4435470

The Coinage of Q. Cornificius and Augural Symbolism on Late Republican DenariiAuthor(s): J. Rufus FearsSource: Historia: Zeitschrift fr Alte Geschichte, Bd. 24, H. 4 (4th Qtr., 1975), pp. 592-602Published by: Franz Steiner VerlagStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4435470 .Accessed: 14/05/2014 12:42

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THE COINAGE OF Q. CORNIFICIUS AND AUGURAL SYMBOLISM ON LATE REPUBLICAN DENARII-

In his speech Pro lege Manilia, delivered in 66 B. C. and the first public oration of his career, Cicero was especially concerned with exemplifying the felicitas of Pompey.' According to Cicero, the four characteristics of the great general are scientia rei militaris, virtus, auctoritas, and felicitas.2 Pompey possessed all four in abundance.3 Great generals of the past, such as Quintus Fabius Maximus, Marcellus, Scipio, and Marius, had been possessed of a divinely sent fortuna.4 However, to Pompey alone did Cicero attribute god-given felicitas, a term which in the Pro lege Manilia was not synonymous with fortuna but rather was used to surround Pompey with a very special aura of divine sanction. There was no one, said Cicero, who could be so audacious as to hope for such great things as the gods had bestowed upon Pompey.'

In the Pro lege Manilia, Cicero portrayed Pompey as personally chosen by the gods and given to the Roman people. His very birth seemed to have been the result of a divine plan to bring all of Rome's wars to an end:

Et quisquam dubitabit, quin huic hoc tantum bellum transmittendum sit, qui ad omnia nostrae memoriae bella conficienda divino quodam consilio natus esse videatur? 6

Through divine providence the Fortuna PopuliRomanisent Pompey to Asia lest that province be lost for the Roman commonwealth:

amisissetis Asiam, Quirites, nisi ad ipsum discrimen eius temporis divinitus Cn. Pompeium ad eas regiones fortuna populi Romani attulisset.7

The gods were leading the Roman people to entrust Pompey with the great command inherent in the Manilian law, for the gods had bestowed this great opportunity upon the Roman people in order to preserve and augment the commonwealth:

This article was written with the aid of grants from the Penrose Fund of the American Philosophical Society and from Indiana University. Abbreviations used are those found in L'annie philologique.

I For the importance of the Pro lege Manilia in the development of the concept of the charismatic leader at Rome, see F. Taeger, Charisma II 46-7; H. Kasper, Griechische Soter-Vorstellungen u. ihre Clbernahme in das politische Leben Roms (Diss. Mainz 1959) 130-42; and U. Heibges, Latomus 28 (1969) 843-4. 2 Manil. 10.28. 3 Manil 10.28-16.49. 4 Manil. 16.47.

5 Manil. 16.47-9. For Cicero's use of felicitas, see also A. Passerini, Philologus 10 (1935) 93-7; H. Erkell, Augustus, Felicitas, Fortuna : Lateinische Wortstudien 45-7.

6 Manil. 14.42. 7 Manil. 15.45.

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The Coinage of Q. Cornificius and Augural Symbolism on Late Republican Denarii 593

Quare cum et bellum sit ita necessarium, ut neglegi non possit, ita magnum, ut accuratissime sit administrandum, et cum ei imperatorem praeficere possitis, in quo sit eximia belli scientia, singularis virtus, claris- sima auctoritas, egregiafortuna, dubitatis, Quirites, quin hoc tantum boni, quod vobis a dis immortalibus oblatum et datum est, in rem publicam conservandam atque amplificandam conferatis '

Thus for Cicero, Pompey was a soter whom the gods had given to the Roman people to defend and expand their empire. The idea of a mortal as the soterof the commonwealth was extremely important in Hellenistic political ideology.9 To confer the title soterupon a man did not of itself imply anything concerning his own divinity or divine election or divine favor.'0 Yet the motif of the soteras a divinely favored individual or as a divinity come down from heaven was a well-known element in Hellenistic panegyrics. It was equally a commonplace of the language of Hellenistic panegyrics to remind the listeners that since the safety of the state depended upon the soter, in praying for his well-being they were praying also for the preservation of the commonwealth." Cicero, in the Pro lege Manilia, admonished that his hearers should hope for the continued felicitas of Pompey, since this felicitas was the safety of the commonwealth and empire.'2

Another fundamental concept of Hellenistic kingship is represented by Cicero's major theme in his encomium on Pompey, the idea of the divinely gifted general who is endowed with virtus and felicitas and who conquers in battle with the aid of the gods. In Greece, already in the Iliadwe find the motif of the mortal who fights his battles with the active assistance of a patron deity;'3 but

