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The goddess Maia on denarii of Domitian
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 February 2015
Extract
This is one of the rarest types of Domitian's coinage, struck somewhere between September 95 and September 96, as shown by the dating of the tribunician power. The issue of TR P XV was known to Cohen only from a piece in trade (Rollin), and to Mattingly in BMCRE only from Cohen. Since the publication of BMCRE vol. 2, an example has been acquired by the British Museum and a few others have appeared on the market. To this day there is no example of it in the extensive collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. As to TR P XVI, no-one knew that the type had been struck up to that date until an example surfaced in the Mazzini collection, the only one ever to have been seen.
The type was obviously struck in very small quantities, given the few examples that survive. The issues of TR P XV and TR P XVI were struck from the same reverse die, which suggests that the first was probably produced late in the tribunician year, say late August to mid-September of 96. The TR P XVI issue was probably struck for less than a week, Domitian's dies imperii falling on 14 September and his assassination on the 18th. It is reasonable to suppose, too, that the rarity of the latest coinage reflects the murder: any stocks of Domitian's coin still held at the mint or in the Aerarium would have been reduced to raw metal and re-used for Nerva.
- Type
- Archeological Reports and Notes
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- Copyright © Journal of Roman Archaeology L.L.C. 2002
References
1 Giard, J.-B., Monnaies de l'Empire romain vol. 3 (Paris 1998)Google Scholar.
2 This type was wrongly read as Mercury in a 19th-c. price list, “Mercure à moitié nu allant à g., un oiseau sur la dr., un caducée dans la g.” (Rollin & Feuardent list [undated, but after 1860] p. 198 no. 1709). I owe this reference to the kindness of C. Clay.
3 The caduceus is peculiar to Mercury among the Olympian gods, (though it appears on Flavian coins with figures of Concordia, Fortuna, Nemesis and Pax). He is figured with winged petasos (e.g., LIMC Mercurius 25) or with wings budding directly from his head (e.g., LIMC Mercurius 12). He is usually bare-footed but sometimes wears winged boots or sandals (LIMC 35), rarely with wings budding directly from his ankles (LIMC 161, 163, 166 [on gems]). It is possible that the figure of Maia on the denarius has winged feet, but the detail is obscure.
4 There are many representations of and dedications to Mercury and Maia together: see PW s.v. Maia 532-33; LIMC s.vv.
5 Bruchmann, C. F. H., Epitheta deorum quae apud poetas graecos leguntur (Leipzig 1893)Google Scholar; Carter, J. B., Epitheta deorum quae apud poetas latinos leguntur (Leipzig 1893)Google Scholar.
6 Maia with vase of flowers and caduceus:. LIMC Maia 5; with cornucopiae and caduceus: ibid. 2; with cornucopiae alone: ibid. 13.
7 On the temple: Ovid, Fasti 5.669; Andreussi, M., “Mercurius, Aedes,” in Steinby, E. M. (ed.), Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae vol. 3, 245–47Google Scholar. On the derivation of the name of the month: Macrob., Sat. 1.12.18-19.
8 E.g., soldier with trophy (just recently discovered), winged (i.e., victorious) Minerva, and altar with legionary eagles.