Eutropius, that the honour of apotheosis was paid him, with the usual ceremonies; but the denarii quoted by Mezzo-barba and Eckhel, which would otherwise corroborate that fact, are both suspected.* Decius was a prince endowed with many good qualities and great ability, affecting the ancient manner, so as to be generally beloved by the Pagans, insomuch that the Senate voted him not inferior to Trajan, and bestowed upon him the admired title of Optimus. But his high reputation was stained, and, his name rendered infamous, by the seventh and most terrible persecution of the Christians; which was so rancorously and inexorably inflicted, as to drive thousands of people into deserts, caves, and fastnesses, and foster monachism: and it is not a little remarkable, that, under the inscrutable decrees of Providence, some of the best emperors were the most bitter persecutors of that sect, whose "halcyon days" were under the vile Commodus. On other points, his character seems to have been unimpeachable, as a Sovereign. He shewed the greatest deference for the Senate, and restored to them the important office of appointing a Censor, which had been laid aside from Domitian's time, and had been monopolized, neglected, or abused, by the princes before him. He also built or repaired the walls of Rome, and solemnly consecrated them; a ceremony usually performed on removing the Pomœrium, or area adjoining them, as was customary with every increase of territory. This was. a matter of great exultation; but the desire of extending their dominions beyond just bounds, proved fatal in the event-" Immunitas peperit Impunitatem, et Filia devoravit Matrem." The medals of Decius are found in each of the metals, and sizes; as well Latin, as Greek-Imperial, Egyptian, and Colonial, the last of which only bear the epithets Pius, Felix. The denarii are very common, and it is curious that some of the types of the former reign are used upon them; one, with a fascia stamped TR. P. III., is quoted by Eckhel, as a proof that they are in error who assert that the Tribunitian Power is not marked, because the Emperor had restored that authority to the people. The large and middle-brass are as common as the silver; but there is a novelty in the mintage of Decius, in the medalets,† or coins, which, though not much larger than the early large-brass, weigh two of the sestertii of his own reign. They are well known, having the types of Felicity, Liberality, and Banduri, from Victor, says that Decius perished in the 50th year of his age; and also proves from an Egyptian coin, where mention is made of the third year of his reign, that he must have died about the beginning of December. + This term, though it now obtains, has been very badly chosen, since the diminutive et seems rather to apply to medals, than medallions. The portrait of Decius, on these medalets, is ornamented with the radiated crown, which though placed on the posthumous coins of Augustus, as a token of deification, was afterwards put upon those of living emperors. The large-brass, however, invariably appears with the laurel-wreath; and the custom has descended to our times, with what Pinkerton terms-"a most risible and truly Celtic absurdity." Victory; and-unlike the medallions-being marked with S. C. were probably used as ordinary money. Assaria, or third-brass, which had not been struck by the Senate since the days of the Antonines, now re-appear. See page 245.* CCCCLXV. Obverse. IMP. C. M. Q. TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG. (Imperator Caius + Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius, Augustus.) The laurelled head of Decius, with sensible features, and the appearance of rather more than middle age; the bust being in armour. This medal is in capital preservation, and incrusted with green and red patina; it was procured from Mr. M. Young, in 1825, having formerly belonged to the well-known cabinet of Mr. Miles. Reverse. LIBERALITAS AVG. (Liberalitas Augusti.) On the exergum S. C. The Emperor seated on a tribunal, assisted by a togated figure, superintends a public donation; before him stauds the personification of Liberality with her tessera and cornucopiæ, and a citizen ascends the steps. Besides the ticket held by this statue, to notify the amount of the largess, the Curatores Annonæ distributed small tesseræ among the populace, as orders for the receipt of such a portion, as was stamped upon them; whence Juvenal "Summula ne pereat, qua vilis tessera venit This medal was probably struck A. D. 249, upon the Emperor's arrival in Rome, where he was received with every demonstration of joy. The city now seemed to abound in plenty, for besides Liberality, and Abundance, a new type of Fruitfulness was struck on the denarii of this reign, under the title of Ubertas. Veritas is also assigned to a silver coin of Decius, but as that legend does not appear upon other Roman medals, it may possibly be a mis-reading of Vberitas, which now becomes frequent. Indeed Veritas, though a virtue of the highest import, has not been duly honoured; the ancients neglected her, and among the moderns, the word is commonly subscribed to the falsehoods of anonymous slanderers. CCCCLXVI. Obverse. IMP. C. M. Q. TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG. (Imperator Caius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius, Augustus.) The laureated profile of the Emperor, with a wrinkled brow, and older features than above. This medal, in excellent condition and partially stained with grass-green patina, was one of the Maltese hoard. See CCCXCV. Reverse. GEN. ILLYRICI. (Genius