8 Manil. 16.49. 9 For the Greco-Roman concept of the ruler as Soter, see, e. g., P. Wendland, ZNTW5 (1904)

335-53; E. Skard, Avh. Videnskap-Akad. i Oslo 2 (1931) 6-67; A. von Harnack, Reden u. Aufsatze 299-311; H. Linssen, Theos Soter (Diss. Bonn 1929); H. Kleinknecht, ARW34 (1937) 294-313; A. Alfoldi, MH9 (1952) 210-43; A. Oxe, WS 48 (1930) 38-61; F. Dornseiff, RE2 V 1212-20; H. Stier, Schriften der Wittheit zu Bremen, Reihe D, Band 19, Heft 2 (1950) 66-7; J. Beranger, Recherches sur l'aspect ideologique du principat 275-8; L. Wickert, REXXII 2235-6; Kasper (above n. 1) passim; E. Doblhofer, Die Augustuspanegyrik des Horaz informalhistorischerSicht58-61; and A. Michel, Alexander als Vorbild fur Pompeius, Caesar u. Marcus Antonius 48-50.

'? A. D. Nock in The Joy of Study, ed. S. Johnson 127-41; Kasper (above n. 1) 27-31. 11 W. Schubart, APF 12 (1936) 1-26; F. Dvornik, Early Chrnstian and Byzantine Political

Philosophy 1 262-3; Doblhofer (above n. 9) 52-66; R. Nisbet and M. Hubbard, A Commentary on Horace: Odes Book I 167-8.

12 The influence of the language and ideas of Hellenistic encomia upon Cicero's panegyrical efforts has often been discussed. See, e. g. Wendland (above n. 9) 341-4; F. Sauter, Der rom. Kaiserkult bei Martial u. Statius 11-2; F. Christ, Die rom. Weltherrschaft in der antiken Dichtung 24-5; Kasper (above n. 1) 130-42; Doblhofer (above n. 9) 58; and Dvornik (above n. 9) 11 474-8. However, it should be emphasized that, contrary to current opinion, Manil. 16.48 not Marcell. 22,32, is the first appearance in Cicero of the concept that the safety of the state is dependent upon the safety of the ruler.

13 I 5.1-9, 122-32; 10.245; 11.438; 20.223; 23.784. Cf. J. Puhvel in Minoica: Fest. Sundwall 328-9; C. Thomas, Histor`a 15 (1966) 389.

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594 J. RUFus Fi"ARS

during the fourth century, under the impetus of the careers of such figures as Lysander and Timoleon, the Greek world gave increasing attention to the view of the charismatic leader as a being of superhuman nature to whom the gods had given eutychia as a grace merited by his arete. Victory in war was the proof of this divine favor. This concept, labeled by Gage as the "theology of victory", was greatly enhanced by the charisma of Alexander, and it played a key role in the establishment of the Hellenistic dynasties.'4 The creation of the successor kingdoms was in itself a witness to the validity of the theology of victory. The extermination of the line of Alexander in 309 made it possible for the Diadochi to take the royal title. However, Antigonus and Demetrius were hailed as kings only after the naval victory at Salamis manifested the royal eutychia which qualified them for kingship. Ptolemy became basileus only after his defeat of the invasion of Antigonus, and similarly Seleucus did not take the royal title until a victory in the field certified his possession of divinely granted and victory bearing charisma."5 Omina imperii, foreshadowing victory and resultant kingship, clustered around the founders of Hellenistic dynasties;16 and their coinage testified to the divine role in their victories.17

The legends which surrounded the charismatic leaders of the early republic and especially the career of Scipio Africanus Maior served as the background to the establishment of the Hellenistic theology of victory at Rome under Sulla.'8 In his Memoirs Sulla portrayed himself as the divinely foreordained agent of the deities'9 and thus preceded Cicero's description of the felicitas of Pompey, whom the gods hat chosen to preserve and expand the Roman commonwealth. These literary declarations of the role of the theology of victory in Roman

14 The study of the theology of victory in Greco-Roman antiquity was initiated by J. Gage, RH 171 (1933) 1-43. Particularly important treatments are E. J. Bikerman, Institutions des Sdleucides 11-6; G. Charles Picard, Les Trophies romains. A detailed discussion, with the more recent bibliography, of the theology of victory and its relationship to the concept of kingship by divine election is to be found in my forthcoming monograph Princeps A Diis Electus in Papers and Monographs of the American Academy in Rome (1976).

5 For the assumption of the royal title by the Diadochi, see App. Syr. 54; Diod. 20.53.2-5; Justin 15.2. 10; Plut. Dem. 17-18; Marmor Pacium ep. 23. For the cuneiform documents, see A. Sachs and D. Wiseman, Iraq 16 (1954) 205; A. Aymard, REA 57 (1955) 105. For the whole question, see the penetrating analysis of Bikerman (above n. 14) 12, closely followed in the text; and E. Will, Histoire politique du monde hellenistique 1 59, 64-6.

