![]() One can only guess whether he was trying to curry favor with the emperors, or if he was trying (disingenuously) to make his own subjects believe the three men were on good terms.įinally, some compositions were irregular. 286 or 287 founded a rebel empire based in Britain this remarkable type coin portrays Carausius and his enemies, the Roman emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Equally historical is a billon double-denarius of Carausius, who in A.D. A bronze struck at Ephesus, Ionia, after circa 44 B.C., depicts Marc Antony, Octavian and Lepidus, the members of the Second Triumvirate. Some jugate coinages even show three portraits. ![]() 284 to 305), and by rulers of Roman separatist empires in Gaul and Britain. The jugate format became popular for ceremonial issues of the third century A.D., being used by the members of dynasties founded by Carus (A.D. 54 to 68) early in his reign he is portrayed alongside his mother, Agrippina Jr., who he eventually had murdered. One famous example of this type was struck by the Emperor Nero (A.D. It was used on several occasions during Republican times, when gods were shown, and during the empire, when at least one of the portraits usually was a person. ![]() Usually called “jugate,” this format is appealing since the dies must be engraved in reasonably high relief to achieve the desired effect. 177 to 192) was fond of using this portrait style for himself on medallions, often pairing his own features with those of a deity.Īnother way of showing two portraits was to have them face in the same direction, slightly overlapping. The portrait of the Roman warlord Pompey “the Great” (died 48 B.C.) was cleverly incorporated into that of Janus on copper asses struck by one of his sons, Sextus Pompey, not long after the father’s execution. Another common usage of this portrait style is for the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux), who appear on silver quadrigati struck circa 225 to 212 B.C., during the Second Punic War. Janus is routinely portrayed this way, usually on copper asses of the Republic. His name is preserved in “janiform,” the term used to describe this portrait style. It is best associated with Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings - hence his simultaneously peering forward and backward. The reverse shows a crocodile chained to a palm branch.Ī more usual presentation of back-to-back portraits shows the heads melded together to create a fanciful image of a single head with two faces. 14), and his chief general, Marcus Agrippa. This was seldom used, with the best-known examples being from Nemausus, in Gaul, which on their obverse portray Rome’s first emperor, Augustus (27 B.C. The opposite of the vis-à-vis portrait is the dos-à-dos, in which the heads are arranged back to back, looking outward. 200 to 260, all of which promote the dynasties that ruled the empire in that era. The style is best represented by provincial coins struck at cities in Eastern Europe and Asia Minor from about A.D. Though used only occasionally on Imperial coins, confronted portraits were used often on coins issued for use in the provinces. Sometimes two portraits are shown face to face - a style usually called “confronted” or “vis-à-vis.” An interesting aspect of this format is that depending upon the facial expressions, it may look like a friendly encounter or a hostile standoff. More interesting are those coins that feature more than one portrait on a side. ![]() It was most extensively used during the reigns of the emperors Antoninus Pius (A.D. Even so, this was a less common practice than one might expect. The most common way two portraits were shown on Roman coins was to have a single portrait on each side. We’ll examine various formats in which more than one portrait was displayed, and in the process will encounter some important coin types. Except for unusual types that pair a person with a divinity, multiportrait coins usually were struck to promote political alliances or to celebrate members of the ruling dynasty. Those coins often are ornate, and every one is historically significant. ![]() However, on some occasions more than one portrait is shown. ![]()
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