs of the todays city Nemi. This lake, called 'Diana's mirror' too, in ancient times was known as the Lake of Aricia. However Aricia was situated about three miles off at the foot of the Mons Albanus and separated by a steep descent from the lake, which lies in a small crater-like hollow on the mountain side. This sanctuary was the most important Roman sanctuary of Diana. According to one story the worship of Diana at Nemi was instituted by Orestes, who, after killing Thoas, King of the Tauric Chersonese (the Crimea), fled with his sister Iphigenia to Italy, bringing with him the image of the Tauric Diana hidden in a faggot of sticks. After his death his bones were transported from Aricia to Rome and buried in front of the temple of Saturn, on the Capitoline slope, beside the temple of Concordia. The bloody ritual which legend ascribed to the Tauric Diana is familiar to classical readers; it is said that every stranger who landed on the shore was sacrificed on her altar. But transported to Italy, the rite took on a milder form. The fight for the Rex Nemorensis is said to be an old reminiscence of that ritual. But Alföldi denies any connections to the Tauric Diana. The votive offerings found in the grove of Ariccia portray she was conceived of as a huntress, and further as blessing men and women with offspring, and granting expectant mothers an easy delivery. Diana was worshipped in a sacred grove. Sir James George Frazer writes of this sacred grove in his book 'The Golden Bogh'. Legend tells of a tree that stands in the center of the grove and is guarded heavily. No one was to break off its limbs, with the exception of a runaway slave, who was allowed, if he could, to break off one of the boughs. According to legend, only a man possessing great inner and outer strength would be able to do this. Upon breaking off a limb, the slave was then in turn granted the privilege to engage the Rex Nemorensis, the current king and priest of Diana in the region, in one on one mortal combat. If the slave prevailed, he became the next king for as long as he could defeat challengers. This resembles a rite of initiation. The legend of Rex Nemorensis is similar to Aeneas who had to break the golden bough from the tree of the Underworld in order to complete his sacred quest. Aeneas encounters Charon the guardian who refuses to let him cross the Underworld lake. Charon and the King of the Woods are parallel figures as the latter is guardian of Lake Nemi. The King of the Woods also is referred to by other names such as a type of Green Man figure, in Italian Witchcraft as the Hooded One since he is covered with greenery of Nature, and in Diana's sacred grove at Nemi he is called Virbius. The festival of Diana Nemorensis was celebrated on August 13. and was mainly a festival for slaves (Bellinger, 116). Already very early Diana was equated with Luna (Selene), later with the Greek Artemis too. To which extent the Latin Diana has to be differentiated from the Greek Artemis today is nearly impossible to decide. But very early she was known as Diana triformis or Diana triplex. Ovid calls her Trivia ('who is invoked on three-ways', Metam. II, 416), which originally is an epitheton of Hecate, because Diana as Moon goddess shares the nightly regime with Hecate. Then she is called Titania by Ovid because of her seeming relationship to Hyperion (Metam. III, 173). Under this name she appears as Fairy Queen in Shakespeare's 'Summernightdream'. But Diana has not been simply taken from the Greek. The depicted statue on this coin probably is Etruscian. And so is the archaic depiction of the bust on the obv. So Diana probably has come to the Romans by intermediation of the Etruscans. She was worshipped in groves like the German tribes worshipped their deities in groves according to Tacitus. The temple of Diana was built later in Hellenistic times without replacing the grove. The coin could prove that the old cult statue and the cypress grove still existed in the time of the late Republic. About the political statement of the coin depiction one can only speculate. There could be a connection to the Latin League which existed until 338 BC. In its first phase until end of the 6th century it was a cultic union around which the political fusion took place. The centre of this alliance was - beside Juppiter Latiaris on the Mons Albanus - the Diana of Aricia. When this alliance got under the supremacy of Rome the sanctuary of Diana was put on the Mons Aventinus. In a second phase from about 500 BC until the desaster of the river Allia (387/6 BC) the Latins freed themselfs from the supremacy of the Romans, but were attached again to the Romans after the legendary battle of the Lake Regillus. After joining of the Hernicians to the alliance it became a Triple Alliance. Possibly the depiction alludes to this Alliance and was then an appeal for unity. Excursion: The Nymphae Querquetulanae These nymphs, called Querquetulanae virae too, were the nymphs of the green oak grove inside the city of Rome. Referring to these nymphs the Porta Querqetularia has gotten its name. According to Tacitus the Mons Caelius was called Querquetularia in ancient times. Therefore it is suggested that the grove and the gate has been situated on the southern slope of the Caelius. But the precise site is not known. Probably it was between the Porta Capena and the Porta Caelimontana direct south of the recent church S. Stefano Rotondo. The connection of the three female figures on this late republican coin to the oak nymphs is very questionable. I have added a pic of the Lake Nemi from AD 1831 and a pic of Turner's painting 'The Golden Bough' Sources: (1) Der kleine Pauly (2) Benjamin Hederich, Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon (3) Wikipedia (4) Andrew Alföldi, Diana Nemorensis, in Am. J. of Arch. Vol.64, No.2 (Apr., 1960), S.137-144 (5) http://www.answers.com/topic/rex-nemorensis (6) http://www.answers.com/topic/the-golden-bough (7) http://www.imperiumromanum.com/religion/antikereligion/accalarentia_01.htm (8) Samuel Ball Platner, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, London, Oxford University Press, 1929 (zu finden unter http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/home.html Best regards
Great write up! Here's my Diana coin: ANTONINUS PIUS, AR denarius, 18 mm, 3.01g Obverse: IMP CAES AEL ANTONINVS AVG, laureate head right Reverse: PONT MAX TR POT COS, Diana standing right, holding bow and arrow. Ref: RIC III 1b; BMCRE 3 note; RSC 665a Note: Struck July 138 AD before the consecration of Hadrian. Only 2 examples in the Reka Devnia hoard. That's fewer than some types of Pertinax. I love this coin because it's from a common emperor, yet deceptively rare. I don't remember how much I paid for it, but it wasn't too expensive, either.
Hah, whoops. This should say 'bare head right' and RIC III 1a! I never noticed my tag was wrong until just now.
I am resurrecting this great thread because it is a great thread and because I managed to snare an example of the OP. This is one of those unusual Roman Republican denarii I like to get, but usually exceed my budget. Not a beauty by any means, it was affordable (about $20). Judging from the surfaces, this is an example, I think, of a silver coin gone porous from being buried. My guess is it is brittle. Normally I shy away from porous silver - of all the flaws ancients are subject too, it is my least favorite. But it looked better than the eBay photos and I really like the weird triple cult statue reverse. When researching it, I came across Jochen1's thread here and, as always with his posts, found it very informative. Surely there are other, nicer-than-mine examples out there? Please share them! Roman Republic Denarius P. Accoleius Lariscolus (43 B.C.) Rome Mint Diana Nemorensis draped bust r., / Diana Nemorensis cult statue facing, supporting bar; grove of five cypresses; left figure holds bow, right figure holds [poppy]. Crawford 486/1; Accoleia 1. (3.39 grams / 17 mm)
I am glad you resurrected this thread as I too have recently acquired an example of this coin : The seller's description of my coin has some of the errors @Jochen1 noted: Anv.: Busto de Acca Larentia a derecha, alrededor P ACCOLEIVS LARISCOLVS. Rev.: Las tres estatuas de "Nymphae Querquetulanae" en forma de cariátides, sosteniendo una barra horizontal de la que emergen cinco arbustos I have ,of course, corrected this in my records . Thank you again Jochen
