Remarks on two unique coins of Aetna and Zancle / [Barclay V. Head]

8/20/2019 Remarks on two unique coins of Aetna and Zancle / [Barclay V. Head]

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2/9


3/9

XIY.

REMARKS

ON

TWO

UNIQUE

COINS

OF AETNA AND

ZANCLE.

To

the

excellent

descriptions

f the

two

unique

silver

coins of Aetna

and Zancle

(Pl.

IX. 1

and

2)

which

the

Baron

de Hirsch

has

contributed

o

the

pages

of

the

Numismatic

Chronicle/*

may

be

allowed

to

add

a

few

comments

y way

of

furtherllustration.

The marvellous oinofAetna,nowfirst ublished, re-

sents

us

on its reverse

with

a

conception

f

Zeus

in

many

respectsvery

remarkable,

nd

to the best

of

my

know-

ledge

not found

elsewhere

n

coins.

The

attributes

nd

adjunct symbols

both

on

obverse

and

reverse,

aken

in

conjunction

with

the

type,

may

aid

us

in

particularizing

the

idea

of

Zeus which

the

artist

has

endeavoured

to

convey.

They give

it

a

local

colouring,

o

to

speak,

which

the

ordinary ype of Zeus enthroned, amiliarto us all (as

e.g.

on

the coins

of

Alexander

the

Great),

does

not

possess.

In

the

first

place

the

god

rests

his

right

hand

upon

a

natural-knotted

taff,

ent

nto

a crook

t

the

top,

nstead

of

upon

the

ordinary

oyal

sceptre.

This

peculiarity

e

shares,

s

the Baron

de

Hirsch

has

pointed

ut,

with

the

Arcadian

Zeus/

who

was

worshipped

n

the

summit

of

Mount

Lycaeum

but

on

the

coin

of

Aetna

the staff

s



4/9

172

NUMISMATIC

HRONICLE.

extremely

hin

and

slight,

nd exhibits

he

zigzag appear-

ance

which is

characteristic f the

growth

of

a

stick

of

vine-wood,

which

take it

to be.

It can

hardly

e

doubted

hat the

Zeus here

represented

is

the

great

god

of

Mount

Aetna,

he

volcanic

oil

ofwhich

was

especially

favourable o the cultivation

of the

vine,

whenceperhaps hevine-staff n which thegod restshis

arm.

See

Strab.

p.

269.

Ka0a7rep

vv

o

7rr¡yavov

t¡ £v'£vrj

(T7roSa>

p£€rat,

olovtov

X€lv

l

oÍK€¿(ú/m

rpòs

tjv

pLirtkov

ikoç

T

jv

Aitvollolv

tttoSov.

Over

the

whole

Aetna

region

Zeus was

worshipped

under the

name

of

Zc

JsMrvcãos

aXV

a>

Kpóvov

rat,

s

Atrvav

17

ov

vcfióeo-o-av

KaroyK€cj)dka

Tv


5/9

TWO

UNIQUE

OINSOF

AETNAAND

ZANCLE. 173

plash

to

the

deep plain

of the

sea;

and

further e invokes

the

god

who

haunts the

mountain and

prays

that

the

newly

founded

ity

may

find

favour

n

his

sight

€trj

ev,

Iv

€irj

PavSaveiv,

OS

TOVT

¿7T€LS

pOS

€VKap7TOlO

ai

aç

jH£Tü)7T0V,

OV

xìv

lTOiVV

JLIO.

KÀCtvÒçLKKTTYJpKv8dV€VToXVyctrora. k r.

It is

noteworthy

hat across the

throne

of

the

god

is

spread

the skin

of

a

lion,

or

of

some

other

mountain-bred

beast of

prey,

but

the

most characteristic

ymbol

n

the

reverse

s

undoubtedly

he

Pine

tree,

eXárrç

r

tt€vkvj9

ith

which,

according

to

Diodorus

(XIV.

