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<p>[QUOTE="Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 4746753, member: 99554"]Rome’s hills were alive with the sound of music, and it played an important role in worshipping the gods and in general culture. In temples and ceremonies and also in the city’s theatres, streets, and humble homes, music was everywhere . Nobody knows what Roman music sounded like. No Roman compositions have survived and scholars don't even know what their system of notation was. All efforts to recreate what Roman music might sound like have been based on archaeological remains of instruments, references in historical texts and depictions in frescoes, mosaics and sculpture. Historians of Antiquity have left us details about Emperors who appreciated music :</p><p><br /></p><p>On Hadrian Aelius Spartianus wrote: “In poetry and in letters Hadrian was greatly interested. In arithmetic, geometry, and painting he was very expert. Of his knowledge of <b>flute</b>-playing and singing he even boasted openly.(Life of Hadrian XIV)</p><p><br /></p><p>On Titus (ruled A.D. 79–81), Suetonius wrote:“Titus, He was besides not unacquainted with music, but sang and played the <b>harp</b> agreeably and skillfully. (De Vita Caesarum viii, 3)</p><p><br /></p><p>On the great games hosted by Vespasian (A.D. 69-79), Suetonius wrote: “At the plays with which he dedicated the new stage of the theater of Marcellus he revived the old <b>musical</b> entertainments.(De Vita Caesarum viii, 19)</p><p><br /></p><p>During his monotonous <b>lyre</b> recitals, it was said that Nero locked the audience in the theater. No one was all owed out for any reason. Once a woman reportedly gave birth in the middle of a performance and Nero kept on playing as if nothing had happened !</p><p>Lately we had an interesting thread about lyre on coins by [USER=89687]@ominus1[/USER] and I asked myself if we could go further with musical instruments. So here are some examples found on Roman coins :</p><p><b>Lyre</b>: had a sounding body of wood or a tortoise shell covered with skin, and arms of animal horn or wood, with strings stretched from a cross bar to the sounding body.</p><p>Hadrian with Lyre :</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1159701[/ATTACH]</p><p>Fresco in Pompeii</p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Fresco_from_Pompeii%2C_1st_century_AD%2C_National_Archaeological_Museum_of_Naples%2C_Italy.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Cithara</b>: was the premier musical instrument of ancient Rome and was played both in popular and elevated forms of music. Larger and heavier than a lyre, the cithara was a loud, sweet and piercing instrument with precision tuning ability.</p><p>Antoninus Pius holding Cithara</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1159702[/ATTACH]</p><p>Apollo with a Cithara</p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Apollo_Musagetes_Pio-Clementino_Inv310.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Tympanum</b>(hand drum) : a type of hand drum or tambourine. It was circular, shallow, and beaten with the palm of the hand or a stick.</p><p>Cybele resting hand on Tympanum</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1159700[/ATTACH]</p><p>And here's Cybele again with her famous hand drum</p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Bronze_statuette_of_Cybele.jpg/640px-Bronze_statuette_of_Cybele.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>And now other coins not in my collection :</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Tuba</b>: a long, straight bronze trumpet with a detachable, conical mouthpiece. Extant examples are about 1.3 metres long ;since there were no valves, the tubawas capable only of a single overtone series.</p><p>A character playing Tuba on a Valentinian coin</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1159714[/ATTACH]</p><p>Monnaies d'antan picture</p><p><br /></p><p>Tuba players on Trajan's column</p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Tubicen.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Sistrum</b>: was a rattle consisting of rings strung across the cross-bars of a metal frame, which was often used for ritual purposes.</p><p><br /></p><p>Hadrian with Aegyptos holding a Sistrum</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1159712[/ATTACH]</p><p>The New-York Sale picture</p><p><br /></p><p>Isis with Sistrum</p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Isis_Musei_Capitolini_MC744.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Tibiae</b>[Aulos] : usually double, had two double-reed (as in a modern oboe) pipes, not joined but generally played with a mouth-bandcapistrumto hold both pipes steadily between the player's lips.