Medicine on Ancient Greek and Roman Coins 9780713476705, 0713476702, 9781852640705, 1852640707

Citation preview

GRAD CJ 351 . P46 1994

OF ANCIENT CLASSICAL COINS

MEDICINE ON

ANCIENT GREEK AND

ROMAN COINS

ASPECTS OF ANCIENT CLASSICAL COINS

M e d ic in e on

A n c ie n t G r e e k a n d R o m a n C o in s

•

. . .

R. G. Penn /

Seaby B. T. Batsford Ltd London

© R . G. Penn 1994 First published 1994

Printed by Butler & Tanner, Frome, Somerset Seaby an imprint of B.T. Batsford Ltd 4 Fitzhardinge Street London W I

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. British Library CIP information is available for this book.

On the cover: the reverse of a bronze medallion of the Roman Emperor, Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161), which refers to the legend whereby Aesculapius was brought to Rom e after a plague in 293BC and how he, and his sacred snake, chose the Isola Tiburina in the Tiber as their home. Frontispiece and plate 1 by courtesy of the Germ an Archaeological Institute, Rom e; plate 7, courtesy of The Schuster Gallery, London; all other photos by Peter Clayton.

ISBN 1 85264 070 71

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CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

iv

LIST OF PLATES

iv

PREFACE

v

i

INTRODUCTION

1

ii

GRAECO ROMAN MEDICINE: A BACKGROUND

5

iii

AESCULAPIUS; THE MYTH AND THE COINS

11

iv

THE ATTRIBUTES OF AESCULAPIUS ON COINS

25

v

AESCULAPIUS; THE FAMILY

44

vi

VARIOUS MYTHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONS

64

vii

MEDICINAL PLANTS ON ANCIENT COINS

79

viii

DISEASE AND ANCIENT COINS

91

ix

ROMAN EMPERORS AND THEIR HEALTH

103

x

ROMAN FAMILY PRIDE AND MEDICAL

121

ASSOCIATIONS xi

THE WATER SUPPLY OF ROME

133

xii

VARIOUS MEDICAL ASSOCIATIONS

141

xiii

MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY AND ANCIENT COINS

159

GLOSSARY

172

GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

174

CLASSICAL SOURCES

175

SECONDARY SOURCES

178

COIN CATALOGUES

179

INDEX

182

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

LIST OF PLATES FRONTISPIECE: HIPPOCRATES 1

A FIELD DRESSING STATION, TRAJAN'S COLUMN

10

2

STONE OMPHALUS AT DELPHI

30

3

THE THEATRE, EPIDAURUS

34

4

A STONE CULT STATUE OF DIANA, EPHESUS

34

5

THE THEATRE, ASCLEPIEION, PERGAMUM

37

6

PIRANESI'S ETCHING OF THE ISOLA TIBURINA

108

7

A ROMAN ROCK CARVING ON THE ISOLA TIBURINA

108

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book would not have been possible without the help of B. A. Seaby Ltd and I am most grateful to them. The illustrations were provided from Seaby files and their numismatic publications have been invaluable. I am also very grateful to the many authors whose writings have been so useful. It is impossible to acknowledge all of them in the text but the General Bibliography lists books which provided the background. I have leaned heavily on the ancient writers. They may be wrong, they may be incomplete, but they are a direct link with the past and are easily obtainable and fascinating to read. Permission to reproduce various extracts from translations of the classical authors has kindly been given by the Loeb Classical Library of Harvard University Press for Athenaeus, Dio Cassius, Diogenes Laertius, Frontinus, Martial, Ovid, Pliny, and Vitruvius and by Penguin Books for St Augustine, Homer, and Pausanias. I am especially grateful to Peter Clayton who encouraged my original idea to write this book and who has provided invaluable information, suggestions and criticism. Above all, I am grateful to my wife, Susan for her encouragement and patience during trying times.

PREFACE

This book was conceived some years ago when the author, medically qualified and long interested in medical history, looked at his collection of ancient coins and decided that here was a story worth telling. The mixture of medicine and coins may seem an unlikely one. Some sixty years ago H. R. Storer, a notable American doctor and numismatist, said that though works on ancient coins were numerous few have discussed the group especially associated with medicine. His Medicina in Nummis although a monumental catalogue and a great work dealing with coins, medals and jetons was, apart from a lengthy introductory essay, just a catalogue. A number of papers have been written in the intervening years but there has been little attempt to coordinate the whole story. This is a pity as the components are fascinating. Health is a constant preoccupation with us and has been since the beginning of the human story. Coins form a tangible link with the past which cannot be bettered. We can marvel at the Acropolis, the Pyramids, and the Great Wall of China but they do not relate directly to normal life. Some coins, too, are great works of art and as such have disappeared into the collections of museums to be admired by many but usually sheltered by a glass case. They are similarly 'unreal' as it is difficult to imagine them in everyday use. Many ancient coins, however, are commonplace and easily and inexpensively obtainable, to be held in the hand as and when we choose. They were part of everyday life. The same coin we hold might have been used to buy the Roman version of a hamburger and could be used by us for the same purpose if some time machine could transport us back. Who knows, that very coin might have been used to buy the ancient equivalent of a bottle of aspirin, and of medical interest indeed! It is w e who define the Greeks and Romans as ancient. Among themselves they would have been progressive, reactionary, dull, stupid or clever, much as we define each other today. This book deals with the world of Greece and Rome, although the association of coins with medicine does not stop there and indeed continues until the present day.

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON AN CIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

BUST OF HIPPOCRATES, A ROMAN COPY OF A HELLENISTIC ORIGINAL. IT WAS FOUND AT OSTIA ANTICA SET BEFORE THE TOMB OF K. MARKIOS DEMETRIOS. IT IS PROBABLY THE MOST AUTHENTIC SURVIVING PORTRAIT OF THE PHYSICIAN OF COS.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Coins are not only a medium of exchange but are designed to promote a message from the issuer, usually the State, to the user, the citizen. A study of the coins of the ancient Greek and Roman world reveals quite unexpected facets of contemporary politics, traditions and folklore. These coins had much more to say to their world than does present day coinage to us. Now coinage forms merely an unexciting stereotyped medium of exchange with little more than the identification of the country of origin and the token value of the particular coin. There are exceptions to this rule with special issues, but these form a very minor part of modern coinage and are often not available for general circulation. Ancient Greek and Roman coins were very different and the various types form a kaleidoscope of information of a heraldic, religious, commercial or political nature. In the absence of the mass media, and in the almost unimaginable world without newspapers, radio or television, these coins were designed to circulate and spread information. Especially once they were in inter-state use rather than merely locally, they became, in effect, representative of the city or state issuing them. Great care was often taken in the design of the coin and dies were commissioned from experienced and skilled artists, who at times even signed their name, albeit usually abbreviated and in an inconspicuous position, as on some dekadrachms of Syracuse in Sicily. Many Greek coins do indeed deserve the rank of artistic masterpieces. Some depictions are obviously for propaganda purposes, celebrating victories or the largesse of the State; some reflect pride in the State and its history. It is interesting to ponder how many of these messages were actively appreciated by the population at large. It is questionable whether an elaborate symbolism would have been understood by the ancient equivalent of the man in the street. Some modern coins attempt to give a message but how many of us ever look really closely at the change in our pocket? It is as well to note here the confusing Roman medallion, several examples of which will be mentioned later. These were coin-like objects whose definition and relationship with the normal currency is arguable. They were probably struck for presentation as gifts or marks of honour and not for circulation. In structure they were often large, sometimes with decorated rims, or bimetallic. In style they could be works of art

1

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

with high relief and excellent finish with a content maybe different from ordinary coins (Toynbee, 1944). The range of medallions did merge with that of the ordinary coinage as multiples and some coins were probably struck for presentation in large quantities rather than as souvenirs for restricted issue. Coins were produced in the ancient world under the authority of the sovereign power of the state however defined. It is not intended in this book to discuss at any length who made such coins, why they were made and under what authority but Burnett in Coinage in the Roman World gives a fascinating account of the historical explanation and economic background of Roman coins (Burnett, 1987). Under the Romans, early control was probably exercised by the Senate though later the Republic moneyers had the freedom to allude to their own families. Provincial governors were concerned with their local mints and great generals issued coins to proclaim their victories or political aims. During Imperial Times authority ultimately resided in the Emperor though much had to be delegated or perhaps taken for granted. The degree of personal interest taken by individual emperors is uncertain and undoubtedly varied from one to another. Why a particular design on any coin was chosen is a difficult question. Possible answers range from the design being considered of minor importance and therefore left to local officials to decide, to a situation where the Head of State was closely involved in choosing 'messages' to go on his coins to inform and impress his subjects of specific achievements or qualities. The answer probably lies between these two extremes and would vary according to the situation and the particular issue of coin. Any propaganda embodied in coins has to be seen in the context of other 'messages' provided by the State whether sculpture, buildings, monuments or ceremonies. In Imperial Times the many provincial mints were not necessarily independent but could have been centrally directed. Similarities in portraits of the emperor on the coinage of various cities suggest that these coins may have been struck from dies engraved by the same engraver. Also, coins were not necessarily minted where they were issued and may have been struck at independent centres which distributed coins to a number of cities. We are here concerned with ancient coins of medical interest. The definition of such a coin presents serious problems and in this book it is taken to include any coin where the circumstances of its issue, or the features on it, relate to the practice of medicine or history of medicine in general terms either directly or indirectly. A suitable definition of 'medicine' is not easy especially with the modern view that an illness

2

INTRODUCTION

must be diagnosed and accurately defined (often by complex diagnostic tests). Treatment must then be given (sometimes of a very technical nature) and is expected to be followed by a cure and good health. People in ancient times also would have been concerned with these principles, albeit at a more basic level, but for them, as well as for us today, medicine would also have been seen in more general terms of promoting the health and well-being of both the individual and the population at large, not merely the treatment of specific pathological conditions. This is a very wide remit and it is as well to make it clear now that whereas some coins discussed, such as those depicting Aesculapius, may have an obvious and direct medical context, other coins have a more indirect medical connection. For example,although a plant used in the ancient materia medica is shown on a coin, this need not be the reason for it being on that particular coin. Silphium on the coins of Cyrene (p.79) has a definite medical context but the pomegranate on coins of Side (p.84) does not, even though the pomegranate was used medicinally. The same is true of people and mythological characters who may otherwise play an important role in medical history. Aesculapius usually though not always, has an obvious direct relevance to the practice of medicine but other persons may have such a wide range of activities that few of their depictions on coins were specifically concerned with medicine. Nevertheless, examples of coins on which they are depicted are discussed because they may have been seen in a medical context at the time. Coins sometimes show items of medical interest which were not necessarily the primary object of their issue. Coins of some of the Parthian kings seem deliberately to show warts on their faces (p.94) and may have been designed with an ulterior motive but other anatomical and pathological curiosities on portraits were possibly an attempt to be true to life. Depictions of Trajan's Column on coins were not primarily to rem ind us of the interesting scenes on the frieze of medical treatment of the wounded in battle but these scenes are there and worthy of discussion (Plate 1, p.10). Agreement is by no means universal on the meaning and description of the representations on many ancient coins. When one considers just how small coins are and the skill involved in engraving a recognisable im age, and some of these are of amazing complexity, it is not really suprising that argument should arise two thousand years later as to what precisely is there and what it means. This is particularly true of symbolism on coins. While it is not possible to be certain it is fascinating to speculate, using as a parallel what happens today, and decide what would have been the deliberations of the various committees and bodies

3

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

called upon at the time to decide or advise on the design for a new issue of a coin. The interpretations of some commentators are puzzling and at times, one suspects, based on dubious grounds. Often there are several contrary and irreconcilable explanations, each convincingly put. It is tempting to pick the interpretation you favour and to dismiss the rest. Where practical here, the alternative explanations will be given even if from time to time it spoils an otherwise good story! Stevenson (1889, p.794), when discussing a particularly difficult coin, summarised the topic succinctly: The opinions o f the learned on these types amount to nothing satisfactory or useful. And who the Q Titus o f the above cited denarius was is involved in conjectures neither interesting nor probable enough to claim for further notice . It is as well to give a warning about the mythological stories which form the background to so many coins. As will be seen throughout this book, these stories vary greatly from one classical author to another and over the long period of antiquity many of the myths were expanded, edited or changed to suit regional preferences and claims. There is no 'Authorised Version' to act as one single reliable source for commentary and it is not the intention or the remit of this book to discuss, integrate or even summarise the various accounts. The interested reader is referred to the specialist books on the subject or a more general review such as the New Larousse Encyclopaedia or Pierre Grimal's excellent Dictionary of Classical Mythology. In the following chapters, after giving the general background, where particular ancient coins can provide an illustration of facets of medicine or medical history they will be described. No attempt is made to give a complete listing of such coins. Where for example an interesting reverse is associated with different value coins or was regularly re-issued, only a representative example will be discussed. For those interested in a complete listing reference to the appropriate catalogues given at the end of the book should provide such information. Each coin mentioned in the text is referenced at the end of the particular chapter. Aesculapius is frequently mentioned and for the purposes of clarity it has been decided to use the more familiar Roman version of his name, rather than the Greek, Asclepios, even though the latter would in some contexts appear more appropriate. The intermediate spelling, Asclepius, is also not used.

4

CHAPTER II GRAECO-ROMAN MEDICINE: A BACKGROUND Ancient medicine, like medicine of today, was a heterogeneous collection of beliefs, knowledge and experience that developed over many centuries. To judge it in present day terms is unfair and yet we have little way of knowing what it meant to the people of a particular period. Assessments in modem terms which purport to provide a value judgement might have been incomprehensible to people of the period or might have meant something totally different. We often find it astounding that people could have believed the things they are supposed to have done. Were they really so easily deceived or so non-critical? Even today 'medicine' may mean a variety of things ranging from westernstyle establishment-approved practices to various types of alternative medicine such as homoeopathy and herbalism. If we add to this the various great systems of medicine in countries such as India and China, the totality is bewildering. Ancient medicine had elements which to the medical profession today would have been acceptable as 'scientific', but there were great areas which we would define now as non-rational. These include beliefs in the magical power of some herbs, amulets, incantations, and the power of deities either to heal or cause disease. Such beliefs are still held by many today. This gives us an interesting insight into the persistence of old ideas and may perhaps be thought of as evidence of the credulous nature of the human race. It is often difficult to find modern equivalents for diseases described by ancient writers. The underlying pathological processes were almost completely unknown and diseases were not necessarily thought of as they are today, though sometimes an illness may have such distinctive symptoms it is fairly easily recognisable from the ancient description. GREEK MEDICINE The Greeks were pre-eminent in laying the foundations of anatomy, medicine and science. The roots of Greek medicine were many and include ideas assimilated from streams of invaders over a long history as well as the influences of neighbouring civilisations. The term 'Greek Medicine' also extends over many centuries ranging from the beliefs of the Minoan-Mycenaean period, the traditions of Homer and the temples of Aesculapius; through to the classic Greek philosophers, the rational

5

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

and scientific approach of Hippocratic medicine and the sects which followed Western, Byzantine and Arabic, routes and became the precursors of modern Western medicine. The medicine described in Homer is relatively free from magic and incantation though it was accepted that almost any of the gods could cause disease.The Iliad opens with an epidemic sent by Apollo. The Homeric treatment of wounds was simple and realistic with the extraction of arrows, the control of haemorrhage and bandaging with salves to relieve pain. Aesculapius and his sons, Machaon and Podalirius (p.61) were considered to be warriors as well as skilled in the healing arts. It was only later that divine honours were paid to Aesculapius. The Aesculapian myth, the temples and associated coins are dealt with in detail below. HIPPOCRATES Hippocrates, the most famous of Greek physicians, was a contemporary of Socrates (469-399 BC). He was born c. 460 BC on the island of Cos, a Greek island near Rhodes off the south-west coast of Asia Minor. He probably lived until at least 370 BC and died at Larissa in Thessaly. It is not easy to say more than this about the life of Hippocrates despite the writings of later biographers such as Soranus of Ephesus in the second century AD. For Plato and Aristotle, Hippocrates was maybe just one more distinguished physician, but to later writers he had become the ideal and it was necessary to provide details of his life, albeit a mixture of fact and legend. Hippocrates is mentioned by his contemporary, Plato (c. 429-347 BC ) who , in one of his Dialogues refers to him as the doctor, Hippocrates of Cos (Protagoras:311). Hippocrates is remembered particularly for the Hippocratic Corpus of some sixty treatises but how much of this is by Hippocrates has been hotly debated. Although these treatises are no longer of value for clinical instruction the Hippocratic teaching does give an ethical model of relevance today. The so-called Hippocratic Oath embodies the popular conception of the responsibilities of a physician though in its ancient form it is hardly suitable for the present time, beginning as it does with an invocation to Apollo Physician, Aesculapius, Hygieia, Panacea and all the other gods and goddesses. Nevertheless many of the principles so clearly spelled out in the Hippocratic Oath still apply. Hippocrates is a shadowy person. No accepted contemporary statue or bust survives of him and there has been much argument on the identity of later sculptured portraits (Barrow, 1972). A bust was discovered in 1940 in the tomb of a Graeco-Roman physician, K Markios Demetrios in Isola Sacra, an ancient Roman burial ground north of Ostia

6

GRAECO-ROM AN MEDICINE

Antica near Rome (Richards, 1968). On its pedestal were the opening words of the classic Hippocratic aphorism, Life is short, the craft so long to learn. This may be a true representation of Hippocrates and is probably a Roman copy of a Greek original. It shows a distinguished looking man, balding and elderly with a lined face and short beard (Frontispiece). It could be that any such portrait is an ideal rather than a true representation. The depiction of Hippocrates from Isola Sacra is similar to portraits on coin issues of Cos during the Roman Imperial period. A bronze coin of Imperial Times (ref.l) has on the obverse (Fig.l) the bearded head of Hippocrates and the inscription IP, the initial letters of his name.

FIG. 1 cos: HEAD OF HIPPOCRATES, IMPERIAL TIMES, AE 14.

The reverse shows a serpent staff. One rather interesting point about this coin is that it has the same reverse as a similar coin showing the head of Xenophon (see p. 152), another famous physician from Cos. Another bronze coin of Cos of the second to third century AD (ref.2) shows the bearded bust of Heracles on the obverse with a club over his left shoulder. The reverse depicts a seated Hippocrates and his name as the inscription. ROMAN MEDICINE Roman medicine also had a varied origin though the early Roman took pride in doctoring himself and his family with simple household remedies, magical incantations and invoking the gods. The head of the family, the paterfamilias, had wide duties which included being responsible for the treatment of the sick of his family. This, in the case of a wealthy land owner, would have been a very large number of people including not only the immediate family but lower ranking members of the household and slaves. It is at such people that the writings of Celsus (p.8) and Cato the Elder, who was particularly fond of cabbage as a treatment, were aimed.

7

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON AN CIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

For each disease or vital process of the body there was often a deity or aspect of a greater deity to whom a Roman could turn for help. St Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430) in his great work The City o f God (Book IV. 8) gives a very tart comment on the multiplicity of gods (or perhaps, more properly 'powers') which were invoked by the Romans. After giving some examples he says: But how can I give a list, in one passage o f this book, o f all the names o f their gods and goddesses? The Romans had difficulty in getting them into the massive volumes in which they assigned particular functions and special responsibilities to the various divine powers. One cannot help but be fascinated, however, by the names and variety. Febris (hence our word 'febrile'), the numen of fever had three temples in Rome alone (Hammond and Scullard, 1970, p.433). Like St Augustine it is not possible here either to give details of these numina but some of medical interest do appear on coins and are discussed in their proper place e.g. Lucina (p.64), Cloacina (p.139) and Priapus (p.161). Other sources of medical help included vendors of various magical charms and medicinal minerals; herbalists, some of whose herbs could have been of use; and the expert physician. The medical profession seemed not to be greatly admired by the Romans though some physicians became very successful and well respected, particularly when they were of use to the upper classes and the Emperor. Such a physician might have great influence and be well rewarded even to the extent of being commemorated on coins (see Statilius Attalus, p. 151 and Pancratides, p.152). It was not unknown for this trust to be betrayed even if the physician had been depicted on coins (see Xenophon, p. 152). Early medical practitioners were itinerant Greeks or slaves and Pliny (Natural History, XXIX.vi) records how c. 219 BC Archagathus, the first Greek doctor to come to Rome, first pleased and then horrified the Romans (p. 123). The following writers will be mentioned later with reference to the depictions on some coins. Celsus (Aulus Cornelius Celsus). This famous writer lived in the time of Tiberius (AD 14-37) and may have been born c. 25 BC. He was the author of a great encyclopaedia on agriculture, medicine, military strategy, philosophy, rhetoric and law of which only eight books survive. This is a comprehensive text of medicine and surgery, diagnosis and treatment. Like Pliny, his near contemporary, Celsus is thought not to have been a practising physician but an educated layman. While Celsus makes many errors, often due to his ignorance of disease processes, and sometimes

8

G R A E C O R O M A N MEDICINE

mixes treatment which would be acceptable today with dubious folk remedies, one can only admire his achievement, especially if this was matched in the lost sections of his work on other subjects. Theophrastus. A pupil and friend of Aristotle born c. 370 BC, his works were standard botanical texts. He classified and described varieties of plants in the nine books of Enquiry into Plants (de Historia Plantarum) and described plant physiology such as generation, cultivation and diseases in the six books of On the Aetiology o f Plants (de Causis Plantarum). Dioscorides. Dioscorides was a Greek who served in the Roman army in the time of Nero (AD 54-68). He was an ardent collector of plant material and his great Herbal describes some 600 plants and the diseases they would cure and was still in use until the seventeenth century. It is not easy for us today to accept that more than a minute proportion of these herbs have even some of the activities ascribed to them. Such herb lists remained in use for centuries and were the precursors of many medieval and early modern herbals and pharmacopoeias. Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79). Pliny was born in Comum. He had an active public career and was an encyclopaedic writer. He perished in the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. His works, other than Natural History, do not survive. The Natural History is a massive compilation in thirty-seven books of the prevailing knowledge of social, religious, political, scientific and medical matters, derived at second hand from other writers. While marred by its non-critical nature where the ridiculous is given equal weighting with the sensible, the Natural History is a major and invaluable source for general information of the time. Pliny the Younger (c. AD 61-113). A nephew of Pliny the Elder he was also a prolific writer and published an extensive correspondence with the Emperor Trajan and others. Although it is tempting to disparage these ancient systems of medicine, such an attitude is born of the feeling that what we believe must be right and that we have proved it, at least to our own satisfaction (a view surely shared at the time of these ancient theories by their proponents). Today's authoritative explanation too often becomes tomorrow's quackery. The Romans had some medical and allied facilities which we can understand and admire today. Their ability to organise and provide public medical services, water supply (p. 133), sanitation (p.137) and a comprehensive army medical service (Plate 1, p.10) is something which enabled them to acquire and organise a vast Empire,

9

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT CREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

much of which was not be be equalled or even partially copied until recent times. COIN LIST 1. Cos (Islands off Caria), AE14, BMC 18.216.216 2. Cos (Islands off Caria), AE26, GIC4994.

PLATE 1 DETAIL FROM TRAJAN'S COLUMN DEPICTING A FIELD DRESSING STATION.

10

CHAPTER III AESCULAPIUS: THE MYTH AND THE COINS THE AESCULAPIAN MYTH Both Greek and Roman coins illustrate a vast selection of mythological characters and contemporary views on health and illness were much influenced by this mythology. People of the ancient world required help from their gods particularly by way of prophetic advice or healing and often vowed sacrificial offerings in return for such help. Although the temples and cult of Aesculapius became the major source of religiously inspired medicine, there was also a long and involved mythological history involving the ancient gods of the earth and underworld and animal agents such as snakes. To list the healing gods and goddesses of Greece and Rome would be to list the majority. Most, including Zeus, Apollo, Athena, Artemis, Demeter, Poseidon, and Dionysus had some medical attributes. Lesser deities or heroes such as Heracles and the Dioscuri, as well as other mythological healers such as Chiron (p.71) or Amphiaraus (p.76), were also judged to have healing powers. There were many local variants of worship often of deities who had acquired the titles and attributes of other deities to form a confusing amalgam. The surname or divine epithets of the gods may be divided into those used as literary conventions, when they are often merely ornamental and those epithets actively used in cult. The latter may describe where the divinity was worshipped or an association with another god. The most important group of cult epithets are those describing a particular manifestation of the god's activities. The depiction of Aesculapius on ancient coins is the most obvious type w ith medical interest.The story of Aesculapius begins quite early, possibly in the sixth century BC at Tricca in Thessaly, when he was m erely a minor deity. In many healing sanctuaries but not necessarily all, Aesculapius may have taken over from an existing god or hero (see Amphiaraus p.76). Pausanias (p,17)in his Guide to Greece (II.26.7) says th at the most famous sanctuaries of Aesculapius, such as Pergamum, h ad their origin in Epidaurus. T h e cult reached Athens c. 420 BC from Epidaurus. The Athenians gave Aesculapius a share in their Mysteries and called the day of celebration the Epidauria. The Greater Eleusinian Mysteries were celebrated in the month of Boedromion (September) both by public displays and secret religious rites which culminated in a procession to

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ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

the temple of Demeter at Eleusis some fourteen miles away. The fourth day of the Mysteries was set aside for the festival of Aesculapius. Sophocles (c. 496-406 BC ), the great tragedian, was closely involved with the arrival of the Aesculapian cult in Athens and entertained the sacred snake which was sent from the mother temple. He made his house a place of worship for Aesculapius until the temple was ready and because of this he was honoured with the title 'dexion'. Sophocles not only received the sacred snake into his house but composed a paean in honour of Aesculapius (page 46). Although at first a physician, hero and then a minor deity, Aesculapius later exerted a wide influence in medical matters. He was seen not only as a healer but as a helper and saviour (soter) in every kind of trouble (p.29). The power and appeal of the Aesculapian cult increased over the centuries and became a predominant religion. It declined and disappeared in the third and fourth centuries AD because of the influence of Christianity and the antagonism of the Roman Emperors towards paganism. Despite the favour shown by Julian ('The Apostate', AD 360-363), who strongly favoured the old pagan religions, the worship of Aesculapius never regained its former popularity. It is traditionally believed that Constantine the Great, when campaigning in AD 312 against his rival Maxentius, had a dream in which he heard the words 'In this sign , conquer'. What this sign was and when exactly Constantine was converted to Christianity is not clear but according to one version of the story he saw the Christogram, a monogram of the Greek letters chi and rho giving the initial letters of the name of Christ. A follis of Constantinople (ref.l) has the bust of Constantine (AD 307337) on the obverse. The reverse (fig 2) has been variously interpreted.

FIG. 2 CONSTANTINE I: LABARUM AND CHI-RHO, FOLLIS, CONSTANTINOPLE.

12

AESCULAPIUS THE MYTH AND THE COINS

It has a labarum (a banner or vexillum crowned by a Christogram) with three medallions on it, which is piercing a serpent at its foot. The words SPES PUBLIC(A) (the public hope) run across the field of the coin. Some see this as celebrating the defeat of Licinius in AD 324; the serpent symbolising a dangerous and threatening enemy and the piercing by the labarum representing the triumph of good over evil. Hart (1966a) provides an interesting suggestion that the coin was minted in AD 331 to celebrate the destruction by Constantine of the Aesculapian sanctuary at Aegeae in Cilicia. Certainly the Aesculapian cult was a direct and serious competitor with Christianity in the fourth century AD and the snake was a common symbol of the cult. The Asclepieion in Aegeae was important and both Severus Alexander (AD 222-235) and Valerian (AD 253-260) issued coins of Aegeae showing sacrifices being made to Aesculapius. The coin of Severus (ref.3) is of particular interest as the obverse reads that Severus Alexander was the architect of the newly repaired temple of Aesculapius (although the detail is disputedXHarl, 1987, p.60). A coin (ref.2) of Macrinus (AD 217218), an earlier emperor, also from Aegeae, adds to the story in that it shows Aesculapius standing in the front of an octastyle temple though one cannot determine the state of disrepair of this temple. There are many versions of the Aesculapian legend. A summary, derived mainly from Pindar (Pythian Odes III), Apollodorus (The Library III.x.3-4), Ovid (The Metamorphoses II),and Pausanias (II, 26 1-5), follows. It is not always clear when Aesculapius is being considered as a god or as a hero-physician, later deified. Pindar, writing c. 474 BC in Pythian Odes III, regards Aesculapius as a hero. Plato (Republic III. 405-408) discusses Aesculapius and his treatments as though he was a human physician. Commenting upon a story that Aesculapius once took a large sum of money to cure a rich man at death's door, Plato observes, tartly, that a god would not be seeking for profit and anyone who did so could not be a god. Aesculapius was said to be the son of Apollo by the nymph Coronis of Larissa (daughter of Phlegyas, King of Thessaly). This is the usual story though Apollodorus suggests that the mother of Aesculapius could have been Arsinoe, daughter of Leucippus. Pausanias mentions this version but felt that it was unlikely to be true. Coronis, while pregnant by A pollo, was unfaithful to him with Ischys. This news was brought to A pollo by a raven (or crow) which being then white in plumage was turned black as a punishment for bringing such evil news. Apollo slew C oronis but rescued the infant Aesculapius from the funeral pyre and gave him to Chiron the Centaur on Mount Pelion in Thessaly (p.71) to be looked after and instruct in medicine. Ovid (Metamorphoses II) describes

13

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

how Apollo removed the infant Aesculapius from his mother's womb (presumably thus performing the first recorded Caesarian birth, p. 127. According to Pausanias, it was said that Artemis, the sister of Apollo, slew Coronis and that Hermes snatched the child from the funeral pyre. Pausanias also gives an Epidaurian variant of the myth in which Coronis exposed Aesculapius on Mount Myrtium where he was suckled by a goat, guarded by a dog and rescued by Aresthanas, a goatherd. This Epidaurian version of the story was reflected on their coins (p.16). Athena was said to have given phials of the Gorgon's blood (p.70) to Aesculapius. Blood taken from a vein in the right hand raised the dead while that taken from the left hand was used to afflict mankind (Apollodorus, The Library III.x.3). Aesculapius was credited with raising many from the dead though the details vary considerably from one ancient authority to another. He became so proficient in healing, Hades complained that his kingdom of the underworld was being depleted. Aesculapius, at the request of Artemis, restored to life Hippolytus, son of Theseus and the Amazon Queen Hippolyta (Ovid, Fasti, VI.746). Virgil (Aeneid VII.765) says that after Hippolytus was 'recalled to life by Apollo's herbs' Aesculapius was sent down to the waters of the Styx by a thunder-stroke of the Almighty Father. Apollo slew the Cyclopes who forged the thunderbolt that killed Aesculapius and Zeus wanted to hurl Apollo to Tartarus but, on the intercession of his mother, Leto (Latona), he was instead banished from Olympus for a year and sent as a slave to Admetus, King of Pherae. Admetus treated him kindly so Apollo caused all his cows to drop twins (Apollodorus, The Library, III. x.4-5). Some authorities stated that after Zeus had struck Aesculapius down, because he was the son of a god, he was placed among the stars as Ophiucus, the Serpent-holder (Serpentarius). This constellation lies between the separated halves of another constellation, the Serpent (Serpens).

AESCULAPIUS ON COINS Aesculapius is represented on Greek and Roman coins in a variety of ways. His traditional depiction is that of a distinguished, bearded, middle aged or elderly man, standing or sitting, holding a snakeentwined staff with a himation (an outer garment or cloak) held over his arm. There are variations in the size of the snake-entwined staff. A typical such depiction of Aesculapius is shown in fig 3.

14

AESCULAPIUS THE MYTH AND THE COINS

FIG. 3 COMMODUS: AESCULAPIUS WITH SERPENT STAFF, AE 25, CORINTH.

This is the reverse of a bronze coin (ref.29) from Corinth issued by Commodus (AD 177-192). It shows the standing figure of the god and his serpent-wreathed staff. Aesculapius may be alone or accompanied by members of his family such as Hygieia, his daughter (p.57) or Telesphorus (p.59). He may be depicted with other attributes (p.25) such as a dog or a temple. On some coins only the head of Aesculapius is shown. An example of this is the obverse of a silver drachm of Cos (ref. 18) dating to the period 167-88 BC . This coin ( F ig .4 ) shows on the reverse a coiled serpent which, sometimes with a staff, seemed to be the civic symbol of Cos.

F ig . 4

cos:

HEAD OF AESCULAPIUS/COILED SERPENT, 167-88 BC , AR DRACHM.

A bronze coin dating to the first century BC (ref.28) from Astypalaea, an island south-west of Cos, also depicts the head of Aesculapius on the obverse and a serpent-entwined staff on the reverse. Early issues showing Aesculapius are from Larissa and Tricca in Thessaly, from Epidaurus and from Pergamum. Larissa was the most important town in Thessaly and one of the first Thessalian cities to strike coins, perhaps before 480 BC. There are silver coins of Larissa dated to 450-400 BC (ref.4) which show on the obverse a horse galloping, maybe symbolic of the richness of the plains of Thessaly in grain, horses and cattle. The reverse shows Aesculapius, clad in a himation and feeding a serpent from a patera. A silver obol (ref.5) dating to 400-360 BC shows on 15

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

the reverse the bearded head of Aesculapius with an erect serpent in front. Tricca in Thessaly was named after the nymph Tricca and, according to Strabo (Geography, ix.437), had one of the earliest and most famous temples of Aesculapius to which the sick came from all parts of the land. A bronze coin dating to 400-344 BC (ref.6) shows the nymph Tricca on the obverse with on the reverse a seated Aesculapius feeding a serpent and holding a bird in his outstretched hand. The figure is said to be Aesculapius which is probable from the prevalence of his worship in Thessaly, but the bird is associated with Apollo.The difficulties of distinguishing between father and son are discussed on p.46 below. Epidaurus, on the Argolis peninsula in the north-east Peloponnesus, (p.34) was famous for its sanctuary of Aesculapius several miles outside the city. This included a great temple, a magnificent theatre and numerous other buildings. Epidaurus was most aware of its pre­ eminence as an Aesculapian sanctuary and had its own version of the myth (p.14). A series of coins until late into Imperial Times frequently allude to this myth. A bronze coin (ref.20) of Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161), illustrates the beginning of the myth as related by Pausanias (p .l7). This coin has the head of Antoninus on the obverse.

F ig . 5 ANTONINUS Pius: THE SHEPHERD ARESTHANAS AND THE INFANT AESCULAPIUS AE 20, EPIDAURUS.

The reverse (Fig. 5) shows a shepherd, presumably Aresthanas, standing with a goat suckling the infant Aesculapius in front of him near a cypress tree. Even the cypress tree may be symbolic of Aesculapius (p.31). A silver drachm of Epidaurus (ref.7) dating to 350-330 BC is illustrated in Fig. 6 and has the head of Apollo on the obverse.

16

AESCULAPIUS THE MYTH AND THE COINS

F ig . 6 e p id a u r u s : HEAD OF APOLLO/AESCULAPIUS ENTHRONED, 350-330 BC , AR DRACHM.

The reverse shows Aesculapius sitting on a throne, holding a sceptre and extending a hand over a snake coiled before him. There is a dog lying beneath the throne to complete a magnificent picture of Aesculapius and his myth as the Epidaurians saw it. The depiction of Aesculapius on the coin appears to be a copy of the famous chryselephantine statue of the god by the sculptor Thrasymedes in the temple at Epidaurus. Pausanias (II.27.2) describes the statue: The statue o f Aesculapius is half the size o f Olympian Zeus at Athens and made o f ivory and gold; the inscription says it was made by Thrasymedes o f Paros, son o f Arignotos. He sits enthroned holding a staff, with one hand over the serpent's head, and a dog lying beside him. The carvings on the throne show the deeds o f Argive divine heroes, Bellerophon and the Chimaira, and Perseus taking the head o f Medusa. Over from the temple is where the ritual suppliants of the god go to sleep. Pausanias probably came from Greek Asia Minor and travelled extensively in Greece in the second century AD. He recorded everything that he thought noteworthy and was especially interested in the history of mythology and religion in the places he visited. A Guide to Greece is a mine of information. Pausanias' descriptions can be illustrated by coins which provide a confirmation or extension of what he wrote. Coins depicting the Aesculapius of Thrasymedes were struck over a long period. Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161) issued a bronze coin of Epidaurus (ref.8) showing on the reverse the statue enthroned within a tetrastyle temple as well as a bronze coin (ref.25) with the statue alone. Another of that emperor's coins of Epidaurus (ref.26) neatly rounds off the story from this great Aesculapian centre. The coin depicts on the reverse a round shrine with two pillars either side of a standing figure. Price and Trell (1977) think this is probably the tholos found in the

17

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT CREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

excavation of the Asclepieion at Epidaurus, built c. 360- 320 BC. Little of the building is now left other than the foundations but it appeared to have been circular with an outer peristyle and an interior colonnade. Inner foundation walls formed a miniature labyrinth. Pausanias (II.27.34) describes it as a circular building of white marble called 'Round House' (Tholos) with paintings inside by Pausias, one representing Love (Eros) who is carrying a lyre instead of the more usual bow and arrow and another a painting of Drunkenness drinking from a crystal cup. Pausanias gives no clue as to the function of the Tholos and many imaginative suggestions have been made from identifying it as a house for the sacred snakes or as a sacred well. One postulated view is that it was the tomb of Aesculapius. It was not only Epidaurus which issued coins showing the Thrasymedes type of Aesculapius. Septimius Severus (AD 193-211) issued from Argos (a town in the Peloponnesus and not far from Epidaurus) a bronze coin (ref. 19) with Aesculapius on the reverse seated on a throne, holding a sceptre in his left hand and with his right hand extended over the head of a serpent. Pausanias knew of a statue at Argos (II.23.4) which he described as a seated Aesculapius in white stone with Health (Hygieia) beside him. Nearby were seated figures of Xenophilos and Straton, second century BC sculptors who made the statues and whose signatures have also been found at Tiryns, Cleonae, Sicyon and Epidaurus and at places even further afield. A bronze coin of Pergamum (Mysia) dating to 282-133 BC (ref.9) has the head of Athena on the obverse. The reverse shows a bearded Aesculapius sitting towards the left with a sceptre behind him. His upper body is bare but his lower limbs are covered. In his outstretched right hand he holds a patera and he is feeding a coiled serpent. The similarity of this depiction to the Epidaurian coin and the statue of Thrasymedes is obvious. There is no dog below the god on the Pergamum coin but this may be due to a local Epidaurian legend. Wroth (1882a, p.14) suggests that the Pergamum coin depicts a statue of Aesculapius by Phyromachos who lived about 240 BC and considers it inferior to the Epidaurian original of which it is a copy or derivation. Wroth further points out that Aesculapius was shown seated and it was not until the Roman period at Pergamum (after 133 BC ) that a standing Aesculapius appears on their coins. One early example of this is a bronze coin of Pergamum dating from the second to the first century BC (ref.10). This has the head of Athena on the obverse and a standing Aesculapius holding a snake entwined staff on the reverse (Fig. 7).

18

AESCULAPIUS THE MYTH AND THE COINS

F ig . 7 PERGAMUM: AESCULAPIUS w i t h s n a k e - e n t w i n e d s t a f f , s e c o n d t o f i r s t CENTURY BC, AE 26.

Wroth suggests that this is not the statue by Phyromachos as not only was this a seated Aesculapius but the original was carried off in the middle of the second century BC . A bronze coin of Commodus (AD 177-192) issued from Patrae in the Peloponnesus (ref.22) has the bust of the emperor on the obverse. The reverse shows Aesculapius standing, holding a snake-entwined staff in his left hand. This is possibly the statue mentioned by Pausanias (GVII.20.5). The Patreans had other sanctuaries in the grove, as well, not constructed in the open air, but the way in is through the colonnades The statue o f Aesculapius is o f stone except the clothes; Athene is all in ivory and gold. While Aesculapius usually appears as a man of mature age he is identified as the young Aesculapius on some coins. A silver didrachm of Cierium in Thessaly (ref.14), dating to c.400-344 BC , has an obverse with the head of Zeus. The reverse shows a youthful and naked male seated before a tree around which a serpent twines. Head suggests (1911, p.293) that while the figure could be Apollo, it is probably Aesculapius because he was worshipped in this area. If this is so it would make it one of the the earliest representations of the god on a coin. Several bronze coins from Rhegium, a colony in Bruttium in the very southern part of Italy may show a young Aesculapius. A bronze coin dated to 270-203 BC (re f.ll) has the head of Artemis on the obverse. On the reverse is a figure said by some to be that of the young Aesculapius standing naked, holding a branch of laurel and a sceptre with a bird perched on his right hand. A bronze tetra (ref.12) of later date (203-89 BC ) has a similar reverse but the obverse shows the heads of the Dioscuri. There is no certainty that these representations are of Aesculapius and not Apollo. Wroth (1882b) discusses similar problems on some coins of Imperial Times which are dealt with in some detail later (p.46). The bird 19

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON AN CIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

is surely more typical of Apollo as is the youthful unclothed figure. It is relevant that Rhegium at the same time (203-89 BC ) issued coins such as a bronze pentonkion (ref. 13) where the reverse (Fig. 8) depicts a seated and clothed Aesculapius, perhaps modelled after the Epidaurian type.

F i g . 8 RHEGIUM: SEATED AESCULAPIUS, 203-89 BC, AE PENTONKION.

Pausanias certainly cites examples of statues of a beardless Aesculapius which may imply he was being represented as a young man. He also describes (11.10:2-3) how in the Asclepieion at Sicyon (in the Peloponnesus, near Corinth) there was a statue of Pan on one side of the entrance with Artemis on the other. Inside was a statue of a beardless Aesculapius by Kalamis (a Greek sculptor of the first half of the fifth century BC ) made of gold and ivory. It held a sceptre in one hand, a pine cone in the other and legend related the god was brought from Epidaurus. Pausanias (II.13.3) describes another beardless Aesculapius in a shrine on the way from the Acropolis at Phlius, south of Sicyon, and comments that the statue had 'no beard yet' and was presumably therefore a beardless youth. Cicero (Nature o f the Gods, III.81-3) tells us that Dionysius, Tyrant of Syracuse, wrenched the golden beard from the statue of Aesculapius at Epidaurus saying that the son should not have a beard when his father (Apollo) had none. The motive was more probably cynical looting rather than religious scruples. A silver stater, c. 420-350 BC (ref. 15) from Zacynthus, an island in the Ionian sea off the coast of Elis, shows the laureate head of Apollo on the obverse. On the reverse (Fig. 9) is a kneeling infant with a coiled snake in front and a similar coiled snake behind. Head (1911, p. 430) said that although some identify the child as Aesculapius he found the arguments unconvincing. Rather he thought the figure might be that of the infant companion of Heracles, Zacynthus, who, while driving the cattle of Geryon, was bitten by a snake and died (Jones, 1986, p.245). Jenkins (1990, p.66) saw the child as Iamos the legendary son of Apollo by Evadne, daughter of Poseidon. Left in a bed of flowers, Iamos was fed 20

AESCULAPIUS THE MYTH AND THE COINS

honey by two serpents and was eventually given the gift of prophecy by Apollo (Pindar, Olympic Ode VI,30ff) to become the mythical ancestor of the prophetic clan of the Iamidae. The British Museum Catalogue (BMC 10.96.22) describes the reverse as the infant Heracles, kneeling and grappling with a snake while another prepares to attack him from behind.

F ig . 9 ZACYNTHUS: INFANT WITH SNAKES? IAMOS, ZACYNTHUS, HERACLES, AESCULAPIUS, 420-350 BC, AR STATER.

The possibility of a young Aesculapius appears again on a bronze medallion (ref.21) issued by Hadrian (AD 117-138). This depicts Hadrian on the obverse but it is the reverse (Fig. 10) which is of the major interest.

f

A

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1 f

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i

Fig. 10

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.

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W

HADRIAN: SALUS WITH YOUNG AESCULAPIUS, APOLLO IN FIELD. AE

37.

