FIRE………………………………………………………………………………………………………

[Ocatarinetabellatchitchix]

I HATE fire; but I LOVE fire. Why do I have this hate / love relationship with it ? First I love it when it’s time to start my wood stove in a chilly evening like we have for several months during Canada’s long winter. But for more than two decades I fought the destructive power of fire, I saw it causes tears and desolation. And now it’s over, I retired yesterday from my « second » job: part time firefighter. I’m too old now, have to let the youth take over. Did you know that the Romans had that kind of dichotomy in the past ?

Me and my baby in 2005…

 

The ancient Romans considered fire as a god. Ovid (Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus), for example, in a passage in which he seeks to explain the use of fire at the Festival of Pales, calls fire, as well as water, a god.

The origin of the cult of Vesta — fire in its helpful aspect — goes back to primitive days when it was necessary to keep fire alive for the use and the survival of the community. The fire was the care of the unmarried daughters of the family, who were, in reality, the priestesses of the sacred fire in the home. After the main course of the noon meal, silence was commanded, and a portion of the sacred salt-cake, made by the hands of the daughters of the home, was cast from a platter into the fire as a sacrifice to Vesta. As many of the religious forms of the Roman family had their counterpart in the State religion, so the worship of the fire in home had its counterpart in the State religion. The seat of the worship of Vesta in the city of Rome was the circular 'Temple' of Vesta, built like a primitive hut. Here the sacred fire of the State — Vesta — was tended by six maiden priestesses, who renewed it every year, on March 1 st, from a spark formed by friction. There was no statue of Vesta in the 'temple': the fire was the goddess herself.

The creation of destructive fire into a god was quite natural. Early man saw that fire not only warmed his body and made his food eatable, but burned down his home and brought death and destruction in its wake. Vesta, as we have said, was fire in its helpful aspect; Vulcan, on the contrary, was the bad destructive fire. There is no reason why Vulcan, as fire, should have been worshipped at the hearth with Vesta, for Vesta was never considered a destructive force, nor was Vulcan ever, in historical times at least, considered beneficent. Vergil and Ennius and Roman writers generally gave the name Vulcan to destructive fire. Ostia was the seat of an ancient and flourishing cult of Vulcan, a fact due, doubtless, to the danger in the hot season to the granaries located on the Tiber. There Vulcan had a temple, a pontiff, and a praetor and an aedile for performing the sacrifices. At Rome the Temple of Vulcan was appropriately located outside the walls of the city; there by rites and sacrifices the city was supposedly protected against fire.

 

Please show me your coins with FIRE elements on it ! 

Pietas sacrificing over BURNING altar.

 

Two figures holding TORCHS.

Demeter holding long TORCH

Claudius II FLAMING altar.

 

 

[Octavius]

 Denarius of Domitian as Caesar under Titus with reverse of garlanded alter with fire.

 

[Roman Collector]

Congratulations on your retirement, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix!

Flaming torch!

Plautilla, AD 202-205.
Roman AR denarius, 3.76 g, 20.2 mm.
Rome, AD 205.
Obv: PLAVTILLA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and drape bust, right.
Rev: DIANA LVCIFERA, Diana standing left, holding flaming torch with both hands.
Refs: RIC 366; BMCRE 420; RSC 13; RCV 7070; CRE 427.

 

Flaming altar:

 

Volusian, 251-253.
Roman billon antoninianus, 3.21 g, 20.6 mm, 11 h.
Rome mint, 5th officina, 5th emission, mid AD 253.
Obv: IMP CAE C VIB VOLVSIANO AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: P M TR P IIII COS II, emperor standing left, sacrificing with patera over flaming altar and holding short scepter.
Refs: RIC 141; Cohen 94; Sear 9793; Hunter 3.

 

Flaming tripod:

 

Time of Valerian I to Gallienus, AD 253-268.
Roman provincial Æ 23 mm, 5.60 g, 6 h.
Troas, Alexandria Troas, AD 253-268.
Obv: CO AL[EX TRO?], turreted and draped bust of Tyche, right, with vexillium inscribed AV/CO over shoulder.
Rev: COL AVG TROAD, Apollo Smintheus, in himation, with quiver at shoulder, standing right, holding in right hand a patera over flaming tripod; in left, bow.
Refs: BMC 17.13, 38; cf. Bellinger A470-71; cf. RPC IX 523.

Edited December 11, 2022 by Roman Collector
To add a gif

[Phil Davis]

These are the flames of the Nymphaeum of Apollonia, depicted on a very scarce half-victoriatus of that city. The fuel of the flames was bitumen, a form of petroleum. I designed and commissioned the pendant as a gift for my wife. She was a long-time employee of the Federal EPA in the oil and gas remediation department, so this coin was a perfect fit. (Before I get yelled at as a blasphemer against the numismatic gods, I should say that no coins were harmed in the creation of this pendant. The coin was inserted completely non-destructively, no notches, no edge filing, nor will it ever be polished, at least as long as either of us is around to have a say in the matter.) 

