Coin of the Month

February 2026: Demeter on the Serpent Biga – Between Local Rivalry and Ὁμόνοια in Roman Bithynia

The Coin of this Month is presented by Johannes Victor

A coin from Roman Nicomedia reveals how mythological imagery, civic identity, and inter-city rivalry were intertwined in Bithynia. Demeter’s serpent-drawn biga becomes a powerful symbol of prosperity, ambition, and claims to supremacy.

When Nicomedes IV, king of Bithynia, died in 74 BC, he bequeathed his kingdom to the Roman Republic. After a long war against the Pontic king Mithridates VI, the cities of Bithynia became part of the Roman province of Bithynia et Pontus. While the kingdom appeared to be a unified territory under Roman administration, coexistence between the Bithynian cities did not seem to have been harmonious at all. Various sources testify that competition, rivalry, and disputes over local supremacy were an important part of the political culture and local identity of the Bithynians. These discrepancies apparently became increasingly intense towards the end of the 1st century AD. Among others, the philosopher Dio Chrysostom from Prusa pleaded for ὁμόνοια between the two rival cities in various speeches to the citizens of Nicomedia and Nicaea (cf. Dion. Chrys. 38). Local coinage and diverse reverse images also offer exciting insights into the zeitgeist of the Roman East.

The Coin of the Month for February comes from the city of Nicomedia and dates to precisely that period of increasing local tensions among the Bithynian cities. As was customary during the imperial period, its obverse shows the radiated head of Emperor Domitian facing right, surrounded by a legend listing his honorary titles.

More exciting than the image of the ruler on the obverse is the reverse of the coin, depicting the goddess Demeter. She stands facing left, holding an ear of corn in her right hand and a sceptre or torch in her left hand. This depiction was probably based on other coins of the Koinon Bithynion circulating at the same time, which were introduced by a local imperial mint that operated for a short time around AD 80 and were known as the CERES AVGVSTA type (cf. Lindner 1994, 135). This type was still frequently used in Nicomedia later on. What is interesting about the depiction is not the choice of Demeter—she was one of the city's main deities—but the way the goddess is portrayed in connection with her vehicle, as she is standing on a biga drawn by winged serpents.

Just as the snake is an earthbound creature that played an important role in the Eleusinian mysteries, the snake biga is also a recurring attribute of the goddess and can be traced back to the myth of the abduction of her daughter Persephone, who was carried off to the underworld by Hades (see Küster 1913). In search of her daughter, Demeter roamed the land and entered the underworld, which led to her being depicted in Greek art as “Searching Demeter”, usually symbolized by two torches in her hands and a sense of haste in her posture (cf. Martin 2003, 125-126). In Ovid's account, the desperate Demeter encounters the young Triptolemus during her search, whom she later teaches in the Eleusinian mysteries and agriculture, and in this context gifts him the chariot drawn by flying serpents. He thus was worshipped and depicted together with the serpent-drawn chariot on numerous coins, among other objects (CN Type 1580).

The connection between Demeter and the serpent biga is therefore evident and can also be found in numerous other mints, such as Cyzicus (CN Type 17032), but the serpent biga usually symbolizes the myth of Demeter searching for her daughter. However, this had no relevance in Nicomedia's cult of Demeter, which was separated from that of her daughter Persephone (cf. Lindner 1994, 135). Thus, the designers of this coin seem to have decided against the attributes of the “Searching Demeter”, such as the two torches and the hurried posture. The depiction therefore is detached from its mythological context. The Nicomedians probably chose the image of their main deity as a symbol of a triumphal entry into the city, casting her in the role of a benevolent benefactor during the export of the harvest, thus symbolizing the wealth, power, and honour that the city was able to achieve through the blessings of Demeter, both for itself and for the whole of Bithynia (cf. Lindner 1994, 136-137). The accompanying legend Η ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΙΣ ΚΑΙ [ΠΡΩ]ΤΗ ΒΙΘΥΝΙΑ appears to be a clear reference to the intended message of the coin as well: Nicomedia was not only a metropolis, but also and above all “the first” in Bithynia, ahead of its rival Nicaea. According to Dio Chrysostom’s speech, this was not due to meaningless titles and ranks, but to real achievements that benefited the entire region, such as the creation of prosperity and rich harvest (cf. Lindner 1994).

Demeter on the serpent biga thus functioned on various levels. On the one hand, she refers to the local cult of the goddess, who was intensely worshipped in Nicomedia. On the other hand, she symbolizes the riches and gifts that Nicomedia had to offer and from which the city drew its confidence to compete in the dispute over which was the first city in the region of Bithynia, a conflict that was more clearly addressed by the legend. It is a fascinating testimony to how local identities in Roman Asia Minor can be grasped and how coins were used as a medium of communication to spread one's own honours and taunts to the neighbouring city. Nicomedia and Nicaea are particularly suitable examples of this, because despite numerous attempts to create ὁμόνοια, the legends on the coins show that there was fierce competition between the cities for many years, which changed in content over time but never completely lost its intensity (cf. Robert 1977).

Literature

KÜSTER, ERICH, Die Schlange in der griechischen Kunst und Religion, Gießen (1913).

LINDNER, RUTH, Mythos und Identität: Studien zur Selbstdarstellung kleinasiatischer Städte in der römischen Kaiserzeit, Stuttgart (1994).

MARTIN, KATHARINA, ...σεβουσιν αυτην οι Κυζικηνοι μαλιστα Θεων: Zum Kult der Kore Soteira im kaiserzeitlichen Kyzikos, in: SCHWERTHEIMER, ELMAR (Ed.), WINTER, ENGELBERT (Ed.), Religion und Region: Götter und Kulte aus dem östlichen Mittelmeerraum, Bonn (2003).

Coin of the Month

February 2026: Demeter on the Serpent Biga – Between Local Rivalry and Ὁμόνοια in Roman Bithynia

The Coin of this Month is presented by Johannes Victor

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