It shows Salus standing on the left with, to the right side a young, perhaps beardless, Aesculapius standing facing forward, wearing a wreath and chlamys which hangs down from his left shoulder over his arm. He is resting his left hand on his hip and in his right hand he holds a short snake-entwined staff. The snake is feeding from a patera which 21

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

Salus is holding in her right hand, while her left hand is on the right shoulder of Aesculapius. To add further interest there is on the right, behind Aesculapius, a column on which appears a figure of Apollo who may be holding a bow. This gives weight to the view that depictions of a young Aesculapius may be separated from those of Apollo. There is a reflection of this reverse in a statuary group described by Pausanias (VIII.28.1) in Gortys, Arcadia. Here the figure of Aesculapius was of a beardless youth and, like the figure of Hygieia, was sculpted by Skopas, a Parian of the fourth century. Another interesting facet of the concept of Aesculapius is shown on a bronze coin of Parium in Mysia (ref. 16) issued by Commodus (AD 177-192) which shows on the reverse (Fig. 11) a seated Aesculapius examining the foot of a bull and the inscription DEO AESC SVB; CGIHP.

FlG. 11 COMMODUS: AESCULAPIUS r a is in g f o r e f o o t o f b u l l , a e 23, p a r iu m

Storer (1931) feels that this coin may indicate that Aesculapius can also be considered the father of veterinary medicine, although it may be that the god is examining a potential sacrifice so clearly shown on other coins (p .lll). The obscure inscription on the reverse may involve the coming of the god, to remedy or relieve the suffering of cattle. A bronze coin of Otacilia Severa (ref. 17) from Parium has a similar but blundered inscription on the reverse. (Otacilia, wife of Philip I, emperor AD 244-249 and mother of Philip II emperor AD 247-249.) An unusual depiction of Aesculapius appears on a bronze coin (ref.23) issued by Caracalla (AD 198-217) from Pautalia in Thrace. This has the bust of Caracalla on the obverse while on the reverse (Fig. 12) there is a dramatic picture of Aesculapius holding a serpent-entwined rod and reclining on the back of a winged serpent. Severus Alexander (AD 222-235) issued a bronze coin from Nicaea in Bithynia (ref.24) with a very similar reverse.

22

AESCULAPIUS THE MYTH AND THE COINS

F ig . 12 CARACALLA: AESCULAPIUS SEATED ON WINGED DRAGON, AE 28, PAUTALIA.

Little has been said so far about Roman Imperial coins which depict Aesculapius though he did appear on a profusion of these typically as a standing mature figure clothed or naked to the waist, holding a serpententwined staff. He may be accompanied by Telesphorus or Hygieia. Some of these coins will be discussed below.

FIG. 1 3 POSTUMUS: AESCULAPIUS WITH SERPENT STAFF, ANTONINIANUS.

A typical late example shown in Fig. 13 is an antoninianus (ref.27) of Postumus (AD 259-268) which shows the bust of the Emperor on the obverse and on the reverse Aesculapius standing, holding a serpentwreathed rod with the inscription SALVS AVG.

COIN LIST 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Constantine I, AE follis, RIC: Constantinople 19 Macrinus (Aegeae, Cilicia), PT607 Severus Alexander (Aegeae, Cilicia), Harl(1987) p.60, Fig. 25.8 Larissa (Thessaly), AR13, BMC 7.28.44 5. Larissa (Thessaly), AR obol,SGC2116 23

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

6. Tricca (Thessaly), AE20, BMC 7.52.17, SGC2230 7. Epidaurus (Peloponnesus), AR drachm, BMC 10.156.7, SGC2809 8. A ntoninus Pius (Epidaurus, Peloponnesus), AE23, BMC 10.159.29, GIC1372 9. Pergamum (Mysia), AE18, BMC 15.121.73 10. Pergamum (Mysia), AE26, BMC 15.127,129-30, SGC3973 11. Rhegium (Bruttium), AE23, BMC 1.381.88, SGC688 12. Rhegium (Bruttium), AE tetra, BMC 1.384.110, SGC694 13. Rhegium (Bruttium), AE pentonkion, BMC 1.382.94, SGC689 14. Cierium (Thessaly), AR didrachm, Head (1911) p.293 15. Zacynthus (Peloponnesus), AR stater, BMC 10.96.22, SGC2910 16. Commodus (Parium, Mysia), AE23, BMC 15.105.104 17. Otacilia Severa (Parium, Mysia), AE23, BMC 15.107.114, GIC4005 18. Cos (Islands off Caria), AR drachm, BMC 18.208,150-1, SGC5004 19. Septimius Severus (Argos, Peloponnesus), AE22, BMC 10.151.166 20. Antoninus Pius (Epidaurus, Peloponnesus), AE20, Imhoof and Keller 54.2 21. Hadrian, AE37, Grueber (Roman Medallions) Hadrian 6,7 22. Commodus (Patrae, Peloponnesus), AE26, BMC 10.28.42 23. Caracalla (Pautalia, Thrace). AE28, BMC 3.145.34 24. Severus Alexander (Nicaea, Bithynia), AE28, Waddington p. 474, no.597 25. Antoninus Pius (Epidaurus, Peloponnesus), AE23, BMC 10.159.30 26. Antoninus Pius (Epidaurus, Peloponnesus), PT218 27. Postumus, antoninianus, RIC86,326 28. Astypalaea (Islands off Caria), AE14, BMC 18.187.14, SGC4976 29. Commodus (Corinth,Megaris), AE25, BMC 12.83.638, GIC1937

24

CHAPTER IV THE ATTRIBUTES OF AESCULAPIUS ON COINS Various symbols such as a snake and staff, a goat, a dog, a cockerel, have been associated with Aesculapius and appear also on coins. Their meanings have been much argued about. Early writers probably felt that explanations were not necessary and speculation since ranges from the pragmatic and prosaic to the purely mystical. The Aesculapian snake.The snake of Aesculapius is thought to be Elaphe longissima longissima, a constrictor harmless to man and feeding on small mammals. It can grow up to five or six feet long and is native to southern Europe, preferring open woodlands with glades and rocky areas, ruins and walls. On the one hand the snake is considered as a chthonic being, associated with the underworld, the realm of death and many gods. On the other hand the snake can be seen as a symbol of a healing force in that it was thought to revive itself by sloughing off its skin. There are myths of snakes possessing magic herbs with medicinal properties such as the legend of Glaucus (Apollodorus, The Library, III.in). Glaucus was revived with herbs used by a snake after he had drowned in a vat of honey. A Lydian version is that of Tylus, a hero who was killed by a snake but Masnes (Masanes) killed the snake and brought Tylus back to life by the use of a magic herb (Pliny, N H XXV.v). Both Tylus and Masnes are represented on coins of Sardes, the capital of Lydia. The reverse of a bronze coin of Sardes (ref.l) issued by Severus Alexander (AD 222-235) shows Tylus and Masnes each holding a club and with a dead serpent at their feet. Tylus extends his left hand to receive a plant from Masnes. Hermes and the Caduceus. The Aesculapean snake, as depicted on coins and statues, is single and twisted around a large staff and has been confused by some writers with the caduceus or wand of Hermes (Mercury) formed by two snakes twisting around a single slim staff. Although the caduceus has been used in modem times as a medical symbol, it is more properly the symbol of heralds and commerce. It is of interest, however, that a bronze coin of Atameus (ref.2), a colony of Chios situated on the coast opposite Lesbos a few miles west of Pergamum and issued by Cn Asinius, Proconsul of Asia c. 79-76 BC has the caduceus of Hermes on the reverse (Fig. 14). The obverse shows the forepart of a horse behind which appears a coiled serpent, the symbol of Aesculapius.

25

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COINS

F ig . 1 4 ATARNEUS: FOREPART o f h o r s e w it h c o il e d s e r p e n t b e h in d / CADUCEUS,

C .79-76B C ,A E 19.

There are several interesting possible precursors of this coin. A much earlier silver drachm of Atarneus (ref.14) dating to the mid fourth century BC has the laureate head of Apollo on the obverse and a coiled serpent on the reverse. Later, in the third century B C , a bronze coin of Atarneus (ref.15) has the laureate head of Apollo on the obverse with the forepart of a prancing horse, a coiled serpent and monogram but not the caduceus. According to Pausanias ( II.26.5) some say it was Hermes who snatched the infant Aesculapius from the funeral pyre and a bronze coin (ref.3) of Trajan Decius (AD 249-251) from Pergamum shows a relationship between Hermes and Aesculapius. This coin has the bust of the Emperor on the obverse. The reverse (Fig. 15) shows Hermes standing and holding a purse and caduceus. He is facing Aesculapius who is also standing and resting on his serpent staff. Aenus, in Thrace, commonly depicted Hermes on its coins. One of these (ref.29), a small bronze coin dating to the first to second century AD has the bust of Hermes on the obverse and a typical depiction of Aesculapius on the reverse, standing and holding a serpent staff.

FIG. 1 5 TRAJAN DECIUS: HERMES WITH PURSE AND CADUCEUS FACING AESCULAPIUS, AE 36, PERGAMUM.

26

THE ATTRIBUTES O F AESCULAPIUS ON COINS

The further relationship of Hermes and Aesculapius is a confused topic. There is not only the classical Greek Hermes but also the much later figure of Hermes Trismegistus thrice greatest. Writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus (Hermetica) allegedly derive from the Egyptian god Thoth but are of the early centuries AD. One of these writings refers to a dialogue of Hermes and Aesculapius, though this is more mystical than medical. The staff.The snake of Aesculapius is usually coiled round a staff which has also had a variety of interpretations from being merely a travelling staff reflecting the itinerant life of the physician to being a symbol, perhaps with magical overtones, of the help and support available from the god. The staff is represented in several ways not only on coins but on statues and other carvings. It may, for example, be a long staff resting in either armpit or a short rod held in either hand. The Aesculapian snake and staff are depicted on some coins without the figure of Aesculapius himself. Sometimes it is a major feature but at other times it is not clearly distinguishable. This is especially so on some cistophoric tetradrachms of Pergamum (ref.4),fromthe Roman conquest of the Province of Asia, dated after 133 BC .

F ig .

16

p e r g a m u m : c is t a m y s t ic a / b o w c a s e b e t w e e n c o il e d s e r p e n t s ,

AESCULAPIAN STAFF ON RIGHT, AFTER

133 BC , CISTOPHORIC TETRADRACHM.

These have (Fig.16) on the obverse a cista mystica containing a serpent w ithin a wreath of ivy. The cista mystica was a box or basket containing sacred snakes used in the cult rituals of Dionysus and Bacchus. The reverse of the cistophoric tetradrachm has a bow case between two coiled serpents with mint monograms above them. To the right of these is a short snake-entwined Aesculapian staff. Wroth (1882a) says that this

27

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

staff has been called a thyrsus but this is usually surmounted by a pine cone or a bunch of ivy leaves and is symbolic of Dionysus. The staff on this cistophoric tetradrachm is surmounted by a ball w ith a dot o v e r it. A similar, later coin, was issued by C.Fabius, Roman Proconsul of Asia 57-56 B C . (p.131.) The dog.The presence of a dog in the Epidaurian myth has already been mentioned (Pausanias, II.26.4) and is seen on the Epidaurian coin on p.16. A bronze coin, also from Epidaurus (ref.5), dating to the fourth to third century BC shows the laureate head of Aesculapius on the obverse. The reverse (Fig. 17) is largely filled with a dog reclining and looking to the right.

FlG.17

EPIDAURUS: DOG RECLINING, FOURTH TO THIRD CENTURY BC , AE

17.

Aesculapius appears with both a dog and his daughter Hygieia on a bronze coin (ref.6) of Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161). This shows on the reverse Aesculapius seated on a throne with a dog at his feet. He is holding a staff in his left hand which has a snake coiled around it and is holding a patera in his right hand. Hygieia is standing in front of Aesculapius holding her right hand over a small altar which is placed between them. She has a large tree behind her.

F ig .

18

h im e r a : c o c k ,

530-482

28

bc, ar d ra ch m .

THE ATTRIBUTES O F AESCULAPIUS ON COINS

pine The cockeral. A silver drachm of Himera (ref. 10), a Greek colony in foil northern Sicily, dated to c. 530 BC shows a cockerel on the obverse vein (Fig.18) which Jones (1986, p.145) felt was a symbol of Aesculapius to \aa whom the bird was sometimes sacrificed. The last words of Socrates after he had taken poison was to remind his friend, Crito, that they owed a cock to Aesculapius and to pay it (Plato, Phaedo 118). bee The cockerel was used as a symbol on the early coins of Himera, a city n which was destroyed by the Carthaginians in 408-409 BC . The survivors ito settled at the hot springs nearby to found a new city called Thermae or erse Thermae Himeraeae. These springs, which presumably were thought to ;to have curative and restorative properties, were said to have been opened by the nymphs at Himera to refresh Heracles after he was wearied in his journey around Sicily. They are symbolised on a tetradrachm (ref. 13) dating to 465-415 BC .

F ig .

19

h im e r a : n y m p h s a c r if ic in g a t a l t a r w it h s a t y r in f o u n t a in ,

c.450

bc

,

TETRADRACHM.

On the reverse of the coin (Fig. 19) a nymph is sacrificing at an altar and behind her a satyr is standing in a basin below a fountain which pours from a lion's head spout. Such medicinal springs were highly thought of in the ancient world and are further discussed on p.139. The omphalus. As the 'navel of the world' it was particularly associated with Apollo and the stone at Delphi (p.44). It was also associated with Aesculapius, representing both the oracular and healing aspects of his character and appears on coins entwined by a snake. A bronze coin from Pergamum (Fig. 7), dating from the second to the first century BC (Fig.20.) shows the head of Aesculapius on the obverse and a snake coiled around an omphalus on the reverse with an inscription to Aesculapius Soter. The latter title of soter or 'saviour' is considered by Wroth (1882a, p.23) to be characteristic of the light in which the worshippers of Aesculapius saw him, expressing as it does his power to save them from danger.The title was used particularly in 29

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON AN CIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COINS

Roman times such as by Aristides in the Hieroi Logoi (p.36). A festival of Aesculapius at Ancyra (p.42) was known as the Sotereia (Jones, 1986, p.212). The title has no Latin equivalent unless it be the title of Sispes or Sospita (p. 124) applied to Juno (Hammond and Scullard, 1970, p.1005). Some kings, especially of Bactria, Egypt and Syria, have also been called Soter perhaps implying a degree of deification such as Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt, 305-283 BC , the originator of the cult of Serapis (see p.69). PLATE 2 STONE OMPHALUS, DELPHI

Fig. 20.

Another bronze coin (ref.8) from Pergamum of similar date is illustrated in Fig. 21.

PERGAMUM: HEAD OF AESCULAPIUS/ AESCULAPIAN SNAKE COILED AROUND OMPHALUS, SECOND TO FIRST CENTURY BC. AE 18

F ig .

21

p e r g a m u m : h e a d o f h y g ie ia / a e s c u l a p ia n s n a k e c o i l e d a r o u n d a n

OMPHALUS SECOND TO FIRST CENTURY BC, AE

30

15

THE ATTRIBUTES O F AESCULAPIUS ON COINS

It has the head of Hygieia on the obverse with a snake in front and the name, Aesculapius, beneath. The reverse has the names of Aesculapius and Hygieia on either side of an Aesculapian snake curled around an omphalus. Vegetable attributes.The cypress, the palm and grapes may be taken as attributes of Aesculapius perhaps representative of the curative power of the earth manifest in the vegetable kingdom. The Epidaurian coin ( p.16). depicts the infant Aesculapius being suckled by a goat under the eye of the shepherd Aresthanas. It has a cypress tree in the back ground.Pausanias (11.11.6) noted that in the Asclepieion at Titane there were ancient cypress trees inside the ring wall. The ritual laid great importance on the boundaries of the sacred area. Pausanias (II.27.1) relates that the sacred grove in Epidaurus had boundary stones around, it in every direction and that no one was allowed to die or give birth within them, while everyone without exception must consume his sacrifice within these boundaries.He adds that these rules applied at Titane as well. A coin of Caracalla from Pautalia in Thrace shows Aesculapius in a tetrastyle temple with trees in the background (p.40). Aesculapius in association with a palm is shown on a bronze coin (re f.ll) of Severus Alexander (AD 222-235) issued from Alexandria in E g y p t, which may be dated from the year AD 230. There is a portrait of the em peror on the obverse.

F ig . 22 s e v e r u s a l e x a n d e r : b u s t o f a e s c u l a p i u s w i t h s e r p e n t s t a f f , a e 34, ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT.

The reverse (Fig.22) has a dramatic bust of Aesculapius with a very full beard. He is wearing a taenia (p.159) and there is a serpent- entwined staff in front of him and a palm branch behind. 31

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COINS

F ig .

23

p e r g a m u m : b u n c h o f g r a p e s o n v in e l e a f , a e s c u l a p ia n s t a f f , a f t e r

133

bc

AR QUARTER CISTOPHORUS.

A silver quarter cistophorus or drachm of Pergamum in Mysia (ref.9) dating after 133 BC (the Roman acquisition of the Province of Asia) has on the obverse a club draped with a lion's skin within an oak wreath.The reverse (Fig.23) has a bunch of grapes on a vine leaf with the mint monogram of Pergamum on the left and a snake entwined Aesculapian staff on the right. Elaea, a town on the road from Smyrna to Pergamum, became the port of Pergamum early on under the Pergamene kings. A large bronze coin of Elaea (ref.12) issued in the time of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180) has a most interesting reverse, the obverse being the usual bust of the emperor. On the reverse Aesculapius, wearing a himation, is shown standing with a snake-encircled staff in his right hand. On the left of the coin is a poppy head with two ears of corn on long stalks and on the right an olive tree. This reverse may symbolise that the goddesses Demeter and Athena were associated with Aesculapius in Elaea. Bloodletting instruments. The letting of blood was common practice in medicine up to very recent times and could be done by such techniques as cutting a vein or by cupping.Cupping vessels are illustrated on ancient coins, some of which also show Aesculapius.(p.l41.) Other aspects of the Aesculapian myth. Many of the other facets of the Aesculapian myth are depicted on a wide range of coins. The thunderbolt of Zeus is found on many coins. A bronze coin of Pergamum (ref.16) issued in the second to first century BC (Fig.24) refers to the time Aesculapius was killed by Zeus (p.l4).The coin has the head of Aesculapius on the obverse and, on the reverse, an eagle (symbol of Zeus) standing on a thunderbolt. A raven (or crow) appears on a bronze coin (ref. 17) of Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161). Apollo is shown standing with a bow in his hand and is nearly naked apart from a long cloak. In front of him is a tripod on which a snake is draped. On Apollo's right hand there is a table with a tree behind it with a crow or raven perched on one of the branches. A raven 32

TH E ATTRIBUTES O F AESCULAPIUS ON COINS

F ig .

24

p e r g a m u m : h e a d o f a e s c u l a p iu s / e a g l e s t a n d in g o n t h u n d e r b o l t ,

SECOND TO FIRST CENTURY BC AE

22.

perched on a branch practically fills the reverse of a bronze semis (ref. 18) o f Domitian (AD 81-96). This coin has the bust of Apollo with long flowing hair on the obverse. Aesculapian Temples. A fundamental requirement for a Greek temple w as the 'temenos', a piece of land marked off, often by a wall and consecrated to the sole use of the relevant god. Within the temenos there w as first only an altar but later an independent building would be erected. The basic element in the temple was a simple room, the celia, containing the cult image. Such a building was not a place of assembly for a congregation but the dwelling place of the god and a shelter for his image (see also p.167) The temple was often built on a platform approached by steps and there was a great variety in proportions, columns and general details. A hexastyle temple would have six columns at the end facades: a decastyle, ten columns. A peripteral temple was completely surrounded by a peristyle, a covered colonnade with a single row of columns. Such columns were in the Doric, Ionic or Corinthian styles which gave rise to the three orders of Greek architecture. Roman temples closely resembled the Greek ones. The Latin templum was the area designated by the augurs as that in which the auspices would be taken. A building consecrated to a deity was an aedes unless the augurs had ascertained that it was the will of the gods that it be designated as templum. The Romans took over from the Greeks many of their traditional building forms, particularly the Corinthian style. Early Roman temples were often constructed of brick and decorated with brightly painted terracotta mouldings though later buildings were of stone which allowed more massive construction. Temples were often arranged in rows facing a common sacred area to form a prominent landmark. Many temples dedicated to Aesculapius have been identified of which major ones were at Epidaurus, Ephesus, Cos, Cnidus and Pergamum. They originated about the sixth century BC perhaps in Tricca in Thessaly 33

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

P l a t e 3 t h e t h e a t r e a t e p id a u r u s , t h e f in e s t in Gr e e c e a n d n o t e d f o r it s INCREDIBLE ACOUSTICS, FORMED PART OF THE LARGE COMPLEX ASSOCIATED WITH THE CULT OF AESCULAPIUS.

PLATE 4 THE STONE CULT STATUE OF THE 'MANY BREASTED' MOTHER GODDESS, DIANA OF EPHESUS.

or Epidaurus in the Peloponnesus and spread rapidly. An Asclepieion was not unlike a modern health resort and each site was a complex of buildings and included not only the main temple but maybe a theatre, a stadium, a gymnasium as well as surrounding inns and accommodation for visitors The city of Epidaurus was on the Saronic Gulf in Argolis in the east of the Peloponnesus. Several miles inland there was a sanctuary of Aesculapius with international prestige at its height during the fourth century BC. There was a theatre built at the same time capable of seating some 6000 people and ultimately over double that.(Plate 3). International festivals were held which included athletics, horse races, music and poetry. Ephesus was in Ionia in the west of Asia Minor and was a place of great

34

THE ATTRIBUTES O F AESCULAPIUS ON COINS

importance in classical times. The ancient local mother goddess was identified by the Greeks with Artemis and by the Romans with Diana but the cult figure was different from other images of Artemis (p.51) and had multiple egg-like breasts. Her great sanctuary was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world ('Great is Diana of the Ephesians': Acts of the Apostles, 19.34). Pergamum, some fifteen miles from the sea in Mysia, Asia Minor, becam e a wealthy and formidable power and ranked as one of the great cultural centres of the Greek world and in 133 BC became the capital of the Roman province of Asia. Its reputation for learning was high and it possessed a library said to be second only to the great library of Alexandria. The sanctuary of Aesculapius (Plate 5) was of major importance and was dramatically described by Aelius Aristides (p.36). Pergamum issued many coins depicting the god and some of these are discussed on p.107 when considering the visit of Caracalla in AD 214 as well as elsewhere in the book. The island of Cos is in the southern Sporades. Famous in the history of medicine for being the birthplace of Hippocrates (p.6), it also had a sanctuary of Aesculapius built on the site of an earlier sanctuary of Apollo. This did not become a sanctuary of Aesculapius until the mid­ fourth century BC after the death of Hippocrates c. 370 BC (Sakula, 1984). Vitruvius (Marcus Vitruvius Pollio), who lived c. 50-26BC , was a Roman engineer and architect. In his treatise On Architecture (I.c.ii.7) he particularly stressed the importance of choosing healthy regions with suitable springs of water for the temples of Aesculapius and Hygieia and other healing gods: There will be a natural decor: first, if for all temples there shall be chosen the most healthy sites with suitable springs in those places in which shrines are to be set up; secondly and especially for Aesculapius and Salus; and generally for those gods by whose medical pozver sick persons are manifestly healed. For when sick persons are moved from a pestilent to a healthy place and the water supply is from wholesome fountains, they will more quickly recover. So will it happen that the divinity (from the nature of the site) will gain a greater and higher reputation and authority. Those who sought a cure in the temples of Aesculapius were subjected to ritual purification, fasts, prayers and sacrifices. When ready they would sleep ('Incubation') in the temple and the god would appear to them in dreams to give instructions for treatment. He might be accompanied by his daughters (p.57) Hygieia or Panacea. Sacred snakes and dogs might also play a part.

35

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

The whole procedure was typically satirised by Aristophanes in his play Wealth (Ploutos), produced c. 388 BC , in which the blind god Ploutos was taken to the temple of Aesculapius to regain his sight. He had been blinded by Zeus so that he would be indiscriminate in the distribution of riches. Aristophanes describes how Aesculapius wiped the eyes of Ploutos and Panacea spread a red cloth over his head. Two sacred snakes then came and licked his eyes and his sight was restored. Aristophanes (c. 422 BC ) in The Wasps also describes how Procleon was taken to the temple of Aesculapius in Aigina to cure him of madness as other treatments such as ritual washing and purification rites had been of no use. A more serious but much later account is given in The Sacred Tales (Hieroi Logoi) of Aelius Aristides who was bom in AD 118 of a rich aristocratic family living near Pergamum. He received an extensive education and became a successful and much regarded orator. His life, however, was one long series of illnesses of many kinds until his death in AD 180. The Sacred Tales is a lengthy and personal account of these illnesses written by a fanatical devotee of Aesculapius as a personal saviour and giving much detail of a life which can only be described as that of a professional invalid. Many of these events took place at the Asclepieion of Pergamum (Plate 5) and Aristides tells us of purgings, emetics, enemas, bleedings, winter bathing in the sea and river as well as less heroic treatments. The Tales cover a period of some twenty-six years or so in the life of Aristides and one can only marvel at his devotion and fortitude as well as getting, perhaps, some idea of the importance of the Asclepieion of Pergamum so well illustrated on its coinage. Depictions of Aesculapius are common on ancient coins and it is probable that some of these are of the cult statue in the temple itself and have been mentioned elsewhere (p.16). Some coins do depict temple buildings particularly later in Imperial Times. It is difficult to be certain just how accurate are the representations of architectural details on ancient coins and for a comprehensive survey of the topic in general the book by Price and Trell (1977) should be consulted. The depictions of temples, for example, undoubtedly have a lot of stylized representations the better to show the salient points of interest such as the cult image.The die engraver usually shows the cult statue brought forward from the cella on to the facade, the better to identify the temple's dedication. Nevertheless they did need to be sufficiently well drawn to be recognised. The clues remaining to buildings and statues may now be lost to the archaeologist. Aesculapius at Rome Aesculapius was traditionally said to have arrived

36

THE ATTRIBUTES O F AESCULAPIUS ON COINS

P late 5 t h e t h e a t r e in t h e a s c l e p i e i o n a t p e rg a m u m . t h e s h r i n e o f t h e g o d a n d ITS MANY ATTENDANT BUILDINGS LIE IN THE PLAIN BELOW THE GREAT ROCK OUTCROP UPON WHICH THE CITY OF PERGAMUM WAS BUILT.

in Rome from Epidaurus in 293/292 BC. Ovid (Metamorphoses XV. 622745) and Livy (The History of Rome, 10.47; epit. 11) relates the story. A dreadful plague was ravaging Rome so the Sibylline Books were consulted. The Books recommended that Aesculapius should be summoned to Rome. The Romans sought the advice of Apollo's oracle at Delphi to be told that they should seek Aesculapius in Epidaurus. The god in the form of a huge snake sailed on a ship to Rome and disembarked on an island in the middle of the Tiber where he cured the people and put an end to the plague. Pliny (NH XXIX.xxii) notes that the Aesculapian snake was brought from Epidaurus but in his day: a snake is commonly kept as a pet even in our homes; so that were not their eggs destroyed in fires there would be an incurable plague o f them. The arrival of Aesculapius in Rome is commemorated in a large bronze medallion (ref.19) of Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161). The obverse, which is some 37mm in diameter, portrays the head of Antoninus Pius.

37

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COINS

FIG.

25

ANTONINUS PIUS: AESCULAPIUS ARRIVING AT ROME AND WELCOMED BY TIBER, AE

37.

The reverse (Fig.25) has a most complicated picture of which the central figure is the river god Tiber reclining amidst the water of the river.He is raising his right hand to welcome a galley passing under a bridge of which two arches can be seen. The galley has the coiled serpent of Aesculapius at the prow and a figure with arms extended at the stem . In the background is an island on which there are walls, gates and a tree. On another almost identical medallion, Tiber rests his left arm on an um from which water flows. These pieces present a magnificent illustration of the elements of the Aesculapian arrival in Rome. The island in the Tiber, variously known as the Insula Tiburina, Insula Aesculapii, Insula Serpentis Epidauri, has an interesting history. A temple to Aesculapius was built there and first dedicated in 291 BC on 1 January. It was restored at various intervals. Ovid (Fasti; 1.289-94) describes the site and states that there was a conjoined temple of Jupiter and Aesculapius: But now for what 1 have been allowed to learn from the calendar itself. On this day, the senate dedicated two temples. The island, which the river hems in with its parted waters, received him whom the nymph Coronis bore to Phoebus. Jupiter has his share o f the site. One place found room for both, and the temples o f the mighty grandsire and the grandson are joined together. Later a Christian church (S.Bartolomeo) was built on the island, probably on the site of the temple. Several coins show what is probably the altar and the temple. The earliest of these is a silver quinarius of L.Rubrius Dossenus (c.87 BC ) which has a crudely drawn and stylised

38

THE ATTRIBUTES O F AESCULAPIUS ON COINS

serpent and altar on the reverse and is further discussed with other coins of Dossenus on p.121. Another coin is an aureus of Caracalla struck in AD 215 which shows the emperor sacrificing before a temple with Aesculapius standing in the front. It is likely that the figure of Aesculapius is copied from the cult statue (Hill 1989 p. 38). (p.113).

F ig .

26

c o m m o d u s : a e s c u l a p iu s in h e x a s t y l e t e m p l e , a e

36,

perca m u m .

Aesculapius at Pergamum. Pergamum (p.35) was a very important Aesculapian centre and several coins have depictions of its temples. A bronze coin (ref.20) of Commodus (177-192 AD) shows on the reverse a hexastyle temple with Aesculapius standing at the front, holding a snake encircled staff (Fig.26). A coin of Caracalla (AD 198-217) portraying three temples at Pergamum is discussed on p. 112. Much earlier than these is a bronze coin (ref.21) from Pergamum of 282-133 BC illustrated in Fig. 27. This is of particular interest as it has the head of Aesculapius on the

f ig .

27

p e r g a m u m : h e a d o f a e s c u l a p iu s / t e m p l e k e y ,

39

282

bc

-133

bc, a e

15.

ASPECTS OF MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

obverse and a large key and a serpent on the reverse. Wroth (1882a, p. 117) considered that this represented the sacred key of the temple of Aesculapius. The cella was locked save at the regular temple services and Aelius Aristides (p.36) when referring to the Asclepieion in Pergamum in the Sacred Tales (1.11) says the Sacred Lamps were lit and the warden brought the keys. Aesculapius at Tarsus A large bronze coin of Balbinus (ref.22) who was momentarily emperor in AD 238 (some ninety-eight days) was issued in Tarsus in Cilicia in south-east Asia Minor. The obverse has the usual depiction of the emperor. On the reverse is a hexastyle temple with an arch in the line of the pediment. Underneath the arch is the figure of Aesculapius leaning with his right hand on a serpent staff. On the right is the figure of Heracles with his characteristic club and carrying a lion skin on his left arm. Many other cities during Imperial Times issued coins showing Aesculapius in his temple. Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180) issued a bronze coin of Nicaea in Bithynia (ref.38) the reverse of which shows Aesculapius within a tetrastyle temple and an inscription to him as a saviour god (p.29). Another bronze coin of Nicaea (ref.39) from the previous reign of Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161) shows an altar entwined by a snake on the reverse with an inscription to Aesculapius the Saviour. Lucius Verus (AD 161-169) issued a bronze coin of Cos (ref.23) which shows on the reverse a distyle temple containing not only a statue of Aesculapius but of Hygieia also. Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180) issued a bronze coin (ref.24) depicting both Aesculapius and Hygieia from Pautalia in Thrace but this time in a tetrastyle temple. Caracalla (AD 198217) also issued a coin from Pautalia (ref.37) depicting Aesculapius and a tetrastyle temple but a noticeable characteristic of this coin is the tree in the field (see also p.31). Septimius Severus (AD 193-211) and Caracalla (AD 198-217) each issued a similar bronze coin (ref.25,26) from Nicopolis ad Istrum in Moesia Inferior depicting on the reverse a tetrastyle temple and Aesculapius holding a serpent-entwined rod. The reverse of the Caracalla coin is illustrated in Fig.28. Caracalla also issued another bronze coin showing a tetrastyle temple (ref.27) with Aesculapius within but this time from Serdica in Thrace. Other coins issued by Caracalla showing Aesculapius and his temple are discussed on p.112. Pausanias ( III.21.8) notes that in Gythium in the Peloponnesus there is a bronze statue of Aesculapius in a temple with no roof. A bronze coin issued by Septimius Severus (ref.28) from Gythium shows a temple in perspective with the statue of Aesculapius within

40

THE ATTRIBUTES O F AESCULAPIUS ON COINS

F i g . 2 8 c a r a c a l l a : a e s c u l a p iu s in t e t r a s t y l e t e m p l e , a e 2 7 , n ic o p o l is a d is t r u m .

holding a serpent entwined staff in one hand and extending another hand over an altar. In front of the god are two pillars and behind him is the wall of the cella, the principal inner room of the temple. A little later, Gallienus (AD 253-268) issued a bronze coin from Bargasa in Caria, this time with Aesculapius standing in a tetrastyle temple (ref.30). Another bronze coin (ref.31) issued from Aegeae in Cilicia has the heads of Philip I and II and that of Otacilia Severa on the obverse .The reverse shows Aesculapius and Telesphorus in a hexastyle temple. Philip I (AD 244-249) married Otacilia and reigned together with their son, Philip II (AD 247-249) until they were both killed in battle. The Asclepieion at Aegeae is also discussed on p.13. Aesculapian Games (Asclepieia). As well as the medical treatment of the patient, games and festivals would have been held in honour of the god. Many types of games such as horse racing, music and drama were dedicated to Aesculapius.The function of these temple complexes, as what in modern terms would be health resorts with overriding religious overtones, is illustrated on coins. A bronze coin from Philadelphia in Lydia (ref.32) dating from the time of Caracalla (AD 198-217) shows the youthful bust of the emperor on the obverse. On the reverse a coiled serpent is seen with a raised head and protruding tongue, riding on the back of a bridled horse. This is said to be a reference to the horse racing in the Aesculapian games held at Philadelphia. A coin of Cleonae in Argolis, a small town on the road from Corinth to Argos, may also have a connection with the Aesculapian Games. This coin (ref.33) has the bust of Julia Domna (wife of Septimius Severus, emperor AD 193-211) on the obverse. The reverse shows a bridled horse with a bearded head on its back, presumably Aesculapius. Julia Domna, the second wife of Septimius Severus and Syrian by birth, was a beautiful and intellectual woman deeply interested in the eastern religions that pervaded Roman life. A member of her 'salon' was Flavius

41

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

Philostratus who wrote a life of Apollonius of Tyana at her request. The teachings of Apollonius greatly influenced Alexander, the False Prophet (pl48). Julia was also the mother of Geta and Caracalla whose story is told on p. 107. Another coin of Caracalla from Ancyra in Galatia (ref.35) is even more obvious in its connection with Games dedicated to Aesculapius. The obverse depicts the head of Caracalla while on the reverse an inscription contains the words Asclepieia Sotereia Isopn/thia which implies games dedicated to Aesculapius the Saviour as well as Isopythia or Games dedicated to Apollo. The reverse of the coin shows three naked athletes standing around an urn from which they may have been drawing lots. Similar coins of Ancyra, relating to the visit made by Caracalla during his journey in the East in AD 214-215 (p.109), tell more of the Games (ref.36) Some show urns for drawing lots or prize urns, perhaps containing palm branches or associated with purses. One of these coins depicts a stele with a pediment inscribed with a dedication to the Games of Aesculapius the Saviour and of Apollo (Isopythia). A coin (ref.34) of Severus Alexander (AD 222-235) from Sidon in Phoenicia, a city of great antiquity famous for its purple dye and manufacture of glass, is said to illustrate the crown of victory for the Aesculapian Games held in Sidon. The crown is shown on a table with a serpent and staff as an adjunct.

COIN LIST 1. 2. 3. 4.

Severus Alexander (Sardes, Lydia),AE 37, BMC .22.268.179 Atameus (Mysia), AE19, BMC 15.14.7, SGC3813 Trajan Decius (Pergamum, Mysia), AE36, GIC4174 Pergamum (Mysia), AR cistophoric tetradrachm, BMC 15.124,98-100, SGC3948 5. Epidaurus (Peloponnesus), AE17, BMC 10.158.25, SGC2814 6. Antoninus Pius, AE, Stevenson (1889) p.470 7. Pergamum (Mysia), AE18, BMC 15.129.158, SGC3967 8. Pergamum (Mysia), AE15, BMC 15.129.163, SGC3970 9. Pergamum (Mysia), AR quarter cistophorus, BMC 15.126.126, SGC3951 10. Himera (Sicily), AR drachm, BMC 2.76.2, SGC715 11. Severus Alexander (Alexandria, Egypt), AE34 (drachm), BMC 16.218.1706, GIC3386 12. Marcus Aurelius (Elaea, Aeolis), AE36, BMC 17.130.45 13. Himera(Sicily), AR tetradrachm,BMC 2.79.34, SGC813

42

THE ATTRIBUTES OF AESCULAPIUS ON COINS

14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.

Atarneus (Mysia), AR drachm, SGC3810 Atarneus (Mysia), AE18, BMC .15.14.1, SGC3812 Pergamum(Mysia), AE22, BMC 15.128.149, SGC3976 Antoninus Pius, AE, Stevenson (1889) p.64 Domitian, AE semis, BMC RE320 Antoninus Pius, AE37, Grueber (Roman Medallions) 4,5 Commodus (Pergamum, Mysia), AE36, BMC 15.148.295 Pergamum (Mysia), AE15, BMC 15.122.84, SGC7230 Balbinus (Tarsus, Cilicia), AE45, Hunter 552.37 Lucius Verus (Cos, Islands off Caria), AE35, BMC 18.219.246, GIC1834 24. Marcus Aurelius (Pautalia,Thrace), AE29, BMC 3.142.7 25. Septimius Severus (Nicopolis ad Istrum, Moesia inf.), AE27, BMC 3.41.5 26. Caracalla (Nicopolis ad Istrum, Moesia inf.), AE27, BMC 3.45.28, GIC2477 27. Caracalla (Serdica,Thrace), AE29, BMC 3.174.22 28. Septimius Severus (Gythium, Peloponnesus), AE22, BMC 10.133.5 29. Aenus (Thrace), Imperial Times, AE19, Weber2322 30. Gallienus (Bargasa, Caria), AE25, Anson V.267 31. Philip I,II and Otacilia Severa (Aegeae, Cilicia), AE28, BMC 21.p.cxv 32. Caracalla (Philadelphia, Lydia), AE30, BMC 22.202.85; GIC 2571 33. Julia Domna (Cleonae, Argolis), AE24, BMC 10.155.11 34. Severus Alexander (Sidon, Phoenicia), BMC 26, page cxv, plate xliii.7 35. Caracalla (Ancyra, Galatia), AE31, BMC 20.12.22 36. Caracalla (Ancyra, Galatia), AE23-32, BMC 20.13.23-28 37. Caracalla (Pautalia, Thrace), PT103 38. Marcus Aurelius (Nicaea, Bithynia), AE24, Waddington p. 420, no.167 39. Antoninus Pius (Nicaea, Bithynia), AE17, BMC 13.156.29, GIC1389

43

CHAPTER V AESCULAPIUS: THE FAMILY APOLLO Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto (Lat: Latona), a Titaness and was the twin brother of Artemis. He was also the father of Aesculapius (p.13). The jealous Hera, wife of Zeus, forced the pregnant Leto to wander from place to place, not allowing anywhere to provide a home to give birth to her children until she arrived at the island of Delos in the Cyclades. Hera still tried to delay the birth and kept Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth (p.52), unaware of Leto's pains for nine days and nights. (Homeric Hymns III; To Delian Apollo) Apollo was bom on the island of Delos but soon after was transported to Delphi where his umbilical cord separated and an omphalus (navel, centre of the body) was set up to mark the event. It was said that this omphalus (see also p.29) was at the centre of the world. There are, of course, as with other stories, variants on this tale usually by persons trying to establish something to their advantage. Tacitus (Annals 111.58-62) records how the Ephesians, in representations to the Roman Senate during the time of Tiberius, maintained that Diana and Apollo had actually been bom at Ephesus where the pregnant Leto had clutched an olive tree to give birth. The inhabitants of Delos agreed that Leto clung to a tree but maintained this was a palm tree on Delos, as was represented on their coins. Apollo was associated with prophecy, medicine, music and many other attributes in a confusing and sometimes inconsistent manner. He is usually depicted as a young man of great manly beauty and carrying a laurel branch, bow or a lyre.

Fig. 29

o ly n th u s : h e a d o f a p o llo / ly r e ,

44

420-392

bc , te tra d ra c h m .

AESCULAPIUS: THE FAMILY

A tetradrachm of Olynthus in Macedon (ref.l) dating to 420-392 BC gives a good representation (Fig.29) on the obverse of a fine classical head of Apollo with, on the reverse, a seven-stringed lyre or, perhaps more accurately, a cithara (Jones, 1986, p. 135). Apollo had oracular shrines, particularly at Delphi and Delos, and was frequently consulted via his oracles on medical problems. The tripod was a symbol of his oracle at Delphi on which his medium, the Pythia, sat to answer questions. It was traditionally held that the Delphic tripod stood over a chasm from which rose intoxicant fumes, but there is no unequivocal evidence for this.The tripod of Apollo appears on many

F ig .

30

c r o t o n : d e l p h ic t r ip o d ,

530-510 b c , s t a t e r .

coins and a most elegant example is a stater of Croton in South Italy (ref.2) dating to 530-510 BC which has on the obverse (Fig.30) a Delphic type o f tripod with three handles and with legs which terminate in lion's feet and have two serpents between them. The reverse is similar but mainly incuse and lacks the serpents. The reference to the tripod is to the fact that the colony was founded as the direct result of instructions from the Delphic oracle. Apollo was the chief god of healing in the Olympic pantheon and was known as Alexicacus, averter of illness and other evils. He was, for example, known at Bassae in Arcadia as Apollo the Helper for turning away a plague (Pausanias, VIII.41.7-9). He communicated the art of healing to the centaur, Chiron (p.71). His arrows could bring or prevent death, plague and epidemics. Apollo apparently supplanted and took over the functions and name of an earlier healing god Paean (variously spelled) who lived in Olympus. Paean appears in the Iliad (5.350-441) when the story is told of how Hades was injured in the shoulder by an arrow shot by Heracles and went back to Olympus and Paean spread pain-killing medicines on the wound and healed him. Paean later healed Ares of a wound in the abdomen caused by the spear of Diomedes

45

ASPECTS OF MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COINS

(Iliad,5.896-909). In both these cases, Paean healed the gods because they were not of mortal stock. A paean was originally also a hymn addressed to Apollo in his role as healer but was later addressed to other gods or even to individuals or at gatherings. Sophocles is said to have composed one to Aesculapius in honour of the arrival of the god at Athens (see also p.12). Apollo often appears on coins with one or other of his attributes and some of these suggest his medical character but it may, at times, be difficult to know whether the coins refer to Apollo or to Aesculapius especially if the representation is that of a young man (see also p.19). Head (1911, p.278) describes a bronze coin (ref.19) from Apollonia Pontica on the eastern coast of Thrace dating to 300 BC or later. This town possessed a famous temple of Apollo with a statue of the god by Kalamis. The obverse of the coin depicts the head of Apollo and the reverse shows Apollo standing and holding a long branch and bow. The legend on the reverse refers to Apollo Iatros. Iatros or Physician is a highly specific medical description. A bronze coin of Agrigentum in Sicily dating to c.275-212 BC (ref.3) has the head of Apollo on the obverse with a crawling serpent. The reverse shows two eagles and a hare. Cicero (Oration against Verres IV.43) mentions a statue of Apollo by Myron which stood in the temple of Aesculapius at Agrigentum. Verres was accused by Cicero of stealing this statue which he said had the name of Myron inscribed in small silver letters on the thigh. Head (1911, p.124) suggests that this coin and Cicero's comments indicate a connection between the cults of Apollo and Aesculapius at Agrigentum. There is usually no problem in identifying representations of Apollo by the presence of his bow, lyre, tripod or omphalus but there are some coins which have caused arguments whether the depictions are of Apollo or Aesculapius. Wroth (1882b) describes four coins which show the snake encircled staff typical of Aesculapius but which he feels are more properly attributed to Apollo. The first of these (ref.15) is a bronze coin of Marcus Aurelius which has on the reverse a naked beardless male standing and holding in his right hand an Aesculapian type staff and with a coiled snake either side of him. The second coin (ref. 16) is a bronze of Caracalla minted at Serdica in Thrace. The British Museum Catalogue (BMC 3.172.13) describes the reverse quite simply as Aesculapius standing and holding a snake-entwined staff though Wroth interprets this as a naked beardless male. The third coin (ref.17) is an aureus of Caracalla and presents a similar dichotomy in interpretation. Mattingly (RIC99) describes the figure as a naked Aesculapius with a serpent-wreathed staff standing between two

46

AESCULAPIUS: THE FAMILY

snakes, but Wroth interprets the figure as probably a naked beardless Apollo. An additional interest of this coin is that the figure is in a distyle temple, different from that on another aureus of Caracalla discussed on p.113 where Aesculapius is shown clothed, in a temple with four colum ns, and Caracalla, accompanied by attendants, sacrificing before him. The fourth coin is a sestertius of Galba (AD 68-69) (ref. 18) which shows on the reverse a naked male with long hair holding a snake encircledstaff in his left hand, similarly thought by the BMC RE to be Aesculapius and by Wroth to be Apollo. These coins all have in common that they show a naked man who does indeed seem to be beardless and although holding a snake entwined staff of the Aesculapian type is more suggestive of Apollo. There are few unequivocal representations on coins of a beardless Aesculapius though we know from Pausanias that there were beardless statues (p.20). It is difficult to reach a definite conclusion but a Pergamene coin (ref. 13) to be discussed later (p.50) depicts both a naked Apollo and a clothed Aesculapius. Apollo often together with his son, Aesculapius, was the object of worship in many places. In Rome, his cult was primarily that of a healing god and the Vestal Virgins called him Apollo Medice or Apollo Paean (Hammond and Scullard, 1970, p. 82, quoting Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.17.15). Coins of Apollo Medicus were struck by Caracalla and Gallienus. According to Hill (1989, p.91), Caracalla issued a denarius in AD 214, (ref.4) to celebrate vows undertaken for his health.