Illyrici.) In the field S. C. A virile figure standing, with a cornucopiæ and the sacred patera; he is naked except a chlamys over his left shoulder, and a modius on his head. The Genius of a province was equivalent to Bonus Eventus, or Good Success, a deity who presided over agriculture, and great actions, and as such he was complimented by Titus, and other Princes, upon medals. The Genii in general, being inferior to the Lares, must have been the prototypes of the modern ghosts; though excepting that of Cæsar at Philippi, the vision of Varus emerging from the marshes, and the one recorded by Pliny, those bugbears do not appear in Roman story. Virgil, indeed, shews that the people believed-"Simulacra modis pallentia miris." See No. CCCCXCVI. CCCCLXVII. Obverse. IMP. C. M. Q. TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG. (Imperator Caius Messius Quintus Tra janus Decius, Augustus.) The laurelled head of the Emperor, with close hair and beard, * Baudelot describes some small pieces of money, resembling assaria in size, but bearing the head of an old woman, with S. C. on the reverse. These, he says, were struck for the slaves during the Saturnalia; and the initials, instead of expressing Senatorial authority, simply mean Saturni Consulto. + Dr. A. Visconti, following Banduri, calls this Cneius; but the latter contradicts himself, by producing a Greek inscription which plainly shews Caius. The Roman camp was beset by the active Arminius, whose followers were spending the night in jollity. The broken slumbers of Cæcina were disturbed by a fearful dream, which is thus related by Tacitus:-"Ducemque terruit dira quies, nam Quinctilium Varum sanguine oblitum ex paludibus emersum cernere et audire visus est, velut vocantem, non tamen obsecutus, et manum intendentis repulisse! grave features, a wrinkled brow, and the bust in a cuirass. This medal is in the finest condition, the metal being hardly discoloured, owing to its having been shut up in one of the amphoræ found at Malta. See CCCXCV. Reverse. GENIVS EXERCITVS ILLYRICIANI. In the field S. C.. A naked Genius, as on the last medal, but with the addition of a military standard behind him. This was struck A. D. 249, to shew that Decius, justly enough, ascribed his advancement to the Illyrian army : "à militibus Illyricianis Imperator factus, ab Senatu Augustus est appellatus." The medals in honour of this event are numerous, and I have had several with the ensign planted before the figure. Of the province Juvenal says "Horrida vitanda est Hispania, Gallicus axis, CCCCLXVIII. Obverse. IMP. CAES. C. MESS. Q. DECIO TRAI. AVG. (Imperatori Cæsari Caio Messio Quinto Decio Trajano, Augusto.) The head of the Emperor, with old but intelligent features, attired as before. This medal, in fine preservation and varnished with Saxon-green patina, spotted with red, was purchased at Albano, near Rome, in 1823. Reverse. DACIA. In the field S. C. A stolated female, with her hair richly attired, and holding a staff surmounted with the head of an animal which, from its shape, and ears, most men would pronounce to be that of an ass. But this is a point much disputed among antiquaries, apparently because so ignoble an animal seems unworthy of decorating a national standard. Engelius, whose coin was probably in an indifferent condition, says that it is part of a dragon, of which the body and tail have been omitted by the artist; Padre Blasi calls it the head of a horse, for a reason equally applicable to five hundred other countries, "that of the people being great riders ;" and Mons. le Bon, who makes out a beard, will have it to be the true "tête d'une chèvre," on account of Dacia's being mountainous. It is, however, clearly an ass's head, and I think the medal before me would have convinced the doubters. The origin of this symbol is now unknown: some think it was assumed as a warlike ensign, because the bray of an ass resembled the Paphlagonian trumpet; others suppose it was derived from the Scythian custom of sacrificing the long-eared beast to Apollo; and a third set consider it as the emblem of valour, because the animal was called Zov dvínnTov. Be this as it may, a spear thus decorated seems to have been a common standard of the northern nations; nor was the patient quadruped itself always despised, since we find Jacob in blessing his sons, complimented Issachar as a "strong ass," alluding no doubt to his fortitude and contempt of danger:-" Nominat Issachar, seu asinum fortem, quod constans esset, firmus, et intrepidus,' "saith Patin-and it may be added, that the native ass of the Great Asiatic Desert is a very different animal from our ill-used donkey, as may be seen in Sir Robert Porter's Travels. This medal was struck A. D. 250, to record the liberation of Dacia, from the incursions of the Barbarians. See No. CLXXI. Count Mezzo-barba inserts a denarius, inscribed Dacia Capta, among the coins of this year; but he is palpably in error, and may have mis-read an injured legend of Dacia Felix, which was then struck. CCCCLXIX. Obverse. IMP. C. M. Q. TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG. (Imperator Caius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius, Augustus.) The laureated head of Decius, with very close hair and a smooth chin; the features are strongly marked and handsome, but indicative of a more advanced age than the Emperor had attained. This medal, cased with green and red patina, and in the highest preservation, was presented to me by the Bey of Bisertah, in 1822, it having recently been found among the ruins of Utica. Reverse. PANNONIAE. In the field S. C. Two