Dear Friends of ancint mythology! The Coin: Thracia, Hadrianopolis, Gordian III, AD 238-244 AE 26 8.34g, 26.21mm, 45° Obv.: AYT K M ANT ΓOPΔIANOC AV Bust, draped, laureate, r. Rev.: AΔP - IA - NO / ΠOΛEITΩN Dionysos, nude, holding thyrsos in r. hand, lies backward to the left on panther which goes to the right Ref.: Jurukova 482; Varbanov 4002; Lindgren III, A65A; Mionnet 778 VF, on the panther skin some spots can still be recognized The panther plays an important role in the mythology of Dionysos. Dionysos always was a god of the wilderness too. It is an integrative part of his cult to disrupt bloodily animal or human victims in bits. He too was disrupted (or cut) as Dionseus Zagreus in bits by the Titans too. This wild orgiastic nature was expressed by the wild animals which were his attendants. It is said that Dionysos most af all has loved the panther because the panther was as excitable as he was and would make the same leaps like the Maenads. All wild animals are connected to Dionysos, but none more so than the lion or panther. The supple, feline elegance of its body, the ferocious and easily provoked temper, the boundless appetite, and uncanny intelligence of the creature make it uniquely and inevitably linked to the Dionysiac sphere - and indeed, the wild cat is frequently depicted in the company of the wild God. Like the Magna Mater, Dionysos' cart was drawn by lions and panthers. The cats freely accompanied him at other times, sitting tamely at his feet like puppies, or dancing enraptured with the rest of creation during the Bacchic revel. When Dionysos sought to punish someone - for instance Lykurgos - the wild cat was often the agent of the God's awful chastisement. As addition a pic of the famous mosaic from Pella in Macedonia showing the same scene as on the coin. Best regards
I have a couple of Roman provincials depicting Dionysus and his panther. Faustina Jr., 147-175. Roman provincial AE 9.06 gm; 24.7 mm. Thrace, Anchialus, AD 147-155. Obv: ΦΑVCΤΕΙΝΑ ΝΕΑ CΕΒΑCΤΗ, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: ΑNΧΙΑΛΕΩΝ, Dionysos standing left, holding cantharus and thyrsus; panther at feet, left. Refs: AMNG 434; RPC 4525; Varbanov 90; BMC --; SNG Copenhagen --. Julia Domna, AD 193-217. Roman provincial Æ tetrassarion, 13.76 g, 26 mm. Moesia Inferior, Nicopolis ad Istrum; Legate Aurelius Gallus, AD 201-204. Obv: ΙΟVΛΙΑ ΔΟ-ΜΝΑ CΕΒΑ, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: VΠ ΑVΡ ΓΑΛΛΟV-ΝΙΚΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ | ΠΡΟC ΙCΤΡΟ, Dionysos standing left, naked except for boots, holding bunch of grapes and thyrsos, panther at foot left. Refs: AMNG I 1456; Varbanov 2897; H&J, Nikopolis 8.17.8.1 corr. (rev. legend); Mionnet Sup. 2, p. 134, 457 and pl. III, no 6. Here's the plate and listing from Mionnet: And I have two variants of a coin depicting his big cats. In Roman mythology, Dionysus is known as Liber, and these coins of Gallienus' zoo series bear the obverse legend LIBERO P CONS AVG and, as Jim Phelps argues while writing about the coins of this issue, there are two types, a panther type and a tigress type. Gallienus, 253-268 AD. Roman Æ Antoninianus, 2.65 g, 20.1 mm, 5 h. Rome Mint, 10th emission, 267-268 AD. Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right. Rev: LIBERO P CONS AVG, panther walking left, B in exergue. Refs: RIC 230K; Göbl 713b; Cohen 586; RCV 10281; Cunetio 1341; Hunter 112. Gallienus, 253-268 AD. Roman Æ Antoninianus, 2.63 g, 20.8 mm, 5 h. Rome Mint, 10th emission, 267-268 AD. Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right. Rev: LIBERO P CONS AVG, tiger walking left, B in exergue. Refs: RIC 230K; Göbl 713b; Cohen 586; RCV 10281; Cunetio 1341; Hunter 112. Here's the illustration and listing from Banduri:
Tiny panther and even tinier bunch of grapes... HERENNIA ETRUSCILLA AE30. 11.15g, 29.8mm. CILICIA, Tarsus, AD 249-251. RPC 1371 (8 spec.). O: EPEΝΝΙΑΝ ΑΙΤΡΟΥϹΚΙΛΛΑΝ ϹƐ, draped bust right, wearing stephane, crescent behind shoulders. R: ΤΑΡϹΟV - ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛƐΩϹ around, Α / Μ / Κ - Γ / Β in field, Dionysus standing left, holding thyrsus in one hand, and bunch of grapes over panther in other. Ex Bill Behnen Collection (purchased from HJ Berk, 10 Apr 1999)
Another Dionysos with panther skin: Cilicia, Hieropolis-Kastabala, Septimius Severus, AD 193-211 AE 30, 15.97g, 180° Obv.: AVT KAI Λ C - EΠ CEVHPOC ΠEP CE Emperor in military cloak and wearing parazonium(?), stg. l., resting with l. hand on spear and holding in outstretched r. hand Nike on globe, holding wreath and palm branch Rev.: IE - POΠOΛI - TΩN KACTABAΛEΩ - N Bust of young Dionysos, wearing ivy wreath and clad in panther skin, r., thyrsos over l. shoulder and bunch of grapes before. Ref.: SNG Levante 1589; SNG Paris 2339 about VF, corrosion in upper field of obv. Jochen
