I’ve recently added two coins featuring desultors to my
Roman Republican Gallery. These are in addition to a third coin that has been in the
Gallery for a while. The three coins can be found here:
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-163453https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-163220https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-145227Desultors were
equestrian acrobats who thrilled crowds by controlling two horses and leaping from one
horse to another at full gallop. This acrobatic riding was not necessarily the
work of professionals, as Suetonius reported that young
men “of the highest rank” engaged in the practice during the games of
Julius Caesar’s triumphal celebrations (Suet. Deified Julius XXXIX). The practice, with four horses, is referenced in the Illiad (II.15.680), so likely dates to Homeric times or earlier. The practice perhaps has origins in Minoan
bull leaping and similar acrobatics with
animals. Livy references that Numidian cavalry took two horses apiece and, like
circus performers, jumped fully armed from a weary mount to a fresh one (Liv xxiii 29). A
Roman desultor, as depicted on
Roman Republican coins, rode two horses, bare-back, which he managed by reins and whip, and he wore a
pileus (felt
cap) typically associated with the
Dioscuri. The
pileus raises the possibility that the practice
had religious connotations rather than a mere
circus trick. The
Dioscuri,
Castor and
Pollux, were half-brother, paternal twins of Leda,
Jupiter and the
King of Sparta, and were often depicted wearing felt
pilei and riding horses. They
had a strong following in
Rome, with a temple consecrated to them in the
Roman Forum in 484 BCE by A. Postumius after
his victory in the Battle of Lake Regillus, in which
Castor and
Pollux reportedly guided the
Romans to
victory over the Latins. Due to their mixed parentage,
Pollux was immortal and
Castor was mortal. Following the death of
Castor, the twins shared
Pollux’s immortality by swapping places each day between Hades and Mount Olympus. The
desultor, wearing a Dioscurus’
cap and riding two horses, likely represents either one of the twins with their two horses. Despite the representative link to the
Dioscuri, the
desultor’s appearance on a coin
type is typically an allusion to games. Desultors appear on several
Republican coin
types, including
Crawford 297/1, 346/1, 480/21 and 480/22.
Enjoy!