Transcript Elkins Juvenal

‘What a monstrous gullet, that serves itself whole boars…’:
The Imagery of Contemporary Coin Types in Juvenal’s First Satire
Nathan T. Elkins
Roman Coins and Texts
• “On the coins which he struck, he [Brutus] impressed his own image, and a
Cap of Liberty and two daggers, demonstrating from this and through the
inscription that he, with Cassius had freed their country” (Dio 47.25.3).
• Paraphrase: Julian extorted Christians in Antioch by lowering the prices of
commodities, the crowds pointed to the pagan bull on his coins as
evidence of the destruction that his rule had brought to the world
(Socrates Scholasticus 3.17).
• Paraphrase: A man is offered a coin of Nero, but asks instead for one of
Trajan, even though the one of Nero had a greater value (Arrian,
Discourses of Epictetus 5.17).
• For some discussion of texts that described Roman coins, see A. Burnett,
Coinage in the Roman World (London, 1987), p. 66ff.
T.V. Buttrey and the Rhinoceros
• Buttrey, T.V. 2007. “Domitian, the rhinoceros,
and the date of Martial’s Liber De Spectaculis,”
Journal of Roman Studies 97: 101-112.
My method with Juvenal 1
• Familiar with Trajanic coin types and having read
Juvenal 1, the theme of which is the corrupting
influence of money, it seems to that the satirist is
alluding to the imagery contemporary coin types
to deepen his satire. But how can one ‘prove it’?
• Can the quantification of the frequency of reverse
types be of assistance?
– Silver (hoard analysis)
– Bronze (archaeological evidence)
The Sportula
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Trojan-born elites (line 100)
The Praetor and the Tribune (101)
The “highest office” (117)
The freedman (102)
Juvenal
• The corrupting influence of money and the desire
for it is a recurring theme in the genre of Roman
satire, especially Juvenal.
• In general, Juvenal’s tone is one of anger and
indignation throughout his satire.
• He regularly denigrates previous regimes as
responsible for the degeneracy of Roman moral
values; this practice was topos among the writers
of Trajan’s and Hadrian’s day (e.g. also Tacitus and
Suetonius).
…………………….. expectent ergo tribuni,
vincant divitiae, sacro ne cedat honori
nuper in hanc urbem pedibus qui venerat albis,
quandoquidem inter nos sanctissima divitiarum
maiestas, etsi funesta pecunia templo
nondum habitat, nullas nummorum ereximus aras,
ut colitur Pax atque Fides Victoria Virtus
quaeque salutato crepitat Concordia nido.
Sed cum summus honor finito conputet anno,
sportula quid referat, quantum rationibus addat,
quid facient comites quibus hinc toga, calceus hinc est
et panis fumusque domi? Densissima centum
quadrantes lectica petit, sequiturque maritum
languida vel praegnas et circumducitur uxor.
Divitiae, -arum: wealth
Pecunia, -ae: money
Nummus, -i: coin
110
115
120
Personifications on Roman Coinage
• Pax and Victoria were popular reverse designs on Roman imperial
coinage long before the ascension of Domitian and Trajan; themes
of martial victory had been an important facet of Roman coin
design since the Republic.
• Fides’ first appearance on the imperial coinage was on dupondii and
asses of Galba.
• Virtus was first displayed on the imperial coinage of Nero and was
also prevalent on Galba’s coinage.
• The Temple of Concord was a reverse design on sestertii of Tiberius,
but the personification of Concordia first appeared on imperial
coins in Nero’s reign and in the civil wars.
• All of these personifications appeared on the coins of a single
emperor for the first time under Vespasian, and again under
Domitian and Trajan.
Pax
Domitian
Trajan
Fides
Victoria
Virtus
Concordia
How common were the images of these
deities on the silver coinage in circulation?
• Reka-Devnia Hoard (Marcianopolis), discovered in
1929, contained 81,044 imperial denarii.
• Roman imperial silver coins were highly mobile;
comparisons with the aggregate of smaller silver
hoards in different parts of the Roman Empire
have revealed very similar proportional
relationships as the Reka-Devnia hoard (Duncan-Jones,
R. Money and Government in the Roman Empire. (New York and Cambridge,
1994), p. 133; Noreña, C.F. “The communication of the emperor’s virtues,”
Journal of Roman Studies 91: 146-168, p. 167 n. 96).