</p><p>Domitian with Tibiae player</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1159713[/ATTACH]</p><p>CNG picture</p><p><br /></p><p>What a battle : Lyre VS Tibiae !</p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Apollon_%26_Marsyas.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Now the challenge for the week-end : Please search your collection and <b>show us your nicest coins with musical instruments!</b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 4746753, member: 99554"]Rome’s hills were alive with the sound of music, and it played an important role in worshipping the gods and in general culture. In temples and ceremonies and also in the city’s theatres, streets, and humble homes, music was everywhere . Nobody knows what Roman music sounded like. No Roman compositions have survived and scholars don't even know what their system of notation was. All efforts to recreate what Roman music might sound like have been based on archaeological remains of instruments, references in historical texts and depictions in frescoes, mosaics and sculpture. Historians of Antiquity have left us details about Emperors who appreciated music : On Hadrian Aelius Spartianus wrote: “In poetry and in letters Hadrian was greatly interested. In arithmetic, geometry, and painting he was very expert. Of his knowledge of [B]flute[/B]-playing and singing he even boasted openly.(Life of Hadrian XIV) On Titus (ruled A.D. 79–81), Suetonius wrote:“Titus, He was besides not unacquainted with music, but sang and played the [B]harp[/B] agreeably and skillfully. (De Vita Caesarum viii, 3) On the great games hosted by Vespasian (A.D. 69-79), Suetonius wrote: “At the plays with which he dedicated the new stage of the theater of Marcellus he revived the old [B]musical[/B] entertainments.(De Vita Caesarum viii, 19) During his monotonous [B]lyre[/B] recitals, it was said that Nero locked the audience in the theater. No one was all owed out for any reason. Once a woman reportedly gave birth in the middle of a performance and Nero kept on playing as if nothing had happened ! Lately we had an interesting thread about lyre on coins by [USER=89687]@ominus1[/USER] and I asked myself if we could go further with musical instruments. So here are some examples found on Roman coins : [B]Lyre[/B]: had a sounding body of wood or a tortoise shell covered with skin, and arms of animal horn or wood, with strings stretched from a cross bar to the sounding body. Hadrian with Lyre : [ATTACH=full]1159701[/ATTACH] Fresco in Pompeii [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Fresco_from_Pompeii%2C_1st_century_AD%2C_National_Archaeological_Museum_of_Naples%2C_Italy.jpg[/IMG] [B]Cithara[/B]: was the premier musical instrument of ancient Rome and was played both in popular and elevated forms of music. Larger and heavier than a lyre, the cithara was a loud, sweet and piercing instrument with precision tuning ability. Antoninus Pius holding Cithara [ATTACH=full]1159702[/ATTACH] Apollo with a Cithara [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Apollo_Musagetes_Pio-Clementino_Inv310.jpg[/IMG] [B]Tympanum[/B](hand drum) : a type of hand drum or tambourine. It was circular, shallow, and beaten with the palm of the hand or a stick. Cybele resting hand on Tympanum [ATTACH=full]1159700[/ATTACH] And here's Cybele again with her famous hand drum [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Bronze_statuette_of_Cybele.jpg/640px-Bronze_statuette_of_Cybele.jpg[/IMG] And now other coins not in my collection : [B]Tuba[/B]: a long, straight bronze trumpet with a detachable, conical mouthpiece. Extant examples are about 1.3 metres long ;since there were no valves, the tubawas capable only of a single overtone series. A character playing Tuba on a Valentinian coin [ATTACH=full]1159714[/ATTACH] Monnaies d'antan picture Tuba players on Trajan's column [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Tubicen.jpg[/IMG] [B]Sistrum[/B]: was a rattle consisting of rings strung across the cross-bars of a metal frame, which was often used for ritual purposes. Hadrian with Aegyptos holding a Sistrum [ATTACH=full]1159712[/ATTACH] The New-York Sale picture Isis with Sistrum [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Isis_Musei_Capitolini_MC744.jpg[/IMG] [B]Tibiae[/B][Aulos] : usually double, had two double-reed (as in a modern oboe) pipes, not joined but generally played with a mouth-bandcapistrumto hold both pipes steadily between the player's lips. Domitian with Tibiae player [ATTACH=full]1159713[/ATTACH] CNG picture What a battle : Lyre VS Tibiae ! [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Apollon_%26_Marsyas.jpg[/IMG] Now the challenge for the week-end : Please search your collection and [B]show us your nicest coins with musical instruments![/B][/QUOTE]
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