Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Valentinian, post: 3238723, member: 44316&quot;]&quot;Romans knew Cybele as <i>Magna Mater</i> (&quot;Great Mother&quot;)&quot;, according to Wikipedia. Her role as a goddess is hard to pin down. One aspect is &quot;mother of the gods&quot; (whatever that means). That appears on Roman coins under Julia Domna:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]847234[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Denarius. 19-17 mm. 3.23 grams.</p><p>Julia Domna, IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG</p><p>MATRI DEVM, Cybele standing half left, leaning on column, holding globe and scepter, lion at feet. [A lion, or lions, usually accompany Cybele]</p><p>RIC 382 &quot;211-217&quot; (i.e. under Caracalla)</p><p>Hill 1329 &quot;212&quot;</p><p>Sear II. --, but close to 6594.</p><p>Ex Spink &quot;The Michael Kelly Collection of Roman Coins, part 2.&quot; </p><p><br /></p><p>Perhaps Julia actually regarded Cybele as important as a goddess. However, in my opinion, I think Julia appropriated the idea of &quot;mother of the gods&quot; because she had sons (Caracalla and Geta) who were emperors and emperors were (pretty close to) gods.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>This reverse type is unique to Julia Domna. One reference work that is helpful is <i>A Dictionary of Roman Coins</i> by Seth Stevenson. Although it is very old (written in the 1800&#039;s in a charming and quaint style) the massive work has (virtually) every legend discussed and who used it. The fact that only Julia Domna is listed for MATER DEVM and MATRI DEVM is strong evidence that the type was issued for her alone.</p><p><br /></p><p>Cybele also appears on other types of denarii for Julia Domna and on provincial coins. Show us some![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in