Featured Isis/Horus denarius as a Severan dynastic issue

Isis appears on few Roman imperial issues. The most famous imperial coin to depict the Egyptian goddess is a silver denarius of Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus, dated by the British Museum to the period 196-202. It was issued by two mints, the main mint in Rome and by an unknown eastern mint, traditionally attributed to Laodicea but more recently to Antioch.


Julia Domna, AD 193-217.
Roman AR denarius, 3.61 g, 17.7 mm, 12 h.
Rome, AD 196-202.
Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: SAECVLI FELICITAS, Isis, wearing polos, standing right, foot on prow, nursing infant Horus; behind them, a ship’s rudder leans against an altar.
Refs: RIC 577; BMCRE 75-82; Hill 504; Cohen 174; RCV 6606.


Julia Domna, AD 193-217.
Roman AR denarius, 3.07 g, 18.2 mm, 12 h.
Uncertain Eastern mint (Antioch?), AD 196-202.
Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: SAECVLI FELICITAS, Isis, wearing polos, standing right, left foot on prow, holding infant Horus on left arm, right hand on breast; behind them, rudder.
Refs: RIC 645; BMCRE 618; Cohen 174; RCV --; CRE 353.

Some aspects of the coin's iconography are easy to explain, such as the nautical imagery in association with Isis. The prow and rudder recall Isis's role as goddess of navigation and travel. The annual Voyage of Isis festival took place each March 5, during which a ship containing her image was launched into the sea to mark the inauguration of the open navigation season after the winter.

What is harder to explain is the role of Isis on the coin. Why does she appear at all? Isis had never appeared on an imperial coin issued for an empress up to this point, but as Mattingly and Sydenham note (p. 74), eastern deities begin to appear on Roman coins in the Severan period and coins of Julia Domna also depict Cybele in her role as mother of the gods.

The reverse likely depicts Isis as a symbol of Julia Domna herself. The clue, I think, is in the eastern mint version. In addition to the tall polos she wears on her head, note the horizontal ridges/waves in Isis's hair. That's similar to the empress's own distinctive coiffure. I think that's no coincidence. I think Julia Domna is depicted as Isis, not just that Isis is depicted on a coin of Julia Domna.



Julia Domna is Isis incarnate and she has a child! This is cause to proclaim SAECVLI FELICITAS (happy times). This coin is likely a dynastic type, showing Julia Domna as Isis with her young son Caracalla, named Caesar in AD 195, as Horus.

The inscriptions SAECVLI FELICITAS or TEMPORVM FELICITAS often announce the birth of heirs to the throne on Roman coins. See, for example, these Antonine issues announcing the birth of male children to Marcus Aurelius and Faustina II.


Antoninus Pius, AD 138-161.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 22.64 gm, 31.5 mm, 12 h.
Rome, AD 149.
Obv: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XII, laureate bust right, slight drapery on left shoulder.
Rev: TEMPORVM FELICITAS, COS IIII in exergue, S C across field, crossed cornucopiae from which a grape bunch flanked by two grain ears hang, surmounted by confronted busts of two children.
Refs: RIC 857; BMCRE 1827-29; Cohen 813; RCV 4236; Strack 1026; Banti 411.


Faustina II, AD 147-176.
Roman AR denarius, 3.22 g, 17.0 mm, 12 h.
Rome, AD 161.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: SAECVLI FELICIT, Throne, upon which are seated two infant boys, Commodus and Antoninus.
Refs: RIC 711; BMCRE 136; Cohen 190; RCV 5260 var. (no diadem); CRE 221.

Although Hill assigns this coin a date of AD 201, grouping it with another dynastic issue with the inscription FELICITAS SAECVLI and depicting Severus on the obverse and Julia, Caracalla and Geta on the reverse (Hill p. 19, 462; RIC-181c), only one child appears on this coin. Therefore, I think the coin must have been issued prior to AD 198, when Geta was proclaimed Caesar. For this reason, a date closer to AD 196 is more reasonable than as late as 202 (not that the British Museum doesn't know what they're doing, of course).

