Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Coins : Coins - limits of the Roman period in Crete [Ν1150, Ν616, ΣΓ1140]

Coins - limits of the Roman period in Crete

Ν1150, Ν616, ΣΓ1140

Metal (Bronze, Silver)

Intact, worn in places

Diameters: 3.0 cm., 1.7 cm.

Crete

Roman period:

67 BC, 330-5 AD:

Gallery:

XXI

Case:

210

Exhibition thematic unit:

Cretan Coinage

Roman coins in Crete (67 BC - 330 AD)

Description

The coin issues that delimit, at least conventionally, the period of Roman rule in Crete. 1. Silver tetradrachm minted in Gortys immediately after the Roman conquest. On the obverse is the head of the goddess Roma, the personification of Rome (inscription ΡΩΜΑΣ), wearing a helmet adorned with a relief elephant’s head. On the reverse is a facing statue of Ephesian Artemis, a bee and an elephant’s head, accompanied by the inscription ΓΟΡΤΥΝ, all surrounded by a wreath. The references to the Roman occupation and its leader Metellus (whose family emblem was the elephant’s head) are obvious. 2. At the other end of the chronological range are the issues in the name of the personifications of Rome and Constantinople dated to 330-335 AD, when the URBS ROMA was definitively abandoned and CONSTANTINOPOLI became the capital of the Empire by decree of the Emperor Constantine I (307-337 AD). The reverse sides depict the she-wolf of Rome suckling Romulus and Remus on one issue, and on the other a winged Victory (Nike) with shield and sceptre standing on a ship’s prow, referring to the hoped-for victories on land and sea from the well-chosen site of the new capital.

Bibliography:

A. Burnett, M. Amandry, and P. P. Ripollès, Roman Provincial Coinage, I, London 1992, no. 901. P. Bruun, Roman imperial Coinage, VII, London 1966, p. 339, no. 354 and p. 634, no. 195.

Author:

K. S.

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