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Salonina, mother of christianity? A curious coin & christian cross coincidence
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<p>[QUOTE="Tejas, post: 8170113, member: 84905"]I think that is exactly correct. The cross (<i>crux immissa</i> - Latin cross) gained prominence only after the discovery of the holy cross by St. Helena in the early 4th century. The <i>crux immissa</i> replaced other, earlier forms of the cross (<i>crux commissa</i> and <i>crux ansata</i>) in the course of the 4th century and was formally adopted in AD 431 at the council of Ephesos. In the third century, Christians would have used other symbols, including the Staurogram (<i>crux monogramatica</i>) and the Christogram.</p><p><br /></p><p>So the symbol on Salonina's coin is certainly not a Christian cross. If there is any numismatic evidence for Salonina's Christianity, I suppose it would have to be the AVGVSTA IN PACE coins, but I would also be sceptical. As the coins of Constantine I show, it is one thing to adopt Christianity and quite a different thing to place Christian symbolism on official coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>Salonina may well have been attracted to Christianity - Emperor Probus' brother is said to have been a Christian bishop - but it is not likely that she had Christian symbols placed on her coins.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Tejas, post: 8170113, member: 84905"]I think that is exactly correct. The cross ([I]crux immissa[/I] - Latin cross) gained prominence only after the discovery of the holy cross by St. Helena in the early 4th century. The [I]crux immissa[/I] replaced other, earlier forms of the cross ([I]crux commissa[/I] and [I]crux ansata[/I]) in the course of the 4th century and was formally adopted in AD 431 at the council of Ephesos. In the third century, Christians would have used other symbols, including the Staurogram ([I]crux monogramatica[/I]) and the Christogram. So the symbol on Salonina's coin is certainly not a Christian cross. If there is any numismatic evidence for Salonina's Christianity, I suppose it would have to be the AVGVSTA IN PACE coins, but I would also be sceptical. As the coins of Constantine I show, it is one thing to adopt Christianity and quite a different thing to place Christian symbolism on official coins. Salonina may well have been attracted to Christianity - Emperor Probus' brother is said to have been a Christian bishop - but it is not likely that she had Christian symbols placed on her coins.[/QUOTE]
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