Faustina Friday -- Venus and Mars symbolizing Faustina on Campaign?

The reverse motif on this as[1] of Faustina was used only for this denomination, which raises the question of whether it might have been issued for New Years day, for New Year's asses were sometimes struck with their own reverse types, not shared with other denominations.[2] Therefore, on this New Year's edition of Faustina Friday, I bring you this copper as featuring a depiction of Venus gripping the arms of a fully-armed Mars as if begging him not to go off to war.

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman Æ as, 11.96 g, 25 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 170-175.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: VENERI VICTRICI S C, Venus standing right, placing both hands on the arm of Mars, standing facing, head left, holding round shield in left hand.
Refs: RIC 1680; BMCRE 999-1001; Cohen 241; RCV 5305; MIR 42-7/10c.​

This reverse motif is unusual, if not unique,[3] in Roman numismatics, though not unusual in art history. The coin likely depicts a statuary group in the Forum Augustum,[4] unfortunately preserved in only very fragmentary form. What is left of that sculpture preserves part of the neck and upper chest of a male figure (nude except for a sword belt over the right shoulder) and the left hand and arm of another figure around his neck. These details are sufficient to indicate that the statue belongs to the series of other groups in Mars-Venus format.[5]

Numerous statuary groups dating to the Antonine period which depict Mars and Venus -- with hairstyles popular during the mid second century reminiscent of the imperial family -- have been recovered during excavations of Rome and its environs. These statues have been found in both funereal and domestic archaeological contexts and appear to have been popular among the aristocratic classes, and were not imperial commissions.[6] Their purpose seems to have been to commemorate the virtue of married love.[7]

Here are a few examples of such statuary groups.

Sculpture group "Venus and Mars with portrait heads." Marble. Roman copy of ca. 170 CE after a Greek original of the 5th—4th century BCE. Rome, Roman National Museum, Inv. No. 108522.[8] Venus has a late Antonine coiffure and Mars is clean-shaven and therefore are not intended to represent any of the imperial couples of the period. This group was excavated in Ostia, but not in situ. It was discovered in 1918 within an Early Christian church but had clearly been moved there after being damaged, since in its complete state it was too large to fit through the church door. A funerary cippus was also found in the church, making a tomb context likely.[9]​

Portrait group of Mars and Venus, c. AD 140, Musee du Louvre MA 1009.[10] This may have been created for an elite home, since it was found near Sta. Maria Maggiore on the Esquiline Hill in Rome, the site of many luxurious dwellings of the aristocracy.[11] Mars' hairstyle is similar to that of Hadrian, while Venus' is similar to that of Faustina II or Lucilla. ​

Statuary group identified by many as Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger as Mars and Venus, now in Palazzo Nuovo, Musei Capitolini, Rome. (Photo by Jbribeiro1 licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.) Indeed, the hairstyles and physical features of Venus and Mars do resemble the features of a young Faustina II and Marcus Aurelius quite closely. However, the findspot of this group, uncovered in 1750, was within the Isola Sacra necropolis. While this provenance does not necessarily rule out an imperial identification, it makes a connection with private funerary sculpture more probable.[12]​

Sarcophagus with Mars-Venus group from Rome, c. AD 200-250, Munich, Künstlerhaus. This clearly demonstrates that this motif was indeed used in the funerary realm.[13]​

These sculptures serve as a useful reminder that private portraits do not uniformly follow the hairstyles of the reigning imperial family; the "Zeitgesicht," as Smith has argued, is above all a "default setting."[14]

What conclusions might we draw from the existence of such representations in Roman art of the Antonine period in terms of the purpose of this coin type in particular? I can only speculate. We know the coin illustrates an image familiar to Romans because it resembles a statuary group in the Forum. We know this motif was emblematic of Roman marriage. We know the coin was issued in the later years of Faustina's life, for it depicts her wearing the hairstyle seen on her posthumous issues. So, what event late in her life might this particular motif symbolize?

Unlike earlier reverse types which depict Faustina as Fecunditas or Juno to commemorate the birth of children to the imperial family, this scene likely depicts Faustina as Venus Victrix (her warlike persona) and Marcus Aurelius as Mars. Mars is going off to war and Venus is begging him not to leave her. This coin illustrates something both martial and marital.