FlC. 31 CARACALLA: APOLLO SEATED HOLDING LAUREL BRANCH, DENARIUS.

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ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

On the reverse of this coin (Fig.31) Apollo is depicted sitting almost naked, holding a laurel branch in his right hand and with his left elbow resting on a lyre set on a tripod. The original model, if a cult statue, is not known. Similar types were issued later by Gordian III, Herennius Etruscus, Hostilian and Aurelian. Another version of Apollo Medicus (ref.5) was issued by Caracalla in AD 215 where the god is shown standing but, again, the model is not known (Hill, 1989, p.91). Pliny (NH, XXXVI.iv.35) writes of a depiction of Apollo with his lyre by Timarchides of Athens in the temple of Apollo Medicus in the Campus Martius. This is thought to have served as a model for the Apollo of Cyrene in the British Museum where the god is almost naked and is holding a lyre standing on a tree trunk around which a serpent is coiling. An antoninianus (ref.6) of Gallienus (AD 253-59-68) depicts this statue in a somewhat crude form (Hill, 1989, p.84). Gallienus also issued an antoninianus (ref.7) depicting another type of Apollo, possibly derived from a statue.

F ig . 3 2 g a l l ie n u s : a p o l l o s t a n d in g , h o l d in g b r a n c h , a n t o n i n ia n u s .

On the reverse (Fig.32), Apollo is holding a branch in his right hand pointing downwards. The legend a p o l l o c o n s e r v [ a t o r ] suggests that Apollo is invoked in his aspect of healer (see p.99). Apollo Smintheus. A tetradrachm of Alexandria Troas, a coastal city in Troas, Asia Minor,(ref.8) c. 130-129 BC, depicts the head of Apollo on the obverse while the figure on the reverse is identified by the legend as Apollo Smintheus (fig.33). Representations of Apollo Smintheus characteristically show the god in a himation with a quiver at his shoulder and holding out a patera over a flaming tripod. He is usually on a pedestal with his emblem of a mouse or rat and it seems likely that such a depiction is that of the cult statue in the Smintheon. An earlier

48

AESCULAPIUS: THE FAMILY

bronze coin of Alexandria Troas (ref.9) dating to c.300 BC is said to show Apollo Smintheus holding a bow and phiale and with a mouse at his feet.

FIG. 33 ALEXANDRIA TROAS, HEAD OF APOLLO/ APOLLO SMINTHEUS, ? 130-129 BC , TETRADRACHM.

It is tempting to believe that the temple at Alexandria Troas was built in gratitude to the god for the destruction of mice during a plague or a famine and the title 'Smintheus' is traditionally derived from the Greek sminthos, a mouse (Jones, 1986, p.21). A bronze coin of Caracalla from Alexandria Troas (ref.14) shows the typical depiction of Apollo Smintheus on the reverse with the god holding out a patera over a flaming tripod which has a snake coiled around it, perhaps further evidence of the healing aspect. It would be more than a little premature to assume that the ancient Greeks were fully aware of the precise relationships between mice (or rats) and disease, both minor and major. The word 'plague' in ancient times would have covered a variety of diseases characterised by high mortality and infectivity. Today, the word 'plague' refers specifically to a disease (one variety of which is known as bubonic plague) known to be caused by a bacillus (Yersinia pestis) carried by rats carrying infected fleas but this organism was not isolated until 1894 by Yersin and Kitasato. Hamaxitus, a coastal town situated south of Alexandria Troas, had the temple of Apollo Smintheus within its boundary. The population was moved to Alexandria in the fourth century BC. In a temple at Chryse near Hamaxitus there was a statue by Scopas, a sculptor of the fourth century BC, showing Apollo with a mouse at his feet. A bronze coin from Hamaxitus (ref.10) dating to c. 350- 310 BC shows Apollo Smintheus on the obverse holding a phiale and bow and with a monogram below. Depictions of Apollo Smintheus also occur on coins other than those from Troas as on a bronze coin (re f.ll) of Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161)

49

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

from Pergamum which has the head of the Emperor on the obverse. The reverse (Fig.34) shows Aesculapius standing on the right holding a

FIG. 34 ANTONINUS PIUS, AESCULAPIUS ON RIGHT FACING APOLLO SMINTHEUS, AE 34, PERGAMUM.

serpent staff and Apollo Smintheus on the left holding a patera and a bow. The inscription on the reverse says that the coin was issued in the magistracy of Numpidia Beronike. She was given the title prytanis or councillor and this most unusual reference to a female chief magistrate may imply a religious function (Wroth, 1882a, p.40). A bronze coin (ref.12) of Lucius Verus (AD 161-169), also from Pergamum, has an interesting reverse, the obverse being the usual bust of the emperor. On this reverse Aesculapius is shown standing and holding a snake-encircled staff in his right hand. On his left side a small naked figure is standing with his right hand raised and holding what is perhaps a bird in his left hand. Between the two figures a rat is gnawing at a rather uncertain object. This coin raises questions of interpretation which are not easy to answer. Wroth (1882a) did not know who the small naked figure was but suggested that, as the example of the coin he was discussing was pierced (p.74), it might have been worn as an amulet. Wroth felt that the rat is a symbol of Apollo and a link with Aesculapius. It may be that there was an actual association or even assimilation of the two deities at Pergamum. This is supported by the coin of Antoninus Pius discussed above (re f.ll) and another Pergamene coin (ref. 13) of Septimius Severus (AD 193-211) and Caracalla (AD 196-217). This has the bust of Severus facing a bust of Caracalla on the obverse. The reverse shows Apollo standing naked on the right, holding a patera over an altar and with a bow in his left hand. Aesculapius stands on the other side of the altar facing Apollo and holding a snake-encircled staff. The association of a naked Apollo

50

AESCULAPIUS: THE FAMILY

and a clothed Aesculapius also has a possible bearing on those coins mentioned above where there was doubt as to which god was depicted. Another numismatic link between Apollo and Aesculapius may occur on the coins of Clodius Albinus (AD 193-97). Mattingly (BMC RE Vol.V. 2nd edition, p.xxxviii) suggests that depictions of a young Aesculapius on a denarius of Albinus (ref.46) where the god is shown standing and offering an object, perhaps a cake, to a snake, may actually represent Apollo Grannus, a god of healing springs in Gaul. Such a representation, issued from the mint in Rome, was symbolic of the province under the care of Albinus as Caesar. It was also suggested that the Apollo on the later coinage of Caracalla may refer to the same god. Cassius Dio when discussing Caracalla and his ailments (p. 110), said that the Emperor received no help from Apollo Grannus in spite of much supplication. Coins issued by several Roman Emperors in the second and third century AD may refer to the outbreaks of plague at this time and express their thanks or appeals for the safety of the Emperor. Some of these refer to Apollo as Propugnator (or defender), Conservator (one who saves or protects, and as Salutaris (health bringer). These coins are discussed on page 99. Artemis (Latin Diana):Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo (p.44), the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and was universally worshipped in Greece. To the Romans, she was generally equated with Diana, an ancient Italic goddess. Artemis was originally perhaps an earth goddess concerned with the birth and life of all living things, both animal and human, but later became also to be seen as the virgin huntress and patroness of chastity. She is commonly depicted as Artemis the Huntress wearing boots, a short skirt and carrying a bow and arrows often accompanied by a hound or deer. The most famous shrine of Artemis was at Ephesus, one of The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World ('Great is Diana of the Ephesians': St Paul and the Acts of the Apostles 19.34) where she is depicted as covered in egg-like breasts (interpreted by some to be the ripening fruit of the date palm, bulls' testicles or symbolical ova of the sacred bee), an obvious symbol of birth and fertility. She played an equivocal part in the life of Aesculapius. According to some she slew his mother, Coronis (p.56), and was also a cause of his death when, at her request, he restored Hippolytus to life (p. 14). Like her brother Apollo, Artemis had various medical attributes and her care was especially for the young. Apuleius (The Golden Ass, p.269) refers to Artemis as the physician sister of Phoebus Apollo who relieved the birth pangs of women and was worshipped in the ancient shrine at

51

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COIN S

Ephesus. She was both a protector from illness and an avenger upon those who strayed from the paths meeting her approval. Eileithyia. Eileithyia (variously spelled) was the goddess of childbirth, 'she who comes to help'. It could be argued that she is merely an attribute of Artemis and other goddesses or a separate goddess. Hesiod refers to Eileithyia as the daughter of Zeus and Hera (Theogony 920-925). Homer in the Iliad (11:262-306) refers to the daughters of Hera who bring the bitter pains of childbirth though later (Iliad, 16.173-217) he refers to Eileithyia, the goddess of birth pains. In describing the birth of Heracles (Iliad 19.82-126) Homer refers both to the goddess Eileithyia and to the plural Eileithyiae. Perhaps he was not sure. Pausanias (IX.27.2) when discussing Eros, the god of Love, says that most people think Aphrodite was his mother but the Lykian Olen said it was Eileithyia. Eileithyia seems to have had a subordinate role and was often identified with Hera as well as Artemis and with Lucina (Juno) by the Romans (p.64). Childbirth, like marriage, was under the general supervision of Hera. The process of birth, however, needed Eileithyia who could be regarded as the first midwife. Pausanias (1.18.5) describes how Eileithyia came from the Hyperboreans to Delos to help Leto in her birth pains (p.44) and said that the Cretans claim that she was the daughter of Hera bom near Knossos. Hera was jealous of Leto and kept Eileithyia unaware of Leto's pains. She was in labour for nine days and nights until other and more sympathetic goddesses prevailed. This was a very common reaction of Hera to the results of the amours of Zeus. Pausanias (VII.23.5) describes the sanctuary of Eileithyia at Aegium in Achaia: Aigion has an ancient sanctuary o f Eileithuia. The Eileithuia is swathed from top to toe in fine cloth; she is wooden except for her face and hands and feet, which are Pentelic stone; she is stretching out one hand and holding up a torch in the other. You might suppose Eileithuia has torches because the birth-pains o f women are like fire, but the torches would make sense on the the grounds that Eileithuia brings children into the light. The statue is by Damophon o f Messene. He also mentions a sacred precinct of Aesculapius near the sanctuary of Eileithyia with statues of Aesculapius and Health where an iambic verse on the plinth says that Damophon (who lived in the early second century BC ), was the artist (VII.23.5). Aegium, in the north of the Peloponnesus, became a major political

52

AESCULAPIUS: THE FAMILY

and religious centre and Eileithyia and her temple may appear on its coins. A bronze coin of Aegium dating to 146-31 BC (ref.20) has the bust of Artemis with her hair tied back in a knot and with a bow and quiver at her shoulder on the obverse. On the reverse is a female figure, possibly Eileithyia, holding in her extended right hand what could be a torch. A later bronze coin of Aegium (ref.21) from the time of Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161) shows Eileithyia standing holding a torch in each hand. Head (1911, p.413) also describes a coin (ref.24) of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180) from Aegium which has on the reverse an archaic temple of Eileithyia with two long torches placed in front of it. Eileithyia probably also appears on a bronze coin of Caracalla (AD 198-217) from Argos in the Peloponnesus (ref.25) where the reverse depicts a female figure holding torches. Tegea is a town in a large valley in the south-east of Arcadia. Pausanias (VIII,48,7) has a delightful story of Eileithyia in Tegea who had a temple and statue in the market place. The statue was called Auge-on-her-knees by the local inhabitants because Aleos, the founder of Tegea, gave his priestess daughter, Auge, to Nauplios with orders to drown her as she had been seduced by Heracles. She fell on her knees and gave birth to a son just where Eileithyia's sanctuary was to be. A bronze coin of Tegea (ref.22) dated to the fourth to third century BC has what could be the diademed head of Eileithyia on the obverse with a lighted torch at her shoulder. The reverse has Athena standing and placing the hair of Medusa in a hydria (water jar) held by the priestess Sterope. This refers to the legend of the protective power of the hair of Medusa (p.70) when Cepheus, the father of Sterope, was asked for assistance by Heracles (Apollodorus, The Library, II.vii.3). Another bronze coin (ref.23) of Tegea dating after c.146 BC has on the obverse the head of Eileithyia with a torch at her shoulder and on the reverse Athena presenting the hair of Medusa to Sterope. Eileithyia was also of importance to the Romans. The Secular Games, the Ludi Saeculares, were held at the start of a new saeculum, supposedly a period equal to the longest span of human life, perhaps 100-110 years but variously defined. There were three days and nights of sacrifices and stage performances followed by a week of games and entertainments. Said to have occurred first in 348 BC, Domitian celebrated one of these in AD 88. During the Secular Games, bloodless offerings of cakes were made to the Ilithyiae, the goddesses of childbirth, the ceremony being performed before a wooden theatre erected in the Campus Martius. Dupondii issued by Domitian (AD 81-96) depict this Theatre Ligneum (Hill, 1989, p.46) (Ref.26).

53

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON AN CIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

FIG.

35 DOMITIAN: THE EMPEROR SACRIFICING AT THE SECULAR GAMES, DUPONDIUS.

The reverse (Fig.35) shows the bare-headed Domitian sacrificing with a patera over a lighted and garlanded altar with the reclining figure of the river god, Tiber, on the left and holding a cornucopiae. Behind the altar is a lyre player and a flute player and in the background is a building showing five Corinthian columns with four columns between them with two pediments each of which contains a wreath. Between the pediments is an inscription which contains the words l v d ( o s ) SAEC(ulares) FEC(it) sc ('he conducted the Secular Games'). Another example of this issue (ref.27) described by Hill (1989, p.46, Fig.70) shows a different view of the theatre with two separate pediments joined at the top by an arch. The figure of Tiber on both these dupondii indicates that the ceremony took place near the river. Leto (Latona)Leto was the daughter of the Titans, Coeus and Phoebe. Zeus' love of her resulted in the enmity of Hera, described above (p.44), how when she was pregnant with Apollo and Artemis and Hera kept help away from her during labour. Even afterwards, her troubles were not over and she was pursued by the wrath of Hera. The flight of Leto and her children is depicted on various coins. Lucius Verus (AD 161-169) issued a bronze coin (ref.28) at Tripolis in Lydia. This shows the emperor on the obverse and, on the reverse, Leto is seen running, looking back and carrying her two children, one in each arm. An even more interesting bronze coin from Tripolis of the third century AD (ref.35) has the bust of Boule on the obverse. This personification of the Town Council is usually represented by a fem ale figure, som etim es veiled or laureate, w earing a long robe.

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The reverse of the coin shows a temple facade of four columns and, in the arched space in the centre, the running Leto is depicted carrying the twins, one on each arm. A bronze coin of Mastaura in Lydia (ref.29) issued during the reign of Philip II (AD 247-249) and a bronze coin of Ephesus in Ionia (ref.30) of Gallienus (AD 253-268) similarly illustrate the early life of Apollo with the reverses showing Leto running and carrying her two children. The story of Niobe shows that Apollo and Artemis were not to be trifled with. Niobe, the daughter of Tantalus, and wife of Amphion, King of Thebes, was very proud of her large family though the exact number varies from one classical author to another. Niobe commented that Leto had only two children, Apollo and Artemis. When Leto complained of the slight, vengeance was sure to follow. Apollo shot down the sons of Niobe and Artemis. Whether there were daughters who survived varies from one account to another. One of the sons of Niobe was called Sipylus and he appears again in the story. The children lay unburied for nine days but were buried by the gods on the tenth day. Niobe was turned to stone on Mount Sipylus, a mountain east of Smyrna. Pausanias (1.21.5) in an interesting aside states that he saw Niobe when climbing the mountains to Sipylus. He felt that close up the rock said to be Niobe was just a rock and nothing like a woman mourning but that from afar it did appear like a woman in tears and with head bowed. Pausanias (11.21.10) also described a sanctuary of Leto in Argos where the statue of the goddess was by Praxiteles. The image of the virgin girl beside the goddess was Chloris, one of Niobe's children said by some to have survived the vengeance of Leto. Her original name was Meliboea but she turned permanently green with fear during the slaughter and hence the name of Chloris was given to her though Pausanias notes he prefers to believe Homer that none of the children of Niobe survived. The name 'Chloris' is further discussed on p. 168 as it has several relevant medical associations. Chloris, being a sensible girl, placed herself under the protection of Leto during the slaughter of her brothers and sisters. This is illustrated on a bronze coin from Argos in the Peloponnesus (ref.31) issued by Julia Domna, the wife of Septimius Severus (AD 193211) and the mother of Caracalla and Geta. The reverse (Fig.36) shows Leto with a small girl, Chloris. Magnesia ad Sipylum was a town on the northern slopes of Mount Sipylus, north east of Smyrna in Lydia on the western side of Asia Minor. It issued a bronze coin in Imperial Times (ref.32), the obverse of which shows a bearded personification of Mount Sipylus. Aesculapius is depicted on the reverse and is standing, holding a serpent staff.The

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FIG.

36 JULIA DOMNA: LETO STANDING WITH HER HAND ON CHLORIS, AE 26, ARGOS.

additional claim to medical fame of Mount Sipylus is substantial. Fracastorius (Girolamo Fracastoro) was born in Verona and published in 1530 a poem Syphilis sive morbus gallicus: (Syphilis, or the French disease). It is in three books in very elegant Latin and describes the symptoms of syphilis, the disease which was so devastating in its consequences at that time. The third book tells of Siphylus, a shepherd, who reproached Apollo that the sun was burning up his flocks and that in future he would worship his own king, Alcithous. The sun was so angry that it shot deadly rays at the earth of a pestilence previously unknown. Syphilus was the first to be struck down so they called the disease 'syphilis'. The derivation of the name Syphilus from the shepherd has long been a subject for discussion as Fracastorius left no clue about its origins. It is possible that given the classical references in his poem, he saw a similarity between Sipylos, the son of Niobe and the shepherd. Both were the subject of the wrath of Apollo in return for an insult. Coronis.The mother of Aesculapius (p. 13) appears on a bronze coin of Pergamum (ref.33) issued by Sabina, the wife of Hadrian (AD 117-138). This shows the bust of Sabina on the obverse.. On the reverse (Fig.37) Coronis is standing with her right hand raised to her left shoulder and her left arm across her waist with the lettering including the name Koronis.Vibia Sabina married Hadrian in AD 100 and had a long childless marriage and died in AD 137. It is interesting to speculate on the reason for issuing this coin. Sabina is said by many to have had an unhappy life though Sear (Greek Imperial Coins, 1982, p .ll8 )is not so sure. Hart (1966a)suggests it might be an appeal from a childless wife but Stevenson (1889, p.702) suggests that she was determined not to have children. Epione. Epione was said in Epidaurus to be the wife of Aesculapius though

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FIG. 37 SABINA: CORONIS, AE19, PERGAMUM.

in some places it was said that Hygieia was his wife. Pausanias (11.27.18), when talking of the sanctuary of Aesculapius in Epidaurus, says inside the grove was a statue of Epione and that the enclosure of Aesculapius, his statue and that of Epione, who was said to be his wife, were the most interesting and memorable things that the city of Epidaurus had to offer (II.29.1). Epione appears on some bronze coins from Epidaurus ( ref.34). The example shown in Fig.38 has the head of Aesculapius on the obverse and Epione on the reverse. She stands dressed in a long chiton

FIG. 38 EPIDAURUS: HEAD OF AESCULAPIUS/ EPIONE, FOURTH TO THIRD CENTURY BC, AE 18.

and pouring from a phiale into a patera. The coins also contain various markings in the reverse field and on one coin there is a cupping vessel (p.141). The daughters of Aescupulius, Hygeia and Salus. Hygieia is usually said to be the daughter of Aesculapius, though there were others such as Panacea (mentioned with Hygieia in the Hippocratic Oath, see p.6) and Iaso. Hygieia was the most important of the attendants of Aesculapius and was thought by some to be not his daughter but his wife. She was a little apart from the other members of the family and more on a par with Aesculapius himself. Hygieia, 'the personification of health', is

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remembered today in the word 'hygiene'. Hygieia appears on numerous coins especially depicted feeding the sacred snake from a patera. This is typically shown on a bronze trias (ref.36) of Rhegium in South Italy and dated 203-89 BC.

FIG. 39 RHEGIUM: HEAD OF AESCULAPIUS/ HYGIEIA, 203- 89 BC, AE TRIAS.

This coin (Fig.39) has the head of Aesculapius on the obverse, while the reverse shows Hygieia standing and holding a patera out of which a serpent is feeding. A striking representation of Hygieia with Aesculapius is to be found on a large bronze coin (ref.37) from Pergamum issued by Lucius Verus (AD 161-169).

FIG. 40 LUCIUS VERUS: AESCULAPIUS FACING HYGIEIA, AE 41, PERGAMUM.

The reverse (Fig.40) shows Hygieia on the left and facing Aesculapius who is standing on the right. She is holding a serpent in her right hand and he is holding a large typical serpent staff. At times Hygieia and Aesculapius may be shown with Telesphorus (p.59) as in a bronze coin of Tranquillina (ref.38), wife of Gordian III (AD 238-244). This shows on the reverse Hygieia facing Aesculapius with Telesphorus between them. A bronze coin of Pergamum shows the head of Hygieia and an

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Aesculapian snake which is coiled around an omphalus (p.30). Salus was an old Roman goddess often identified with Hygieia. A denarius (ref.45) of Trajan (AD 98-117) shows a typical seated depiction of Salus on the reverse (Fig.41) in which the goddess is holding a patera from which she feeds a snake entwined around an altar. The inscription s a l v s a v g is in the exergue.

FIG.

41 TRAJAN: SEATED SALUS FEEDING SNAKE, DENARIUS.

While the name s a l u s appears on many Roman coins, this is often not in a true medical context but rather in a political sense that peace and safety prevailed in the State. In some cases the medical interest is obvious and Hygieia and Salus are further discussed on p.122, together with coins of the Acilia and Junia gens. Panacea,the 'all-healer', another of the daughters of Aesculapius, is still remembered in English as the word used to define a universal remedy. According to Pliny (NH XXV.xi) there was a plant called panaces which promised to be a cure for every disease. One variety was given the additional name of asclepion and Aesculapius called his daughter Panacia after it. The sons of Aesculapius. The sons of Aesculapius (Telesphorus, Machaon and Podalirius) appear on some coins. Other sons are, from time to time, associated with Aesculapius but are of little significance in the present discussion. Telesphorus. Some coins depicting Aesculapius show him in the company of a small hooded figure. This is Telesphorus, a local divinity around Pergamum, who became accepted as the son of Aesculapius and the guardian of convalescence. Indeed his name is said to mean 'bringing to a head', 'completing' and, as such, is related to convalescence which was an important part of treatment in ancient times, though more practical for the rich than the poor. Celsus (On Medicine IV.32) gives instructions that the recovering patient should rest in bed, take pleasant walks, omit all business and only little by little resume his life. Pliny the

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Younger (Letters 6.4) gives strict instructions to his recuperating wife, Calpumia, and bemoans that work is keeping him away from her and seeing for himself how she is faring. According to Pausanias (II. 11.5-7), the Asclepieion in Titane is said to have been founded by Alexanor, son of Machaon and grandson of Aesculapius. Pausanias says that the temple had a statue of Euamerion to whom they sacrificed as a god and who was known as the 'bringer of fulfillment' or 'accomplisher' at Pergamum and 'Healing' (Acesis) at Epidaurus and could therefore have been equivalent to Telesphorus. Telesphorus appears on coins sometimes on his own and sometimes in company with Aesculapius or Hygieia. According to Wroth (1882a p.2526) Telesphorus does not appear on Pergamene coins until the time of Hadrian (AD 117-138). He describes a bronze coin of Hadrian from Pergamum (ref.44). On the reverse Telesphorus is shown standing and wearing a mantle which has a pointed hood and that reaches nearly to his feet. Telesphorus also appears alone on a bronze coin of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180) from Cilbiani Inferiores in Lydia (ref.47). The reverse of this coin (Fig.42) shows Telesphorus in his typical pointed hood and long mantle.

FIG. 42 MARCUS AURELIUS: TELESPHORUS, AE 18, CILBIANI INFERIORES.

Telesphorus appears alone holding a bunch of grapes on the reverse (Fig.43) of a bronze coin (ref.39) from Perperene in Mysia in the time of Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161).

FIG. 43 ANTONINUS PIUS: TELESPHORUS HOLDING BUNCH OF GRAPES. AE 15, PERPERENE.

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The reverse of a bronze coin (ref.40) of Commodus (AD 177-192) from Pergamum on the reverse gives the name of Pergamum and shows Telesphorus standing in a distyle shrine. Telesphorus is shown with Aesculapius on the reverse (Fig.44) of another bronze coin of Pergamum (ref.42) of Aelius who was Caesar (AD 136-8) under Hadrian.

FIG. 44 AELIUS: AESCULAPIUS WITH TELESPHORUS, AE 22, PERGAMUM

A bronze coin (ref.43) of Maximinus I (AD 235-238) from Prusa ad Olympum in Bithynia has a reverse (Fig.45) with Hygieia feeding a snake and facing Aesculapius. Telesphorus is standing between them. Maximinus is an interesting character and is discussed further on p.96.

FIG. 45 MAXIMINUS I: HYGIEIA FACING AESCULAPIUS WITH TELESPHORUS BETWEEN THEM, ae26, prusa ad o lym pu m .

M achaon and Podalirius. Homer speaks in the Iliad of the sons of Aesculapius (2.692-738): Those who held Trikke and the rocky terraces o f Ithome and those who held Oichalia, the city ofEurytos the Oichalian king, these were led by the two sons o f Aesculapius, the skilled healers

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Podaleirios and Machaon. They commanded an array o f thirty hollow ships. Both Machaon and Podalirius appear in the Iliad not only as physicians but as heroes and warriors. According to Eustathius, Machaon practised surgery and Podalirius treated sickness (The Epic Cycle; The sack of Ilium, 5). Homer describes (Iliad 4.176-219) how when Menelaus was wounded in the siege of Troy, Machaon was sent for and dressed the wound with an ointment that had been given to Aesculapius by Chiron the Centaur (p.17). Machaon was wounded in the fighting before Troy when Paris hit him in the right shoulder with a three-barbed arrow (Iliad 11.505). Machaon was later killed at Troy by the Amazon, Penthesilia, (Apollodorus,T/ie Library, Epitome V .l) though Pausanias III.26.9), quoting the Little Iliad, says it was Eurypylos. When the battle of Troy was over, Podalirius, after some wanderings, settled in the Carian Chersonese after seeking the advice of the oracle at Delphi. These other sons of Aesculapius are also shown on some coins. A bronze coin (ref.41) of Tricca dated from 400-344 BC has the head of the nymph Tricca on the obverse. The reverse depicts Podalirius or Machaon armed with a helmet, sword and shield.

COIN LIST

1. Olynthus (Macedon), AR tetradrachm, BMC 5.67.3, SGC1424 2. Croton (Bruttium), AR stater, BMC 1.342.3, SGC255 3. Agrigentum (Sicily), AE22, BMC 2.21.142 4. Caracalla, AR denarius, BMC RE91-2 5. Caracalla, AR denarius, BMC RE107-9 6. Gallienus, antoninianus, RIC467s 7. Gallienus, antoninianus, RIC168,468 8. Alexandria Troas (Troas), AR tetradrachm, BMC 17.11.22, SGC4025 9. Alexandria Troas (Troas), AE14, BMC 17.9.1, SGC4027 10. Hamaxitus (Troas), AE14, BMC 17.56.3, SGC4101 11. Antoninus Pius (Pergamum, Mysia), AE34, BMC 15.145.278, GIC1401 12. Lucius Verus (Pergamum, Mysia), AE41, BMC 15.148.292 13. Septimius Severus and Caracalla (Pergamum, Mysia), AE41, BMC 15.153.316 14. Caracalla (Alexandria Troas, Troas), AE26, BMC 17.20.92 15. Marcus Aurelius, AE,Wroth 1882b, plate xiv.3 16. Caracalla (Serdica,Thrace), AE29, BMC 3.172.13 17. Caracalla, aureus, R1C99

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18. Galba, AE37, BMC RE260 19. Apollonia Pontica (Thrace), AE20, Head (1911) p.278 20. Aegium (Peloponnesus), AE18-19, BMC 10.19.8-9 21. Antoninus Pius (Aegium, Peloponnesus), AE20, BMC 10.19.12 22. Tegea (Peloponnesus), AE17, BMC 10.202.17, SGC2748 23. Tegea (Peloponnesus), AE19, BMC 10.203.22-24 24. M arcus Aurelius (Aegium, Peloponnesus), AE, Head (1911) p.413 25. Caracalla (Argos,Peloponnesus), AE24, BMC 10.152.173 26. Domitian, dupondius, BMC RE432 27. Domitian, dupondius, Hill (1984) Fig.70 28. Lucius Verus (Tripoli, Lydia), AE34, BMC 22.374.62, GIC1843 29. Philip II (Mastaura, Lydia), AE22, BMC 22.160.19, GIC4103 30. Gallienus (Ephesus, Ionia), AE26, BMC 14.104.374 31. Julia Domna (Argos, Peloponnesus), AE26, BMC 10.151.168 32. Magnesia ad Sipylum (Lydia), AE18, BMC 22.141.28 33. Sabina (Pergamum, Mysia), AE19, BMC 15.144.275, GIC1287 34. Epidaurus (Peloponnesus), AE18, BMC 10.157.8-21, SGC2813 35. Tripolis (Lydia), AE28, BMC 22.369.36 36. Rhegium (Bruttium), AE trias, BMC 1.385.113, SGC696 37. Lucius Verus (Pergamum, Mysia), AE41, BMC 15.147.291. GIC1827. 38. Tranquillina (Cadi, Phrygia), AE30, BMC 25.124.39 39. Antoninus Pius (Perperene, Mysia), AE15, BMC 15.169.7, GIC1402 40. Commodus (Pergamum, Mysia), AE20, BMC 15.149.302. 41. Tricca (Thessaly), AE17, BMC 7.52.16. 42. Aelius (Pergamum, Mysia), AE22, BMC 15.144.276, GIC1343 43. Maximinus I (Prusa ad Olympum, Bithynia), AE26, GIC3502 44. Hadrian (Pergamum, Mysia), AE17,BMC 15.143.270 45. Trajan, AR denarius, RIC369 46. Clodius Albinus, AR denarius, BMC RE88 47. Marcus Aurelius (Cilbiani Inferiores, Lydia), AE18 Hunter,Vol.11.449.1

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CHAPTER VI VARIOUS MYTHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONS

Hera. Hera was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea and the wife of Zeus, commonly identified by the Romans with Juno (see below). She was queen of the gods and protected the rights of married women and was concerned with marriage and childbirth. Her antagonism towards Leto, the mother of Apollo, has already been described (p.44) and she often pursued with equal vindictiveness the many other mistresses of Zeus and their children. According to Hesiod (Theogeny 912-36) Eileithyia (p.52) was one of her children by Zeus though Hera herself is sometimes called by this name. Juno. Juno was the wife of Jupiter and a very important Italian goddess identified in ancient times with the Greek goddess, Hera. She was closely involved with marriage and with the sexual and reproductive life of women. Her various attributes sometimes gives the impression of separate and independent goddesses. These titles (Hammond and Scullard, 1970, p.568) include Lucina who helped children to see the light of day (see below), Opigena who aided women in childbirth and several other vague figures such as lnterduca who conducted the bride to the threshold of her husband's house and saw over her and Cinxia who unknotted the bride's girdle. Juno Sospita watched over labour and delivery and her representation on coins issued by various families of Lanuvian origin is further discussed on p. 124. Lucina. This goddess was similar to the Greek Eileithyia and it is confusing that Lucina is often used as a title of Juno. It may be difficult to differentiate between them but Ovid (The Metamorphoses, IX) certainly distinguishes the two when he describes how Lucina, at the instigation of Juno, delayed the imminent birth of Heracles by using magic spells on his mother, Alcmene. Lucina was the 'Light Bringer' who helped children to see the light of day and Apuleius in the second century AD wrote the beguiling story 'Cupid and Psyche' (Apuleius, The Golden Ass). In this, the pregnant Psyche, searching for her absent husband, appealed to Juno for help and claimed that the whole east venerated Juno as Zygia, the Goddess of Marriage and the whole west as Lucina, Goddess of Childbirth. When coins show this legend they may commemorate a birth in the Imperial family or that the help of the goddess had been invoked (Jones, 1990, p.153). Lucilla, the daughter of Marcus Aurelius, was the wife of 64

VARIOUS MYTHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONS

Lucius Verus (AD 161-169) who married her in AD 164. He issued a denarius (ref.l) which had on the obverse a portrait of the empress. On the reverse was i v n o n i l v c i n a e and the veiled Juno holding an infant. On another denarius with this empress (ref.2) the reverse shows Juno seated and holding a flower and an infant. The flower in her right hand may recall the circumstances in which Juno conceived Mars. Ovid relates the story (Fasti V, 225-260) that Juno, irritated that her husband Jupiter (Zeus) had given birth himself to Minerva (Athena), desired to become pregnant without contact with a man. She spoke of the matter to the goddess Flora, the 'Queen of the flowers', who touched Juno with a flow er from the fields of Olenus. Juno conceived and gave birth to Mars. Some say that Ares (identified by the Romans with Mars) and his twin sister Eris were conceived when Hera touched a certain flower. Lucina was more sympathetic to Myrrha (Smyrna) who, pregnant by her father Cinyras, King of Cyprus, was changed into a tree. Ovid (Metamorphoses, X), states that the pregnancy of Myrrha continued within the tree causing her much agony. Lucina made the tree split open to give 'birth' to a beautiful baby boy, the infant Adonis. This silvan pregnancy represents a hazard which few obstetricians today would care to deal with.

Fig.46

gordian

III: MYRRHA (or ARTEMIS eleuthera ) ATTACKED by TWO MEN WITH AXES AND DEFENDED BY TWO SNAKES, AE 32, MYRA.

This event may be celebrated on a bronze coin of Myra in Lycia (ref.3) of Gordian III (AD 238-244) which has on the reverse (Fig.46) a tree attacked by two men with axes and defended by two snakes. Jones, (1986, p.152) says that the figure or statue apparently being released from the tree may be that of Myrrha but could be a representation of Artemis Eleuthera who was worshipped in Lycia. The tears of Myrrha as a tree became the legendary source of the gum

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resin myrrh which is used in perfumery and incense. Myrrh did have its medicinal uses and Celsus, in On Medicine, describes it as the constituent of an antidote(V.23); as a stimulant and diuretic (111.16,21); and as a constituent of an external remedy for ear infections (VI.7). Myrrh is still used in some traditional remedies and its possible anti- inflammatory, anti-fungal and antiseptic properties and the claim that it lowers blood cholesterol have aroused modern medical interest (Michie and Cooper, 1991). D is G enitabilis.The Dei Genitales were divinities thought by the Romans to be the parents of all things whether living or non living. Dis genitalibus is a dedicatory phrase to the gods of childbirth perhaps for

FIG. 4 7 CRISPINA: DIS GENITALIBVS AND LIGHTED ALTAR, DENARIUS.

having had children or to obtain fertility or to protect an unborn child. A denarius (ref.4) of Crispina, wife of Commodus (AD 177-192), has on the reverse (Fig.47) a square altar on which appears a flame and the words d i s g e n i t a l i b v s This probably is a dedication by the Empress perhaps on the occasion of her marriage. Crispina also issued coins with d i s c o n i v g a l i b v s maybe for happiness in marriage. Crispina married the Emperor Commodus in AD 177 but was divorced by him for adultery, exiled to Capri and there put to death in AD 183. The wishes expressed on her coins could not be said to have been successful. Athena (Minerva). Athena was the daughter of Zeus and Metis. It had been prophesised that Metis would produce a daughter followed by a son who would be greater than his father. Zeus therefore swallowed the pregnant Metis to forestall the second birth and severe headache resulted. He ordered Hephaestus to cleave his head open from which Athena sprang, fully grown and armed. She is usually shown helmeted as a warrior goddess and is especially associated with the owl as a symbol of her wisdom. She gave Aesculapius power to raise the dead using Gorgon's blood (p.70).

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Athena is a common type on Greek coins especially of the Athenian colonies. Characteristically Athena appears on the obverse and her owl on the reverse. One series of Athenian silver coins was issued in the second century BC with the head of Athena on the obverse wearing pendant earrings, a close fitting helmet with a triple crest and adorned w ith the forequarters of horses in the front and with a flying Pegasus at the side. The reverse has an owl with its wings closed standing on an am phora lying on its side. This series, the new style tetradrachms, form ed part of a long running issue which carried, in addition, the

FIG. 48 ATHENS: OWL STANDING ON AMPHORA, AESCULAPIUS TO LEFT, AR 28.

names of the responsible magistrates and various other figures and symbols. The coin (ref.5) illustrated in Fig.48 was issued by the magistrates Mened and Epigeno and varieties had either a small figure of Aesculapius resting on a serpent staff or just a depiction of a serpent staff standing to the left of the owl. A slightly later series of similar Athenian coins, issued in the first century BC (Thompson, 1961), portrayed Athena on the obverse with on the reverse the characteristic owl standing on an amphora and a statue of Hygieia holding a patera and feeding a serpent (ref.ll). Although said to be virgin, Athena was interested in fertility, both animal and vegetable. She has been regarded at times as a goddess of medicine. Plutarch tells the story (Parallel Lives, Pericles 13) that during the time of Pericles (c.495-429 BC ) one of the best workmen on the Acropolis fell and was seriously hurt and the doctors held no hope of recovery. The goddess appeared to Pericles in a dream and ordered a course of treatment and the man was healed. Pericles set up a bronze statue of Athena the Healer near the altar to commemorate this event. Pausanias also relates (1.23.5) that near the Acropolis in Athens there

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were two statues of goddesses of health, one the daughter of Aesculapius (i.e. Hygieia) and the other, Athena, also surnamed Health (Hygieia). Minerva, an Italian goddess of craftsmen and trade guilds, was regularly identified with Athena but is generally taken to be a native deity rather than Greek. She also had medical attributes and Ovid describes (Fasti 3.810) the Quinquatrus, a Roman festival celebrated on the 19-23 March i.e. starting five days after the Ides. The first day celebrated the birthday of Minerva and those who treated sickness by the 'arts of Phoebus' were exhorted to give some part of their earnings to Minerva Medica. Minerva was frequently depicted on Roman coins, particularly those of Domitian, appearing as a war-like goddess with spear, shield, helmet and aegis (a small cloak or shawl usually displaying a gorgon's head or gorgoneion in the centre and sometimes with a small figure of Victory or an owl). Eshmun-Aesculapius. Berytus (modern Beirut) was a coastal town in Phoenicia between Byblus and Sidon. A deity worshipped in Berytus was Eshmun who became a god of health and so was equated with Aesculapius. Eshmun-Aesculapius was the eighth of the sons of Sadik, one of the Cabiri. The Cabiri were possibly of Phrygian origin, not Greek, and connected with the earth and fertility. Sadik (Sydyk) married one of the daughters of Ashtart and she gave birth to Aesculapius. The Cabiri are shown on a bronze coin of Elagabalus (AD 218-222). The obverse of this coin (ref.12) has the bust of the Emperor and the reverse depicts the eight Cabiri in a circle around the coin. Berytus also issued another bronze coin (ref.9) in the time of Elagabalus. Eshmun, wearing only a chlamys or short cloak standing with his hands raised over two horned and erect serpents, appears on the reverse. Sidon, in Phoenicia, also worshipped Eshmun-Aesculapius. A bronze coin of Sidon (ref.6) issued in the time of Severus Alexander (AD 222235) has on the reverse (Fig.49) Eshmun-Aesculapius standing ,wearing a himation and boots. He rests his left hand on a serpent staff and holds a phiale in his right hand which contains a round object, perhaps incense, over an altar. To the left is the car of Astarte with two palm branches. Astarte was a goddess similar to the Greek Aphrodite. Eshmun also appeared on coins from other Phoenician towns. Marathus, a town in the far north of Phoenicia issued a bronze coin (ref.7) dating to 227/6 BC with on the obverse a veiled female head probably that of Berenike II, wife of Ptolemy III. The reverse depicts Eshmun-Aesculapius who is standing and holding a serpent staff. Came also in the north of Phoenicia and the port for the island city of

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Aradus issued a bronze coin (ref.8) dated to 221/20 BC which has the turreted head of Tyche on the obverse. The reverse depicts EshmunAesculapius standing holding a serpent staff with a column to the right on which there is a Nike (the personification of victory).

HG. 49 SEVERUS ALEXANDER: ESHMUN-AESCULAPIUS WITH CAR OF ASTARTE, AE 23, SIDON.

Serapis. Serapis was a new god who came into existence under Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt (305-283 BC). This god was a conflation of the sacred Apis bull of Memphis and Osiris, god of the dead.Tacitus (Histories, 4.814) describes at length how Vespasian (AD 69-79) spent some time in Alexandria and became much interested in Serapis and went to the temple to consult the god. This visit was prompted by the pleadings of a blind man and a man with a withered hand who told Vespasian that the god had advised them to approach the emperor who would heal the blind man by anointing his eyes with sputum and the withered hand by treading on it. Vespasian did so and the patients were cured. While Serapis retained the chthonic aspects of Osiris, he also acquired the role of a god of healing who spoke in dreams and came to rival Aesculapius in popularity. Temples to Serapis were built at Alexandria and Memphis and the cult spread to other Greek cities and elsewhere in the Roman world, even as far north as York (Eboracum). The Serapeum at Alexandria was said to be designed by Parmeniscus and the cult statue was a huge seated figure attributed to Bryaxis with trappings of precious metals. A billon tetradrachm of Alexandria (ref.10) from the time of Hadrian (AD 117-138) shows the major characteristics of the god. Serapis is shown on the reverse (Fig.50) sitting on a throne with a bearded face reminiscent of Zeus, an effect enhanced by the holding of a sceptre which could also be similar to the staff of Aesculapius. He has a modius (a corn measure containing some 8-9 litres and shaped like a truncated cone with four feet) on his head as a symbol of fertility and

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ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COINS

prosperity. At the right knee of Serapis is the three-headed dog, Cerberus, an attribute of Hades.

