The Goddess of Victory on Coinage & ‘Victory in a Quadriga’

The Goddesses of Victory: Nī́kē and Victōria 

The Goddess Victōria was the personification of victory in all forms, and was the Roman interpretation and equivalent to the Greek Goddess ‘Νῑ́κη‘, transliterated as ‘Nī́kē‘. Although the concept of victory was important to both cultures, from a numismatic perspective Victōria appears to be featured far more often compared to her predecessor; although the Ancient Greeks did portray Nī́kē on their coinage, she is often an accompanying figure to a central god or goddess which is the focal point of the design. Some clear examples are when Nī́kē is held aloft as a visual representation of the epithet ‘Nī́kēphoreús’ – this word is translated as “Victory-Bearer” and is derived from the words Nī́kē (‘Victory’) and phoreús (‘bearer’). This could be explained by the Ancient Greek preference of featuring Athena, the goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft and the patroness of Heroes on their coins.

A Silver Tetradrachm of Lūsĭ́măkhos (‘Λῡσῐ́μᾰχος’), simply Lysimachus in English, during his time as King of Thrace, Macedon and Asia Minor, which features the Goddess Nī́kē as a smaller, supporting figure – the central figure is Athena ‘Nī́kēphoreús’ or Athena the Victory-Bearer.

As mentioned previously, Victōria is freqently engraved as a central figure on the reverse of Roman and Byzantine coins, such as commanding a biga or quadriga on early Republican silver denarii, standing as a central figure on the reverse or imperial coinage, or the central figure on the gold solidii of early Byzantine coinage before Christianization. Further to numismatically, Victōria had multiple temples erected specifically in her honour and had frequent portrayal in jewelry, architecture and other art forms.

A perfect example of Victōria being portrayed on a Roman coin – a gold Solidus of Flāvius Iūlius Cōnstantius (Constantius II), Augustus of the Constantinian Dynasty 337-361 AD and the son of Constantine I ‘the Great’. We previously sold this coin, for the full description and translation of the Latin, click here.

Roman Republic: Lucius Plautius Plancus

Lūcius was born as a member of the minor plebeian family of gens Munātia, specifically of the family branch of gens Munātī Plancī, and was given the name Gāius Munātius Plancus – this name would be shortlived, however, as at some point he was adopted into the more prominent plebeian family of gens Plautiā and would adopt their nomen as his own, being thereafter known as Lūcius Plautius Plancus. There are few recorded details his life other than his political position as a triumvir monētālis of 47 BC, as evidence by the featured silver denarius, as well as that he was at odds with the Second Triumvirate – it is said that he was later condemned by the Triumvirs and forced to surrender in order to preserve the lives of his slaves who were being tortured for information of his location.

Victory in a Quadriga

Despite the limited details on Lūcius himself, what is most interesting is his numismatic contribution – the featured silver denarius – which, due to its elegant design, has led many to believe it to be a re-interpretation of the famous artwork by the ancient Greek painter Nichomachus of Thebes in the 4th Century BC which was aptly named by the Romans as ‘Victory in a Quadriga’. It is possible that this painting was either in the possession of, or witnessed first-hand by, Lūcius Plautius Plancus at the time of his commemorative denarius’ minting in 47 BC. This is corroborated by the fact that several years later the painting is known to have been moved to Rome by Lucius’ natural brother, Lūcius Munātius Plancus of gens Munātia, following his Gallic triumph in 43 BC. Thereafter, there are no further records of the painting’s whereabouts and was certainly lost to history, much like the rest of Nichomachus’ work – with this in mind, the design of this commemorative denarius, as either an inspired work or a recreation of Nichomachus’ painting, is all the more poignant as an insight into artwork of the past.

Description: Roman Republic, the Imperatorial Period, Lūcius Plautius Plancus of gens Plautiā (formerly gens Munātia), as triumvir monētālis, Silver Denarius (3.93g, 22mm), Rome mint 47 BC. Obverse: Gorgoneion facing, with dishevelled hair, “L PLAVTIVS” below. Reverse: Victoria flies right amongst quadriga, “PLANCVS” below. Crawford 453/1c; Sydenham 959b.