42)

the

slopes

of

Aetna were

once

richly

clad :

rty AItvtjv

pos

yifiov

ar

ÍK€¿VOVS

O-Ùç

POVÔVÇ

ToA.VTcXo0Ç

XaTTJÇ

€

al

TT€VKY]S.

o alsO

Pind. Pytli. . 53 : Aî/n/açv u.€A.a/x


6/9

174

NUMISMATIC

HRONICLE.

scarabei,

KavOapoi

for

which

Mount

Aetna

was celebrated.

See

Aristophanes,

ac.

73

:

€L(TY¡yay

lrvalov

.lyi(TTOV

avOapov

and

the Scholiast's

remarks

n

this

passage

/¿cyaXoi

iyovTai

ivai

/cara

tjv

Altvtjv

avOapoL.

iapTvpovcriv

Sé

ol

ejrv)(wpioi>iríâpfjios

v

Hpa/cAci

o)

C7rt

ov

uxTrrjpaITiry-fiapitûvoâyor/ccjvKuvOapoìvwv ¿€i£óvcovvç /xutltjvAltvtjv

€)(€iv.9}

póirov

é

riva

Kal

Aîcr^vXoç

Vt^copioç*

eyei

è

èv

,i(Tv(o

TreTpOKvXicrTrj

Atrrâióç

oti

KavOapoç

ta

iróvov.

2ookÀ^ç

AatSáXw

<

XX* v

jlev

rj

KavOapos

Ûv

AtTvatW

rávTü)S.

eyci

Sc

TrávTtoç

t/cáâ)v

ts

xiyav

nXáro)V

v'Eoprats

œç

/xcya

xcVrot

7rávv

ř)v

ltvtjv

poç

ivai

frao-i

CKfiaipov,

0cv

p£t(j0ai,

àç

/cav-

BapLSas

cjv

vOpomw

ctlv

Xóyoç

i/Scv

XaTTOvç.

With

regard

to the

time of issue

it

may

be

remarked

that

Catana

bore

the name

of

Aetna

for

bout

fifteen

ears,

but in b.c.

461,

its

old

inhabitants

roveout the Aetnaeans

and thecityoncemorerecoveredts original ppellation.

In

point

of

style

the

tetradrachm f Aetna

exhibits

some technical

peculiarities

whichare

noticeable

n

certain

other

Sicilian

coins struck

apparently

before

b.c. 476.

Thus the

hard stiff olds n

which the

Ijkxtlov

f

Zeus falls

about

his

body

bear

a close resemblance o

the

folds f the

chiton

of Nike

on

a tetradrachm

f

Catana

(B.

M.

Guide,

Pl. IX.

25),

and the

somewhat

awkward

way

in

which

the

eagle

with closed

wings

sits

above,

but

not

actually

touching

the

top

of the

pine-tree,

may

be

compared

with

the

equally

unusual

manner of

depicting

bird

(in

this

case

an

aquatic

bird)

with

closed

wings,

standing,

without

any

support,

nkthe

ield

f the

obverse

of

the

same coin of

Catana,

above

the back

of the bull.

In

fabric,

s

well

as

in

style,

hese

two

coins

resemble

one

another

o

closely cf.

the

circular

ncuse,

the

border

of

dots,

&c.)

that

one

might

lmost

be

justified

n

ascribing

themto thesameworkshop fthesameengraver.



7/9

TWO

UNIQUE

COINS

OF

AETNA

ANI)

ZANCLE.

175

Another

coin which

n

style

s

also

extremely

ike our

Aetnaean

tetradrachm s the

unique

piece

of

Himera

in

the

cabinet of

the

Prince of

Waldeck

(Imhoof.

Mon

Gr

PL B.

3).

On

this

coin also

the

Nymph

Himera wears

an

ample

peplos,

the

foldsof

which

are

indicated

n

pre-

cisely

the same stiff nd

linear manner which

is so

remarkable n the coin of Aetna. All threepieces are

certainly

lmost

ontemporary,

nd

the date of

the Aetna

coin

b.c.

476

161

may

serve

to

fix

the

date,

within

a

little,

f

the

other wo.

