OTHER ORNAMENTS OF THE HEAD.
Besides the diadem, the Greek princes sometimes appear with the laurel crown. The Arsacidæ, or kings of Parthia, wear a kind of sash round the head, with their hair in rows of curls like a wig. Tigranes and the kings of Armenia, wear the tiara, a singular kind of cap, but the well known badge of imperial power in the ancient eastern world. Xerxes, a petty prince of Armenia, appears in a coin extant of him in a conical cap, with a diadem around it. Juba, the father, has a singular crown, like a conical cap, all hung with pearls.
The successors of Alexander assumed by way of distinction, different symbols of the Deity, to be observed on the busts of their medals, such as the lion’s skin of Hercules, which surrounds the head of the first Seleucus; the horn placed behind the ear, an image of their strength and power, or of their being the successors of Alexander, called the son of Jupiter Ammon; the wing placed in like manner behind the ear, symbolic of the rapidity of their conquests, or of their being descendants from the god Mercury.
Some authors, however, have doubted if all these heads be not of gods, except those with the horn. Eckhel observes, that even the horn and diadem belong to Bacchus, as on a coin of Nuceria Alfaterna. Bacchus, according to Diodorus Siculus, invented the diadem, to cure his head-aches, and was horned like his father Jupiter Ammon. The only king who appears on coins, according to Eckhel, with the horn, is Lysimachus. Pyrrhus had a crest of goats’ horns to his helmet, as we are informed by Plutarch, in his life, and the goat was the symbol of Macedon. It is likely that the successors of Alexander took this badge of the horn in consequence.
Besides the distinctions of supreme power, or honorary reward, there are other symbolic ornaments of the head, observable on some Roman coins. Such is the veil, or, more properly, the toga drawn over the head, to be seen on the busts of Julius Cæsar, when Pontifex Maximus, and others. This shews that the person bore the pontificate or the augurship; the augurs having a particular gown, called laena, with which they covered their heads, when employed in observing omens. Latterly the veil is only a mark of consecration, and is common in coins of empresses, as Faustina, Mariniana, and others. In the coins of Claudius Gothicus we first find it as a mark of the consecration of an emperor; and it continued in those of Constantius the first, Maximian the first, and Constantine the first.
The remarkable part of the Roman head dress among the ladies, was the sphendona, or sling, on the crown of the head; answering to the modern hair cushion. But it was of gold, and so prominent as to be even remarkable in a coin. The hair appears in many fashions, as now. Sometimes the bust of an empress is supported by a crescent, to imply that she was the moon, as her husband was the sun of the state.
Generally, only the bust is given on ancient coins; but sometimes half the body or more. In the latter case the hands often appear, with tokens of majesty in them. Such is the globe, said to have been introduced by Augustus, to express possession of the world. The sceptre, sometimes confounded with the consular staff. The roll of parchment, symbolic of legislative power; and the handkerchief expressing that of the public games, where the emperor gave the signal. Some princes even hold the thunderbolt, shewing that their power was equal to that of Jupiter in heaven. Others hold an image of victory.
Most queens of Egypt, on their coins, have the sceptre. It appears at the top of their head; and would seem part of the dress, were it not that in other coins, it passes beneath the neck transversely, so that both ends appear.
The victors, at the sacred games among the ancients, had bound round the head, an ornament called anadema, which has sometimes been confounded with the diadem worn by the ancient Persian kings.