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 Replies: 50 / Views: 13,018 |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
For this smackdown two coins may be entered with some reference or portrayal of a deity. All the usual things apply but there will be a few bonus points available! 5 points for offering a unique deity (one that nobody else entered) or 5 points if your entry contains the Greek and Roman equivalent of the same deity! Taken from a web page for your reference is this chart giving some of the Greek and Roman equivalents though no doubt there are many others.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
This should be interesting!
Anoob should have the 'unique' god in spades. All he has to do is randomly pick any coin in his collection :D
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Pillar of the Community
Netherlands
1204 Posts |
Interesting contest... so in this case its better to post as latest as possible so we are sure we post a unique god :D
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5155 Posts |
Ha TIF how true, I should just pick two coins at random, and see what they have on them.
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Pillar of the Community
 United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
Well there are several strategies that can be employed here ^^
If you go for a Greek and Roman version of the same god your bonus points are garunteed ^^
If you choose 2 obscure gods then everyone else will be seeking to avoid posting the same one (so maybe one will get through and make bonus points but you might have some advantage that you got to choose a good coin) or you can leave it late and you will have the advantage of being able to choose a god nobody else posted but it may be at the detriment of votes if you have to choose a rough one ^^
Anyway, entries should be in before Thursday midnight GMT with voting on Friday and Saturday. Now lets see some coins ^^ and a brief description of the gods would also make it more interesting ^^
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
  Billon Tetradrachm Emperor Carinus Alexandria mint Athena (Minerva) seated holding Nike (Victory) Roman and Greek goddess.   Antonininus Gallienus 253-258 GALLIENVS AVG PM TRP XV PP VIIC. Antioch mint. Poseidon (Neptune) holding trident with foot on a rock. RIC I Antioch 603 Extra points? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
The confounding thing is that for many (most?) Roman coins, the attributions give the deities' Greek names.  I have read several articles about Greek and Roman mythology and coins but am still confused by the issue. I suppose in some cases whether the deity's name is given in Greek or in Roman depends on the locale of the coin's issue. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1316 Posts |
Greek mythology Nike Victory was a goddess who personified victory, also known as the winged goddess of victory. Roman victory - Greek nike - she could have been or was the daughter of the titan Pallas and the goddess of styx. Nike is seen with wings in the most statues and paintings, most wings deities in greek pantheon had shed their wings by classical times. Nike is the goddess, Strength, speed, victory. Phoenicia Arados..138-43..BC.. AR Tetradrachm.. Ob..Turreted veiled and draped bust of Tyche right.. Rev. Nike standing left, holding aplustre and palm, Phoeinician date, letter and monogram in left field.. 29mm x 14.97g.   Commodus 177 - 192 ..AD.. AR denarius.. Ob. Laureate head right.. Rev. Victory seated left, holding palm and patera... 17mm x 3.40g..   I love bonus pts... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
549 Posts |
Two on one coin.  Liber, god of viticulture and wine, with Ceres, goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships. Roman Republican denarius, 17 mm and 3.96 grams. 48 BC C. Vibius C.F. Cn. Pansa Sear 421, Crawford 449/2. Head of Liber right, with ivy headdress. Ceres walking right with torch in each hand, plow before. Ceres searched the world with lit torches for Proserpina. The plow is obviously appropriate for agriculture. Associated with the fertility of the harvest is human fertility and "In Roman bridal processions, a young boy carried Ceres' torch to light the way." |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5155 Posts |
some point? Heracles known to the Romans as Hercules was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman. One of the most famous of all the deities and a common household name. Roman Empire Trajan AR Tetradrachm Tyre, Phoenicia Trajan and Hercules S.110 AD  Kingdom of Macedon Alexander the Great Lifetime Tetradrachm Pella, Macedon Alexander as Heracles s.325 BC  Hercules (Melkart) In the time of Alexander the Great it was taboo to place the face of a living man on your coin. An honor only worthy only of the Gods. So he decided that the Bust of Hercules wearing the skin of a lion would drive Greek economies for centuries to come. The great Roman Emperor Trajan, master of the Roman Empire at its height of power was master of the Greek world. Even he understood that his bust should second only to Hercules, who wears the lion skin around his neck. Edited by Ancientnoob
10/31/2013 9:35 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
582 Posts |
I haven't posted to much since GTE was retired, this seems to be a fun game to start back on. I'm going to go with a father and son, Roman and Greek. Licinius II 321-324 Heraclea mint Jupiter standing left, holding Victory on a globe & scepter, eagle with wreath in beak to left & captive to right at feet   Alexander III 336-323 Kingdom of Macedon Obverse: Head of Hercules in lion skin facing right Reverse: Quiver and bow,top / club, bottom  Edited by dwayne8625
10/31/2013 11:10 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3446 Posts |
Well my first thought was to post a rather infrequently seen deity who is most often and usually associated with the dearly departed .... Luna. But seeing how I know at least one of the 'competition' has a very nice little one I moved on to something "completely different" ..... #1 Octavian AE Dupondius Obv. DIVI F Bare head Octavian right with star (sidus Iulium) before Rv. DIVOS IVLIVS within wreath. 28-30mm 14.93 grams Italian Mint 38BC Sear 1570   The young Octavian presents himself as DIVI F aka 'son of god' (Julius Caesar) and the star (Sidus Iulium) which hailed the coming of the ..... great event ! And just in case anyone was puzzled by what all this implied they spelled it out on the reverse DIVOS IVLIVS "Deified Julius" The Temple of the God Julius as it once appeared in the Forum of Rome  #2 AE Sestertius Trajan Decius Obv. IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG Laureate bust of Decius right Rv. DACIA Dacia standing left holding standard (Draco) 26-7mm 15.72 grams Sear 9398 What is intriguing about this reverse type is not so much the personification of Dacia. It is what she is holding, the 'Draco'. This reverse had until recently been described as Dacia holding staff decorated with 'asses head'. A rather disparaging interpretation if ever there was one !   from the Wiki; "Among the Dacians, the draco was undoubtedly seen by the army as a special protective symbol, while it also played an important role in the religious life of the people.
