NGC Ancients: Coins 'Struck' by Cupid's Arrow

In ancient Greek mythology, Eros was the god of love, typically depicted as a handsome, winged young man with a bow and arrows. Along with his Roman counterpart Cupid, he remained a popular figure into the Middle Ages and beyond.

Originally, Saint Valentine's Day was a church holiday to commemorate two martyrs of the late Roman Empire. Over the centuries, the day became associated with love, fully embracing the imagery of Cupid as it spread to much of the world.

Let's take look at how Eros and Cupid appear over a period of several hundred years on ancient coins, which sometimes were forged amid brutal civil wars or vicious power struggles within imperial families:

Nagidos, an ancient city on the southern coast of what is modern-day Turkey, issued this silver stater in the 4th Century B.C. The obverse shows Aphrodite seated before an altar, with Eros standing behind, crowning her with a wreath. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and her Roman counterpart, Venus, often are depicted with Eros and Cupid, respectively.

Click images to enlarge.

Not far from Nagidos was Ilistra, which struck this bronze coin several hundred years later, in the 2nd or 3rd Century A.D. It shows a winged bust of Eros on the obverse.

This silver denarius Serratus was issued by L. Memmius Galeria around 106 B.C., during the late Roman Republic. The obverse shows Saturn (who was the subject of a recent NGC Ancients column), while the reverse shows Venus in a two-horse chariot known as a biga. Cupid flies overhead, preparing to crown the goddess.

Cupid appears atop a goat in a scene framed by a laurel wreath on the reverse of this silver denarius issued by Roman moneyer Mn. Fonteius C.f. The obverse shows Apollo or Vejovis, a Roman god with Etruscan origins who sometimes is associated with Apollo.

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix was a successful Roman general who twice marched on Rome to impose his will and to brutally deal with his opponents. He used the title Epaphroditos ("favored by Aphrodite"), and this silver denarius with Venus and Cupid on the obverse was struck around 84-83 B.C. At that time, Sulla was in the eastern part of territory held by Rome, where he had forced the Kingdom of Pontus to accept his terms, and was preparing for a Roman civil war, which he ultimately won.

Sulla gave up power in 80 B.C. and died two years later. The regime he established in Rome found itself in another civil war (known as the Sertorian War) from 80 to 72 B.C., in which the Sulla faction prevailed. Dating from that time is this silver denarius of Cn. Egnatius Cn.f. Cn.n. Maxsumus showing Cupid on the obverse, with his wings, bow and quiver.

Mn. Cordius Rufus, another moneyer of Rome, issued this silver denarius around 46 B.C., showing Venus on the obverse and Cupid riding a dolphin on the reverse. Despite the playful nature of this coin, it was issued at a grim time for Rome, during Julius Caesar's Civil War.

Julius Caesar had escaped Sulla's purges and distinguished himself as a brilliant military leader. He had accumulated a massive amount of prestige and power by the time this silver denarius was struck around 46 to 45 B.C. in Spain, where forces led by Caesar effectively brought Caesar's Civil War to an end. The obverse shows Cupid on the shoulder of Venus, while the reverse shows captives seated amid war trophies.

The Roman Republic ultimately gave way to the Roman Empire, with emperors and often their family members being depicted on coins. This silver denarius shows Julia Domna, the wife of emperor Septimius Severus (A.D. 193 to 211), on the obverse and Venus with Cupid on the reverse. The marriage of Domna and Severus was reportedly happy, and she even sometimes accompanied her husband on his military campaigns. She was popular, and after her husband fell ill and died in A.D. 211 while on a military campaign in Britain, she received the title "Pia Felix Augusta."

Far less happy was the marriage between Domna's eldest son Caracalla (A.D. 198 to 217) and Publia Fulvia Plautilla, daughter of the commander of the Praetorian Guard. The second cousins were wed in an arranged marriage in A.D. 202, but Caracalla loathed her and reportedly wanted to kill her and her father as soon as he was sole emperor. Learning of the danger, her father plotted against the imperial family. When this treachery came to light, he was killed in A.D. 205 and his daughter was exiled. She eventually was strangled, possibly on orders from Caracalla himself, in A.D. 211, the same year his forces killed his own brother and co-emperor, Geta.

Cupid appears on this gold solidus of Constantine II (A.D. 337 to 340), another power-hungry brother whose wrath targeted his own family. After his father Constantine I (A.D. 307 to 337) died, the Roman Empire was divided among his heirs. Unhappy with the territory he had received, Constantine II marched on Italy against the forces of one of his younger brothers, Constans (A.D. 337 to 350), but he was defeated and killed in A.D. 340. This piece with Victory and Cupid on the reverse dates from the brief and unhappy reign of Constantine II. After his death, Constantine II was subject to the heartless practice of damnatio memoriae, in which any physical reminder of the deceased person was erased.

The appeal of Eros and Cupid endured beyond antiquity. Eros was chosen as the focus of the reverse of a 1761 marriage medal for newly crowned British King George III and his bride, Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Though he was not first in the hearts of many of his subjects in the New World, his marriage was solid. The couple had 15 children and, unlike his predecessors and his immediate successor, George III reportedly never took a mistress.

Images courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group and Heritage Auctions.