The BEARDED challenge

I'm amazed every time I start a new "Challenge" by the generosity of CT's members and also by the wide diversity of coinage which is posted here. Most of the time, Roman and Greek coins are showed in those threads. For some time I have been brainstorming myself to find a subject that can expand the sampling when we emphasize a certain iconographic characteristic. I believe I found one. The beard. We all know it is for millenium a symbol of virility, a sign of wisdom, strength, sexual prowess and high social status for men. (I would especially not be accused of sexism by women suffering from hirsutism, but the female disciples of Annie Jones are rather rare).


A picture taken in 1900 of Annie Jones, a bearded lady...

In Ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia, India and China, it was common to wear a long beard. Even Assyrians and Phoenicians proudly wore it. For the Hebrews, there was even a law forbidding the shaving of this masculine attribute :"Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard" (Leviticus 19:27). Herodotus (II, 36) says the Egyptians shaved the hair both of the face and of the head. For the men it was a sign of mourning or of slovenliness to let the hair and beard grow. For this reason Joseph, when taken out of prison, shaved before being brought into the presence of Pharaoh. (Gen.41:14) However, false beards as well as wigs were worn by the Egyptians. For a Greek, a real man had to have a beard. The Spartans punished cowards by shaving off a portion of their beards. Alexandre the Great imposed an impeccable shave on his army! Obsessive mania? Hair phobia? Nothing of that ! In reality, it was a clever ploy so that enemies had the least amount of grip possible in hand-to-hand combat.


An Egyptian false beard

Beards remained rare among the Romans throughout the Late Republic and the early Principate. Celtic and Germanic tribes were in fact called "barbarians" ( from barbarus 'stranger', and barbe 'beard' in french). Even if Augustus let grow a beard in mourning for the death of Julius Caesar, Hadrian was the first emperor wearing a beard, according to Cassius Dio (the greek biographer Plutarch pretend he did it to hide scars on his face ). Until the time of Constantine I the emperors appear in busts and coins with beards; but Constantine and his successors, with the exception of Julian II, are represented as beardless.


Julian as portrayed by Giovanni Battista Cavalieri (1583)

So now the time for the Challenge : show us your examples of bearded character or deities on coins.
Welcome to Roman, Greek, Parthian, Baktrian, Indian etc... collectors !

P.S. And don't forget: "The beard does not make the sage".

Maximianus Herculius



Septimius Severus


Tetricus


Licinius I

 

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..here's two good beards... Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus denari

 

1/ Constans III
2/ Marcus Aurelius/ Lucius Verus/ Eupator
3/ Constantine IV
4/ Zeus
5/6/ Diocletian/ Jupiter
7/8 Constantius I Chlorus

 

Tacitus and Gallienus with neck beard:

 

Marcus Aurelius with a bad beard day:

 

Hey @panzerman , I have to admit:nothing's better than a gold beard !

 

I know, not an ancient but I have plenty of beards in my collection. This one and my Avatar are probably my favorites.

 

1) Neck beards should not be allowed
2) That Byzantine beard is ZZ Top worthy
3) Since I studied Egyptian Archaeology, I wear a false beard every day

 

Thanks! I myself have never grown a beard, probably look younger without beard.

 

Circa 216-206 BCE
Greek city-state of Katane
Present-day Catania, Sicily
AE Chalkous
Obv: Busts of Serapis and Isis
Rev: KATANAION to left, Apollo standing left with column to the right, holding a branch and bow​

 

This is Severus Alexander with a somewhat special beard:

 

Neither do I. The furthest I've gone is to grow a mustache a few years ago for Movenber. My wife didn't want to kiss me for the whole month, so I gave up...

 

I can't grow one. It comes in in a tri-colored fashion - blonde, red, and brown and is quite sparse.

 

Acheloos or Man-Faced-Bull with Beard


Sicily Gela AR Litra Horse-Achelous 0.63g 13mm 465-450 BCE HGC 2 p 373

 

These always reminded me of ZZTop with cropped beards...


Celtic Imitation Philip II 2nd C BCE AR Drachm Kugelwange type- Danube Valley - pecunum auction



Celt Imit Philip II 2nd C BCE AR Drachm Zeus Horse pellet-in-annulet above Kugelwange type- Danube Valley - Kostial 508 OTA 204

 

Here are a few prominent beards:


Zeus, on a Syracuse 16 litrai:


Dionysis, on a Thasos hemidrachm:


Heracles, on a Metapontum stater:


Serapis, on a provincial bronze:

 

Parthians:
Mithradates II


Vologases VI - beard overlaps circle of dots

 

A few of my favorite beards...

 

Would someone run through why we see Constans II and Constans III ID's both coming to power in 641? I see more than one reference to III. Is there a dispute on this?

 

According to revsions in ERIC-II
Constans II 409-11AD was the son of Emperor Constantine III/ Augustus in 409-11
Thus the Constans II ( outdated books) is now
Constans III
Mr. Saurez has many new additions/ revisions in ERIC-II/ so older references are now obsolete.
John