The oldest representation of Roma (?) and on a Greek coin too. Epizephyrian Lokri...

[Deinomenid]

The British Museum, despite having an extraordinary collection of Greek coins, displays very few of them and - with a handful of exceptions- has more "battered" ones on display. A while ago I was looking at these and noticed one whose label said it was the oldest representation anywhere depicting Roma, the female personification of Rome. I'm well off-piste here, and the standard texts I have all say it is x or y  coin issued by Rome. (Chatgpt4 absolutely insists  on this too!). However, this coin is much earlier and Greek. 

It is very rare (about 10 examples have sold and resold since 2000) though not extraordinarily valuable. My example cost $800 in 2012 and again now. It is quite tightly dated to around 275BC and shows seated Roma being crowned by Pistis, the Greek  personification of trust, faith and reliability. There's no doubt who is depicted. Both Roma and Pistis are named, and "of the Lokrians"  is written below. In case of any confusion as there were several Lokris, this is the one - as the name says- near the Zephryian Cape, now Capo Bruzzano.

Very few Greek coins are as contemporarily historical in their imagery as this coin, and is one a poignant sign of the expanding power of the barbarians over Southern Italy. Athens great project Thurium had to play one  barbarian off against another, seeking Rome’s protection against the Lucanians in 285; and Locri was invested with Roman soldiers in 282 against the Brettii.

The powerful Taras had to invite  Pyrrhos in in 281-80 whose early success encouraged the Lokrians to switch sides. What follows  is well-known, full of cliche and by 278 Pyrrhos left (fled) for Syracuse, Locri once more came under Roman control, garrisoning their troops and then made a  major blunder in again switching sides when Pyrrhos returned to Italy for another bash at the Romans. Battles such as Beneventum/Maleventum cooled his ardour and he left Southern Italy for good in 275 or 274BC, leaving  the area largely at the mercy of Rome. Hence this coin and  its dating, plus its somewhat reduced weight speaking volumes about the polis' parlous finances.

This was the last of the silver coins of Lokri and sadly - to use the language of the victor - a very clear deditio in fidem style.

 

BRUTTIUM Stater, Locri, 275-270 BC, Silver 6.42 g.
Obverse: Laureate head of Zeus facing left.
Reverse: Roma, wearing a chiton and peplos, seated on a throne, resting her right arm on an oblong shield and holding a parazonium (ceremonial dagger) under her left arm. She is crowned by a standing female figure (Pistis) to her left. In the exergue, ΛΟΚΡΩΝ (meaning "of the Locrians").
 

 

This was the BM display -

 

   

 

There's a lot more to say about this ancient polis and its very unusual structure, including a very curious role for women in its society, but I'll leave that for another day! Lokri was a very conservative society and unusually late to coin, but  I'll add some of their output over time here.

Please feel free to post anything about Epizephyrian Lokri, the Roma symbol - especially if there are earlier representations of her - the coins of the threatening tribes (excluding Rome 🤫) or anything  else  ~relevant.

 

[Deinomenid]

I just found the coin on @rNumis's excellent Ancient Greek Coin provenance site too.

https://www.rnumis.com/greek_coins_top.php?geo0=All&geo1=All&curpage=1

Ex Imhoof-Bloomer 1907 and Ars Classica 1930.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2024 by Deinomenid
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[Hesiod]

I was your underbidder, congrats, and great provenance find!

[Deinomenid]

The "wonderful alliance" with the new barbarian overlords is shown in its true  light here. I just found it in a 1996 NAC catalogue. The  "of the Lokrians" part has been removed from the coin.