Abstract:

Jugate portraits on coinage and jewellery of the Hellenistic period
Jugate representations of divine or royal couples appear often on coins and seals
in Graeco-Roman art. Putting an emphasis on dynastic integrity and continuity –
derived from the model of their divine predecessors– the kings of the Hellenistic
period (and particularly so the Ptolemies of Egypt) are shown next to their consorts
as guarantors for the production of lawful heirs. As their divine model –devised,
evidently, by themselves in anticipation of the symbolism they wished to put forward–
they most commonly used Sarapis and Isis, a couple known to us from coins, seals
and other such portable media, as well as a remote counterpart in the face of Zeus
and Dione, a divine couple known from the coins and seals of Epirus.
The emblematic value of coins or jewels employed as seals, such as engraved
gemstones and signet rings, stresses the symbolism of the jugate scheme, rendering
the image into an agent for Hellenistic kingship ideology. The type’s adoption by
Roman Imperial couples strengthened its ideological content and guaranteed its
survival well into modernity.