Real Women on Ancient Coins

Berenice II Gold Octodrachm. Alexandria after 241 BCE

Agrippina the Elder Bronze Sestertius Rome 50-54 CE

Mike Markowitz Ancient Numismatic Society of Washington, DC  

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Some  classic  American  coins  

KEY POINTS

•  Most  women  on  ancient  coins  are  mythological:  goddesses,  heroines  or  “personifica;ons”  

•  Not  always  clear  whether  a  person  on  a  coin  is  real  or  imaginary  

•  Coins  were  designed  by  men  for  men,  and  generally  reflect  patriarchal  cultural  values    

•  Real  women  on  ancient  coins  were  either      part  of  the  ruling  elite,  or  vic;ms  of  conquest  

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What were they worth?  Smallest  bronze  (coppers)  =    loaf  of  bread  or  cup  of  cheap  wine  

Small  silver  =    day’s  pay  for  laborer  

Small  gold  piece  =      some  sheep,  pigs    or  a    cow  

Most  ancient  people  didn’t  live  in  a  cash  economy  

Dichalkon,  Larissa,  380-­‐337  BCE  4.25g        

Drachma,  Athens  454-­‐404  BCE  4.25g  

Triobol  of  Cyrene,  322-­‐312  BCE  2.16  g  

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Greek Weights

•  Tetartemorion  =  ¼  obol  ~0.18  gram  •  Obol  =  0.72  gram  

•  Drachma  =  6  obols  =  4.32  grams  

•  Mina  =  100  drachmai  =  432  grams    

•  Talanton  =  60  minai  =  6000  drachmai  =  25.86  kg  

For  comparison,  an  American  nickel  weighs  exactly  5  grams  

“Attic” (Athenian) Standard  

Greeks

Aphrodite of Milos Between 130 and 100 BCE Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Dido Sappho Amastris Berenice Ii Arsinoe Ii Cleopatra I Syra CLEOPATRA Thea Cleopatra Vii CLEOPATRA Selene Zenobia

Ἀφροδίτη  τῆς  Μήλου  

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DIDO  

Silver  Tetradrachm,  16.94g  Struck  by  the  Carthaginians  in  Sicily  c  320-­‐310  BCE  

Queen  of  Carthage  (reigned  c.  814  BCE?)    

The  descrip=on  of  the  obverse  image  as  Dido  is  disputed  by  some  experts  

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Sappho

LESBOS,  My;lene.  Circa  400-­‐350  BCE.  Silver  Trihemiobol  (0.99  g).  Diademed  head  of  Sappho(?)  facing  slightly  lem  /  M-­‐YT,  head  of  roaring  lion  lem  in  incuse  square.    

Lyric  poet,  second  half  of  the  seventh  century  BCE  

2nd  century  CE  Bronze  My;lene  Bri;sh  Museum    

Say  what  you  please  Gold  is  God's  child;  neither  worms  nor  moths  eat  gold;  it  is  much  stronger  than  a  man's  heart.  

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Amastris Daughter  of  Oxyathres  Neice  of  Darius  III  Second  wife  of  Lysimachus  Killed  by  her  sons    c.284  BC  The  first  woman  to  issue  coins  in  her  own  name?  

Silver  Stater  (23mm,  9.53  g)    285-­‐250  BCE  

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Silver  Didrachm.  9.75  g  ?  300-­‐285    

Arsinoe II

Silver  Decadrachm,  35.84g  Alexandria  c.  261-­‐253  BCE  

Daughter  of  Ptolemy  I  Sister  and  wife  of  Ptolemy  II,  died  c.  270  

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Berenice II

Ptolemy  III,  In  the  name  of  Berenice  II.  246-­‐221  BCE    Alexandria  Silver  15  drachmas,  52.68g  

wife  of  Ptolemy  III,  murdered  221  

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Constella;on  Coma  Berenices  named  for  Berenice’s  hair  

Cleopatra Thea

Cleopatra  Thea  &    An;ochus  VIII  (125-­‐121  BC)  

Alexander  I  Balas,  with  Cleopatra  Thea  (152-­‐145  BC),    

Seleucid  Queen  daughter  of  Ptolemy  VI  of  Egypt  (lived  164–121  BCE)    

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Cleopatra I Syra Lived  c.  204–176  BCE  Daughter  of  An;ochus  III  Wife  of  Ptolemy  V  Mother  of  Ptolemy  VI    

Depicted  as  Isis  Struck  under  Cleopatra  I  as  regent,    in  the  name  of  Ptolemy  VI    Alexandria  180-­‐176  BCE  

Zeus  Ammon  In  the  name  of  Cleopatra  I  and  Ptolemy  VI    Alexandria  180-­‐176  BCE  

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CLEOPATRA VII

Cleopatra  VII  Bronze  Diobol  of  Alexandria,  Egypt.  51-­‐30  BC.  Diademed  and  draped  bust  right  /  KΛEOΠATPAΣ  BAΣIΛIΣΣHΣ,  eagle  standing  lem  on  thunderbolt;  cornucopiae  to  lem  

(reigned  51-­‐30  BCE)    

Silver  Tetradrachm  (12.95g)  minted  at  An;och  (?)    ca.  36  BCE  

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CLEOPATRA Selene II Live  40  BCE  –  17  CE?  Daughter  of  Antony  and  Cleopatra  Queen  of  Numidia  Queen  of  Mauretania    

tomb  of  Juba  II  and  Cleopatra  Selene  II  in  Tipaza,  Algeria  

Juba  II,  with  Cleopatra  Selene  Silver  denarius  Caesarea,  Numidia  11-­‐23  CE  2.99  g  

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ZENOBIA

Antoninianus,  Emesa  (?)    late  April  –  early  Summer  272  silvered  bronze  3.68  g.    

