Featured The Romans and the WATER.

We can survive a month without eating, but only about a week without drinking water. It is vital substance for all known forms of life, even though it provides no calories or organic nutrients. That's why March 12th is the WORLD WATER DAY. So let's talk about the relation between water and the Romans, and also with coinage.


Roman people, many centuries ago, depended on the Tiber River, local springs, and shallow wells for their need of drinking water; but water obtained from these sources grew polluted and became inadequate for the city's growing population. It was this necessity that brought the invention of aqueduct technology. The date of the first aqueduct is assigned around the year 312 BC. The water in the aqueducts descended gently through concrete channels. Multi-tiered viaducts were used to cross low areas. Inverted siphons were employed when valleys were particularly deep.


Roman aqueducts

The aqueducts transporting water to Rome were covered to prevent the water from being contaminated by dust, dirt, and other impurities and from being heated by the sun. Water was provided for a variety of uses including fountains (which served as sources for culinary water) and latrines, and for more exotic activities such as public baths. With few exceptions, the water from the aqueducts reached only the ground floor of apartment buildings. The occupants of the upper floors had to employed slaves to carry water or go themselves and draw water from the nearest fountain.


Caracalla's baths model

The baths were complex and advanced for its time. It had a heating system that heated different rooms to various degrees and had latrines incorporated into the baths that had used dirty bathwater. The heated baths were made by having a pool of water sit above a hypocaust, or basically a furnace room. The fuel would be burned and the hot gases released would heat up the floor and radiate upwards to heat the water for the confort of their users.

For the Romans, Neptune was the god of water. Like his Greek counterpart, Poseidon, he was most often associated with the Mediterranean Sea. Neptune was never strictly a sea god, however; his early Italian origin had been as a god of fresh water. Fontus, was the god of wells and springs and Volturnus, the god of the waters. Since rivers were often the main source of H2O, many River gods were created over time.

The first emperor who depicted a river god as the main character on the reverse of a Roman coin was Trajan. He used the Danuvius, as the Romans called the Danube, extensively on his coinage. Hadrian, the succeeding emperor, however, was quite different. He chose a different river as a standard for his reign; the river was the Nilus (Nile). The next two emperors, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, only depicted on their coinage the river Tiber; it flowed through the city of Rome and was the foremost river in Italy. Ninety years later, Postumus produced an antoninianus depicting a River God as a man reclining with his forearm resting on a boat, with the inscription SALVS PROVINCIARVM (“the health of the provinces”). In the reign of Constantine a series of coins depicting the Euphrates appear. They were minted in the name of Hanniballianus. The Euphrates was depicted on a siliqua and a small bronze coin; the Euphrates was shown as man reclining holding either a fish and rudder. If you collect Roman Provincial coins, you know that it exists dozens of examples featuring different River gods.
On the day we celebrate this essential element, please show me your coins related to water !

Neptune


Gordian III, river-god Oiskus resting on water urn.


Theodosius standing on Galley (if there's a galley there is water, no ?)

Valentinian II standing on Galley

 

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Oceanus, eldest of the Titans, father of 3000 rivers, whose domain encircled the entire Earth. Also, wearer of fancy crab claw hats...


HADRIAN
AR Denarius. 2.98g, 19.1mm. Rome mint, AD 121-123. RIC II.3 520. O: IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG, laureate bust right. R: P M TR P COS III, Oceanus reclining left on a dolphin, crab claw horns on his head, holding an anchor in his right hand.
Ex E.E. Clain-Stefanelli Collection

 

Commemorative Series
Mint Constantinople
330 AD
Obvs: POP ROMANVS, Draped bust of genius left, cornucopia over shoulder.
Revs: Bridge over river, CONS ϴ above.
AE 15mm, 0.98g
Ref: RIC VIII.21

 

I didn't know that Neptune was originally a fresh water god... neat!


Agrippa As, struck under Caligula

We mustn't forget all the water that eventually goes down the drain, the Great Drain of course:

L. Mussidius Longus, denarius 42 BCE, with Venus Cloacina (of the drains)

And here's that Hanniballianus you mentioned with the Euphrates on the reverse:

 

L Marcus Philippus Ar Denarius 57 BC Obv Diademed head of Ancus Marcius Right. Equestrian statue facing right on aqueduct of 5 arches Crawford 425/1 3.99 grms 18 mm Photo by W. Hansen The Roman quest for a stable water supply created some remarkably innovative and impressive structures. Some years ago I was able to visit the Pont du Gard a very imposing structure a bit north of the city of Nemausus (Nimes) I took many pictures which these two might give an impression od the scale of this project.