Let me know what you think! Of course, post anything you feel is relevant.

~~~

Bibliography

Hill, Philip V. The Coinage of Septimius Severus and His Family of the Mint of Rome: A.D. 193-217. Spink, 1964.

MacMullen, Ramsay. Paganism in the Roman Empire. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981.

Mattingly, Harold and Sydenham, Edward A. The Roman imperial coinage, vol. 4, Part 1: Pertinax to Geta. London, Spink, 1936

North, Daniel. "Isis, Serapis, Cybele, and Sol Invictus on Roman Imperial Coins: An Introduction." Missouri J. Numismatics, vol. 13 (July 1988), pp. 3-10.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Very nice coins, @Roman Collector ... and, yeah, I have always wondered the same: Why was Isis on the Imperial coins?

ISIS


RI AR Den Julia Domna 200 CE Felicitas Isis Horus RIC 577


FOURREE ISIS


RI Julia Domna 194-217 Fouree AR Plated Den Isis Horus

 

The cult of Isis spread rapidly after Cleopatra's visit to Rome, achieving its height in the 1st and 2nd centuries. Some scholars have noted a bit of similarity in the ritual of Isis nursing Horus and Mary suckling the baby Jesus, which may have contributed to the spread of Christianity as folks were familiar with the idea.

Great write up and coins @Roman Collector !!!

 

VESPASIAN
Æ Diobol
OBVERSE: AYTOK KAIΣ ΣEBA OYEΣΠAΣIANOY, laureate head right
REVERSE: LE, Draped bust of Isis right wearing uraeus crown
Struck at Alexandria, Egypt, Year 5 = 72/73 A.D
9.15 g, 24.9mm
RPC 2438; Milne 427; Emmett 217
Ex Zuzim Judaea Coins, New York

JULIA DOMNA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right
REVERSE: SAECVLI FELICITAS, Isis, wearing polos on head, standing right, left foot on prow, holding Horus; behind, rudder
Struck at Rome, 200 AD
2.37 grs, 19mm
RIC 577, RSC 174, BMC 75

 

Neat theory! The various pieces you bring together do seem to suggest something more than coincidence. Looking on acsearch, there are a number of other examples from the eastern mint that display the hair ridges. (Not all though, I confess, even in a grade where you'd expect to see them.)

Caracalla as Serapis?


Given the African and Eastern origins for the dynasty, I guess it's not surprising for non-Roman gods to start making an appearance... something Elagabalus took a bit too far!

 

Beautiful type, and beautiful coins. @Severus Alexander's Caracalla Serapis is something to behold, too.

I guess it falls into the 'interesting' rather than 'amazing' category, but here's my fouree version of the subject of this thread; apparently the forgers were unfamiliar with the striking process, since the reverse image and inscription are... reversed.

 

Interesting write-up and coins, @Roman Collector. You might enjoy this article on the subject of the evolution of maternal images associated with Julia Domna.

Bertolazzi, R. (2019). Julia Domna and her Divine Motherhood: A Re-examination of the Evidence from Imperial Coins The Classical Journal, 114(4), 464-486.

Regarding the SAECVLI FELICITAS, types minted only for Domna, it notes that the depiction of Isis is problematic in that Isis always appears seated on a chair when suckling Horus and that while the prow might be a reference to the Navigium Isidis (Voyage of Isis to retrieve her husband-brother Osiris' body) the goddess is normally represented holding a billowing sail:

Considering the presence of children on the FECVNDITAS and VENVS GENETRIX types previously issued for Domna, it sounds plausible that the decision of replacing the sail with the little Horus had the purpose of suggesting a more direct connection between her and Isis/Fortuna.​

Another observation I found interesting:

Around 202, coins advertising the motherhood of the Augusta temporarily ceased to be minted, presumably on account of the marriage between Caracalla and Plautilla, the daughter of the powerful prefect of the guard C. Fulvius Plautianus. The responsibility of perpetuating the dynasty now belonged, in fact, to the new Augusta.​

Here's my Julia Domna RIC 577 which is missing a couple of letters in the reverse legend with no evidence to make it clear they were ever there, and an unusual looking infant who appears to have wings or the left hand of Isis at his back? die flaw?:

Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus, AR Denarius
Minted: AD 197-201 the time period when imperial court was in Syria and Egypt
Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right
