guy Posted June 4, 2011 Report Share Posted June 4, 2011 (edited) On a discussion at the excellent numismatic site cointalk.com, a member presented a recently purchased, relatively inexpensive, but beautiful example of a coin of Gordian III: Gordian III Struck 238-239 A.D. AR Antoninianus. (4.10 gm) Obverse: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Reverse: LAETITIA AVG N, Laetitia standing half-head left, holding wreath and rudder Although a fascinating coin, I was most interested in the goddess Laetitia on the reverse of the coin. This coin inspired me to delve more into this lesser known figure of Roman mythology. Laetitia is the goddess of joy, gaiety, and celebration. According to this post, this minor goddess had many aspects: http://www.thaliatoo...D/laetitia.html Laetitia Augusta: Joy that the Emperor brings to the empire. SEE above image. Laetitia Fundata: Established joy brought on by the empire Edited June 6, 2011 by guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guy Posted June 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2011 (edited) The reverse of the fourth coin has the inscription of the goddess Laetitia's name, but an image of a boat instead of her image. This deserves further examination: Another example of the coin: Caracalla Denarius. 206-210 AD. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, laureate head right / LAETITIA TEMPORVM, ship from which a variety of animals run; above, in background, four quadrigae. (Pictures and attribution from wildwinds.com) Why the boat, but no image of Laetitia? This explanation is taken from the article quoted above: [Laetitia] was on some coins called Laetitia Temporum ("Celebration of the [special, rare] Occasion"); these coins, too, did not generally show the Goddess Herself, but had an image of a boat surrounded by wild animals. This referred to the great public spectacles of the ludi saeculares, or the Saecular Games, so-called because there were supposed to be held once in a saeculum, meaning an "age" or a "century", making them literally "once in a lifetime", though unsurprisingly they weren't held with quite that regularity. The ship surrounded by animals may represent the importation of exotic animals to be killed for sport in an amphitheatre, or it may be a depiction of a mock "battle" with the said doomed animals This quote explains the reason of the image of the boat and animals, along with the inscription (but no picture) of Laetitia. Good stuff. guy also known as gaius Edited June 5, 2011 by guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viggen Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 ...very interesting, thanks for sharing, do you know the first coin where Laetita appeared? (in the link it says she was popular on coins during 2nd and 3rd century AD)... cheers viggen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guy Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 (edited) ...very interesting, thanks for sharing, do you know the first coin where Laetita appeared? (in the link it says she was popular on coins during 2nd and 3rd century AD)... cheers viggen Thank you for reading my post. The earliest coin I can find so far is this one of Antoninus Pius AD 150/151 (image and attribution from dirtyoldcoins.com): Antoninus Pius AV Aureus. Struck 150/1 AD. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XIIII, laureate head right / LAETITIA COS IIII, Ceres standing right, holding grain-ears, and to right, Proserpina standing facing, head left, holding pomegranate. Cohen 476. Here is quote from the above article: On a coin of the Emperor Antoninus Pius, who ruled 138-161 CE, the inscription on the back side refers to Laetitia and to his 4th consulship...; though its hard to say if it refers to the Goddess of Joy or just joy as a concept since She is not depicted on it; rather the Grain-Goddess Ceres is shown with Her daughter Proserpina (perhaps better known by their Greek equivalents Demeter and Kore or Persephone). Ceres holds wheat sheaves while Proserpina holds a pomegranate; though both are proper to those Goddesses, they are also similar to Laetitia's attributes of fruit and wheat as symbols of fertility and prosperity. In the case of Antoninus Pius, the mother-daughter divine pair probably makes reference to his devotion to the Emperor Hadrian (hence the "Pius" surname), who had adopted Antoninus as his heir. guy also known as gaius Edited June 7, 2011 by guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guy Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 (edited) Here's an excellent link to many other coins with the Laetitia inscription: http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?search=laetitia&view_mode=1&sort=&c=&a=&l=#0 guy also known as gaius Edited June 7, 2011 by guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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