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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Roman Collector, post: 3960164, member: 75937&quot;]That Caracalla is an exceptionally nice example of that issue and it&#039;s one I&#039;ve been wanting to add to my own collection. Not to disrespect the Probus (which is very lovely), I&#039;d like to focus on the iconography of the coin of Caracalla. You describe the reverse figure as:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I think it&#039;s clear that the figure is Luna Lucifera, for the companion issue for his mother, Julia Domna, overtly titles her with the inscription LVNA LVCIFERA:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1043151[/ATTACH] </p><p>Julia Domna, AD 193-217.</p><p>Roman AR denarius, 3.07 g, 20.6 mm, 12:00.</p><p>Rome mint under Caracalla, AD 215.</p><p>Obv: IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG, bare-headed and draped bust, right</p><p>Rev: LVNA LVCIFERA, Luna in biga of horses, galloping right, drapery billowing behind head.</p><p>Refs: RIC 379c; BMCRE 10; Cohen 105; RCV 7101; Hill 1477.</p><p><br /></p><p>But that&#039;s not the important issue. I&#039;d like to bring attention to the fold of drapery in a circle billowing behind the figure of Luna Lucifera on both the Caracalla and Domna issues. I don&#039;t think this is merely the representation of the goddess&#039;s <i><a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/matronly-garments-the-stola-and-palla.346585/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/matronly-garments-the-stola-and-palla.346585/">palla</a></i> billowing like a parachute from the speedy travel in her biga. I think it represents the entire star-filled nighttime sky -- the celestial hemisphere itself.</p><p><br /></p><p>A denarius or antoninianus is too small a medium to express this idea, but I see it put forth on this sestertius of Faustina I which I recently acquired for my collection:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/faustina-sr-aeternitas-aeternitas-globe-and-billowing-veil-sestertius-jpg.1031740/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>Faustina I, AD 138-141.</p><p>Roman orichalcum sestertius, 26.54 g, 33 mm.</p><p>Rome, AD 150-161.</p><p>Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.</p><p>Rev: AETERNITAS, Aeternitas standing left, holding globe and raising above head a starry mantle.</p><p>Refs: RIC 1106; BMCRE 1495-97; Cohen 30; Sear 4610; Strack 1262; Dinsdale 020810.</p><p><br /></p><p>Note that Aeternitas bears a similar billowing circle behind her, but that it is decorated with stars. This is better seen on the <a href="https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3178576&amp;partId=1&amp;searchText=Faustina+1106&amp;page=1" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3178576&amp;partId=1&amp;searchText=Faustina+1106&amp;page=1" rel="nofollow">British Museum&#039;s example</a> of the coin:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1043152[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Now, I&#039;d like to focus on [USER=57495]@zumbly[/USER] &#039;s coin. It&#039;s a well-struck, well-preserved example and the details are clear:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1043153[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Luna Lucifera has a crescent moon on her forehead -- after all, she IS the moon -- but is that a star I see within that billowing circle of drapery behind the crescent?</p><p><br /></p><p>I think it is, just as represented on the billowing mantle in my sestertius of Faustina I, above. If so, the biga carries not only the moon (Luna), but the entire star-filled nighttime sky![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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