16 Diod. 19.55-9, 90; App. Syr. 5-6; Justin 15.4; Plut. Dem. 29.1-2. Cf. R. Hadley, Historia 18 (1969) 142-152.

17 B. Head, Historia Numorum2 232 (Antigonus Gonatas), 284-5 (Lysimachus), 533 (Attalus I). On the issue of Gonatas (Pan erecting a trophy), see F. Heichelheim, AJP 64 (1943) 332-3; H. Usener, RhM29 (1874) 25-47.

18 For Sulla and the institution of the theology of victory at Rome, see esp. Charles Picard (above n. 14) 114-9; S. Weinstock, RE2 XVI 2488-9;T. Holscher, Victoria Romana242-3; and P. Kneissl, Die Siegestitulatur der rom. Kaiser 20-4.

19 Plut. SUIIA 6.9-11,17.3, 19.8-10,22.12. For the dream of Sulla related by Plutarch, 9.7.9, see my forthcoming study in ANSMN 21 (1975).



political thought of the late republic find their most explicit graphic counterpart in the little-noticed coinage of the Caesarean Q. Cornificius.20

In 46 B. C., Cornificius had been made governor of Cilicia. After Caesar's murder he was appointed propraetor of Africa Vetus. He refused to recognize the Triumvirate; and in 42 B. C., after an earlier victory over him, he was killed in battle against Sextius, the governor of Africa Nova.2 In 42. B. C., as propraetor of Africa, Cornificius issued a series of aurei and denarii with the same reverse type but three different obverses.22 The obverses of the aureihave a bust of Jupiter Ammon, while the obverses of the denarii portray either a bust of Jupiter Ammon or Ceres or Africa. The common reverse represents Q. Cornifi- cius standing on the left, dressed in the robes of an augur and holding a lituus. On his right, portrayed much larger than Cornificius, stands Juno Sospita wearing a goat-skin headdress and carrying a shield and what has been described as a spear. This last seems rather to be a snake, a common attribute of Juno Sospita, known from republican coins.23 On her shoulder rests a raven, another common attribute of the goddess. Juno crowns Cornificius with a laurel wreath. The legend reads Q. Cornufici Augur Imp.24

Juno Sospita appears on the coinage of six other moneyers: L. Thorius Balbus, L. Procilius, L. Papius, L. Roscius Fabatus, L. Papius Celsus and M. Mettius.25 Three of these can be shown from nonnumismatic evidence to have been natives of Lanuvium, where the cult of Juno Sospita was especially important.26 Though her cult had been admitted into the Roman state cult in 338 B. C., it remained located in Lanuvium under the administration of the dictator of Lanuvium and of a flamen appointed by him and was merely under the general supervision of the Roman pontifices.27 Cicero noted that each year the consuls had to sacrifice to Juno Sospita.8 A snake cult was also clearly linked with Juno Sospita. At Lanuvium there was a cave in which a serpent was said to

20 A. Alfoldi in Essays in Roman Coinagepresented to Harold Mattingly 84, very briefly touched upon the significance of the coinage of Cornificius.

21 F. Munzer, RE IV 1624; T. Broughton, Magistrates of the Roman Republic 11276,297,327-8; F. Ganter, Philologus53 (1894) 132-46; W. Sternkopf, Hermes 47 (1912) 321-401. Cornificius is the form on inscriptions, while Cornificius is the spelling on the coins.

22 E. Sydenham, The Coinage of the Roman Republic 212 no. 1352-5. For the date, see M. Crawford, Roman Republican Coin Hoards table xvi.

23 Sydenham (above n. 22) 126 no. 772, 152 no. 1058, 177 no. 1059. 24 Paulus, ed. Lindsay p. 56. Cf. G. Wissowa, Religion u. Kultus derRomer2 189 n. 1; 0. Keller,

Raben und Krahen im Altertum 15. 25 Sydenham (above n. 22) 84 no. 598, 126 no. 771-2, 127 no. 773, 152 no. 915, 177 no. 1058-9,

161 No. 964. 26 L. Roscius Fabatus (cf Munzer and von der Muhl, RE2 11116-7); L. Papius (cf. Miinzer, RE

XVIII 1075-7); L. Thorius Balbus (cf. Cicero Fin. 2.63-5, with Munzer, RE2 XI 345-6). 27 Livy 8.14; Cicero Mil. 10.27, 17.45. For the cult of Juno Sospita, see W. Roscher in his

Ausfuhrliches Lexikon der griech. u. rom. Mythologie II i 595-6; Thulin REX 1120-1; Wissowa (above n. 24) 188-90; and K. Latte, Romische Religionsgeschichte 166-9. E. Douglas, JRS3 (1913) 66-72, is valuable for its discussion of representations of Juno Sospita in art. For her temple at Rome, Livy 30.32, 34.53. 28 Cicero Mur. 41.90.

