FEL TEMP REPARATIO - hut type

Oh wow. That's a beauty. Fantastic detail, particularly of the smaller figure.

 

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Look particularly at the detail on the spear head and the boots. I always like coins of this period with good boots. I do not have a Constans from Rome.

 

I have Lugdunum pointing up.




I have Siscia pointing down for Constans.



and up for Constantius II

 

Antioch and Alexandria had great style too

 

Note Martin's Antioch soldier wears a long cape that hangs down unlike the others. I have two from this mint and neither shows this. Here we go on a search again. Thanks to this thread I need a Lugdunum and Siscia up spear and an Antioch long cape. This place could get expensive.

 

My Alexandrian with "parazonium" also has the long cloak

 

I am tempted to begin this post with, “At the risk of belaboring the point,” but I think I’m too late for that. But allow me to further summarize my thoughts about this reverse type again in Q&A form. Indeed, this helps me work through my own thinking about this centenionalis. Regard this as more of an exercise helping me think through this imagery, rather than some dogmatic pronouncement about the coin. For this exercise, I’m generally going to ignore any reference to contemporary events and press the Aeneas/Ascanius reading as a test to see how thorough or “satisfying” it is.

Q. Ok. So who are these two people and what’s going on in this reverse type?
A. The larger figure is Aeneas and he’s leading his son Ascanius from Troy, as described in Vergil’s Aeneid, 2.650-729. They are leaving a burning Troy to sail west for Italy and (one day) Rome. This familiar image is known as the “Flight from Troy” group.

Q. So is that a hut on the left?
A. Yes. But not just any hut. It’s a shepherd’s hut, as the illustrations to the late fifth-century Roman Vergil (Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica, Cod. Vat. lat. 3867) make clear [SEE FIG. 1]. Ascanius was a shepherd on Mt. Ida (Zanker, The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus. 202).

Q. What’s up with that funny hat/hairdo the smaller figure is wearing?
A. That’s the die engraver’s (poor) attempt to represent a Phrygian cap, a consistent identifying attribute of Ascanius in Roman iconography. [SEE FIG. 2].


Q. It looks like the smaller figure is carrying something. What’s that?
A. It’s Ascanius’s pedum, or the stick/crook used in shepherding and hunting. It’s another consistent attribute of Ascanius’s iconography, like an identifying saint’s attribute in hagiography. [SEE FIGS. 3-4]. In the Flight from Troy Aeneas group, Aeneas is always dressed as a solider since he’s just finished fighting the invading Greeks, and Ascanius is always dressed as a shepherd in Phrygian cap and almost always holding the pedum.


Q. Why is there a star above the two figures in some coins?
A. I’m not sure why some coins feature the star and others do not. Perhaps it was considered an optional embellishment for the die engraver, whereas tree, hut, and the posture of the two figures were considered essential. But for those coins with the star, it should be noted that a shooting star was the omen that signaled the Flight from Troy. Aeneas’s aged father Anchises didn’t want to leave a burning Troy, but when he saw the star in the sky, he took it as a sign from the gods to leave, especially to save his grandson Ascanius. See the Kline translation below; Ascanius is called Iulus here:

