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Belgic Coins as Illustrations of Life in the Late Pre-Roman Iron Age of Britain*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2014

Derek Allen
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Extract

Before the end of the 1st century B.C. the Celtic coinages in south-east Britain had begun to employ representational types in place of or in addition to traditional and barely intelligible patterns. By the time the coins ceased nearly a century later, a great many of these representational types had been issued. The purpose of this paper is to try to show from enlarged reproductions to what extent these coins provide a visual illustration of life and customs in this country immediately before the Roman Conquest.

In a period of intense archaeological effort, such as the present, it is odd that this has not already been attempted. The reason lies partly in the intractability of coin material, but perhaps more in the fear of reading false meanings into coin types with such an obvious debt to Greece and Rome. This caution is reasonable, but can be carried too far. There are remarkably few British coins which are unchanged copies of Roman originals. The Celtic engravers rapidly and to a surprising degree absorbed the ideas and art forms of the classical world, but used them more often than not to depict Celtic or partly Celtic themes. Opinions may vary on where the dividing line comes, but it may be said with confidence that in a great majority of these coins, side by side with strong Greco-Roman influences, there remains an element of representation which is indubitably Celtic. Our task is to identify it.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 24 , December 1958 , pp. 43 - 63
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1958

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References

page 43 note 1 E.g. Leeds, E. T., Celtic Ornament, 1933, pp. 88–91Google Scholar, dismisses them very briefly. SirKendrick, T. D., Anglo Saxon Art, 1938Google Scholar, does not refer to them at all in Chapter I, on ‘Early British Art’.

page 44 note 1 See Allen, D. F., Archaeologia, XC, 1944, pp. 1–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar, largely followed in Mack, R. P., The Coinage of Ancient Britain, 1953Google Scholar, referred to in subsequent notes as ‘Mack’.

page 44 note 2 Déchelette, J., Manuel d'Archéologie, 11, pp. 1179–80Google Scholar; Rev. Sydenham, E. A., The Roman Republican Coinage, 1952Google Scholar, no. 523 (referred to in subsequent notes as ‘Sydenham’), shows a carnyx, spear and shield in the hands of a charioteer.

page 44 note 3 Nos. 1–3 are variants of a single type of Tasciovanus, of which there are many examples; no. 4 is a scarce coin of Cunobelinus, which I presume from the similarity to the preceding to show a carnyx rider, but the head of the object carried is not visible on any specimen known to me and it might be a long spear.

page 45 note 1 I am most grateful to Professor Hawkes for convincing me that no. 33, a unique coin of Dubnovellaunus also shows a carnyx; the trumpet is far more visible on the enlargement than on the original, but re-examination leaves me in no doubt that he is right.

page 45 note 2 Déchelette, II, pp. 1177–9. de La Tour, H., Atlas de Monnaies Gauloises, XV, 5026Google Scholar (Dubnocov/Dubnorex); XV, 5072–6 (Litavicos); XII, 4424 (Vepotal).

page 45 note 3 De La Tour, XV, 5044 (Dubnocov/Dubnoreix).

page 45 note 4 Déchelette, 11, pp. 1174, fig. 496.

page 45 note 5 Müller, S., Nordiske Oldskriftselskab, 1, 1890–1903, pp. 35–68Google Scholar, pl. VI-XIV; Klindt-Jensen, Ole, ‘Foreign Influences in Denmark's Early Iron Age’, Acta Archaeologica, XX, 1949, pp. 1191–59Google Scholar.

page 45 note 6 Phillips, C. W., Arch. J., XCI, 1934, pl. XXI, pp. 104–5Google Scholar.

page 46 note 1 Galpin, F. W., A Textbook of European Musical Instruments, pp. 214–16Google Scholar; also in Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, v.s. carnyx.

page 46 note 2 Archaeologia, LXXVI, 1927, pp. 246–7Google Scholar, pls. liii-iv. Diodorus Siculus v, 30; Varro, , De lingua latina, V, 24, 16Google Scholar. The same class of markings, presumably indicative of chain mail, are to be found on the armour shown in the trophy on Sydenham no. 1015; by contrast the trophy on Sydenham no. 1014 gives a tunic with a V-neck, no sleeves and no indications of mail, directly comparable with our nos. 37, 38, 40 and 74.

page 46 note 3 Déchelette, 11, pp. 1155–6. Tacitus, , Annals, XII, 35Google Scholar; apud quos nulla loricarum galearumvetegmina; but, although Tacitus describes the opponents here generically as ‘Britanni’ the scene is amongst the Welsh tribes, led by Caratacus.