39T


596 J. RUI:US FEARS

dwell and to which a maiden annually brought food. If she were truly a virgin the snake would take the food from her hand, ensuring a fertile year.29 Juno Sospita, who originally may have been a fertility goddess, was above all the goddess of war and the army. For this reason she was always portrayed, as Cicero writes, cum pelle caprina, cum hasta, cum scutulo, cum calceolis re- pandis.30

The portrayal of Juno Sospita on the republican coinage has generally been taken as a proclamation of the Lanuvian origin of the moneyer; and it has been argued that her appearance on the coinage of Cornificius is to be explained only by assuming that he too was a native of this city.3" While this may be correct, Juno Sospita certainly appears here as far more than merely the local deity of Lanuvium. She appears in her role as the goddess of Carthage and the protectress of men at war. The obverse figures of the denarii and aurei of Cornificius all celebrate African themes. The bust of Africa is obvious, while Jupiter Ammon and Ceres were deities highly honored in the area around Carthage.32 Juno too was extremely important at Carthage, where she was equated with the Carthagi- nian goddess Dea Caelestis, preeminently the goddess of the army.33 On his coinage Cornificius proclaimed that he had called upon the patron goddess of Carthage and of the army and that she had answered by granting him the title imperator, won in battle against Sextius. Cornificius' rule over Africa Vetus, confirmed by victory, was thus given him by Juno Sospita. Bellona was said to have appeared to Sulla in a dream, promising him victory over Marius and Sulpicius; and perhaps Cornificius here commemorates a similar divine visita- tion.34 It should be emphasized that Cornificius appears on his coinage in the robes of the augur, holding the lituus. Cornificius is known from Cicero, as well as his coins, to have been an augur,35 but he was not the first to proclaim his

29 Aelian H. A. 11.16;Propertius 4.8. Cf. Douglas (above n. 27) 70; A. Galieti, BCAR44 (1916)3; F. Rein, Die Schlangenhohle von Lanuvium, Ann. Acad. SC. Fenn. B 11.3 (1919).

30 Cicero Nat. deor. 1. 29.82. 31 H. Grueber, Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum II 578. 32 For Ceres in Africa, see the collection of material in G. Wissowa, RE III 1978-9. For Jupiter

Ammon at Carthage, Ed. Meyer in Roscher (above n. 27) 1291; and Pietschmann, REI 1855. Julius Caesar issued coinage in Africa with the same Ceres bust as Cornificius used. Sydenham (above n. 22) 170 no. 1023-A.

33 W. Eisenhut, RE2 XVII 198-200; Roscher in Roscher (above n. 27) II 612-5; Wissowa (above n. 24) 347.

34 E. Babelon, Description historique et chronologique des monnaies de la republique romaine I 434; Ganter (above n. 21) 145; Munzer (above n. 21) 1627. Grueber (above n. 31) 11 578, argues that between the victory over Sextius and the final defeat of Cornificius, there would not have been sufficient time to issue coinage and that the title imperator was gained by some unknown earlier victory. This argument is not convincing. The hoard evidence clearly suggests a date of 42 B. C. (See Crawford above n. 22 table xvi). This together with the general import of the coin types clearly suggests a connection of the title imperator with the victory over Sextius. Cf. Plut. Sulla 9.7.9 and Cicero Nat. deor. 1.29.82.

5 Cicero Adfam. 12.22. Cf. C. Bardt, Die Priesterderviergroflen Collegien26 no. 63; M. Lewis, The Official Priests of Rome under the Julio-Claudians 39 no. 9.



augural status on the coinage. Augural symbolism on the coinage has been the subject of a lively controversy. It has often been argued that the lituus represents nothing more than a statement of family or personal status, simply celebrating the fact that the moneyer or an ancestor or the man honored on the coinage had been a member of the augural college.36 Against this, Carcopino, Gage, Alfoldi, and Bayet have sought to link this device on the coinage to the development at Rome of the theology of victory.37 Down to Sulla, they argue, the lituus did signify the augurate, but with Sulla it underwent an important change: it came to symbolize the auspicium, which, along with imperium, was the essential prerogative of the Roman magistrate. The lituus refers to the supreme military authority of the charismatic leader.