Here is the coin, pre-production:

 

 

[JayAg47]

I don't have a coin of Theodosius, but I did make this meme a year ago.

[jdmKY]

Here’s my only fire coin - 

L Papius Celsius, 45 BC, obverse is Juno Sospita, reverse shows a wolf placing a stick on a flame which is being fanned by an eagle

Congratulations on your retirement, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix!

[mc9]

@Ocatarinetabellatchitchix,

congratulations on your retirement. I know from experience, now comes the best time of your life.
Here 2 pieces with fire on it.

Julia DomnaJulia Domna

IVLIA AVGVSTA

Head bare r.

PIETAS PVBLICA

Pietas veiled, standing front, head left, by altar, raising both hands

Denarius, 3.32 gr, RIC IV 574 p.170

 

 

Julia Maesa

IVLIA MAESA AVG

bust draped r.

SAECVLI FELICITAS

Felicitas standing l., holding long caduceus and sacrificing over lighted altar; in r. field star

Denarius, 3.01 gr, RIC IVb 271 p.50

[ambr0zie]

My L. Papius Celsus is similar to the one posted by @jdmKY with a bonus feature - I managed to break it when taking photos for Top 10

Will have to take another picture, here is my old one - but fortunately (even if I am very annoyed anyway) it only has a chip on the obverse edge, not showing on the reverse

 

A respectable flaming altar on this Caracalla from Trajanopolis

Another flaming  altar on this pseudo autonomous from Mopsus, a rare little coin I enjoy a lot.

[shanxi]

The fire altar of Hierocaesarea

Lydia, Hierokaisareia
Pseudo-autonomous issue
First half of the second century
Obv: draped bust of Artemis Persica r., with quiver at l. shoulder, bow and arrow at breast
Rev.: ΙΕΡΟΚΑΙСΑΡΕΩN, anticlockwise legend, garlanded and lighted altar
AE, 3g, 13mm
Ref.: RPC online -

[Spaniard]

A fire altar...

Gadhaiya

Anonymous
Chavdas of Gujarat, c. 650-944.?
18mm..4.03gr
Obverse-Stylized head right
Reverse-Stylized fire altar

 

[Limes]

Informative write up, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, thanks! And cool you were a firefighter, on the side 🙂

Here are two relevant coins, one with a sacrificial scene over a lighted altar, and another one with the mentioned temple on the reverse; the temple of Vesta.  

[Al Kowsky]

10 hours ago, Ocatarinetabellatchitchix said:

I HATE fire; but I LOVE fire. Why do I have this hate / love relationship with it ? First I love it when it’s time to start my wood stove in a chilly evening like we have for several months during Canada’s long winter. But for more than two decades I fought the destructive power of fire, I saw it causes tears and desolation. And now it’s over, I retired yesterday from my « second » job: part time firefighter. I’m too old now, have to let the youth take over. Did you know that the Romans had that kind of dichotomy in the past ?

Me and my baby in 2005…

 

The ancient Romans considered fire as a god. Ovid (Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus), for example, in a passage in which he seeks to explain the use of fire at the Festival of Pales, calls fire, as well as water, a god.

The origin of the cult of Vesta — fire in its helpful aspect — goes back to primitive days when it was necessary to keep fire alive for the use and the survival of the community. The fire was the care of the unmarried daughters of the family, who were, in reality, the priestesses of the sacred fire in the home. After the main course of the noon meal, silence was commanded, and a portion of the sacred salt-cake, made by the hands of the daughters of the home, was cast from a platter into the fire as a sacrifice to Vesta. As many of the religious forms of the Roman family had their counterpart in the State religion, so the worship of the fire in home had its counterpart in the State religion. The seat of the worship of Vesta in the city of Rome was the circular 'Temple' of Vesta, built like a primitive hut. Here the sacred fire of the State — Vesta — was tended by six maiden priestesses, who renewed it every year, on March 1 st, from a spark formed by friction. There was no statue of Vesta in the 'temple': the fire was the goddess herself.

The creation of destructive fire into a god was quite natural. Early man saw that fire not only warmed his body and made his food eatable, but burned down his home and brought death and destruction in its wake. Vesta, as we have said, was fire in its helpful aspect; Vulcan, on the contrary, was the bad destructive fire. There is no reason why Vulcan, as fire, should have been worshipped at the hearth with Vesta, for Vesta was never considered a destructive force, nor was Vulcan ever, in historical times at least, considered beneficent. Vergil and Ennius and Roman writers generally gave the name Vulcan to destructive fire. Ostia was the seat of an ancient and flourishing cult of Vulcan, a fact due, doubtless, to the danger in the hot season to the granaries located on the Tiber. There Vulcan had a temple, a pontiff, and a praetor and an aedile for performing the sacrifices. At Rome the Temple of Vulcan was appropriately located outside the walls of the city; there by rites and sacrifices the city was supposedly protected against fire.