page 46 note 4 I am grateful to Professor Hawkes for reminding me of this resemblance.

page 47 note 1 E.g. De La Tour, XX, 6931, 6938, etc.

page 47 note 2 Déchelette, 11, pp. 1168–75.

page 47 note 3 BMC, Coins of the Roman Empire, 1, Hadrian, nos. 1174–5, etc., and 1723–4; there is some variety between different dies, but the shield is almost always round, distinctly hemispherical, and ringed with beads. The umbo, however, always takes the form of a sharp spine, which has no parallel on British coins. On no. 1174 only the shield is concave to the viewer.

page 47 note 4 Diodorus Siculus, IV, 1207; V, 30; Polybius, 11, 28; Livy, XXXVIII, 21, 9; Dion, . Halicarnassus, XIV, 13Google Scholar.

page 47 note 5 De La Tour, XXII, 6756–6764. An additional type has recently been found in a hoard from Le Catillon, Jersey, 1957.

page 47 note 6 Caesar, B.G., IV, 33.

page 48 note 1 De La Tour, XVII–XVIII.

page 48 note 2 Déchelette, 11, p. 1538, fig. 708.

page 48 note 3 As regards no. 4, which might eventually prove to show a rider brandishing a long spear, see p. 44, fn. 3.

page 48 note 4 It is possible that the badly preserved coin, presumably of Cunobelinus, found at Colchester, now in the British Museum, Camulodunum no. 15, may have on the reverse an additional example of this type. A bronze coin with a similar reverse is described under lot 65 in the first part of the Carlyon-Britton Sale, 1913, where it is ascribed to Epaticcus; I have not seen it and do not know its whereabouts.

page 48 note 5 Blanchet, A., Revue Celtique, 1904, p. 229Google Scholar.

page 49 note 1 Sydenham, no. 1016, a trophy; no. 523 in chariot.

page 49 note 2 Sydenham, no. 738, 738A.

page 49 note 3 De La Tour, XXII, 6756, etc.

page 50 note 1 Strabo, IV, 4, 3.

page 50 note 2 SirFox, C., A Find of the Early Iron Age from Llyn Cerrig Bach, 1946Google Scholar, pl. XIV, A.

page 50 note 3 Diodorus Siculus, V, 30.

page 50 note 4 The coin will be published in the British Numismatic Journal. The origin of the type lies in a traditional geometric pattern and the representational element is only lightly superimposed. One must not seek in these circumstances too precise an interpretation of the type as a representation of objects; the resemblance to a trophy (compare Sydenham no. 574) would be easier if there were not so clearly a face under the helmet. Did a Celtic trophy include a severed human head? (See also p. 62, fn. 1). The coin is clearly earlier than any other dealt with in this article, except possibly no. 75, and this may account for the fact that the helmet and tunic have more Gaulish than British analogies.

page 51 note 1 Espérandieu, Bas-reliefs de la Gaule Romaine, passim; Brogan, Olwen, Roman Gaul, 1953, p. 193Google Scholar, fig. 46b is an example.

page 51 note 2 Childe, V. Gordon, Prehistoric Communities of the British Isles, 1940, p. 237Google Scholar.

page 51 note 3 Nöettes, Chevallier Lefebvre des, L'Attelage, he Cheval de Selle à travers les Ages, Paris, 1931, pp. 85–6Google Scholar.

page 51 note 4 The same ring is shown, however, in the restoration of the harness of a Celtic pony, based on finds at Roneshunde, given by O. K. Jensen, op. cit., Acta Archaeologica, XX, p. 80Google Scholar.

page 52 note 1 In Corinium Museum, Cirencester. The Longinus tombstone in Colchester Museum and the tombstone in Hexham Priory are also comparable examples. See also Chevallier Lefebvre des Noettes, op. cit., figs. 252–3, from Bonn.

page 52 note 2 Arrian, C.f., Ars Tactica, 9Google Scholar; Dion Cassius, LXXVI, 12, 3.

page 52 note 3 De La Tour, XX, 6400–6406.

page 52 note 4 De La Tour, XV, 5044 (Dubnocov/Dubnoreix).

page 53 note 1 The nearest parallel, but not at all a close one, is Sydenham, no. 1175.

page 53 note 2 The round shields on Hadrian's coins of Britannia may be intermediate in size and shape between the two. See p. 47, fn. 3. The spear held by Britannia is also comparable to that on no. 38, but on some specimens it appears to be held with the point to the ground, or else is pointed at both ends.

