Hi to all historical interested
members!
Recently on
search of background informations for my coins I found this, which I want to share with you. Subject is the
Augustus denar
RIC I, 169; C.141;
BMC 458
AR - Denar, 3.82g, 18mm
Lugdunum 15-13 BC
obv. AVGVSTVS -
DIVI F (counterclockwise)
bare head of
Augustus r.
rev. bull butting l.,
head down
exergue:
IMP . X
Rare; EF,
portrait!
The theme of the butting
bull on this coin has two sources. First it resembles the famous
types of Thurioi/Lucania. Thurioi is a town in Southern
Italy and started very early with the emission of coins. Here I have a pic from
Wildwinds.
Thourioi, ca. 440-410 BC.
AR - Nomos, 7.96g
obv. head of
Athena r., wearing Attic helmet, decorated with laurel-wreath, small Gamma on top of visor.
rev. bull walking l., Gamma below
exergue:
fish SNG ANS 879 (same
obverse die);
SNG Lockett 466
The matching is astonishing. But what connections can be found between
Augustus and Thurioi? I made a strike at Sueton, De
Vita Caesorum
Lib.2,
Divus Augustus:
1. [...] that
his great-grandfather was a released, a roper from the village of Thurii [...] (
Lib.2,
2.3)
2. [...] on the way he (catavian's father!) killed a handful followers of Spartacus and Catilina who were left over and while on flight
had the region of Thurioi under control [...]
Lib.2, 3.1)
3. When he was a child he was given the
cognomen Thurinus, to remind on the origin of
his ancestors.
Sueton then confirmed the
cognomen Thurinus saying that he have
had a small
bust of
Augustus in
his own
hands with the
inscription Thurinus.
Marcus Antonius often called him in
his letters Thurinus as attempt to bring discredit upon him. But
Augustus wondered why that should be shameful . (
Lib.2, 7.1)
So there is a strong personal connection between Thurioi and
Augustus.
The second source for the butting
bull theme are coins of Massalia, today Marseille in
France, from the 1st century BC which show a butting
bull too. So the Coin of
Augustus is an allusion to
Gaul and therefore a
mint of
Gaul is assumed for
Augustus' coin, most likely Lugdunum/Lyon. The motiv of the
bull seems to stand for a
bull cult in
Gaul. We know that
Augustus was 16-13 BC in
Gaul to reorganize it. So the emission of this coin is probably for a memento of
his stay in
Gaul.
Here I have a coin of Massalia with a
bull from 149-140 BC.
Lit.:
BMCRE Vol.I, p.xvi, p.cxv
Melville
Jones, Dictionary of Ancient
Roman Coins Monumentum Ancyranum
www.roman-emperors.org www.wildwinds.com Regards
