DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0440
Ianus bifrontal on coins
373
him with thunderbolt in lieu of sceptre (fig. 279)1. The symbolism
is of the simplest. Iupiter as sky-god is sending forth from the
orbis annuus or 'circle of the year2' the four Seasons laden with their
gifts—a complementary design to that of Tellus the earth-goddess,
who reclining beneath her vine witnesses the
same four pass in gracious procession over the
star-spangled globe (figs. 273, 274)^.
The only exception to the bifrontality of
Ianus traceable on the coins of Rome is more
apparent than real. The quadruple effigy of
the god, brought from Falerii in 241 B.C. and
erected in a temple with four doors on the
Forum Transitorium4, appears on a 'second brass' of Hadrian
(fig. 280)5. But this fourfold type, which ultimately gave rise to
1 Frohner Mid. emp. rom. p. 121 f. fig. (—my fig. 279) 'Jupiter,' Cohen Mbnn. etnp.
rom?vi\. 291 no. 474 fig. 'Jupiter.' This specimen is struck in two metals, yellow and
red copper (Babelon Monn. gr. rom. i. r. 667, 944 fig. 32).
2 So Frohner he. cit. in allusion to Verg. Aen. 5. 46 (cp. 1. 269). The interpretation,
however, is not certain. Eckhel Doctr. num. vet.'1 vii. 113 f. drew attention to the fact
that Commodus claimed to have restored the Golden Age (Dion Cass. 72. 15, Lamprid.
v. Commod. 14. 3), and observed that the Golden Age was represented on an aureus ol
Hadrian (Cohen Monn. emp. rom? ii. 216 no. 1321, cp. ib. ii. 216 no. 1322 the same coin
in silver, fourrie) by a beardless, semi-draped figure (saec • avr) standing within a hoop
and carrying a globe surmounted by a phoenix. Again, the circle might be spatial rather
than temporal: cp. Ov. fast. 1. 85 Iupiter arce sua totum cum spectet in orbem, etc.
3 This type (tellvs STABiLzVa), introduced by Hadrian (Gnecchi Alcdagl. Rom. hi. 19
no. 90 pi. 145, 12, Brit. Mus. Cat. Medallions p. 5 no. 17, Cohen Monn. emp. rom.'2 ii.
225 no. 1435), was copied by Faustina Iunior (Gnecchi op. cit. ii. 39 no. 5, Cohen op. cit?
iii. 154 no. 219), and by Commodus (Gnecchi op. cit. ii. 65 f. no. 125 pi. 86, 8, nos. 126 —
128, no. 129 pi. 86, 9, no. 130 pi. 86, 10, no. 131 pi. 87, 1, Brit. Mus. Cat. Medallions
p. 25 no. 20 pi. 32, 1, no. 21, Frohner Med. emp. roin. p. 130 f. with four figs., of which
the last = my fig. 273, Kubitschek Rom. Medaillons Wien p. 7 no. 62 pi. 5 ( = my fig. 274),
Cohen op. cit? iii. 322 no. 714 fig., nos. 715, 716, no. 717 fig.); also, with wider
variations, by Antoninus Pius (Gnecchi op. cit. ii. 20 no. 97 pi. 54, 7, Brit. Mus.
Cat. Medallions p. 9 no. 14 pi. ir, 2, Frohner op. cit. p. 72 fig., Cohen op. cit? ii. 392
no. 1168 fig.).
4 Serv. in Verg. Aen. 7. 607 and 12. 198, Macrob. Sat. 1. 9. 13, Lyd. de mens. 4. 1
p. 64, 4 ff. Wtinsch. Cp. Mart. ep. 8. 2. 1 ff., 10. 28. 1 ff., Stat. silv. 4. 3. 9 f., Aug. de civ.
Dei 7. 8, Isid. orig. 8. 11. 37. See further H. Jordan Topographie der Stadl Bom im
Alterthum Berlin 1885 i. 2. 449 with n. 18, W. H. Roscher in his Lex. Myth. ii. 25 f., 28,
53, O. Richter Topographie der Stadt Rom Miinchen 1901 p. 114, B. R. Burchett Janus in
Roman Life and Cult Menasha, Wisconsin 1918 pp. 28 f., 40.
5 Rasche Lex. Num. iv. 514^, Suppl. iii. 74, Cohen Monn. emp. torn? ii. 129 no. 281
(left hand on hip), no. 282 (right hand on hip). Cohen, who gives no illustration, simply
ignores the third face of the god, though it is clearly enough shown in early publications
such as Montfaucon Antiquity Explained trans. D. Humphreys London 1721 i. 18 pi. 5
no. 19 or J. Harduin's ed. of Plin. nat. hist, ii pi. 10, 1. Fig. 280 is from a specimen in
my collection. In Folk-Lore 1905 xvi. 278 f. I wrongly took the type to be evidence of a
triple Ianus, though I noted (id. p. 278 n. 6) that R. Mowat in the Bulletin dpigraphique
iii. 168 had regarded it as Ianus Quadrifrous with his fourth face concealed.