The frequency of Pax, Fides, Victoria, Virtus, and
Concordia types on the silver coinage
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Little can be said about Domitianic types as most of these deities appeared on his bronze
coinage.
In the emission of AD 98-99, Pax (18%), Victoria (17%), and Concordia (22%) were
represented on more than half of all Trajanic denarii in the Reka-Devnia Hoard (sample of 272
pieces); in AD 100 the three were again prominent, respectively 19%, 24%, and 21% out of 94
pieces).
In AD 101-102, Victoria appeared on 63% of the coins out of a sample of 443 pieces.
On the coins dated generally to A.D. 103-111, Victoria appeared on 25% of those with the
legend P M TR P COS V P P; on denarii with the legend SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Pax was on
14%, Fides on 1%, Victoria on 5%, and Virtus on 9%; and Pax was on 9% of coins that have
the legend COS V P P SPQR OPTIMO PRINC[IPI] while Victoria was on 18%. Respective
sample sizes are 16 pieces, 816 pieces, and 2,047 pieces). Pax and Victoria were depicted on
18% (9% each) of the denarii in A.D. 111. Only 11 pieces form the sample). In A.D. 112-114,
Victoria appeared only on 1% of the coins out of a sample of 596 pieces and in A.D. 114-117,
Virtus was on 14% of the 1,237 coins.. With the exception of Fides, each of the
personifications was common on Trajanic silver coins that were in circulation at the time that
Juvenal’s first satire was written.
The smaller number of coins showing Fides is symptomatic of the fact that Trajan struck only
one denarius type that showed the deity. Few Domitianic denarii depicted the
personifications in question and so the Reka-Devnia hoard is of little use in assessing the
prominence of them on his coinage.
– Mouchmov, N.A. 1934. Le trésor numismatique de Réka-Devnia (Marcianopolis). Annuaire du
Musée National Bulgare, supplément 5. Sofia: Imprimerie de l'état.
– Depeyrot, G. 2004. La propagande monétaire (64-235) et la trésor de Marcianopolis (251).
Wetteren: Moneta.
How common were these deities on
the bronze coinage?
• To reconstruct the prevalence of these deities
on bronze coin reverse types that circulated in
Rome and Italy, there are two sources, both of
which are problematic.
– Hobley, A.S. 1998. An Examination of Roman
Bronze Coin Distribution in the Western Empire,
A.D. 81-192. British Archaeological Reports
International Series 688. Oxford: Archaeopress.
– The unpublished finds from Rome (sottosuolo)
The frequency of Pax, Fides, Victoria, Virtus, and
Concordia types on the bronze coinage
• Both data sets suggest Fides, Victoria, and Virtus were standard images on
the bronze coinage of Domitian that circulated in Italy.
• Pax and Victoria were very common reverse types on Trajan’s bronze coins
that circulated in Italy.
Hobley 1998
Unpublished lists from Rome
Line 116
“Concordia who clatters when her nest is saluted”
(Quaeque salutato crepitat Concordia nido)
• Nidus means “nest” or “home” but could aslo be
used figuratively to refer to nest-shaped vessels:
Varro’s nidus potilis (Men. 446) and the purpureo
nido from an inscription from St. Sylvester in
Rome (CIL 6.36653). Cubbyholes: Martial
(1.117.15).
• The verb crepo denotes a succession of sharp
noises like clattering, rattling, or jingling. Such
sounds are often made by metal as the one
described by the character Euclio in Plautus’
Aulularia (242): Quid crepuit quasi ferrum modo?
An alternative meaning for line 116?
“Concordia who jingles when her nest is saluted”
The arm-purse from the Birdoswald purse hoard, shown with
associated coins (Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle, 1951.80.29)
nullus iam parasitus erit. sed quis ferat istas
uxuriae sordes? quanta est gula quae sibi totos
ponit apros, animal propter convivia natum!
140
Soon there won’t be a parasite left. But who could stomach such meanness in
gourmands? What gross greed it takes to dine off a whole roast boar – a creature meant
for banquets!
Quadrans of Trajan featuring a bust of Hercules on the
obverse and an image of a boar on the reverse (Yale
University Art Gallery, 2008.83.34)