Inscription .  [1] Antiquaries call inscriptions letters or words that are burrowed on the surface of a medal in place of figures, on the reverse side. Words created along the medal are called a legend , which then serves to explain figures engraved on its surface.To some degree, we find Greek and Latin imperial medals with only the letters, S. C., or Senatus Consulto or Δ. Ε. Δημαρχικῆς Ἐξουσίας, [2] enclosed within a crown, on the reverse side. There are others with inscriptions from various periods, such as that of M. Aurelius, Primi Decennales Cos. III [3]; in Aug. Imp. Caes Aug. ludi saculares  [4]; in the low empire, Votis V. XXX. etc. [5]

Sometimes great events are recorded on them, such as Victoria Germanica Imp. V.I. Cos. III ; in Marcus Aurelius, Signis Parthicis receptis; S. P. Q. R. in Augustus; Victoria Parthica Maxima in Septimus Severus.  [6]

Others express titles of honor given to the prince, such as S. P. Q. R. Optimo Principi in Trajan and Antoninus Pius. Adsertori Publicae libertatis [7] in Vespasian. Other inscriptions are records of recognition of the Senate and the people, as in Vespasian, libertate P. R. restitutiâ ex S. C. In Galba, S. P. Q. R. Ob cives servatos. In Augustus, salus generis humani , etc. [8]

Some of these inscriptions are only seen as particular benefices given at certain times or places, with voices addressed to God for the reestablishment or preservation of princes' health. Under Augustus are the following medals engraved as adulation: Jovi opimo maximo S. P. Q. R. [9]; Vota suscepta pro Salute Imperat.Cæsaris Aug. quod per eum Resp. in ampliore atque tranquilliore statu est [10]; Jovi vota suscepta pro salut Cæs. Aug. [11]; S. P. Q. R. Imperatori Coesari, quod vioe mumitoe sint, ex eâ pecuniâ, quam is ad oerarium detulit. [12]

Among these medals prior to the time when the emperors of Constantinople will abandon the Latin tongue and go back to Greek in their inscriptions, many may be found to impede newer enthusiasts, such as ΙϹ ΧϹ ΝΙΚΑΙΗ ΟΥϹ ΧΡΙϹΤΟϹ, Jesus Christus vincit  [13], Κύριε Βοήθει Ἀλεξίῳ; Domine Adesto Alexio [14], ΔΕϹΠΟΤΗΙ ΠΟΡΦΥΡΟΤΕΝΝΗΤΩΙ [15]. We find Deus adjuva Romanis in medals of Hercules, what they have wanted to express in Greek by Βοήθει, and that we would have the difficulty of deciphering were this word written only by its initial letters - given how we would not know that C LEON PAMVLO on the medal of Constantine Copronyme signifies Constantinus Leoni Perpetuo Augusto, Multos annos, had Monsieur du Cange not successfully deciphered it [16]. Our most learned have been halted by Κυ ΒοΗ Δυλω ϲου. Κύριε βοήθει δούλῳ ϲου [17] Dominae adesto servo tuo , short of knowing the inscriptions of which we speak.

These types of inscriptions may be called acclamations or benedictions, which consist of wishing the emperor life, health, victory. This we see in Constantine, Plura naturalitia feliciter [18] ; that of Constans, Felicia decennalia [19] ; that of Theophilus, Θεόφιλε ΑUΤΟΥϹΤΕ ϹUΝΙΚΑϹ [20]; that of Beduella, BEDUELA FLEUREAS ZEMPER [21], for which we've made a commemorative of a beautiful medal of Antoninus Pius, which may have a place among these acclamations: Senatus populus que Romanus ; Annum novum faustum, Felicem, Optimo Principi Pio. We then may explain these initial letters, S. P. Q. R. A. N. F. E. Optimo principi pio . [22]

Here I must not forget that of Constantine, which has become the subject of so many false conjectures: on one side, it has at the top, Imp. C. Constantinus P. F. August , and on the reverse, Constantino P. August , BAPNAT. For, not having recognized that the A was a half-effaced R, we think this is the memoir of the baptism of Constantine, when instead, we should read, Bono Rei Publicae Nato . P. Hardouin, more than others, has successfully intuited this truth. [23]

I think that we perceive taste for inscriptions differently enough between ancients and moderns. The ancients did not believe that inscriptions were appropriate to place on medals, at least, should these inscriptions not be short and expressive. They save the longest for public edifices, for columns, for arcs de triomphe , for tombs, but the moderns in general load the reverse sides of their medals with long inscriptions, and with nothing more, neither majesty nor Roman brevity. I should wish to compare them to only those l' Académie des Belles-Lettres has made in honor and glory to Louis XIV. [24]

Sometimes, even in inscriptions of ancient medals we find only the simple names of magistrates, as in Jules, L. Œmilius, Q. F. Buca IIII. Vie A. A. A. F. F. in Agrippa. M. Agrippa Cos. designatus. [25]

Notes

1. Stevenson, Smith and Madden weave a translation of this article's first four paragraphs into their Dictionary of Roman Coins, Republican and Imperial (London: George Bell and Sons, 1889). The first sentence of their entry (titled appropriately "Inscription") makes generous use of Jaucourt's main entry, "Inscription" also from the Encyclopédie. They begin, "A brief statement, or sentence, by which a memorable event is recorded on some monument" and then resume the end of the first paragraph of Jaucourt's subentry, the current article on numismatic inscription, with "the inscriptions are engraved on the field of the coin; the legend, epigraphe, is placed around it." This multi-paragraph appropriation terminates, interestingly, just before the point where Jaucourt inserts what may be a rebuff to Caesar Augustus in the spirit of Denis Diderot's "critiques expéditives", short criticisms or commentaries inserted into or near quotations of authors' works throughout various articles of the Encyclopédie (cf. n. 12).

