Aiuto confronto per tesi

[danton87]

Rapax, sapresti indicarmi invece una buona bibliografia per quanto riguarda le corone radiate intesa come simbolo solare e il loro uso relativo agli imperatori divinizzati.Grazie.

[Rapax]

Purtroppo su quel fronte non sono in grado di aiutarti, mi spiace.

[ahala]

Dear danton

Perhaps the Romans were not very interested in Sol or Helios and that is why you find it difficult to find good references. In my experience of Roman Republican coinage, Sol was not a key figure. After saying this, I do have some things to help you with.

I think it is an error to look at Sol on the Crawford 39/4 Uncia by himself, alone. Instead, look to the entire coin series. In my view there is one story in these 5 coins. What is that story? What was it shown here? Remember, this was also the first time that Juno and Centaurs was shown on a coin, the first time that the eagle with flower was shown, the first time with Bull and snake, the first time with Cybele. All these images were shown for the first time, as well as Sol. So I think you should look for a single story or reason to link all the types together, rather than looking at the Sol/crescent uncia by itself. Below you can see the coins, from my coin collection, of the full series. It may be as simple as the die engraver being asked to illustrate a series of images from Greek and Roman mythology, and he was just being artistic.

Also, there is an earlier coin which was not discussed, Crawford 15/1 didrachm, with Apollo / horse with star above. In Quaderni Ticinesi IX, 1980, pp.169-174, Andrew Burnett writes about "The second issue of Roman didrachms". He discusses many things (mints, weights, hoards, dies, dates - he thinks they were minted about 270 BC - die links and sequence etc). He also comments on the types. He notes that two other much later coin types under Roman control had the same type:

- Luceria Aes Grave, Apollo / prancing horse and star (weighing about 1 pound, struck probably in the 220s BC)

- Luceria Aes Grave, Hercules / prancing horse and star (weighing about 1/4 pound and struck at the same time as Janus/Prow aes grave with L from Luceria of the same weight, i.e. about 215 BC)

He then comments on the types of the didrachm (which he thinks struck about 270 BC, at Rome)

The types of the second didrachm have ... three main elements: the head of Apollo, the prancing horse, and the star. The problem is to decide how - if at all - the three are related. It must I think be accepted that there is some sort of direct connection between the horse and the star as they are frequently associated on Sicilian coins of the late fourth century BC, which like the Romans adapt the prancing horse from the pegasi on Corinthian coins. A prancing horse with a star above occurs for Syracuse, Alaesa, Gela, Acragas, Messana, Camarina and Aetna, all at about the same time and with no other symbol. It would however be rash to adopt the idea that the Sicilian cities used the horse as a symbol of Eleutheria and connect it with the late Republican (and perhaps Sicilian) use of Apollo as a symbol of libertas. There are too many uncertainties and unsupported hypotheses for such an interpretation of the didrachm as the expression of liberty after the defeat of Pyrrhus to be acceptable. But more consideration should be given to an interpretation of the coin as a reflection of Apollo's identification with the Sun. The identification of Apollo with Helios, which goes back in Greek thought to the fifth century BC, would make sense of the close connection of the horse with the star (presumably the horse is one of the white horses which pulled the Sun's chariot). The interest of such an interpretation, if it is correct, lies in the consideration that the identification of Apollo and the Sun is not commonly met in Republican thought (although it was known to Varro, de lingua latina V,68). Apollo in Republican Rome was pre-eminently Apollo medicus, so the coin may attest an unusual interest in Greek ideas at Rome at this date, an interest which is of course clear in other ways. But the coins should not be taken to imply any widespread interest in the idea; it is probably only the personal choice of whoever was responsible for its production.

Burnett's last comment is important, and is similar to my first comment. Perhaps Sol was just not important to the Romans in Republican times, and it would be unwise to make a bigger thesis out of it than justified. Even the best known coin, the 39/4 sol/crescent uncia, may just be part of a different story.

Modificato 30 Ottobre, 2013 da ahala