Leu Numismatik AG
Web Auction 24 3-6 Dec 2022
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Hadrian, 117-138. Denarius (Subaeratus, 18 mm, 2.53 g, 6 h), uncertain mint in the East, circa 130-133. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P Laureate head of Hadrian to right, with slight drapery on his left shoulder. Rev. Octostyle temple on podium of four steps; across frieze, IMP CAESAR; in center, togate male figure standing facing, head to left, holding long scepter in his left hand; in pediment, figurine decoration; on roof, facing quadriga in center with two standing figures on either side and Victories on globes at corners. BMC -. Cohen -. RIC -. Apparently unpublished and of great historical interest. Some breaks in plating and with light deposits, otherwise, good very fine.
From a European collection, acquired before 2021.
This is a fascinating coin in many regards. First, while it is plated, the extraordinarily fine eastern style clearly reveals that it almost certainly comes from an official mint. Secondly, the reverse type is nothing but spectacular, showing an elaborate temple with eight columns standing on a podium of four steps; the pediment is decorated with standing and lying figures; the roof with a facing quadriga in the center, two standing figures on either side, and two victories on globes presenting wreathes on the corners. Within the temple stands a male facing figure, his head turned to left and holding a long scepter in his left hand and, perhaps, another object in his right. Finally, a monumental inscription reading, in bold and clear letters, IMP CAESAR, adorns the architrave.
The closest parallels to this remarkable coin can be found in Hadrian's cistophoric coinage, however, there are numerous differences: none of the cistophoric temples with figures inside have more than four columns, none have similar roof and pediment decorations, and none boast the IMP CAESAR legend on the architrave - it usually reads ROM AVG, ROMA ET AVG, or ROM S P AVG, or it refers to a particular sanctuary such as DIANA PERG on the Temple of Artemis Pergaia. This then begs the question as to which temple the coin is showing. Clearly IMP CAESAR refers to an emperor, whose statue thus stands inside, either togate, or in military attire and with a chlamys draped over his left shoulder as on RPC I 2221 - the details are not entirerly clear. The most plausible solution is to see the reverse composition as a rendering of a temple of Augustus, who was, as Cassius Dio reports, the first to grant communities in Asia Minor the right to establish a ruler cult for him:
'He commanded that the Romans resident in these cities should pay honour to these two divinities [Roma and Divus Julius Caesar]; but he permitted the aliens, whom he styled Hellenes, to consecrate precincts to himself, the Asians to have theirs in Pergamum and the Bithynians theirs in Nicomedia'. (Cass. Dio 51.20.7)
Such allusions to Augustean memory fit in perfectly with Hadrian's self-representation as a new Augustus and originator of a new Pax Augusta. The Asian temple(s) of Augustus had appeared on coins before, namely on cistophori of Claudius (RPC I 2221), Vespasian (RPC II 859), and Domitian (RPC II 875), but it was Hadrian who brought the concept to a whole new level with his abundant series of cistophoric temple reverses. However, all of these sanctuaries are labelled 'ROM [ET] AVG', thus, they showed the temples dedicated to Augustus AND Roma mentioned by Cassius Dio, whereas our coin just mentions Augustus alone, in the form of Imperator Caesar. It is a remarkable deviation from the norm, the background of which remains unclear, all the more as it is only attested on a single, plated denarius. What we do know is that the issue originated in Asia Minor, where stylistic similarities to other denarii and to cistophori exist (and this cataloguer would not be surprised if an obverse die match to other eastern denarii would one day emerge), and where the rendering of the temples of the first emperor had a long tradition, albeit in a different form.
From a European collection, acquired before 2021.
This is a fascinating coin in many regards. First, while it is plated, the extraordinarily fine eastern style clearly reveals that it almost certainly comes from an official mint. Secondly, the reverse type is nothing but spectacular, showing an elaborate temple with eight columns standing on a podium of four steps; the pediment is decorated with standing and lying figures; the roof with a facing quadriga in the center, two standing figures on either side, and two victories on globes presenting wreathes on the corners. Within the temple stands a male facing figure, his head turned to left and holding a long scepter in his left hand and, perhaps, another object in his right. Finally, a monumental inscription reading, in bold and clear letters, IMP CAESAR, adorns the architrave.
The closest parallels to this remarkable coin can be found in Hadrian's cistophoric coinage, however, there are numerous differences: none of the cistophoric temples with figures inside have more than four columns, none have similar roof and pediment decorations, and none boast the IMP CAESAR legend on the architrave - it usually reads ROM AVG, ROMA ET AVG, or ROM S P AVG, or it refers to a particular sanctuary such as DIANA PERG on the Temple of Artemis Pergaia. This then begs the question as to which temple the coin is showing. Clearly IMP CAESAR refers to an emperor, whose statue thus stands inside, either togate, or in military attire and with a chlamys draped over his left shoulder as on RPC I 2221 - the details are not entirerly clear. The most plausible solution is to see the reverse composition as a rendering of a temple of Augustus, who was, as Cassius Dio reports, the first to grant communities in Asia Minor the right to establish a ruler cult for him:
'He commanded that the Romans resident in these cities should pay honour to these two divinities [Roma and Divus Julius Caesar]; but he permitted the aliens, whom he styled Hellenes, to consecrate precincts to himself, the Asians to have theirs in Pergamum and the Bithynians theirs in Nicomedia'. (Cass. Dio 51.20.7)
Such allusions to Augustean memory fit in perfectly with Hadrian's self-representation as a new Augustus and originator of a new Pax Augusta. The Asian temple(s) of Augustus had appeared on coins before, namely on cistophori of Claudius (RPC I 2221), Vespasian (RPC II 859), and Domitian (RPC II 875), but it was Hadrian who brought the concept to a whole new level with his abundant series of cistophoric temple reverses. However, all of these sanctuaries are labelled 'ROM [ET] AVG', thus, they showed the temples dedicated to Augustus AND Roma mentioned by Cassius Dio, whereas our coin just mentions Augustus alone, in the form of Imperator Caesar. It is a remarkable deviation from the norm, the background of which remains unclear, all the more as it is only attested on a single, plated denarius. What we do know is that the issue originated in Asia Minor, where stylistic similarities to other denarii and to cistophori exist (and this cataloguer would not be surprised if an obverse die match to other eastern denarii would one day emerge), and where the rendering of the temples of the first emperor had a long tradition, albeit in a different form.