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Probus
–
Roman Emperor
: 276-282
A.D. –
Silvered
Bronze Antoninianus 23mm (3.71 grams) Lyons
mint: Summer 281 A.D.
Reference: RIC 69; Sear 11963.
IMP C PROBVS P F AVG, dotted legend, radiate cuirassed
bust right
COMITI PROBI AVG, Minerva standing left, holding olive-branch & spear,
resting
left hand on shield, I in ex.
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are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a
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Authenticity.
Minerva (Etruscan: Menrfa, or
Menrva) was the
Roman goddess
whom
Hellenizing Romans from the second century BC onwards
equated with the Greek
goddess
Athena
. She was the
virgin goddess of
poetry
,
medicine
,
wisdom
,
commerce
,
weaving
,
crafts
,
magic
, and the inventor
of
music
. She is often
depicted with an owl, her sacred creature and is,
through this connection, a symbol of wisdom.
This article focuses on Minerva in ancient Rome and
in
cultic practice
. For
information on Latin literary mythological accounts of
Minerva, which were heavily influenced by
Greek mythology
, see
Pallas Athena
, where
she is one of three virgin goddesses along with
Artemis
and
Hestia
, known by the
Romans as
Diana
and
Vesta
.
Etruscan
Menrva
The name “Minerva” is imported from the
Etruscans
Menrva. Extrapolating
from her Roman nature, it is assumed that in
Etruscan mythology
,
Minerva was the goddess of wisdom, war, art, schools and
commerce. She was the Etruscan counterpart to Greek
Athena
. Like Athena,
Minerva was born from the head of her father, Jupiter
(Greek
Zeus
).
By a process of
folk etymology
, the
Romans could have confused the
phones
of her foreign
name with those of the
root
men- in
Latin
words
such as mens
meaning “mind”, perhaps because one of her aspects as
goddess pertained to the intellectual. The word mens
has the
Proto-Indo-European
mn- stem, linked with memory as in Greek
Mnemosyne
(μνημοσύνη)
and mnestis (μνῆστις: memory, remembrance,
recollection).
Worship
in Rome
Menrva was part of a holy
triad
with
Tinia
and
Uni
, equivalent to the
Roman
Capitoline Triad
of
Jupiter-Juno-Minerva. Minerva was the daughter of
Jupiter.
As Minerva Medica, she was the goddess of
medicine and doctors. As Minerva Achaea, she was
worshipped at
Luceria
in
Apulia
where
votive gifts
and arms
said to be those of
Diomedes
were preserved
in her temple.
In
Fasti
III,
Ovid
called her the “goddess
of a thousand works.” Minerva was worshipped
throughout Italy, though only in Rome did she take on
the warlike character shared by Athena. Her worship was
also taken out to the empire — in Britain, for example,
she was conflated with the local wisdom goddess
Sulis
..
The Romans celebrated her festival from March 19 to
March 23 during the day which is called, in the neuter
plural,
Quinquatria
, the fifth
after the Ides of March, the nineteenth, an
artisans
‘ holiday . A
lesser version, the Minusculae Quinquatria, was held on
the Ides of June, June 13, by the
flute-players
, who were
particularly useful to religion. In 207 BC, a
guild
of poets and
actors was formed to meet and make
votive offerings
at the
temple of Minerva on the
Aventine
hill. Among
others, its members included
Livius Andronicus
. The
Aventine sanctuary of Minerva continued to be an
important center of the arts for much of the middle
Roman Republic
.
Minerva was worshipped on the
Capitoline Hill
as one
of the
Capitoline Triad
along
with Jupiter and Juno, at the
Temple of Minerva Medica
,
and at the “Delubrum Minervae” a temple founded around
50 BC by
Pompey
on the site now
occupied by the church of
Santa Maria sopra Minerva
facing the present-day Piazza della Minerva.
Marcus
Aurelius Probus
(c. August 19,
232–September/October, 282) was a
Roman Emperor
(276–282).
A native of
Sirmium
(now
Sremska Mitrovica
,
Serbia
), in
Pannonia
, at an early age he entered the army, where
he distinguished himself under the Emperors
Valerian
,
Aurelian
and
Tacitus
. He was appointed governor of the East by
Tacitus, at whose death he was immediately proclaimed
his successor by the soldiers (276).
Florianus
, who had claimed to succeed his
half-brother Tacitus, was put to death by his own troops
after an indecisive campaign. Probus moved to the West,
defeated the Goths acquiring the title of Gothicus
(280), and saw his position ratified by the
Senate
.
The reign of Probus was mainly spent
in successful wars by which he re-established the
security of all the frontiers. The most important of
these operations were directed to clearing
Gaul
of German invaders (Franks,
Longiones
,
Alamanni
and
Burgundians
), allowing Probus to adopt the titles of
Gothicus Maximus and Germanicus Maximus.
One of his principles was never to allow the soldiers to
be idle, and to employ them in time of peace on useful
works, such as the planting of vineyards in Gaul,
Pannonia and other districts, in order to restart the
economy in these devastated lands.
In 279–280, Probus was, according to
Zosimus
, in
Raetia
,
Illyricum
and
Lycia
, where he fought the
Vandals
. In the same years, Probus’ generals
defeated the
Blemmyes
in
Egypt
; Probus ordered the reconstruction of bridges
and canals along the Nile, where the production of grain
for the Empire was centered.
In 280–281, Probus had also put down
three usurpers,
Julius Saturninus
,
Proculus
and
Bonosus
. The extent of these revolts is not clear,
but there are clues that they were not just local
problems.
In 281, the emperor was in Rome, where he celebrated his
triumph
.
Probus was eager to start his eastern
campaign, delayed by the revolts in the west. He left
Rome in 282, moving first towards Sirmium, his birth
city, when the news that
Marcus Aurelius Carus
, commander of the
Praetorian Guard
, had been proclaimed emperor
reached him. Probus sent some troops against the new
usurper, but when those troops changed sides and
supported Carus, Probus’s soldiers then assassinated him
(September/October 282).
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