Dear Friends of ancíent mythology! Here is a coin from the time of the Punic Wars: The Coin: Magna Graecia, Bruttium, Brettii, AD 214/213-211 AR - Drachm, 21mm, 4.39g, 330° struck during Hannibal's campaign in southern Italy after the Battle of Cannae Obv.: Bust of Hera Lakinia, veiled and wearing polos, scepte over l. shoulder, r.: behind a fly Rev.: Zeus, nude, stg. l., r. foot set on Ionic capitel, holding sceptre in l. hand; in front of him eagle flying l., holding wreath in Talons in r. field BPETTIΩN from top to bottom Ref.: SNG ANS 26; HN Italy 1970; Scheu 84; Arslan dies 28/33 VF, very attractive style, dark toning Note: Interestingly, the identity of both deities depicted is controversially discussed. The preference of Hera Lakinia for the obv. instead of Ceres/Demeter is based on the existence of the temple in her honour and the local mint. The deity on the rev. reminds with its position of the classical iconography of Posidon, but the eagle before it only allows the interpretation as Zeus. Mythology: Lakinia is a name of Hera, under which she was venerated in the neighborhood of Kroton, where she possessed a rich and famous sanctuary. But her worship was widespread throughout Magna Graecia. There are different opinions about the origin of the name: According to mythology, Lacinius was a robber who did his mischief at Taranto. When he had stolen some of Geryon's cattle from Hercules, Hercules killed the thief. At the place where he had killed Lacinius, Hercules built the termpel of Juno Lacinia (Strab. VI, 261 u. 281; Liv. XXIV, 3). Or it takes its name from the Lakin foothills on the east coast of Bruttium, west of the entrance to the Gulf of Taranto (today Cape Nao), which Thetis is said to have presented to Juno as a gift (Serv. ad Aen. III, 552). Or Lacinius is said to have been a king who ruled the Lakin foothills. When Heracles drove his cattle there on the way to Greece, he was able to drive Heracles to flight by building a temple in Hera's honour, at the sight of which Heracles left in disgust. Six miles further on, Heracles accidentally killed a certain Kroton, whom he buried with great honours. He prophesied that in future times a city would rise there and bear his name (Diodor. Sic. IV, 24; Ovid Metam. XV, 12ff.). This temple was later the annual meeting place of all lower Italian Greeks. From the ruins of the temple and the remains of the columns the foothills received the name 'Capo delle Colonne' in the Middle Ages. Unfortunately the temple of Hera Lakinia was destroyed and today only one column can be seen. Preserved column of the temple of Hera Lakinia Despite their hatred of the Carthaginians, the Romans identified their Juno with Tanit, the Punic goddess, as one aspect of their Great Goddess as the mother and patroness of birth, the Goddess of Light, who helps bring the children to light. Since Tanit was also a goddess of heaven, the Romans called her Dea Caelestis, 'the Celestial Goddess', or Virgo Caelestis, 'the Celestial Virgin'. On coins from the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. she is sometimes depicted riding a lion and holding a spear, but in general she is shown with a diadem or a crown on her head or with corn ears tied into her hair as a wreath, behind her the crescent moon. According to a Roman legend, Hannibal once tried to plunder the temple of Lakinia. This temple was richly decorated and famous for having a column made entirely of gold. To check this, Hannibal had a hole drilled in the column. When he found that it was actually made of gold, he decided to take it with him as booty. But that night he dreamed that the goddess warned him not to defile her temple and that she would destroy his remaining eye. Then Hannibal recognized the goddess of his hometown, Tanit, in Hera Lakinia and left the column undamaged in the temple. From the gold he had already drilled out, he had poured a golden cow, which was then placed on top of the column. Hannibal himself also consecrated a stele with a bilingual inscription in Punic and Greek to the temple of Hera Lakinia, in which the history of his campaign had been recorded, and which Polybius then used to write the history of the Hannibalian war (Polyb. II, 33; cp. Liv. XXVIII, 46). Another legend