The evidence for all this is very complex and has never been treated in detail. In the first place, a false impression results from attempting to establish a dichotomy between the use of the lituus to symbolize the augural dignity and its use to represent the military authority and victories of the magistrate. From the beginning, the lituus was used in connection with a military theme. The first appearance of the lituus on the republican coinage is the denariusof C. Servilius. On the obverse is the helmeted "Roma" with a lituus behind it. On the reverse is a horseman with a shield inscribed "M" and portrayed in the act of thrusting a spear at another rider. The conquering horseman is almost certainly M. Servilius Pulex Geminus, augur in 211 and consul in 202, who was reputed to have slain twenty-three opponents in single combat.38

The lituus appears on denarii of Q. Curtius and M. Junius Silanus, which were minted in north Italy or Cisalpine Gaul as a military issue during the war against the Cimbri and Teutoni in 109 or 108 B. C., in which Silanus suffered a series of defeats. On the obverse is the head of "Roma". On the reverse is Jupiter in a quadriga hurling a thunderbolt and holding a sceptre. Above Jupiter is a lituus.39 On this military issue, imperator divum atque hominum, the divine protector of Rome, who speaks to the Roman magistrate through the auspices, is portrayed along with the emblem of these auspices, the lituus. Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius, who is not known to have been an augur, issued denariiwith the jug and the lituus surrounded by a laurel wreath and the legend Imper.40 It is

36 L. R. Taylor, AJA 48 (1944) 353-6; Erkell (above n. 5) 32-6; E. Badian, Arethusa 1 (1968) 41 n. 2.

37 J. Carcopino, Sylla ou la monarchie manquke' 88-93; J. Gage, MEFR 47 (1931) 85; Alfoldi (above n. 20) 85-7; J. Bayet in La regaliti sacra: contributial tema dell' VIII congresso internazio- nale di storia delle religioni 418-39.

3 Sydenham (above n. 22) 57 no. 483. For M. Servilius Pulex Geminus, see Plut. Aem. Paul. 31. Cf. T. Luce, AJA 72 (1968) 35. The identification of the helmeted goddess of the obverse as "Roma" is traditional. For discussion see E. Haberlin in Corolla Numismatica: Numismatic Essays in Honour of B. V. Head 135-55; H. Mattingly and E. Robinson, PBA 18 (1932) 29-37; A. Alfoldi, Die trojanischen Urahnen derRomer 1-S, with the review of S. Weinstock,JRS49 (1959) 170-1; and K. Galinsky, Aeneas, Sicily, and Rome 188-9.

39 Sydenham (above n. 22) 69 no. 537. 40 Sydenham (above n. 22) 122 no. 751.


598 J. RUFUS FFARS

immaterial here whether on these three issues the lituus refers to the augurate of the moneyer or of an ancestor of the moneyer. The important point is the connection of the augural symbol with the emblems of victory in the field.41

On the coinage of Sulla, Pompey, Caesar, and Lentulus, all of whom were augurs, the lituus appears amidst symbols of victory in war and clearly celebrates the augural and military dignity of the moneyers themselves. Gold and silver issues of Sulla portray on the obverse a bust of Venus with Cupid holding a palm branch. The reverse has two trophies flanking capis and lituus.42 Aurei of Pompey have on the obverse a head of Africa flanked by capis and lituus, a laurel wreath surrounding the whole. The reverse portrays Pompey riding in triumph, Victoria flying overhead.43 Caesar issued denariishowing a bust of Venus with a lituus behind her head on the obverse. On the reverse is a trophy; at the foot on the left is a kneeling Gaul, his hands behind his back, and Gallia seated." The joint coinage of M. Junius Brutus and P. Cornelius Lentulus Spinther proclaims the pontifical dignity of the former on the obverse, the augurate of the latter on the reverse. This coin is part of a series, which celebrates both victory, by land or sea, and the libertas for which the war was fought.45 Cornificius' issues link the augurate and victory. A denarius of Antony has on the obverse a bust of Antony, veiled as an augur and flanked by a jug and lituus. On the reverse is a horseman with two horses galloping and flanked by a wreath and a palm branch.46 The reverse of an aureus of Octavian shows an equestrian statue of him holding a litUus.47

On all these coins of known augurs the litwus does not symbolize merely the auspices of the imperatoror even his military authority. The theme is rather, as it is explicitly stated on the coin of Cornificius, augur et imperator. The magistrate who was also an augur stood in a special position. He could interpret the auspices as well as take them. This point is found in Cicero's De divinatione, when he writes that Tiberius Gracchus, himself an augur, broke augural law by

41 Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius was pontifex maximus Dio 37.37.1; Plut. Caes. 7.1; Macrob. 3.13.10; and, as Taylor (above n. 35) 353 points out, no man in the late republic, except Caesar after he became dictator, is known to have held both the chief priesthoods of Rome. It is therefore difficult to interpret the augural symbols as references to Pius, and Taylor is probably right in seeing them as references to his father Q. Metellus Numidicus.

