Hadrian denar, Crescent and Stars << < (3/5) > >> *Bacchus*: I have just noticed this thread and would like to revive it if possible. Attached are two examples where there seems to be no pattern as to what constitutes the 'right way up' The second example I have photographed badly but going on the assumption that the legend starts at 7 o'clock the arrangement of the crescent and stars appears almost the exact opposite of the first example. Additional examples show Septimus Severus with one and three stars and a Geta with only one - there are others with four and two - if memory serves. Is there a consensus as to the meaning of these particular variations? Many thanks Malcolm *moonmoth*: Geta, Nikopolis ad Istrum, with 5 stars , four above the crescent and one below. (added) Varbanov (English) I 3214. Bill *Bamba123*: Quote from: curtislclay on November 01, 2005, 05:52:29 pm Strack, noting that the same type is labeled SAECVLI FELICITAS, "The Happiness of the Age", on Eastern denarii of Septimius Severus, interprets Hadrian's type as indicating the return of the seven movable heavenly bodies to their original positions, signaling the beginning of a new golden age. He cites (1) Festus: "The mathematicians call it the Great Year when the seven wandering stars complete their individual courses and return to harmony with each other", and (2) Servius on Vergil's Eclogues: "At the completion of the Great Year all of the stars return to their places and begin the next cycle of identical movements. If the movements of the stars are repeated, it follows that everything that happened will recur again, since it is obvious that everything is determined by the motions of the stars. For this reason Vergil says that the Golden Age will return and everything that happened before will be repeated." On this interpretation, we have to assume that the moon is depicted twice in the type: it is represented not only by the crescent, but also by one of the seven stars above the crescent, since it is one of the seven wandering heavenly bodies, but is also by far the most prominent of them at night, and the only one that waxes and wanes. :Tao-Rho_reversed: Talk about a day late and a dollar short, I just happened on this very old discussion as it was refered to in another message, the Septimius minted in Emesa in 194 is one of the denari I have. IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG COS II SAECVL FELICIT RIC IV_i, 416 I have asked and wondered about the number of stars, thanks for this discussion! Jim *Red Henry*: This very interesting discussion of the moon-and-star types reminds me of the very common depictions, on Roman coins, of the world as a sphere. On reverses of the late 3rd century, we often see Jove, for example, handing the world to the emperor, and the world is depicted as a sphere. I also have a provincial coin of Augustus, on the reverse of which he is allegorically represented as a Capricorn (his sign) with a sphere between its paws: he has the world in his hands. --So, in either case, does the sphere thus shown represent the earth, making this solid evidence that the Romans knew the earth was round (as they well could have)? Or does the sphere represent the whole world including the celestial sphere, which might have had a flat earth at its center? Experts, what are your thoughts on this issue? Red *Sap*: At the risk of reviving yet another dormant thread, this subject too has been debated at length on the forum. In this thread, for instance. Short answer: yes, the Romans would have known that the Earth was round. The Greeks they conquered certainly did. Navigation [0] Message Index [#] Next page [*] Previous page