is about Zeuxis, the great Greek painter, a pupil of Apollodor of Athens 435-390 B.C. He had developed the so-called illusion painting, a way of painting which is said to have been so naturalistic that birds flew up to pick at the painted grapes (Plin. Nat. 35, 64). The inhabitants of Kroton, today's Crotone in southern Italy, decided to furnish the temple of Hera Lakinia with paintings of particular value. For a lot of money they commissioned the most respected painter of the time, Zeuxis from Herakleia. He wanted to paint a picture of Helena, the incarnation of female beauty. The Crotonians were to show him the most beautiful virgins, from which he chose the five most beautiful. He believed that he could not find everything he needed to depict beauty in a single body, because nature had not created an individual in such a way that it was perfect in all its parts (Cicero, De Invenzione II, 1). History: The Brettii were an Italian people of Lucan origin who lived on the 'Italian boot' in poverty and hardship as shepherds, charcoal burners or from robberies. They are said to be descended from Brettos, a son of Hercules and Baletia, the daughter of the son of Baletus, from whom the city of Brettium is said to have its name. The Brettii fought several times successfully for their freedom and stood with Pyrrhus against the Romans, who triumphed over them six times 278-272 and took their land. In 216 they fell to Hannibal, from whose victory they hoped for their freedom and whose last refuge they finally were (Liv. 28, 12, 6). They were severely punished by the victorious Romans, conspired again and were finally subjugated by the construction of army roads, colonies and extensive enslavements. The Romans never treated them as allies or dug them up as soldiers. Sources: (1) Ovid, Metamorphoses (2) Livius, Ab urbe condita (3) Der kleine Pauly (4) Benjamin Hederich, Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon (5) http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Hera (6) http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capo_Colonna (7) http://www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/tanit.html Best regards
Gorgeous coin, @Jochen1 , and very interesting write-up about this particular epithet of Hera. While I have umpteen coins with Juno -- the Roman equivalent of Hera -- I only have a few (Roman provincials/Greek imperials) with Hera. This is the most photogenic: Faustina Jr, AD 147-175. Roman provincial Æ 22.4 mm, 6.54 g. Thrace, Hadrianopolis. Obv: ΦΑVCΤΙΝΑ CΕΒΑCΤH, pearl-diademed and draped bust, right. Rev: ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ, Hera veiled, standing in front of altar, holding patera and scepter. Refs: Moushmov 2532; Varbanov 1631; SNG Cop 558; Mionnet Suppl. 2, 644; BMC --. For fun, here's the listing in Mionnet Suppl. 2:
My most beautiful Hera: Moesia inferior, Tomis, Philipp II, AD 247-249 AE 26, 13.84g Obv.: M IOVLIOC FILIPPOC / KAICAR Confronting busts of Philipp I, draped and cuirassed, bare-headed, r., and Serapis, draped and wearing kalathos, l. Rev. MHTROP PONT - O - V TOMEWC Hera, in chiton and himation, stg. l., holding patera in outstretched r. hand and sceptre in her l. hand Ref.: AMNG 3591 (1 ex. in Odessa) rare, VF, circular traces of ancient flan smoothing, nice rev. depiction On this coin Hera looks more like Aphrodite than the venerable Queen of Heaven. According to Pat Lawrence the reverse could depict a variant of the statue of the Hera Borghese. This statue too was discussed wether it shows Hera or Aphrodite.
Thanks for the write up and cool coin, @Jochen1 ! Great stuff. Although, I do not have this particular coin, I have a couple Bruttium coins from this same time period during the Occupation by Hannibal: Bruttium Carthage occup 2nd Punic War AR Half-Shekel 216-211 Tanit Horse SOLAR-O HN Italy 2016 SNG Cop 361-3 Bruttium Carthage occup 2nd Punic War AR Half-Shekel 216-211 Tanit Horse SOLARdisc HN Italy 2016 Bruttium Carthage occupation Hannibal Italy 215-205 BC 2nd Punic War AE 19 Tanit Horse Hd R
I also have a HERA, but she is from Capua during Hannibal's occupation... Campania CAPUA AE 14-5mm 216-211 Hera Oscan Grain ear Hannibal capital Italia SNG Fr 517 SNG ANS 219 HN Italy 500 EE Clain Stefanelli