But Anchises, my father, lifts his eyes to the heavens, in delight,
and raises his hands and voice to the sky:
“All-powerful Jupiter, if you’re moved by any prayers,
see us, and, grant but this: if we are worthy through our virtue,
show us a sign of it, Father, and confirm your omen.”
The old man had barely spoken when, with a sudden crash,
it thundered on the left, and a star, through the darkness,
slid from the sky, and flew, trailing fire, in a burst of light.
We watched it glide over the highest rooftops,
and bury its brightness, and the sign of its passage,
in the forests of Mount Ida: then the furrow of its long track
gave out a glow, and, all around, the place smoked with sulphur.
At this my father, truly overcome, raised himself towards the sky,
and spoke to the gods, and proclaimed the sacred star.
“Now no delay: I follow, and where you lead, there am I.
Gods of my fathers, save my line, save my grandson.
This omen is yours, and Troy is in your divine power.
I accept, my son, and I will not refuse to go with you.”
He speaks, and now the fire is more audible,
through the city, and the blaze rolls its tide nearer.
“Come then, dear father, clasp my neck: I will
carry you on my shoulders: that task won’t weigh on me.
Whatever may happen, it will be for us both, the same shared risk,
and the same salvation. Let little Iulus come with me,
and let my wife follow our footsteps at a distance.
You servants, give your attention to what I’m saying.
At the entrance to the city there’s a mound, an ancient temple
of forsaken Ceres, and a venerable cypress nearby,
protected through the years by the reverence of our fathers:
let’s head to that one place by diverse paths.
You, father, take the sacred objects, and our country’s gods,
in your hands: until I’ve washed in running water,
it would be a sin for me, coming from such fighting
and recent slaughter, to touch them.” So saying, bowing my neck,
I spread a cloak made of a tawny lion’s hide over my broad
shoulders, and bend to the task: little Iulus clasps his hand
in mine, and follows his father’s longer strides. (Aeneid 2)

Q. Why are all the trees different from different mints?
A. I don’t attach much iconographical significance to the various trees. It’s true that the “Flight from Troy” begins from a "venerable cypress," but the presence of the hut takes away from that sense of sacred space. Perhaps the tree is just there to fill the space or frame, as it is in one of the medallions of the medieval Cherves Tabernacle, or in some frames of the Roman Vergil. A tree does appear prominently in the 3rd century Aeneas/Ascanius relief from Carthage. [SEE FIG. 5]. I think the tree variations simply represent some freedom for the die engraver and may reflect regional foliage in some fashion.


Q. Would the die engravers have known about this “Flight from Troy” iconography?
A. I feel confident they would. As I wrote elsewhere, Augustus promoted this visual symbol of pietas throughout the Roman world, as evidenced by its presence even on private items such as rings, lamps, and tombstone reliefs. But perhaps the greatest testament to the extent to which this image was impressed upon the consciousness of Imperial Romans is the parodic wall painting from Stabiae, in which Aeneas, Ascanius, and Anchises are represented as “apes with dogs’ heads and huge phalloi.” Only a well-known (and likely clichéd) image would be ripe for such a parody, and the wall painter could assume that everyone would get the joke. [SEE FIG. 6]. The Flight from Troy group is struck again in second-century Antonine coins. The Byrsa Hill relief is third century. Augustine, writing his Confessions in the late fourth century, comments in Book 1 on how he had to practice declamation exercises from the Aeneid, and he references events of Aeneid Book 2, though not the Flight from Troy. In short, any Roman with even a modicum of education would likely have known these events and, I argue, their iconography.


Q. Does this reverse type have any relationship to the other FEL TEMP types?
A. Since these types are struck on Rome’s 1100th birthday, the “Aeneas leading Ascanius” celebration of the founding of Rome would work well with a “Restoration of Happy Times” (Felicium Temporum Reparatio motif and would share a kind of “rebirth” or “renewal” theme with the Phoenix on Globe type. (The Antonines struck Aeneas/Ascanius coins for Rome’s 900th birthday.) If the smaller figure is Ascanius, this might explain why this figure is being led while the barbarian on another type is being speared. (If the smaller figure is to be conflated with a contemporary barbarian, maybe these coin types send a message to “barbarians” about their options: “Cooperate, and nobody gets hurt. Resist, and risk being trampled and speared.”)

Q. So if this reverse type is modeled on the “Flight from Troy” imagery, then where is father Anchises that Aeneas carries?
A. Ah, you got me. I have no idea. Anchises is ALWAYS represented in the Flight from Troy group, and his absence from this coin is not easy to explain. Indeed, the absence of an Anchises figure is the one thing that’s really keeping me from saying dogmatically that these figures are indeed Aeneas and Ascanius. Maybe the die engraver just didn’t have room. Or maybe the “rebirth” imagery is about renewal, and an old man isn’t part of that program. That is no country for old men.

