Illustrated in Kampmann & Ganschow

289, Lot: 12. Estimate $150. Sold for $575. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. BI Tetradrachm (24mm, 12.74 g, 12h). Alexandria (Egypt) mint. Dated RY 8 (AD 144/5). Laureate head right / Artemis advancing right, drawing arrow from quiver and holding bow; at side, hound running right. Köln –; Dattari (Savio) 2154; K&G 35.229 (this coin illustrated); Emmet 1362 (R5). VF. Very rare.

Ex Kölner Münkabinett 67 (12 November 1997), lot 603.

CNG is pleased to offer the following lots from The Artemis Collection, focusing on the theme of the goddess Artemis (Roman Diana) in Graeco-Roman numismatics.

Artemis was one of the many daughters of Zeus and, as a goddess of the hunt, enjoyed widespread worship. Her mother, Leto, had caught the eye of Zeus and, accordingly, the ire of Hera, who banned her from giving birth to the god’s children anywhere on dry land. Leto eventually found an island (exactly which varies by tradition) willing to disobey Hera, on which she gave birth to Artemis and Apollo. In many versions of the tale, Artemis was the first born and immediately helped in the delivery of Apollo, marking her as a deity of childbirth. Apart from her origin, myths also record her role in the demise of several hubristic or simply unfortunate hunters, including Orion, Actaeon, and, in some traditions, Adonis.

There were essentially four major “versions” of Artemis in the ancient Graeco-Roman world (Smith, ed. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, p. 375-6). The most widespread was that of Artemis as the sister of Apollo. In this view, she effectively duplicated many of the roles of Apollo: hunter, protector of flocks and herds, healer, among others. As her brother became equated with the sun (Helios/Sol), so Artemis/Diana became equated with the moon (Selene/Luna). This association was particularly strong in Rome.

A second interpretation of Artemis was worshiped in the hills and valleys of Arcadia. In this region, she was believed to bear no relation to Apollo, though she still retained her role as huntress. Her epithets in Arcadia often connect her to various mountains and rivers and underscore her role as a powerful deity of nature. 

A third tradition of the cult of Artemis relates to her worship in Taurica. After Iphigenia escaped sacrifice to the goddess (on Iphigenia, see especially Euripides’ tales), she was taken to the land of the Tauri where she served as a priestess over a particularly brutal religious tradition involving human sacrifice. According to tradition, Iphigenia brought the Tauric cult to Brauron in Attica, from whence it spread to Athens and Sparta and grew in popularity (Pausanias 1.33.1), albeit in a form without such extreme sacrifices.

A final distinct form of Artemis was that worshipped in Ephesus, where a huge temple complex, ruins of which survive today, was devoted the goddess. The famous cult statue housed in the temple was distinctly Anatolian (i.e., non-Greek) in form: mummiform in shape and covered with a multitude of breasts that signify the original association of the goddess with fecundity. With the arrival of the Greeks, the popular tales of Artemis were transferred to this mysterious Ephesian goddess.

On coinage, three depictions of Artemis/Diana predominate: Artemis the Huntress, Artemis Ephesia, and Diana Lucifera. Artemis Huntress is shown as a young woman, generally wearing a short chiton and hunting boots, carrying bow and quiver, and often pursuing a stag or accompanied by hound. Artemis Ephesia is represented by her peculiar cult statue of Ephesus. Diana Lucifera, the Light Bearer, appears on Roman issues as a young woman carrying a torch.