Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;DonnaML, post: 8219909, member: 110350&quot;]This new purchase is only my second Roman Republican coin acquired this year, both of which depict the Dioscuri. (See my thread about the first coin, at <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/roman-republican-coin-no-67-the-dioscuri-from-l-memmius.392712/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/roman-republican-coin-no-67-the-dioscuri-from-l-memmius.392712/">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/roman-republican-coin-no-67-the-dioscuri-from-l-memmius.392712/</a>.) This coin isn&#039;t in nearly as wonderful condition, but I&#039;m very happy to have it. I guess I just can&#039;t resist those twins!</p><p><br /></p><p>Roman Republic, Mn. Cordius Rufus, AR denarius, 46 BCE, Rome mint. Obv. Jugate heads of Dioscuri right, each wearing a laureate pileus surmounted by a star, RVFVS III VIR downwards behind and below / Rev. Venus Verticordia (or Venus Genetrix [Crawford]) standing facing, head left, holding scales in right hand and transverse scepter in left hand, Cupid hovering behind [Sear CRI, BMCRR] or perched upon [Crawford, RSC] her left shoulder, <u>MN</u> CORDIVS (MN ligatured) downwards to right. Crawford 463/1a, CRI 63 (ill. p. 45) [David Sear, <i>The History and Coinage of the Roman Imperators</i> <i>49-27 BC</i> (1998)], RSC I (Babelon) Cordia 2a (ill. p. 36), Sear RCV I 440 (ill. p. 156), BMCRR 4037, RBW Collection 1606 (ill. p. 339), Sydenham 976. <i>Purchased from Jordan Scheckells (Louisiana, USA) Feb. 2022; ex. Diana Numismatica (Via Quattro Fontane, Roma). With Diana Numismatics ticket &amp; old coin envelope (early 20th century).*</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>[ATTACH=full]1443039[/ATTACH] </i></p><p><br /></p><p>The scratches on the reverse are almost invisible in hand except under magnification, and don&#039;t materially detract from the actual appearance of the coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1443041[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>(I have no idea what the &quot;408&quot; on the older ticket represents; it doesn&#039;t correspond to any catalog number I&#039;m aware of.)</p><p><br /></p><p>A video provided by the dealer:</p><p><br /></p><p>[GALLERY=media, 19041]Cordius Rufus denarius by DonnaML posted Feb 17, 2022 at 9:07 PM[/GALLERY]</p><p><br /></p><p>Footnote:</p><p><br /></p><p><i>*</i>If the reverse figure is identified as Venus Verticordia (“‘turner of hearts’, i.e. the goddess who turns minds from lust to chastity,” see Jones, John Melville, <i>A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins</i> (London 1990), entry for Venus, at p. 317), to whom a temple was specially dedicated in Rome in 114 BCE after the corruption and trial of the Vestal Virgins, the depiction “may not only be a punning allusion to the Cordia gens but may also refer to the family of Julius Caesar, which claimed its descent from Venus herself. The Cordia family came originally from Tusculum where there was a special cult of the Dioscuri.” See RSC I at p. 36 (quoting BMCRR I p. 523 n. 3 almost verbatim, without attribution).</p><p><br /></p><p>Crawford agrees that the moneyer was of Tusculan origin, citing a Tusculan inscription naming him, on which his tenure of the office of Praetor was recorded (Crawford I p. 474), and also agrees that the depiction of Venus on the reverse is a Caesarian reference (id.); the balance or scales she holds “perhaps suggests that the coinage of Mn. Cordius Rufus is in the <i>tutela </i>[guardianship] of Venus and is hence a further compliment to Caesar.” Id. However, Crawford’s position is that “there is no reason to regard Venus here as Verticordia.” Id. He proposes instead that “the type as a whole, with [her son] Cupid perched on the shoulder of Venus, may derive from the statue placed in the temple of Venus Genetrix [“foundress of the family,” from whom Caesar claimed descent] in 46 [BCE], the year of issue of this coinage.” Id. at 474-475.</p><p><br /></p><p>At CRI p. 45, Sear – who, contrary to Crawford, identifies the reverse figure as Venus Verticordia, but without explanation – states regarding this type (and Crawford 463/1b, which has the same design except that the Dioscuri are decorated with fillets instead of laurel-wreaths) that “[t]his denarius coinage in the name of Manius Cordius Rufus is on a scale [<i>it isn’t clear whether this pun was intended!</i>] commensurate with the state’s requirements at the time of Caesar’s quadruple triumph when, it will be remembered, five thousand denarii were paid to each legionary soldier and ten thousand to each centurion. Other than his coinage, Rufus is known only from an inscription found at Tusculum [citation omitted] recording that he held the office of praetor. The obverse type of this denarius also indicates his Tusculan origin as there was a special cult of Castor and Pollux at this ancient city of Latium situated about 15 miles south-east of Rome. The reverse type of Venus was doubtless intended to be complimentary to Caesar, and the head of the goddess appears on another of this moneyer’s denarius types” (citing Crawford 463/3, depicting Venus on the obverse and her son Cupid riding a dolphin on the reverse, a type essentially reproducing the very similar depiction on the reverse of Crawford 390/2, issued by L. Lucretius Trio ca. 76 BCE.)