FIG.

50 HADRIAN: SERAPIS ENTHRONED WITH CERBERUS AT HIS FEET, BILLON TETRADRACHM, ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT.

It has been suggested (Hill,1989, p.31) that coins issued by Caracalla c. AD 206 depict a lararium or private chapel in the royal apartments. An example of this (ref.26) is an as. Other denominations of the same date similarly illustrate a flat roofed shrine with columns either side. The male figure in the shrine is thought to be Jupiter Serapis and could be a reference to the failing health of Severus prior to his departure for North Africa in AD207, a view reinforced by the inscription on the coin of i o v i s o s p i t a t o r i (to Jupiter who succours and saves) and later issues depicting the temple of Eshmun. Medusa.There were three Gorgons, Sthenno, Euryale and Medusa, all daughters of the sea deities, Phorcys and Ceto. They are usually depicted with monstrous features such as heads covered in serpents instead of hair and with wings, claws and huge teeth. Medusa is the best known and alone of the three was mortal. She was of such a fearful aspect that one glance from her could turn a man to stone. In spite of this the hero Perseus managed to cut off her head guided by the reflection in his polished shield and use it to destroy a monster that was threatening the Princess Andromeda who had been chained to a rock as a sacrifice. The use of Gorgon's blood by Aesculapius is described on p.14 and her hair by Sterope on p.53. Gorgons are most commonly represented on coins as the 'gorgoneion' (gorgon's mask). These appear on many coins not only as the mask itself but as ornamentation especially on the aegis, a small cloak, worn by Roman Emperors perhaps because they wished to associate themselves with Jupiter or Minerva. The gorgoneion was also an emblem on the cuirass of Alexander the Great whom all emperors waging an eastern campaign emulated (Harl, 1987, p.40). Suetonius tells

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VARIOUS M YTHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONS

us (Caligula 52) that Caligula wore the breastplate of Alexander which he had stolen from his tomb in Alexandria.

fig .

51

parium : g orgoneion ,

350-300

bc ar hemidrachm

Typical examples of the mask itself are found on the coins of Parium a port on the shores of the Propontis in Mysia. A silver hemidrachm (ref. 13), dating to 350-300 BC shows on the obverse a bull looking back over its shoulder and a gorgoneion on the reverse (Fig.51). This is, in some ways, a rather jolly picture and childlike with its apparently curly hair and protruding tongue. It would make a good Halloween mask. Another example is from Athens (ref.14) where an even earlier coin, a silver didrachm of 525-515 BC, has a quite ferocious gorgon's head on the obverse (Fig.52).

FIG. 52 ATHENS: GORGONS HEAD, 525-515 BC , AR DIDRACHM.

Chiron. Depictions of centaurs frequently occur, particularly in association with the head or figure of Apollo. Centaurs were hybrid

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ASPECTS OF MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

creatures with a human body from the waist upwards and the body of a horse below. Their home was in the woods and mountains of Thessaly, Elis and Arcadia. Chiron the centaur was, however, unlike the others who were noted for their barbaric habits.His mother was Philyra, daughter of Oceanus, and his father was Cronus who, to avoid his jealous wife Rhea, had turned himself into the shape of a horse. Chiron was noted for his wisdom and kindness and had been instructed by Apollo and Artemis in the arts of medicine, music, hunting and prophecy. Chiron was entrusted by Apollo with the education of Aesculapius as has already been described (p.13) and he also tutored Jason and Achilles. According to Pliny (NH, XXV.xxx) Chiron has a further claim to medical fame. An arrow fell on his foot and injured it as he was handling the armour of Heracles who was his guest at the time. Apollodorus tells a different story (Library II v.4) in that Chiron was accidently wounded by Heracles in a fight with other centaurs. The arrows of Heracles were tipped with bile from the Lernean Hydra (see also p. 146) slain by him during his Second Labour and wounds produced by these arrows were incurable (see also Philoctetes p.73). Although immortal, the wound caused Chiron to suffer great pain so, having transferred his immortality to Prometheus, Zeus set him in the sky. Just quite where is a matter of dispute though the general story is as the constellation Centaurus. Some confusion is caused by the Zodiacal constellation Sagittarius (the Archer) which is sometimes depicted as a centaur. An amusing addition to the story is that another centaur, Pholus, marvelling that the arrows of Heracles were so fatal dropped one on his own foot and died as a result. Centaurs appear accident prone, perhaps another relevant medical point. The treatment used was the herb, centaury which was also called chironion which was used for healing wounds, curing eye ailments and as an antidote to snake bite. Celsus (On Medicine, VI.7.2) recommends centaury juice for external use in ears that are producing pus and for snake bite (On Medicine, V.27.10). Chiron is depicted on a bronze coin (ref.15) of Prusias II, King of Bithynia (c.185-149 BC ). The obverse of the coin shows the head of the young Dionysus wreathed with ivy. On the reverse (Fig.53) Chiron is playing a lyre. A bronze coin (ref.16) of Commodus (AD 177-192) from Pergamum in Mysia shows a scene on the reverse in which Aesculapius is standing on a pedestal with a serpent staff in his right hand. On either side of Aesculapius is a youthful centaur holding a torch. Wroth (1882a, p.43) says that while this scene could have a connection with Chiron it may have something to do with

72

VARIOUS MYTHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONS

FIG.

53 BITHYNIA, PRUSIAS II: THE CENTAUR CHIRON PLAYING A LYRE, C.185-149 BC, AE 22.

cu lt procedures as Aristides (p.36) speaks of torches raised on high to all m en by the god. Chiron also appears in conjunction with Apollo on some Im perial coins (p.100). Philoctetes. Philoctetes, the son of Poeas, was another Greek hero at the siege of Troy and led the seven ships from Methone, Thaumakia, M eliboia and Olizon (Homer, Iliad 2.718-23). There are, as usual, variations to the story. Philoctetes (or his father) had been given the bow and poisoned arrows of Heracles as a reward for lighting his funeral pyre. Philoctetes received a wound from a snake in a temple as he was sacrificing to Apollo on the island of Tenedos. This wound smelt so abominably that he was abandoned by his colleagues on the island of Lemnos, together with the bow of Heracles where he kept himself alive by killing birds. His companions had to return him to Troy, however, as the Trojan prophet, H elenus (or the Greek seer, Calchas) said that the city would not be taken until the bow of Heracles was there. Apollodorus says (The Library, Epitome V.8-10) that Podalirius healed Philoctetes but some sources (e.g. the Little Iliad. 1) attribute the cure to Machaon. Philoctetes killed Paris and eventually settled in Crimissa and founded a sanctuary of Apollo the Wanderer and dedicated his bow to him. The story was dramatised by Sophocles (c.409 BC ) in his play Philoctetes. A bronze coin (ref.21) of Homolium in Thessaly c.300 BC shows (Fig.54) on the obverse the head of Philoctetes in a conical hat. There is a coiled serpent and a bunch of grapes on the reverse. Several bronze coins of Lamia in Thessaly dating to c.400-344 BC also portray Philoctetes though some are of the opinion that this is Heracles. On two of these coins the obverse has a depiction of the nymph, Lamia. The reverses show in one case (ref.17) the naked and wounded Philoctetes sitting on the ground, 73

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

FIG. 54 HOMOLIUM: HEAD OF PHILOCTETES IN CONICAL HAT/ COILED SERPENT WITH BUNCH OF GRAPES, C.300 BC , AE 21.

his hand raised to his pointed hat with a bow to the left and a bird below. The other reverse (ref. 18) shows the kneeling Philoctetes shooting with a bow and arrow at birds. A third bronze coin (ref.19) of the same period issued at Lamia in the name of the Malians has a similar reverse to the last although Philoctetes is standing and the obverse depicts the head of Athena.

FIG. 55 LAMIA. HEAD OF LAMIA/ PHILOCTETES (?HERACLES) SITTING ON ROCK, 3 0 2 - 2 8 6 B C , A R DRACHM.

A silver drachm of Lamia (ref.20) dating to 302-286 BC (Fig.55) shows Philoctetes on the reverse sitting naked on a rock and holding a bow in a case, though again some consider the figure is Heracles. The obverse of this coin is also of some interest. Gardner (1878. 266- 71) thought the head might be that of Lamia, a famous hetaira who was the mistress of Demetrius Poliorcetes. Temples in her honour were erected in Athens and Thebes. Others, perhaps less romantically inclined, have considered the head to be that of Apollo or even just 'young male'. Another numismatic twist to this coin is worth discussing. Both examples mentioned in the British Museum catalogue are pierced, albeit 74

VARIOUS M YTHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONS

not in quite the same place. In one coin (ref.20) the piercing is at nine o 'clo ck on the obverse which is six o'clock on the reverse. This difference is because the obverse and the reverse dies were not in exact line but at right angles to each other. The piercing on the second coin is about 11 o 'clo ck on the obverse and seven o'clock on the reverse. Why coins are pierced has several possibilities (Jones, 1986, p.189). They could, for exam ple, have been used as amulets or jewellery, sewn to garments or nailed to a temple wall as an offering. It is relevant to mention another classical association of Philoctetes and L em nos with medicine. An early example of what could be called the control of drug quality is that of terra sigillata. This fine clay, classically know n from its occurrence on the isle of Lemnos ('Lemnian Earth') was used from early Greek times in the treatment of wounds, dysenteries, ulcers and haemorrhages as well as being a constituent of some theriacs. It w as made up into small round cakes which were stamped with designs alluding to its origin (hence sigillata or sealed) this was presum ably thought to guarantee its authenticity (Thompson, 1929). The extraction of the clay,and the preparation and stamping of the cakes was rigidly controlled and attended by much ceremony which continued until quite recent times. The cakes were sometimes stamped with designs of Artemis but some were stamped with a depiction of Philoctetes nursing his injured leg (Mez-Mangold, 1971). The equating of this with coins is closer than might be realised at first sight. In both, there is a means of identifying the fact that local civic authorities were interested in guaranteeing quality; in one case the exchange value of the metal and in the other, that the object was what it purported to be, i.e. Lemnian Earth. The value of this for inter-state commerce is obvious. M elam pus and Amphiarus. Melampus was a famous seer who founded a family which helped to spread the cult of Dionysus in Greece. He rescued some young snakes and acquired from them the ability to understand the language of animals and to foretell the future. He cured the madness of the Argive women including the daughters of King Proetus (or Anaxagoras) which drove them to roam wildly through the countryside thinking themselves to be cows. According to Apollodorus (The Library, II.ii.1-2), Melampus was the first to bring about a cure for this madness which he did by means of drugs and purification. As a sequel to this, Pausanias notes (V.5.7-10) that some thought that Melampus threw the things infected at the purification into the river Anigros, thereby creating a horrible smell and making it poisonous to fish. This may be an early instance of environmental pollution by the discharge of pharmaceutical waste.

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Melampus may have used hellebore (p.85) and Pliny (NH XXV.xxi) comments that Melampus was well known for his skill in divination. One kind of hellebore is named melampodion after him. Pliny further says that a shepherd called Melampus noticed that his goats were purged after browsing on the plants and he used their milk to cure the daughters of Proetus of their madness. Melampus had a temple built in his honour at Aegosthena in Megaris and Pausanias (1.44.8) said that the sanctuary contained a smallish man carved on a stone. Sacrifices were made to Melampus and a festival was held there every year. This temple is represented on a coin (ref.25) of Geta (AD 209-212) as a round building from which springs a tree entwined by a serpent. A bronze coin (ref.24) of Septimius Severus (AD 193-211) from Aegosthena has on the reverse the depiction of an infant being suckled by a goat. Some see this as the infant Zeus but it might be the infant Melampus. Amphiaraus, a descendant of Melampus, was a hero, seer and medical demi-god preceding Aesculapius. He took part in the expedition of the Seven against Thebes and, being defeated, fled. He was swallowed up by a cleft in the ground made by a thunderbolt from Zeus who made him immortal. (Apollodorus, The Library III.vi.8). This became the shrine of Amphiaraus at Oropus, a town on the borders of Attica and Boetia where oracles were given by the interpretation of dreams. Pausanias (1.34) describes the shrine and the legend and says that Oropus was by the sea with nothing of note to record there and the sanctuary of Amphiaraus was a mile and a half away. He says that the Oropians were the first to think of Amphiaraus as a god but later all Greece came to think of him as one. Pausanias goes on to say that the altar in the sanctuary was divided between various gods and heroes including Zeus, Apollo, Athena, Heracles as well as Amphiaraus. Pausanias also described the ritual (1.34.3): The Oropians have a spring called Amphiaraos' spring near the shrine; they never sacrifice anything to it and never use it for the rites o f purifying or for holy water, but when a disease has been healed for a man by oracular prescriptions, they have a custom of dropping silver and gold coins into the spring, because this is where they say Amphiaraos rose up as a god... Everyone who comes to consult Amphiaraos first purifies himself as the rite dictates. Purity comes by sacrificing to the god and to all the gods whose names are on the altar. When these preparations have been thoroughly finished, they sacrifice a ram and sleep on the fleece, waiting for the revelation o f a dream.

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X en op hon (Conversations o f Socrates, 3.13) quotes an anecdote in which a g u e s t of Socrates complained that the water at the shrine of A m p hiaraus was colder for bathing than the water in his own house. The ev id en ce for the depiction of Amphiaraus on coins is equivocal. A b ro n z e coin (ref.22) of Oropus, dating to 196-146 BC or later, has a head on th e obverse which could be that of the bearded and laureate A m phiaraus though some have interpreted the head as female. A dm ittedly the coin is very worn but it was, apparently, found at the site of O rop u s. The reverse is said to be a dolphin twisted around a trident. A coin (ref.23) of Gallienus (AD 253-268) presents difficulties of interpretation. This is said to have on the reverse Amphiaraus, sitting on a th ron e with a sceptre. His right hand is extended over a serpent which has its head erect. The legend on the reverse seems to imply Oropus, but this is uncertain.

COIN LIST

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Lucilla, AR denarius, BMC RE(Marcus Aurelius)313 Lucilla, AR denarius, RIC(Marcus Aurelius)770 Gordian III (Myra, Lycia), AE 32, BMC 19.71.11. GIC3747 Crispina, AR denarius, SRSCII.Crispinal6 Athens (Attica), AR28, BMC 11.64.450 Severus Alexander (Sidon,Phoenicia), AE23, BMC 26.199.321 Marathus (Phoenicia), AE18, BMC 26.(page xliii, plate xxxix.3). SGC6035 8. Carne (Phoenicia), AE20, BMC 26.111.3, SGC6028 9. Elagabalus (Berytus,Phoenicia), AE26, BMC 26.84.216 10. Hadrian (Alexandria,Egypt), billon tetradrachm, GIC1256. 11. Athens (Attica),AR, BMC 11.47.375 12. Elagabalus (Berytus,Phoenicia), AE26, BMC 26.83.207 13. Parium (Mysia), AR hemidrachm, BMC 15.96-7,35-7, SGC3922 14. Athens (Attica), AR didrachm, BMC 8(Eretria)l 19.6, SGC1834 15. Prusias II (Bithynia), AE22, BMC 13.211.10, SGC7266 16. Commodus (Pergamum, Mysia), AE, Wroth 1882a, p43 17. Lamia (Thessaly), AE14-15, BMC 7.22.6-7, SGC2100 18. Lamia( Thessaly), AE15, BMC 7.23.10-12, SGC2101 19. Malienses (Lamia, Thessaly), AE14, BMC 7.35.3-5 20. Lamia (Thessaly), AR drachm, BMC 7.22.8-9, SGC2099 21. Homolium (Thessaly), AE21, SGC2094

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ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

22. Oropus(Attica), AE19, BMC 11.115.1 23. Gallienus (Oropus, Attica), AE26, BMC 11.115.2 24. Septimius Severus (Aegosthena,Megaris), AE18, BMC 11.117.1, GIC2138. 25. Geta (Aegosthena, Megaris), AE, BMC 11.page lxii 26. Caracalla, as, BMC RE826 (Septimus and Caracalla).

78

CHAPTER VII MEDICINAL PLANTS ON ANCIENT COINS

Plants and other items used in medicine are often depicted on ancient coins. While some ancient writers on botanical and herbal topics such as Theophrastus (p.9), Celsus (p.8) and Dioscorides (p.9) wrote much of value, a great deal of the herb lore (and indeed medical lore) preserved in the writings of the great physicians and herbalists of the time is irrational judged by present day orthodox thinking. Many of the actions ascribed to herbs by these writers would not be generally accepted today. Indeed, we are not at all certain of the modern equivalents of many of the plants they described. Nevertheless, some of our well known drugs today come from old medicinal herbs such as opium (from which morphine is derived), ephedrine and digitalis. The active herbal constituents are also in some cases the precursors of various modern drugs albeit much changed by synthetic modification. One should never lightly dismiss the potentiality of herbal medicines. Silphium. A well documented example of an ancient medicinal plant is the depiction of silphium on the coins of Cyrene. This Greek city in North Africa in the area called Cyrenaica was midway between the Egyptian Delta in the east and Tunisia in the west. The legendary founder was Battus who came from Thera (modern Santorini), a volcanic island to the north of Crete, and settled first on the island of Platea but then moved inland to found the city of Cyrene around a spring. A full description of the colonisation is given by Herodotus (The Histories, 4.150-8). Silphium was to be the numismatic trade mark of Cyrene for centuries and is comprehensively discussed by Gemmill (1966). Cyrene achieved great commercial importance under the Battiad kings and founded other cities nearby such as Barce. The last Battiad was deposed about 440 BC. Cyrenaica was under Ptolemaic rule during the third and second centuries BC but came under the control of Rome early in the first century BC. Cyrenaica was rich in corn, wool, horses and, with particular relevance to the present account, silphium. The silphium plant featured prominently on the coinage of Cyrenaica and was well known throughout the ancient world for its medicinal and other uses. The botanical identification of silphium is uncertain and much argued. The various depictions of it show silphium to be an umbelliferous plant closely resembling Ferula tingitana which, unlike silphium, still exists. 79

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

Silphium was described by Theophrastus c. 370 BC (Enquiry into Plants, VI.Ill) as having a thick root and a leaf like celery and he was told by the people of Cyrene that it appeared seven years before the foundation of their city some three hundred years previously. Theophrastus also commented that silphium fattened sheep and made their flesh delicious. Dioscorides, the great herbalist writing in the first century AD, also commented at length on silphium particularly on its medical uses (Herbal of Dioscorides, 111.94). He gives a huge list of maladies treatable by silphium including toothache, poisonous bites, carbuncles, bronchial troubles, epilepsy and menstrual problems. Pliny the Elder also wrote about silphium and noted the view that it was said to have originated after a shower of rain. He felt that silphium was reckoned one of the most precious gifts of nature (NH XXII. xlviii, xlix). Silphium was also used as a condiment, vegetable and animal food. It was obviously well advertised by Cyrene though this is known almost solely from coins and it is depicted on little else that survives today. The origin of such an important commodity was understandably the subject of legend. According to Pindar (Pythian Odes, IV, IX), Apollo carried off the Thessalian nymph Cyrene. She was not the stay at home type but revelled in hunting and the like and the enamoured Apollo was advised by Chiron the Centaur to marry her and take her to Africa. They had a son, Aristaeus, who became a god of various kinds of farming, bee keeping and hunting and had cults in Thessaly and elsewhere such as Cyrene. It was said that it was Aristaeus who discovered silphium at Cyrene. There is little doubt that silphium was of prime commercial importance to Cyrene and it seems reasonable to assume that the marketing would be controlled by the civic authorities. Theophrastus supports this view as he says there were strict regulations in Cyrene when the plant was to be cut and the amount that could be taken. Antiphanes according to Athenaeus (the Deipnosophists, III. 100) wrote of Cyrene: I want to say good-bye to all— horses, silphium, chariots, silphium stalks, steeple-chasers, silphium leaves, fevers and silphium juice.

In Wealth, a play by Aristophanes, one of the characters says he does not want wealth even if it included all the silphium in Libya (Wealth,1932). Silphium apparently became extinct and was replaced by asafoetida though exactly when is difficult to say. Pliny (Natural History, XXII, xlviii,xlvix) notes that though silphium from Cyrene was extinct in his time, it was still

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MEDICINAL PLANTS ON ANCIENT COINS

FlC. 56 CYRENE: SILPHIUM PLANT AND HEAD OF LION, 525-480 BC , TETRADRACHM.

available from Syria and there were also Parthian and Median sources. Silp h iu m on coins, By the late sixth century BC, Cyrene was a prosperous city and silphium had become a much-used heraldic device on its coins and continued until the first century BC. The depictions of silphium vary greatly in size, shape and complexity and it is not practical to mention more than a few examples.The depictions at first were somewhat crude but a tetradrachm dating to 525-480 BC (ref.l) shows on the obverse (Fig.56) a pleasing head of a lion with a silphium plant and seed. The nymph Cyrene may be depicted on the obverse (Fig.57) of a tetradrachm of the same date (ref.2) seated in front of a silphium plant. The obverse of a tetradrachm (Fig.58) of Cyrene dating to 470-440 BC (ref.3) shows the silphium plant with the head of Zeus Ammon on the reverse. Ammon was a Libyan god sometimes equated with Zeus by the

F ig .

57

cyren e : cyrene seated in fron t o f a silphium plant ,

TETRADRACHM.

81

525-480

bc

,

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

F ig . 58 c yren e : silphium pla n t / h ead o f zeus am m on , 470-440 b c , tetr a d ra c h m .

Greeks. He is depicted wearing a diadem and possessing ram 's horns and the ram was sacred to him. Alexander the Great identified himself with this god and is sometimes depicted wearing the horns of Ammon.There are some remarkable coins of Alexandria which illustrate the pantheism associated with this god. These coins combine the attributes of various gods which include Serapis, Zeus Ammon, Helios, Poseidon, Aesculapius and Nilus. A very complex example is a bronze coin (ref.15) of Hadrian (AD 117138) which shows on the reverse (Fig.59) the bust of Serapis wearing the characteristic modius, the ram's horn of Zeus Ammon and the radiate crown of Helios. In front is a trident possibly of Poseidon, combined with the serpent staff of Aesculapius and behind is the comucopiae of Nilus. Similar examples were issued by Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161) and Lucius Verus (AD 161-169) though this latter coin shows what may

F ig . 59 h adrian : pantheistic serapis , ae 33-34, Alexa n d ria .

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MEDICINAL PLANTS ON AN CIENT COIN S

FIG. 60 PHILIP 1: HEAD OF ZEUS AMMON, BILLON TETRADRACHM, ALEXANDRIA

be the club of Heracles combined with the serpent staff of Aesculapius. A later billon tetradrachm (ref. 14) of Philip I (AD 244-249) from Alexandria shows on the reverse (Fig.60) the bust of Zeus Ammon wearing a hemhem crown with a comucopiae in front and a combined trident and serpent staff behind. To complete this digression on the medical interest of Zeus Ammon, the name Ammon's Horn was given to a portion of the pes hippocampus, part of the brain (see also hippocampus on p.168, which resembled a ram's horn in shape and so was named after the god. Other neighbouring towns of Cyrene also issued coins depicting silphium. Barce was a town founded c. 560 BC west and a little inland from Cyrene. In Ptolemaic times the port of Barce, Ptolemais, became the principal city of western Cyrenaica. A tetradrachm of Barce (ref.4) issued c. 400-331 BC has a silphium plant on the obverse and the head of Zeus Ammon on the reverse. Silphium continued as a coin type on the coins of Cyrene for many years and the final appearance was on a bronze semis (ref.13) issued c. 35 BC after Cyrenaica and Crete were united to form a single province in the first phase of Roman rule in the area. The semis has the head of Libya on the obverse and the initials KPA (Crassus). The reverse has a crude simple depiction of the plant. OTHER MEDICINAL PLANTS Other plants with medicinal uses are also shown on Greek coins but they do appear to be more symbolic in nature than silphium on the Cyrene coins. The pomegranate was regarded as being especially digestible and suited 83

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT CREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

to the stomach by Celsus (On Medicine, 11.24; IV.12) and had some medicinal uses in antiquity. Several of these persisted in orthodox medicine until recently. The dried bark of the stem and root of the pomegranate contains alkaloids which have a specific action against tapeworms. Pomegranate Root Bark was listed in the British Pharmaceutical Codex of 1934 and a purified derivative, Pelletierine Tannate in the British Pharmacopoeia of 1948. The rind of the fruit of the pomegranate does not contain the alkaloids active against tapeworms but does contain gallotannic acid which is useful in the treatment of diarrhoea. Pomegranate was recommended by Celsus and Dioscorides. Celsus describes a variety of medicinal uses for the pomegranate, usually as a constituent of other mixtures, ranging from the local relief of pain to ear infections. As usual with such plants, Pliny (NH XXIII, lvii-lxi) discusses the pomegranate at length. He distinguishes nine varieties and makes a comment that the root when boiled produces a juice which kills tapeworms. The pomegranate appears on the coins of Side in Pamphylia. This is a play on names for sida is Greek for pomegranate.

F ig .

61

S id e : p o m e g r a n a t e ,

460-410

bc, s t a t e r .

A stater of Side (ref.5) dated to 460-410 BC , has a most distinctive pomegranate depicted on the obverse (Fig.61) within a guilloche border (a braided band). On the reverse is the head of Athena in a crested Corinthian helmet. A coin depicting the name of the city issuing it by some such enigmatic representation is known as a speaking type, rebus or canting type (Jones, 1986, p.213). Some coins of Melos depict apples and could be a play on the word 'melon', the Greek for apples or quinces. A stater of Melos dating to 450-420 BC shows a very vivid picture of an apple or quince on the obverse (ref.6).

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MEDICINAL PLANTS ON ANCIENT COINS

Hellebore was much used by the ancients and Pliny devotes a lot of space to it (see, for example, NH XXV, xxi-xxv). He distinguishes two kinds, Black Hellebore and White Hellebore though it is uncertain what precise plants he meant. Black Hellebore today is Helleborus niger, (the Christmas Rose, Melampode) though that used by the ancient Greeks may have been Helleborus officinalis. H. niger is a native of Europe and Asia and is said to have got its name of Christmas Rose because it blossoms in mid-winter. It is called black from the colour of its root stock. It was also named melampodion after the shepherd Melampus who noticed that his she-goats were purged after feeding on it and that their milk cured madness (p.75). Black Hellebore is a member of the buttercup family but White Hellebore (Veratrum album) and the related Green Hellebore (Veratrum viride) come from a totally different family. White and Green Hellebore contain alkaloids which lower blood pressure and they or their derivatives have been used to treat hypertension in the 1950s and 1960s but have been replaced with other more effective drugs. Black Hellebore, Pliny tells us, is useful for, among other things, paralysis, madness, dropsy without fever, gout and acts as a gentle to moderate purge. White Hellebore is apparently most useful when it causes sneezing and was especially known as an emetic. Pliny discusses Hellebore, White and Black, and when it should or should not be used at length. White Hellebore would, apparently, bring a dead scorpion back to life though Pliny (NH, XXV.lxxv) does not define the circumstances in which this would be desirable. Celsus, too, used Hellebore as a purge and an emetic particularly for mental excitement and insanity though it has to be said that such heroic treatment was recommended by the ancients for a variety of conditions perhaps on the assumption that badness was leaving the body. Certainly the patient could feel that something was happening. Hellebore was also used by Celsus as a local caustic and to excite sneezing by putting it up the nose. Even earlier, Hippocrates (Aphorisms, IV.16) had warned that hellebore was a dangerous drug even in the healthy as it could induce convulsions. Hippocrates warned further (Aphorisms, V .l) that these convulsions could be fatal. It is debateable whether Hellebore appears on coins. It may be depicted on coins of Pherae in Thessaly, a town situated west of Mount Pelion and the second city of Thessaly after Larissa. Mount Pelion is already familiar in the Aesculapian story as being the place where Aesculapius was fostered by Chiron the Centaur (p. 71). The British Museum Catalogue (BMC) describes a silver hemidrachm (ref.7) of

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FlC. 62

PHERAE: BUD OF H ELLEBORE OR CORN GRAIN IN ITS HUSK,

450-400

BC , AR

HEMIDRACHM.

Pherae dating to about 450- 400 BC. This has the forepart of a horse on the obverse but it is the reverse (Fig.62) which causes problems. This coin has a depiction which is said in the BMC to be either a grain of wheat in the husk or a bud of hellebore and thought by Hart (1966a) to be the latter. Sear (Greek Coins and Their Values 1978, no.2202) describes it only as a com grain in its husk. A silver drachm (ref.8) of the same date from Scotussa, also in Thessaly, presents similar problems. It has the forepart of a horse on the obverse and a depiction on the reverse described (Sear, 1978, no. 2217) as a com grain in its husk but remarkably similar to the coin from Pherae. The British Museum Catalogue does indeed describe a similar silver coin from Scotussa as depicting a grain of wheat or a bud of hellebore as it does for the Pherae coin. The problem is to decide what does (or did) a bud of Hellebore look like (note: the author examined a bud of Hellebore and it appeared very much like the illustration on the coin from Scotussa. Fig. 62 should help the reader decide). Wild celery. Selinon (Apium graveolens) is found in the eastern Mediterranean area and southern Europe (Grieve, 1980, p.182). It has various uses but is said to be a sedative and very good for rheumatism. Hippocrates (On Affections 38) recommends boiling celery to use it as a plaster on inflamed wounds but warns that the plaster must be colder than the wound or it will do harm. This plant is illustrated on the coins of Selinus (modern Selinunte) in Sicily perhaps as a speaking type. Selinus took its name from the wild celery plant (selinon) which occurs in profusion in the area. Selinus is also associated with Empedocles (p.144) According to Majno (1975, p.175), winners of the Isthmic and Nemean Games were crowned with celery. Majno picked his own celery when visiting Selinunte and said that it was exceedingly perishable and was fading within 10 minutes. He suggested that it might have been the 86

MEDICINAL PLANTS ON ANCIENT COINS

F ig . 63 S elin us : selinon leaf , 530-520 bc , didrachm .

'perishable wreath' of the Apostle Paul in Corinth (I.Cor.9.25) as it may have been in use as late as the first century AD. A didrachm (ref.9) of Selinus dating to 530-520 BC gives the characteristic early picture where the obverse (Fig.63) has the selinon leaf somewhat crudely drawn and the reverse has an incuse square divided into five compartments. Lily. As usual when Pliny is writing about a plant there is some doubt as to what precisely he meant. He discusses (NH, XXI,xi-xiii, lxxiv) the lily, possibly the Madonna Lily (Lilium candidum), and describes its medicinal uses. According to Pliny the root is taken in wine for snake bite, fungal poisoning or used as a plaster for corns. The petals, pickled in vinegar, can be applied to wounds preferably with henbane and wheat flour if these are in the testes. The seed is used for erysipelas and the juice from the flowers as an emollient for the uterus, for inducing perspiration and bringing boils to a head. Celsus (On Medicine, V.11,21) recommends lily as a discutient (a substance 'to disperse whatever has collected in any part of the body') and as an ingredient of a pessary for inducing menstruation. Antiochus VII Euergetes, one of the later Seleucid monarchs, campaigned in Judaea and captured Jerusalem c.132 BC. He issued coins, one of which (ref.10) is a small bronze coin with a lily on the obverse (Fig.64) and an anchor on the reverse. A further interest of these coins is that the Hasmonaean monarch Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BC ) based the design of his coins on them. It is this bronze coins which is usually identified as the 'widow's mite' of Mark 12.42 ('and there came a certain poor widow and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing').

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FlC. 64

ANTIOCHUS

VII,

EUERCETES: LILY,

138-129

BC , AE

14 OF JERUSALEM.

Styrax. The storax of the ancient world was probably obtained from a tree, Styrax officinale, some forty feet high with many branches and a thick purplish grey bark. Storax is now also obtained from a similar American species, Licjuidambar orientalis and L.styraciflua. Liquid Storax is obtained from the bark which is purified to make Prepared Storax, a semi-liquid balsam which is an expectorant used in benzoin inhalation and as a local remedy for scabies and skin diseases such as ringworm. Celsus (On Medicine, 111.21.7) describes a variety of uses for styrax, often as a constituent of compound mixtures. It could be used as a diuretic (i.e. to promote the flow of urine) and for conditions ranging from wounds and promoting suppuration to contusions and painful joints (On Medicine, V.3-18). Styrax was also recommended as a constituent of a general antidote (On Medicine, V.23.3) and Celsus reminds us that it was so used by Mithradates (see p.146). Pliny (Natural History, XXIV.xv) describes storax as a useful remedy for, among many other things, respiratory disease, obstruction of the uterus, menstrual problems, melancholia , ringing in the ears and knotty tendons, if given in small

FlC. 65

HADRIAN: TWO STYRAX PLANTS IN POTS,

88

AE23, SELCE.

MEDICINAL PLANTS ON AN CIENT COIN S

doses. Selge was the principal city of Pisidia in southern Asia Minor situated in a fertile countryside. Styrax was said to be plentiful in the neighbourhood. A silver coin of Selge (ref. 18) dating to the second to first century BC has on the obverse the bearded head of Heracles wreathed in styrax, with his club behind him while on the reverse Artemis in a short chiton is running and holding a torch. Another silver coin (ref. 19) of similar date also has the head of Heracles wreathed with styrax and with his club on the obverse while on the reverse are his club again and a styrax plant in a pot on the reverse.The reverse (Fig.65) of a bronze coin (ref.ll) of Selge issued in the time of Hadrian (AD 117-138) is said to show two pots of styrax plants standing on a platform, though Jones (1986, p.219) does raise the possibility that this is an 'eya' tree on which offerings are suspended as described in Hittite texts. The type was repeated (ref.12) on a bronze coin of Aurelian (AD 270-275). Poppy. Opium is the dried latex obtained by incising the unripe capsule of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). From it are derived powerful analgesics such as morphine (some lOper cent of crude opium), codeine and semisynthetic derivatives such as heroin. It is not at all clear when opium, as such, began to be used as distinct from poppy juice or seeds. Some see in Homer (Odyssey, IV,220-233) a reference to the emotion blunting effect of opium when Helen gives the assembled company at Sparta, listening to Telemachus recalling his father, Odysseus, a potion from Egypt. Representations of the poppy capsule have been found all over the Greek world (Majno 1975, p. 144) as earrings, pottery, jewels and as crowns on statuettes of Minoan goddesses from Gazi, Crete. The poppy appears on coins (see also p.32). Most interestingly one is a small bronze coin of Athens (ref.16) dating to 220-83 BC which has the veiled head of Demeter on the obverse and two ears of corn and a poppy on the reverse. Demeter was one of the great divinities of the Greeks who presided over the crops especially the grain. Persephone, her daughter by Zeus, was kidnapped by Hades but, having eaten a pomegranate seed in the underworld she had to stay there for part of the year (winter on earth) but could spend the rest of the year with her mother, her return being signalled by the advent of spring. Demeter is often portrayed with a poppy, imaginatively ascribed by Storer (1931, p. 40) as sacred to her having diminished her pain at the rape of her daughter. Other coins such as a dichalkon (the smallest bronze coin of Egypt)(ref.l7) of Livia (31 BC-AD 29) from Alexandria in Egypt also display the poppy in association with ears of corn. A bronze coin of Marcus Aurelius from Elaea in Aeolis (p.32.) shows Aesculapius

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surrounded by a poppy head, ears of com and an olive tree. The Greater Eleusinian Mysteries were established in Athens in honour of Demeter and Persephone (p .ll) but the fourth day was held in honour of Aesculapius and this coin could symbolise the relationship. COIN LIST

1. Cyrene (Cyrenaica), AR tetradrachm, BMC 29.4.13, SGC6237 2. Cyrene (Cyrenaica), AR tetradrachm, BMC 29.3.11 3. Cyrene(Cyrenaica), AR tetradrachm, BMC 29.10.42. SGC6257 4. Barce (Cyrenaica), AR tetradrachm, BMC 29.99.25. SGC6389 5. Side (Pamphylia), AR stater, BMC 19.144.8, SGC5425 6. Melos (Cyclades), AR stater, SGC3107 7. Pherae (Thessaly), AR hemidrachm, BMC 7.46.9, SGC2202 8. Scotussa (Thessaly), AR drachm, SGC2217 9. Selinus (Sicily), AR didrachm, SGC729 10. Antiochus VII, AE14, BMC 4.75.69, SGC7101 11. Hadrian (Selge, Pisidia), AE23, BMC 19.264.68, GIC1215 12. Aurelian (Selge, Pisidia), AE26, GIC4749 13. Cyrene (Cyrenaica), AE semis, BMC 29.117.26, SGC6372 14. Philip I (Alexandria, Egypt), billon tetradrachm, BMC 16.251.1945, GIC3971 15. Hadrian (Alexandria, Egypt), AE33-34 ,BMC 16.88.744 16. Athens (Attica), AE14, BMC 11.91.657-659 17. Livia (Alexandria, Egypt), AE15, BM C.16.8.61, GIC210 18. Selge (Pisidia), AR didrachm, BMC 19.260.35 19. Selge (Pisidia), AR drachm, BMC 19.260.36

90

CHAPTER VIII DISEASE AND ANCIENT COINS Many ancicnt coins have some general association with disease particularly of the epidemic type (p.98). Some coin types have been interpreted as depicting disease in an individual though the difficulties o f substantiating this are considerable and any account can be only an educated guess with, for some commentators, little more than wishful thinking. There are very few disease conditions which, even with the best and most honest engraving techniques, would be apparent in the small area available on a coin though this is more likely when the head only is shown, rather than the complete figure, where typical signs of the disease or infirmity are apparent. The final proof that a particular disease or condition is present and is represented on the coin must always be lacking. There is no possibility of a 'hands on' approach where the subject himself can be given an expert clinical examination. The ancient literature may give some clues but these are rarely in present day terms and may be arguable. We simply cannot rely on coin portraits to give us a reliable clinical diagnosis. Nevertheless, in conjunction with other sources, there are coins which are worthy of discussion even if the argument will not be or cannot be settled. One can also stretch the definition of disease to include old age, deformities or anatomical curiosities and some examples of these will also be given. W e have no way of knowing what the ancient rulers really looked like and one must accept that idealisation of the portrait is only too likely. This does, after all, occur with present day monarchs and heads of state on coins. Just how, for example, were the coiners of Pergamum expected to know what the emperor in Rome actually looked like? For some emperors, such as Caracalla (p.107), there could have been first hand experience, but only later in the reign after his first coins had been issued. For most mints, with emperors and rulers, never in actual physical contact, official busts invariably would have provided a template. The ancients were not above publicly noting the physical peculiarities of their rulers though these were not necessarily always portrayed on coins or otherwise. According to Pliny (Natural History, XXXV.xxxvi.90), Apelles of Cos, famous for his life-like portraits, painted a portrait of Antigonos, a general of Alexander the Great and later King of Macedon (306-301 BC ). Antigonos was known as Monophthalmos or 'One Eyed' but Pliny says that Apelles painted him in three-quarter profile to conceal this defect. Ptolemy VIII, Euergetes of Egypt (145-116 BC ) was

91

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known to the Alexandrians as Physkon ('Fatty' or 'Pot-Belly'). The name gets some confirmation from a black diorite head of Ptolemy in Brussels with the Pharaonic double crown and uraeus which shows a fat round face (Smith, 1988,pp.93-4). Smith in his monograph on Hellenistic Royal Portraits, which is well worth reading for a general overview of the subject, also comments that exactly the same portrait type but without the Egyptian regalia appears on some of Ptolemy's tetradrachms and didrachms. Other royal defects were similarly noted.

F ig . 66 ANTIOCHUS V III (GRYPOS): HIS HEAD, 121-96 BC, TETRADRACHM.

The later coins of the Seleucid Antiochus VIII (121-96 BC) (Fig.66) on a tetradrachm (ref.19) show him as a middle-aged man with a very hooked nose, hence his nickname of Grypos. Smith (1988, p.122) feels that the famous royal nose may well have been regarded as a personal dynastic badge and was copied by his five sons on their coins, when they in turn succeeded Grypos. It is only too easy to imagine what might be disease features in coin portraits but, in the absence of confirmatory evidence, these can usually be little more than speculative. Was realism taken to the length of showing Vespasian (AD 69-79) as toothless in old age (he lived AD 9-79) and did Maximianus (AD 286-310) really have a broken nose (Wells, 1964). The obverse of a denarius of Vespasian (ref.20) of AD 77/78 certainly shows the emperor having the typical jaw of elderly people who have lost their teeth but other coins of Vespasian, sometimes of the same date, do not always show him that way. A bronze follis (ref.21) of Maximianus shows a thin protuberant bent nose but more of a minor Cyrano de Bergerac type. Regrettably for the story, however, other coins of Maximianus do not always depict such a nose. In an interesting review Hart (1967) draws attention to ancient coins

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DISEASE AND ANCIENT CO IN S

w h ich may depict goitre, a swelling of the thyroid gland. This has to be d istin g u ish ed from other features of the neck such as prominent muscles, a v is ib le larynx ('voice-box') or obesity. Hart lists Greek coins which he feels d ep ict an enlarged thyroid, the earliest example being from S y ra cu se c. 425 BC (ref.22) and showing Arethusa the nymph of the city w ith a possible goitre. A u g u stu s (27 BC-AD 14) died aged 77. On his coins his portrait m atu red but remained youthful over a reign of 44 years (Burnett, 1987, p.74). W e actually have a detailed description of his appearance from Su eto n iu s (Augustus, 79) who, though born too late (c.AD 69) to have seen A ugustus personally, undoubtedly had access to contemporary w ritin g s and memoirs. Augustus was said to be very handsome, albeit sm all in stature, with a mild and pleasant expression. His teeth were sm all and his hair was yellowish and curly. His eyes were clear and sh in in g and his eyebrows met above his nose.(See also p. 103.) T h is description is not easy to reconcile with his coins which are obviously meant to be an ideal portrait in contrast with those of Nero (AD 54-68). Here we can see Nero depicted as getting older and considerably fatter although he died at the early age of 31. Suetonius (N ero 51) was hardly over-complimentary in his description of the physical characteristics of Nero who he said was of average height, paunchy and with spindly legs, his skin was spotty and unhealthy looking and he had dull eyes. Baldness has certainly been the cause of more consultations with the m edical profession than many other conditions. Remedies have come and gone but still men regret that their essential male physiology often causes thinning and loss of head hair. The knowledge that to be castrated before puberty may prevent male type baldness is little consolation and would have been more obvious in ancient times than today. Suetonius (Julius Caesar 45) tells us that Caesar was bald and was much annoyed by comments about this made by his enemies. He combed his thinning hair

F ig . 6 7 ju liu s c a esa r : his head , denarius , l . m ussidius lon gus .

