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Auction: 23007 - Ancient Coins Including the 'Kyrios' Collection of Greek Coins and featuring the 'Ostorius' Collection of Roman Gold
Lot: 202

(x) Roman Empire, Antinous AE Drachm, dated RY 19 of Hadrian, AD 134/5, ANTINOOY HEROOS, draped bust right wearing Hemhem crown, rev. Antinous cloacked and holding Caduceus on horseback right, L I TH date below horse, 23.96g (Köln 1276; Dattari (Savio) 8004; K&G 34a.1; RPC III 6062; Emmett 1346.19), lovely brown patina with a few patches of verdigris, some test cuts and small cracks in the flan, about good very fine

PROVENANCE

Spink Numismatic Circular, July 1999, R2489, 'an uncommonly pleasing coin, very fine'


In September AD 130, Hadrian and his lover visited Libya where they offered to kill a lion that was troubling the locals. The hunt for the Marousian lion would become legendary, Antinous almost died and had to be rescued by his lover who then finished the job killing the lion. The hunt was commemorated by a Greek poet who lived in Egypt, Pancrates, in epic Hexameters adopting a bold heroic tone as if Hadrian and his lover were Homeric heroes.


An iconographic depiction of the hunt is even preserved on a tondo of the arch of Constantine (recycled from a previous Hadrianic monument). It may seem odd for one hunt to receive this much attention. This was no ordinary hunt however - a few weeks later one of its participants was to become a god.


In October, Antinous drowned in the Nile under mysterious circumstances. Antinous' death has received much speculation both ancient and modern. Had he been killed by the emperor or was it a suicide? Cassius Dio even raises the possibility of a self-sacrifice to guarantee Hadrian's health. A death in the Nile after all was very significant in Egyptian religion, the very manner which the their god Osiris died. The precise circumstances can never be known, but we do know what happened next: Hadrian overcome with grief initiated one of the most elaborate apotheoses for his dead lover - Antinous was to become a god.


The divine status of Antinous varied significantly depending upon the region. In most cases it was a Hero-cult an elevated status ambiguously positioned between man and god which was most often reserved for the mythological sons of gods. Antinous would also be syncretically worshipped combined with other deities including Osiris (the Egyptian god of the dead who was died also in the Nile), Hermes, and Dionysus. Evidence for his cult has been found in 70 cities across the empire with at least 28 temples dedicated to him. The success of the cult too is attested in the popularity of his portraiture: after Augustus and Hadrian himself, more images have been identified as Antinous than any other historical figure in antiquity. Stories such as the hunt of the Marousian lion became a mythology which defined his heroic status.


This coin, minted in Alexandria only a few years after his death attests to the worship of this new god. Curious syncretisms play out: the obverse features Antinous wearing the Egyptian hem-hem; the reverse shows him as Hermes, one of the most common combinations - temples were even set up to Hermes-Antinous a temple as early as 131. This type of veneration was unique at this time in the empire. Outside and unrelated to the imperial cult this was an apotheosis that belonged to a different age. This boy from Bithynia, barely 19 when he died, after only being in a relationship with the emperor for three years, became one of the most famous and recognisable figures in the empire so much so that even in the reign of Caracalla coins were being struck with his portrait.

Subject to 5% tax on Hammer Price in addition to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium.

Sold for
£1,200

Starting price
£900