Featured Faustina Friday – Ceres or Proserpina?

You know what that means!! Another installment of "Faustina Friday"!!

This coin is neither new nor rare. Its reverse design appears unremarkable, even boring. It's one of those "just standing there" issues that would get a 1/5 on the @dougsmit scale.

Faustina I, AD 138-140.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 22.8 g, 31.5 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 147.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: AVGVSTA, female figure, veiled, standing left, holding short torch in each hand.
Refs: RIC 1120; BMCRE 1516-18; Cohen 91; RCV 4625; Strack 1283.​

But, as is often the case with ancient coins, there's more here than meets the eye.

The figure on the reverse has long been identified as Ceres. Although Wiczay, writing in 1814, describes the reverse figure as "mul." (mulier, meaning woman),[1] Sulzer (1777),[ 2] Cohen (1882),[3] RIC3 (1930),[4] BMCRE4 (1940),[5] and Sear (2002)[6] all identify her explicitly as Ceres. However, this traditional identification of the reverse figure as Ceres may be wrong. As a result of his die-linkage study of the aurei and sestertii of Diva Faustina I, Martin Beckmann has called this longstanding tradition into question. He proposes that the figure on the reverse is none other than Kore (Persephone, Proserpina), the daughter of Ceres.[7]

This paradigm shift occurred with the realization that this coin was issued to commemorate the birth of Faustina II's firstborn child in AD 147 and that a figure carrying two torches more likely represented Proserpina than Ceres. Tying the iconography all together is an aureus depicting Faustina I wearing a crown woven of grain ears on the obverse (an image of Ceres) paired with this reverse type (an image of Ceres' daughter). The motif is clear: Ceres paired with her daughter on the coin mirrors Faustina I and her daughter, the occasion being the elevation of Faustina II to the rank of Augustus upon the birth of her first child.

Dating the coin and identifying its purpose

Beckmann's die studies demonstrated that the obverse inscription on the coinage of Diva Faustina changed from DIVA AVG[VSTA] FAVSTINA to DIVA FAVSTINA with the marriage of Faustina II to Marcus Aurelius in AD 145, moving Faustina I's title of AVGVSTA to the reverse of her coins. The coinage of the period following the imperial wedding is dominated by the figure of Ceres holding a torch and scepter on the aurei and grain ears and scepter on the silver and bronze coinage. I have previously discussed these types. But suddenly, in the die chain of her aurei, this type disappears and is immediately and completely replaced by the type depicting a female figure with two torches. This change happened approximately half-way between the wedding of Faustina and Marcus in AD 145 and the introduction of the AETERNITAS series in AD 150.[8] This corresponds to the birth of Faustina I's first child (a daughter, Domitia Faustina) on 30 November 147 and the assumption of Faustina II to Augusta the following day.[9]

The conclusion that the change in reverse type on the aurei of Faustina I occurred at the same time that Faustina II gave birth and became Augusta is strengthened by comparison of the style of drapery used on the coins of both Faustina the Elder and Younger. An important change in the drapery on some of Diva Faustina's bare-headed busts occurs just after the new reverse type was introduced. On dies df30, df90, and df18 an extra fold of mantle is added to the bust; this extra drapery projects almost horizontally from the front of the bust.

Faustina I, AV aureus. Obverse die df30, Nomos AG, Auction 11, lot 182, 9 October 2015; Ex-Leu 93, lot 30, 10 May 2005 (cited by Beckmann).​

Obverse die df18, Künker, auction 112, lot 1013, 20 June 2006.​

This curious style of drapery also appears on the earliest coinage of Faustina the Younger bearing the types VENERI GENETRICI and LAETITIAE PVBLICAE, which began in December AD 147 on the occasion of the birth of her first child and her assumption to the rank of Augusta.[10]

Faustina II, AV aureus, Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 105, lot 43, 9 May, 2018.​

Faustina II AV aureus CNG lot 775, 13 September 2017.​

Beckmann admits "this innovation of drapery style is most likely no more than an unconscious development introduced by a mint engraver, but the coincidence of its appearance on coins of both Faustinas suggest that these dies were produced at about the same time."[11] Beckmann's argument is convincing and demonstrates that Faustina I's female figure holding two torches type was issued at the same time as the coins of Faustina II first went into production in December AD 147.

