800 
. M E 
aflures us, that the Greek medals will afford fatisfaftion 
to perfons who value them only as pieces of workman¬ 
ship. In molt refpefts, they greatly excel thofe of Rome 
even in its belt times : which our author fuppofes to have 
been from the days of Auguftus to Adrian. “ In the 
days of Adrian, in particular, (fays he,) the Roman mint 
Teems to have been the very feat of art and genius; wit- 
■rsefs the vaft number of exquifite perfonifications, engraven 
with equal workmanfliip, which fwarm on the medals of 
that prince. Yet from his time down to Poftiiumus, coins 
of admirable workmanfliip are to be found. Thofe of the 
Faullinas and Luciila deierve particular mention. There 
is one, and not an uncommon one, of the latter in great 
brafs, which yields to nothing of the kind. The reverfe 
is a Venus with the name around her. The portrait of 
the obverfe feems to fpring from the field of the coin ; it 
looks and breathes, nay talks, if you truft your eyes. 
The coins of Tarfus are remarkable for a kind of per- 
TpeCrive in the'figures, as Froelich obferves. On others 
are found triumphalarches, temples, fountains, aqueduds, 
ampitheatres, circi, hippodromes, palaces, bafilicas, co¬ 
lumns and' obelifks, baths, fea-ports, pharofes, and the 
like. Thefe furnifh much pleafure and injlru&ion to the 
architect, and ferve to form his tafte to the ancient man¬ 
ner ; that manner which unites perfeCt fimplicity with 
iublimity and grace ; that manner which every age ad¬ 
mires, in proportion as it has genius to imitate. 
By means of medals we can with great certainty deter¬ 
mine the various ornaments worn by ancient princes as 
badges of diftinction. Tiie Grecian kings have generally 
the diadem, without any other ornament ; and, though in 
general the fide of the face is prefented to view, yet in 
tome very ancient Greek and Roman confular coins, full 
faces of excellent workmanfliip are met with. On feveral 
coins alfo two or three faces are to be feen, and thefe are 
always accounted very valuable. The diadem, which was 
no more than a ribbon tied round the head, with a float¬ 
ing knot behind, adorns all the Grecian princes from firfi: 
to laff, and is almofian infallible mark of fovereign power. 
In the Roman confular coins, it is feen in conjunction 
■with Numa and Ancus ; but never afterwards till the 
time of Licinius, the colleague of Conffantine. Diocle- 
fian, indeed, according to Mr. Gibbon, firfi wore the 
diadem; but his portrait upon coins is never adorned with 
it. So great an averfion had the Romans to kingly power, 
that they rather allowed their emperors to affume the ra¬ 
diated crown, the fymbol of divinity, than to wear a 
diadem ; bur, after the time of Conftantine, it becomes 
common. The radiated crown appears firfi on the poft- 
liumous coins of Auguftus, as a mark of deification ; but 
in fomewbat more than a century it became common. 
The laurel crown, at firlt a badge of conqueli, was af¬ 
terwards permitted by the fenate to be worn by Julius 
Caefar, in order to hide the baldnefs of his head. From 
him all the emperors appear with it on their medals, even 
to our own times. In the lower empire the crown is 
fometimes held by a hand above the head, as a mark of 
piety. Befides thefe, the naval, mural, and civic, crowns 
appear on the medals both of emperors and other emi¬ 
nent men, to denote their great actions. The laurel 
crown is alfo fometimes worn by the Greek princes. The 
Arfacidae of Parthia wear a kind of fall) round the head, 
with their hair in rows of curls like a wig, as reprefented 
Plate I. fig. i. The Armenian kings have the tiara, a kind 
of cap which was efteemed the badge of imperial power 
in the eaft. Conical caps are feen on the medals of fome 
of the princes of Armenia, having a diadem around it. 
See fig. 2. 