Rev: SAECVLI FELICIT (missing AS?), Isis wearing peaked head-dress, standing right, left foot on prow, with the infant Horus at her breast, to left an altar against which rests a rudder
Ref: RIC IV 577 (Severus); BMCRE 75 (Severus); RSC 174

Also another of the earlier Faustina II denari, RIC 711, from 161 AD, when she gave birth to Commodus and his twin brother Antoninus.
Faustina II, Augusta, AD 147-175, AR denarius
Rome, under Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, AD 161
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust of Faustina II right
Rev: SAECVLI FELICIT, two infants seated on draped throne
Ref: RIC 711; BMC 136; RSC 190

 

Thank you so much, @Sulla80 , for posting the relevant portions of Bertolazzi's recent examination of this issue and for posting your coins.

On my specimens of the Domna SAECVLI FELICITAS issue, it isn't clear what Isis is doing with her right hand. She appears to have some circular object in her hand on my Rome mint example (left), but holds no such object on the eastern mint version (right):



I have long taken the object on my coin to be the goddess's breast, being offered to the infant. On your example, though, she appears to hold a wreath.



Daniel North, in his 1988 article I cited above, noted the presence of a "victory wreath" on the coin and postulated that it perhaps alluded to Severus's victories in the civil wars or his defeat of the Parthians (p. 3). I dismissed this because none of my references (RIC, the British Museum collection online, or Sear) mentioned the existence of a wreath in their descriptions of the coin's reverse, and numerous examples I've seen online do not clearly depict a wreath. BUT YOURS DOES.

That's a very interesting reverse on that coin you have there, not only for the legend variant, but because of the exceptionally well-rendered wreath. It makes me reassess my "that's a breast" interpretation, because the engraver of my coin may have intended to depict a wreath and the ravages of time have rendered it unclear.

That adds another layer of semiotics to unpack here.

 

Thank you, @Roman Collector! I too had puzzled over this, trying to reconcile this tambourine with the description of Isis and a wreath explains it. “Toddler on her knee” also seems to fit the reverse better. Thanks for pointing this out and for the reference! On the wreath, I wonder if this could be a dynastic symbol - conveying a message about the young heir’s legitimacy as successor.

 

My tentative explanation of this type: might refer to the imperial family's visit to Egypt in 199-200 AD, like the As of Septimius Severus with rev. TR P VIII (200 AD), Nilus reclining with putti representing the Four Seasons, published by myself in Num. Chron. 1970, and now in the British Museum.

Date of Julia's Isis type: certainly between 197 and 202, the operation dates of Septimius' new-style Syrian mint, because that mint copied the type from Rome. Certainly 198 or later, the year of the drastic reduction in the volume of Septimius' Rome-mint bronze coins, because Julia's SAECVLI FELICITAS type is very rare on sestertii and middle bronzes.

I noticed the wreath held by Isis about twenty years ago, but have never searched for parallels and attempted to explain it.

 

Thank you for sharing your insights into this enigmatic issue, @curtislclay !

 

I too think Isis is holding a wreath , on my coin its made out of little dots:

 

I considered whether the 'wreath' might be a degraded form of the sistrum, but I don't think so, since even in their worst forms they always have a defined handle. I suspect it appears on all dies of the coin, being more or less visible depending on their wear, the coin's wear, and the engraver's emphasis. Isis is almost never shown with a wreath, but I do wonder whether it might be a patera.

The inclusion of the rudder and prow may be a clue to what it is. Rather than just Isis, perhaps we are looking at a syncretistic Isis-Tyche-Fortuna. This amalgamation is sometimes depicted with a patera, as seen on this bronze figure, or this carnelian intaglio. Although the object on @Sulla80's coin is definitely very wreath-like, pateras are depicted in a similar style on some coins of this period, as here. Even at its most wreath-like, it lacks the ribbons that signify the wreath on most coins of the period.

Harpokrates depicted with wings isn't unheard of either; since Isis was associated with Aphrodite, Harpokrates was sometimes equated with Eros/Cupid, as on this bronze figure, or the common Isis coins of Antiochos VII.