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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Themes & Provenance| ▸ |Gods, Non-Olympian| ▸ |Cybele||View Options:   | | |
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Cybele, called mother of the gods, was originally Anatolian mother goddess. In Rome, Cybele was known as Magna Mater ("Great Mother"). Roman mythographers reinvented her as a Trojan goddess, and thus an ancestral goddess of the Roman people by way of the Trojan prince Aeneas. With Rome's eventual hegemony over the Mediterranean world, Romanised forms of Cybele's cults spread throughout the Roman Empire.RS113167. Silver denarius, RIC IV C382 (S); BMCRE V p. 432, 14; RSC III 137; SRCV II 7401, Choice gVF, well centered, nice portrait, toned, flow lines, edge cracks, weight 2.498 g, maximum diameter 18.9 mm, die axis 0o, Rome mint, reign of Caracalla, 211 - 215 A.D.; obverse IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG, draped bust right; reverse MATRI DEVM, Cybele standing facing, legs crossed, leaning with left arm resting on a column, head left, towered and veiled, drum in right hand, long scepter resting against left arm, lion left at feet half visible from behind legs to left; ex Numismatik Naumann auction 130 (2 Jul 2023), lot 1228 (part of); scarce;
Julia Domna, Augusta 194 - 8 April 217 A.D.
| Cybele, the Phrygian "Great Mother" earth goddess, was born a hermaphrodite, but castrated by the gods, she became female. After dire prodigies, including a meteor shower and a failed harvest, seemed to warn of Rome's imminent defeat to Hannibal, the Roman senate consulted the Sibylline oracle. Heeding the oracle's advice, the senate brought worship of Cybele to Rome in 204 B.C. as the first officially sanctioned Eastern cult. After approval, they were dismayed to learn that the priesthood required voluntary self-castration, which was abhorrent to the Romans. Romans were barred from entering the priesthood or even entering the priest's sanctuary. The eunuch priests, recruited from outside Rome, were confined to their sanctuary, leaving only to parade in the streets during festivals in April. Claudius removed the bans on Roman participation, making worship of Cybele and her consort Attis part of the state religion. |  |
Sala, Lydia, c. 98 - 117 A.D.
The town of Sala is identifiable with Tepecik in today's west Asiatic Turkey, but in antiquity was in the Roman province of Lydia in Asia Minor.RP113001. Bronze AE 19, RPC Online III 2438; BMC Lydia p. 228, 11; SNG Cop 422; SNG Leypold II 1178; Waddington 6435; Weber 6895; Lindgren I 797, VF, well centered, green patina, obv. flatly struck, light deposits, weight 5.132 g, maximum diameter 19.4 mm, die axis 30o, Lydia, Sala (Tepecik, Turkey) mint, c. 98 - 117 A.D.; obverse bust of Athena right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet and aegis; reverse CAΛHNΩN, Cybele seated left, kalathos on head, phiale in right hand, resting left arm on tympanum (drum), lion at feet on far side;
Claudius and Agrippina Junior, 50 - 13 October 54 A.D., Smyrna, Ionia
Agrippina Jr. was daughter of Agrippina Sr. and Germanicus, sister of Caligula, and mother of Nero. She seduced and married her uncle Claudius, murdering him after she secured the thrown for Nero. A soothsayer prophesied if Nero became emperor, he would kill his mother, Agrippina replied "Let him kill me, only let him rule!" Nero executed her in 59 A.D.RP70082. Bronze AE 21, Klose XXX; RPC I 2475; SNG Cop 1348; BMC Ionia p. 270, 281; Lindgren I A561A, VF, nice near black dark patina, small areas of light corrosion and encrustation, strike weak upper reverse, weight 5.197 g, maximum diameter 21.0 mm, die axis 0o, Smyrna (Izmir, Turkey) mint, 51 - 13 Oct 54 A.D.; obverse jugate laureate head of Claudius and draped bust of Agrippina Junior right, ΣMYP below; reverse EΠI ΦIΛIΣTOY EIKAΔIOΣ (stephanephoros Philistos and strategos Eikadios), Cybele seated left, patera in right, left arm resting on tympanum on seat beside her, small lion right under seat on exergue line; rare; SOLD
Julia Domna, Augusta 194 - 8 April 217 A.D., Hypaepa, Lydia
Cybele, the Phrygian deification of the Earth Mother, was born a hermaphrodite but castrated by the gods, she became female. Heeding the Sibylline oracle, the senate brought her worship to Rome in 204 B.C. as the first officially sanctioned Eastern cult. After approval, they were dismayed to learn that the priesthood required voluntary self-castration, which was abhorrent to the Romans. Romans were barred from entering the priesthood or even entering the priest's sanctuary. The eunuch priests, recruited from outside Rome, were confined to their sanctuary, leaving only to parade in the streets during festivals in April. Claudius removed the bans on Roman participation, making worship of Cybele and her consort Attis part of the state religion.RS43696. Bronze AE 30, BMC Lydia -, SNG Cop -, SNGvA -, SNG Hunterian -, SNG Munchen, SNG Tüb -, SNG Righetti -, Weber -, gF, weight 13.220 g, maximum diameter 30.1 mm, die axis 180o, Hypaepa (near Günlüce, Turkey) mint, 194 - 8 Apr 217 A.D.; obverse IOV ΔOMNA CEBACTH, draped bust right; reverse [EΠI CTPA ...] Δ OYΠAΠIΩNOC, Cybele seated left, lion at feet, holding phiale, elbow on tympanum, YΠAIΠΗNΩN in exergue; extremely rare; SOLD
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