Queen  of  Palmyra  (reigned  267-­‐274)  

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Romans

Wall painting Villa of the Mysteries Near Pompeii, Italy Before 79 CE

FULVIA AGRIPPINA the elder 3 Sisters of Caligula Nameless Jewish Captive FAUSTINA the elder Vibia SABINA JULIA DOMNA St. HELENA PULCHERIA IRENE

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FULVIA  Flacca  Bambula  

The  first  Roman  woman  to  strike  coins  in  her  own  name  

Eumenea  in  Phrygia    c.  41-­‐40  BCE  Bronze,  18  mm    7.82    g  

lived  c.83  –  40  BCE  First  wife  of  Marc  Antony    

Lugdunum  (Lyon)  mint  42  BC  Silver  Quinarius  1.67  g    

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Agrippina the Elder  

Lived  14  BCE  –  33  CE  granddaughter  of  Augustus  daughter  of  Agrippa  wife  of  Germanicus  mother  of  Caligula  grandmother  of  Nero    

In  the  name  of  Agrippina    Struck  by  Gaius  (“Caligula”)  Rome  37–41,    Bronze  Sester;us,  30.58  g.  

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Agrippina the Younger JuLia Drusilla Julia Livilla  

Sisters  of  Caligula  (reigned  37-­‐41  CE)  

Bronze  Sester;us    Rome  c  37-­‐38  28.89  g.    

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Faustina the Elder   Annia  Galeria  Faus;na  Wife  of  Antoninus  Pius  Mother  of  Faus;na  the  Younger  born  about  100,  died  140    

Gold  Aureus.  Rome  c.  146-­‐161  (7.21  g)  

Temple  of  Antoninus  and  Faus=na,  Rome    

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Vibia Sabina  Wife  of  Hadrian  born  83–  died  137  

Silver  Denarius    Rome  128-­‐137  3.1  g  

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Jewish Captive Judea,  1st  century  

Bronze  Sester;us  of  Vespasian  Rome  c.  71  CE  

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Julia Domna  

Gold  Aureus    Rome  194  CE  7.28  g    

Wife  of  Sep;mius  Severus    (reigned  193-­‐211)  Mother  of  Caracalla  and  Geta  

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Saint Helena  

Bronze  Follis  An;och,  327  3.85g  

Gold  Solidus    Sirmium    c.  324-­‐330  4.42  g    

Wife  of  Constan;us  Chlorus  Mother  of  Constan;ne  the  Great  

Flavia  Iulia  Helena  Augusta  born  c. 250  –  died  c. 330  

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Aelia Pulcheria

Gold  tremissis    Constan;nople    struck  414-­‐420  1.48  g    

Edward  Gibbon  wrote  of  Pulcheria:  "she  alone,  among  all  the  descendants  of  the  great  Theodosius  (I),  appears  to  have  inherited  any  share  of  his  manly  spirit  and  abili=es."  

(lived  399-­‐453  )  Daughter  of  Arcadius  Sister  of  Theodosius  II  Wife  of  Marcian    

Marriage  of  Marcian  &  Pulcheria  Constan;nople  August  450  Hunterian  Museum,  Glasgow  UK  unique      

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REne I

Gold  Solidus  of  Constan;nople.    4.40g  19.7mm.  

Lived  752-­‐803  Ruled  797-­‐802  Wife  of  Leo  IV  Mother  of  Constan;ne  VI  

Image  from  "Pala  d'Oro",    Venice,  c.  10th  century  

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Carthage  

Alexandria  

An;och  

Palmyra  

My;lene  

Athens  

Rome  

Caesarea  

Fulvia  (Eumeneia)  

Amastris  

Lugdunum  

Constan;nople  

Sirmium  

Digital  Atlas  of  the  Roman  Empire      h�p://imperium.ahlfeldt.se/  

ANCIENT EUROPE

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Cyrene  Tyre  

Astyra  

References

Boatwright, Mary T. “The Imperial Women of the Early Second Century A.C.” American Journal of Philology, Vol. 112, No. 4 (Winter, 1991), pp. 513-540 Friesenbuch, Annelise. Caesar’s Wives: Sex, Power and Politics in the

Roman Empire. New York (2010) Goldsworthy, Adrian. Antony and Cleopatra. New Haven (2010) Holum, Kenneth. Theodosian Empresses: Women and Imperial Dominion

in Late Antiquity. Berkeley (1982) Lichtman, M. and B. Lichtman. Biographical Dictionary of Ancient Greek

and Roman Women. New York (2000) Pomeroy, Sarah. Women in Hellenistic Egypt. Detroit. (1990) Rowan. Clare. “The Public Image of the Severan Women”

Papers of the British School at Rome. 79 (2011) pp. 241-73 Schiff, Stacy. Cleopatra: A life. New York (2010) Waugh, Evelyn. Helena. Chicago. (1950)

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