SIGEBERT HAVERCAMP’S NOTES

...of Antioch 117 original: "Antiochenfis CXVII", concerning which, as well as this coin, one should consult Norisius in his most celebrated book on the Syro-Macedonian Epochs, page 165. Josephus frequently mentions this Mucianus, Governor of Syria, with praise, and Spanhemius cited this very coin in his commentary on Book IV of The Jewish War, Chapter I, page 266.

Num. 6. NERO original Greek: "ΝΕΡΩΝ". The laureate head of Nero, and on the other side, to designate the fertility of the land, a double cornucopia figure with the inscription "Of the Gadarenes, Year 131" original Greek: "ΓΑΔΑΡΕΩΝ ΑΑΡ". Gadara, a city of Coele-Syria, whose era the Eminent Norisius explains on page 297 and following, is frequently mentioned by Flavius Josephus. He recounts in The Jewish War, Book I, Chapter VII, page 69, and in Antiquities, Book XIV, Chapter IV, page 690, that Gadara was restored by Pompey—for the Jews had destroyed it shortly before—after the defeat of Aristobulus, as a favor to his freedman Demetrius of Gadara. Alexander Jannaeus, King of the Jews, had previously captured the same city after a ten-month siege, according to the same Antiquities, Book XIII, Chapter XIII, page 669. Later, however, Herod the Great treated the Gadarenes quite harshly; hence the sharp complaint of the Ambassadors to Caesar Augustus, then acting in Syria, against Herod, whom they called imperious, bitter, and a tyrant. They accused him of violence, plunder, and the destruction of temples, though with little success, as Josephus testifies in Antiquities, Book XV, Chapter X, page 775.

Num. 7. This coin also relates to Gadara, which we just discussed; Norisius described it on page 300, but did not illustrate it, merely mentioning that its inscription was shared by Nicolas Toinard. However, Enea Vico A 16th-century Italian engraver and numismatist had long ago illustrated it among the coins of Nero, but only one side, which is therefore all we can provide. In addition to the inscription "GADARA" original Greek: "ΓΑΔΑΡΑ", the same era as the previous coin is read, "Year 131" original Greek: "L. AAP", with the first letter added, which is the customary sign for a year among the Greeks. Year 131 is indicated. The letters "AA" are poorly connected in Vico’s work, as if they were "Am." The female figure with a turreted head, holding a laurel in her right hand and a cornucopia in her left, with a palm at her feet and a star at her head, represents the Spirit Genius: the protective spirit or personification of the city of Gadara, which seems to congratulate Nero, as if he were another Apollo, on his musical victories. The inscription by the head in Norisius is "Nero Caesar" original Greek: "ΝΕΡΩΝ ΚΑΙΣΑΡ".

Num. 8. & 9. It is sufficient to present the drawing of these gold coins, which are celebrated and explained everywhere among Antiquarians, such as Vaillant, Beger, and Spanhemius (from whom they are taken, pages 404 and 406). On them appear the "jugate" jugata: heads overlapping or side-by-side heads of the Ptolemies, kings of Egypt. Everyone everywhere, including Josephus, celebrates their love and generosity toward literature and the learned. Josephus commemorates the zeal of Philadelphus for collecting the Sacred Books of the Jews and his magnificent gifts sent to Jerusalem in Antiquities, Book XII, Chapter II, page 590. There, in the notes, Spanhemius cites these very coins with the inscription "Of the Sibling Gods" original Greek: "ΘΕΩΝ ΑΔΕΛΦΩΝ". On the side inscribed "Siblings," the jugate heads of Ptolemy Philadelphus and his wife and sister, Arsinoë, appear; on the other side, those of Ptolemy Soter (son of Lagus) and Berenice are seen similarly joined. The Illustrious Spanhemius thinks (page 406) that Leone Allacci wrongly translated "Of the Sibling Gods" in the Adulitan Monument as "Of the Brother Gods," and he himself would prefer "Of the Brother and Sister Gods." But this is in vain, since Tertullian long ago called siblings "gods" in To the Nations, Book II, Chapter XIII: "You have received as Gods, Saturn and Ops, though already joined in incest."