2. Δ. Ε. δημαρχικῆς ἐξουσίας ( D.E. Demarkikos Eousias), roughly, “Tribunal Authority”.

3. “Primi Decennales Cos. III”. [The First ten years of Constantine III].

4. “Imp. Caes Aug. ludi saculares ”. [The secular games of Emperor Caesar Augustus].

5. According to J. Scott Porter, the inscription on ancient coins of "VOT (or VOTIS) and MVL (or MVLTIS) with numerals annexed" refers to " pro forma renewals of their (emperors') own authority, which the emperors procured from time to time, for five, ten, twenty, or thirty years." J. Scott Porter and James Carruthers, "Recent Discovery of Roman Coins and Other Articles near Coleraine (Co. Derry)", in Ulster Journal of Archaeology, 2:182-192, p. 192.

6. For definitions of these inscriptions, see again, Smith et al., Dictionary of Roman Coins, Republican and Imperial (1889). “Victoria Germanica Imp. V.I. Cos. III ” [Victory of the 6th Empire, third consulate over the Germans]; “Signis Parthicis receptis” [Emblem of Parthica's Retreat]; “S. P. Q. R. ” [Senate and People of Rome];”Victoria Parthica Maxima ” [Greatest Parthian Victory].

7. “Adsertori Publicae libertatis ”. [Assertors (advocates) for liberty of the republic]. A Roman adsertor more specifically was someone who claimed freedom for a slave, although "adserere" simply means to advocate for someone or something. George Long, in the entry on "Assertor" in the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (John Murray, 1875), 143, demonstrates this fact by pointing to passages of Livy with an opposite sense: "adserere in servitutem", Ab Urbe Condita bk. 3 § 44 and bk. 34 §18.

8. “Libertate P. R. restitutiâ ex S. C. ”. [Freedom of the people of Rome (P.R.) restored by the senate consulate (S.C.)]; “S. P. Q. R. Ob cives servatos ”. [Senate and people of Rome (S.P.Q.R.) for the service of our citizens]; “salus generis humani ”. [For the health of the human race].

9. “Jovi opimo maximo S. P. Q. R. ” [Out of Jupiter's abundance, the senate and people of Rome (S.P.Q.R.)]

10. “Vota suscepta pro Salute Imperat.Cæsaris Aug. quod per eum Resp. in ampliore atque tranquilliore statu est ”. [Prayers offered for the health of Emperor Caesar Augustus, for by them in great respect and silence does he stand.]

11. “Jovi vota suscepta pro salut Cæs. Aug ”. [Prayers offered to Jupiter for the health of Caesar Augustus.]

12. “S. P. Q. R. Imperatori Coesari, quod vioe mumitoe sint, ex eâ pecuniâ, quam is ad oerarium detulit ”. [Senate and people of Rome (S.P.Q.R) to the Emperor Caesar, because the means of the people may be, by its money, what he entrusts to the aerarium.] In his Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1875), William Smith indicates that the aerarium was the state treasury, originally under control of the Republican senate, but under Augustus and Arelius (despite the former's financial contribution to the fund) was used to amass public inheritance taxes and eventually became the exclusive property of the emperor. For this reason, it is not clear whether this inscription truly represents the voice of the people un-ironically, or whether this is a playful insertion of the encyclopedist.

13. This is a reference to ΙΣ ΧΣ ΝΙΚΑΙΑ ΟΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ. Given ΙΣ ΧΣ as nomina sacra designating “Jesus Christ”, this inscription might be translated “Victorious is the Messiah, Jesus Christ”.

14. Κύριε Βοήθει Ἀλεξίῳ later becomes appropriated in sacred Catholic writing, i. e., “Adesto, Domine, supplicationibus nostris, et intercessione B. Alexii confessoris tui perpetuam nobis misericordiam benignus impende.”[Aid us Lord in our supplication and let your servant B. Alexo intercede in our perpetual sorrow through your immanent kindness.], as found in Johannes Pinius, Joannes Carnandet, et. al. Acta sanctorum quotquot toto orbe coluntur: vel a catholicis scriptoribus celebrantur ex Latinis et Græcis, aliarumque gentium antiquis monumentis collecta, digesta, illustrata (Parisiis [u.a.]: Palmé, 1868).

15. ΔΕΣΠΟΤΗΙ ΠΟΡΦΥΡΟΤΕΝΝΗΤΩΙ, can refer to an innately royal and privileged leader (i.e. “born out of purple”), or specifically, Constantine Porphyrogenitus (Constantine VII), about whom Arnold Toynbee authored a famous study, Constantine Porphyrogenitus and his world (London: Oxford University Press, 1973).