I propose this was issued to commemorate Faustina II accompanying her husband on campaign in the early 170s, when she accompanied Marcus to the northern front, probably in what is now modern Hungary, during which she was awarded the honorific of Mater Castrorum (Mother of the Camps) in AD 174. This Venus Victrix coin might thus be seen as a parallel to the numerous Mars Victor issues of Marcus Aurelius issued between AD 171 and 174.

Of course, please post comments, coins of Venus and Mars, or anything you feel is relevant!

~~~

1. Nearly all of the museum specimens of this issue, when specified, are classified as asses. All three specimens in the British Museum are asses (Mattingly, BMCRE4, p. 543); as are the specimens of this coin in multiple European collections at OCRE.

2. Curtis Clay (@curtislclay), post #5 in "Faustina Friday -- a Pondersome Dupondius." Coin Talk, https://www.cointalk.com/threads/faustina-friday-a-pondersome-dupondius.372253/#post-5311634

3. It is not noted as such at Warren Esty's (@Valentinian) page about unique reverse types.

4. Kousser, Rachel. "Mythological Group Portraits in Antonine Rome: The Performance of Myth." American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 111, no. 4, 2007, pp. 673–691., doi:10.3764/aja.111.4.673. See p. 675 in particular. Available online.

5. Rome, Musei dei Fori Imperiali, inv. no. 2563. See Ungaro, Lucrezia, and Marina Milella. The Places of Imperial Consensus: the Forum of Augustus, the Forum of Trajan: Catalog. Progetti Museali, 1995, pp. 48 ff. Summarized in Kousser, op. cit., p. 681.

6. Kousser, op. cit., p. 676.

7. Ibid., pp. 674, 679ff.

8. "Sculpture Group 'Venus and Mars' with Portrait Heads. Rome, Roman National Museum, Baths of Diocletian, Small Cloister of the Certosa (Roma, Museo Nazionale Romano, Terme Di Diocleziano)." Rome, Roman National Museum, Baths of Diocletian, Small Cloister of the Certosa (Roma, Museo Nazionale Romano, Terme Di Diocleziano), ancientrome.ru/art/artworken/img.htm?id=6909.

9. Kousser, op. cit., p. 677.

10. "Work Imperial Group as Mars and Venus." Imperial Group as Mars and Venus | Louvre Museum | Paris, www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/imperial-group-mars-and-venus.

11. Kousser, op. cit., p. 678.

12. Ibid., pp. 676-77.

13. Ibid., p. 680.

14. Smith, R. R. R. "Cultural Choice and Political Identity in Honorific Portrait Statues in the Greek East in the Second Century A.D." Journal of Roman Studies, vol. 88, 1998, pp. 56–93., doi:10.1017/s0075435800044117, p. 59.

 

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Great writeup, @Roman Collector
Good to know there is such a background story behind the reverse design. Here is the one I have.

 

Excellent post RC, I wasn't aware of that type and you have a good example. I often wonder how many reverse types used for centuries originated with a statue, or genre of statue, and if the later die cutters were even aware of the source, or if it was just a matter of copying older coins.

 

..great coin and info RC( i LOVE the statues!)....to my knowledge, i haven't any such, but will be lQQking now...thanks for the education!

 

Super write up! Thank you.

 

Now, where's that "war" I was going off to... ahhh, here it is...

ANTONINUS PIUS
AE As. 11.34g, 27.8mm. Rome mint, AD 140 AD. RIC 694a. O: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P, laureate head right. R: TR POT COS III SC, Mars right, holding spear and shield, descending through the air toward sleeping Rhea Silvia.

Seriously, though, great coin, RC. And excellent and informative writeup, as usual. One of these is definitely now on my want list!

 

Wow, what a nice example of this coin!!!

And one of THOSE is now on MY want list!!

 

Since we have brought up this reverse type, I thought it was worth mentioning that it was used only twice on Roman Imperial coinage, the second time being more than a century later, when it was copied by emperor Gallienus for some very beautiful but also extremely rare and sought after coins. I doubt many of us will ever be able to afford one!

https://www.cngcoins.com/Lot.aspx?L...1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_4=1&VIEW_TYPE=0

 

Update. I found this interesting article by Thirion (GNS 17, p. 42), which notes:

"On the coins which can be classified with certainty in the last two years preceding the death of the Empress, there are various reverses which can be interpreted as having a direct connection with Faustina II's trip to Pannonia: CERES, IVNO, VESTA ... and VENERI VICTRICI, Venus and Mars." (Translation mine.)

