4435470

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

Author(s): J. Rufus Fears
Source: Historia: Zeitschrift fr Alte Geschichte, Bd. 24, H. 4 (4th Qtr., 1975), pp. 592-602
Published by: Franz Steiner Verlag
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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 posses-
sed 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.
Historia, Band XXIV/4 (1975) ?D Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH, Wiesbaden, BRD
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.
39 Historia, Band XXIV/4 (1975) C Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH, Wiesbaden, BRD
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 king-
ship, 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 proprae-
tor 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 prero-
gative 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.

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The Coinage of Q.

Cornificius and Augural Symbolism on Late Republican Denarii

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