page 53 note 3 Bienowski, , De Simulacris Barbararum Gentium apud Romanos, Crakow, 1900, p. 77Google Scholar, fig. 73, a figure of a barbarian, one of a series in the Conservatorio at Rome.

page 53 note 4 Prof.Richmond, I. A. and Prof.Toynbee, J. M. C., ‘The Temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath’, JRS, XLV, 1955, p. 101Google Scholar.

page 53 note 5 For a celticized head with helmet, showing no details other than a crest, perhaps ending in an animal's head, see Mack 89.

page 54 note 1 Tacitus, , Agricola 12Google Scholar; ‘quaedam nationes et curru proeliantur; honestior auriga, clientes propugnant’.

page 54 note 2 Tacitus, , Annals, XIV, 35Google Scholar ‘curru’; 37 ‘circumjecta vehicula’.

page 54 note 3 Tacitus, , Agricola, 35–6Google Scholar.

page 54 note 4 Fox, , Llyn Cerrig Bach, pp. 23–7Google Scholar.

page 54 note 5 Dion Cassius, LX, p. 20; the passage mentions that the Romans, by aiming to wound the chariot horses, not the men, caused the ἐπιβάται to run into danger in the resulting confusion. I presume the latter are conceived as foot-soldiers borne in the chariots.

page 55 note 1 Tacitus, , Agricola 12Google Scholar, ‘in pedite robur’. It is not clear whether the clients (see p. 54, fn. 1), fought on foot or on horseback.

page 55 note 2 Evans, J., Ancient British Coins, 1864, p. 283Google Scholar, considered the curl behind the head on silver coins of Epaticcus and Caratacus to represent a sling. My own impression is that it is a crest of a sort, attached to the animal-skin head-dress, while Professor Toynbee has ingeniously suggested to me that it is the Herculean lion's tail, added as an extra detail. This cannot be seen clearly on no. 72, owing to a crack on the coin. If it is an independent object, it may be a form oilituus, common the other way up in this position on Roman coins. An object of this kind may be the ornament at the bottom of no. 79; a similar object is placed behind the head on the obverse of Mack 171, one specimen of which shows that there is also a second loop at the top curling backwards.

page 55 note 3 Mack 127, 131, 132, 163, 176, 177, 227, 233, 242, 306.

page 55 note 4 Mack 167-69, 182, 223.

page 55 note 5 Mack 248, 251. 253.

page 55 note 6 E.g. Mack 200, 215, 247, 288, 308, 396.

page 56 note 1 Mack, 180. An early uninscribed silver coin with a marked moustache has lately come to light and will be published in the British Numismatic Journal.

page 56 note 2 Mack 97.

page 56 note 3 Jacobsthal, P., Early Celtic Art, 1944, p. 7Google Scholar. The finest example of the pigtail is on a new and unpublished silver coin of Cunobelinus in the collection of the Rev. Arnold Mallinson, which he has kindly shown me.

page 56 note 4 Another example of this fullness is Mack 396. The bun effect is more clearly seen on Mack 241 than on our no. 40. which is the same as Mack 237. The sphinx on Mack 260–260a wears a bun. Professor Toynbee has suggested to me that the bun should be compared with the knot in which the Suebian nobility tied their hair, Tacitus, , Germania 38Google Scholar, see J. G. C. Anderson's edition, 1938, figs. 21, 22, 24, 25.

page 56 note 5 A good example of the roll style is Mack 248.

page 56 note 6 Strongly influenced by Sydenham, no. 906 (Libertas), but no. 922 (Salus) is not far distant.

page 56 note 7 Clarke, R. R., ‘The Early Iron Age Treasure from Snettisham, Norfolk’, PPS, XX, 1954, pp. 37–41Google Scholar, pl. 1, nos. 1–3. Compare particularly the tubular gold torque from Frasnes-lez-Buissonol Hoard, illustrated on pl. VII.

page 57 note 1 Richmond and Toynbee, op. cit., JRS, XLV, 1955, p. 101Google Scholar, see also, p. 55, fn. 2.

page 57 note 2 E.g. Sydenham, no. 882.

page 57 note 3 Mack 230. On Mack 237 and 241 the hair seems to be in a roll; I do not think a helmet is intended.

page 57 note 4 Mack 106 I assume to be an Apollo, not a goddess. The sex of Mack 105 is indeterminate. Mack 79, illustrated here as no. 75, apd Mack 288 may as easily be male as female, and much the same applies to Mack 435–8, 375, 87–8, etc.