 

Roman water:

The Aqua Traiana on a well-used sestertius:


Trajan Æ Sestertius
(103-111 A.D.) Rome Mint
[IMP CAES NERVAE T]RAIANO A[VG GER DAC PM TRP COS V P P], laureate head right, slight drapery on left / [SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI, S-C, AQVA [TRAIANA] in ex. Aqua Traiana reclining left.
RIC 463; BMCRE 873.
(23.47 grams / 29 mm)

There are some interesting documentaries about the source for the Aqua Traiana - its source was only recently confirmed:

"The Manziana source was re-identified in early 2009 by two British film-makers, and its identity was confirmed on 24 June 2009, on the exact anniversary of 1900 years after the aqueduct's inauguration by archaeologist Lorenzo Quilici of University of Bologna." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_Traiana

Here's a YouTube video:

Here's the River Rhine personified:



Gallic Empire Antoninianus
Postumus (260 A.D.)
Trier Mint, 1st Emis., 2nd Ph.
IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG, radiate, draped & cuirassed right / SALVS PROVINCIARVM, river god Rhine, horns on head, reclining left, elbow on urn, hand on prow, holding anchor.
RIC 87; RSC 355; Sear 10990.
(2.78 grams / 24 x 21 mm)

 

Nice coin but AWFUL strike. Great candidate fir the worst flan of the ancient world

 

Roman Republic
Anon AR Heavy Denarius / Didrachm
7.3g, 21mm, 310-300 BCE
Helmeted Bearded Mars
Horse head, Grain behind / ROMANO
Crawford 13-1
FIRST Silver Coin of Rome. Tarriffed at 10 Asses; ERGO, actually is a Heavy Denarius, being struck before the Denarius Reform of 211 BCE.

In reading Kenneth Harl's book, although this coin does not FEATURE an Aquaduct, it was used to pay for the BUILDING of Via Appia and Aqua Appia. These were the first major projects that Rome embarked, creating their first "super-highway" and first major Aquaduct program. The Censor Appius Claudius Caecus built the Aqua Appia in 312 BCE as well as built the Via Appia.

 

Nilos reclining, Hadrian Drachm of Alexandria, Egypt

 

Nilus:

Hadrian, Billon Tetradrachm, Year 22 (137/138 AD), Alexandria, Egypt Mint. Obv. Laureate bust right, ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙϹ ΤΡΑΙΑ ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟϹ ϹƐΒ / Rev. Nilus seated left on rocks, holding reed in right hand and cornucopiae in left; crocodile below; L KB (Year 22) in left field. RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. III 6254 (2015); RPC III Online at https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/6254; Emmett 879.22 [Emmett, Keith, Alexandrian Coins (Lodi, WI, 2001)]; Milne 1569 [Milne, J., A Catalogue of the Alexandrian Coins in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, 1933, reprint with supplement by Colin M. Kraay)]; Köln.1241 [Geissen, A., Katalog alexandrinischer Kaisermünzen, Köln, Band II (Hadrian-Antoninus Pius) (Cologne, 1978, corrected reprint 1987)]. 24 mm., 12.9 g.



Tyche with river god Orontes:

Trajan AR Tetradrachm, 112 AD, Seleucis & Pieria, Antioch Mint. Obv. Laureate head right, club below to left and eagle (standing right) below to right, AYTOKP KAIC NER TPAIANOC CEB ΓEPM ΔAK / Rev. Tyche of Antioch, wearing mural crown, seated on rocks, right, holding two ears of wheat and a poppy-head in her right hand, river god Orontes at her feet in river swimming right, looking up at Tyche, left arm extended and left forefinger pointed, ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ΕΞ ΙϚ ΥΠΑΤ Ϛ [= TR POT XVI, COS VI]. RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. III 4076 (2015); RPC Online at https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/3543, McAlee 471 [Richard McAlee, The Coins of Roman Antioch (2007)]; Prieur 1499 [Michel and Karin Prieur, Syro-Phoenician Tetradrachms (London, 2000)]; Sear GIC 1089 at p. 100 (ill.), attributed to Tyre [D. Sear, Greek Imperial Coins and their Values (1982)]. 25 mm., 13.88 g.