The draco shows a religious syncretism between the wolf and the dragon as well as the serpent. It was supposed to encourage the Getae and to scare their enemies.
A wolf was depicted at the standard's head, symbolic animal of the Carpathian people since the phase B of Hallstatt Period (10th- - "8th century BC). The animal is shown in an aggressive posture similar to that of certain Hittite monsters. The religious association of the dragon with the wolf or the lion is first found around the year 1120 BC, on a stela of Nebuchadnezzar I, where an exact representation of the symbol of the Dacian dragon is found in the fourth quarter. This indicates that the Dacian draco stems from the art of Asia Minor where the religious-military symbology of dragon extended both eastward to the Indo-Iranians and westward to the Thraco-Cimmeriano-Getians/Dacians.
By the time of the phase D of Hallstatt Period (8th- - "6th century BC), the decorative pattern of a dragon head or a serpent had become quite common in Dacia. In the La Tène Period (3thBC- - "1st century AD), it served as a standard for the Dacians. The image of the draco appears on a 4th-century BC ceramic piece discovered at Budureasca commune, Prahova county, Romania."
 "The Dacians bearing the draco on Trajan's Column
The body of the standard, depicting a dragon-like balaur or a large snake, was seen by the Dacians as a manifestation of the sky demon or "heavenly dragon". This relates to their supreme god Zalmoxis who was a sky god (cf. also Tomaschek). In the Hallstatt Period "proper", the decorative pattern of a dragon head or a serpent became quite common in Dacia. The dragon symbol is also represented on the silver Dacian bracelets of the Classical period. The snake-shaped bracelets and other similar ornaments show not only the spread of the snake as a decorative motif but also its significance in Dacian material civilization."
The Draco is not a god in the traditional sense but as the symbol of the 'nation' and official standard of the 'army' it must have had a quite terrifying aspect. Even today after all these centuries ..... the son of the dragon. Dracula The thought occurs to me .... just now (well the dawn does break over Marblehead ..... eventually) That while entry #2 is perhaps a bit of a stretch. The Roman version of the Dacian 'nation' would of course be the personification ie Dacia. The Dacian people would have had no such view of their land. The people of Dacia would have identified with Draco. It is a stretch ...... but that's what rules are for. Making them fit for a given situation  Edited by FVRIVS RVFVS
11/02/2013 11:40 am
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
Some good coins so far ^^ and some interesting information ^^
Echizento, maybe I was a tad unclear...(you can re-enter if you wish or leave as it is) Eng5858 got what I meant and gets some bonus points (I will have to go over this thread with a fine toothcomb to total up the bonus points at the end)
In explanation just giving both the Roman and the Greek names for the deity on one coin don't qualify you for points. To get that bonus you need 1 Greek and 1 Roman coin each depicting the same god.
With regards to the Alexander the Great entries (I am sure that I would be teaching my grandmother to suck eggs to presume this is something that isn't known by Ancientnoob but I will add to his explanation)
Phillip (Alex III's father) took a fancy to Alexander's mother not least because she was a very exotic woman. At some stage during the marriage she was seen covertly on her bed with a large snake which was thought to be a manifestation of a god. Shortly after she was pregnant and there was always some doubt in Phillips mind as to whether he was the father of Alex or if she had been impregnated by a god. This is partly why he placed his head on the coinage. Its not so much as a tribute to Hercules (which the lion skin was) but this reason was given as a cover so that he did not seem so egotistical. The fact of the matter is that he believed that he was invincible and was actually the child of a god and thus a god himself.
This gave him the right to put his head on the coinage and began the tradition of rulers (who claimed they were ordained by god) to put there portraits on their coins. It was also telling that he believed himself as immortal from the tales of his exploits in battle and finally his demise (caused by a punctured lung when he was hit by an arrow trying to take a castle singlehandedly.)
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Sorry about that, I'll just leave it as is.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
549 Posts |
To pick up bonus points, here is a Greek coin with Dionysos, the Greek equivalent of Liber (Bacchus is still another name), which I posted above on a coin with reverse of Ceres. Both have an ivy headdress for their connection with wine.  The reverse has Dionysos standing naked holding a bunch of grapes and 2 narthex wands. It is from Maroneia, after 148 BC when Macedonia became a Roman Province. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
549 Posts |
I want to know if I get still more bonus points for posting a coin of Dionysos while having a glass of wine and grapes?
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Replies: 50 / Views: 13,018 |
Posted 10/31/2013 12:51 pm
