Were Roman emperors in the first century AD shown as holding stars in their hands?
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John's Revelation is generally accepted to have been written sometime during the reign of Domitian (although some still argue for Nero, and many argue it was about Nero).
A quick check of still extant coins from Domitian and Nero's era shows no coins with figures holding stars. I typically see stuff like wreaths, palm branches, lightning, or various kinds of weaponry.
I'm not saying no such Roman coin existed, but it certianly does not seem to be a common theme in Roman coinage of the era.
Upvote:5
[Disclaimer: I'm the author of the question. I just revisited this question and found some interesting new answer]
In 2015, Eleni Rovithis-Livaniou & Flora Rovithis published a relevant paper in the Romanian Astronomical Journal, titled Astronomical Symbols on Coins of the Roman Empire - Part I: 27 BC to 96 AD.
From the paper:
Regarding the middle coin, it says: Aureus of 76 AD, Observe: HEad of Vespasian, legend CAESAR IMP VESPASIANUS, Reverse: Aeternitas standing left, holding head of Sun & Moon, lighter altar at her feet, legend AETER-NITAS.
There's also some interesting coins from Domitian:
Specificially, his son is depicted with 7 stars.
About Aeternitas, the paper notes: Aeternitas: The divine personification of eternity. It appears on the coins issued by various Roman Emperors like Vespasian, Titus, Trajan, Hardrian, and others. She appears as a young lady usually holding the Sun and the Moon.
My conclusion from that paper: it seems like when the Revelation of John was written, there were no coins which showed Roman emperors holding several stars in their hand. However, the Goddess Aeternitas was depicted with Sun and Moon in her hand. The picture in Revelation may be an allusion to that image.
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