42 Sydenham (above n. 22) 124 no. 760-1. Cf. E. Badian (above n. 36) 26-46 and B. Friar, ANSMN 22 (1967) 111-8 and Arethusa 2 (1969) 182-201; M. Crawford, NC 7, 4 (1964) 141-55. Despite Badian's reservations, I feel that the average possessor of the coin would have taken its symbolism as a reference to Sulla. Although I agree with Badian that Sulla was not an augur in 84 B. C., he did later enter the priestly college (Sydenham 124 no. 761, 150 no. 909 are decisive). On the coins in question he is hailed as Imper. Iterum and two trophies are represented flanking the augural symbols. Sulla's devotion to the Venus of the obverse was, of course, notorious.

43 Sydenham (above n. 22) 171 no. 1028. Cf Cicero Phil 2.2. 4 Sydenham (above n. 22) 168 no. 1015. Cf. Dio 42.51.3; Cicero Adfam. 13.68. 45 Sydenham (above n. 22) 204 no. 1309. Cf Dio 39.17. 46 Sydenham (above n. 22) no. 1077. Cf. Caes. B. G. 8.50; Cicero Adfam. 8.14; Appian B. C. 3.7. " Sydenham (above n. 22) 206 no. 1329. Cf Lewis (above n. 35) 40 no. 14.



crossing the pomerium before completing the auspices, thereby invalidating the elections which he was conducting. He did nothing at the time, but later wrote the senate expressing his doubts about the validity of the elections which he had conducted: Ipse augur Ti. Gracchus auspiciorum auctoritatem confessione errati sui comprobavit.48.

The same general idea is put by Livy or his source into the mouth of Publius Decius Mus speaking on behalf of the lex Ogulnia, which admitted plebeians into the augural and pontifical colleges. Who is there, to paraphrase Livy's speech, who repents of the prayers made on behalf of the state by so many plebeian consuls and dictators either going to war or in the midst of war? Who among gods or men can think that it is improper for the pontificalia atque auguralza insignia to be given to those heroes whom the people have honored with the curule chair, the purple-bordered robe, the tunic adorned with palms, the triumphal crown, and the laurel wreath? May not that man who, adorned with the trappings of Iuppiter Optimus Maximus, has been driven through the city and climbed the Capitol in a golden chariot, may not this man be seen holding capis and lituus when, with veiled head, he slaughters a victim or receives an augury from the Arx.49

To be an augur was to add further religious sanctity to the imperium of the magistrate. The new augur, like the new magistrate, had to receive the approval of the gods. An existing augur placed his hand upon the head of the candidate and prayed to Jupiter, asking if it were fas that this man be an augur.50 The man who was imperator et augur had twice received divine sanction and had gained the coveted title imperator in battle waged under auspices taken and interpreted by himself as augur.

The final point to be discussed in connection with Cornificius' portrayal as an augur on his coinage is the fact that Juno Sospita appears with him. As noted above, it was Juppiter Optimus Maximus who spoke through the state auspices conducted by the magistrates.51 However, long before Cornificius the lituus had been personalized, that is separated from Jupiter and linked with the personal deity of the charismatic leader. This is simply another aspect of the general trend during the late republic by which the idea of the charismatic individual replaced that of the more anonymous magistrate who served as the agent of Senatus Populusque Romanus.

Alfoldi has rightly pointed out the significance of this development by which the lituus was disassociated from the state god.52 Nonetheless, a false impression is created by the implication that before Sulla the lituus on the coinage was connected exclusively with Jupiter. The descendant of the C. Servilius discussed above restored his coinage in the eighties. The reverse with the horseman is

48 Cicero Div. 1.17.33. 49 Livy 10.7. 50 Latte (above n. 27) 141. " Cicero Leg. 2.8.20, 3.19.43; Div. 1.34.72. 52 Alfoldi (above n. 20) 87; Gage (above n. 14) 14.


