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----------     The Sign Language of Roman Coins     ----------

The Blessed Moon — Luna and Selene

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"Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear ..." — from Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakspere

The reverse of a denarius of Septimius Severus showing the crescent moon and seven stars The reverse of a denarius of Septimius Severus showing the crescent moon and seven stars.
The reverse of a bronze coin of Geta showing the crescent moon and five stars The reverse of a bronze coin of Geta showing the crescent moon and five stars.
The reverse of a bronze coin of Caracalla showing a star in a crescent moon The reverse of a bronze coin of Caracalla showing a single star in a crescent moon.

The crescent moon

The moon appeared on many ancient coins in various guises. The most straightforward and direct of those was a crescent moon accompanied by one, three, four, five or seven stars. The examples on the right are a small bronze coin of Caracalla from Nikopolis ad Istrum with a single star in the arms of the crescent moon, a coin of Geta showing five stars, and a denarius of Septimius Severus with an array of seven stars. The denarius has been holed for use as a talisman, probably because of its astrological theme. These three coins were struck in the last decade of the 2nd century CE.

Seven stars are found more often than any other number. They might have had different meanings on different coins. It is sometimes said that they represent the five planets known in classical times plus the sun and the moon, but that idea is hard to sustain on coins which show the moon as well. Another theory is that they represent the Pleiades, a constellation sometimes known as the Seven Sisters. One Republican moneyer, Lucretius Trio, might have meant his seven stars to refer to the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear, sometimes called the Plough or the Big Dipper.

The obverse of a silver denarius of Salonina showing the empress with a lunar crescent under her bust The obverse of a silver denarius of Salonina showing the empress with a lunar crescent under her bust.
The reverse of a silver antoninianus of Salonina showing the goddess Segetia in a temple The reverse of a silver antoninianus of Salonina showing the goddess Segetia in a temple.

In the year 215 CE, the emperor nicknamed Caracalla began to strike a new denomination of coin, a double denarius that we know today as the antoninianus, after the emperor's real name. No-one knows the name it was called by at the time. On this demonination, the emperor always wore a crown of rays. This probably followed an old tradition of wearing such a radiate crown on double denominations, such as the older dupondius, which was worth two asses. On the single unit denominations, the as and the denarius, emperors wore a laurel wreath.

This radiate crown was the sign of the sun-god Sol. But Sol was not suitable for a female, so when an empress was shown on an antoninianus, the crescent moon was placed under her bust instead. The coin on the far left is a billon antoninianus of the empress Salonina, struck in 265 CE, and it shows the crescent very clearly

A small crescent was sometimes used to indicate some association with the moon. On the inside left is the reverse of another coin of Salonina, struck in 259 or 260 CE. This one shows a minor agricultural goddess, Segetia, in her temple. There is a small crescent moon on her head, perhaps to indicate the influence of the moon on the growth and harvesting of crops.

The reverse of a billon antoninianus of Gallienus showing Diana as a moon goddess carrying a lighted torch The reverse of a billon antoninianus of Gallienus showing Diana as a moon goddess carrying a lighted torch.
The reverse of a silver denarius of Julia Domna showing Diana carrying a lighted torch The reverse of a silver denarius of Julia Domna showing Diana carrying a lighted torch.

Diana and Luna, Roman moon deities

The Roman goddess Diana was often shown carrying a torch, under the name Diana Lucifera, the bringer of light. In this way she already had an aspect of the moon about her. So much so, that on some coins the crescent moon was placed behind her shoulders, appearing to cradle her head.

The coin on the near right is one such, a denarius of Julia Domna from 196-211 CE. (I am looking for a reasonable example with the word DIANA still visible!)

Later coins showed a female in exactly the same pose, holding the same flaming, segmented long torch, but naming her LVNA, so that now Diana has become the moon goddess herself. On the far right is an antoninianus of Gallienus from 260-268 CE with the legend LVNA LVCIF. On this coin, the lunar crescent is on top of her head, as it is on the coin above which shows Segetia.

The reverse of a silver denarius of Trajan showing Aeternitas holding the heads of Sol and Luna The reverse of a silver denarius of Trajan showing Aeternitas holding the heads of Sol and Luna.
The reverse of a silver denarius of Hadrian showing Aeternitas holding the heads of Sol and Luna The reverse of a silver denarius of Hadrian showing Aeternitas holding the heads of Sol and Luna.

Both Trajan and Hadrian produced coins showing the personification of eternity, Aeternitas, holding the heads of Sol and Luna, one in each hand. On the left is Sol, with his crown of rays, and Luna is on the right, with a crescent atop her head.

The coins on the left show two variations. On the far left, a denarius of Trajan struck in 111 CE on which the heads are held facing outwards, towards us. Next to it, a denarius of Hadrian struck a few years later, on which the heads are facing inwards towards each other, sideways on to us and in profile.