The identity of the reverse figure

The schema of a figure holding two torches is an entirely new one in Roman Imperial coinage, which suggests the change was important and not merely the repetition of a known motif.[12] To be sure, on the Republican denarii of M. Volteius (RRC 385/3, 78 BC), Ceres is depicted in a chariot drawn by two serpents and she holds two torches in front of her.

AR denarius, M. Volteius, RRC 385/3. British Museum Collection.​

Yet, the pose of this figure of Ceres is nothing like the stand-alone figure seen on the coins of Faustina. Rather, the Faustina coin calls to mind depictions in classical art of Kore (Persephone, Proserpina). Typically, a two-torch figure is identified as Kore in iconographic schemes where she is shown attending Demeter, who is in turn shown sitting on a cista.

Marble votive relief depicting Demeter (Ceres) enthroned, and Kore (Persephone, Proserpina) standing with two torches. Eleusis. 500-475 BC. Height 78 cm, width 56 cm, thickness 9-12 cm. Eleusis Archaeological Museum. Inv. No. 5085. Used with permission.​

Stela from temple of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis, showing Demeter (Ceres) seated on a cista attended by Kore with two torches (M. Homolle, "Deux bas-reliefs Athéniens du 4me siècle," Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 5 1881: 194-196, pl. 9, as reproduced in Beckmann (2012), p. 60).​

Beckmann notes the existence of numerous other representations of Kore and Demeter (Ceres) in classical art[13] and suggests that the reverse type under discussion is that of Kore and may be "an allusion to Faustina the Younger on coins of her mother." He further notes that "the figure with two torches is dressed as a matron, which Kore was not but which Faustina the Younger, in her new role as mother, most certainly was. This in turn would tie this new type to the birth of her first daughter."[14]

The meaning of the issue: Faustina I as Ceres, Faustina II as Kore

If the figure with two torches was intended to represent Faustina II as Kore/Proserpina, then the association of mother and daughter with the divine pair of Kore and Ceres is intensified by the issue of a new bust type showing Faustina I wearing a wreath of grain in the manner of Ceres.[15]