</p><p><br /></p><p>I question whether there is any substantive reason to identify the reverse figure as Venus Verticordia other than the fact that this identification fits the presumed pun on the moneyer’s <i>gens</i>. Regardless of whether or not the coin’s depiction of Venus is actually based on the lost statue of Venus Genetrix in the temple that Caesar dedicated to that goddess, it would seem that the presence on Venus’s shoulder of her son Cupid (hardly a model for chastity!), the fact that Caesar specifically claimed descent from Venus Genetrix, and the fact that he dedicated a temple to her in 46 BCE, the very same year in which the coin was issued, would all militate in favor of Crawford’s Venus Genetrix interpretation. (Even if that interpretation destroys the Verticordia/Cordius pun!) See Jones, supra at p. 317:</p><p><br /></p><p>“It has been suggested that the figure of Venus, bearing scales and accompanied by Cupid, which appears on denarii of Mn. Cordius Rufus (46 BC) represents the cult statue of th[e] temple [of Venus Verticordia, built in 114 BCE], and that the type was chosen as a play on the name of the mint magistrate. . . . This is not impossible but it seems unlikely, and the coin and other coins of Cordus which show a head of Venus on the obverse, or a Cupid on the reverse, may only allude in a general way to Venus as the ancestress of the Julian family.” (Jones argues that it is “also unlikely” that the reverse figure specifically represented the statue of Venus Genetrix sculpted by Arcesilaus and placed in the temple to that goddess dedicated in the year of the coin’s issue, pointing out the many different numismatic representations of Venus Genetrix, and concluding that “there is enough variety to suggest that no particular work of art was automatically associated with this title.” Id.)</p><p><br /></p><p>See also the discussion of Venus Genetrix (and the variety of her images) at&nbsp; <a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fig-490-13" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fig-490-13" rel="nofollow">https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fig-490-13</a>, from an analysis of a statue fragment of Venus at the Art Institute of Chicago (footnotes omitted):</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago</p><p>Cat. 3 Fragment of a Statue of Venus</p><p>Published by: Art Institute of Chicago</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The Origins of Venus Genetrix</b></p><p><br /></p><p>Venus had long been worshipped in Italy as a native goddess, and by the early third century B.C. she was venerated in the city of Rome.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-26" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-26" rel="nofollow">12</a> Although Venus was worshipped under numerous guises, including those associated with her domain of fertility, beauty, and seduction, by the first century B.C. she was viewed especially as a goddess of warfare and provider of military victory.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-27" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-27" rel="nofollow">13</a> In this aspect, she was venerated and honored by successful generals, such as Sulla (138–79 B.C.), Pompey the Great (106–48 B.C.), and Julius Caesar (100–44 B.C.), who claimed the goddess as their patron deity and protector.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-28" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-28" rel="nofollow">14</a> This emphasis on the goddess’s martial functions distinguished her from the Greek goddess Aphrodite, who, although associated to a certain extent with war, was seen primarily as a goddess of erotic love and female sexuality.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-29" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-29" rel="nofollow">15</a> Additionally, the martial role linked her to Mars (equivalent to the Greek Ares), the Roman god of warfare and agriculture, with whom she shared an erotic relationship.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-30" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-30" rel="nofollow">16</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Despite these distinctions, over time Venus was assimilated to Aphrodite and absorbed aspects of the Greek goddess’s background.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-31" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-31" rel="nofollow">17</a> In particular, Aphrodite was considered to be the mother of the Trojan hero Aeneas, who settled in Italy following the fall of Troy, and so was the grandmother of Ascanius (also known as Iulus), the founder of the city of Alba Longa.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-32" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-32" rel="nofollow">18</a> This made her an ancestor of the royal line of Alba Longa, and thereby of Romulus and Remus, the twins associated with the mythical founding of the city of Rome.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-33" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-33" rel="nofollow">19</a> Consequently, Aphrodite was viewed as an ancestor of the Romans, a role that also came to be associated with Venus, who was described as the Aeneadum Genetrix, or mother of the Aeneadae (Romans).<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-34" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-34" rel="nofollow">20</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Moreover, the [glossary:gens] Iulia (Julian family), one of the oldest and most distinguished patrician families in Rome, also claimed their direct descent from Ascanius/Iulus (from whom they derived the name of their clan), thus making Venus their direct ancestor.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-35" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-35" rel="nofollow">21</a> <b>Indeed, the Julian clan’s most famous member, Julius Caesar, prominently asserted his divine ancestry in a massive building project known as the Forum Iulium, which contained a temple to Venus Genetrix</b>.<b><a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-36" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-36" rel="nofollow">22</a> Although it is presumed that Caesar’s forum was initially intended to function as a <i>[glossary:monumentum]</i> to his conquests in Gaul,<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-37" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-37" rel="nofollow">23</a> it appears to have taken on new meaning following his victory in 48 B.C. at the battle of Pharsalus over his former ally Pompey the Great.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-38" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-38" rel="nofollow">24</a> Prior to this battle, Caesar is said to have vowed to build a temple to Venus Victrix (Venus the Victorious) in the event of his success.