93

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON AN CIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COINS

forward in an attempt to disguise this. Suetonius said that Caesar was therefore most grateful to the Senate and People for granting him the privilege of wearing a laurel wreath at all times. A denarius issued by L. Mussidius Longus (ref.l) has a portrait of Julius Caesar on the obverse (Fig.67) where the laurel wreath is distinctly represented as being metallic. This would appear to be Caesar's answer to his baldness and little medical advance has been made since. While on the subject of baldness, both Juvenal (Satires, IV.38) and Suetonius (Domitian, 18) tells us that Domitian (AD 81-96) was very bald later in life. This is not apparent from his coins and was perhaps an indication that realism was not totally obligatory or advisable (Stevenson, 1889, p.619). Alternatively it suggests that the Emperor wore a wig, as did Otho (AD 68) which is very evident on his coin portraits. WARTS AND THE KINGS OF PARTHIA Arsaces, a nomad leader in what is now north-east Iran, broke away from the Seleucids in 238 BC to found the Arsacid dynasty of the kingdom of Parthia which, at its height, threatened the Roman Empire and extended from the Euphrates to the Indus with Ecbatana as its capital. The history of the Arsacids is complex and interwoven with family feuds, usurpers and fighting. Their military aristocracy fought a long series of wars against Rome and were famous for their cavalry. The ability of this cavalry, some of whom were armed with short composite bows, to turn in the saddle and shoot backwards while retreating is immortalised as the 'Parthian shot'. The most important Parthian coin was the silver drachm with its multiple, the tetradrachm. There was also an extensive bronze, copper or brass coinage. The obverse of the coins depicted the royal head and the reverse of the silver coinage was usually a seated archer carrying a bow (perhaps Arsaces himself) and surrounded by the titles of the king. The coinage presents many problems of attribution and is readably described by Sellwood (1971) from which a lot of the following information is derived. It should be noted here, at least to allay any confusion, that many of Sellwood's attributes differ from some other authorities. This can cause difficulties when attempting to reconcile various attributions. Wroth (BMC 23,1903) said that some Parthian coins depict what may be loosely described as a wart on the face of the monarch. This representation of a wart does not seem to be consistent since it does not appear on the face of all kings and some kings may depict it on some of their coins but not on all. The presence of a wart is first unequivocally shown on various coins (Sellwood Types 47,48) of Orodes II (57-38 B C )

94

DISEASE AND ANCIENT CO IN S

th o u g h these have been attributed to Orodes I. The depiction of the king on th e obverse shows what can be taken to be a wart on the forehead (ref.2 ). It is possible that a wart is depicted even earlier on a coin (ref.3) of M ith rad ates II (123-88 BC ) as a nodule just below the left eye and was so d escrib ed by Hart (1966b), though this produces difficulties. This coin se e m s to be that described in several catalogues (e.g. BMC 23.30.66, SG C 7371, Sellwood27/l) but none of them mentions a wart though the B M C plate, if not Sellwood's drawings, seems clear enough. T h e wart is shown on coins of Phraates IV (c.38-2 BC ). He was the son of O rod es II and is said to have suffocated his father with a pillow and to h a v e assassinated his brothers and their families to make his throne m o re secure.

F ig . 6 8 PHRAATES

IV, PARTHIA: HIS HEAD, WART ON FOREHEAD, C .38-B C , AR DRACHM.

On a typical example (ref.4) of a silver drachm, the bust of the king is show n on the obverse (Fig.68). He has a pointed beard, hair covering his ears, and is wearing a beaded necklet with a medallion in the centre. An eagle is behind him and a star and crescent in front. On the forehead of the king is a large 'wart'. The reverse of the coin has the characteristic seated archer and various titles of the king in Greek. W arts appear on the foreheads of many of the succeeding Parthian kings but still not on all their coins. Sellwood lists their occurrence in various kings after Phraates IV up to Vologases I (AD 51-78) and Vardanes II (AD 55-58). Vologases I, the father of Vardanes II, did not have warts depicted on his tetradrachms but they are on his drachms. Vardanes II in his rebellion during his father's reign issued tetradrachms showing the forehead wart but his own drachms did not. How long warts continued to be portrayed after this is difficult to say. It is possible that what some commentators have described as warts on succeeding

95

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON AN CIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COIN S

monarchs are not and that some nodules are actually the edges of a bunched hair style. There has been much speculation why warts were depicted on these Parthian coins.As it does not appear on all coins it seems unlikely that it was cosmetic or symbolic. It may be that, after Orodes II, it was a feature adopted by many of his successors as a sign of true Arsacid descent but, if so, why do only some coins show it, and why is the wart shown in different places on the face of the same monarchs. Hart (1966a) made the interesting suggestion that the wart could be a tricho-epithelioma. This is an uncommon benign tumour which occurs especially on the cheeks, eyelids or around the nose and ears and other parts of the face. There is also a familial tendency with a disproportionate prevalence in females (Mackie 1986). This sex ratio would, of course, not be apparent in the usual male- dominated coinage. We shall never know.

ACROMEGALY

A tumour of the anterior part of the pituitary gland which is situated deep inside the base of the skull can produce excessive amounts of the growth hormone which stimulates growth of bone and tissue. If this occurs before the growing ends of the long limb bones have stopped functioning, they grow excessively to be one of the causes of the clinical condition of gigantism. If the tumour develops in the adult, i.e. after the long limb bones have stopped lengthening, then growth occurs only at the end of the bones to give the clinical condition of acromegaly (the word means 'large extremities'), characterised by heavy features, protruding jaw, enlarged supraorbital ridges (the bone above the eye sockets) and marked enlargement of the bones of the hands and feet. If excessive production of the growth hormone occurs in a child and continues into adult life, a mixed picture of gigantism and acromegaly can result. Klawans (1982) reviews in detail the possibility that the Roman emperor Maximinus I (AD 235-238) was suffering from acromegaly and gigantism not only on coin evidence but on supporting details from the classical literature. Maximinus was born in Thrace c.AD 173 of an obscure family and served in the Roman army with distinction and rose rapidly through the ranks. He started army life under the emperor Septimius Severus (AD 193-211) and later under Severus Alexander (AD 222-235). Alexander was murdered by his troops in AD 235 and Maximinus proclaimed emperor to be murdered in his turn in AD 238.

96

DISEASE AND ANCIENT CO IN S

F ig . 69

MAXIMINUS

I:

HIS ( ? a c r o m e g a u c ) h e a d / s a l u s s e a t e d a n d f e e d i n g a

SNAKE, SESTERTIUS.

A sestertius (ref. 5) of Maximinus is of additional medical interest since it sh ow s him with heavy features, pronounced forehead and protruding jaw (fig.69). T h e classical literature provides additional support for this theory and M axim inus was generally accepted to be a giant seven feet tall or more. This, in itself, is sufficient for a presumptive diagnosis of gigantism. He w as also said to be very strong which is not so common in acromegaly but not unknown. Other confirmatory evidence is a story that his hands w ere so large that he used a bracelet of his wife as a ring for his thumb. T he literature suggests the presence of other effects of acromegaly. Maximinus was well known for his prodigious thirst and appetite which could be due to an acromegaly-induced diabetes mellitus. After being proclaimed emperor, Maximinus developed increasingly vicious and paranoid behaviour which resulted in his being murdered by his troops. T he story is a good one but impossible to prove without his bones. The skull alone would have been enough to provide evidence of an enlarged pituitary fossa (see also p.166). The skull is sufficient to show this in O'Brien, the Irish Giant, some seven foot seven inches tall. His bones were collected by John Hunter (1728-93) and are still in the collection of the Royal College of Surgeons in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London. One additional numismatic comment on Maximinus is a bronze coin minted at Pergamum (ref.6). This shows on the reverse a typical Pergamene scene of Hygieia with Aesculapius. The obverse is, however, blank having been intentionally erased. There are several examples of this from the Pergamene coinage where the local community showed their dislike of the emperor after his downfall by disfiguring his coins.

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PLAGUE, PESTILENCE AND ANCIENT COINS Infectious disease can be a calamity in the community particularly when it is of the lethal epidemic type. The word 'plague' in ancient times covered a variety of diseases characterised by rapid epidemic spread and a high mortality and could have been typhus, bubonic plague or many others. The terminology and diagnostic facilities of the time and the descriptions of the ancient commentators are usually not sufficient to allow an unequivocal modem diagnosis. The diseases may also have been different in form from the modern variety and consideration of how smallpox, influenza or even (to us) minor diseases such as measles or chickenpox can affect a non-resistant population such as the American Indian or the Eskimo shows what could happen. Plagues (in the general sense) certainly occurred in ancient times and are well attested in the classical literature even if we cannot be certain precisely what they were. Thucydides (471- 400 BC ) gives a very compelling description of the plague at Athens in 430 BC (History o f the Peloponnesian War, 11.47-55). Other examples are the plague at Selinus and the involvement of Empedocles (p.144) and also how the Romans in 293/292 BC brought Aesculapius to Rome because of an outbreak of plague is (p.37) together with the magnificent medallions and coins of Antoninus Pius to commemorate the event. Plagues were described throughout the rest of Roman history by authors such as Livy, Suetonius, Dio Cassius. It was said by Suetonius (Nero, 39) that in an epidemic in Rome in AD 65, thirty thousand deaths were registered in a single autumn at the temple of Libitina (the Italian goddess of funerals which were registered in her temple). References to plagues occur on many Roman coins and only a brief selection can be made here. It is not suprising that such catastrophes occurred with alarming frequency in view of the constant civil and military unrest of the times, especially when this was coupled with natural disasters and the ignorance of the cause of infection. The year AD 79 was a bad one for the emperor Titus (AD 79-91). There was an eruption of Mount Vesuvius (which also killed Pliny the Elder), a fire which devastated central Rome and an outbreak of plague said by Suetonius in The Twelve Caesars (Titus, 8) to be one of the worst outbreaks ever known. He tells us that Titus attempted to control the plague by every possible means, from medical remedies to asking for divine help. The Senate decreed a special supplication to the gods (Foss, 1990, p.87) in the form of a sellisternium, a ritual banquet served to the images of the gods placed on chairs and called, if on couches, a lectisternium. Coins issued in AD 80 illustrate this ritual.

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F ig . 70 titu s , sellistern iu m , w inged th u n d erbo lt o f jupiter , aureus .

A n aureus of Titus (ref.18) depicts on the reverse (Fig.70) the winged thunderbolt of Jupiter on a draped table. Other coins with a similar message issued by him depict the ears of wheat of Ceres and the dolphin o f Neptune. The year AD 80 was a better year for Titus when he dedicated the Flavian Ampitheatre (the 'Colosseum') begun during the reign of Vespasian in AD 71. This, too, is celebrated on coins and, while not strictly medical in itself, is a reminder of the insight that such places could give into trauma and fitness, a facility of which Galen took full advantage in Pergamum in the second century AD when he was appointed physician to the gladiators. There was also an outbreak of plague in Rome and throughout Italy during the reign of Commodus (AD 177-192) and vows of thanks were made for deliverance (Foss, 1990, p.156). A denarius (ref.16) issued in AD 191 shows Commodus on the reverse with a bull and sacrificing over a tripod. The inscription reads VOT SOLV PRO SAL PR. Associated types add to the picture a victimarius (an attendant who would slay the sacrificial victim) and flute players. Commodus also issued (ref. 17) a denarius (and related types) which shows on the obverse Salus who is standing and raising a kneeling figure with an inscription SAL GEN HVM. Coins issued by several emperors in the third century AD may refer to outbreaks of plague and express their thanks or appeals for the safety of the emperor. APOLLO IN THE ROLE OF CONSERVATOR Conservator, one who saves or protects, was used on coins from the time of Trajan (Jones, 1990, p.67) to imply that the god or goddess referred to was the protector of the emperor or, on some coins, that the emperor himself was a protector. According to Jones (1990, p.21) the title 'Conservator' was first used by Aemilian to describe Apollo in AD 253.

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F ig .

71

a e m il ia n : a p o l l o c o n s e r v a t o r , a n t o n in ia n u s .

This is shown on an antoninianus (ref.7) of Aemilian which has on the reverse (Fig.71) APOL CONSERVAT and the figure of Apollo, standing holding a branch and with his left hand on a lyre set upon a rock. Jones doubts that it is linked to an outbreak of plague which affected Rome c. AD 253 as Aemilian also issued coins giving the title of Conservator to Jupiter as well. This comment perhaps begs the question of what the title was meant to imply. To appeal to or thank both Apollo and Jupiter for their help might not be thought to be excessive in some circumstances. The use of Conservator as a title of Apollo was much used by succeeding emperors including Valerian I (AD 253-260), Gallienus (AD 253-268), Claudius II Gothicus (AD 268-270), Quintillus (AD 270) and Aurelian (AD 270-275). An antoninianus of Gallienus, for example, (p.48.) has on the reverse a depiction of Apollo standing and holding a branch downwards. The legend APOLLO CONSER(vator) suggests that Apollo is being invoked as a healer (Hill, 1989, p.91). Similar coins depicting Apollo standing, holding a branch and leaning on a lyre set on a rock were issued by Claudius II Gothicus (ref.9) and Quintillus (ref.10). Claudius died of plague after winning a brilliant victory against the Goths at Naissus in Upper Moesia. Gallienus also issued an antoninianus (re f.ll) which depicts Aesculapius on the obverse holding a serpent-wreathed rod and the legend CONSERVATOR AVG. Another antoninianus of Gallienus (ref. 12) has a further interesting variant in that the reverse has the legend APOLLINI CONS AVG. However, instead of Apollo there is a centaur, perhaps a reference to the part played in the upbringing of Aesculapius by Chiron after he had been given medical skills by Apollo (p.13). Gallienus also issued an antoninianus (ref.13) with the similar legend APOLLINI CONS AVG on the reverse but this time a gryphon is shown. A gryphon (griffin) was a mythical creature usually represented with a lion's body and the head

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and wings of an eagle and it is regularly found in association with Apollo. While not depicting Apollo, but appropriately mentioned here are the coins of Gallienus which have the legend OB CONSERVATIONEM PATRIAE and OB CONSERVATIONEM SALVTIS and are said to refer to some effort by the emperor to improve the health of Rome (RIC, p.35). A good example is an aureus (ref.8) of Gallienus with the reverse showing Salus standing right feeding a serpent in her arms with the legend OB CONSERVAT SALVT. According to Stevenson (1889, p.582) these coins celebrate that some 15 years of plague and pestilence under Decius, Gallus and Aemilianus ceased under Gallienus. APOLLO IN THE ROLE OF SALUTARIS: Apollo Salutaris, health-bringing Apollo, is frequently depicted on Roman coins. A good example of this is a medallion (ref.23) of Antoninus Pius (AD138-165) which has a clear picture of Apollo Salutaris on the reverse. The god is holding the serpent staff of Aesculapius and is flanked by a tree and thymiaterium (an incense burner or censer). Another example of Apollo Salutaris is similar to those of Apollo as Conservator just mentioned. During the reign of Trebonianus Gallus (AD 251-253) a devastating plague swept the empire killing Gallus's co-emperor, Hostilian. Gallus ordered propitiatory sacrifices to all the gods (Stevenson 1889, p .67,82; Foss 1990, p.214) and issued an antoninianus (ref. 14) which had the inscription APOLL SALVTARI on the obverse and a depiction of the standing Apollo holding a branch and leaning on a lyre set on a rock. Another antoninianus (ref.15) of Gallus invoked Juno Martialis, the goddess of the emperor's native Perusia. The reverse (Fig.72) shows the goddess seated in a distyle temple.

F ig . 72 trebo n ia n u s g a llu s : ju n o m artialis in distyle tem ple , an ton in ian us .

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COIN LIST

1. Julius Caesar (L Mussidius Longus), AR denarius, SRSCI.Julius Caesar 29 2. Orodes II (Parthia), AR drachm, BMC 23.89.179, Sellwood 47,48 3. Mithradates II (Parthia), AR drachm, BMC 23.30.66, Sellwood 27/1, SGC7371 4. Phraates IV (Parthia), AR drachm, BMC 23.126.219, Sellwood 54/12, SGC7474 5. Maximinus I, sestertius, RIC64(similar) 6. Maximinus I (Pergamum. Mysia), AE34, GIC3507 7. Aemilian, antoninianus, RIC1 8. Gallienus, aureus, RIC59s 9. Claudius II Gothicus, RIC22-23 10. Quintillus, antoninianus, RIC9, RCV 3242 11. Gallienus, antoninianus, RIC632s, RCV2948 12. Gallienus, antoninianus, RIC163s,RCV2944 13. Gallienus, antoninianus, RIC 165s & 166s 14. Trebonianus Gallus, antoninianus, RIC32, RCV2779 15. Trebonianus Gallus, antoninianus,RIC54, RCV2784 16. Commodus, denarius,RIC262 17. Commodus, denarius,RIC260 18. Titus,aureus, RIC23 19. Antiochus VIII (Grypos),AR tetradrachm, SGC7145 20. Vespasian, denarius, RIC103 21. Maximianus, follis, RIC6776, RCV3641 22. Syracuse (Sicily), Hart (1979) 23. Antoninus Pius, AE, Toynbee (1944), p.138

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CHAPTER IX ROMAN EMPERORS AND THEIR HEALTH The health of the ruler was of the greatest interest and importance to his subjects for many reasons ranging from affection or morbid curiosity to a deep personal involvement. In Roman times one's o ffice, and even one's life could be subject to the emperor's whim or state of health. Since rulers were often believed to hold their office by divine right, they were also credited with divine powers, so healing was early included among the other attributes of a sovereign. Pyrrhus (319-272 BC ) king of Epirus in northern Greece, is alleged to have said after the battle of Asculum in 279 BC, when he routed the Romans but at such great cost to his own army, that that one more victory like that and they would be undone, hence 'Pyrrhic victory'. Pyrrhus, according to Pliny (NH VII. ii.20), could cure inflammation of the spleen by the touch of the great toe of his right foot. Pliny further records that, at the cremation of Pyrrhus, it was impossible to burn the toe with the rest of the body so it was stored in a chest in a temple. It is difficult to suggest a logical explanation for the toe's healing, but the inflammation of the spleen could possibly have been malarial of which there was be a large incidence. Vespasian (AD 69-79), during a visit to Alexandria, was said to have restored the sight to a blind man by anointing his cheeks and eyes with the Imperial saliva and to have cured the withered hand of another man by treading on him. The sufferers said that Serapis (p. 69) had advised them to make this request (Tacitus, Histories 4.81). There are numerous Roman coins depicting healing deities such as Aesculapius, Hygieia, Apollo or equivalent deities such as Serapis and Eshmun. These may have been representations of thanks by the emperor for recovery from a particular illness or, in some cases, a supplication to the gods for a cure from illness. It may also be possible on some coins to see physical attributes of the emperor or other ruler or the suggestion of some pathological condition, examples of which have been given in the preceding chapter. AUGUSTUS (27 BC -AD 14) Augustus was bom Caius Octavius Thurinus in 63 BC. He became master of the Roman world on the suicide of Antony whom he had defeated at the battle of Actium in September 31 BC. In 27 BC he was named Augustus' and died in AD 14 at the age of 77 to be succeeded by his step-son Tiberius.

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Suetonius (Augustus, 79-83) tells us a lot about the health of Augustus (p. 93) who does not seem to have been of the fittest though, as he survived to a great age, his toughness and staying power are obvious. Suetonius says that the body of Augustus was blemished by birthmarks and by hard dry patches suggesting ringworm. He had weaknesses in his left hip, thigh and leg and for some time suffered from bladder pains. He also suffered at different periods from several dangerous illnesses particularly liver abscesses. Suetonius also says that Augustus suffered from seasonal disorders such as 'a tightness of the diaphragm' and 'catarrh' and from the cold in winter and the heat in summer. Cassius Dio (The Roman History, 53.30) tells us of the gratitude of Augustus to his physician Antonius Musa who restored the emperor to health by means of cold baths and cold potions. Musa was given large sums of money, the right to wear a gold ring and exemptions from taxation for himself and other physicians. TARRACO Tarraco (now Tarragona), on the north-east coast of Spain was devoted to Augustus who rebuilt it. In 25 BC there was an outbreak of hostilities by the Cantabri and the Astures who lived on the Iberian side of the Pyrenees. Augustus himself commanded the armies sent against them. The difficulties of fighting in the mountains caused him many problems and he eventually fell ill with fatigue and anxiety and had to return to Tarraco (Cassius Dio, The Roman History, 53.25). The people of Tarraco offered up public vows for the health of Augustus and raised an altar in memory of his restoration. Stevenson (1889, p. 773) tells the story that a palm tree grew from the altar and when Augustus was told, he said: apparet quam saepe accendatis: 'it is a sign that you do not very often light sacrificial fires'. The Tarraconians regarded this as an augury and coins (Augustus to Drusus) show a palm surmounted altar. A bronze coin of Tarraco, issued by Augustus (ref.3), has his head on the obverse with legend DIVVS AVGVSTVS PATER. The reverse has the letters CVTT and an altar with a palm on top. Tiberius (AD 14-37) issued a similar bronze coin (ref.4). This has the head of the emperor on the obverse and the lettering TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS. The reverse has CVTT and a large square altar surmounted by a palm branch. There are differing views on the meaning of CVTT and CVT (which appears on some coins). CVT to some means Colonia Victrix Triumphalis but to Stevenson (1889, p. 773) it is Colonia Victrix Tarraco and CVTT is Colonia Victrix Togata Tarraco from the pride of Tarraco and its inhabitants in wearing the toga after the manner of the Romans.

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Two coins, a denarius and an aureus, are also concerned with the health of Augustus. The denarius (ref.22) is said to refer either to vows for Augustus's continued health after his return from the East, 19BC, or before his journey to Gaul in 16 BC. It has the inscription IOVI VOT SVSC PRO SAL CAES AVG SPQR Iovi Votis Susceptis Pro Salute Caesaris Augusti Senatus Populusque Romanus. (Vows dedicated to Jupiter by the Senate and the people of Rome for the well-being of Caesar Augustus.) The aureus (ref.25) has the figure of Victory on the obverse. The reverse shows a priest sacrificing out of a patera over a lighted and garlanded altar. An attendant is leading the sacrificial bull. An inscription reads PRO VALETVDINE CAESARIS, with SPQR in the exergue. A cippus which had on it vows for the recovery of Augustus from illness was used as a coin type and appears on a denarius issued by L. Mescinius Rufus in 16 BC.

F ig . 73 Au g u stu s : inscription w ithin o a k le a f / cippus inscribed w ith vows for THE HEALTH OF THE EMPEROR, DENARIUS, L. MESCINIUS RUFUS.

The coin (ref.l) is illustrated in Fig. 73 and has on the obverse an inscription inside an oak wreath IOM/ SPQRVS/ PR S IMP CAE/ QVOD PER EV/ R P IN AMP/ AT Q TRAN/ S E (Iovi Optimo Maximo, senatus populusque romanus vota suscepta pro salute Imperatoris Caesaris, quod per eum respublica in ampliore atque tranquilliore statu est). The reverse has L.MESCINIVS RVFVS III VIR around a cippus which bears the legend IMP/ CAES/ AVGV/ COMM/ CONS with SC in the field. These coins may refer to the illness of Augustus in 24-23 BC when he was reorganising the Roman constitution. Hill (1989, p. 61) believes that both legends must reproduce in abbreviated form what was the actual inscription on the cippus, i.e. vows paid to Jupiter Capitolinus for the health of Augustus. It is not known where the actual cippus was located but the Capitol is a likely site in view of the dedication to Jupiter Capitolinus.

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Fig. 74 A ugustus: m ars, vow s f o r t h e h e a l t h a n d r e t u r n o f t h e em peror, DENARIUS, L. MESCLNIUS RUFUS.

Other denarii (ref.2) of L.Mescinius Rufus depict on the reverse (Fig.74) a statue of Mars on a pedestal variously inscribed but, according to Hill (1989, p. 94), are of vows taken by the Senate and Roman People for the health and return of Augustus when he fell ill in Gaul. Hill says that the statue was undoubtedly in Rome, presumably in the temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum of Augustus.

Fig . 75 AUGUSTUS: CONJOINED busts o f f o r t u n a v ic tr ix AND FORTUNA FELIX/ ALTAR, DENARIUS, Q.RUSTIUS.

One other coin (ref.5) may be said to have some reference to the health of Augustus. This denarius of Q.Rustius (c. BC 19-16) is said to celebrate the return of Augustus from a long tour in the East (fig.75) and has on the obverse Q RVSTIVS FORTVNAE ANTI AT and the conjoined busts of Fortuna Victrix and Fortuna Felix between two ram's heads. The reverse has CAESARI AVGVSTO EX SC and an altar with FOR.RE. Fortuna (Fors), probably originally a fertility goddess, was important to the Romans and worshipped under many different aspects (p. 164 for gubernaculum). At Antium (modern Anzio) she was worshipped as two goddesses, the Fortunes of Antium. Another important aspect was

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Fortuna Redux, the 'bringer back' of the Emperor safely from his travels. Seaby (SRSCI) notes that the goddess Fortuna was worshipped under tw o aspects, Fortuna Victrix and Fortuna Felix and was known as Fortuna Antiates. Augustus attributed his successes to this goddess but, m ore immediately relevant, also attributed to her his recovery from frequent illnesses. TITUS (AD 79-81)

F ig . 76 titu s : altar of sa lu s , sester tiu s .

A sestertius of Titus (ref.6) has the bearded head of the Emperor on the obverse.On the reverse (Fig.76) there is an altar in the form of a temple with four columns on a podium of three steps. Between the columns is a door with four panels. There is SALVTI above and AVGVSTI beneath with S and C left and right of the temple. I Iill (1989, p. 64) says that this type is dated to AD 80/81 and the altar may have been set up because of the deteriorating health of the Emperor. The location of the altar dedicated to Salus (Health) is not known. CARACALLA (AD 198-217) Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, originally named Septimius Bassianus, was bom in Gaul in AD 188 the elder son of Septimius Severus (emperor AD 193-211) and Julia Domna. He is better known by his nickname, Caracalla (more correctly Caracallus), derived from the long tunic of

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P late 6 Piranesi ' s etching o f the isola tiburin a in 1775 sh o w s the sh ip sh a pe of THE ISLAND AND THE CHURCH OF SAN BARTOLOMEO WHICH PROBABLY STAND ON THE SITE OF THE TEMPLE OF AESCULAPIUS.

P late 7 a rom an rock carving on the isola tiburin a represents the sh ip which LEGEND SAID BROUGHT AESCULAPIUS TO ROME TO CURE A PLAGUE. NOTE THE AESCULAPIAN SNAKE CARVED ON THE SHIP'S SIDE.

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G allic origin which was his favourite dress. The nickname 'Caracalla' never appears on coins. T h e life of Caracalla and the coins he issued have much of medical interest. It will be as well to review these overall although some of his coins have been used elsewhere in this book. In AD 195 Severus adopted h im self into the Antonine dynasty by saying he was the son of Marcus Aurelius. Bassianus was made Caesar in AD 196 and Augustus in AD 198 and was renamed M.Aurelius Antoninus after his adoptive grandfather. Caracalla, together with his younger brother, Geta, reigned jointly on the death of their father in AD 211. In AD 212 Geta was assassinated on the orders of Caracalla whose reign was characterised by extravagance, cruelty and treachery. Caracalla, in his turn, was assassinated on the orders of the Praetorian Prefect, Macrinus in AD 217. Caracalla had a close relationship with Pergamum and conferred privileges on its citizens. The scene is set by a large bronze coin of Pergamum some 47mm in diameter (ref.7) whose entire reverse is taken up with an inscription praising the emperor and his city.He visited Pergamum in AD 214 , a visit which is commemorated by the issue of a magnificent set of coins. The ceremony of the adventus, the official welcome that a provincial city paid to a visiting emperor had evolved by the third century AD into a complicated procedure during which the emperor met the gods of the city, its officials and the people. He visited shrines, repaired temples and bestowed gifts and privileges and attended sacred festivities. All this could be commemorated on coins and the adventus was usually depicted as the meeting of the emperor with the divinities of the city. W hy Caracalla visited the East is not totally clear, but he left Rome in the spring of AD 214 to set up his base in Nicomedia. Probably in the autumn of AD 214 he went to Pergamum especially to visit the shrine of Aesculapius to seek a cure for his illnesses. What these were is debateable but Caracalla does seem to have been suffering both mentally and physically after the death of his father, Septimius Severus, and the murder of his brother, Geta. Cassius Dio gives an interesting, if brief, description of the illnesses of Caracalla and his responses (Dio Roman History LXXVIII.15): For he was sick not only in body, partly from visible and partly from secret ailments, but in mind as well, suffering from certain distressing visions, and often he thought he was being pursued by his father and by his brother, armed with sivords... But to Antoninus no one even o f the gods gave any response that conduced to healing either his body or his mind, although he paid

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homage to all the more prominent ones. This showed most clearly that they regarded, not his votive offerings or his sacrifices, but only his purposes and his deeds. He received no help from Apollo Grannus, nor yet from Aesculapius or Serapis, in spite o f his many supplications and his unwearying persistence. For even while abroad he sent to them prayers, sacrifices and votive offerings, and many couriers ran hither and thither every day carrrying something o f this kind; and he also went to them himself, hoping to prevail by appearing in person, and did all that devotees are wont to do; but he obtained nothing that contributed to health. After the visit of Caracalla, the citizens of Pergamum issued the coins which recorded the main events of his stay. These are of bronze and range in diameter from 36mm to 46mm. The obverse has, in general, the bust of Caracalla wearing a cuirass ornamented with a gorgoneion (p. 70). Sometimes there is a countermark of a wreath and Wroth (1882a,p. 49) suggests that these coins were distributed by the emperor as largesse at the public games. The reverses of the coins record the emperor's visit in a pictorial sequence. (Harl, 1987, p.55). They start with the arrival of the Emperor and the welcome at the City gates. Further coins record the meetings with the City gods and the sacrifices made to them. Yet other coins record the generosity of the Emperor in restoring temples. It is tempting, if not too fanciful, to imagine that at least some of the citizens of Pergamum collected the whole set much in the manner in which our present youth collects medallions of the World Cup.

F ig . 77 c a r a c a l l a : t h e e m p e r o r o n h o r s e b a c k b e f o r e t h e t y c h e a n d AESCULAPIUS, AE 42, PERGAMUM.

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O ne coin (ref.8). Fig.77 shows Caracalla on horseback with his right arm raised in an act of salutation. Standing in front of him is the turreted fem ale figure of the Tyche or City goddess of Pergamum holding a statue of Aesculapius. Tyche, wearing the mural headdress of a protective goddess, symbolised the City and the cult statue of Aesculapius is carried to greet the emperor. On some coins the cult statue is presented to the emperor by a magistrate. Further coins move the scene on and one (ref. 10) shows Caracalla in military dress on horseback being followed by a soldier. In front of Caracalla there is a statue of Aesculapius on a tall pedestal, perhaps now at a stationary position within the city. The next coin (ref.9) shows Caracalla in military dress, this time standing, possibly on steps, in front of the Tyche of Pergamum who once again is holding a statue of Aesculapius. Behind Caracalla a soldier is standing holding Nike in his right hand and a spear in his left hand. This could represent a scene within the City, maybe in front of an official building.

F ig . 78 c a r a c a l l a : t h e e m p e r o r w it h a e s c u l a p i u s , a e 42, p e rg a m u m .

The emperor visited shrines and altars of the City gods and the next coin (re f.ll) shows Caracalla, again in military dress holding a patera over an altar (Fig.78). Aesculapius, holding his snake encircled staff is standing on the other side of the altar facing Caracalla. Yet other coins offer a complex and dramatic picture of the sacrifices and one (ref.12) shows Caracalla, holding a patera, facing Aesculapius with a humped bull between them. Another (ref.13) shows Caracalla, this time in a toga, holding a patera in his right hand and a scroll in his left.

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He is standing in front of a temple seen in perspective which has Aesculapius inside. Between them a figure is striking at a sacrificial humped bull. The function of the scroll may be as a petition to Aesculapius. A park next to the Asclepieion at Pergamum housed the oracular serpents and a cult figure of Telesphorus (p. 59) a local divinity reputed to have been the founder of Pergamum.

FIG. 79 CARACALLA: THE EMPEROR SALUTING THE SNAKE OF AESCULAPIUS WITH TELESPHORUS, AE 44, PERGAMUM.

Another coin (ref.14) shows Caracalla in military dress, carrying a spear in his left hand, saluting with upraised right hand the snake of Aesculapius coiled around a tree (Fig.79). Between the snake and Caracalla is the figure of Telesphorus. The last coin of this series to be discussed (ref.15) is illustrated in Fig.80. The obverse has the bust of Caracalla who is wearing a cuirass ornamented with a gorgoneion. The reverse depicts three temples. One is on the left and one is on the right and are shown in perspective. The third temple is tetrastyle and shows a seated Aesculapius holding a serpent. The construction and restoration of temples was a major part of the Emperor's visit and this coin perhaps celebrates Caracalla's repair of the Asclepieion and the temples to the deified Augustus and Trajan. These memorable Pergamene coins were not the only ones issued by Caracalla during his visit to the east and some are discussed elsewhere in this book. They include the coins of Ancyra honouring the Aesculapian

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FIG. 80 CARACALLA: HIS HEAD. THE OBVERSE OF THIS COIN SHOWS AESCULAPIUS SEATED IN TEMPLE WITH TEMPLE EITHER SIDE, AE 42, PERGAMUM.

Games (p. 42). Caracalla also issued other coins illustrating his interest in Aesculapius and various healing deities. For example in AD 215, the year after his visit to Pergamum, an aureus was issued at Rome (ref. 16).

FlG.81 CARACALLA: THE EMPEROR SACRIFICING BEFORE AESCULAPIUS IN TEMPLE, AUREUS.

The reverse of this coin (Fig.81) shows the em peror in m ilitary dress attended by a figure in a toga and sacrificing out of a patera over a flam ing altar. He is looking at a tem ple show ing four colum ns in front of w hich is a statue of Aesculapius probably copied from the cult statue in the tem ple on the Isola Tiburina (p. 118).

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F ig . 82 c a ra ca lla : aesculapius stan din g with serpen t sta ff , d en a r r js .

Bronze and silver coins depicting Aesculapius were also issued from Rome. A denarius (ref.17) of Caracalla issued in AD 215 shows on the reverse (Fig.82) Aesculapius standing holding a serpent entwined rod with a globe on the ground.

F ig . 83 c a ra ca lla : aesculapius w ith telesph o rus , as .

Sometimes these coins of Caracalla depict Aesculapius with Telesphorus as shown on the reverse (Fig.83) of an as (ref.23) dating to AD 215. Similar types were issued at the same time as the denarius, sestertius and dupondius though there is some doubt whether there was an aureus in the series (Hill, 1989, p. 78). Coins of Apollo Medicus struck by Caracalla are discussed on p. 47 but another interesting depiction is that of Heracles. According to Stevenson (1889, p. 455) Heracles was given the surname of Alexicacus (one who 114

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drives away illness), a name also given to Apollo. Heracles was also a presiding deity over hot springs which could be used for medicinal purposes (see Himera, p. 29). Philostratus (Life of Apollonius, IV.10) says that when a delegation from Ephesus asked Apollonius for help when there was an outbreak of plague, he said he would end it that very day and led them towards the theatre. On his instruction they stoned to death an apparent old beggar who turned out to be a huge dog-shaped evil spirit. A statue of the Averter in the shape of Heracles Alexicacus stood near the spot where the evil spirit was stoned to death. Heracles was also given the general epithet of Prophylax or Guardian at Smyrna (Jones, 1986, p. 108). The modern term 'prophylaxis' meaning preventive treatment against disease is similarly derived. A denarius of Caracalla shows Heracles on the reverse with an olive branch in his right hand and in his left a club and the skin of the Nemean lion (ref.26). PHILIP I (AD 244-249) M.Julius Philippus was a native of Arabia and became emperor after murdering Gordian III. A notable event in his reign (AD 248) was the one thousandth anniversary of the foundation of Rome in 753 BC. Philip and his son, Philip II, were defeated and killed by the future emperor, Trajan Decius. Two of the coins of this emperor deserve special mention as they encapsulate so much of the medical interest of mythological characters on ancient coins. They were both issued from Bizya in Thrace and were very large bronzes of some 40mm in diameter. Both have the bust of the emperor on the obverse and came from the same die. The reverse of the first coin is a most complicated tableau (ref.18). The centre figure is a naked Apollo holding a laurel branch in his right hand, standing between Aesculapius to the left and Hygieia to the right. Aesculapius is facing Apollo holding a serpent entwined staff. Hygieia holds a serpent which feeds from a patera held in her left hand. Telesphorus stands beneath the outstretched right arm of Apollo between him and Aesculapius. Beneath the outstretched left arm of Apollo and between him and Hygieia there is a snake encircling an egg (omphalus or baetyl). In the field above the three major figures are two statues on bases. One is of Fortuna holding a rudder and cornucopiae and the other is of Zeus hurling a thunderbolt. The reverse of the second coin (ref.19) is illustrated in Fig.84 and provides a related and fascinating display. Aesculapius and Hygieia are

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F ig .

84

p h ilip

I:

a e s c u l a p i u s w i t h h y g ie ia

AE 40.

T h race.

shown reclining on a couch and Aesculapius has his right hand on his daughter's shoulder. Beneath Aesculapius is a tripod and beneath Hygieia a staff with a serpent coiled around it. On the left of the group is a tree with a cuirass hanging from it and beneath the branches stands a man dressed in a short chiton plunging his right hand into an amphora. On the right of the main group is shown the forepart of a horse moving to the left, above them is a round shield. The iconography of these most complex coins is unclear but does provoke speculation. CREMATORIA Perhaps not always thought of as medical but certainly to do with matters of public hygiene as well as emotion and religion, is the disposal of the dead. An imperial funeral was an elaborate ceremony especially when the emperor was proclaimed a god. The embalmed body (later a wax image) was carried in procession to the Campus Martius accompanied by leading Romans and various displays and burnt on a funeral pyre. Funeral games were held later. The reverse of a consecration issue sestertius (ref.20) of Antoninus Pius shows his crematorium (ustrinum ) of which remains were discovered in Rome near the Piazza Montecitorio (Fig.85). This is shown as a four storey building in which the funeral pyre was placed, not a temporary structure but a building erected some years previously (Hill, 1989, p. 102).

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FIG. 85 ANTONINUS PIUS: HIS CREMATORIUM SESTERTIUS.

Some reverse types of the Alexandrian series relate to the subject of the preservation of the dead. In ancient Egypt four canopic jars held the embalmed internal organs of the dead person and were placed in the tomb. A canopic jar with the head of Osiris on the top is shown on the reverse (Fig.86) of a coin of Domitian of AD 91/92 (ref. 24). Several second century emperors, e.g. Tiberius and Hadrian, also issued this curious type, sometimes with a pair of canopic jars. These jars are socalled because they were once associated with Canopos, the pilot of Menelaus in the Trojan War who was buried at Canopus, a city on the Canopic mouth of the Nile.

F ig . 86 DOMITIAN: CANOPUS OF OSIRIS, AE 25, ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT.

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FAUSTINA SENIOR Faustina Senior was the wife of Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161) and mother of Faustina Junior (see below). She died in AD 141 and was consecrated by Antoninus who issued many commemorative coins. One of these (ref.21) is indirectly of medical interest because it represents a charity set up by Antoninus to support girl orphans. This denarius has the draped bust of Faustina on the obverse with the inscription DIVI AVG FAVSTINA. The reverse (Fig.87) is inscribed PVELLAE FAVSTINIANAE.

F i c . 8 7 Fa u s t in a S e n io r : 'F a u s t in a ' s g ir l s ', d e n a r iu s .

This charity was known as 'Faustina's girls', and shows Antoninus sitting on a platform with a woman, presumably Faustina, standing behind him. Both lean forward to receive a little girl from a man standing below the platform. Another man is in the foreground pushing a second small girl forward. An aureus (ref.30) issued by Antoninus Pius with the inscription PVELLAE FAVSTINIANAE shows a building in two storeys containing Antoninus and women with children. Other coins are essentially the same as this aureus but with variations in the placing of the characters. FAUSTINA JLN IO R AND FECUNDITAS Anna Galeria Faustina was the daughter of Antoninus Pius and married Marcus Aurelius in AD 145. She died in AD 175. She had many children, perhaps at least thirteen, including the future emperor Commodus (in AD 161). Comments from those responsible for the Imperial midwifery and gynaecology would have been interesting. This family, in varying numbers, is depicted on her coins with the image of Fecunditas. Fecunditas is usually represented as a female figure with a cornucopiae, sceptre, palm branch or caduceus and symbolises the fruitfulness of the

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imperial marriage. A typical example is a denarius struck under Marcus Aurelius (ref.27) which has the inscription FECVND AVGVSTAE on the reverse. It also shows Fecunditas standing between two children and holding two more in her arms. Some coins such as a sestertius (ref.31) issued in AD 161 show as many as six children and the inscription TEMPOR FELIC.

F i g . 8 8 Fa u s t in a ju n io r : Fa u s t in a a n d f a m il y , s e s t e r t iu s .

On the reverse of this coin (Fig.88), Faustina is shown standing between four girls and holding two infants (presumably the twins Commodus and Antoninus). Faustina issued other coins along these marital lines and a denarius (ref.28) depicts Laetitia on the obverse and the words LAETITIAE PVBLICAE. Laetitia, the personification of gladness and joy, was depicted with many attributes and Jones (1990, p. 156) suggests that, on the coins of empresses, Laetitia may signal a birth in the Imperial family. Other coins of Faustina (ref.29) depict Pudicitia representing modesty and chastity. According to the ancient historians, however, Faustina did not always match up to these ideals and her life was tainted with allegations of infidelity and conspiracy. DRUSUS A further comment on Imperial midwifery is a delightful coin issued by Drusus, the son of Tiberius by his first wife, Vipsania. Drusus, born c. 14 BC , was destined to be the heir of Tiberius but died in AD 23, probably poisoned in the intrigues of the praetorian prefect Sejanus. The coin, a sestertius (ref.32), was issued to commemorate the birth of twin sons to Drusus. The obverse, shown in Fig.89, has two crossed comuacopiae with the heads of the children emerging and with a winged caduceus between them; the whole a symbol of prosperity and happiness.

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F ig . 89 dru su s : cad uceus between tw o cro ssed corn uacopiae with h ea d s o f CHILDREN, SESTERTIUS.

COIN LIST 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32.

L.Mescinius Rufus, AR denarius, SRSCI.Augustus.462 L.Mescinius Rufus, AR denarius, SRSCI.Augustus.463 Augustus (Tarraco, Spain), AE, Cohen 158.726 Tiberius (Tarraco, Spain), AE33, GIC234 Q.Rustius, AR denarius, SRSCI.Augustus.513 Titus, sestertius, BMC RE p.261 Caracalla (Pergamum, Mysia), AE47, BMC 15.153.318 Caracalla (Pergamum, Mysia), AE42, BMC 15.154.319 Caracalla (Pergamum, Mysia), AE42, BMC 15.154.320 Caracalla (Pergamum, Mysia), AE43, BMC 15.154.321 Caracalla (Pergamum, Mysia), AE43, BMC 15.155.322 Caracalla (Pergamum, Mysia), AE36, BMC 15.155.323 Caracalla (Pergamum, Mysia), AE44, BMC 15.155.324 Caracalla (Pergamum, Mysia), AE44, BMC 15.156.326 Caracalla (Pergamum, Mysia), AE42, BMC 15.156.327, GIC2534 Caracalla A/, BMC RE148 Caracalla AR denarius, RIC251 Philip I (Bizya, Thrace), AE41, BMC 3.89.8 Philip I (Bizya, Thrace), AE40, BMC 3.90.10 Antoninus Pius,sestertius,BMC RE872- 9(M.Aurelius) Faustina Senior, AR denarius, SRSCII.Faustina 1.262 Augustus, AR denarius, BMC RE430 Caracalla, as, BMC RE292-7 Domitian (Alexandria, Egypt), AE25, GIC889 Augustus aureus, BMC RE p. 19. Caracalla AR denarius, BMC RE35 Faustina Junior AR denarius, BMC RE(M.Aurelius)89 Faustina Junior AR denarius, BMC RE(Ant.Pius)1048 Faustina Junior AR denarius, BMC RE(Ant. Pius)1092 Faustina Senior aureus, RIC(Ant.Pius)397-8 Faustina Junior sestertius, RIC(M.Aurelius)1673-4 Drusus, AE sestertius, BMC RE(Tib)95-97

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CHAPTER X ROMAN FAMILY PRIDE AND MEDICAL ASSOCIATIONS Many Roman coins, particularly in the Republican series, show some medical associations. On these coins often the moneyer refers to the history of his ancestors particularly to draw attention to their achievements. This may have had some connection with what the moneyer himself was trying to achieve in the way of self advertisement and a political career. Some of these medical associations may not be deliberate but they are nevertheless interesting L. RUBRIUS DOSSENUS The Rubria were a plebeian family surnamed Dossenus (Stevenson, 1889, p. 701) and L Rubrius Dossenus issued coins during the Social War and the siege of Rome by Sulla's enemies, Cinna and Marius. Plague broke out c. 87 BC. It spread to the city and there were heavy losses in spite of appeals to the gods including Jupiter, Juno and Minerva and prayers to Aesculapius. These gods were represented on the coins (Foss 1990, pp. 4-5) and a silver quinarius (ref.l) of L.Rubrius Dossenus dating to c. 87 BC shows on the obverse the laureate head of Neptune with a trident behind it and the inscription DOSSEN. On the reverse (Fig.90) there is a depiction of Victory (the Greek Nike) who frequently appears on Roman coins and is winged, armed and with a shield. There is also a very crude representation of a serpent entwined around an altar with the inscription L.RVBRI, said to be that of Aesculapius on the Isola Tiburina in Rome (p. 38). An as, of Rubrius Dossenus in the same series (ref.24) has on the obverse the jugate head of Heracles and Mercury.