I was in preschool when Thirion wrote this, so I'm clearly not the first one to note the OP coin was associated with Faustina traveling with her husband on campaign!

 

Here's another "last issue" of Faustina II. I am assuming this also relates to her travels with the military? Note the Roman Collector notes below...



Faustina II Denarius
n.d. (c. 170-175 A.D.)
Rome Mint
FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed draped bust right / MATRI MAGNAE, Cybele seated left holding branch in right hand, resting left arm on drum; at her side, lion.
RIC 706; BMCRE 134; C192.
(2.44 grams / 17 mm)


Notes: "Mattingly (BMCRE4, p. cxliv) believes this reverse type honors Faustina "as an earthly likeness of the 'great mother', Cybele." Mattingly assigns coins of this type (along with other reverses) to her "last issue" (ibid), and even postulates that they may have been issued posthumously (op. cit., n. 2)."
Roman Collector, Coin Talk
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/one-of-the-last-issues-of-faustina-ii.345281/

 

Thanks for this information to both you and @Roman Collector. Here's my example of the type. Neither Sear nor Dinsdale -- both of whom usually give fairly narrow date estimates -- makes any attempt to specify the approximate date of the coin. My dealer put the date at after 170, but didn't give an authority.

Faustina II (wife of Marcus Aurelius & daughter of Antoninus Pius), AR Denarius, ca. 170-176 AD[?], Rome mint. Obv. Draped bust right, FAVSTINA AVGVSTA / Rev. Turreted Cybele seated left, holding olive branch with right hand extended, left elbow resting on drum, lion at her side next to throne, MATRI MAGNAE. RIC III MA 706, RSC II 172, Sear RCV II 5159 (ill.) (dated 161-175), BMCRE MA 134, Dinsdale 005550 [Dinsdale, Paul H., The Imperial Coinage of the Middle Antonines: Marcus Aurelius with Lucius Verus and Commodus, Ch. 4, Faustina II - Undated, 158-176 (http://romanpaulus.x10host.com/Marcus/04 - Faustina II - Undated, 158-176 (med_res).pdf) at p. 56; photo at p. 62]. 18 mm., 3.05 g.



Now I can add this additional information to my description!

 

I guess my right-facing Cybele with the same "MATRI MAGNAE" reverse legend probably belongs to the same era, when she was being proclaimed as Mater Castrorum (mother of the camp). If so, nice background history.

Faustina Junior, AE As (24mm, 13.61g, 6h).
Rome Mint. RIC III 1664 (Aurelius), MIR 18, 25-7c.

 

Interesting that Cybele holds a shield rather than an olive-branch on this one. [Never mind -- it's a drum!]

 

One of Cybele's most characteristic attributes is a tympanum, a tambourine-like drum.

 

Yes -- she's holding one on my coin. So you think that's what she's holding on @happy_collector's coin, and not a shield? I guess I jumped to the wrong conclusion from the shape.

 

Yes, that's a drum. Here's mine:


Faustina II, AD 147-175/6.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 23.49 g, 29.0 mm, 11 h.
Rome, AD ca. 174-176.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: MATRI MAGNAE S C, Cybele seated right, holding drum in left hand on left knee; to left and right of throne, lions, seated right.
Refs: RIC 1663, BMCRE 932-935; Cohen 169; Sear 5281; MIR 25; ERIC II 205.

 

Very nice. I do wonder why the olive branch appears only on the denarius.

 

I don't know; Cybele often has a branch:


Julia Domna, AD 193-217.
Roman AR Denarius, 3.43 g, 18.8 mm.
Rome mint, AD 198.
Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, r.
Rev: MATER DEVM, Cybele enthroned l., flanked by two lions, holding a branch and scepter, resting on drum.
RIC 564; Sear 6593; BMCRE 51; Hill 340.


Julia Domna, AD 193-217.
Roman AR denarius, 2.84 gm, 17.5 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 198.
Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: MATER DEVM, Cybele enthroned left, flanked by two lions, holding branch and resting elbow on drum; no scepter.
Refs: RIC 565; BMCRE 54-55; RCV --; RSC 126a; Hill 340; CRE --.


Julia Domna, AD 193-217.
Roman AR denarius, 3.30 g, 19 mm, 6 h.
Rome, 21st emission, AD 205.
Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: MATER AVGG, Julia Domna, as Cybele, seated left in quadriga of lions and holding branch in her right hand.
Refs: RIC 562; BMCRE 48; Cohen/RSC 117; RCV 6592; Hill 759; CRE 354.