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-39" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-39" rel="nofollow">25</a> However, in 46 B.C., Caesar’s still-unfinished temple to Venus was dedicated not to Venus Victrix but rather to Venus Genetrix, a new epithet not previously assigned to the goddess.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-40" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-40" rel="nofollow">26</a> The appellation <i>Genetrix</i> not only retained the references to military victory associated with her epithet <i>Victrix</i>, but it also emphasized the goddess’s genealogical ties to both the Roman people and the Julian family.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-41" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-41" rel="nofollow">27</a>&nbsp; [</b>Emphasis added.<b>]</b></p><p><br /></p><p><b>The Images of Venus Genetrix</b></p><p><br /></p><p>According to Pliny the Elder, the Greek sculptor Arkesilaos was commissioned to create the statue of Venus Genetrix displayed in Caesar’s forum, which is generally understood by scholars to refer to the cult statue erected in the temple.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-42" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-42" rel="nofollow">28</a> Although the appearance of the republican cult statue is not known, it was previously thought that it might have resembled the Louvre-Naples statuary type. This identification was based on the appearance of a comparable image of Venus on coins and medallions carrying the inscription VENERI GENETRICI.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-43" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-43" rel="nofollow">29</a> However, numismatic evidence linking this statuary type to the epithet <i>Genetrix</i> is not contemporary with Caesar’s temple.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-44" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-44" rel="nofollow">30</a> Consequently, evidence of the Arkesilaon statue has been sought in late republican and early imperial images, particularly on coins and monuments.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-45" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-45" rel="nofollow">31</a> <b>It has been suggested that the republican cult statue might have been fully and modestly clothed, with her son Cupid on her shoulder to indicate her role as Genetrix. A similar image is found on a relief, perhaps from a nonextant altar or other monument of Julio-Claudian date, depicting Venus in the pediment of the Augustan temple of Mars Ultor, where she is shown immediately to the left of Mars in the center (</b><a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fig-490-29" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fig-490-29" rel="nofollow"><b>fig. 3.5</b></a><b>)</b>. [Emphasis supplied.] <a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-46" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-46" rel="nofollow">32</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Fig. 3.5 Venus Genetrix - third figure from left</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1443359[/ATTACH]</p><p>[Note that she both has both Cupid on her left shoulder, and is holding a transverse scepter. No scales, though!]</p><p><br /></p><p>Alternatively, it might have resembled the image of Venus appearing on coins minted by Julius Caesar shortly after the temple’s dedication, which depict the goddess holding a diminutive, winged Victoria (the Roman personified goddess of victory) in her right hand and a scepter in her raised left hand (see <a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fig-490-17" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fig-490-17" rel="nofollow">fig. 3.6</a>), thus alluding to the goddess’s dual roles as Caesar’s ancestor and patron deity, particularly in warfare.<a href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-47" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://publications.artic.edu/roman/api/epub/480/490/print_view#fn-490-47" rel="nofollow">33</a>&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>For all the foregoing reasons, I lean towards the Venus Genetrix interpretation, rather than Venus Verticordia.</p><p><br /></p><p>Finally, the “RVFVS III VIR” in the obverse legend refers to the moneyer’s position at the mint. See <a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=IIIVIR" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=IIIVIR" rel="nofollow">https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=IIIVIR</a>, defining the term as a “Latin abbreviation: Triumvir. On coins of the Roman Republic IIIVIR is used as a shortened abbreviation for IIIVIR AAAFF, which abbreviates ‘III viri aere argento auro flando feiundo’ or ‘Three men for the casting and striking of bronze, silver and gold,’ a moneyer or mint magistrate.”</p><p><br /></p><p>***</p><p>Another statue presumed to be Venus Genetrix, with Cupid on her shoulder, sold at auction in 2019; see <a href="https://www.bidsquare.com/online-auctions/artemis-gallery/marble-torso-of-a-venus-genetrix-mother-w-cupid-1294870" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.bidsquare.com/online-auctions/artemis-gallery/marble-torso-of-a-venus-genetrix-mother-w-cupid-1294870" rel="nofollow">https://www.bidsquare.com/online-auctions/artemis-gallery/marble-torso-of-a-venus-genetrix-mother-w-cupid-1294870</a>:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1443360[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Apart from everything else, could someone please explain to me which way Cupid is facing on my coin, and why he looks like he has curved horns growing out of the side of his head?</p><p><br /></p><p>Please post your own coins depicting Venus and Cupid (alone or together), Venus Verticordia, Venus Genetrix, the Dioscuri, or anything else you think is appropriate.</p><p><br /></p><p>And please share your own opinions on the Verticordia vs. Genetrix debate regarding the reverse figure on this coins.[/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