The reverse of a silver antoninianus of Julia Domna showing Luna in a quadriga The reverse of a silver antoninianus of Julia Domna showing Luna in a quadriga.

Aeternitas' possession of these heads was not meant to be literal. They were symbols of the way that Eternity rules over all time, both day and night.

The coin on the right is an antoninianus, a demonination first struck by Caracalla, supposedly worth two denarii, but lighter than that in weight, which must have been a handy saving for his treasury. This one is in the name of his mother, Julia Domna. This reverse shows Luna in a biga, a carriage of two horses. She has a crescent on her head here too. The field of this coin is darkly toned, with the elements of the design showing up in silver. I like the idea this presents of Luna driving through the night, bringing her silvery moonlight with her.

Caracalla issued a similar type in his own name, but on his coins, Luna's carriage was drawn by a pair of bulls.

Selene, Greek goddess of the moon

The head of a horse from Selene's chariot from the Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum The head of a horse from Selene's chariot from the Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum.
The reverse of a billon Alexandrian tetradrachm of Claudius II Gothicus showing Selene and a lunar crescent The reverse of an Alexandrian tetradrachm of Claudius II Gothicus showing Selene and a lunar crescent.
The reverse of a billon Alexandrian tetradrachm of Commodus showing Selene and a lunar crescent The reverse of an Alexandrian tetradrachm of Commodus showing Selene and a lunar crescent.

The Greek equivalent of Luna was Selene. Coins from Rome's eastern provinces, which had a Hellenic tradition, are therefore said to refer to Selene rather than Luna.

Although it's not strictly relevant to coins, I can't introduce Selene without showing a dramatic carving which can be seen in the British Museum. It is from the Parthenon, and is the head of one of Selene's horses as she drives her carriage down and out of sight, while Helios, the sun-god, drives up on the far side of the pediment. A photo of that head, breathless and exhausted from the night's effort, is on the far left.

These two coins are from Roman Alexandria, the capital city of Egypt, and the only place in that country where coinage was in regular use. They are potin tetradrachms, of Claudius II Gothicus on the left, from 268 CE, and of Commodus next to that, from 187 CE. On these coins, Selene faces a large crescent moon that indicates her identity.

The reverse of a bronze coin of Volusian from Anazarbus showing Selene and seven stars The reverse of a bronze coin of Volusian from Anazarbus showing Selene and seven stars.
The reverse of an Alexandrian tetradrachm of Hadrian showing Selene with a crescent on her head The reverse of an Alexandrian tetradrachm of Hadrian showing Selene with a crescent on her head.

Earlier Alexandrian tetradrachms were purer silver, and later ones looked more like bronze, but these are in between, giving a slightly silvery sheen that once again suits their subject matter.

On the near right is one of those earlier tetradrachms, from 125-126 CE. This is a coin of Hadrian, and shows Selene in a different way, with a crescent upon her profiled head.

On the far right is a bronze coin of Volusian from Anazarbus in Cilicia, dating from 251-252 CE. This one has the crescent once more behind Selene's shoulders. The seven stars make an appearance again, four above her left shoulder and three above her right.

Mên, the eastern moon god

Finally, for this page, here is an entirely different moon deity, the Anatolian moon god Mên. The first of these coins is of Julia Domna, from Antioch in Pisidia, a Roman colony town, struck during the period 193-218 CE; probably later rather than earlier, judging from the heavy hairstyle, which you can see if you click on the image. This is a nice chunky bronze coin, 31mm across.

The reverse of a bronze coin of Julia Domna from Antioch in Pisidia showing the moon god Men The reverse of a bronze coin of Julia Domna from Antioch in Pisidia showing the moon god Men.
The reverse of a bronze coin of Tranquillina from Sardes in Lydia showing the moon god Men The reverse of a bronze coin of Tranquillina from Sardes in Lydia showing the moon god Men.

Mên is shown with the lunar crescent behind his shoulders. This image is packed with symbols which related to his cult. He has a Phrygian bonnet; ribbons hang down from his shoulders and elbows; he holds a tall sceptre his in right hand; his left elbow rests on column; in his left hand is a globe with a small Victory, with a trophy over her shoulder; his left foot resting on bucranium (an ox skull); at his right foot is a cock walking to the left, its head turned to the right.

The rather prosaic reason for the column under Men's elbow is that this image was almost certainly copied from a statue, and that support would have been needed to add strength to the outsretched arm. All the other details would have had a cult significance.

The second coin is of Tranquillina, the wife of Gordian III, 40 or 50 years later, and is from Sardes in Lydia, where Mên was called Mên Askênos; probably a local cult name. This is a much smaller and lighter coin. It shows the same Mên with many of the same attributes, and here he also holds a pine cone in his outstretched hand.

There are inscriptions which appear to give Men aspects of many other gods. Men was clearly an important deity in his time and place, but is not well known today, unlike the gentler Selene and Luna.


The content of this page was last updated on 29 March 2010

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