Incidents of History
Are not alone recorded; and as an example of a very different nature may be cited the medals commemorating the destruction of Jerusalem, and the whole series marking that episode, especially those classed “Judæa capta.” They tell sadly of a people’s humiliation: the tied or chained captive; the mocking goddess of victory, all made more real by reason of the introduction, on the reverse of each piece, of a Jewess weeping bitterly, and though she sits under a palm-tree, the national lament of another captivity is forcibly recalled.
An interesting specimen of the series above mentioned was recently found in the south of France called, “Judæa Navillas,” valuable particularly because it strengthens Josephus’s assertion which had provoked some comment, viz.: the fact of the escape of a large number of Jews from the Romans, by means of ships, at Joppa.
Coins and medals mark the introduction of laws; for example, an old Porcian coin gives the date of the “law of appeal,” under which, two centuries and a half later, Paul appealed to Cæsar. Another relic dates the introduction of the ballot-box; and a fact interesting to the agriculturist is established by an old silver coin of Ptolemy, upon which a man is represented cutting millet (a variety of Indian corn) with a scythe. Religions have been promulgated by coins. Islamism says upon a gold coin, “No God but God. Mohammed is the Prophet and God’s chosen apostle.”
Persian coins, in mystic characters, symbolize the dreadful sacrifices of the Fire-Worshippers. Henry VIII, with characteristic egotism, upon a medal announces in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin: “Henry Eighth, King of England, France, and Ireland; Defender of the Faith, and in the land of England and Ireland, under Christ, the Supreme Head of the Church.”