Num. 10. A female head without an inscription; on the other side is an eagle standing on a thunderbolt between a cornucopia and the letter Pi original Greek: "Π", with the inscription "Of Queen Cleopatra" original Greek: "ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ". Beger produced this coin in Volume III of the Brandenburg Treasury, page 33. As for why you see the head's ornament and the face itself differ somewhat in this drawing from Beger’s coin, it is because we took care to have the front part drawn and engraved according to the coin of this Queen which we ourselves

possess, thinking this variety would not be unwelcome to students of Antiquity in a truly remarkable coin.

The distinguished Beger believes this female face should be attributed to Cleopatra, the wife of Ptolemy Euergetes, the third king of the Egyptians, specifically before his marriage to Berenice, daughter of Magas, King of Cyrene. The Great Man’s entire argument rests solely on the letter Pi original Greek: "Π", which he takes as a numeral and refers to the year 80 of the Alexandrian era, and thus the 15th year of Euergetes’s reign, as he calculates it. But to say nothing of other points, if the foundation of this conjecture is removed, the whole thing collapses, especially since it goes against historical evidence. Similar letters on Egyptian coins are not numerals unless the letter "L" (which denotes Lykabas: an archaic Greek term for 'year') is added, as can be seen in Vaillant, page 124, and elsewhere. Rather, they are always the initials of some city that minted that coin. Thus, in Vaillant on pages 111, 115, etc., the letters "PA" denote coins from the people of Paphos; just as on page 70, the letters "ER" show a coin of Philopator came from the people of Heracleopolis; and on page 84, "SA" is believed to designate Salamis; and on page 50, "THE" designates the Thebans, and so with the rest. Therefore, I judge the letter "Pi" to denote Pelusium or another city of Egypt. That face should be referred to another Queen for this one argument alone: When Ptolemy (later called Euergetes) took Berenice, daughter of Magas, as his wife, his father Philadelphus was still alive and lived for several years thereafter. Thus, the title "Queen" original Greek: "ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ", which is read on this coin, does not fit a wife of Euergetes who is supposed to have been married to him even before Berenice.

Setting all that aside, I will bring forward my own opinion. I think it pertains to Cleopatra, daughter of Antiochus the Great, King of Syria, who was married to Ptolemy Epiphanes, the fifth king of Egypt. Her father gave her Coele-Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, and Samaria as a dowry. She outlived her husband and was held in great honor by her son—who for that reason was surnamed Philometor meaning "Mother-lover"—and she died in the flower of her age, to the great grief of the Egyptians, as Vaillant teaches on page 88 of his excellent History of the Ptolemies. This is the very Cleopatra mentioned by Josephus in Antiquities, Book XII, Chapter IV, page 600: "Afterward," he says, "Antiochus made a friendship and alliance with Ptolemy, and gave him his daughter Cleopatra in marriage, granting Coele-Syria, Samaria, Judea, and Phoenicia by way of dowry." For Antiochus the Great had already decided on war against the Romans and for that reason was seeking strong family alliances and powerful partners. Finally, I have another coin of this same Cleopatra, also bronze (to be published another time), a little smaller than this one, with a similar type but with the initial letter of the city "M," which similarly completely overturns Beger’s opinion about the era being expressed in this manner.

Num. 11. A beardless, bare head, which is attributed to Ovid The Roman poet by the Illustrious Spanhemius (page 43 of his Minor Work, or 54 of the Major) based on a false inscription "OTEDIOS NASON" original: "ΟΤΗΔΙΟΣ ΝΑΣΩΝ". Because of this, Ovid is now often given this face in editions of his poems. On the other side is a bearded face, which I attribute to Jupiter, with the inscription "Of Menasios" original Greek: "ΜΕΝΑΣΙΟΥ".

We said at Num. 2 that in ancient bronze it is written "POLLIONA" with an Omega or an Omicron. Spanhemius brings forward several coins to explain this, in which the first part of that name is usually written with an Omicron rather than an Omega; let the reader desiring to be informed consult him. It is certainly clear that this small coin belongs under Augustus, which can be seen from the added names of Vedius and Menander, who writes himself as the son of Parrhasius. Goltzius, in plate LXXV, Num. 24, depicts one among the coins of Augustus, on the other side of which is read "MENANDROS PARASIOS" original Greek: "ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΣ ΠΑΡΑΣΙΟΣ". It is a temple supported by eight columns, at the sides of which is a caduceus The staff of Hermes/Mercury with four...