F lC .

90

L .r u b r i u s d o s s e n u s : v i c t o r y , s e r p e n t a r o u n d a l t a r , C .87 B C , QUINARIUS.

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Fig. 91 L.RUBRIUS d o ssen u s : temple

with altar en tw in ed by serpent , sh ip ' s prow ,

C.87 BC , AS.

The reverse (Fig.91) depicts a prow of a ship behind a distyle temple which contains a circular altar entwined by a serpent, presumably the altar of Aesculapius. It has been suggested (BMC RR vol.l, p. 313) that these coins, with the obvious reference to Aesculapius and a possible sea voyage (the head of Neptune and the prow of a ship) recall the expedition of 293 BC to Epidaurus (p. 36) in which an ancestor of the moneyer may have played a prominent part. The allusion to Aesculapius on these issues probably refers to the outbreak of plague mentioned above. ACILIA GENS The Acilia were another plebeian family and at least three of them were moneyers who issued coins. One of these was Manius Acilius Glabrio born around 81 BC. He became one of Caesar's lieutenants and issued coins in Rome, in Sicily when quastor there and in Corinth when governor of Achaea.

F ig . 92 MANIUS acilius g la brio : h ead o f sa lu s / valetud o ,C.49 BC , DENARIUS.

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Manius Acilius Glabrio struck a denarius (ref.2) c. 49 BC (Fig.92) which shows on the obverse the laureate head of Salus wearing earrings and a torque with the inscription SALVT1S behind her. On the reverse, Valetudo (or Salus) is shown standing against a column holding a serpent with the inscription MN ACILIVS III VIR VALETV around the outside of the field. The coin is of particular medical interest both with regard to the Acilia gens itself and the depictions of Salus on the obverse and reverse of the coin, It has been suggested (Stevenson 1889, p. 842; Babelon 1.100-1) that the Acilia gens claimed to have introduced medicine to Rome and they derived their name from the Greek word 'to heal'. Pliny (NH, XXIX.vi) quotes Cassius Hemina, an early compiler of Roman history known only from fragments of his writings, who states that the first physician to come to Rome was Archagathus who came from the Peloponnesus c. 219 BC. He was given citizen rights and set up business at the Acilia cross-roads, using public money to do so. He was not the first doctor in Rome but possibly the first to be appointed as a civic physician in the Hellenistic tradition (Jackson, 1988, p. 31, n.33). Archagathus was at first hailed by the people and Senate as vulnerarius or wound healer. Later, however, he was labelled as carnifex or executioner, which is either a comment on the transitory nature of public popularity or an assessment of surgical methods of the time. Pliny further comments that physicians became objects of loathing. The head of Salus on the obverse of the coin (Stevenson, 1889, p. 842) may be that of the goddess in the temple on the Quirinal Hill dedicated by the dictator C Iunius Bubulcus Brutus in 303 BC. Bubulcus ('ploughman') had been appointed dictator to cope with an insurrection of the Aequi and had forced them to submit in a week. He had vowed to dedicate a temple of Health (Safety) when made consul in BC 311 and which he had contracted to do when censor (Livv IX.43 and X.l). J The head of Salus also occurs on coins of D. Silanus, a member of the same gens as Bubulcus, who issued a denarius c. 89-90/91 BC (ref.3). This has on the obverse the diademed head of Salus with SALVS beneath. The reverse shows Victory in a biga and D SILANVS LF in the exergue. The Junia family were originally patrician but were later regarded as plebeian. Salus was an ancient Roman goddess and the personification of health, general welfare and safety of the Roman people and State. She was later identified with the Greek Hygieia (p. 57). Dedications to her implied not only health but also the safety of the state and sometimes the restorative power of the emperor rather than his personal health. It is interesting to note the artistic development from the harsh simple

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features of the original Salus on the obverse of the Acilia coin to the depiction of Valetudo on the reverse. This Hill (1989, p.75) thought to be taken from a statue identified by Pliny (NH XXXIV.xix) as the work of the Greek sculptor Nikeratos. It stood in the Temple of Concord in Rome which was vowed in 367 BC and built at the northern end of the Forum. Valetudo also equates with health perhaps more in the medical sense than Salus but is personified similarly as a female figure with a snake. This dual representation of two goddesses of health on the same coin is intriguing and various hypotheses have tried to explain it. Salus on the obverse could represent the original broad concept of the Roman Salus. The reverse depicts Valetudo equated with the Greek Hygieia, similarly holding a serpent. At this time Hygieia was seen to be separable from Salus but soon, however, became completely identified with her. Later coins depict the goddess feeding a serpent. The Acilia coin is the only time Valetudo appears on a coin (Jones, 1990, p. 314). The inscription on the Acilia coin is MN. ACILIVS. 1II.VIR. VALETV. Manius Acilius Glabrio, at this time, held the position of moneyer though Jones, (1990, pp. 187-8) calls such officials 'mint magistrates' not moneyers as he feels that this latter term is ambiguous. The abbreviation IIIVIR refers to the board of mint magistrates of which he was a member. Mint magistracies may have been part of the cursus honorum in Imperial Times if not under the Republic and the office did not seem to imply any training in financial matters. Other coins show the interest of the Acilia gens in things medical and a bronze coin issued by Manius Acilius Glabrio at Corinth (ref. 19) has the head of Aesculapius on the obverse with a snake-entwined staff on the reverse and the lettering MN ACILI. JUNO SOSP1TA Juno was the daughter of Saturn and the wife of Jupiter and had many attributes (p. 64). Prominent among these was Juno Sospita, the protecting genius of women accompanying them through life from birth to death. Lanuvium was a town some 20 miles south-east of Rome and in 338 BC was granted Roman citizenship by Rome on the dissolution of the Latin League after the Latin War of 340-338 BC. As part of the agreement Lanuvium gave Rome an equal share in the ownership of the famous temple and groves of Juno Sospita (Livy, History o f Rome, 8.14). Lanuvium had a further claim to fame as Antoninus Pius was born there in AD 86 and Commodus in AD 161. Juno Sospita (also known as Juno Sispita and Juno Lanuvina) was

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characterised by her goatskin coat and headdress with the horns of a goat, also the points of her shoes were turned up. She was armed with a shield and lance to protect worshippers. This shield or ancile was of unusual shape with a narrow central section and a broad curving top and bottom. This type was traditionally thought by the Romans to have fallen to earth during a pestilence in the reign (seventh century BC ) of Numa (Jones, 1990, p. 16). Many prominent Roman families who lived in Lanuvium or who had originated from there issued coins and a large number of these recorded the obvious importance of juno Sospita. The Papia were a plebeian family of consular rank originally belonging to Lanuvium. L.Papius c. 79 BC issued a denarius with the head of Juno Sospita on the obverse and a griffin on the reverse (ref.4). There are also symbols on both sides of the coin mostly representing the various trade guilds producing some 235 pairs of variants. The griffin (gryphon), a mythical creature, is regularly associated with Apollo but why it should appear on a coin of Juno Sospita is unclear (Jones, 1990, p. 130). A later issue (ref.5) issued by L.Papius Celsus c. 45 BC has the head of Juno Sospita on the obverse but the reverse shows a female wolf lighting a fire and an eagle fanning the flames, a reference to the legendary origin of Lanuvium. The Procilia family was also of Lanuvian origin and L.Procilius (c. 80 BC ) issued two denarii depicting Juno Sospita.

FlC. 93 L.PROCILIUS: JUNO SOSPITA, C.49 BC , DENARIUS.

On one coin (ref.6) there is the head of Jupiter on the obverse. Juno Sospita appears on the reverse (Fig.93) walking to the right and holding a shield and brandishing a spear and could be a depiction of the cult statue. There is a serpent in front of her. The other coin (ref.7) shows the head of Juno Sospita on the obverse. On the reverse she is shown similarly armed as in the previous coin but this time is driving a biga with a serpent below the horses. The Roscia were a plebeian family of Lanuvian origin and a coin issued

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by L.Roscius Fabatus c. 64 BC (ref.8) further illustrates the story of Juno Sospita who, in her role as the Preserver, was associated with a serpent as a symbol of health and safety. Every year during the festival to honour the goddess, a young girl was chosen to offer food to a snake in the temple. If the snake accepted the offering the girl was a virgin and she returned home safely and with rejoicing. If the offering was refused, this was an evil omen with a year o f sterility to come and the girl was reputedly destroyed by the serpent. The coin has the head of Juno Sospita on the obverse with L.ROSCI below. The reverse shows a girl feeding an erect snake in front of her. There are various symbols on the coin of which some 155 die links are known. L.Thorius Balbus, a native of Lanuvium, issued a denarius c. 105 BC which again showed the regard with which Juno Sospita was held (ref.9). The obverse has the head of Juno wearing her characteristic goatskin. A denarius of the Cornuficia family issued by Q.Cornuficius c. 42 BC (ref.10) has on the obverse the head of Jupiter Ammon (see p.81) which refers to the connection of Cornuficius with Africa (he was propraetor of Africa Vetus). The reverse shows Q.Cornuficius, presumably a native of Lanuvium, standing and being crowned by Juno Sospita. The legend on the reverse Q CORNVFICI AVGR IMP refers to Cornuficius in his capacity as augur. Other associated families such as the Mettia also issued coins depicting Juno Sospita (ref.ll). Such coins are rare in the Imperial series but a denarius (ref.12) issued by Commodus (AD 177-192), who was born at Lanuvium in AD 161, has the head of the emperor on the obverse and on the reverse a classical representation of Juno Sospita with her goat skin helmet and shield, brandishing a javelin and with a snake in front of her. A denarius issued by C.Renius c. 138 BC is yet again illustrative of the difficulties of interpretation.This coin (ref.13) has the head of Roma on the obverse, on the reverse is a female figure in a biga of goats with C RENI below and ROMA in the exergue. This figure, usually identified as Juno Caprotina, might at first seem yet another name for Juno Sospita. It does, after all depict a goddess in close relationship with goats yet some interpretations differ from this possibility. Jones, (1990, p. 152) feels that the title of the goddess was derived from a tree called the goat fig (caprificus) rather than goat (caper) and the coin merely provides evidence for a connection of some kind between Juno and goats at Rome as well as Lanuvium. Hammond and Scullard (1970, p. 203) say that Caprotina is a title of Jurio derived from the Nonae Caprotinae (7th July) or the Nones of the Wild Fig (Caprificus). On this day maidservants had a sham fight with stones (could these have been figs?) which seems to have been an

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old fertility rite. Aids to fertility may be construed as medical and so the Renia coin is included here. COGNOMINA DERIVED FROM A PART OF THE BODY OR FROM DISEASE The Romans had a 'nomen','praenomen' and 'cognomen' as names. The cognomina were derived from many sources and the Romans seemed to have had the present day Welsh facility of giving an apt descriptive and informal modifying name to distinguish individuals with otherwise similar names. Some cognomina derived from parts of the human body or some deformity or disease which characterised the particular person. Such a name could be handed on to descendants who need not, of course, be in the possession of the same characteristic. Pliny (NH, VII) gives some examples of which a well known (if popularly misunderstood) one is of Julius Caesar who was a member of the Julia gens, one of the most ancient clans in Rome. The derivation of the name 'Caesar' has been much debated (Young, 1944, p.2). Among the suggestions are that the word means elephant in Punic and that an ancestor kept one of these animals (elephants do occur on some denarii of Julius Caesar) ,or that an ancestor was known for blue grey eyes (oculis caesios). The name Caesar is also said to derive from the surgical operation required by ancient Roman law on a woman dying in late pregnancy whose body was opened in an attempt to extract a live child (caedare to cut and to deliver a child known as a caesone). This operation had perhaps been performed on a distant ancestor of Julius (Pliny, NH, VII.ix) or the law was named after him. There is a popular belief that Julius Caesar was himself born by Caesarian section though this seems most unlikely as his mother, Aurelia, was alive many years later, which would have been improbable though not impossible after so desperate a measure. The story that Aesculapius was born this way has already been mentioned (p. 14). In his account of Roman names Pliny also says that the name Dentatus was given to children born already possessing teeth, something considered to be bad luck in females. The name Vopiscus was given to cases of a twin being born after remaining in the womb when the other twin had died due to premature birth. Marcus Agrippa acquired the name from the fact that he was was born feet first, aegre partus or born with difficulty, a process said by Pliny to be against nature. Other family names include Brocchus (buck toothed), Scaevola (left handed), Verrucosis (covered in warts). One can only admire the Roman ingenuity in naming people. Some of these names are known to us from

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coins issued by the families concerned. Scaurus means puffy feet or swollen ankles and is a surname of the Aemilia family. It appears on a denarius (ref.26) of M.Aemilius Scaurus and P.Plautius Hypsaeus issued in 58 BC. Names on quite a few coins commemorate eye defects and a denarius (ref.21) issued by L.Volumnius Lf Strabo c. 81 BC is a good example. Strabo comes from the Latin for a squinter and is reflected in our present day medical term of strabismus (squinting or a squint). The ancient plebeian gens of the Considia also issued coins c. 46 BC with the name Paetus (ref.22). This also means having a cast in the eye. Codes ('one eyed') was the surname of the Horatia gens. The most famous member was Horatius Codes who, according to the legend, at the end of the sixth century BC held back the Etruscan army of Lars Porsenna from the wooden Sublician bridge (Pons Sublicius) while it was being demolished. Plutarch (Parallel Lives, Publicola) says that Horatius had the surname Codes from having lost an eye in war. He adds that some maintain that Horatius got this name because he had such a flat nose that his eyes and eyebrows seemed to be joined together and he should originally have been called Cyclopes. Either version is certainly worthy of medical interest. A denarius of the Horatia gens (ref.14) of c. 206-200 BC has the head of Roma on the obverse and the Dioscuri on the reverse. The type (ref. 18) was restored by Trajan (AD 98-117) with the word COCLES added. A bronze coin (ref.25) of Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161) has COCLES on the reverse and Horatius swimming across the Tiber while five military figures stand on a broken bridge, one of whom is striking at the timbers with an axe. Coins depicting the human hand were issued by the Pinaria gens, an ancient patrician family with the surnames Natta and Scarpus. An example of this is the denarius (ref.23) issued by Pinarius Scarpus in 3130 BC which shows an open human hand on the obverse with SCARPVS above and IMP below. Our modern medical term of carpus or carpal bones for the eight small bones in the wrist is related. The Furia gens (P.Furius Crassipes) issued a denarius which is more fully discussed on p. 166.It is only necessary to note here that the obverse has a turreted head of the City with AED CVR and the depiction of a foot behind. The reverse has P.FOVRIVS on a curule chair and CRASSIPES in the exergue. The foot is a play on crassipe meaning thick foot or 'splay foot', a term which has not survived in medical terminology today. Why the foot was 'thick' is not certain. It could possibly have been clubfoot or, in modern medical terms, talipes.

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M. SERGIUS SILUS: AN ARTIFICIAL ARM In ancient time injuries to arms and legs would have occurred as now through disease, accident or warfare. Until the last century a badly injured limb was often treated by amputation to avoid the greatly feared sepsis and gangrene. There was little that could be done afterwards for those with missing limbs other than simple 'peg-legs', crutches, or a stick. Nevertheless a fortunate few did have more sophisticated prostheses, some of mythological origin (Bliquez, 1983). Pelops served up as a meal by his father Tantalus was given a new shoulder of ivory to replace that mistakenly eaten by Demeter. According to Pliny (NH, XXVIII.vi) this was on show at Elis though Pausanias (Guide to Greece, V .13.4-7) says that it had gone in his time (early second century AD) but was one of the objects, along with the bow of Heracles, to accompany Philoctetes (p. 73) when he returned to Troy. Some limb prostheses have been described in classical literature and Herodotus tells in his Histories (IX.34-39) how Hegesistratus cut off part of his foot to escape from the stocks in which the Spartans had placed him to await what might have been a painful execution. He later got a wooden foot but was killed some time after the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC. In 1885 a tomb dating to c. 300 BC was found in Capua near Naples. It contained a skeleton with part of its lower right leg missing but which had been replaced by an artificial lower limb (minus a foot) made of a wood core covered with bronze sheets (Bliquez, 1983). The prosthesis itself was hollowed out at the top end for the leg stump and at the bottom for whatever was used as a foot. How it was attached to the body itself is unclear. A fascinating story of an artificial limb is commemorated on a coin and in the classical literature. A denarius (ref.15) of M.Sergius Silus, issued c. 116 BC , has on the obverse the head of Roma and on the reverse (Fig.94)

F ig .

94

m

.

s e r g iu s s il u s : h o r s e m a n h o l d in g s w o r d a n d h e a d o f b a r b a r ia n ,

115 BC , DENARIUS. 129

c .l

16-

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON AN CIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COIN S

a horseman galloping, holding a sword and a head of a barbarian, with Q and M SERGI below and SILVS in the exergue. The inscription implies that Silus issued these coins in his official capacity as quaestor and under the direct mandate of the Senate. The reverse honours the grandfather of the moneyer, of the same name. He was a famous soldier and distinguished himself particularly in the 2nd Punic War (218-201 B C ). His exploits are well described by Pliny (NH, Vll.xxviii): Sergius in his second campaign lost his right hand; in two campaigns he was wounded twenty-three times, with the result that he was crippled in both hands and both feet, only his spirit being intact; yet although disabled, he served in numerous subsequent campaigns. He was twice taken prisoner by Hannibal (for it was with no ordinary foe that he was engaged), and twice escaped from Hannibal's fetters, although he was kept in chains or shackles on every single day for twenty months. He fought four times with only his left hand, having two horses he was riding stabbed under him. He had a right hand o f iron made for him and going into action with it tied to his arm, raised the siege o f Cremona, saved Piacenza, captured twelve enemy camps in Gaul: all ofivhich exploits are testified by his speech delivered during his praetorship when his colleagues wanted to debar him from the sacrifices as infirm. N.FABIUS PICTOR A denarius (ref.16) issued by Numerius Fabius Pictor c. 126 BC has medical relevance to the Fabia gens, one of the greatest and most ancient clans in Rome. The Fabia gens had one branch surnamed Pictor, 'Painter'. This is said by Pliny (NH, XXXV.vii) to derive from the first holder of the name who c. 303 BC painted the temple of the goddess of Health. The painting was in existence until the time of Claudius when it was destroyed by fire. Fresco painting was a branch of art in which the Romans showed an early interest. The denarius shows the head of Roma on the obverse. On the reverse (Fig.95) is an early member of the family, Q Fabius Pictor seated, holding a flamens cap and with QUIRIN inscribed on a shield. He has N FABI on one side of him, PICTOR on the other and with ROMA in the exergue. Quintus Fabius Pictor took part in the second Punic War (218-201 BC ) and was a Roman senator and historian who wrote a history of Rome in

130

ROMAN FAMILY PRIDE AND M EDICAL ASSOCIATIONS

Fig. 95

N üM ERIU S FABIUS PICTOR: Q.FABIUS PICTOR SEATED WITH INSCRIBED SHIELD,

c.126

BC , DENARIUS.

Greek. He was elected Praetor in 187 BC but could not go to his province of Sardinia because he had also been consecrated as Flamen Quirinalis. The interest of the Fabia in health is also reflected in Livy (History of Rome, 2.48,) when Fabius billeted those wounded after fighting the Etruscans in various patrician houses to be properly cared for. Livy says that more were taken by the Fabia than by any other family. A cistophoric tetradrachm (ref.20) issued at Pergamum by C.Fabius, then the Roman proconsul for Asia (57-56 BC ), has the typical cista mystica (p.27) on the obverse while on the reverse is the usual bowcase between serpents but with the schlangenstab (a short snake entwined Aesculapian staff) on the right (p. 28). It is pleasing to hypothesise that this shows a continued interest of the Fabia in things medical. L VALERIUS ACISCULUS The Valeria gens was one of the oldest Roman families and a cognomen was Acisculus (pickaxe or, perhaps, adze). When a plague affected Etruria the oracle said that the only remedy was the sacrifice of a virgin to Juno. Valeria Luperca, a cousin of the early Roman consul Publicóla, was chosen but an eagle carried off the sword she was about to use to kill herself. The bird put a hammer on the altar and threw the sword at a heifer. Valeria sacrificed the heifer and restored the sick by touching them with the hammer. Denarii were issued (ref. 17) c. 45 BC which show the head of Apollo Soranus and a pick-axe on the obverse. There is some dissent about the reverses. One opinion is that these show the head of Valeria or Valeria on a heifer. Others identify these as the Aphrodisian Sibyl and that on other related coins the bird is an owl and not an eagle, the heifer is actually a bull and therefore the figure represents Europa, a Phoenician princess who was abducted by Zeus in the form of a bull (Jones, 1990, p. 314).

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ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON AN CIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COINS

COIN LIST

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26.

L.Rubrius Dossenus, AR quinarius, SRSCI,Rubria 4 Mn.Acilius Glabrio, AR denarius, SRSCI,Acilia 8 D.Silanus Lf, AR denarius, SRSCI,Junia 17 L.Papius, AR denarius, SRSCI,Papia 1 L.Papius Celsus, AR denarius, SRSCI,Papia 2 L.Procilius, AR denarius, SRSCI,Procilia 1 L.Procilius, AR denarius, SRSCI,Procilia 2 L.Roscius Fabatus, AR denarius, SRSCI,Roscia 3 L.Thorius Balbus, AR denarius, SRSCI,Thoria 1 Q. Cornuficius, AR denarius, SRSCI,Cornuficia 2 M. Mettius, AR quinarius, SRSCI,Mettia 1 Commodus, AR denarius, SRSCII,Commodus 270 C.Renius, AR denarius, SRSCI,Renia 1 Horatius, AR denarius, SRSCI,Horatia 1 M.Sergius Silus, AR denarius, SRSCI,Sergia la Numerius Fabius Pictor, AR denarius, SRSCI,Fabia 11 L.Valerius Acisculus, AR denarius, SRSCI,Valeria 14 Trajan, AR denarius, SRSCII,Trajan(restored coins).2 Manius Acilius (Corinth), AH, Babelon l.p .l0 7 ,n o .ll. C Fabius (Pergamum, Mysia), AR cistophoric tetradrachm, SGC 3952. L.Volumnius Lf Strabo, SRSCI,Volteia 6. C.Considius Paetus, SRSCI,Considia 2-11 Pinarius Scarpus,SRSCI, Augustus 498 L.Rubrius Dossenus,AE as, BMC RR vol.l, page 313; Craw348/6 Antoninus Pius, AE, Cohen 127, Stevenson (1889, p. 222) M.Aemilius Scaurus and P.Plautius Hypsaeus, AR denarius, RCV 299

132

CHAPTER XI THE WATER SUPPLY OF ROME Any community must have a secure and sufficient water supply not only for drinking but for public hygiene and sanitation, a field in which the Romans achieved some notable results. An adequate supply of water for drinking, bathing and to carry away sewage was an expected public facility and extremely important for the health of the people. It must be remembered that the causation of disease by micro-organisms was not known. Drainage for sanitary reasons, based on scientific principle, had to await the nineteenth century and discoveries such as the malarial parasite and the typhoid and cholera bacillus. The provision of suitable water for domestic use and the disposal of excreta and similar wastes produces major problems ; nevertheless the Romans had a clear and practical knowledge of what was required (Amulree, 1973, Garrison 1929). Vitruvius, a Roman architect and engineer wrote a comprehensive treatise On Architecture c. 27 BC. He gave the following advice in the choosing of a water supply: For o f all things, not one seems to be so necessary for use as water, since the nature o f all animals, though it be deprived of the use o f corn, can maintain life from shrubs or meat or fish or some other provender. But without water, neither the animal fram e nor any virtue o f food can originate, be maintained, or provided. Hence great diligence and industry must be used in seeking and choosing springs to serve the health o f man. On Architecture VIII.c.iii.28 The discovery and testing o f springs is to be pursued in the following manner. When they are abundant and in the open, we are to observe and consider, before we begin to lay the water on, what is the physique o f those who live in the neighbourhood. If they are strong, o f clear complexion, free from distortion and from inflamed eyes, the water will pass. On Architecture. VIII.c.iv.1 Early Rome had only the River Tiber and various wells and springs to supply this need and the provision of wholesome water from distant sources became essential. The aqueducts (aquae ductus a channel of water) of Rome and the Empire were a major achievement of Roman engineering and nine of the eleven aqueducts of Rome are described in On the aqueducts o f Rome by Frontinus (Sextus Julius Frontinus c. AD 35-103, who was curator aquarum or water commissioner in Rome in 97 AD).

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ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON AN CIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COINS

...the duties o f water commissioner, an office which concerns not merely the convenience but also the health and even safety o f the City,...Aqueducts, Prologue 1 The effect o f this care displayed by the Emperor Nerva, most patriotic o f rulers, is felt from day to day by the present queen and empress o f the world; and will be felt still more in the improved health o f the city, as a result of the increase in the number o f the works, reservoirs, fountains, and water basins. No less advantage accrues also to private consumers from the increase in the number o f the Emperor's private grants; those also who with fear drew water unlawfully, now free from care, draw their supply by grant from the sovereign. Not even the waste water is lost; the appearance o f the City is clean and altered; the air is purer; and the causes o f the unwholesome atm osphere, which gave the air of the City so bad a name with the ancients, are now removed. Aqueducts, 11.88 The first aqueduct in Rome was the Aqua Appia completed in 312 BC by Appius Claudius Caecus which carried water from springs near the Via Praenestina to the Porta Trigemina. Appius Claudius also completed the Via Appia (the Appian Way) from Rome to Capua and later to Brundisium. The Aqua Appia was followed by the Anio Vetus in 272 BC. The censor, Manius Curius Dentatus, was one of those responsible and the name Dentatus has been discussed on p. 127. The Aqua Marcia was completed in 144 BC carrying excellent water from its intake near the Via Valeria to the east of Rome. Pliny (NH, XXI.xxiv) said that the first prize for the coolest and most wholesome water in the whole world belonged to the Aqua Marcia, a gift of the gods. A further series of aqueducts followed until the completion of the Alexandrina in AD 226. While it is such constructions as the triple tiered bridge of the Pont du Card at Nîmes which remain the most obvious and memorable remains of the Roman aqueduct, it should not be forgotten that the channel was often underground in pipes or in conduits of stone built construction with inspection chambers at regular intervals. These conduits were carried across obstructions such as valleys and ravines not only on walls or arches but using sophisticated hydraulic engineering such as the inverted syphon. The choice of piping was difficult as lead was weak and bronze far too expensive though other forms such as earthenware pipes were used (Vitruvius VUI.c.vi). The Romans were capable of massive engineering feats of this nature but it has to be said that they were not always

134

THE WATER SUPPLY O F ROME

successful and the Younger Pliny in a letter to the emperor Trajan (Letters, 10,37), describes how the citizens of Nicomedia had spent much money on building two aqueducts which did not work. The Younger Pliny was asking for the help of an engineer or architect to prevent a third failure. Trajan, in his answer, (Letters, 10.38) agreed that the people of Nicomedia must be provided with a water supply but suspected that some people may have profited by this starting and abandoning of aqueducts. He instructed Pliny to find out who w'as responsible and to report back. The supply of water in this way was obviously very expensive and its importance was recognised from the start. Under the Republic, the aediles were responsible but the supply was maintained under Augustus by the curator aquarum, of consular rank. He was assisted by adiutores or technical advisers, procurators who were responsible for day to day administration and a staff of skilled slaves, aquarii, whose numbers rose to about 700 in the time of Claudius. Water gauges and other means such as time limits were used to measure and control the supply (Stambaugh 1988, p. 349). Although in the beginning all water was for public purpose to be distributed to public fountains and baths, citizens were later allowed to rent a water supply by inserting a branch pipe into the main channel. It was probably only the rich who could afford the luxury of private piped water, private baths and latrines. Most people had to make do with the public supply. AQUEDUCTS ON COINS Aqua Marcia. The Aqua Marcia was said to have been built by Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome from whom the gens Marcia claimed descent. The aqueduct was restored and extended to the Capitoline Hill by the praetor Q. Marcius Rex in 144 BC whose equestrian statue was on the terminal castellum. The aqueduct is represented in a rather crude manner on asses (ref.l) of C.Marcius Censorinus (88 BC ). Two arches of the aqueduct are shown. Under the left arch is a statue of Victory on a spiral column and under the right arch is a ship's prow. The same aqueduct may be represented earlier (Jones, 1990, p. 22) on a denarius issued by Man. Aemilius Lepidus (ref.2). This shows on the reverse an equestrian statue on a triumphal arch. A denarius of L. Marcius Philippus issued c. 56 BC (ref.3) shows on the obverse the diademed head of Ancus Marcius with ANCVS below and a lituus behind. On the reverse (Fig.96) there is a row of five arches with a mounted figure on top with PHILIPPVS above and AQVA MR (MARC,MRC or MARCI) between the arches. This is probably to represent a raised section of the aqueduct with a statue of Q Marcius Rex on it. This coin

135

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON AN CIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COINS

F ig .

96

l m a r c iu s p h il ip p u s : e q u e s t r ia n s t a t u e o f q .m a r c iu s r e x o n a q u a m a r c ia ,

C.

56 BC , DENARIUS.

was one of those restored by Trajan (AD 98-117) who struck Republican type denarii to bring back memories of the glorious past and to link them with the present (even more glorious) Empire. A denarius of Trajan (ref.4) has the diademed head of Ancus Marcius on the obverse. On the reverse an equestrian statue stands on an aqueduct with PHILIPPVS behind it and with AQVA MAR between the arches. Aqua Virgo Claudius converted an arch of the Aqua Virgo into a monumental triumphal arch to commemorate victories in Germany. This is probably shown on an aureus of AD 46 (ref.5). In AD 51/2 Claudius converted another arch of the Aqua Virgo into a triumphal arch to celebrated victories in Britain.This is shown (Fig.97) on the reverse of an aureus (ref.6) issued in AD 46 (it antedated the conversion!).

F ig . 9 7 C la u d iu s : arch o f A q ua V irgo celebratin g victo ries in B ritain ,

AD 46,

AUREUS

Aqua Traiana The Aqua Traiana was dedicated in AD 109 and the reverse of a bronze sestertius of AD 115 (ref.7) shows a statue of the Genius of the aqueduct (Fig.98) which would have surmounted the terminal castellum. 136

THE W ATER SUPPLY O F ROME

Fig. 98 TRAJAN: c a s t e llu m

of

a q u a TRAIANA, se ste rtiu s .

The Genius is reclining under an arched grotto supported by two columns with SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI and SC AQVA TRAIANA in the exergue. Aqua Alexandrina The Aqua Alexandrina constructed by Severus Alexander in AD 226 also had a terminal castellum in the form of a monumental fountain, the Nymphaeum Alexandri. This is probably depicted on an as of Severus Alexander issued in AD 226 (ref.8) which shows on the reverse an archway on an arched portico with two wings either side and a semicircular basin in front. LATRINES AND SANITATION After a good supply of water has been provided, there is a need to take it away and dispose of used water. This could be as an effluent from baths and fountains or when it has been used to flush lavatories. Latrines were a logical accompaniment to the public baths which required a wellconstructed drainage system for the effluent water which could also have been used to flush latrines. Public latrines were found elsewhere other than with baths and Juvenal (Satires, 111.28) comments bitterly on leaving Rome in the hands of sanitary engineers and architects who were, he suggests, originally public performers in travelling shows. The public latrines were communal and companionable with gossiping users sitting side by side. Martial (Epigrams Xl.lxxvii) observed: Vacerra dallies for hours and sits a whole day in all the closets. Vacerra wishes to dine, not to empty his bowels The majority of Romans undoubtedly lived in squalor in the insulae or large blocks of flats in Rome, few of which had their own toilets. People had to use the public facilities. Every well-appointed Roman house of the 137

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON AN CIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COINS

better class was eventually provided with latrines which were often n ea r the kitchen. Aelius Lampridius (Antoninus Heliogabalus, 15.6-18.3) gives a highly colourful account of the emperor Elagabalus (AD 218-22), also known as Heliogabalus, notorious for his religious fanaticism and debaucheries, who was killed in a latrine and whose body was later thrown into a sewer and then into the Tiber. Elagabalus had another stercoraceous claim to fame as Lampridius records that he also defaecated into golden vessels and urinated into vessels made of murra or onyx (Antoninus Heliogabulus, 29.8-32.4). It is a matter of argument as to how much of the Augustan History is fact or fiction so such stories need to be treated with reserve. The Roman influence on latrines persists up to the present day, at least in France and Italy, where the traditional street urinal is still known as a Vespasienne or Vespasiani. The Emperor Vespasian (AD 69-79) placed a tax on the city urinals whose contents were used by fullers to clean woollens. Suetonius (The Twelve Caesars, Vespasian 23) tells us that when his son, Titus, complained, Vespasian handed him a gold coin and asked if it smelled bad as it came from the urinals. CLOACA MAXIMA The main drain of Rome, the Cloaca Maxima, originally an open water course later made into a canal, drained north-east Rome and was designed to drain the swampy valley between the Campidoglio, the Palatine and the slope of the Esquiline Hill which, once drained and reclaimed, became the Forum Romanum. A forum was an open space of ground where the people met for the transaction of public business and for the sale and purchase of provisions. The building of the Cloaca is traditionally ascribed to Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of Rome 534-510 BC (Livy, History o f Rome, 1.56). Much of the earlier work was probably done by Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of Rome (616-579 BC ) who, according to Livy (History o f Rome, 1.39), drained the low lying areas around the Forum and the valleys between the hills by sewers leading down into the Tiber. A lot of the existing sewer was built by M. Vipsanius Agrippa around 33 BC. Pliny (NH, XXXVI.xxiv) gives a fascinating description of the Cloaca in his day ...the city sewers, the most noteworthy achievement o f all, seeing that hills were tunnelled and Rome ...beneath which men travelled in boats...Through the city there flow seven rivers meeting in one channel. These, rushing downwards like mountain torrents, are constrained to sweep away and remove everything in their path...

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TH E W ATER SUPPLY O F ROME

For 700 years from the time o f Tarquinius Priscus, the channels have remained well-nigh impregnable. In the Forum there was a shrine of Venus Cloacina, The Purifier. This is represented on denarii (ref.9) of L Mussidius Longus, in 42 BC.

99

100

F ig . 99 L. MUSSIDIUS LONGUS, SHRINE o f VENUS CLOACINA,C.42 BC , DENARIUS. F ig . 100 a . postum ius albin u s : th e dioscuri at the lacus ju tu rn a e , c .96 bc , DENARIUS.

The reverse (Fig.99) depicts a round platform inscribed CLOACIN on which stand two statues of Venus Cloacina. It has been suggested (Hill, 1989, p. 11) that this reverse type of Venus the Purifier has some reference to the purification of the State by the proscriptions which occurred after the battle of Philippi in October 42 BC. The word cloaca survives in modem English as the name given to the chamber opening to the outside at the end of the gut in birds, reptiles, most fishes and some rare mammals such as the duck-billed platypus. This chamber also receives the genital and renal ducts. A similar structure occurs in the very early human embryo but the primitive cloaca soon splits into two parts, one of which will form the rectum and the other the bladder and urethra. Sometimes in these species a faulty development will give rise to a congenital abnormality and a persistent cloaca. HEALING SPRINGS The hot springs at Himera have already been mentioned (p. 29) and the Romans were great users of waters that were said to have curative properties. Pliny writes at length on this in the NH, (XXXI.i-xxxiv). He says, for example: ...some waters are good for sinews or feet, or for sciatica; others for 139

ASPECTS O F M EDICINE ON AN CIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COIN S

dislocations or fractures; they purge the bowels; heal wounds; are specific for head, or for ears; NH.XXXI.iii He goes on to say that other waters cure infertility, eye complaints, insanity, stone in the bladder and so many other things that even Pliny is constrained to say: But if anybody thinks that some o f these statements are incredible, he has to learn that in no sphere does Nature show greater marvels,.. NH.XXXI.xviii Frontinus (Aqueducts 1.4) also speaks of healing springs when discussing the water supply of Rome: Esteem for springs still continues, and is observed with veneration. They are believed to bring healing to the sick, as, for example, the springs of the Camenae, of Apollo, and of Juturna.

The Lacus Jutum ae is near the Temple of Castor and Pollox on the south side of the Roman Forum. This spring was said to have curative properties and was sacred to the nymph, Juturna who, Virgil tells us in the Aeneid (XII.124-57), was given immortality by Jupiter as recompense for losing her virginity to him and was put to preside over pools and rivers. Around the spring were shrines dedicated to Juturna and to the Dioscuri. There were also rooms to accommodate the sick who visited the shrine. Statues and groups found in the shrine include Aesculapius and Telesphorus (Hill, 1989, p. 78). The Lacus Juturnae is depicted on the reverse (Fig.100) of a denarius of A.Postumius Albinus (ref. 10) issued c. 96 BC. This portrays the Dioscuri with their horses drinking at the spring shown as a small fountain. COIN LIST

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

C. Marcius Censorinus, as, BMC RR Rome2419-20, Man.Aemilius Lepidus, AR denarius, SRSCI, Aemilia 7 L.Marcius Philippus, AR denarius, SRSCI, Marcia 28 Trajan, AR denarius, SRSCII,Trajan (restored coins)28 Claudius, aureus, BMC RE36 Claudius, aureus, BMC RE29 Trajan, sestertius, BMC RE975-6 Severus Alexander, as, RIC450, RCV2278 L.Mussidius Longus, AR denarius, SRSCI,Mussidia 6,7 A.Postumius Albinus, AR denarius, SRSCI, Postumia 5a

140

CHAPTER XII VARIOUS MEDICAL ASSOCIATIONS Items used in medicine other than plants (Chapter VII) are also depicted on ancient coins. While such a depiction may not have a specific medical context on a particular coin, such coins do form an illustration of something which was used medically at the time. Various Greek and Roman coins, perhaps not intentionally, also depict subjects which are of interest to the medical historian and so this chapter will be a miscellany of topics. CUPPING VESSELS The concept of bad blood and the need to get rid of it from the body has been the cause of lakes of blood being spilt in the name of medical therapy. According to the theory of the humours, all body fluids were thought to be composed of varying proportions of blood (hot and wet), phlegm (cold and wet), yellow bile (hot and dry), black bile (cold and dry). It was thought that when these humours were in balance, the body is in health; excess or deficiency causes illness or a specific temperament (hence 'in a bad humour', phlegmatic, sanguine, bilious). To regain a balanced state, i.e. health; diet and medicines would be prescribed according to their perceived properties together with other measures such as blood letting, emetics and purgatives to get rid of these bad humours. Blood was a prime offender; it was not known in antiquity that blood circulated (Harvey published De Motu Cordis in 1628 and described this) and it was thought to ebb and flow and therefore be liable to stagnate. Blood letting is one of the most ancient methods of therapy and has been much practised up to relatively recent years. The blood may be removed from the body by various techniques of which the most obvious is by cutting a vein (phlebotomy) and allowing the required amount to flow into a receptacle. The name 'phlebotomist' is a recent revival to describe the hospital technician whose job it is to take blood samples for testing. In order to avoid the cumbersome methods of venesection, physicians have also used other methods such as leeches or cupping. In this latter technique small cups are warmed and applied either to the unbroken skin (dry cupping) or to the scarified skin (wet cupping). The partial vacuum formed by the cooling of the cup draws the blood to the surface. A selection of seventeenth century and later cupping vessels is shown in

141

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT CREEK AND ROMAN CO IN S

the monograph by Bennion (1979) but such techniques were also used in antiquity even in Ancient Egypt where blood letting by scarifying and puncturing the skin or by leeches was popular (Lyons and Petrucelli, 1978, p. 98). Celsus in On Medicine (II.9-11 ) devotes considerable sp ace to blood letting and may be said to represent the developed view of the practice in classical times. He says that there is scarcely any malady in which blood may not be drawn and while agreeing that some writers show concern about its use in the young, the elderly and the pregnant, maintains that what matters is the strength of the patient and anyone in good health may be treated safely. He describes the technique of using a scalpel to open a vein and its resulting problems. He also (On Medicine, 11.11) describes cupping and that this may be done either on the intact skin or when it has been cut beforehand with a scalpel. These cupping vessels were of a very distinctive shape with a bell-shaped body and narrow neck. From its resemblance to a gourd the name for a cupping vessel was sikya in Greek and cucurbitula in Latin (i.e. a little gourd derived from cucurbita, a gourd). A gourd shape became an easily recognised symbol of the medical profession and as such was depicted on tomb stones. Cupping vessels also appear on ancient coins and one can probably assume that this is a reference to the cult of Aesculapius, as will be shown by the following examples. A bronze coin (ref.l) of Epidaurus dating from the fourth to third century BC shows the head of Aesculapius on the obverse. The reverse shows Epione (p. 56) standing pouring from a phiale into a patera. A cupping vase is in the field. Another bronze coin of Epidaurus of the same date (ref.2) has the head of Aesculapius on the obverse and on the reverse there is a thymiaterium (censer or incense burner) with a cupping vessel either side. Another related coin (ref.3) of Epidaurus has a similar reverse to this last coin but with the head of Apollo on the obverse. This is interesting as it is another example of the similarity between Apollo and Aesculapius. Some bronze coins of Aegiale in Amorgos depict cupping vessels on the reverse. One of these, Fig. 101, dating to the third to second century

Fig. 101 A e g ia le : P a n / cupping v esse l, t h ir d t o s e co n d c e n tu r y B C , AE18.

142

VARIOUS MEDICAL ASSOCIATION S

BC (ref.4), has the goat-legged Pan on the obverse holding a pedum (shepherd's staff). On the reverse is a cupping vessel and some lettering. A similar bronze coin of Aegiale (ref.5) has a cupping vessel on the reverse. The obverse shows a bearded head which could be either Zeus or Aesculapius. A bronze coin of Atrax near Larissa (ref.6) dating to 400344 BC shows not only a cupping vessel on the reverse but a pair of forceps as well. This, probably, also had medical significance. THE HOMERIC SLING M ajno (1975, p. 143) has suggested that the bandages used in Homeric tim es may have resembled the sling (sphendone), made of wool which is sim ilar to a hairband worn by a woman. Homer describes this use of the sphendone in the Iliad (13.599): Then great-hearted Agenor pulled the spear from his, Helenos, hand, and bound the hand up in length o f twisted sheep's wool, the loop o f a sling, which his lieutenant held out for the shepherd of the people.

Fig. 102 elis: h e a d o f olym pia w ith h a ir in sp h en d on e, 360 - 324 bc , s t a t e r .

A stater of Elis in the Peloponnesus (ref.8) dating to 360-324 BC shows on the obverse (Fig.102) the head of Olympia, the nymph personifying the sacred site, with her hair in a sphendone. AN ANCHOR AND THE MAN OF SALAMIS Hippocrates wrote of the man of Salamis who fell on an anchor and was wounded in the belly (Epidemics 5.32). He added tersely that the man suffered a lot and although a potion was administered, neither vomiting or purgation was induced. A Greek silver drachm issued c. 450-400 BC in Apollonia Pontica in

143

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON AN CIENT C R EEK AND ROMAN COIN S

Thrace (ref.9) shows on the obverse (Fig.103) just such a pointed anchor which could have caused this type of injury (Majno, 1975, p. 194).