Anonymous civic issue, reign of Maximinus II, AE quarter follis [?][Sear] or 1/12 nummus [?][McAlee], Antioch Mint (3rd Officina), ca. 311-312 AD. Obv. Tyche (city-goddess of Antioch) wearing mural crown, seated facing on rock, holding wheat or grain ears with right hand and, with left hand, holding a two-handled basket (filled with wheat or grain ears[?]) resting on ground to right, river god Orontes swimming below, GENIO ANTIOCHINI / Rev. Apollo standing left, pouring libation from patera held in right hand, and holding lyre in raised left hand, Γ [gamma, signifying 3rd Officina] in right field, APOLLONI SANCTO around; in exergue, SMA [meaning Sigmata Moneta Antioch (money struck at Antioch) or Sacra Moneta Antioch]. [Not in RIC; see http://www.notinric.lechstepniewski.info/6ant_civ_4v.html.] Sear RCV IV 14927 (ill); Vagi 2954; McAlee 170; Van Heesch Type 3 [Van Heesch, J. "The last civic coinages and the religious policy of Maximinus Daza (AD 312)" in Numismatic Chronicle (1993), pp. 63-75 & Pl. 11]; ERIC II, “Anonymous Religious Coinage of the Fourth Century,” pp. 1198-1199, No. 2. 16 mm., 1.35 g. [Struck either (1) to promote propaganda against Christians and aid in their persecution (and thus traditionally denominated the “Persecution issue”; or (2) as proposed by David Kalina, for use in festivals, including the Festival of Apollo at Daphne, held in conjunction with the Olympics in Antioch in 312 AD. See Kalina, David, “Anonymous Civic Coinage,” Series 1, at http://allcoinage.com/anonymous_civic.php.]




Aqua Marcia aqueduct:

Roman Republic, L. Marcius Philippus, AR Denarius, 56 BCE, Rome Mint. Obv. Diademed head of Ancus Marcius [fourth King of Rome] right, lituus behind, ANCVS below / Rev. The Aqua Marcia aqueduct, represented as an arcade of five arches surmounted by an equestrian statue right [portraying Quintus Marcius Rex, builder of that aqueduct], with horse rearing; flower below horse; PHILIPPVS on left, AQVAMAR [MAR in monogram] within the arches. Crawford 425/1, RSC I Marcia 28, Sydenham 919, Sear RCV I 382 (ill.), Harlan, Michael, Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins 63 BCE - 49 BCE (2d ed. 2015) (“RRM II”), Ch. 15 at pp. 122-128. 18 mm., 3.92 mm., 7 h.*



* The moneyer, Lucius Marcius Philippus (triumvir in 56 BCE, praetor in 44, suffect consul in 38 BCE) was the stepbrother of Gaius Octavius [later Augustus] (age seven at the time of this issue). The moneyer’s father, also named Lucius Marcius Philippus (consul in 56 BCE), was Octavius's stepfather by virtue of marrying the widow Atia, who was the mother of Octavius and Julius Caesar's niece (the daughter of Caesar’s sister Julia and her husband M. Atius Balbus). See Sear RCV I at p.145, Harlan, RRM II at pp. 122, 127-128.

The gens Marcia, to which the moneyer belonged, was named after Ancus Marcius, depicted on the obverse -- the legendary fourth king of Rome, who was the founder of that gens, and, therefore, the moneyer’s ancestor. (The lituus probably represents the king's augurship.) Quintus Marcius Rex, the horseman depicted by the equestrian statue atop the Aqua Marcia aqueduct on the reverse, and the builder of that aqueduct in 144 BCE when he was praetor, was a distant cousin of the moneyer. However, he was not actually the moneyer’s ancestor, because Quintus belonged to the Reges branch of the gens Marcia, rather than the moneyer's Philippi branch of that gens. The two branches had separated by the end of the third century. Harlan, RRM II at pp.122-126. See id. for details on the size of the aqueduct and its reputation (according to Pliny) of having the coolest and most healthful waters of all Roman aqueducts. See Pliny, Naturalis Historia, 31.41.

The flower beneath the horse may refer to the conception of Mars by the fertilization of Juno by a flower. (See the discussion at Crawford Vol. I p. 308 of a similar motif on Crawford 293, issued in 113/112 BCE by an earlier L. Marcius Philippus, Consul in 91 BCE.)

 

I must ask how much would this coin typically run price wise? Not to familiar with ancient Roman coins but am very fascinated.

 

..i've never been more insulted in my life...('course i don't get out much)..more of irregular flan than strike methinks...and hasn't time been kind to the kings portrait...

 

At auction, say a hundred bucks (plus or minus a bit)? At least that would have been normal before the current price bump. (zumbly's also has a nice provenance which would bring his up somewhat.)

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