List of animals shown at the Colosseum

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Marsman, Feb 3, 2019.

  1. Orfew

    Orfew Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus

    Thanks for this. It is great to see some discussion of etymology on the board.
     
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  3. Archeocultura

    Archeocultura Well-Known Member

    Pius' elephant as.
     

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  4. myownprivy

    myownprivy Well-Known Member

    Impossible for jaguars to be on this list. They are new world, as was already mentioned.
     
  5. Marsman

    Marsman Well-Known Member

    I love this forum. What a quick responses :woot:
    All beautiful coins.
    I did some homework and made a list with all the animals and the first one who attributed a coin......
    Animals shown at the Colosseum.png

    I made some changes:
    • deer and stag are put together on the list;
    • antelope and gazelle are put together;
    • jackass and donkey are put together;
    • panther (is indeed not a species) and leopard are put together;
    • ape, chimpanzee and baboon are put together;
    • I added (ofcourse!) the ostrich;
    • I deleted (ofcourse!) the jaguar ;)
    There was some discussion about the buffalo. I changed it into the African buffalo (you know the one from the big five...). Is there no coin from this animal with the bad reputation and mighty horns ? There must have been some brought to Rome.....Then I still hope for a nice coin with a clear donkey on it. I know they are out there.

    I guess I can wait a whole lot longer for a coin with a giraffe (what a pity :() or a hyena.

    @RomanCollector has a coin with a 'panther' on it. I presume that this could be the image of a leopard or a cheetah ?

    Enough animals for me for today :)
     
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  6. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    How about a stork?
    Q. CAECILIUS METELLUS PIUS.jpg
    Q. CAECILIUS METELLUS PIUS ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS CAECILIA
    AR Denarius
    OBVERSE: Diademed head of Pietas right, stork before
    REVERSE: IMPER in exergue, lituus and jug, all within laurel wreath
    Spanish Mint 81 BC
    3.8g; 20mm
    Crawford 374/2; Sydenham 751; Caecilia 44
    Ex: Barry Murphy

    Q. CAECILIUS METELLUS PIUS 2.jpg
    Q. CAECILIUS METELLUS PIUS ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS CAECILIA
    AR Denarius
    OBVERSE: Diademed head of Pietas right; stork standing right before
    REVERSE: Q C M P I beneath elephant walking left w/bell hanging from neck
    Northern Italy, 79 BC-77 BC
    3.75g; 18mm
    Caecilia 43; Crawford 374/1; Syd 750; Sear 301
     
  7. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    I am happy to be able to add this tiger to the list. Successful bidder (competition was FIERCE) at today's Numismatik Naumann auction.

    Gallienus LIBERO P CONS AVG tiger antoninianus.jpg
    Gallienus, 253-268 AD.
    Roman Æ Antoninianus, 2.65 g, 20.1 mm, 5 h.
    Rome Mint, 10th emission, 267-268 AD.
    Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right.
    Rev: LIBERO P CONS AVG, tiger walking left, B in exergue.
    Refs: RIC 230K; Göbl 713b; Cohen 586; RCV 10281; Cunetio 1341; Hunter 112.

    On his page about the Liber Pater coins, Jim Phelps notes that some of these coins, like this example, show a stocky, striped and tiger-like animal, and others, like the one I posted above, feature a more lithe and panther-like beast. Lastly, he shows some with SPOTS -- a leopard. They are not assigned separate catalog numbers by any of the standard works.
     
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2019
  8. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    That is the best tiger I've ever seen on a Gallienus zoo coin, and the head shape and size make me think the engraver intended to convey a male tiger. Fantastic!! The portrait is also outstanding. What a super acquisition, RC!
     
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  9. PeteB

    PeteB Well-Known Member

    I agree with TIF. But is it a female tiger? If so, I wonder why that sex was portrayed? We will never know.
     
  10. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    I thought it was male (larger head size and such) but on second thought the underbelly does seem to show teats rather than loose skin :oops:.