FlC.103

AITOLLONIA PONTICA, ANCHOR,

450-400 BC

AR DRACHM

EMPEDOCLES AND PLAGUE AT SELINUS Selinus (modern Selinunte) in western Sicily, was near the river Selinus, which was probably named for the wild celery on its banks (page 86). The plant was taken as the badge of the town and appeared on its coins. A famous citizen of Selinus was the philosopher Empedocles. Diogenes Laertius writing in the earlier half of the third century AD (Lives of Eminent Philosophers, VIII.70) tells us : We are told that the people o f Selinus suffered from pestilence owing to the noisome smells from the river hard by, so that the citizens themselves perished and their women died in childbirth, that Empedocles conceived the plan of bringing two neighbouring rivers to the place at his own expense, and that by this admixture he szveetened the waters. When in this way the pestilence had been stayed and the Selinuntines were feasting on the river bank, Empedocles appeared; and the company rose up and worshipped and prayed to him as to a god. What the plague was is not known but could possibly have been malaria. The Selinuntines thought highly of Empedocles and conferred divine honours on him. There are various accounts of the manner of his death but one appealing traditional account (Diogenes Laertius, VIII.69) is that he threw himself into Mount Etna to make people believe he was a god. Apparently the volcano threw up one of his bronze slippers and so exposed the plot. Selinus issued some magnificent coins and a popular view is that these were struck to celebrate the part that Empedocles played in stopping the plague though Jenkins (1990, p. 90) doubts this connection. A tetradrachm (ref.10) of Selinus (466-415 BC ) illustrated in Fig.104

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Fig. 104 S e u n u s: A p o llo a n d A rtem is in q u a d rig a / r iv e r g o d S e lin o s , 466-415 B C , tetradrach m .

depicts on the obverse a quadriga driven by Apollo and Artemis standing side by side. Apollo is shooting an arrow. The reverse shows an archaic figure of the river god Selinos walking naked and holding a phiale over an altar in front of which stands a sacrificial cock. Behind this a bull is standing on a pedestal with a selinon leaf above. According to Head (1911, p. 168) Apollo appears here as the healing god (Alexicacus) who stopped the plague with his arrows (p. 45). Artemis is in her capacity as Eileithyia (p. 52) because the plague had fallen heavily upon women as Diogenes Laertius commented in the passage above. The river god is making formal libations to the healing gods in gratitude and the bull represents the river as an untamed natural force or maybe as a sacrificial animal. The cock was used in sacrifices to Apollo and Aesculapius (p. 28).

Fig . 105 S e lin u s: H e r a c le s seizing C r e t a n B u ll/ r iv e r g o d H ypsas, 4 6 6 -4 1 5 B C , DIDRACHM.

On a didrachm of the same period (ref. 11), illustrated in Fig. 105, the obverse shows Heracles struggling with a bull which he is about to slay with a club. The reverse shows the river god, Hypsas, sacrificing before a snake entwined altar. Behind the god there is a crane running off to the right with a selinon leaf above it. This is said (Head, 1911, p. 168) to show the hero Heracles struggling with the destructive water and, perhaps, the marsh bird is leaving because the swamps have been drained. A silver litra (ref. 12) of Selinos, again of the same period, has on the obverse a nymph or goddess raising her veil with her left hand and holding an 145

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enormous serpent which stands coiled and erect before her. The reverse shows a man headed bull. The obverse could represent a local health goddess and the bull on the reverse the river Selinos. A similar silver litra (ref.13), again of the period 466-415 BC , shows on the obverse a nymph seated on a rock and offering her breast to a serpent. The reverse also depicts a man-headed bull and a selinon leaf above. HERACLES AND THE HYDRA Empedocles was not the only Greek to be associated with the evils of marshland. It was the second Labour demanded of Heracles that he slay the Hydra, the many headed snake in the swamps of Lerna. The Lernean Hydra is commemorated on coins and an early example is a silver stater (ref.35) of Phaestus in Crete dating to c. 300-270 BC. This shows on the obverse Heracles slaying the Hydra with its companion crab nipping at his heels. Grmek (1991, p. 272) mentions the belief of some that this monster was the personification of malaria and that Heracles was attempting to make the area healthy; a fanciful suggestion which one could hope was true. The Lernean Hydra has come into the story of medical coins elsewhere as Heracles dipped his arrows into the bile of the Hydra. The deadliness of the bile killed Chiron (p. 72), wounded Philoctetes (p. 73) and eventually killed Heracles himself. Even the crab nipping the heels of Heracles has a place in medical history. Hera set it in the sky as the constellation Cancer, the fourth sign of the Zodiac. The modern use of the word 'cancer' to denote a malignant spreading tumour needs no elaboration. The medical use of the word possibly derives from the tumour and its engorged vessels looking like a crab and its legs extending, seemingly, from every part of its body. MITHRADATES VI EUPATOR (THE GREAT) AND MITHRADATIUM Mithradates VI, Eupator (the Great), succeeded to the throne of Pontus in Asia Minor (now N.E.Turkey) and reigned between 120-63 BC. He was one of the most remarkable monarchs of his age. He greatly increased his kingdom and so came into conflict with the Romans. He was eventually defeated by Pompey the Great and committed suicide to avoid capture. The fear of poisoning was ever in the minds of ancient rulers and other eminent people of the time. To prevent poisoning, they employed tasters, always selected an arbitrary selection of dishes and continued to be suspicious of everything and everybody. It is understandable that they

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would be interested in finding a substance which would protect against all poisons, known and unknown. Mithradates was particularly interested in antidotes to poisons. From an early age he took an alleged antidote to one poison which was said to act slowly and cumulatively and to bring about death with all the symptoms of natural disease. The story is told in detail in the monograph by Watson (1966). Mithradates realised that there were many possible poisons and he would need to take a number of antidotes. He hoped he had created a compound medication effective against all poisons. The exact formulation of this universal antidote or Mithradatium is not known but Celsus (On Medicine V.23,3) listed 36 ingredients. Pliny (NH, XXIX.viii.24) listed 54 ingredients and commented cuttingly: The Mithridatic antidote is composed o f fifty-four ingredients, no two o f them having the same weight, while o f some is prescribed one sixtieth part o f one denarius. Which o f the gods, in the name o f Truth, fixed these absurd proportions? No human brain could have been sharp enough. It is plainly a showy parade o f the art, and a colossal boast o f science. And not even the physicians know their facts;... Mithradates took this antidote for the rest of his life. It is difficult to assess the efficacy, if any, of such a mixture and it seems medically highly improbable but legend has it that when Mithradates was defeated by Pompey, he wanted to poison both himself and his daughters. The girls, who had never taken the antidote, died quickly but the poison had no effect on Mithradates who was killed by one of his faithful followers. There are some very attractive coins of Mithradates VI, for example a

FlC. 106 MITHRADATES VI, EUPATOR: HIS HEAD, 120-63 BC , AV STATER.

gold stater (ref.14) dating to 85/4 BC which shows on the obverse (Fig.106) the characteristic diademed head of the king with long flowing hair. The concept of a universal antidote in one form or another persisted

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for centuries and developed into the complex mixture called theriac. There were many kinds of theriac composed mainly of herbs though some had animal ingredients such as vipers flesh. The preparation of theriac persisted until relatively recently and strict controls were placed on the manufacture to ensure the quality as theriacs were of considerable commercial value. One variety, Venice Treacle, was still in use in London in 1722, but its use in Britain petered out in the eighteenth century. Some types were still in use in other countries well into the following century. ALEXANDER OF ABONUTEICHOS, THE FALSE PROPHET The story of Alexander is told in an amusing and lengthy account by the satirist Lucian (Alexander the False Prophet) which is well worth reading in its entirety. Lucian visited Abonuteichos on the southern coast of the Black Sea in Paphlagonia c. AD 160. He wrote his story as a letter to his friend, Celsus, some 15 years later (c. AD 180). Lucian describes Alexander as quick witted with an active mind and a handsome boy who sold his companionship to those who sought it. He was said to have been taught by a follower of Apollonius of Tyana (first century AD). Alexander secretly bought a large snake and buried bronze tablets in the temple of Apollo at Chalcedon. He buried them in such a way that they were certain to be discovered since they stated that Apollo and his son, Aesculapius, were moving to Abonuteichos. Alexander then went to Abonuteichos and succeeded in convincing the local inhabitants that he was descended from Perseus on his mother's side and that his father was Podalirius, the son of Aesculapius (p.61). This was in spite of the fact that the people knew his parents were of humble origin. Alexander secretly buried a goose egg in which he had placed a new borne snake in the temple being built in Abonuteichos. When he 'discovered' it, he said to the watching crowd that he held Aesculapius. After a few days he brought out a large snake for which he had made a human-like head of linen and which could open its mouth and dart its tongue in and out. He convinced the locals that this was 'the grandson of Zeus' and named it Glycon. Alexander said that the new god would make prophecies and give oracles and that those requiring this service should write their question on a scroll, seal it and give it to him (plus, of course, an appropriate fee). Alexander took the scroll and secretly opened it before the prophecy was given. In some selected and favoured cases the prophecy was given by the god talking, i.e. an 'autophone'. Alexander made predictions and gave oracles which were not

148

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necessarily medical. To some people he prescribed medical treatment, diets and remedies such as his 'cytmides', a restorative ointment made of bear (or maybe goat) grease. The cult of Glycon prospered for some years c. AD 150 -170 and had some very influential followers particularly P.Mummius Sisenna Rutilianus who was to become proconsul of Asia and to marry Alexander's daughter. Lucian in his account said that he met Alexander and bit his hand though deemed it wise to pretend friendship. Lucian did however flee from the anger of Alexander and learned later that the crew of his ship had been asked to throw him overboard but refused. Alexander predicted that he would live to 150 but Lucian records that he died at the age of seventy from an infected leg. This was thought by Lucian, never one to hide his feelings, to be a very suitable end for a son of Podalirius (poda-, leg).

FIG. 107

ANTONINUS pius: t h e s e r p e n t g l y c o n , a e

29,

a b o n u te ic h o s .

Coins exist struck in Abonuteichos which depict this story of Alexander. A bronze coin (ref.15) of Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161) has the head of the emperor on the obverse. On the reverse (Fig. 107) there is the serpent Glycon and an inscription with the names of Glycon and Abonuteichos. Alexander petitioned Marcus Aurelius to change the name of Abonuteichos to Ionopolis (Lucian, Alexander 58) and to strike a new coin bearing the likeness of Glycon on one side and he suggested that the reverse should depict Alexander wearing the fillets of his grandfather, Aesculapius, holding the falchion of his maternal ancestor, Perseus. This request seems to have been granted, at least in part. Beginning with the reigns of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180) and Lucius Verus (AD 161-169) the name of Ionopolis appeared on coins. A bronze coin (ref.29) of Lucius Verus, for example, has the bust of the Emperor on the obverse

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and a depiction of the serpent Glycon on the reverse with the names o f Ionopolis and Glycon. A bronze coin (ref. 16) of Geta (AD 209-212) also has Ionopolis on the reverse together with a depiction of Aesculapius resting on a long serpent staff. Glycon appears on coins (ref.17) of Trebonianus Gallus (AD 251-253) showing that the cult survived after the death of Alexander in about AD 171. A human-headed snake, similar to the depictions of Glycon of Ionopolis, appears on coins of Nicomedia several hundred miles to the west in Bithynia. An example is a bronze coin (ref.30) of Caracalla (AD 198-217) which has on the reverse a coiled snake with a large beardless human head. Caracalla also issued a bronze coin from Pautalia in Thrace, across the Black Sea from Ionopolis (ref.34) which has on the reverse an erect serpent with four coils, very like the other depictions of Glycon. While on the subject of monstrous snakes depicted on ancient coins, Agathodaemon, the 'Good Daemon', a primitive fertility spirit was depicted as a serpent with wings or human head and torso and was worshipped in some Greek and Egyptian cities in association with Serapis (p. 69). Agathodaemon appears, for example, on the reverse of a billon tetradrachm of Nero (AD 54-68) from Alexandria (ref.33). ARCHIATROS (CHIEF PHYSICIAN) The Romans provided an organised medical service for their army (p. 156) but it is uncertain whether this was copied by other states. It has been much debated whether there was a public health service in antiquity provided by the State but there is evidence that from time to time individual cities offered inducements for qualified and competent doctors, the majority of whom were of Greek descent to come and practise medicine within their walls. How Archagathus was invited to Rome c. 219 BC has already been described (p. 123). Suetonius (Julius Caesar 42) tells us that Roman citizenship was granted to foreign doctors living in Rome and (Augustus 59, 81) that the emperor was successfully treated for a serious illness by his physician, Antoninus Musa (p. 104). The Emperor was so grateful that he exempted physicians from public taxes, though it is uncertain how far this applied and how eligible practitioners were chosen. Further advantages accrued to physicians under succeeding emperors and this particularly applied to various physicians who were employed by the civic authorities. Privileges could include such benefits as tax immunity, provision of premises, exemption from military service and other public duties. The description archiatros (chief physician) is found on inscriptions and

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coins as well as in classical literature and Nutton (1977) discusses at considerable length its derivation and meaning. Perhaps originating as a personal physician to a ruler, the term frequently indicated a civic physician though when this use began is disputed and possibly not before the first century AD. The relationship of the archiatros to the Greek 'public doctor' is also arguable though this office started at least as early as the 4th century BC (Nutton, 1977). The archiatros was officially approved by the city and given various privileges so that such posts seemed to be attractive. They probably became a financial burden to local taxpayers and Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161) put a limit on the number of doctors that a city could employ with such exemptions. A bronze coin (ref.18) of Antoninus Pius from Heraclea Salbace in Caria has the bust of Antoninus on the obverse. The reverse shows a naked Heracles standing, resting on a club and holding a bow. The inscription on the reverse is of particular interest as it states that Statilius Attalus, Chief Physician, dedicated the issue to the gymnastic college of the 'Neoi'. The title of the official physician might be advertised on coins during his official magistracy and when his authority was necessary to mint them.

F ig .

108

m a r c u s a u r e l i u s : h is h e a d / a e s c u l a p i u s s e a t e d , s t a t i l i u s a t t a l u s , a e

31,

HERACLEA SALBACE.

The name of Statilius Attalus also occurs on a bronze coin (ref.19) of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180) from Heraclea Salbace (fig.108). This has the head of Marcus Aurelius on the obverse and on the reverse Aesculapius is shown sitting and holding a patera and crooked staff with a coiled serpent at his feet. There is the same inscription as on the coin of Antoninus Pius. Another bronze coin (ref.20) of Marcus Aurelius also from Heraclea Salbace has a similar reverse but the inscription gives only the name of the town.

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On some bronze coins from Mytilene on the island of Lesbos (ref.21) issued during the time of Matidia, niece to Trajan (emperor AD 98-117) and mother-in-law of Hadrian, there is a female bust on the obverse said to resemble Matidia. However the inscription raises the possibility that it could be Dada the wife of Samon, the Cretan who was associated with Scamander, the father of Teucer, the first king of the Trojans. Dada could also have been the name of some important individual in Mytilene as the names Andromeda and Nausicca may also have been similarly used on coins of Mytilene (Jones, 1986, pp. 14, 65,154,172). The reverse has a youthful male figure who is standing naked holding a chlamys in his left hand and with his right hand resting on a column around which a snake is coiled. There is an inscription with the name Pancratides. This obvious Aesculapian reference is thought to be to a man called Pancratides rather than to be seen as an epithet describing Aesculapius himself. It could have been in memory of a Mytilenean physician represented on the coin after his death as the god of healing. Another related bronze coin from Mytilene of the same period (ref.22) has a youthful male head on the obverse, probably of Pancratides as the inscription reads this. The reverse shows a female figure possibly holding a short staff in her right hand. The inscription indicates this may be Dada. XENOPHON OF COS Xenophon of Cos was the personal physician of the Emperor Claudius and went with him to Britain during the Claudian invasion of AD 43. At the petition of Xenophon, Claudius proposed to exempt Cos from taxation (Tacitus, Annals o f Imperial Rome xii.61). The Emperor said that the first inhabitants of Cos had been Argives or perhaps Coeus, the father of Latona (Leto) the mother of Apollo (p. 54). Claudius said that Aesculapius had brought the art of healing to Cos and Xenophon was a descendant. Tacitus (Annals xii.67.2) gives further interesting details of Xenophon's involvement with Claudius. Agrippina, the emperor's wife, planned to give her husband poison sprinkled on a dish of mushrooms. Claudius did not die as quickly as hoped and Xenophon, under the pretext of helping the suffering emperor by offering to make him vomit, put a feather dipped in a quick-acting poison down the throat of Claudius. Suetonius (Twelve Caesars, Claudius 44) has a different version but admits it is a disputed story. Pliny (NH, XXII.xlvi) commented that it was considered rash to eat mushrooms after the disrepute into which they fell after the murder of Claudius. Cos issued bronze coins dating to Imperial Times which depict

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Xenophon. A bronze coin of Cos (ref.27) has the head and name of Xenophon on the obverse. The reverse depicts a serpent staff with a title o r distinction of an issuing magistrate who is presumably in this case, a priest of Aesculapius. It is interesting to note that the same die was used for the reverse as for a coin depicting Hippocrates( p. 7).

Fig .

109 cos:

head an d nam e o f xenophon , im perial tim es , ae

22.

Another similar bronze coin of Cos (ref.28) also has the head and name o f Xenophon on the obverse (Fig.109). The reverse, however, depicts Hygieia standing and feeding a serpent from a patera. THE G YMN ASI ARCH The Greeks and Romans were very involved in the concept of physical fitness and the observation of Juvenal (Satires X.356) that you should pray to have a sound mind in a sound body was truly believed. The gymnasium was in effect a sports centre, open to all citizens where people could practise many kinds of athletic pursuits though later it also became a centre of intellectual activities and sometimes had a library. There would be running tracks, jumping pits and facilities for throwing the discus and javelin as well as baths, dressing rooms and other indoor facilities. Vitruvius On Architecture (V.xi) gives details on the construction of such a building which he says should be rectangular with colonnades and spaces for philosophers, teachers of rhetoric and other students. There should be various exercise and preparation areas and hot and cold baths. Vitruvius comments further on running tracks and a stadium for spectators. He gives amusing but lively details such as that paths should be wide enough so that those wearing clothes would not be disturbed by athletes who have used oil. The supervision of the gymnasium was under the gymnasiarch though the office may, certainly later, have been for those who could afford to subsidise the activities. The office of gymnasiarch was sometimes commemorated on coins and a bronze coin of Augustus from Pergamum

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(ref.24) has his head on the obverse. On the reverse is a simple wash basin and a legend containing the word gymnasiarch.

F ig. 110 VALERIAN I: GYMNASIARCH,

AH 28, ANAZARBUS

A later bronze coin (ref.25) of Valerian I (AD 253-260) from Anazarbus in Cilicia has a more complicated picture on the reverse (Fig.110) where a male figure, the gymnasiarch, wearing a himation, stands in front of a basin with an askos (a pouring vessel) at his feet and a branch beside the basin. TESSERAE Tesserae are coin-shaped objects made of wood, leather, stone or metal but were not generally used as coinage and may have had functions such as tickets, tokens, gambling and gaming pieces. Some varieties were often worn around the neck to ward off or cure diseases and were perhaps more of an amuletic nature. In Ephesus (Obermajer, 1968) Artemis was honoured and invoked as the goddess controlling human health, particularly childbirth and young people. She was represented by a bow or a deer though at Ephesus she was also worshipped as the goddess of fertility and was polymastic (p. 51). She could provoke or cure insanity and paralysis or cause sudden death particularly in women. Women would sacrifice their chitons, belts, and hair to Artemis as a goddess of childbirth to be granted an easy childbirth. Some tesserae exist bearing magical formulae and probably dedicated to Artemis as shown by images such as deer on the obverse. A small bronze example (ref.23), illustrated in F ig .Ill, is dated to the first century AD and has the figure of a stag on the obverse which is kneeling and looking back. On the reverse is a bee with an inscription around it which seems to be meaningless and is probably a magic charm possibly

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F ig . I l l EPHESUS: STAG/ BEE, ? MAGICAL INSCRIPTION, FIRST CENTURY AD, A E l 8.

connected with the worship of Artemis and used as a remedy for various diseases. The bee and the stag were both emblems of the Ephesian Artemis and common on the coins of Ephesus. The priestesses of the goddess were indeed thought by some commentators to be known as honey bees (melissai) and the stag was an animal associated with her and part of the cult statue. Another kind of tessera called spintria are intriguing (Jones, 1990, p. 295; Stevenson 1889, p. 758). This word is derived from the Greek 'sphinkter' meaning the anal muscles and was used to describe prostitutes of either sex who practised sodomy. The word spintria is now used to describe a type of tessera (often with a numeraD.probably dating to the first century AD, showing explicit sex activity. They have been said to be brothel tokens and perhaps therefore with medical consequences if not medical intent.

F ig . 112 s p i n t r i a : c o u p l e h a v i n g i n t e r c o u r s e / XII, f i r s t c e n t u r y a d .

A n example (ref.31) shows on the obverse a couple having intercourse. The reverse has a large Roman numeral XII, the meaning o f which should provoke interesting argum ents (fig. 112).

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APOTHECARY VASE A bronze coin (ref.7) of Diadumenian (AD 218) from Prusias ad Hypium in Bithynia has been variously interpreted. Diadumenian reigned briefly as caesar and perhaps as Emperor with his father Macrinus from AD 217-218. The coin has the bust of Diadumenian on the obverse. The reverse depicts what the British Museum Catalogue describes as a vase around which is a coiled serpent and what Sear describes as a narrow stemmed cup. Hart (1966a) suggests that the association of a snake and such a vessel meant it might be an apothecary jar. TRAJAN'S COLUMN Trajan's Column, some one hundred feet high, is in the Forum of Trajan in Rome. At the base is the sepulchral vault of the emperor which once contained his ashes but these have now gone. Originally a figure of Trajan was on top of the column but this too has been lost, together with the eagles which stood at the corners of the base. The column was dedicated 12 May AD 113 to celebrate the victories of Trajan in the Dacian wars and there is a frieze around the column which depicts a series of tableaux of episodes in the war. One scene on the frieze, for example, shows first aid being administered (plate 1). A medical orderly examines the injured arm of an infantry man while a cavalryman has a thigh wound bandaged. The medical services of the Roman army are adequately and extensively described elsewhere (Jackson, 1988, Nutton, 1969) and it is sufficient here to make only a few comments. By Imperial Times the Roman army had become a formidable fighting machine and much effort was expended to ensure not only adequate treatment of those wounded in battle but to maintain the health and fitness of the soldier. Emphasis was placed on hygiene, adequate food, and water supply, for disease was often more effective in destroying an army than the enemy itself. The ill or wounded soldier could expect competent handling from first aid on the field of battle to hospital treatment and convalescence. After the Romans it was to be a long time before such facilities were again available to the soldier.The Column first appeared on a sestertius of AD 107 but this antedates the dedication by six years. There are no eagles on the base so this may be an early design. A definitive version (ref.26) appears on the reverse (Fig.113) of coins from AD 114 onwards on which the frieze is shown as diagonal lines and pellets and with sketches of the reliefs on the base. The doorway and eagles are carefully done but the statue of Trajan is out of proportion though very well shown.

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F ig .

113

tra ja n : th e column o f trajan , den a riu s .

JUBA II OF MAURETANIA Juba I, the king of Numidia, committed suicide after the battle of Thapsus in 46 BC having supported Pompey in North Africa against Julius Caesar. His son, also Juba, was carried by Caesar to Rome where he became one of the most learned men of his day. In 25 BC Augustus bestowed on Juba the kingdom of Mauretania. This king of Mauretania (25 BC -AD 23) was said to have written books in Greek on many topics including history, geography and painting. None of his works survives save in quotations by other writers such as the Elder Pliny who said that he was even more famous for the brilliancy of his learning than for kingly rank (Clayton, 1989; Pliny.NH V.i.16). Juba II also wrote on medicinal matters and Pliny (NH, XXV.xxxviii) records that Juba discovered a plant on Mount Atlas (p. 165) which he called euphorbia after his own physician, Euphorbus who was the brother of Antonius Musa (p. 104), a physician who saved the life of Augustus by hydrotherapy .The juice of euphorbia was said to be of great potency and it improved the sight and acted as an antidote to snake bite and all kinds of poisons. Juba II issued many coins and an example is a denarius (ref.32) where

Fig. 114 ju b a II: h e a d o f ju ba, 25 bc- a d 23, d en ariu s.

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the obverse (Fig.114) strikingly depicts the diademed head of the king and the inscription REX 1VBA. COIN LIST 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Epidaurus (Peloponnesus), AE15, BMC 10.157.12 Epidaurus (Peloponnesus), AE15, BMC 10.158.23 Epidaurus( Peloponnesus), AE14, BMC 10.158.24 Aegiale (Amorgos, Cyclades), AE18, BMC 9.83.2, SGC3066 Aegiale (Amorgos, Cyclades), AE15, BMC 9.83.3 Atrax (Thessaly), AE14, BMC 7.14.3 Diadumenian (Prusias ad Hypium, Bithynia), AE17, BMC 13.202.7. GIC2993 8. Olympia (Elis, Peloponnesus), AR stater, BMC 10.66.75, SGC 2887. 9. Apollonia Pontica (Thrace), AR drachm, BMC 15 (Mysia).8.1, SGC1654. 10. Selinus( Sicily), AR tetradrachm, BMC 2.140.25, SGC906. 11. Selinus Sicily), AR didrachm, BMC 2.141.34, SGC 908. 12. Selinus (Sicily), AR litra, BMC 2.142.40, SGC 909. 13. Selinus (Sicily), AR litra, BMC 2.142.41 14. Mithradates VI, A/ stater, BMC 13.43.1, SGC7247 15. Antoninus Pius (Abonuteichos, Paphlagonia), AE29, BMC 13.83.1 16. Geta (Ionopolis, Paphlagonia), AE18, BMC 13.83.2, GIC2814 17. Trebonianus Gallus (Ionopolis, Paphlagonia), AE29, GIC4311 18. Antoninus Pius (Heraclea Salbace, Caria), AE37, BMC 18.120.25, GIC1423 19. Marcus Aurelius (Heraclea Salbace, Caria), AE31, BMC 18.120.26, GIC1602 20. Marcus Aurelius (Heraclea Salbace, Caria), AE38, BMC 18.120.27 21. Matidia (Mytilene, Lesbos), AE22, BMC 17.199.161 22. Matidia (Mytilene, Lesbos), AE23, BMC 17.199.163 23. Ephesus (Ionia), AE18, BMC 14.70.186-190, GIC4944 24. Augustus (Pergamum, Mysia), AE19, BMC 15.138.239-241 25. Valerian I (Anazarbus, Cilicia), AE28, BMC 21.40.44 26. Trajan, AR denarius, BMC RE451-5 27. Cos (Islands off Caria), AE14, BMC 18.215.215. 28. Cos (Islands off Caria), AE19-22, BMC 18.215.212-214 29. Lucius Verus (Ionopolis, Paphlagonia), AE29, Waddington p. 169,no.l2 30. Caracalla (Nicomedia, Bithynia), AE27, Waddington p. 545, no.225 31. Spintria: Jones, (1990) p. 295 32. Juba II, AR denarius, GIC5971 33. Nero (Alexandria, Egypt), billon tetradrachm, BMC 16.21.173, GIC632 34. Caracalla (Pautalia, Thrace), AE28, BMC 3.144.30 35. Phaestus (Crete), AR stater, BMC 9.62.11-13

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CHAPTER XIII MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY AND ANCIENT COINS M uch medical terminology of today is derived from classical Greek or Latin. Some of these terms were used in ancient times but in many cases they emerged later such as those introduced by Renaissance anatomists. M any of these later words were eponyms, i.e. the commemoration of a new discovery by attaching to it the name of the discoverer or an associated character especially those derived from mythology. Many words, particularly anatomical, were derived from Greek or Latin describing size, shape or position often with a most marvellous degree of imagination sometimes not totally believable. Modem scientific nomenclature, in a world losing its knowledge of classical languages, is mainly logic based, gaining in precision but losing in grandeur and historical perspective. The thrust in medicine is to oust names derived from the discoverer of the bodily part or disease and to substitute jargon which, while descriptive, is sometimes of dubious etymological origin. Many medical terms newly coined today appear to be classical in origin but arc derived from a mixture of Latin or Greek roots to give a bastard word posing as good English. Some modern medical terms, particularly those of human anatomy, derive from subjects which are illustrated on coins of the time though, of course, not with any medical intent. A taenia (fillet), for example, was a ribbon which could be used for securing the hair and, as such, is depicted on many ancient coins (p.31). The modern use of the word 'taenia' to describe the long flat ribbon-like appearance (perhaps between four to eight metres long) of the beef tapeworm (Taenia saginata) is striking but not what the Greeks meant. Even the Latin word for coins themselves, nummus, is used in medicine. The term 'nummular' derived from the diminutive nummulus means like a pile of coins and is used to describe several appearances in disease. In the skin disease, psoriasis, for example, there are various descriptions of the many different ways the rash appears and nummular psoriasis is present when the characteristic plaques are round or oval in shape and of one to many centimetres in diameter and occurring characteristically on the limbs and back. Nummular may also refer to the characteristic formations of red blood cells into coin-like stacks or rouleaux. Even rouleau has an original meaning of a number of gold coins made up into a cylindrical packet. Another anatomical term has an interesting numismatic relevance.

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Mediastinus (Jones, 1990, p. 177) is used to describe an inferior servant or a minor official and is literally one who is in the middle. The term is on an inscription found at Ostia where an official is described as the overseer of the mediastini of the mint. The term mediastinum exists in medicine in a most important way. The mediastinum is the block of tisssue in the central part of the chest between the sternum (breast bone) and the vertebral column (back bone) which contains the heart, great vessels, trachea (windpipe), oesophagus and separating these structures from the lungs either side. The modern term describes the central aspect of the Latin word but is, perhaps, a bit short on the original minor servant role. Lewis (1990) suggests that the derivation from mediastinus, a servant, is doubtful and a possible alternative is a corruption of per medium tensum ('right through the middle'). Other examples will be described in the following sections where coins illustrate a modern medical term though some of these have been mentioned above (p. 127) when considering Roman names. It should be remembered that until quite recently many medical practitioners would have been well versed in Latin at least and perhaps Greek and quite understandably would have used these languages to coin new medical terms. The roots of these words would have been understandable to practitioners world wide not only those who were English speaking. It is often a source of annoyance to the layman that medical terminology is (apparently) so tortuous. This is a mistaken view and attempts to rephrase medical terms in more everyday language would lead to a dangerous loss of precision. The name levator labii superioris alaeque nasi may seem contrived to the uninitiated but is no less preferable than in English 'the muscle at the side of the nose lifting the upper lip.' The phrase is well understood and has a specific meaning to many different language speakers. It has to be admitted that it is not a name in everyday use. Medical folklore has it that the name has been recited by doctors as a grace when suddenly called on to do this at formal dinners when their memories or classical education otherwise failed them (Knight, 1980, p. 31). FIBULA This word has two meanings. It is a safety pin type of brooch used to pin a garment together or the long white head covering (suffibulum) worn by some Roman priests or priestesses. The brooch appears frequently on ancient coins on the garments of imperial figures and occurs on bronzes of Heraclea in Lucania (Jones, 1986, p. 92). In medicine, the fibula or 'brooch bone' is the long slender bone lying on the outer side of the leg against the more

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substantial tibia between the knee and the ankle. It is so named from its resemblance to a pin of a brooch of which the tibia forms the other part. PRIAPUS Priapus was a god of fertility and the son of Dionysus (or maybe Hermes) either by Aphrodite (Pausanias.IX.31.2) or a local nymph. He is represented as a stunted figure with a greatly enlarged erect penis (ithyphallic). Priapus became a god of gardens to the Romans who placed statues of him in their gardens to scare off intruders. Priapus appears on coins of Lampsacus in Mysia at the eastern end of the Hellespont where his cult was well established and where an ass, a symbol of lust, was sacrificed to him. A silver tetradrachm of Lampsacus (ref.l), dating to the second century BC has the bearded head of Priapus who is horned and wreathed with ivy on the obverse.

Fic. 115 M arcu s A u relius : P riapus , AE28, L ampsacus A much later bronze coin of Lampsacus (ref.2) of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180) has the head of Marcus on the obverse. It is amusingly explicit in its depiction of Priapus on the reverse (Fig.115). This is described as a statue of Priapus holding a cantharus over a lighted altar and with a thyrsus. The ithyphallic nature of the god is shown in no uncertain fashion and would certainly cause a protest if used on the coinage of today. A bronze coin (ref.14) of Philip I (AD 244-249) from Lampsacus has a good depiction of Priapus standing in a hexastyle temple with an arched lintel and holding a cantharus or wine cup. Attitudes to sex were a lot less prudish in ancient times and these depictions should not be thought of as pornography in present day terms. Indeed the male genitalia (pudenda virilia) were used as a mint mark on the reverse (Fig.116) of a silver stater dating to the mid-fourth to mid-third century BC (ref.12) from Alyzia in Acamania, a district of western Greece.

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FIG. 116 ALYSIA: HEAD OF ATHENA WITH PUDENDA V1RIL1A BEHIND, MID-FOURTH CENTURY BC, STATER.

Interest in such gods was widespread even in Rome where the god Mutinus Titus, identified with Priapus, had a temple and was worshipped by young women. A denarius (ref.3) illustrated in Fig.117 and issued by Q.Titius c. 90 BC is said to have the head of Mutinus Titus on the obverse. The reverse shows the winged horse, Pegasus, who was associated with this divinity. The horse is on a tablet inscribed with the name Q.TITI. The name of Priapus has survived in medicine as the condition referred to as 'priapism', a persistent erection of the penis usually unrelated to sexual stimulation.

Fig 117

q.

titiu s : h e a d

of

m u tinu s titu s / pegasus c .9 0 b c , d en a riu s

MALLEUS, MALLEOLUS: The word malleus, a hammer or mallet, and its diminutive, malleolus, is illustrated on some Roman Republican coins. Denarii of the Poblicia (ref.4) issued by C. Publicius Malleolus about 96 BC show the head of Mars on the obverse with a mallet above. This is a 'speaking type' of coin (p. 84) referring to the cognomen of the Poblicia, a plebeian family of consular rank. The terms survive in several ways in modem medicine. The malleus is one of the small bones of the middle ear transmitting the

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vibrations of the ear drum to another small bone, the incus (the anvil). The term malleolus is used to describe the bony prominences of the ankle. That on the inside, the medial malleolus, is the expanded lower end of the tibia projecting down the inner side of the ankle. That on the outside of the ankle, the lateral malleolus, is a bony prominence at the end of the fibula (see above). ASTRAGALUS, TALUS This Latin word means 'knuckle bone'. The astragalus appears on ancient coins and is beautifully shown on the reverse (Fig. 118) of a didrachm of Athens dating to 550-520 BC (ref.5). According to Jenkins, (1990, p. 25) this, and other devices on similar coins are probably related to the cult of Athena rather than being an emblem of prominent Athenian families (Wappenmiinzen or 'Blazon coins').

f i g . 118 A t h e n s : a s t r a g a l u s ,

550-520 B C ,

d id r a c h m .

The game of 'knucklebones' is also illustrated on coins. A bronze coin of Septimius Severus (AD 193-211) from Ephesus (ref.6) shows on the reverse (Fig.119) two naked children playing knucklebones. The figure of Ephesian Artemis in the background leads to the suggestion that the scene should be interpreted as one of fortune telling or part of a religious ceremony. In medicine today astragalus is a somewhat old fashioned word to describe the ankle bone on which the tibia rests. The more modem word is 'talus' which again is derived from the Latin for ankle bone. Talus was also a mythical figure and the last survivor of the age of bronze who was presented to the island of Crete by Zeus (or Hephaestus) to protect it. He guarded the island by walking around it and throwing huge rocks at strangers or embracing them having made himself red hot or he threw them into a fire. His one vulnerable spot was a vein closed at its end in an ankle by a nail or membrane.

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F ig .

119 se p tim iu s

S e v e r u s : c h i l d r e n p l a y i n g k n u c k l e b o n e s w i t h e p h e s ia n

ARTEMIS IN THE BACKGROUND, AE

21,

EPHESUS.

Talus is depicted on a stater of Phaestus in Crete of 300-270 BC (ref.10). The obverse (Fig. 120) of this coin shows the naked and winged figure of Talus holding a stone in each hand, the right one of which is raised.

fig .

120

p h a e s tu s : t a l u s ,

300-270

b c .S t a t e r .

GUBERNACULUM This word is Latin for a rudder or a device for steering and is used to describe the rudder which appears as an attribute of Fortuna on Roman coins. The importance of the goddess Fortuna to Augustus has already been mentioned (p. 106). She appears characteristically on the reverse (Fig.121) of an as (ref.9) of Domitian (AD 81-96), holding a rudder in her right hand and a comucopiae in her left. Gubemaculum is also used today in medicine to describe the fibromuscular band which, in the developing fetus, passes from the lower end of the testis, at that time in the abdomen, through the developing muscular layers of the abdominal wall to end in the swelling which will become the scrotum. The testis descends from the abdomen into the scrotum but the precise mechanism was once much argued. It was thought that the gubemaculum guided the testis in its passage and was therefore understandably thought to be an important steering device and so named.

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FlG.121 DOMITIAN: FORTUNA WITH RUDDER AND CORNUCOPIAE, AS.

ATLAS Atlas was a descendant of the Titans. He had the onerous task of holding up the pillars of heaven which support the sky. He became identified with the Atlas Mountains in north-west Africa and with the southern Pillar of Heracles. Mount Atlas was also the place where the medicinal herb, euphorbia, was discovered by Juba II (p. 157). Atlas appears on a coin (ref.18) of Antoninus Pius with Jupiter as the main figure. Jupiter holds a sceptre and thunderbolt, he stands in front of an altar embellished with an eagle on top and with a bas-relief of Jupiter crushing the Titans. Atlas is kneeling behind Jupiter and is carrying the world on his shoulders. Atlas is used today in medicine to describe the first cervical vertebra (i.e. of the neck). This is little more than a ring of bone with two facets which articulate with the skull and could be said to be carrying our personal world. BICEPS Biceps with its meaning of 'two-headed' can be applied to Janus though 'bifrons' or double forehead is more usual. Janus was the god of beginnings, looking back to the past and forwards to the future. He gives his name to the first month of the year. The two-headed and bearded portrait of Janus appears regularly on Republican coins though only infrequently later on imperial coins. An early example is a gold stater of 222-205 BC (ref.16). This has the head of Janus on the obverse (Fig.122) and on the reverse a youth holding a pig with two soldiers. Today the term biceps is used for that well known muscle of the upper arm which is flexed to show strength. It is called the biceps because it arises from two heads, one from the glenoid cavity and one from the 165

ASPECTS O F M EDICINE ON AN CIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COIN S

FlG. 122

ROMAN REPUBLIC: HEAD OF JANUS, AV STATER.

coracoid process, both parts of the scapula or shoulder blade. It then passes down the front of the upper arm to be inserted into the radius, one of the bones of the forearm. SELLA A sella was a backless seat of varying design and was used to symbolise authority. The sella curulis was used by the curule magistrates. The sella castrensis was a transportable folding chair used by military commanders and the sella quaestoria was used by the quaestor urbanus. In modem medicine the sella turcica, 'the Turkish Saddle', is an outdated term to describe the saddle-shaped depression in the sphenoid bone of the skull which contains the pituitary gland. Modem medical usage prefers hypopophyseal fossa or pituitary fossa. A denarius (ref.7) issued by P. Furius Crassipes c. 84 BC has several interesting features (see also p.128). The obverse has a representation of the City or Tyche wearing the typical turreted headdress ('the mural crown'). Behind is the inscription AED CVR and a deformed foot pointing downwards.

F ig .

123

p .f u r iu s c r a s s ip e s : c u r u l e c h a i r ,

c.84

b c , d e n a r iu s .

The reverse (Fig. 123) has a curule chair with the inscription P FOVRIVS and CRASSIPES in the exergue. This coin was struck by Furius

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MEDICAL TERM INOLOGY AND AN CIENT COINS

Crassipes when he was appointed curule aedile, the highest grade of city magistrate, symbolised by the curule chair. The head of the City possibly referred to his duties which included the general administration of the city and its buildings, markets, public games, public baths, fountains and aqueducts. This was an important public health responsibility. The deformed foot is a play on the name Crassipes or 'thick foot'. The Furia gens was one of the great patrician gens of Rome but how this branch derived its peculiar surname is uncertain. BULLA One Latin use of this word, normally meaning a bubble, refers to a small round hollow amulet suspended around the neck and worn by children until they were adult. A denarius (ref.15) of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus issued c. 61 BC has a female head, possibly of Roma, on the obverse. The reverse depicts an equestrian statue of a famous ancestor of the moneyer, also named Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, who was consul in 187 BC. The statue placed in the Capitol celebrated the occasion when he served in the army while only fifteen years old and saved the life of a fellow citizen by killing an enemy. He is shown in the costume appropriate to a patrician youth and is wearing a bulla (Jones, 1990, p. 41; Stevenson, 1889, p. 14). A bulla is used in medicine today to describe a large fluidfilled blister of the type which occurs in severe burns. CELLA The Latin word cella meaning a room has as one of its particular meanings the shrine of the gods image in a temple (p. 33). This is depicted on a coin of Gythium in the Peloponnesus which shows Aesculapius in his temple with the cella behind him. This coin has already been discussed on p. 40. From 'cella' is derived the modern word 'cell' meaning the discrete units of tissues which form their basic level of organisation and the fundamental building block consisting of cytoplasm and a nucleus surrounded by a cell membrane. The term was used in the seventeenth century by Robert Hooke when he observed that cork, when viewed through his primitive microscope, consisted of small compartments. That tissues are composed of cells and how these functions are a major foundation of modern biological and medical science. ACHILLES TENDON The story of Achilles is a familiar one and how the greatest warrior

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among the Greeks at Troy was dipped in the Styx by his sea goddess mother, Thetis, in an attempt to make him immortal. She did, of course, hold him by the heel and this weak spot, 'the Achilles Heel', was to be the cause of his death when Paris with the aid of Apollo wounded him there with an arrow. The two muscles, the gastrocnemius and the soleus form the flesh of the calf and unite to form a strong common tendon which is inserted into the calcaneum (the bone which projects backwards to form the prominence of the heel). It seems quite understandable that this large tendon at the back of the ankle should be named after Achilles but it is also named after Hippocrates (p. 6), a little known alternative for what anyway is now usually called the Tendo Calcaneus. Achilles appears with his mother, Thetis, on coins of the Thessalians and of Pyrrhus of Epirus. A silver didrachm of Pyrrhus (ref.8) dated to between 280 and 277 BC has the head of Achilles on the obverse wearing a crested helmet with a griffin.

F ig. 124

PYRRHUS: THETIS s e a t e d ON HIPPOCAMP AND HOLDING A SHIELD,

280-277 BC ,

DIDRACHM.