16. “Constantinus Leoni Perpetuo Augusto, Multos annos ”. [Constantine of Leon, emperor in perpetuo , across the ages.]

17. Κυ ΒοΗ Δυλω ϲου is an abbreviation of Κύριε βοήθει δούλῳ Σου. [O Lord, grant your servant aid.]

18. “Plura naturalitia feliciter ”. [Much wisdom in happiness.].

19. “Felicia decennalia ”. [To the next ten years].

20. Θεόφιλε Αύγουστε συνίκας. Θεόφιλε Αύγουστε is the vocative case of “Augustus Theophilus”. συνίκας seems to be related to “sunecho(s)”, Greek for “held together” (here in English transliteration) at the same time that σύ is “thou” and νίκας is the second person singular (subjunctive or indicative) for “conquer, prevail”. Given the other inscriptions above for Constantine and Constans that refer to a continuance of imperial reigns, perhaps this inscription should be rendered as “Stand forever, O Augustus Theophilus”, “O Augustus Theophilus, thou dost prevail”, or “O Augustus Theophilus, that thou may prevail”.

21. This reference is to: “Beduela Florias Semper” [May Beduela Flourish Eternally]. According to John Young Akerman in his Descriptive catalogue of rare and unedited Roman coins (London: Effingham Wilson, 1834), 399, Beduela (known by the Greeks as Totila) was king of the Goths from 541- 552 C.E.

22. “Senatus populus que Romanus; Annum novum faustum, Felicem, Optimo Principi Pio” . [People of the senate, Romans: Joyous, Prosperous New Year, we exalt you O greatest leader.] William Henry Smith points to the reverse side of an Imperial coin of the emperor Pupienus, concerning implicit praise of the emperor in citizens' wishes for ten more years of his rule: "...This vow must have been made as a token of regard, for at the age of 74 - when no fair usurer would have allowed an 'expectation' of more than seven years - there could be but a chance of Pupienus's wearing the august leaves on his brow to that period. And that the Senate understood how to compliment a good Emperor, is proved by the a medallion of Antonius Pius, inscribed - 'S. P. Q. R. A. N. F. F OPTIMO PRINCIPI PIO...". Smyth, W. H. Descriptive catalogue of a cabinet of Roman imperial large-brass medals (Bedford: Webb, 1834), 256.

23. See Jean Hardouin, Joannis Harduini ... opera selecta: tum quae iam pridem Parisiis edita nunc emendatiora et multo auctiora proderunt, tum quae nunc primum edita (Amstelodamum: Jo. Lud. de Lorme, 1709), 467. "In neutro sunt litterae CIMS: quibus hic utique opus non fuit: eo quod cives aut municipem apellari non decuit, ubi locus fabricae, Lugdunum scilicet, non subscriberetur....Sed in nummo plane simili, e Museo P. Chamillart, in area partis aversae, ubi est inscripto, CONSTANTINO P. AVG BRP NAT. litterae sunt, hinc CI inde MS & infra, PLC. ut in primo numismate anni hujus. Apud Guterum inscriptiones crebrae occurrunt istius similes; sed falsos testes non sponte proferimus. Hic nummus apud Occonem sic depravatus exhibetur, pag. 534. mutata perverse littera R in A: CONSTANTINO P. AVG. BAP. NAT. idque de baptismo Constantini quidam satis simpliciter acceperunt... Romae baptizatum suisse Constantinum Magnum e familia Julia credimus, tamesti de ea re nummi silent....” [Out from either side are the letters, CIMS, by which this work certainly was not (made), for neither city nor municipality where they were produced are indicated below, most certainly Lugdunum. So the title in the phrase is thus: Constantino Patri Augusti, bono Reipublicae nato... For, in a similar way, from the Museum of P. Chamillart, in one part effaced, is the inscription CONSTANTINO P. AVG. BRP NAT, the letters here CI to MS and between being PLC, namely in the first coinage of the year. Inscriptions of a similar kind occur crowded together according to Gruter, and his testimony we must not willingly label false. According to Occonis, p. 534, such a disfiguring was produced, turning a distorted letter R into an A: CONSTANTINO P. AVG. BAP. NAT., i.e. the baptism of Constantine, simply enough accepted....We believe (in contrast) that the Great Constantine of the family of Julius was baptized in Rome, even if the coins are silent on this point....]

24. See Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, etc ., eds. Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert. (University of Chicago: ARTFL Encyclopédie Project [Spring 2011 Edition], Robert Morrissey [ed]), s.v. "Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres.", http://encyclopedie.uchicago.edu/.

25. See again Smith et al., Dictionary of Roman Coins, Republican and Imperial (1889), s.v. "A A A F F  Auro, Argento, Aere, Flando, Feriundo": "This alludes to the monetal triumvirs, appointed for the coining and stamping of gold, silver, and brass money of the Romans. It was their office to take care that the public coinage should not be counterfeited, nor its material adulterated, nor its proper weight diminished."