stolated and veiled females stand in the middle of the field, the one on the right hand holding a sceptre, and that on the left having a military standard before her. This interesting device illustrates the ancient divisions of the province into superior and inferior, the separation being made by the river Arabo; one of these divisions was called Pannonia prima, which must be the figure with the sceptre, and the other Pannonia ETRUSCILLA, Annia Cupressenia Herennia Etruscilla is a princess known only by medals and marbles, for as historians have not given the name of Decius's wife, there was a considerable difficulty respecting her, till the inscriptions of Muratori and Maffei were published. It is recorded that she bore several children; but though I have admitted that Decius had four sons, out of sheer courtesy to other authorities, there is no substantial testimony for more than two: to these a daughter is added, who was named after the Empress, and is said to have been married to Volusianus. Etruscilla became an Augusta A. D. 249, and lost her honours, after the disastrous death of her husband, in 251; but from the deification of the latter, and the policy of Gallus, she was probably respected in private life. For a long time the antiquaries assigned Orbiana as a wife to Decius; but one of his coins being found in the French cabinet, with Etruscilla's head upon the reverse, the former lady was restored to Alexander, as has been already related: besides which, the Egyptian medal marked LƐ, or year 5, is decisive of her not having been united to Decius, who reigned only half that period. Before the time of Seguin, Etruscilla was mistaken for the daughter of Decius; but as a son of that Emperor was named Herennius Etruscus, it is evident that she was his wife. There are Latin medals of Etruscilla in the three metals, and of all the sizes except small-brass; and there are also Greek-Imperial, Egyptian, and Colonial coins in honour of her. In the Roman mintage, the gold is very rare, but the silver and middle-brass are common, and the large-brass-of which the reverses are few and trite-is only of a slight degree of rarity, the value depending upon comparative perfection. A high-priced dupondius is mentioned by Mionnet, representing three females, but as it is of two kinds of copper, and without the Senatorial stamp, it is only an exception to what is here stated. CCCCLXX. Obverse. HERENNIA ETRVSCILLA AVG. (Herennia Etruscilla, Augusta.) A fine head of the but not expressive, and her bosom robed. This medal is in perfect condition, and stained with Saxon-green patina on the obverse and brownish-red on the reverse; it was one of the Maltese hoard described under No. CCCXCV. Reverse. FECVNDITAS AVG. (Fecunditas Augusta.) In the field S. C. A female, magnificently attired, stands with a cornucopiæ in her left hand, and extends her right towards a child by her side which is trying to reach it. See No. CCCCVII. Some who assert that Etruscilla bore four sons and a daughter to Decius, appeal to this medal in proof of her fertility; but the type was a customary compliment to those Empresses who had families: and would answer as well for one child, as for a dozen. The deity herself seems to have been no other than Juno, who was invoked in child-birth, and by those who desired children, in a manner at once absurd and obscene: and well they deserved the scourging which the priests administered, with goat-skin whips, to their naked bodies, as part of the ceremony. CCCCLXXI. Obverse. HERENNIA ETRVSCILLA AVG. (Herennia Etruscilla, Augusta.) The profile of Etruscilla, apparently in middle age, with her hair smoothly waving, and a diadem in front; her neck is graceful, but the features are expressive of pertness, and are meaner than on the last. This medal, thinly varnished with brown patina, and in capital preservation, was one of those found at Malta. See CCCXCV. Reverse. PVDICITIA AVG. (Pudicitia Augusta.) On the exergum S. C. A richly robed female seated on a high-backed throne, holds a long sceptre in her left hand, and with her right lifts the flammeum which covers her head. See No. CCCXCI. Chastity was a virtue more highly prized than practised by the Romans: and Horace, recounting the benefits which the presence of Augustus brought upon the city, says— "Nullis polluitur casta domus stupris; Mos et lex maculosum edomuit nefas ; A modern Italian proverb distinguishes the double attributes of this goddess, by making chastity a virtue, and modesty a beauty of the fair sex but Propertius best describes her"Non illis studium vulgo conquirere amantes, Illis ampla satis forma, PUDICITIA." HERENNIUS. Quintus Herennius Etruscus Messius Trajanus Decius-one of the princes who, as Eckhel complains, had more names than there were years in his reign-was the eldest son of Decius and Etruscilla, and is commonly called Decius Junior. Nothing is known of him till his father's accession to the Sovereignty, A. D. 249, when he was declared Caesar, and invested with the Tribunitian Power, as is proved by medals, though not mentioned in history. In the following year he was sent, at the head of a well-disciplined army, to check the incursions of the Gothic King Cniva; by whom, after gaining some successes, he was attacked when off his guard, and totally defeated, with dreadful carnage, himself hardly escaping. In the beginning of A. D. 251, his father marched to his relief, decorated * « Aevum imperatorum occipimus, quo plerumque majorem videmus nominum numerum, quam annorum, quibus imperavere, quibus adeo brevitatem imperii quâdam ratione compensavere." |