His mother, Thetis, is shown on the reverse (Fig. 124) sitting on a hippocamp (a mythical creature resembling the sea horse with a horse's head and body, often winged, and with a fishlike tail). It adds to the story to realise that the zoological name for the seahorse, a fish, is hippocampus and that this is also the name of a part of the brain so called from its shape which resembles the sea horse. Part of the hippocampus is also known as Ammon's Horn (p. 83). CHLORIS The story of Chloris, the daughter of Niobe, has been told above (p. 55) and how originally named Meliboea, she turned green with fear when her brothers and sisters were killed by Artemis and Apollo when Niobe insulted Leto. She stayed green for the rest of her life and so was renamed Chloris, Pausanias (Guide to Greece, 11.21.10) says she sensibly

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M EDICAL TERM INOLOGY AND AN CIENT COIN S

appealed to Leto for help and this is depicted on a coin of Julia Domna (p. 55). There are some modern medical words derived from the Greek word meaning green and one is related to the story of Chloris. Chlorosis, the green sickness, is associated with a severe iron deficiency, anaemia, which produces a pale or greenish complexion. Once a disease of young women especially with heavy menstrual bleeding and poor diet, it is now a rarity in Western society. It is disputed whether chlorosis was known to Hippocrates and the classic account is given by Johann Lange in AD 1554 who described it as a condition peculiar to virgins when they start menstruating. It might go too far, though tempting, to suggest that Chloris had chlorosis. To confuse matters chlorosis is also a disease of plants in which either the green parts lose their colour or parts which are not green turn green. Chlorine, well known as the active part of some bleaches and disinfecting agents and for its use in chemical warfare, was named by Humphrey Davy in the early nineteenth century from its colour, a yellowish-green heavy gas. PHRYGIAN CAP

r 11 r *31 P¥ ■ r * '

W '

>. 1

F ig . 125 a m isu s : perseus w earing a Phrygian ca p , late seco n d to early first CENTURY BC , AE 23.

A bronze coin of the late second to early first century BC (re f.ll) from Amisus, a Greek city on the Black Sea coast has the head of Perseus on the obverse (Fig.125) wearing a Phrygian cap. This is a cap of soft material with a high peak which curls over at the top. It has been confused with the pileus, the conical almost brimless felt hat traditionally given to slaves who received their freedom. The Phrygian Cap was also (and wrongly) assumed to be a cap of liberty and is depicted as such on art of the French Revolution. There is a medical interest in the Phrygian Cap as this is the name given to a congenital abnormality of the gall bladder where bands partly deform it to give the characteristic appearance, likened to a Phrygian cap, when seen on x-ray.

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STAPHYLUS Staphylus (bunch of grapes) was the son of Dionysus (some say Theseus) and Ariadne. He was the legendary founder of the city of Peparethus on a similarly named island off Thessaly, famous for its wine. Staphylus is portrayed on a tetradrachm of c.500 BC from Peparethus (ref.19) as a seated figure with a cantharus , wine cup, symbolic of Dionysus. It is from staphylus as a bunch of grapes together with coccus (berry) that we get the well known medical word staphylococcus. This is a bacterium so named from the shapes seen under the microscope and which is responsible for many skin infections such as impetigo, boils, styes as well as other illnesses including some sore throats and stomach upsets. A striking depiction of a bunch of grapes is seen on the obverse (Fig.126) of a tetradrachm (ref.17) from Peparethus dating to 500-480 BC.

F ig . 126 P epa reth u s : bunch o f g rapes , 500 - 4 80 bc , tetradrach m .

THANATOS Thanatos was Death and the personification of death and was bom of Nyx (Night) and lived in Tartarus with his brother Hypnos or sleep. Hesiod (Theogeny 755-766) describes Thanatos as having a heart of iron and being as pitiless as bronze.Whatever man he touched was his. Even to the immortal gods he was an enemy. A bronze coin (ref. 13) of Geta (AD 209-212) from Pautalia in Thrace has a depiction of Thanatos on the reverse (Fig.127). His winged figure is standing with legs crossed resting on a torch set on an altar. From this Greek word is derived 'thanatology' which may be defined as the

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F i g . 127 c e t a : t h a n a t o s , a e 2 0 , p a u t a u a .

scientific study of the phenomena accompanying and the practices relating to death. Though not a commonly used word, such study is of obvious importance to us all and may be considered as the reverse of our personal coin with midwifery as the obverse. This latter topic has received considerable attention in previous chapters. COIN LIST 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

Lampsacus (Mysia), AR tetradrachm, BMC 15.86.68, SGC3897 Marcus Aurelius( Lampsacus,Mysia), AE28, BMC 15.88.81, GIC1577 Q.Titius, AR denarius, SRSCI,Titia 1 C.Malleolus, AR denarius, SRSCI,Poblicia 6 Athens (Attica), AR didrachm, Seltman 21 Septimius Severus (Ephesus,Ionia), AE21. GIC2188 P.Furius Crassipes, AR denarius, SRSCI,Furia 19 Pyrrhus (Epirus), AR didrachm, BMC 7.111.8, SGC1989 Domitian, as, BMC RE416, RCV911 Phaestus (Crete), AR stater, BMC 9.64.20, SGC3207 Amisus(Pontus), AE23, BMC 13.18.61, SGC3639 Alyzia (Acarnania), AR stater, BMC 12.114.6, SGC2245 Geta (Pautalia,Thrace),AE20, BMC 3.146.40,GIC2787 Philip I (Lampsacus,Mysia),AE37, BMC 15.89.88 M.Lepidus, denarius, BMC RR. Rome.3642 Roman Republic, A/ stater, RCV78 Peparethus (Islands of Thessaly),AR tetradrachm, Jenkins, 1990, page 37. Antoninus Pius, AE, Cohen 1005 Peparethus (Islands of Thessaly), AR tetradrachm, Kraay, 1976, p.l 19.

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GLOSSARY Aedile: A Roman magistrate responsible for the general administration of the city of Rome and its buildings. They were of several grades of which the highest were the aediles curules. The curule chair or sella curulis and other symbols of the aedile curule are depicted on some Republican denarii. Antoninianus: The double denarius introduced by Caracalla in AD 214. At first in silver, it was slowly debased to a bronze coin with a silver wash. Augur: The Augures were a college of Roman priests who claimed to be able to predict future events by the observation of the behaviour of wild birds or chickens, the inspection of slaughtered animals and interpretation of natural phenomena ('taking the auspices'). They were consulted particularly on matters of public importance and before battles. Aureus: The principal Roman gold coin until the solidus introduced by Constantine in AD 309. Biga: A two horse chariot (there was also a triga and a quadriga) Cantharus: A large cup with a foot and two high vertical ear-shaped handles. Chlamys: A short cloak worn by men, particularly civilians. Cippus: A short stone pillar or block set up as a marker or monument. It may have an inscription or be carved (the Greek equivalent was a stele). Cursus Honorum: To pursue a high public career during the Republic it was necessary to hold the major magistracies in a set order of quaestor, praetor, consul after a period of military service. Other offices such as that of aedile or tribune could also contribute to political success along the cursus. Denarius: The principal silver coin of the Roman Republic and Empire until Diocletian in AD 294. It was originally valued at 10 asses (hence the name) and introduced c. 211 BC though this date has been extensively argued. The denarius had a complicated life both in its weight and purity for five centuries or more. It was, together with its associated multiples and submultiples of weight such as the libra (pound), scrupulum (scruple) or its Greek equivalent of drachma, one of the ancestors of our premetric scale of weights. The name of our predecimal coinage or £.s.d was derived from librae, solidi (the solidus was a fourth century AD gold coin), denarii. Exergue: The space at the bottom of a coin on the reverse side often containing an inscription and separated from the rest by a line.

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Field: The area on a coin surrounding the principal design. It may be empty or contain subsidiary types. Flamen Quirinalis: A priest of Quirinus (who was Romulus after deification) and a hereditary office for the Fabia. The flamen was a priest of very high status and the name derived from the word to light a sacred fire. Himation: A cloak. Lituus: short hooked staff whose presence on a coin may imply augural associations. Names, Greek: The ancient Greek man or woman were usually known by a single name sometimes distinguished by a patronymic (father's name) or the name of the district or demos to which they belonged if precise identification was required. Names, Roman: Most free Roman men had at least three names which in order were: praenomen: the forename, often abbreviated when written; nomen: taken from the name of the family or clan. The gens is a group of families sharing a common nomen; cognomen, often originally acquired as a description of some personal characteristic; agnomen: this fourth name was used to differentiate some branch of the family from the others or to commemorate some exploit. The name of free women was much simpler and they usually took the feminine form of the nomen of their father, to which was added the feminine form of the praenomen of their husband on marriage. Obverse and Reverse: The names given to the two sides of a coin ('heads' and 'tails'). The obverse is the more important side and depicts the principal type such as the head of the deity, ruler or city emblem for Greek coins or the head of the emperor for Roman coins. The decision as to which side is the obverse is not always straightforward. In the striking of the coin the obverse was usually the lower (anvil) die and the reverse the upper (punch) die. Oracle: An oracle is the response of a god to a question asked of him by a supplicant often at an oracular shrine. The god would be consulted by a fixed mode of divination. Paludamentum: A military cloak (particularly with reference to the Emperor on a coin). Patera (Latin): see phiale. Phiale (Greek): A shallow bowl without handles often with a boss in the centre and used for drinking or pouring libations. Similar to a patera (Latin). Rome; Foundation: 753 BC is the generally accepted date for the foundation of Rome by the first king, Romulus who, with his twin brother Remus, was fathered by the god Mars on a vestal virgin in Alba

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Longa called Rhea Silvia. The twins were thrown into the Tiber by the usurper Amulius. They were washed ashore and suckled by a wolf and decided to found a new settlement. Spelling: It is most difficult to decide on the best way to render ancient Greek and Latin names in modem English. Some writers spell Greek words as directly transliterated as possible, some use the Latin form, others are eclectic and some even construct hybrids. The useful advice of Jones, (1986) is followed where possible but the comment of Emerson (1803-1882, Essays: Self-Reliance) should always be remembered ('a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds'). Thyrsus: This is a staff with a pine cone or ivy leaves at the top and wreathed with ivy or vines, both symbolic of Dionysus. GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY Anson, L. (1911-1913). Numismata Graeca, Greek Coin Types Classified for Immediate Identification,London. Becker, E.L., Butterfield, W. J. H., Harvey, A. M.,Heptinstall, R. H., Thomas, L. (eds) (1986).International Dictionary o f Medicine and Biology, Vols. I-III. New York, Wiley & Sons. Burkert, W. (1985), Greek Religion, Archaic and Classical, trans. Raffan, J. Oxford, Basil Blackwell. Burnett, A. (1987). Coinage in the Roman World, London, Seaby. Cornell, T, and Matthews, J. (1982). Atlas of the Roman World, Oxford, Phaidon Press. Foss, C. (1990). Roman Historical Coins. London, Seaby. Garrison, F.H. (1929). An Introduction to the History of Medicine. Philadelphia and London,Saunders. Graves, R. (1957). The Greek Myths. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books. Grimal, P. (1986). The Dictionary o f Classical Mythology. Oxford, Blackwell. Hammond, N. G. L. and Scullard, H. H. (eds) (1970) (2nd ed.). The Oxford Classical Dictionary, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Head, B. V. (1911) (2nd Ed.). Historia Numorum, Oxford, Clarendon Press. Hill, P. V. (1989). The Monuments o f Ancient Rome as Coin Types, London, Seaby. Howatson, M.C. (ed.1989) (2nd ed.). The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Imhoof-Blumer, F.W. and Gardner, P. revised by Oikonomides, Al. N. (1964). Ancient coins illustrating lost masterpieces o f Greek art, A numismatic commentary on Pausanias. Chicago, Argonaut. Jackson, R. (1988). Doctors and Diseases in the Roman Empire. London, British Museum Publications. Jenkins, G. K. (1990), (2nd ed.). Ancient Greek Coins. London, Seaby. Jones, J. M. (1986). A Dictionary o f Ancient Greek Coins. London, Seaby. Jones, J. M. (1990). A Dictionary o f Ancient Roman Coins. London, Seaby. Kerenyi, C. (1960) Asklepios: Archetypal Images o f the Physician's Experience. London, Thames and Hudson.

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Levi, P. (1980). Atlas o f the Greek World. Oxford, Phaidon Press. Lyons, A. S. and Petrucelli, R. J. (1978) (reprint 1987). Medicine, An Illustrated History. New York, Abrams. M ajno,G . (1975). The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World. Cambridge, Massachusettts, Harvard University Press. Mann, R. D. (1984). Modern Drug Use, An Enquiry on Historical Principles. Lancaster, MTP Press. New Larousse Encyclopaedia o f Mythology (trans. Aldington, R. and Ames, D. (1968). London, Hamlyn Publishing. Phillips, E. D. (1965). Greek Medicine. London, Thames and Hudson. Plant, R. (1979). Greek Coin Types and their Identification. London, Seaby. Price, M. J. and Trell, B.L. (1977). Coins and their Cities: Architecture on the Ancient coins of Greece, Rome and Palestine. London, Vecchi. Rose, H. J. (1958), (6th ed.). A Handbook of Greek Mythology, London, Routledge. Scarborough, J. L.(1969). Roman Medicine. London, Thames and Hudson. Singer, C.and Underwood, E. A. (1962) (2nd ed.) A Short History o f Medicine. Oxford, Clarendon Press. Stambaugh, J. E. (1988). The Ancient Roman City, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press. Stevenson, S. W. (1889, reprinted 1964). A Dictionary of Roman Coins, London, Seaby. Storer, H. R. (1931). Medicina in Nummis. Boston, Wright and Potter. Tripp, E. (1988). Dictionary of Classical Mythology. London and Glasgow, Collins.

CLASSICAL SOURCES Much of the story of classical times is derived from writers of the period though even they were often writing about people and events from hundreds of years before. Their sources of information would have been variable and the reliance to be placed on them is often minimal but they form a vitally important and fascinating body of knowledge. Examples from these sources are given freely and at length in the text. Together with the appropriate coins they form the basic material of the period under discussion and our only direct link with it other than archaeological material (and this will be brought in where suitable). The coins were made,the books written and the archaeological material used or lived in by people of the time and are therefore a palpable echo of them. Most of the quotations given come from easily obtainable sources should the reader wish to consult them and widen the discussion. Aelius Aristides and The Sacred Tales: trans. C. A. Behr, Amsterdam, Hakkert (1968). Aelius Lampridus, Antoninus Heliogabalus. trans. A. Birley, in Lives o f the Later Caesars. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1976). Apollodorus, The Library, vols I & II: trans. Sir J. G. Frazer, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press (1921). Apuleius, The Golden Ass: trans. R. Graves, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1950) Aristophanes, The Was/#: trans. D. Barrett, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books, (1964).

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Aristophanes, Wealth: trans. A. H. Sommerstein, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1978). Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists, vol. I: trans. C. B Gulick. Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, (1927). Augustine St., The City o f God: trans. H. Bettenson, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1984). Cassius Dio, The Roman History, The Reign o f Augustus: trans. I. Scott-Kilvert, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1987). (See also Dio Cassius) Cato, On Agriculture: trans. W. D. Hooper and H. B. Ash. Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press (1934). Celsus, On Medicine, Vols. I - III: trans. W. G. Spencer. Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press (1935-38). Cicero, The Nature o f the Gods: trans. H. C. P. McGregor. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1972). Dio Cassius, Roman History, Vol. IX: trans. E. Cary, Loeb. Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press (1927). (see also Cassius Dio) Diogenes Laertius, Lives o f Eminent Philosphers, Vol. II: trans. R. D. Hicks. Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press (1925). Dioscorides, The Greek Herbal o f Dioscorides: ed. R. T. Gunther, Oxford, The University Press (1934). Euripides, Alcestis: trans. P. Vellacott. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1974). Fracastor, Syphilis or the French Disease: trans. Heneage Wynne-Finch, London, Heinemann (1935). Frontinus, The Aqueducts o f Rome: trans. C. E. Bennett and M. B. McElwain. Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press (1925). Herodotus, The Histories: trans. A. de Selincourt, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1954) Hesiod: Theogeny: Works and Days: trans. D. Wender. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1973). Hippocrates, Vol.V, On Affections: trans. P. Potter. Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press (1989). Hippocrates, T h e Oath: in Ancient Medicine, selected papers of Ludwig Edelstein. O. Temkin and C. L. Temkin (eds), Baltimore, Johns Hopkin Press (1967). Hippocrates, T h e Aphorisms': In Hippocratic Writings, G. E. R. Lloyd (ed.), Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1978). Homeric Hymns: trans. H. G. Evelyn-White. Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press (1914). Homer, The Iliad: trans. M. Hammond. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1987). Homer, The Odyssey, trans. E. V. Rieu, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1991). Juvenal, The Sixteen Satires: trans. P. Green. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1974). Livy, The History o f Rome from its Foundation: trans. A.de Selincourt, B. Radice and H. Bettenson, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1965-82) Lucian, Vol.IV: trans. A. M. Harmon. Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge,

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Mass., Harvard University Press (1925). Martial, Epigrams, Vols. I, II: trans. W. C. A. Ker. Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press (1968). Ovid, Vol.V, Fasti: trans. J. G. Frazer (2nd ed.revised G. P. Goold), The Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, (1989). Ovid, The Metamorphoses: trans. M. M. Innes, Harmondsworth, Middlesex; Penguin Books (1955). Pausanias, Guide to Greece, 2 vols. trans. P. Levi. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1971). Philostratus, Life o f Apollonius: trans. C. P. Jones. Harmondsworth, Middlesex. Penguin Books (1970). Pindar, The Odes: trans. J. E. Sandys. Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press (1937). Plato, The Collected Dialogues: E. Hamilton and H. Cairns (eds). Bollingen Series LXXI, Princeton,Princeton University Press (1961) Pliny: Natural History, Vols.I-X: trans. H.Rackham, W.H.S.Jones, and D. E. Eichholz. Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press (1938-63). Pliny the Younger, The Letters: trans. B. Radice. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1969). Plutarch, Plutarch's Lives: trans. J. and W. Langhome. London, William Tegg (1875). Strabo, Geography, Vols. I-VII1: trans. H. L. Jones, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press (1917-1932). Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars: trans. R. Graves. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1957). Tacitus, The Annals o f Imperial Rome: trans. M. Grant. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1956). Tacitus, The Histories: trans. K. Wellesley. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1972). Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants, Vols. I and II: trans. A.F. Hort. Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press (1916). Theophrastus, De Causis Plantarum, Vols. I-III: trans. B. Einarson and G. K. K. Link. Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press (1976,1990). Thucydides, History o f the Peloponnesian War: trans. R. Warner, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books, (1972). Virgil, The Aeneid: trans. W. F. J. Knight. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1956). Vitruvius, On Architecture, Vols.I and II: trans. F. Granger. Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press (1931,1934). Xenophon, Conversations o f Socrates: trans. H. Tredennick and R. Waterfield, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books (1990).

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SECONDARY SOURCES Amulree, Lord (1973), Hygienic conditions in ancient Rome and modem London, Medical History, 17(3), pp. 244-55. Barrow, M.V. (1972), Portraits of Hippocrates,Medical History, 16 (1), pp. 85-8. Bennion, E. (1979), Antique Medical Instruments. London, Sotheby Publications. Birley, A. (1987), Marcus Aurelius. London, Batsford. Bliquez, L. J. (1983), Classical Prosthetics, Archaeology, 36(5), pp. 25-9. Clayton, P.A. (1989), Juba II of Mauretania, Seaby Coin & Medal Bulletin, June, pp. 133-6. Gardner, P. (1878), Numismatic Reattributions, Numismatic Chronicle, 18, pp.266-71. Garrison, F. H. (1929), The history of drainage, irrigation, sewage disposal and water supply. Bulletin o f the New York Academy o f Medicine V. pp.887-938. Gemmill, C. L. (1966), Silphium, Bulletin o f the History o f Medicine XL(4), pp. 295-313. Grieve, M. (1980), A Modern Herbal. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex. Grmek, M. D, (1991) Diseases in the Ancient World, trans. Muellner, M. and Muellner, L., Baltimore and London, Johns Hopkins University Press. Harl, K. W. (1987), Civic Coins and Civic Politics in the Roman East, AD 180-275, Berkeley, Los Angeles, University of California Press. Hart, G. D. (1965), Asclepius, God of Medicine,Canadian Medical Association Journal, 92, pp. 232-36. Hart, G. D. (1966a), Ancient coins and medicine, Canadian Medical Association Journal, 94, pp. 77-89. Hart, G. D. (1966b), Trichoepithelioma and the kings of ancient Parthia, Canadian Medical Association Journal, 94, pp. 547-49. Hart, G. D. (1967), Even the gods had goitre, Canadian Medical Association Journal, 96, pp. 1432-36. Hoffmann La Roche. Michie, C. A. and Cooper, E. (1991), Frankincense and Myrrh as Remedies in Children, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 84, pp.602-5. Jarcho, S. (1972), Medical numismatic notes VII, Mithridates IV, Bulletin o f the New York Academy o f Medicine, 48(8), pp. 1059-64. Klawans, H. L. (1982), The acromegaly of Maximinus, in The Medicine o f History pp.3-15. New York,Raven Press. Knight, B. (1980), Discovering the Human Body. London, Heinemann. Kraay, C. M. (1976), Archaic and Classical Greek Coins, London, Methuen. Levick, B. (1990), Claudius. London, Batsford. Lewis, S. (1990), An Anatomical Wordbook, London. Butterworth-Heinemann. Mackie, R.M. (1986), Tumours o f the Skin in Textbook o f Dermatology, ed. Rook, A., Wilkinson, D. S., et al., p.2400. Oxford, Blackwell Scientific Publications. Mez-Mangold, L. (1971), A History of Drugs,. Basle. Mitchie, C. A. and Cooper, E. (1991), Frankincense and Myrrh as Remedies in Children, Journal of the Foyal Society of Medicine, 84, pp. 602-5. Nutton, V. (1969), Medicine and the Roman Army; a further reconsideration, Medical History, 13, pp. 260-70.

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Nutton, V. (1977), Archiatri and the medical profession in antiquity, Papers o f the British School at Rome, 45, pp. 191-226. Obermajer, J. (1968), The tesserae of Ephesos in the history of medicine, Medical History, 12(3), pp. 292-4. Richards, D. W. (1968), Hippocrates of Ostia, Journal o f the American Medical Association, 204,pp. 1049-56. Sakula, A. (1984), In search of Hippocrates; a visit to Kos, journal o f the Royal Society of Medicine, 77, pp. 682-8. Smith R. R. R. (1988). Hellenistic Royal Portraits. Oxford, Clarendon Press. Temkin, O. and Temkin, C. L. (eds) (1967), Ancient Medicine; selected papers o f Ludwig Edelstein, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press. Thompson, C. J. S. (1929). The Mystery and Art o f the Apothecary. London, The Bodley Head. Thompson, M. (1961). The New Style Silver Coinage o f Athens. New York, American Numismatic Society. Toynbee, J.M.C. (1944). Roman Medallions. Numismatic Studies no.5, New York, American Numismatic Society. Watson,G. (1966). Theriac and Mithridatium. London, Wellcome Historical Medical Library. Wells, C. (1964). Bones, Bodies and Disease. London, Thames and Hudson. Wroth, W. (1882a). Aesculapius and the coins of Pergamon, Numismatic Chronicle 3rd series, vol.II, pp. 1-51. Wroth, W. (1882b). Apollo with the Aesculapian staff, Numismatic Chronicle 3rd series, vol II, 300-5. Young, J.H. (1944). Caesarean Section, The History and Development o f the Operation from Earliest Times. London, H. K. Lewis.

COIN CATALOGUES Descriptions and illustrations of most ancient coins may be found in various catalogues and to give a reference to an appropriate catalogue serves to identify for numismatists the particular coin under discussion. A large proportion of ancient coins are described in catalogues issued by the British Museum or in related works, though the omissions are at times frustrating. In such a case reference may have to be made to the description in a relatively more obscure catalogue or a specialist work on a particular period. Many of the catalogues are of a suprisingly venerable age and the following works have been consulted to catalogue the coins mentioned in this book which are listed at the end of each chapter. Each reference will be identified by the initials placed against the following references. Some coins are described in more general articles or books and are referred to as such. Anson. Anson, L. (1911-13), Numismata Graeca: Greek Coin Types Classified for Immediate Identification. London. Babelon. Babelon, E. (1885-6). Description historique et chronologique des monnaies de la republique romaine. Vols I and II. Paris.

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BMC. British Museum Catalogue of Greek Coins. Vols. 1-29, (1873-1927). Various authors, London. BMC references in this book provide the volume number, the page number and the coin number on that page. BMC 1: Italy (1873) BMC 2: Sicily (1876) BMC 3: Thrace &c (1877) BMC 4: Seleucid Kings of Syria (1878) BMC 5: Macedonia (1879) BMC 6: Ptolemaic Kings of Egypt (1883) BMC 7: Thessaly to Aetolia (1883) BMC 8: Central Greece ( 1884) BMC 9: Crete and Aegean Islands (1886) BMC 10: Peloponnesus(1887) BMC 11: Attica, Megaris, Aegina (1888) BMC 12: Corinth and Colonies (1889) BMC 13: Pontus, Paphlagonia,Bithynia (1889) BMC 14: Ionia (1892) BMC 15: Mysia (1892) BMC 16: Alexandria (1892) BMC 17: Troas, Aeolis, Lesbos (1894) BMC 18: Caria and the Islands (1897) BMC 19: Lycia, Pamphylia, Pisidia (1897) BMC 20: Galatia, Cappadocia, Syria (1899) BMC 21: Lycaonia, Isauria, Cilicia (1900) BMC 22: Lydia (1902) BMC 23: Parthia (1903) BMC 24: Cyprus (1904) BMC 25: Phrygia (1906) BMC 26: Phoenicia (1910) BMC 27: Palestine (1914) BMC 28: Arabia, Mesopotamia, Persia (1922) BMC 29: Cyrenaica (1927) BMC RE, Coins o f the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vols. 1-6, (1923-75). Mattingly, H. and others, London. Cohen.Cohen, H. (1880-92). Description Historique des Monnaies frapés sous L'Empire Romain Communément Appelees Médaillés Impériales, Paris.Vols.1-8. Craw. Crawford, M.H. (1974). Roman Republican Coinage. Vols.l and 2, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Grueber. Grueber, H.A. and Poole, R.S. (1874). Roman Medallions in the British Museum, London, British Museum. BMC RR. Grueber, H.A. Vols.1-3 (1910). Coins o f the Roman Republic in the British Museum. London, British Museum. Hunter and Macdonald. Hunter and Macdonald, G. (1899-1905). Catalogue of Greek Coins in the Hunterian Collection, Glasgow, James Macclehose. Imhoof and Keller. Imhoof-Blumer, F. and O. Keller (1889). Tier und Pflanzenbilder auf Munzen und Gemmen des Klassischen Altertums. Leipzig.

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RIC Mattingly, H. et al, (1923-81). The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vols.1-9. London, Spink. PT. Price, M. J. and Trell, B.L.( 1977). Coins and their Cities, Architecture on the Ancient Coins o f Greece, Rome and Palestine, London. Vecchi. S R S C 1. Seaby, H. A. (1978) Roman Silver Corns, Volume I (Republic to Augustus), 3rd Ed.London, Seaby SRSC II. Volume II (Tiberius to Commodus), 3rd Edition (1979). RCV. Sear, D. R. (1988). Roman Coinsand Their Values. London, Seaby. GIC. Sear, D. R. (1982). Greek Imperial Coins and Their Values, London, Seaby. SGC. Sear, D.R. (1978,1979). Greek Coins and Their Values (Vols I & II), London, Seaby. Sellwood. Sell wood, D. (1971). An Introduction to the Coinage o f Parlhia. London, Spink. Waddington. Waddington, W.H. (1910-25). Recueil General Des Monnaies Grecque d'Asie Mineure, Paris. Leroux Weber. Weber-Forrer, L. (1922-29). The Weber Collection, London, Spink.

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INDEX Abonuteichos (Ionopolis), 148f. Achilles, Tendon,167f. Acilia gens, 122 Acilius G labrio Mn, 122 Acisculus, 131 Acromegaly, 96f.; and M axim inus I, 96f. Adonis, 65 Adventus,109 Aedile, 172 Aegeae, the Asclepieion, 13,41 Aegiale, 142 Aegium, temple of Eileithyia, 52 Aelius Aristides, Sacred Tales (Hieroi Logoi), 30,36 Aemilius Lepidus M, 167 Aesculapius, arrival at Rome, 36f. attributes depicted on coins, 25f. bloodletting instrum ents, 32,141 f. cockerel, 28 dog, 17,28 snake, 25f, 37 staff, 27 thunderbolt of Zeus, 14, 32 vegetable attributes, 31 f. the cult rise and fall, 12 depicted as a young man, 19f. depictions confused with Apollo, 1 6 ,19f, 2 2 ,46f., 51,1 4 2 depictions on coins, 14f. w ith Eshmun, 68f. G am es (Asclepieia), 41 f. and Hermes, 25 in the Iliad, 6,61 the M yth,Ilf. Sanctuary at Aegeae, 13,41 as the 'Saviour' (Soter), 12 ,2 9 , 36, 40,42 Sotereia, 3 0 ,4 2 the temple cures, 35f. temples on coins, 33f tem ple key at Perga mum, 40 Tiber Island, 38,121 veterinary medicine, 22 on a winged serpent, 22 Agathodaemon, 150 Albinus and Apollo G rannus, 51 Alexander of Abonuteichos, 148f. Alexandria, Egypt, the Serapeum , 69 Alexandria Troas, Apollo Sm intheus, 48 A m m on's Horn, 83,1 6 8 Amphiaraus, 76f. Anchor and the Man of Salam is, 143 Ancyra, Aesculapian G am es, 3 0 ,4 2

Antigonos (M onophthalm os), 91 Antiochus VIII (Grypos or Hooknose), 92 Antoninianus, 172 Antonius M usa, 1 0 4 ,1 5 0 ,1 5 7 Apollo, divine epithets of: 44 Alexicacus, 4 5 ,1 4 4 Conservator, 4 8 ,99f. G rannus, 5 1 ,1 1 0 Iatros, 46 M edicus, 47 Salutaris, 101 Sm intheus, 48f. birth, 44 crow (raven), 13, 32 as a god of healing, 45f. om phalus, 2 9 ,4 4 oracle at Delphi, 3 7 ,4 4 depictions confused with Aesculapius, 16, 19, 22, 4 6 ,5 1 ,1 4 2 Aqueducts, 133f. Aqua Alexandrina, 137 M arcia,! 35 Traiana, 136 Virgo, 136 Archagathus, 8 ,1 2 3 ,1 3 2 Archiatros, 150f. Aresthanas, 1 4 ,1 6 ,3 1 Argos, Eileithyia, 53 Aristides: see Aelius Aristides Aristophanes and Aesculapius, 36 Artem is (Diana), 35, 51,144,154 Artificial limbs, 129f. Asclepieia, 41 f. Asclepieion, 34; at Aegeae, 13,41; the ritual, 35f. Astragalus, talus, 163 A tam eus, caduceus of Hermes, 25 Athena (M inerva), 14, 66f. Atlas, 157,165 Augur, 172 Augustus 103f and Tarraco, 104f. description of appearance, 93f, 103. health of, 9 3 ,1 0 4 Aureus, 172 Baldness, of Julius Caesar, 93 of Dom itian, 94 Barce: silphium on coins, 83 Bargasa, temple of Aesculapius, 41 B iceps,! 65

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ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COINS

Biga, 172 Blood letting instruments, 32, 141 f. Bubulcus, 123 Bulla, 167 Cabiri, 68 Caduceus of Hermes, 25 Caesar, derivation of name, 127 Caesarian section, 14,127 Caesar, Julius, baldness, 93 Cancer, tumour and Zodiac, 146 Canopic jars, 117 Cantharus, 172 Caracalla, 107f., and Aesculapian games, 41 and Heracles, 115 illnesses of, 109f. visit to Pergamum, 109f Cato, 7 Celery, see Selinon Celia, 33, 4 0 ,4 1 ,1 6 7 Celsus, 'On M edicine', 7 ,8 , 79. Centaur, see Chiron Chiron, 13, 7 1 f .,8 0 ,100 Chlamys, 172 Chloris, 55,1 6 8 Christogram, 12 Cierium, 'young' Aesculapius on coins, 19 Cippus, 172; vows for Augustus, 105 Cista mystica, 27,131 Claudius, poisoned by m ushrooms, 152 Cleonae, Asclepian Games, 41 Cloaca M axima, 138f. Cloacina, 8 ,1 3 9 Cockerel, of Aesculapius, 28 C odes and the Horatia gens, 128 Cognomina on Roman coins, 127f,173 Coins, design and production, If. mcdical interest, definition, 2f. depictions, symbolism, interpretation3f. Commodus, and Juno Sospita,126 and plague, 99 Conservator, Apollo in the role of, 48,99 Constantine the Great, Aesculapius and Christianity, 12 Cornuacopiae on coins of Drusus, 119 Cornuficia and Juno Sospita, 126 Coronis, 13, 56 Cos, A sclepieion,35,40 Hippocrates, 6f.

Xenophon, 7 ,1 5 2 Crassipes, 128,166 Crem atoria (ustrinum ), 116 Crispina and Dis Genitalibus, 66 Crow of Apollo, see raven Cucurbitula (sikya), 142 Cupping vessels, 32,141 f. Cyrene, coins of, 81 f. Cursus Honorum, 172 Denarius, 172 Diana, see Artemis D ioscorides, 7, 79, 80 Dis Genitalibus, 66 Disease and ancient coins, 91 f. Domitian, Secular G am es and Eileithyia, 53; baldness, 94 Drusus, twin sons in cornuacopiae, 119 Eileithyia, (see also Lucina) 44, 52f., 64, 145 depicted on coins, 52f. Elaea, coin of, 32 Eleusis, the Mysteries, 11 Empedocles, Selinus and plague, 144f. Ephesus, the temple of Artem is (Diana), 34, 51 ,1 5 4 magic tessera, 154 Epidauria, 11 Epidaurus, Aresthanas, 14,16, 31 coins of, 16f. the Aesculapian myth, 14 the Asclepieion, 16, 34 cupping vessels, 142 the sacred grove, 31 Tholos, 17 Thrasym edes, statue of Aesculapius, 17 Epione, 5 6 ,1 4 2 Epithets, divine, of the gods, 11 Eshm un-Aesculapius, 68f. Exergue, 172 Fabius Pictor, 130 Faustina Junior, 118 Faustina Senior, 118 Febris, 8 Fecunditas, 118 Fibula, 160 Flamen Q uirinalis, 173 For tuna, 106, gubernaculum , 164 Fracastorius, 56f. Frontinus (On The Aqueducts of Rome), 133 Furius Crassipes, 128, 166

183

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE ON AN CIENT CREEK AND ROMAN COINS

Glaucus, 25 Glycon, (also see Abonuteichos), 148f. Goitre on ancient coins, 93 Gorgoneion, 70 Gorgons, see Medusa Gryphon (griffin), 100 G ubem aculum , 164 Gymnasiarch, 153f. Gythium, temple of Aesculapius, 40 Hamaxitus, Apollo Sm intheus, 49 Hellebore, 76,85f. on coins, 85 Hera, 64 and Eileithyia, 44, 64 and Leto, 44, 64 Heracles, and Aesculapius, 40 and Caracalla, 114 and Hippocrates, 6 and the Hydra, 7 2 ,1 4 6 at Selinus, 145 and styrax, 89 Hermes, 25f.; caduceus, 25; on coins of Aenus, 26 Hermes Trism egistus, 27 Hieroi Logoi of Aelius Aristides, 30, 36 Himation, 173 Him era, cockerel of Aesculapius, 28 m edicinal springs, 29 Hippocampus, 83,168 Hippocrates, 6f„ bust in Isola Sacra, 6 Hippocratic Corpus, 6 H ippocratic O ath, 6 on coins of Cos, 7f. Humoral Theory, 141 Hydra, Lernean, 7 2 ,1 4 6 Hygieia (see also Salus), 57f., with Aesculapius and om phalus, 30 on a coin of Athens, 67 involvem ent in incubation, 35 Incubation, 35 Insula Aesculapii, Tiberina, 38,121 Ionopolis, (see also Abonuteichos), 148 Isopythia, 42 Janus, 165 Jerusalem , lily on coin, 87 Juba II of M auretania, 157 Julia Domna and Chloris, 55, 168 Julius Caesar and baldness, 93 Juno,

attributes of, 64 C aprotina and C Renius, 126 M artialis, 101 Sospita, 3 0 , 124f. Kalamis, statue of beardless Aesculapius, 2 0 Labarum, 13 I^acus Jutum ae, 140 Laetitia, 119 Lamia, coin depicting Philoctetes, 73 Lam psacus, coins depicting Priapus, 161 Lanuvium, 124 Larissa, 15 Latona (see Leto) Latrines and sanitation, 137f Leto (Latona), 14,44, 54f., 64 and Niobe, 55f. Lily, 87 on coins of Jerusalem , 87 Lituus, 173 Lucian and Alexander of Abonuteichos, 148f. Lucina, (see also Eileithyia), 8, 64f. M achaon, 6, 61 f. Magnesia ad Sipylum , 55 Malleus, M alleolus, 162 Masnes and Tylus on coins of Sardes, 25 M auretania and Juba II, 157 M aximinus I and acromegaly, % f. M edallion, 1, 37 M ediastinus, 160 M edical interest, coins, definition of, 2f. M edicine, definition of, 2, 5 M edicine, G reek, 5f. Medicine, Homeric, 6 Medicine, Roman, 7f. M edusa, 1 4 ,5 3 , 70 M elam pus, 75f. Mettia and Juno Sospita, 126 M inerva, (see also Athena), 68 M ithradates VI (Eupator) and M ithradatium , 146f. M ithradatium, 147 M ount Sipylus, 55f. M ussidius Longus L, 139 Musa Antonius, see Antonius Musa Mutinus Titus, 162 Myrrha, 65 M ytilene, 152 Names, personal, Greek and Roman, 1 2 7 ,1 7 3 Nero, description of appearance, 93 Nicaea, temple of Aesculapius, 40 Nicopolis ad Istrum, tem ple of Aesculapius, 40 Niobe, 55f.

184

ASPECTS O F MEDICINE C < ANCIENT C R EEK AND ROMAN COIN S

Numina, 8 Nummus, Num m ular, 159 O m phalus, of Aesculapius, 29 of Apollo, 29, 44

Priapus, 8; on coins of Lampsacus, 161 Procilia and Juno Sospita, 125 Ptolemy VIII Euergetes (Physkon or Pot Belly), 91 Pudenda virilia, 161 of Hygieia, 30 Pudicitia, 119 O pium , 89f. Pyrrhus of Epirus, 103 O rodes II, of Parthia, 94 Raven (or crow ) of Apollo, 13, 32 O vid, Fasti, 38 Rhegium , 'young' Aesculapius on coins, 19 M etamorphoses, 13 Roman Army, m edical services, 150,156 Paean, 12, 45 Rom e, tem ple of Aesculapius on Insula Paludamentum, 173 Tiberina, 38,121 Panacea, 6, 35, 57, 59 Roscia and Juno Sospita, 125 Pancra tides, 152 Rubrius Dossenus L, 3 8 , 121f. Papia and Juno Sospita, 125 Saint Augustine of Hippo, T h e City of God, 8 Parthia, Kings of,and warts, 3 , 94f. Salus (see also Hygieia), 5 7 ,5 9 ,1 0 7 ,1 2 3 Patera, 173 Salutaris, Apollo in the role of, 101 Patrae, coin of, 19 Sanitation and Latrines, 137f. Pausanias, Guide to G reece, 1 1 ,1 7 ,1 9 ,3 1 Scotussa, hellebore on coins, 86 Pautalia, tem ple of Aesculapius, 40 Secular G am es of Domitian, 53 Peparethus, 170 Selge, styrax on coins, 89 Pergamum, Selinon (Wild Celery), 144, the city and Asclepieion, 3 5 ,3 6 , 39,112, on coins of Selinus, 86 Aesculapius and Tem ple key, 40 Selinus, 86; Apollo Sm intheus, 50 Em pedocles and plague, 144 coins of, 18, 32, 39, 5 0 ,109f. Sella, 166 Hermes and Aesculapius, 26 statue of Aesculapius by Phyrom achos, 18 Sellisternium , 98 Serapis (Sarapis), 69f., 103 Telesphorus, 112 Serdica, tem ple of Aesculapius, 40 visit of Caracalla, 109f. Sergius Silus, 129 Pherae, hellebore on coins, 86 Side, pom egranate on coins, 84 Phiale, 173 Sidon, Aesculapian G am es, 42 Philadelphia, Aesculapian G am es, 41 Sikya (Cucurbitula), 142 Philip 1,115f. Silphium , 79f Philoctetes, 73f. on coins, 81 f. Pholus the Centaur, 72 Siphylus, 56 Phraates IV of Parthia, 95 Snake, Aesculapian, on coins, 25f. Phrygian Cap, 169 Sophocles, coming of Aesculapius to Atheas, 12 Phyromachos, statue of Aesculapius at Soter or Saviour as a title of Aesculapius, 12 Pergam um , 18 29, 36, 4 0 ,4 2 Piercing of coins, 50, 75 Sotereia, 3 0 ,4 2 Pictor ('Painter'), 130 Speaking type, 84 Plague, 49, 98f., Sphendone, 143 Empedocles and Selinus, 144f. Spintria, 155 of Rome, 292/3BC, 37 Springs, Healing, 29 ,1 3 9 Plants, medicinal on ancient coins, 79f. Staphylus and coins of Peparethus, 170 Pliny the Elder: Natural H istory,9 Statilius Attalus, 151 Pliny the Younger, 9, 59 Styrax, 88f Podalirius, 6, 61 f., 148 on coins of Selge, 89f. Pomegranate, 83f.; Taenia,3 1 ,1 5 9 on coins, 84 Talus, 163f. Poppy, on coins, 32, 89 Tarraco and Augustus, 104f. Postumius Albinus A, 140

185

ASPECTS O F M EDICINE ON AN CIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COIN S

Tarsus, temple of Aesculapius, 40 Tegea, Eileithyia, 53 Telesphorus, 59. with Hygieia and Aesculapius, 58 at Pergamum, 112 Tem ples, Greek and Roman, 33f. Terra sigillata, 75 Tesserae, 154f. Thanatos, 170 Theophrastus, 9, 7 9 ,8 0 Theriac, 148

and Plague, 98 and Salus, 107 Trajans Colum n, 3 ,1 5 6 Tricca, 1 1 ,1 5 ; M achaon or Podalirius on coins, 62 Tylus and Masnes on coins of Sardes, 25 Valerius Acisculus, 131 Valetudo and Acilius Glabrio, 123f. Vase, apothecary, 156 Venus Cloacina, 139 Vespasian, visit to Alexandria, 6 9 ,1 0 3 Vitruvius (On Architecture), 3 5 ,1 3 3 ,1 5 3 W arts, and the Kings of Parthia, 3, 94f. W ater and its supply, 133f. Xenophon, of Cos, 7 ,1 5 2 Zacynthus, stater possibly depicting Aesculapius, 20 Zeus Am mon , 8 1 ,1 2 6 Zeus, thunderbolt, 14, 32, 76

Therm ae Himeraeae, springs,29 Thetis and Achilles, 168 Tholos at Epidaurus, 17 Thorius Balbus and Juno Sospita, 126 Thrasym edes, statue of Aesculapius, 17 Thunderbolt of Zeus, 14, 32, 76 Thyrsus, 28,1 7 4 Titus,

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ASPECTS OF ANCIENT CLASSICAL COINS Health was as much a concern in antiquity as it is today Aesculapius was the premier ancient god of medicine and many prominent shrines throughout the Mediterranean were dedicated to his worship His figure often appears on coins of the classical world as do representations of other gods connected with healing, such as Apollo. The buildings associated with the worship of Aesculapius are often depicted on coins and cities like Pergamum have an extensive series associated with medical matters. Portraits of rulers often show them accurately warts and all; with many indications of other medical conditions such as goitre. These coins provide fascinating detail of the state of health of these rulers. In this book Dr Penn has provided an extensive survey of aspects of m edicine revealed on ancient Greek and Roman coins. The information collected here will intrigue numismatists, historians of ancient history and members of the medical profession besides the genera, reader with an interest in the history of medicine.

Forthcoming books in the series

Aspects of Ancient Classical Coins: Michael Harlan Moneyers of the Roman Republic Zvi Stahl Women on Ancient Coins

A complete list of Seaby titles is available from B.T. Batsford, 4 Fitzhardinge Street, London. W1H OAH ISBN 0 -7 1 3 4 -7 6 7 0 -2

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