    Gallienus looks downright regal in that portrait, despite the pustular neck beard :D.
     
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  11. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    Snake was on the list. Were these used in the arena? There are many animals not on the list but I doubt there was a lot of demand for rabbit wrestling. It bothers me that there are no giraffe coins but I have not seen one. I also find it odd that bears are so rare.
     
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  12. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    New World Jaguars come in two forms, normal spotted/ black "panther" form. They are my favorite cat. 09f7e808b911ec99cd1e5541abd7daf4.jpg
     
  13. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    I only have one of the animals on list.
    AV Antoninius ND Rome Mint struck 215AD
    Emperor Caracalla 197-219AD
    24mm. 5.23g.
    Lion on reverse
    ex; Gorny & Mosch 689b74b8befb9d7a379d99985440c0e9.jpg
     
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  14. Limes

    Limes Well-Known Member

    Nice idea for a thread! I recently received a very nice Titus - elephant coin, but i have to take pictures of it, so i will show it later some time.

    As i am a late arrival to this thread and most of the animals have been added, i hope you wont mind me sharing a tiny, tiny camel (or perhaps Arabia is huge?):
    04 Trajanus Arabia.jpg

    And also another elephant, and a serpant although i dont think it was part of any games in the Flavian Amphitheater.

    04 Caesar.jpg

    EDIT:
    By the way, reminds me, how about horses? Not the animals perhaps to be brought into the Colosseum to be slaughtered, but weren't there horse races and hunting games held in the theatre? Wikipedia has an image of a mosaic, that, according to the page, shows the games held in the Colosseum. In the bottom you can see a poor hurt horse... See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inaugural_games_of_the_Flavian_Amphitheatre

    05a augustus denarius quadriga.jpg
     
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2019
  15. Marsman

    Marsman Well-Known Member

    Ofcourse we won’t mind :)
    Although we already have a camel and an elephant it’s nice to see new coins on this thread.
    Very nice presentation of the coins btw !
     
  16. Marsman

    Marsman Well-Known Member

    You don’t have by any chance a donkey ? :D
     
  17. Limes

    Limes Well-Known Member

    Sorry, no donkey in my collection. According to acsearch there are coins with donkeys, including one of Trajan Decius with a part of a donkey: Dacia on reverse holding a staff surmounted by the head of a donkey. Kind of brutal...
     
  18. David Atherton

    David Atherton Flavian Fanatic

    This elephant denarius of Titus was specifically struck in commemoration of the opening games of the Colosseum.

    T116.jpg Titus
    AR Denarius, 3.18g
    Rome mint, 80 AD
    RIC 116 (C). BMC 47. RSC 304.
    Obv: IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M•; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, l.
    Rev: TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P; Elephant, stg. l.
    Ex Harry N. Sneh Collection.

    Elephants were featured in those first games and Martial in his book On the Spectacles actually mentions an elephant, who after dispatching a bull in the arena, knelt before the emperor! Perhaps a neat trick the trainer had taught it.
     
  19. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    Mende struck many coins depicting donkeys/asses (same animal).

    In addition to the Septimius Severus Circus denarius I posted which depicts an ass albeit too small to really see, I overlooked this hemiobol from Mende :).

    MendiHemiobol-LeuImageEdited-RT.jpg
    MACEDON, Mende
    circa 460-423 BCE
    AR hemiobol; 7 mm, 0.39 gm, 6 h
    Obv: forepart of donkey to right
    Rev: Kantharos within incuse square
    Ref: AMNG III, 18. SNG ANS 365
     
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  20. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    How about a MULE?

    upload_2019-2-4_23-1-32.png
    RI Julia Flavia Titi Diva 90-91 CE d-Titus concubine-uncleDomitian AE Sestertius 33mm 20.4g - Carpentum mules SPQR - SC

    mule1
    /myo͞ol/
    noun
    1. 1.
      the offspring of a donkey and a horse (strictly, a male donkey and a female horse), typically sterile and used as a beast of burden.
     
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2019
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