 

Please show me your coins with FIRE elements on it ! 

Pietas sacrificing over BURNING altar.

 

Two figures holding TORCHS.

Demeter holding long TORCH

Claudius II FLAMING altar.

 

 

Great photo of you & daughter 😊! Congrats on finally stepping away from fire-fighting 😉. The coin pictured below shows Genius wearing a modius, holding a cornucopia, & pouring the contents of a patera over a fire altar .

 

[seth77]

Congrats 

 

[Steve]

Congrats on having a great part-time career and also congrats on your recent retirement ... it sucks getting old, but you must feel great that you had that meaningful/helpful side-career, eh? (you're a hero)

I loved seeing everybody's cool fire-coins 

... ummm, here are a few from my ol' collection ... 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2022 by Steve

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Here are a couple related to fire:

 

1) Claudius II with fire atop altar, struck by Quintillus

2) Maximinus Daia of Alexandria with Genius holding Serapis' head, fire to left

 

 

 

[Parthicus]

When I saw the title, I thought it would be about this song:

 

 

The usual Sasanian reverse was a Zoroastrian fire-altar with two attendants.  Here's a representative example, on a drachm of Khusro II (590-628):

 

[Prieure de Sion]

 

Divus Commodus under Trajanus Decius

Antoninianus of the Roman Imperial Period 250/251 AD; Material: Silver; Diameter: 23mm; Weight: 4.96g; Mint: Rome; Reference: RIC IV Trajan Decius 94; Obverse: Head of Divus Commodus, radiate, right. The Inscription reads: DIVO COMMODO for Divo Commodo (To the divine Commodus); Reverse: Rectangular altar, with four panels in front, lighted. The Inscription reads: CONSECRATIO for Consecratio (Consecration).

 

 

FIRE!

[Broucheion]

Hi @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix,

 

Congratulations!!! Here is a fire alter to celebrate.

ANTONINUS PIUS (10 Jul 138 - 7 Mar 161 CE )
ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT Year 17 (153/154 CE)
Æ Drachma

Size: 32x34 mm
Weight: 22.8 g
Axis: 11:00
Broucheion Collection R-2016-03-28.001

Obv: Antoninus Pius laureate head facing right. Legend: [AYTK]TAIΛAΔP - ANT[ωNINOC CEB]. Dotted border not visible.
Rev: Altar of Agathodaimon: hexastyle facade with garlanded entablature, aphlasta on each end, and burning pine cones in the middle, set on three-tiered base. Dotted border.
Refs: Emmett-1448.17; Geissen-1701; Dattari-3011 var; Milne-2251; Oxford Ashmolean Museum #2252.

Notes: From BMC Alexandria: "The extraordinary type of an Altar of great size, assuming the character of an edifice, the determination of which I owe to my colleague Mr. Murray, is peculiar to the Alexandrian series. It is represented as hexastyle, except in one type (Pl. xxix. 1204), which is tetrastyle, no doubt on account of the statue. The horns are like aplustria, and at the corners beneath each is a dolphin (see esp. 882, 1200). Upon the roof is in the centre a mass of fuel from which a flame rises, strangely varied in one case (1204). One type shows the edifice hung with garlands (1255). In some there is a statue before an altar of Egyptian form: the statue cannot be determined from the museum specimens (1200, 1201). In most there is between each column a curule chair, with in some cases a wreath, usually upright but at least once flat (882, 1204, 1255). It seems probable that the altar is that of the Emperor, and that the curule chairs were intended for him and the other imperial personages, the wreaths standing for them in their absence. If this attribution be correct, no doubt the altar was part of the Kaisareion, or Caesareum."

- Broucheion

[Furryfrog02]

Congratulations on your retirement!

Here is a coin from hemidrachm from Tabaristan featuring a fire alter:

UMAR BIN AL-ALA

Tabaristán

Hemidrachm

155-165 AH

Obverse: Stylized crowned Sassanian style bust right; mqatl in Arabic to right; ’pd in Pahlavi to lower right in outer margin; nwk’ in Pahlavi to lower left.

Reverse: Fire altar flanked by attendants; pellets flanking flames; date to left, mint to right; alternating triple pellets and star-in-crescents in outer margin.

 

On a similar but unrelated note, here is the first ever fire I have made in a fireplace. I've never lived in a house with a fireplace until we moved into our new house a few months ago.
Today was the first time I braved the fireplace and made a fire. It's small but it's a start! And most importantly to a fire fighter - It is safely contained! 🙂

[LONGINUS]

Awesome post, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix !

I love the photo and the coins. I’ve no ancient coins that are really appropriate for your post but I do have some French firefighting medals. (In addition to ancient coins French medals are a love of mine.)

 

 

Thank you for your service!

[Ocatarinetabellatchitchix]

2 minutes ago, LONGINUS said:

I do have some French firefighting medals.

Thanks a lot Ray. Pretty unique medals indeed !