Let us now

turn

to

the

tetradrachm

f

Zancle

of

Attic

weight

(Pl.

IX.

2).

This

coin

s not

only

of

the

highest

metrological

nterest,

s the Baron de Hirsch and

Dr.

Imhoof-Blumer

ave

already

pointed

out,

but

it is

a docu-

ment

of considerable

rchaeological mportance

for

the

history fGreekart.

From the

very

advanced

style

of the

figure

of

the

striding

Zeus

on

the obverse should have been

inclined

to attribute

t

to

about

the middle

of

the

fifth

entury,

but

according

to our historical data

the

name

of Zancle

was

no

longer

n use after the death

of Anaxilas in

b.c.

476,

it

having

been

superseded

by

that

of Messana either

at the time

of the first

occupation

f Zancle

by

a

mixed

body

of Samians

and

Messanians,

b.c.

494

(Herod. Y1L,

164),

or on

the

expulsion

of

the

Samians

by

Anaxilas

some

time

before

his

death

in

b.c. 476

(Thuc.

VI.

5),

Tovs

e

S

afiLovs

AvatjiXas

Prjyivuv

vpavvos

v ttoWw

arcpov

€Kßa'ü>v

al

TYjv

róXiv

vròs

codd.

vrois)£v/Lfx¿KT(úv

vòpwruìv

ouciaas

S¡Í€(r(TYivr¡v

irò

r¡

avrov

ò

âp'aíov

rarpíSos

vTUìvó

iacre.

Unless,

therefore,

e

suppose

that

the name

Zancle

was

not

entirely

discarded

cf.

Paus.

VI.

i .

10 where

men-

tion s

made of

the

ancient

Zanclaeans

t

a

later

period

s

distinct rom heMessanians),we are compelled

o

fix

the



8/9

176

NUMISMATICHRONICLE.

date of this most

emarkable

oin before

b.c.

476.

It

may,

however,

e

accepted

s

good

evidence

that

the name

of

Zancle was

not

abandoned

s

early

as

b.c. 494. Even

for

a

work

dating

from

76 the

freedom

f

style

nd

mastery

of

anatomical

detail

exhibited

n

the attitude f the

figure

of

Zeus

are,

so

far

as I

know,

unexampled

on

any

other

ancientmonument.

To

the accurate

descriptions

f

the other oins

given

by

the

Baron de

Hirsch I

have

nothing

to

add,

except

that

the

coin of Gela

(Pl.

IX.,

5)

is not from he same

die as

the

specimen

n

the British

Museum

(B.

M.

Guide

Pl.

XYI.

24).

My

friend,

Dr.

Hermann

Weber,

has,

however,

ately

acquired

a

specimen

of

this rare

piece,

unfortunately

n

poor

preservation,

hich

s

from he same

dies as the

remarkably

ine

pecimen hotographed

n

the

Baron de Hirsch'splate.

As it

is

always

atisfactory

o be able to trace the

prove-

nance of coins as

important

s thoseof

Aetna

and

Zancle,

I

may

mention hat

I

have

been

informed hat for

many

years past

these two

coins have

lain

in

the

cabinetof a

well-known

rivate

collector

t

Catania,

where

hey

were

seen

some

ten

or

fifteen

ears ago by

Prof.

Salinas of

Palermo,

and

by

Dr.

Imhoof-Blumer. On the

death of

their

originalpossessor hey

were offered or

ale,

with the

restofthe

collection,

y Signor Verga,

one of the heirs.

The

BritishMuseum

not

being

n a

position

o

give

the

large

sum

demanded

for

he

collection,

which,moreover,

consisted

for

the most

part

of

ordinary

Sicilian coins

already represented

n the

national

coin

cabinet,

the

whole

was

acquired

by

the

late

Signor

Castellani,

from

whom

he

rarest

specimens

have

passed

into the

cabinet

of

the

Baron de

Hirsch.

Barclay Y. Head.



9/9

COINS

OF

SICILY

Num

Chrûn Ser

II

Vd MPl K

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Remarks on two unique coins of Aetna and Zancle / [Barclay V. Head]