RECEEATIVE SCIENCE. 



101 



immediately opposite to that of Jupiter. 

 In the space above the carpentum bearing 

 the statue of Julia, on the coin engraved as 

 below, and running round the border, is the 



inscription divae juliae avg. divi titi f., 

 Avhich would read at full length, divae juliae 

 AUGVSTAE Divi TITI FiLiAE. To the Divinc 

 Julia Augusta, Daughter of the Divine Titus. 

 Beneath, in what is technically called the 

 exergum of the coin, is the usual s. p. q. e., 

 •and on the reverse there is a large S. C, the 

 abbreviation of senatvs consvlto (by de- 

 cree of the senate), surrounded by a legend, 

 composed of the name and titles of Domitian. 

 A beautiful and striking variation in the 

 consecration type is that found on the coins 

 Struck in honour of Sabina, the neglected 

 wife of Hadrian. On the reverse of this 

 elegant coin the figure of the empress, bearing 

 a sceptre, is represented as being borne to 

 the regions of the gods on the back of an 

 eagle. Within the circuit of a floating veil 

 are seven stars, representing a constellation, 

 in which her spirit is about to take its abode. 

 Beneath the figure are the letters S. C, 

 and on the obverse a fine head of the empress, 

 veiled, with an inscription to the effect that 

 the coin was struck in honour of the Divine 

 Augusta Sabina. It is thought by some 

 that this coin was not struck by Hadrian 

 to his long neglected wife, but that after 

 his death, which occurred shortly after that 

 of Sabina, it was issued by his adopted son 

 and successor, Antoninus Pius, out of re- 

 spect to the wife of his adopted father. The 

 selection of the eagle as the spirit-bearer 



is consistent with its received character as 

 the messenger of Jupiter, as the swiftest of 

 flight among birds ; in accordance with which 

 quality it is made the bearer of the fulmen or 

 thunderbolt, and is frequently represented at 

 the feet of that deity, grasping the classical 

 symbol of the thunder in both its claws. 

 There is a fine representation of the eagle, 

 as the bearer of a deified spirit, among the 

 sculptures of the arch of Titus, in which the 

 emperor is seen borne between the wings of 

 an eagle, and crowned by a flying Victory. 

 A precisely similar device was struck, among 

 many others, on the " consecratio " coins is- 

 sued in honour of the Empress Faustina the 

 younger, the wife of Marcus Aurelius, which 

 I have engraved in preference to that of 

 Sabina, as being of better execution. 



Another variety of device found upon 

 the " consecratio " coins struck by Marcus 

 Aurelius, in honour of his beloved but worth- 

 less wife, [Faustina the younger, who, at the 

 especial request of her bereaved husband, 

 had been not only declared deified, but speci- 

 fically declared to rank with Pallas as a virgin 

 goddess, as though such a decree would at 

 once refute the vulgar opinions regarding her 

 well known profligacy. Of the coins struck 

 in honour of the consecration of Faustina, I 

 have next selected for Ulustration the one of 

 the peacock type, engraved on next page ; 

 the spirited and bold style, both of design 

 and execution, being very remarkable. The 

 peacock, as being sacred to Juno, appeared to 

 the designers of that late age, who began to 

 get critical in the selection of their symbols. 



