Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;DonnaML, post: 8202110, member: 110350&quot;]A couple of additional points.</p><p><br /></p><p>First, although the chronology of undated coins is always somewhat uncertain, it seems clear that the earliest uses of &quot;Laetitia&quot; [&quot;Joy&quot;] as a legend on Roman Imperial coins were under Antoninus Pius -- I don&#039;t believe she was used at all on Roman Republican coins -- and that the very first appearance of Laetitia, either in the legend or as a personification, may in fact have been on this aureus.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thus, the results of searches on OCRE for (1) &quot;Laetitia&quot; generally, and (2) &quot;Laetitia&quot; on coins of Antoninus Pius specifically, with the results of both searches listed in ascending order -- see <a href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=laetitia" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=laetitia" rel="nofollow">http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=laetitia</a> and <a href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=antoninus+pius+laetitia" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=antoninus+pius+laetitia" rel="nofollow">http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=antoninus+pius+laetitia</a> -- both show this coin design first.</p><p><br /></p><p>If anyone can find an earlier use of &quot;Laetitia&quot; as a legend on Imperial coinage, please let me know.</p><p><br /></p><p>Second, other than on this coin, every use of &quot;Laetitia&quot; on coins of Antoninus Pius has a bust of Faustina II on the obverse (see <a href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=antoninus+pius+laetitia" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=antoninus+pius+laetitia" rel="nofollow">http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=antoninus+pius+laetitia</a>, supra), and every single coin of Marcus Aurelius using that legend depicts Faustina II on the obverse, with the exception of a single coin with Lucilla on the obverse. See&nbsp; <a href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=Marcus+aurelius+laetitia" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=Marcus+aurelius+laetitia" rel="nofollow">http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=Marcus+aurelius+laetitia</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>I think both of these points strengthen the possible identification between Faustina II and the depiction of Ceres on the reverse of this aureus, accompanied by the legend Laetitia -- regardless of which daughter is identified with the depiction of Proserpina, or the occasion for that identification.</p><p><br /></p><p>This identification seems more likely to me than the one suggested in an article on Laetitia that I came across; see <a href="http://www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/laetitia.php" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/laetitia.php" rel="nofollow">http://www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/laetitia.php</a>:</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;On a coin of the Emperor Antoninus Pius, who ruled 138-161 CE, the inscription on the back side refers to Laetitia and to his 4th consulship . . . though its hard to say if it refers to the Goddess of joy or just joy as a concept since She is not depicted on it; rather the grain Goddess <a href="http://www.thaliatook.com/AMGG/ceres.php" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.thaliatook.com/AMGG/ceres.php" rel="nofollow">Ceres</a> is shown with Her daughter Proserpina (perhaps better known by their Greek equivalents Demeter and <a href="http://www.thaliatook.com/AMGG/kore.php" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.thaliatook.com/AMGG/kore.php" rel="nofollow">Kore</a> or <a href="http://www.thaliatook.com/AMGG/persephone.php" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.thaliatook.com/AMGG/persephone.php" rel="nofollow">Persephone</a>). Ceres holds wheat sheaves while Proserpina holds a pomegranate; though both are proper to those Goddesses, they are also similar to Laetitia&#039;s attributes of fruit and wheat as symbols of fertility and prosperity. In the case of Antoninus Pius, the mother-daughter divine pair probably makes reference to his devotion to the Emperor Hadrian (hence the &quot;Pius&quot; surname), who had adopted Antoninus as his heir.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Sorry, I don&#039;t buy that anyone in Rome would have looked at Ceres and Proserpina and thought to themselves, &quot;Oh, I know, that&#039;s really Hadrian and Antoninus Pius&quot;! Had the two goddesses been portrayed with beards, I might think differently.[/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