DOI article:
Ostrowski, Janusz A.: Personifications of Judaea on Flavian coins
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21230#0155
time passed permanently into the repertoire of Roman triumphal art.
Without undue controversy, then, one may regard the eraperors from
this dynasty as the true creators of the personifications of conąuered
peoples and pacified provinces.4
The coins emitted in Rome to commemorate the victory (those
minted elsewhere have been indicated in the table below) may be di-
vided, on the basis of the reverse decoration, into three basie types, within
which several compositional variants can be distinguished.
I. Lone woman
LI. Woman with lowered head, seated below a trophaeum (fig. 1)
Legend: rVDAEA (in exergue)
Vespasian. AV. D. Emitted 69-73
RIC II, p. 16, no. 15; p. 18, no. 34; p. 20, no. 45; p. 44, no. 254 (minted
in Tarraco, 69-70); p.46, no. 266; Toynbee, p. 118, pl. XVII, 4; Ostrowski,
pp. 178-179, s.v. IUDAEA, no. 6.
1.2. Woman sitting under a palm, with a weapon lying next to her (fig. 2)
Legend: IVDAEA CAPTA, or IV1) CAP (rim) S.C. (in exergue), or IVDAEA
Vespasian. As. Emitted 71
RIC II, pp. 73-74, nos. 489-491; p. 84, nos. 595-596; p. 133, no. 141
(semis emitted by Titus); Toynbee, p. 118, pl. XVII, 5; Ostrowski, p. 179,
s.v. IUDAEA, no. 7.
1.3. Woman with bound hands, sitting under a palm or a trophaeum
Legend: IVDAEA (in exergue); on the ases, IVD.CAP.S.C. (in field)
Vespasian, AV. D. As. Emitted: 69-71
RIC II, p. 16, no. 16; p. 48, no. 287; p. 63, no. 393 (woman's hands not
bound); Toynbee, p. 118, Pl. XVII, 6-9; Ostrowski, p. 179, s.v. IUDAEA,
no. 8.
eum, with their arms tied behind their backs. It is hard to determine today what their
nationality is, but in view of Sosius's activity in Judaea, it cannot be ruled out that they
represent the people of that country. Cf. Ostrowski, p. 207, s.v. Provinces indefinies, no 1
(with further references).
4 In the Flavian period - or to put more precisely, in the reign of Domitian - the first
personifications of Germania began to appear in coinage (cf. Ostrowski, pp. 149-163, s.v.
GERMANIA) and the first personification of a border river, the Rhine.
155
Without undue controversy, then, one may regard the eraperors from
this dynasty as the true creators of the personifications of conąuered
peoples and pacified provinces.4
The coins emitted in Rome to commemorate the victory (those
minted elsewhere have been indicated in the table below) may be di-
vided, on the basis of the reverse decoration, into three basie types, within
which several compositional variants can be distinguished.
I. Lone woman
LI. Woman with lowered head, seated below a trophaeum (fig. 1)
Legend: rVDAEA (in exergue)
Vespasian. AV. D. Emitted 69-73
RIC II, p. 16, no. 15; p. 18, no. 34; p. 20, no. 45; p. 44, no. 254 (minted
in Tarraco, 69-70); p.46, no. 266; Toynbee, p. 118, pl. XVII, 4; Ostrowski,
pp. 178-179, s.v. IUDAEA, no. 6.
1.2. Woman sitting under a palm, with a weapon lying next to her (fig. 2)
Legend: IVDAEA CAPTA, or IV1) CAP (rim) S.C. (in exergue), or IVDAEA
Vespasian. As. Emitted 71
RIC II, pp. 73-74, nos. 489-491; p. 84, nos. 595-596; p. 133, no. 141
(semis emitted by Titus); Toynbee, p. 118, pl. XVII, 5; Ostrowski, p. 179,
s.v. IUDAEA, no. 7.
1.3. Woman with bound hands, sitting under a palm or a trophaeum
Legend: IVDAEA (in exergue); on the ases, IVD.CAP.S.C. (in field)
Vespasian, AV. D. As. Emitted: 69-71
RIC II, p. 16, no. 16; p. 48, no. 287; p. 63, no. 393 (woman's hands not
bound); Toynbee, p. 118, Pl. XVII, 6-9; Ostrowski, p. 179, s.v. IUDAEA,
no. 8.
eum, with their arms tied behind their backs. It is hard to determine today what their
nationality is, but in view of Sosius's activity in Judaea, it cannot be ruled out that they
represent the people of that country. Cf. Ostrowski, p. 207, s.v. Provinces indefinies, no 1
(with further references).
4 In the Flavian period - or to put more precisely, in the reign of Domitian - the first
personifications of Germania began to appear in coinage (cf. Ostrowski, pp. 149-163, s.v.
GERMANIA) and the first personification of a border river, the Rhine.
155