373
him with thunderbolt in lieu of sceptre (fig. 279)1. The symbolism
is of the simplest. Iupiter as sky-god is sending forth from the
orbis annuus or 'circle of the year2' the four Seasons laden with their
gifts—a complementary design to that of Tellus the earth-goddess,
who reclining beneath her vine witnesses the
same four pass in gracious procession over the
star-spangled globe (figs. 273, 274)^.
The only exception to the bifrontality of
Ianus traceable on the coins of Rome is more
apparent than real. The quadruple effigy of
the god, brought from Falerii in 241 B.C. and
erected in a temple with four doors on the
Forum Transitorium4, appears on a 'second brass' of Hadrian
(fig. 280)5. But this fourfold type, which ultimately gave rise to
1 Frohner Mid. emp. rom. p. 121 f. fig. (—my fig. 279) 'Jupiter,' Cohen Mbnn. etnp.
rom?vi\. 291 no. 474 fig. 'Jupiter.' This specimen is struck in two metals, yellow and
red copper (Babelon Monn. gr. rom. i. r. 667, 944 fig. 32).
2 So Frohner he. cit. in allusion to Verg. Aen. 5. 46 (cp. 1. 269). The interpretation,
however, is not certain. Eckhel Doctr. num. vet.'1 vii. 113 f. drew attention to the fact
that Commodus claimed to have restored the Golden Age (Dion Cass. 72. 15, Lamprid.
v. Commod. 14. 3), and observed that the Golden Age was represented on an aureus ol
Hadrian (Cohen Monn. emp. rom? ii. 216 no. 1321, cp. ib. ii. 216 no. 1322 the same coin
in silver, fourrie) by a beardless, semi-draped figure (saec • avr) standing within a hoop
and carrying a globe surmounted by a phoenix. Again, the circle might be spatial rather
than temporal: cp. Ov. fast. 1. 85 Iupiter arce sua totum cum spectet in orbem, etc.
3 This type (tellvs STABiLzVa), introduced by Hadrian (Gnecchi Alcdagl. Rom. hi. 19
no. 90 pi. 145, 12, Brit. Mus. Cat. Medallions p. 5 no. 17, Cohen Monn. emp. rom.'2 ii.
225 no. 1435), was copied by Faustina Iunior (Gnecchi op. cit. ii. 39 no. 5, Cohen op. cit?
iii. 154 no. 219), and by Commodus (Gnecchi op. cit. ii. 65 f. no. 125 pi. 86, 8, nos. 126 —
128, no. 129 pi. 86, 9, no. 130 pi. 86, 10, no. 131 pi. 87, 1, Brit. Mus. Cat. Medallions
p. 25 no. 20 pi. 32, 1, no. 21, Frohner Med. emp. roin. p. 130 f. with four figs., of which
the last = my fig. 273, Kubitschek Rom. Medaillons Wien p. 7 no. 62 pi. 5 ( = my fig. 274),
Cohen op. cit? iii. 322 no. 714 fig., nos. 715, 716, no. 717 fig.); also, with wider
variations, by Antoninus Pius (Gnecchi op. cit. ii. 20 no. 97 pi. 54, 7, Brit. Mus.
Cat. Medallions p. 9 no. 14 pi. ir, 2, Frohner op. cit. p. 72 fig., Cohen op. cit? ii. 392
no. 1168 fig.).
4 Serv. in Verg. Aen. 7. 607 and 12. 198, Macrob. Sat. 1. 9. 13, Lyd. de mens. 4. 1
p. 64, 4 ff. Wtinsch. Cp. Mart. ep. 8. 2. 1 ff., 10. 28. 1 ff., Stat. silv. 4. 3. 9 f., Aug. de civ.
Dei 7. 8, Isid. orig. 8. 11. 37. See further H. Jordan Topographie der Stadl Bom im
Alterthum Berlin 1885 i. 2. 449 with n. 18, W. H. Roscher in his Lex. Myth. ii. 25 f., 28,
53, O. Richter Topographie der Stadt Rom Miinchen 1901 p. 114, B. R. Burchett Janus in
Roman Life and Cult Menasha, Wisconsin 1918 pp. 28 f., 40.
5 Rasche Lex. Num. iv. 514^, Suppl. iii. 74, Cohen Monn. emp. torn? ii. 129 no. 281
(left hand on hip), no. 282 (right hand on hip). Cohen, who gives no illustration, simply
ignores the third face of the god, though it is clearly enough shown in early publications
such as Montfaucon Antiquity Explained trans. D. Humphreys London 1721 i. 18 pi. 5
no. 19 or J. Harduin's ed. of Plin. nat. hist, ii pi. 10, 1. Fig. 280 is from a specimen in
my collection. In Folk-Lore 1905 xvi. 278 f. I wrongly took the type to be evidence of a
triple Ianus, though I noted (id. p. 278 n. 6) that R. Mowat in the Bulletin dpigraphique
iii. 168 had regarded it as Ianus Quadrifrous with his fourth face concealed.