page 57 note 5 C.f. Mack 130.

page 57 note 6 Evans, J., Coins of the Ancient Britons, p. 311Google Scholar, refers to the coins given by Sydenham as nos. 985, 693, 1095, etc., but I do not see much connection, other than the presence of a diminutive wing on the shoulder.

page 58 note 1 Another such knife is on no. 48.

page 58 note 2 Sydenham no. 1117; BMC, Coins of the Roman Empire I, Augustus, nos. 463–4 or 486–8, pls. XI, 10–11; xii, 9–10.

page 58 note 3 BMC, Coins of the Roman Empire I, Augustus, nos. 596–8, pl. i, 14–15. The figure has a petasus slung behind, and is hence considered a Mercury, not an Apollo; he sits on a pile of rocks and is not under the shade of a tree.

page 58 note 4 Sydenham, nos. 596A or 1052.

page 59 note 1 The figure of Gallia on Sydenham no. 1015, sitting with loose hair mourning beneath a trophy, wears the same long robe as our nos. 46 and 47 and similarly wears no belt. The reverse of the new silver coin of Cunobelinus, p. 56, fn. 3, also has a winged Victory, but standing on an orb and holding a wreath. The figure wears the usual long robe, billowing in the wind. The type appears, however, to be taken directly from coins of Augustus of 31–29 B.C.

page 59 note 2 The mourning Britannia on Hadrian's coins, see p. 47, fn. 3, is wearing the usual long robe, and there is always a mantle over one or both shoulders, fixed or tied in front. None shows belt or torque. One specimen, no. 1723, reveals a fringe or undergarment at the bottom of the robe and a sandal on the foot. It is uncertain whether the exposed leg, raised on a pile of rocks, wears breeches, as does Britannia on the coins of Antoninus Pius.

page 59 note 3 C.f. the T-shaped hammer amongst the moneyers' tools on the Roman Republican Denarius, Sydenham, no. 982.

page 59 note 4 BM Guide to Early Iron Age Antiquities, 1925, pl. xi.

page 60 note 1 BMC, Coins of the Roman Republic, II, p. 495Google Scholar, nos. 114–15, pl. cxiii, 9–10, = Sydenham 1189.

page 60 note 2 Nos. 78–79 has not previously been reproduced in a photograph owing to its mutilated condition. The trumpet on the reverse has hitherto been called a cornucopia. I presume the objects beneath the central panel are dolphins, which also occur, for instance, on the Gundestrup cauldron. The objects on no. 80, however, clearly are cornucopiae. They are strongly influenced by such Roman coins as Sydenham no. 1189, but the type differs in the details; for instance, a cup replaces the orb, and it stands in front of a post with a cross on top (cf. nos. 66, 67), which replaces a caduceus. It appears that something emerges from the mouths of the cornucopiae, falling into the cup in a cascade of dots. This is reminiscent of the shower of money pouring from the cornucopia on the Cernunnos altar of Reims, Brogan, Olwen, Roman Gaul, 1953, p. 173Google Scholar, fig. 47a.

page 61 note 1 Other specimens of this coin. Mack 221, show a chair exactly like that on Mack 215, our no. 62.

page 61 note 2 Sydenham no. 596–7.

page 62 note 1 De La Tour, XV, 5044. For the part the severed human head played in Celtic religion and art see Lambrechts, P. ‘L'Exaltation de la Tête dans la Pensée et dans l'Art des celtes’, Dissertationes Archaeologicae gandenses 11, 1954, esp. p. 39 f.Google Scholar

page 62 note 2 Ant. J., 1938, p. 391 ff.Google Scholar, pp. 77–8. See also Llyn Cerrig Bach, pp. 45–6, 86, nos. 67–71.

page 62 note 3 For the altar on no. 69, c.f. De La Tour, XXII, 6764.

page 63 note 1 De La Tour, XX, 6927–8, but the boat, held as an emblem by a charioteer, is not crescent-shaped, and has an animal head at bow and stern, as well as a symbolic mast and yard.

page 63 note 2 Cf. post and cup on no. 80.

page 63 note 3 An unpublished coin which was shown to me briefly during the war, an uninscribed silver minim, had on the reverse a trident head, thus , and on the obverse a cross pommee, with pellets in the angles, an anticipation of the mediaeval English penny, . The coin was found in excavations at Little Harting, Sussex, in 1941. I do not know its present whereabouts. Except that there is no barb on the central prong, the trident is very close to Déchelette, 11, fig. 616, but broader.