Hadrian denar, Crescent and Stars (1/5) > >> *Massanutten*: Just received this interesting denarius of Hadrian (Rome, RIC 202/Sear 3485) in the mail. I am curious if anyone knows or has a thought to the meaning of the seven stars. Some idle thoughts of my own: 1. The seven hills of Rome. 2. Roman understanding of the number of solar planets (??? pure conjecture???) 3. Lucky number (Don't know if the Romans thought it so). Anyway your thoughts are of course appreciated, as always. Best regards, Bob *Gert*: I thought the stars represented the constelation of the Bear (Ursa Maior). As for your 'pure conjecture', I don't think that's the cas": the known planets to the Romans were 5 in number: Venus, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn. With the sun, there should be only 6 stars together with the moon. I don't think the seventh star in the coin reverse can be interpreted as the earth. Best Regards *slokind*: Yes, and see Sear 2000 no. 321, where the moneyer's name, TRIO (genitive case trionis), written within the crescent, directly alludes to Triones (plural form), the seven stars that make the Wain (Wagon, Bear = Ursa Maior), and the seven stars SEPTEM/N surround it. The obverse of this denarius is a head of Sol. That is not to be certain what Hadrian's coin means by the Seven. I have heard that antiquity did know seven visible planets. In the case of Lucretius Trio's denarius, the prevalent fondness for literate and learned word play makes the stellar reference to the easiest to identify of all constellations, and the one that points to the Pole star, pretty convincing: Septemrio, genit. -ionis, also names both the Wain and the North. Pat L. *Jochen*: Hi! I don't know the correct interpretation of these seven stars. But I want to add another, different opinion. I think these seven stars are the so-called Seven Sisters, the Pleiades. In German the 'Siebengestirn' are always the Pleiades. The number Seven is connected to the Pleiades not Ursa maior. 1. The depicted shape doesn't match the shape of Ursa maior, but of the Pleiades. The seven stars in the same constellation are depicted too on the famous newly found Disk of Nebra. The scientists immediately call them the Pleiades, not Ursa maior. 2. The Pleiades are playing a central role in ancient times for an agrarian structered culture. When the Pleiades start rising up the night sky it was time for sowings. Fourty days they stand on the sky. When they were declining it was time for harvest. This was said already by Hesiod 8.-7.century BC. Nothing of equal importance is known for Ursa maior. 3. Ok, Ursa maior is seen in the direction to the North Pole of the Northern Hemisphere, but it is really the constellation of Ursa minor which contains Polaris, the star of the sky's North Pole you can use for navigation. But then I think in ancient times the sailors avoid to sail across the open sea but navigate mostly by landmarks. 4. And remember one of the most beautiful odes of Sappho (book 5, no.49): Dedyke men a selanna kai Pleiades, mesai de nyktes, para d'erchet ora; ego de mona kateudo. Nothing is known like that for Ursa maior. I have added a part of the Disk of Nebra showing the so-called Pleiades and a pic of the night sky by a telescope showing the Pleiades too. Best regards *slokind*: But Vergil called the constellations that Americans call the Dippers (Wains, Wagons, Bears), with seven stars apiece Triones, and the Pleiades, nicely visible here just now, are not markers of the North. Afraid I don't know any more. Pat L. Navigation [0] Message Index [#] Next page