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At the end of 3rd century BC, Rome’s fate stood upon the edge of a knife. The growing Republic was locked in battle yet again with their fierce rival, Carthage. This time, the Punic general Hannibal was wreaking havoc in Italy, even to the point of threatening the Eternal City herself. In dire straights, a desperate Senate consulted their emergency manual, otherwise known as the Sibylline Books. Based on the prophecies therein - or at least the interpretations thereof - it was decided that salvation could be attained, provide that the Romans adopt the cult of the Anatolian deity Cybele. To that end, the Romans retrieved the goddess’ most important artifact - a dark stone said to have fallen from the heavens. Divine intervention of not, the strategy succeeded. Within the same year (202 BC), Hannibal retreated back to Africa and suffered defeat against a counteroffensive led by the great Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus. The balance of power in the ancient world shifted. Rome maintained dominance over the Mediterranean basin for centuries to come.
Subsequently, the cult of Cybele took firm roots in Rome, including the establishment of several temples, the primary one atop Palatine hill overlooking the Circus Maximus. Rome’s newest goddess-in-residence took her place alongside Rome’s adaptation of the pantheon of Greek gods, not to mention other miscellaneous deities assimilated from the surrounding realms. Among all those divinities, Cybele was particular venerable. Indeed, enigmatic statues of plump women excavated at the proto-city of Çatalhöyük (located in southern modern-day Turkey) suggest that Anatolia’s Mother Goddess was worshipped from at least the early Neolithic period. Regionally, she was the first - and probably only - female deity, and her cult was probably Phrygia’s state religion. Her divine facets included “Mountain Mother” with dominion over fertility and all aspects of flora and fauna. She was also viewed as mankind’s teacher and guardian, using her power over nature to protect ancient cities and civilizations. To the Greeks, Cybele melded with various divinities such as the Earth-goddess Gaia and the harvest-mother goddess Demeter. Prior to Rome, other city-states, notably Athens, worshipped her as protector.
To the Romans, Cybele became known as Magna Mater, the Great Mother. In this guise, she had been repurposed as a Trojan goddess, commensurate with Rome’s founding mythology dating back to the legend of Aeneas, who fled burning Troy to ultimately land in Italy. By the time Rome transitioned into an Empire, Cybele had earned official recognition as goddess and protector of Rome, and her cult thrived from Africa to transalpine Gaul. Of course, Cybele also appeared on ancient Roman coinage, in particular coins struck for Rome’s Empresses. Notable examples include issues in the name of Agrippina Jr., Faustina Sr., and Julia Domna.
This particular ancient bronze, bearing the obverse diademed and draped bust of Empress Cornelia Supera, was struck circa 253 AD in the Phrygian city of Julia. The reverse depicts Cybele seated on her throne, and, as was her wont, accompanied by a pair of lions. Similar designs contemporaneously circulated at other prominent provincial mints. These included issues for the previous Augusta, namely Herennia Etruscilla, as well as for her husband Trajan Decius, and the latter’s successors, Trebonianus Gallus and his son Volusianus. The Empire was embroiled in turmoil at the time, a period known today as Rome’s great Crisis of the Third Century. Certainly, the ailing Empire would have benefitted from any protection that Cybele might have provided.
As it turned out, Cornelia’s husband, Marcus Aemilius Aemilianus, reigned only a few months. In an all-too familiar development during that turbulent era, Aemilian was murdered by his own troops. Cornelia’s fate was not recorded. Indeed, if it weren’t for Cornelia’s coinage - all quite rare - history would have no remembrance of the ephemeral Empress at all.
After this coin’s debut, Cybele’s cult fell into decline, and she made few, in any, additional numismatic appearances on Roman coinage. By 4th century AD, Christianity emerged as the dominant religion across the Empire, and worship of Cybele and the other pagan deities faded away. Even so, to this day the concept of Mother Nature still thrives, a reminder of our planet’s inexorable role as humanity’s teacher and guardian.
Additional Reading: D L Wasson, “Cybele – Definition,” published on 04 February 2015 (www.ancient.eu/Cybele/).
Coin Details: PHRYGIA, Julia, Cornelia Supera (Augusta), 253 AD, Ae (6.84 g, 27 mm), Philoteimos, archon for the second time, NGC Grade: VF, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 3/5, Obverse: Diademed and draped bust right, ΓΑΙ ΚΟΡ ϹΟΥΠЄΡΗΝ ϹЄ, Reverse: Kybele seated left on throne, holding patera and resting elbow upon tympanum, lion to left and right, ΑΡΧ ΤΟ Β ΦΙΛΟΤЄΙΜΩ / ΙΟΥΛΙЄΩΝ, References: RPC IX 896; von Aulock, Phrygien I, 437-44.