came across this picture, which I presume is of a Gaul. Interesting for the smallish round shield with concentric rings which I would lijen to Bronze Age leather bucklers and the long sword.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Auvergne_Gaul_coin_CdM.jpg
Roy
Hi Roy, you have been busy!
I found another couple of examples on a quick search. The warriors seem indeed to be from Gaul, typically captioned as Arverni, the coins generally dated from the 5th to 1st centuries BC.
This one's very similar to Roy's find, another headless warrior:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Averni_coin_depicting_warrior_5th_to_1st_century_BCE.jpg
However, I also came across this complete version (and showing both sides of the coin for once), in a discussion of differences between the Iceni and Arverni on the "Total War Center" Forum:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?606156-Difference-Between-the-Iceni-and-Averni-the-two-celtic-Factions/page5
It's in the second posting on this page. This much clearer version of the warrior now suggests he's holding a Roman-style standard, a shield and a spear. Unfortunately, there's no source given for this photo, but it seems a genuine coin by comparison with the other two "partials".
I also chanced-upon this item too, a different Gaulish warrior on a coin:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pictones_coin_depicting_warrior_5th_to_1st_century_BCE.jpg
Circa 1st century BC, a warrior of the Pictones (NW Bay of Biscay area) apparently, according to the Wikipedia page, anyway!
This one (http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/celtic/gaul/aedui/DLT_5026.jpg) is a coin of the Aedui from wildwinds.com: another standing warrior with standard, perhaps helmeted and bare-torsoed, anatomically a bit off.
Interesting, the spear that Alastair's first coin shows is, I think, a gaesum, which may relate to Gaesati.
Alastair's second chap has Gallic mail with a shoulder cape?
Interesting that there is a variety of standards and shield shown. I wonder if they relate to particular tribal iconography?
Roy
Here a rather nice Gallic trophy on A Caesarian coin. It shosw the armour well.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caesar_venustrophy3b.jpg
Roy
Quote from: aligern on April 16, 2014, 11:38:32 PM
Interesting, the spear that Alastair's first coin shows is, I think, a gaesum, which may relate to Gaesati.
I think you mean "it's got a big barbed head like the Carvoran spear that Russell Robinson and Phil Barker related to Rhaeti gesati, but which is actually nothing like a gaesum".
Show us a gaesum then Duncan:-))
Roy
Well, we know from the written sources that it's a lightish throwing-spear usually carried in pairs - I went through this in Slingshot some years ago.
A suggestion: if anyone knows enough about numismatics, there might be a nice Slingshot article in the making...? Just sayin'!
Cheers, all
Paul
There's a debate about gaesum on RAT, but it is not conclusive.
Duncan, if the barbed spear shown is not a gaesum, then what is it? It might be something that can be used for hooking shields aside, it might just be a matter of artistic exaggeration of a barbed spearhead. Unfortunately the RAT debaters do not cite one clear source that says a gaesum is X and here is the reference point.
Roy
Quote from: Paul Innes on April 17, 2014, 09:40:43 AM
A suggestion: if anyone knows enough about numismatics, there might be a nice Slingshot article in the making...? Just sayin'!
Well, this topic's certainly highlighted my ignorance of the material! I though all Celtic coins had just abstract designs or horses on the backs (sometimes both, occasionally with a rider on the horse)...
A little further digging, and thanks to Duncan's mentioning the Wildwinds site, finally led me to track down the original image from that Total War Center Arverni coin I mentioned/linked-to previously:
http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/celtic/gaul/arverni/t.html .
It's the fourth item on the list, but the "partial" from the first coin on this page seems to give increased clarity as to the warrior's costume.
What intrigued me most of all though, was the "lobster-like creature" above the horse's back on the second coin, which might be a variant draco standard maybe, if it's not simply there as a decorative or shorthand symbol for something else.
Certainly worth digging around further, methinks :)
Quote from: Sharur on April 17, 2014, 04:37:02 PM
What intrigued me most of all though, was the "lobster-like creature" above the horse's back on the second coin, which might be a variant draco standard maybe, if it's not simply there as a decorative or shorthand symbol for something else.
Looks more like a mermaid to me. Mermaid type creatures certainly exist in some Celtic mythologies.
I recall some of the coin descriptions call it a scorpion.
Roy
Quote from: aligern on April 17, 2014, 01:18:43 PM
Duncan, if the barbed spear shown is not a gaesum, then what is it?
No idea. I am not aware of any similar barbed spears from Gallic archaeology - though my lack of awareness should not be taken as decisive. Maybe it's a pilum to go with the Roman standard?
Yes I do wonder if it could be a modified copy of a Roman or Greek coin. However, the coin sites do not suggest this and even where such models are copied they are often Gallicised to show local kit.
I recall a similar weapon on a Roman tombstone from the third century?
It might also be that the figure is meant to be a god and the equipment is divine or mythological rather like the barbed weapons that Cuchulain is described as using.
Roy
The Celtic coins seem generally to be considered as having been based on Greek or Roman originals, but reinterpreted for the "home" audience, and subsequently further modified (to misinterpreted) with time. So motifs that started out in Greece, say, as a head of Apollo on the obverse, and Apollo with a whip in a two-horse solar chariot on the reverse, ends up as a wild-haired face on one side with a lyre hair-grip and a neck torque, and on the other a long-haired charioteer in a sketchy chariot with one horse, brandishing a hammer, by the time it reached the Somme Valley in Gaul.
[Sorry, there isn't a direct link, so you'll need to go here: http://www.celticcoins.com/ , then click the "Coin of the Week" item in the left-hand menu, then click the "2010 coins" button in the main central scrolling panel (scroll down to find it), and lastly click the "Beardless Bearded Head" item dated 11.1.10, again in the main central scroll panel. If you want to see the original this coin seems to be based on, use the "Philip of Macedon" link dated 29.11.10 on the same "2010 coins (of the week)" scroll panel.]
This Chris Rudd site's really worth exploring if you've got hooked on the whole Celtic coins deal (nice to know it's not just me, Roy...), as there are some particularly excellent examples shown under the "Coins of the Week", with descriptive texts, about 49-50 a year though, back to 2003, with very few duplicates. The text's a bit OTT on the "wonderful" side sometimes, but this is a sales site after all, albeit clearly by someone with a real enthusiasm for ancient coinage (he's written several texts, including co-authoring the definitive "Ancient British Coins").
Nice hobby, if you've got several thousand quid a year you're not doing anything else with! The "cheap" coins are around 20-50 GBP each, and the prices go up from there...