600 J. RUFUS FEARS

unchanged, but on the obverse the head of "Roma" with the lituusis replaced by the bust of the patron deity of the Servilii, Apollo, with the lituus behind his head.53 On the coinage of Sulla, already discussed as well as on issues of Faustus in honor of Sulla, the lituus is associated directly with victory and Venus, the patron deity who has given victory to her chosen. Sulla, it will be recalled, made a votive offering to Aphrodite of Aphrodisias, who had appeared to him in a dream, leading his army to victory.54 On denariiFaustus struck as a memorial to Sulla, Aphrodite of Aphrodisias is portrayed flying through the air in a biga and holding the lituus in her right hand.55 The Venus Victrix coinage of Caesar has the bust of Caesar on the obverse with the lituus behind his head. The reverse has Venus Victrix, holding a victoria and a sceptre, her left arm resting on a globe. It is she who has given Caesar victory and made him cosmocrator.56 This constant and intimate connection of the lituus, the symbols of victory, and the patron deity who gives the victory, on the coinage of the charismatic leader of the late republic, is a clear indication that the lituus symbolized more than mere social position. It must represent the idea that through the auspices and such omens as the dream of Sulla the patron deity aids his favorite, showing sanction or disapproval of his planned actions. ITe charismatic leader who was also an augur had received divine sanction to interpret these auspices.

It is not too much to say that on the republican coinage of the first century B. C. the lituus symbolized above all the divine favor of the charismatic leader. The auspices at Rome had always served to indicate divine approval of a magistrate and his acts. So too, in the early days at least, every private citizen also used the auspices to see if a proposed undertaking had the sanction of the gods. By the time of Polybius the state auspices, without any real meaning, had been reduced to a perfunctory ceremony.5' Cicero bemoaned the fact that in his day wars were fought by proconsuls and propraetors, who do not even have the right to take the auspices.58 Certainly by then the connection of the lituus with the patron deity and the idea of victory on the coinage of these charismatic dynasts must have acquired the deeper meaning attributed to it above. The dynasts, who honored their patron deity with statues and temples, used the lituus to symbolize their personal auspices through which their patron and protector manifested his favor.

$3 Sydenham (above n. 22) 113 no. 720. Cf. Luce (above n. 38) 35. 54 App. B. C. 1.97. " Sydenham (above n. 22) 145 no. 880-1. For the identification of Aphrodite of Aphrodisias as

the reverse type, see R. Schilling, La religion romaine de Venus 301 n. 1. This coin is part of a series, Sydenham 145-6 no. 879-84. For the date after 58 and before 55, see M. Crawford, A Survey of Numismatic Research 1960-65 (Copenhagen 1967) 1 159. For the iconography, see A. Alfoldi, GNS 5 (1951) 1-7, convincing in his argument that no. 879 and 880-1 are cross related types; L. Lenag- han, ANSMNII (1964) 131-50; Holscher (above n. 18) 22-3,44.

16 Sydenham (above n. 22) 176-8 no. 1055-6, 106G-2, 1067-8, 1070-4. Cf. S. Weinstock, Divus Julius 83-112.

57 Polyb. 6.56. Cf. R. Combes, Imperator: recherches sur l'emploi et la signification du titre d'imperator dans la Rome republicaine 393-408. 58 Cicero Div. 2.36.



The rich iconography of the reverse type of Cornificius makes explicit this deeper significance of the lituus as the symbol of the felicitas of the charismatic general. In this sense, the coinage of Cornificius becomes a fundamental document in the development of imperial ideology. Sulla, Pompey, and Caesar preceded Octavian in the comparison of themselves with Romulus,59 the optimus augur who conducted the augurium maximum by which, in the historical tradition found in Livy and Dionysius, the gods elected him to rule the new city.60 Romulus as the prototype for the new princeps was extremely important in the political ideology of Octavian, who seriously considered adopting the name Romulus but finally decided upon Augustus. This new name, in the eyes of Octavian's contemporaries, signified the divine sanction which surrounded those things dedicated to the gods and was specifically linked to the auspices through which the gods elected Romulus and Rome for greatness:

Postea Gal Caesaris et deinde Augusti cognomen assumpsit, a/terum testamento maioris avunculi alterum Munati Pland sententia, cum qui- busdam censentibus Romulum appellari oportere quasi et ipsum condito- rem urbis praeva/uisset, ut Augustus potius vocaretur, non tantum novo sed etiam ampliore cognomine, quod loca quoque religiosa et in quibus augurato quid consecratur augusta dicantur ab auctu vel ab avium gestu gustuve, sicut etiam Ennius docet scribens: "Augusto augurio postquam incluta condita Roma est ".61

Two almost contemporaneous issues of denarii continue the connection between the augurate and victory, so important on the late republican coinage. Denarii, dated to 28 B. C., from an Eastern mint, have on the obverse a bare head of Octavian with a lituus behind it. On the reverse is a crocodile and the legend Aegypto Capta.62 Other denarii, perhaps also to be dated to 28 B. C. and also from an Eastern mint, portray Jupiter Ammon on the obverse with the legend Augur Pontif On the reverse is a victoria standing on a globe and holding wreath and palm.63 For the rest, the lituus plays no significant role on the later Augustan coinage.64 Perhaps it smacked too much of the unrestrained ambitio

