n Roman times, religion was not an option, but an integral part of everything that they did. Piety was not the way we think of it now, something unusually holy. It meant the right and proper observance of religious ritual, a duty which fell to every citizen, and to the emperor as much or more than to anyone else. After all, the emperor held the most important religious position in Rome, that of Pontifex Maximus. If an emperor was so lax as to fail in this duty, what example did that set? And what might become of the empire?

And more than that, it represented the complex relationship of love, obedience, and natural order that our word "piety" only hints at.

The denarius of Gordian III on the right shows a common depiction of Pietas, with hands raised and open, in supplication to the gods. This coin was one of a small group which were minted to commemorate his marriage to Tranquillina. You can see that the legend, PIETAS AVGVSTI, refers to Augusti in the plural; not just the Emperor, but his new wife too.

Pietas was important enough to have more than one temple in Rome. For example, one was promised by Marcus Acilius Glabrio before a battle against King Antiochos in 191 BCE, built in a vegetable marked called the Forum Holitorium, and finally dedicated by his son ten years later. (However, this temple was removed by Augustus and replaced by the much more famous Theatre of Marcellus in 13-12 BCE.) There is a sestertius of the elder Faustina with a "Pietas" reverse legend that shows a temple with six columns and an elaborate pediment, which probably refers to one such actual temple. Unfortunately, I don't have that coin.

Here are some Roman coins which demonstrate how important it was for the imperial family to be seen to fulfill their religious and familial obligations. This is usually done by showing a personification of Pietas and relating this to the emperor or empress. When I looked through my examples, I noticed that some of them are not great quality coins. However, there are also some stunners among them, so it evens out! I will start with the emperors.

The Pietas of The Emperor

n the denarius of Hadrian above left, Pietas is raising only one hand. The designation PIETAS is across the middle of the field, perhaps because the legend around the rim is so long and verbose. In fact this legend is just a continuation of the text on the obverse! Click on the image to see the complete coin with a note about this legend.

On the near right, the plural legend PIETAS AVGG on this antoninianus refers to the two male emperors, Gallienus and his father Valerian. The image is not of Pietas, but the emperors themselves, one carrying a short sceptre tipped with an eagle, and the other a parazonium. They are shown facing each other and sacrificing from a patera over a small lit altar that stands between them.

There is some rather more complex imagery on the denarius of Antoninus Pius on the far right. Pietas is holding a bowl of fruits above an altar with one hand, while the other trails a hind for the sacrifice. The bowl of fruits as an offering is also seen in coins showing Fides. This coin is also interesting for the much more practical reason that it still bears a circular mark made by the engraver to help him place the lettering of the legend.

PIETAS AVGVSTOR, an abbreviation of Pietas Augustorum, "The piety of the emperors," on the antoninianus on the far left refers to the two Tetrici, the young prince whose coin this was and his father, the senior emperor of the breakaway Gaulish empire. The implements shown here are a sprinkler, a simpulum (a dipper), a jug, a knife and a lituus (used in divination by watching the flight of birds). These are all implements used by the priestly colleges. The ragged flan on this coin is quite usual for the small bronzes of that period.

The antoninianus of the young Valerian II on next to it has the same legend (shortened still more to PIETAS AVGG) and a similar array of implements; lituus, knife, patera (a shallow dish), jug, and simpulum. This type seems to have been thought appropriate for boy emperors. The young Valerian was killed in 258 CE, and from his portraits, cannot have been very mature at the time.

The base metal denarius of Severus Alexander on the near right doesn't really advance the page much, except to introduce a pose which is much more common on coins of empresses, but I think it is a charming little coin, which is really why I have shoe-horned it in here. It's a contemporary fake, as you can tell from the fact that it isn't silver, the "P" in PIETAS has become a "D", and the "S" is the wrong way round. The obverse of this coin, which you can see if you click on the picture, is executed in an eastern style; in fact this fake is based on a coin struck in Antioch, and may itself have been made in the East.

