Munera lætitiamque Dei. Æn. i. v. 640.
and stiles Bacchus the fabled inventer of it,
——Bacchus lætitiæ dator. Ib. v. 738.
I am,
SIR,
With the greatest respect,
Your most obedient humble Servant,
J. Nixon.
London, March 14. 1757.
XXII. Some Remarks on a Parthian Coin with a Greek and Parthian Legend, never before published. In a Letter from the Rev. John Swinton, M.A. of Christ-Church, Oxon. F.R.S. to the Rev. Thomas Birch, D.D. Secret. R. S.
Reverend Sir,
Read Mar. 24, 1757.
AS we know little of the reigns of the latter Parthian kings, and less still of their coins; an attempt to strike out even the least new light on either of those heads will not, I persuade myself, prove unacceptable to the Royal Society. In this persuasion, I do myself the honour to send you a few conjectures upon another brass Parthian medal, in my possession, as remarkable, on account of the double legend it contains, as the former, which I endeavoured a little to illustrate about a year ago. This medal, which certainly merits the attention of the curious, is in very good conservation, and approaches near the size of those of the middle Roman brass. It exhibits the head, or effigies, of a Parthian king, with a beard, diadem, and hair formed into such curls as I never yet observed upon any antient coins. Under the effigies, the Greek letters ΒΑϹΙΛΕωΝ ΜΕΓΑϹ ΜΟ⦙⦙⦙, which demonstrate the piece to be Parthian, appear; and, on the reverse, a Victory, done something after the Roman manner, tho' the workmanship is pretty rude, presents itself to our view, together with a legend in a language and character at this time unknown. The legend consists of ten complete elements, placed behind the Victory above-mentioned; besides which there is one in the field of the medal, being probably the initial letter of the name of the city where the coin was struck. The metal, tho' termed by me brass, discovers something of a composition similar to that of his Grace the Duke of Devonshire's medal of Vologeses III. as described by [68]Sig. Haym. This coin, of which I herewith transmit you a draught most accurately taken (See [Tab. IV.] Fig. 1.), having not yet, as I apprehend, been published; you will permit me now to offer a few cursory remarks upon it, drawn up in the shortest and most concise manner possible.
1. The Greek legend, had all of it appeared, would, undoubtedly have been either ΒΑϹΙΛΕωΝ ΜΕΓΑϹ ΜΟΝΝΗϹΗϹ, or ΒΑϹΙΛΕΥϹ ΒΑϹΙΛΕωΝ ΜΕΓΑϹ ΜΟΝΝΗϹΗϹ; of which I should chuse the former, notwithstanding it is such Parthian Greek, as the round of the medal seems not to have been capable of containing the latter. It will be, at first sight, observed, that this legend is different from those of the Parthian coins hitherto described; which are exhibited in the [69]genitive, not the nominative, case. The last two letters MO leave no room to doubt, tho' the O is not so extremely well preserved, that the piece was struck when Monneses sat upon the Parthian throne. It is true, indeed, the first element of the prince's name is not so apparently a Mu; tho' it resembles that letter, even as preserved on this very medal, much more than any other of the Greek alphabet. It is however totally unlike the Alpha near it, as well as all the other forms of that element to be met with in Montfaucon[70], and bears not the least resemblance to Beta[71], particularly the Beta which ought to have been impressed on this piece; as most evidently appears from a particle of that letter, visible in its proper place. From whence we may infer, that the character I am considering must be Mu; as Alpha, Beta, and Mu, were the only initial letters, according to Dr. Vaillant[72], of the names of the Parthian kings reigning after the introduction of the Omega of the minuscular form, as it here occurs, upon the Parthian coins. But Monneses was the only one of those princes whose name began with My, and consequently the two last Greek elements on this medal are part of his name. The metal and size of this piece, as none belonging to the other Parthian monarchs seem to have been yet met with of the same form, which exactly agree with those of Monneses's[73] coin published by Dr. Vaillant, may likewise be urged, as an additional argument of no small weight, in support of my opinion.