59 Fundamental studies include J. Gage, MEFR 47 (1930) 138-81; A. Alfoldi, MH 8 (1951) 190-215; H. Wagenvoort, Studies in Roman Literature, Culture, and Religion 169-83; C. Classen, Philologus 106 (1962) 201-4; W. Burkert, Historia 11 (1962) 356-76; J. Kramer, Fest. W. Schade- waldt 362-7; J. Bayet, BAB5, 41 (1955) 487-510; W. Kunkel, Gymnasium 68 (1961) 356-9; G. Dobesch, Caesars Apotheose zu Lebzeiten u. sein Ringen um den Konigstitel 11-7; Weinstock (above n. 56) 176-84. For the image of the regal period in republican literature, see C. Classen, Historia 14 (1965) 385-403; R. Klein, Konigtum u. Konigszeit bei Cicero (Diss. Erlangen 1962); M. Guia, SCO 16 (1967) 308-29.

60 Livy 1.6.4; Dion. Hal. 1.86.1. 61 Suet. Aug. 7. Cf. Erkell (above n. 5) 26-40. 62 BMCI 106 no. 650-652. Cf. Mattingly's remarks BMCI cxxiv; C. H. V. Sutherland, Coinage

in Roman Imperial Policy 31-2; A. Robertson, Roman Imperial Coins in the Hunter Coin Cabinet I xlix. 63 BMC I 112 no. 690. Cf. Robertson (above n. 62) li.

64 The lituus appears, along with the emblems of the other priestly colleges, on the issues of two Augustan moneyers, C. Antistius Vetus and C. Antistius Reginus, BMCI 20 no. 98, 24 no. 119-20.


602 J. RUFUS FFARS, The Coinage of Q. Cornificius

and violent careers of the great dynasts of the late republic, from whom the princeps Augustus could now afford to separate himself. However, the theology of victory remained an essential element in imperial ideology.65 The principate had been gained by the sword; and, whatever its constitutional justifications, it rested in fact upon the support of the army. Already under Augustus, triumphs became a prerogative of the emperor alone, for it was under his auspicium that the actual commanders waged the battle.66 This imperial monopolization of the triumph represented the ultimate development of the personalization of the auspices, so vividly portrayed on the coinage of Q. Cornificius.

American Academy in Rome/Indiana University J. Rufus Fears

For the dates of the issues, 16 and 13-12 B. C., among more important studies, cf. C. H. V. Sutherland, NC6, 3 (1943) 42-7; K. Pink NZ71 (1946) 113-25; K. Kraft, MZ46 (1951-2)28-34; F. Rosati, Arch Class 3 (1951) 68-9. The simpulum and lituus also appear on aurei issued in honor of Lucius and Gaius Caesar, BMCI 88 no. 513.

6S Charles Picard (above n. 14) 232-509; Kneissel (n. 18) 24-185; and Weinstock (above n. 18) 2517-42; R. Storch, Byzantion 40 (1970) 104-17.

66 For the triumph in the imperial period, see above all C. Barini, Triumphalia, imprese ed onori militari durante t Impero romano.


Article Contentsp. [592]p. 593p. 594p. 595p. 596p. 597p. 598p. 599p. 600p. 601p. 602

Issue Table of ContentsHistoria: Zeitschrift fr Alte Geschichte, Bd. 24, H. 4 (4th Qtr., 1975), pp. 513-636Volume InformationFront MatterDie Groe Rhetra und die Entstehung des spartanischen Kosmos [pp. 513-538]The Tarquin Dynasty [pp. 539-554]Sullas Brief an den Interrex L. Valerius Flaccus: Zur Genese der sullanischen Diktatur [pp. 555-569]Ciceros Kritik an Sulla in der Rede fr Roscius aus Ameria [pp. 570-591]The Coinage of Q. Cornificius and Augural Symbolism on Late Republican Denarii [pp. 592-602]Zur Nomenklatur und Funktionsangabe kaiserlicher Freigelassener [pp. 603-616]MiszellenAlexander's Hypaspists Again [pp. 617-618]Veteres Hostes, novi amici (Cic. fam. V. 7,1) [pp. 618-622]When Did Cicero Learn about the Conference at Luca? [pp. 622-624]The Name of the Demigod [pp. 624-628]Is Nero's Quinquennium an Enigma? [pp. 629-630]Praetorian Proconsuls under Domitian [pp. 631-632]"Massilia nicht in Syrien": Legioni IIII Scythicae dein praepositus est circa Massiliam [pp. 633-634]Un Milliaire de Trbonien Galle trouv Castiliscar (Saragosse) [pp. 635-636]

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4435470

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