Faustina II, AV aureus. CNG Triton XXI, lot 768, 9 January 2018.​

Moving beyond Beckmann's identification of the reverse figure as representing Faustina the Younger as Kore, I'd like to conclude with my own observations about the coin's iconography. There are a disproportionate number of coins depicting Ceres that were issued for Faustina the Elder and this is not coincidental. Andreas Alföldi argues that the connection between the empress and Ceres goes beyond mere concern over the grain supply or her devotion to the goddess.[16] It is more personal; Antoninus Pius was devoted to the sanctuary at Eleusis,[17] which had a temple where Faustina was worshiped as the new Demeter (Ceres) and had her own hierophant.[18] Issuing a coin to celebrate her daughter's birth and assumption to the rank of Augusta strengthened the association of both Faustina the Elder and Younger with Ceres, Kore, and the goddesses' cult at Eleusis. Moreover, it demonstrated that this association with divinity continued with Faustina II, even after the death of Faustina I. Perhaps the coin is intended to depict both Ceres and Kore at the same time. Faustina II is depicted as the Kore, the daughter of Ceres, just as she is the daughter of Faustina I; however, with the death of her mother, she now appears in matronly garments herself, supplanting Faustina I, and becoming the new incarnation of Ceres herself.

~~~

Notes

1. Wiczay, Michael A. and Felice Caronni. Musei Hedervarii in Hungaria numos antiquos graecos et latinos descripsit. Vol. 2, Caronni, Vienna 1814, p. 264.

2. Sulzer, Johann Caspar, and Jacob Sulzer. Numophylacium Sulzerianum numos antiquos Graecos et Romanos aureos argenteos aereos sis tens olim Iacobi Sulzeri. Ettinger, 1777, no. 1322 p. 159.

3. Henry Cohen, Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l'Empire Romain, Tome II, Paris, 1882, p. 420.

4. Mattingly, Harold and Edward A. Sydenham. The Roman Imperial Coinage. III, Spink, 1930, p. 163.

5. Mattingly, Harold. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. Vol. 4, British Museum, 1940, p. 243.

6. Sear, David R. Roman Coins and Their Values. II, Spink, 2002, p. 271.

7. Beckmann, Martin. Diva Faustina: Coinage and Cult in Rome and the Provinces. American Numismatic Society, 2012, pp. 58-62.

8. For dating of the AETERNITAS series, see Beckmann (2012), chapter 5, pp. 63-72.

9. Known with certainty from the Fasti Ostienses for AD 147 (tablet Pb, lines 13 ff). See Levick, Barbara. Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press, 2014, p. 116.

10. Beckmann, Martin, Faustina the Younger: Coinage, Portraits, and Public Image, A.N.S. Numismatic Studies 43, American Numismatic Society, New York, 2021, pp. 23 ff. I have discussed these coins previously at Coin Talk, both before and after the publication of Beckmann's die-study.

11. Beckmann (2012), p. 59.

12. Ibid., p. 61.

13. Citing LIMC IV (1988) s.v. Demeter 844-892, esp. Demetra e Kore 864-870 (L. Beschi).

14. Beckmann (2012), p. 61.

15. Ibid., p. 61.

16. Alföldi, Andreas. "Redeunt Saturnia Regna. VII : Frugifer-Triptolemos Im Ptolemaïsch -Römischen Herrscherkult." Chiron , vol. 9, 1979, pp. 552–606, specifically pp. 586-589.

17. Eleusis, in the outskirts of Athens, of Eleusian mysteries fame. These mysteries involved elaborate rituals devoted to the worship of Demeter (Ceres).

18. Mylonas, George E. Eleusis and the Eleusian Mysteries. Princeton University Press, 1961, pp 155, 179.

 

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Interestingly, Beckmann chose the corn-ear-crown bust to illustrate his book.

 

Interesting and informative as always, RC.

Here is an as (RIC 1174) equivalent to the OP sestertius, I think - the torches are more vertical than on the sestertius, but it has the AVGVSTA reverse:


Faustina I Æ As
4th Phase: Birth of Annia Faustina to Faustina II and Marcus Aurelius
(c. 147 A.D.)
Rome Mint
[DI]VA FAVSTINA, draped bust right / AVGVSTA S C, Ceres standing left with short, flaming torches in both hands.
RIC 1174 (as).
(10.56 grams / 24 mm)
eBay June 2020

 

Like to add these 2 :

 

Cool! I still need this reverse type.

 

Lovely patinas on those!

 

Ceres with torch and sceptre:



RIC III Antoninus Pius 1173a (as)
Date: AD 141
Legend: DIVA FAVSTINA
Type: Bust of Faustina I, draped, right, hair elaborately waved and coiled in bands across head and drawn up at back and piled in a round coil on top.
Legend: AVGVSTA S C
Type: Ceres, draped, standing, front, head left, holding short lighted torch, transverse, raised in right hand and sceptre, vertical, at side, in left

 

Always enjoy your detective work and wonderful writings... but all that gold
Here's a new boring Ceres of mine that Idon't believe I've shared:

Diva Faustina Senior. Died AD 140/1. Æ Sestertius (32.4mm, 25.5 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck under Antoninus Pius, after circa AD 146. Draped bust right / Ceres standing left, holding short torch and grain ears. Found in modern Normandy May 2021

 

@Roman Collector, This is probably a dumb question, but why not Diana Lucifera? Please ignore it if it is too silly

 

Diana Lucifera is almost always depicted holding a long, transverse torch with both hands, and often with the crescent moon on her shoulders.

 