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So there’s my Q&A putting forth the Aeneas/Ascanius reading of the barbarian/hut centenionalis. I have intentionally overstated the case just to give it a zealous presentation. My own view is a bit more tempered. I do think the coin type may relate to contemporary “barbarian” settlement in the West. (But why would a mint in Constantinople or Alexandria strike a coin for so localized an event or policy (cf. Constantine’s Dafne coins being minted only in Constantinople)?) But I think the Aeneas/Ascanius iconography answers a number of recurrent questions about the coin (What’s on his head? What’s he carrying? Why the star?). My two lingering problems with the Aeneas/Ascanius reading:

1. Where’s Anchises? No really good answer here.

2. Is that really a Phrygian cap? Probably not. I would think the die engravers could do a better job with the pointed Phrygian cap. The cap on the coin looks flat and just resembles the barbarian hair or headgear seen in coins such as the VIRTUS EXERCIT of Constantine.

But I think there’s enough there for me to believe that the imagery of this centenionalis reverse type is based in the Aeneas/Ascanius iconography.

Now that I’ve worn everybody out with my arguments, again, I will shut up and learn some more from this board. Thanks for being so patient and encouraging. It’s just nice to communicate with a group who has a genuine interest in these things. I hope I haven't been too insufferable.

 

You are probably correct that the die engravers would do a better job with the cap. Here are two coins where the cap is prominent

Constantius II


Constans

 

I remain wholly unconvinced of any point. There are perfectly acceptable explanations of the scene from the events of the 4th century AD. There is certainly no reason to continue the point.

 

That's very helpful Bing. Thanks. And Doug, I'm done pressing. It has taken me a few posts to get my own thinking together. I'm sorry if I've tried your patience.

 

Since this thread was posted last year I have fallen in love with this type.

I have added six examples to my collection and expect to want more when acceptable ones come my way.

I very much enjoyed @Gavin Richardson posts and article, but with due respect and deference to him and his theory, I reject the notion that there is any reference to Aeneas or Rome's foundation implied by this type for two reasons:

1. To tie Rome's foundation or early ancestors together with barbarian motifs would have been unthinkable to Xenophobic Romans of this period.

2. One of the examples I own (shown below) of this type shows a bearded smaller figure. From this we can infer that the engraver intends to illustrate cultural inferiority rather than immaturity.

 

I only have one HUT type:


RI Constans 337-350 Æ Follis 22mm 3.9g Heraclea AD348-351 holding globe - FEL TEMP REPARATIO soldier spear leads figure from hut

 

That’s an interesting Antioch “barbarian.” I wonder if what appears to be a beard is just a die imperfection. I’d be interested to see if others think the smaller figure is bearded. If so, it seems to me to be an aberration for the type.

 

I see its an old topic..can someone help me out with this constantius II mintmark

 

Parl Arles

 

Many thanks...

 

I have a similar one

Billon centenionalis of Constantius II
Arelate, officina 1; 348-350 CE
19mm x 21mm, 2.78g.
D N CONSTAN-TIVS P F AVG Pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust left, globe in right hand.
FEL TEMP REPAR-ATIO Helmeted soldier, spear in left hand, advancing right, head left; with his right hand he leads a small bare-headed figure from a hut beneath a tree. The spear points upwards and to the right. Star in upper left field.
Ex. PARL

 

Gavin, in case it gets missed here, you did a wonderful job researching this issue. Believe me, I can appreciate the effort you put into this article which likely took you hours to compose. Even if, in the end, the tie-in to Aeneas and Ascanius isn't very solid regardless anyone who reads it can learn a bit bout all the areas covered. In this you were definitely successful and I hope you take again this same passion for other coins.

You've gained a fan

 

Well that’s very kind of you to say. I have had a few takers on my theory. And I’ve had plenty who were unconvinced. Either way, I think it’s good to get ideas out there for a robust consideration of these coins. I continue to research and write, though at a pretty slow pace. Unlike most academics, I only publish something when I think I have something to say.