The antoninianus of Herennius Etruscus on the far right shows Mercury, the god of trade and commerce, with his bulging purse and caduceus, combined with the familiar legend PIETAS AVGG. Mercury was said to be the first god to teach organised religion, and this is undoubtedly the reason for his appearance on a coin with this legend. This combination also appears for Numerian. Mercury is more commonly given legends like FIDES AVG, indicating confidence in the emperor's ability to maintain fruitful commerce.

The Pietas of The Empress

he empresses were also required to demonstrate their piety on coins, but the imagery was quite different, and usually related to their familial duties.

On the far left, a denarius of Faustina Senior from 145 CE. Here, a veiled and matronly Pietas is standing in front of a garlanded altar. In her left hand she holds an open box of incense with a decorated lid. Her right hand holds a fistful of the precious substance (possibly frankincense) and she is about to drop it into the flame. This is one of many coins produced by Antoninus Pius in honour of his late wife.

Next to it, a denarius of Julia Maesa made over 60 years later. The scene is almost identical. Here, Pietas has opened her hand and cast the incense onto the flame. The continuation of this (and many other) images in this way shows respect for stability and tradition.

Another aspect of wifely duty was the provision of children to carry on the imperial line. The antoninianus of Otacilia Severa on the left shows Pietas, clearly representing the empress, with a child where an altar was shown in the earlier design. Oddly, Pietas still seems to be carrying an incense box. This sort of direct representation was intended to display a particular characteristic of the imperial personage, in this case pointing out that by having a child and caring for it, she was fulfilling her pious duty to both her husband and Rome.

Next to it, a denarius of Plautilla. In this much better integrated design, Pietas is carrying the child, and holding a tall sceptre in her other hand. The legend, PIETAS AVGG, indicates a plural. In this case, it was Plautilla and her husband, the emperor Caracalla, who were fulfilling their dynastic duties by procreating. But in this case it was all wishful thinking. This brief and unhappy liaison was unfruitful.

On the antoninianus of Salonina on the far left, Pietas is holding out her hand to two children, while a third is standing at the side of her throne. These may represent the children of Salonina and the emperor Gallienus, or possibly they may represent the poor children known as the Puellae Alimentariae, who benefited from public distributions of corn and oil. Such distributions to children were started by the emperor Nerva, and were typically shown as being due to the gentle benevolence of an empress – qualities which Pietas embodies on this coin.

Next to it, a much later coin, commemorating the late empress Theodora, second wife of Constantius Chlorus. This one definitely does relate to the Imperial offspring. Theodora bore her husband six children. Here, Pietas once again represents the empress, and is shown with a young child in her arms. She is offering her breast, and the child is reaching out for it. The legend is PIETAS ROMANA. So on this coin Theodora represents and embodies the pious duty of the Romans.

The Thymiaterium

hese two coins show a different type of altar, standing on a single slender decorated support. It is generally referred to as a "candelabrum-altar," but it is actually most likely a device used to hold hot coals onto which the incense could be cast. Pat Lawrence on the Forum Classical Numismatics Discussion Board named it as a "thymiaterium."

On the near right, an as or dupondius of Faustina Senior, with the sparks flying up from her thymaterium. On the far right, a quite different and less common personification, Juventas, on an as of Marcus Aurelius made at about the same time. Juventas is dropping incense like Pietas, but is holding a patera instead of an incense box. This coin lacks some detail, but has a nice clear thymiaterium of a slightly different design.

These chunky coins are potin tetradrachms of Diocletian from Alexandria, dated 284-5 (left) and 288-9 (right). They were struck for circulation strictly within Egypt, and they use Greek symbolism and lettering. In both cases, the personification is Eusebia, the Greek equivalent of Pietas, and you can see that the imagery is almost identical to that used in Rome, with a thymiaterion (Greek spelling) in use on the left-hand coin, and a more conventional altar on the right. On the left, Eusebia is holding an incense box. On the right, she is just holding up a fold of her robe.