You mat have had some influence on the purchase of this coin.

 

An update for @PeteB, who rightfully asked

Mattingly (BMCRE4, pp. lxiii and lxxxiv) comments, "The goddess with two torches might possibly be Diana Lucifera rather than Ceres."

Just wanted you to know it's not a dumb question and you're not silly for asking this.

 

Thank you, @Roman Collector.

 

I have only one of her. Unfortunately I lost the ID card I had for it.

 

An excellent post @Roman Collector, an interesting sestertius, references, and educational discussion of evidence one can use to differentiate that figure ""just standing there". Faustina as Demeter/Ceres with Faustina II as Kore/Proserpina at a time when Proserpina is bringing a new child into the world is compelling.

I have been wrestling with my own Demeter/Kore ("Artemis Phosphoros"?) coin (500 years earlier) from the end of the reign of Alexander the Great, as his armies pushed back and he turned from his ambitions to push east beyond the Hyphasis River, and dealt decisively with threats and misbehavior in his satraps/governors.

Kings of Macedon, Alexander III 'the Great', 336-323 BCE. AR Drachm (15mm, 3.98 g, 12h), Lampsakos mint, struck under Kalas or Demarchos, circa 325/4-324/3 BCE
Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin
Rev: Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, Artemis Phosphoros standing facing, holding two torches; monogram (Δ over O) below throne
Ref: Price 1356; ADM II Series V

The figure in question is just on flan, bottom left with one torch showing clearly.

I lack a good explanation for why "Artemis Phosphorus" v. "Demeter" v. "Kore". Other notes are dangling: Artemis as protector of children, Phosphoros as a name for Venus, the morning star, ...

"Father [Zeus], I ask thee not for quiver or for mighty bow: for me the Cyclopes will straightway fashion arrows and fashion for me a well-bent bow. But give me to be Bringer of Light and give me to gird me in a tunic with embroidered border reaching to the knee, that I may slay wild beasts."
- Callimachus (c. 310-240 BCE), Hymn III: To Artemis

More on this coin in my Notes pages: Alexander the Great in Asia Minor

Is that an AE coin? about 10-12grams? perhaps: Æ Dupondius or As, Vesta standing to left, holding palladium and long torch; S-C across fields, RIC III 1178 (Pius) Edit: attribution from Roman Collector matches Roma (1179).

 

Looks like an as on the basis of the fabric of the flan. Is it ~24-26 mm? 10-12 g? If so, it's:

Faustina I, AD 138-140.
Roman Æ as or dupondius, 10.37 g, 25.4 mm, 5 h.
Rome, AD 145.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: AVGVSTA S C, Vesta veiled, standing left, holding palladium and scepter.
Refs: RIC 1179; BMCRE 1582; Cohen 111; Strack 1294; RCV --.​

Thanks for the link to your blog post about that drachm. Its iconography is indeed puzzling.

Unpacking the iconography on classical art (including coins) when the figures are not explicitly labeled can be challenging. In classical Greek art, when a figure bearing two torches is not labeled or doesn't appear with Demeter (usually portrayed seated on a cista), that figure is usually identified as Demeter herself, bearing torches in search of her daughter in the underworld. So I can certainly understand why Price identifies her as Demeter rather than Artemis. I have no good explanation why the figure to the left of Zeus on your drachm of Alexander is identified as Artemis Phosphoros by other numismatists (Margaret Thompson?).

Artemis Phosphoros is easily identified when she is depicted with other attributes of Artemis, such as a bow, arrow, or stag along with her torch.

Otacilia Severa, AD 244-249.
Thrace, Bizya Æ 23.5 mm, 6.89 gm, 7 h.
Obv: M WTAKEIΛIA CEBHPA CEB, diademed and draped bust, right.
Rev: ΒΙΖVΗΝΩΝ, Artemis Phosphoros standing right, holding arrow and torch; stag at her feet.
Refs: Tachev, Bizija 5 (this coin); Moushmov 3514; Sear GIC 3991; Varbanov 1592; Lindgren II 759; Jurukova 147; Mionnet Suppl 2, 193; RPC VIII, (unassigned; ID 48718); CN 9242; Milano IV/3 --; BMC Thrace --; SNG Tubingen --; SNG Copenhagen --;Wiczay --.
Notes: Double die-match to RPC specimen and to Lindgren II 759.​

In Roman iconography, as I noted in my reply to @PeteB, Diana Lucifera (Artemis Phosphoros) has a standardized pose: standing, sometimes with a crescent on her shoulders, holding a transverse long torch with both hands.

As the original post indicates, it can be tricky to identify a solitary figure holding two torches with no other context. But the context of the birth of a grandchild and the portrayal of the grandmother as Ceres by virtue of a grain-ear wreath points toward identifying the reverse figure as Kore/Proserpina, though other identifications are also possible: Ceres Taedifera or Diana Lucifera.

 

Thanks, RC. Unless I find a better reference or explanation (auction listings the only source for Artemis Phosphoros so far) - I am going to stick with Price & Demeter.

 

This is the only one I have, haven't done research yet. Thanks.

 

I knew I had a Faustina somewhere - have had this example for many years.

 

That is a denarius of Faustina the younger. It likely dates to c. 161-163.

That is a very lovely example!