The impious vanity of Alexander and his fucceflors in 
affuming divine honours is'manifeft on their medals, where 
various lymbols of divinity are met with. Some of them 
have an horn behind their ear, either to denote their 
llrength, or that they were the fucceffors of Alexander, 
to whom this badge might be applied as the fon of Ju- 
D A L. 
piter Ammon. This, however, Mr. Pinkerton obferves, is 
the oniy one of thefe fymbols which certainly denotes an 
earthly fovereign. it being doubted whether the reft are 
not all figures of gods. According to Eckhet, even the 
horn and diadem belong to Bacchus, who invented the 
latter to cure his headaches; and, according to the fame 
author, the only monarch who appears on coins with the 
horn is Lyfimachus. We are informed, however, by 
Plutarch, that Pyrrhus had a creft of goats’ horns to his 
helmet; and the goat, we know, was a fymbol of Ma- 
cedon. Perhaps the fucceffors of Alexander wore this 
badge of the horn in ccnfequence. The helmet likewife 
frequently appears on the heads of fovereigns, and Con¬ 
ftantine I, has helmets of various forms curioufiy orna¬ 
mented. 
The diadem is worn by moft of the Greek queens, by 
Orodaltis, daughter of Lycomedes king of Bithynia ; and, 
though the Roman empreffes never appear with it, yet 
this is more than compenfated by the variety of their iiead- 
dreffes. Sometimes the buft of an emprefs is fupported 
by a crefcer.t, to imply that (he was the moon, as herhul- 
band was the fun, of the (fate. The toga, or veil drawn 
oyer the face, at firft implied that the perfon was invefted 
with the pontifical office; and accordingly we find it on 
the bufts of Julius Caefar, while pontifex maxiinus. It 
likewife implies the augurlhip, the augurs-having a par¬ 
ticular kind of gown called lana , with which they covered 
their heads when obferving an omen. In latter times 
this implies only confecration, and is common in coins of 
empreffes. It is firft met with on the coins of Claudius 
Gothicus as the mark of confecration of an emperor. 
The nimbus, or glory, now appropriated to .faints, is 
as ancient as Auguftus, but is not to be met with 
on many of the imperial medals, even after it began 
to be appropriated to them. There is a curious coin, 
which has upon the reverfe of the common piece, with 
the head of Rome, urbs roma, in large brafs, Conftan¬ 
tine I. fitting amid Victories and Genii, with a triple 
crown upon his head, for Europe, Afia, and Africa, with 
the legend securitas rOm^e. 
In general only the buft is given upon medals, though 
fometimes half the body or more ; in which latter cafe 
the hands often appear with enfigns of majefty in them ; 
fuch as the globe, laid to have been introduced by Au¬ 
guftus as a fymbol of univerfal dominion ; the fceptre, 
fometimes confounded with the confular Itaff; a roll of 
parchment, the fymbol of legiflative power; and a hand¬ 
kerchief, expreffive of the power over the public games, 
where the emperor gave the fignal. Some princes hold a 
thunderbolt, (bowing that their power on earth was equal 
to that of Jupiter in heaven ; while others hold an image 
of Victory. 
The ftudy of medals is not of very ancient date. None 
of the claflic writers give any account of collections of 
them ; though indeed many little particulars are parted 
without notice by them. In the times of the Greeks a col¬ 
lection of fuch coins as then exifted mult have been but little 
regarded,as confiftingonly of thofe (truck by the numerous 
little ftates which at that time ufed the Greek characters 
and language. Hence they would have had an air of 
domeftic coinage; and no attention would have been paid 
to them, however exquifite their workmanihip might have 
been. The little intercourfe at that time carried on be¬ 
twixt the different provinces alfo greatly impeded any 
communication of knowledge to thole who wrote hifto- 
ries ; fo that it is no wonder to find any (mail collections 
that might then have exifted altogether unnoticed by them. 
Almoft as foon as any communication was opened be¬ 
tween the Greeks and Romans, the latter treated the arts 
of the Greeks with all duerefpeCt and applaufe. Then- 
coins were imitated by the Romans, and preferved in ca¬ 
binets by the fenators among their choiceft treafures. 
Suetonius informs us, that on folemn occafions Auguftus 
was aocultomed to prefent his friends with medals of 
foreign 
