Signum Deae. Die kaiserzeitlichen Vorgänger des Reichsapfels

Abstract

A philological conjecture does not always improve a text. In his edition of the Latin panegyrics Emil Baehrens made such a change, which the now standard edition and, in 1952, Galletier took over. That the wrongly emended text became the basis of the most varied theories about Constantine fits the dogged disputes of Constantinian scholarship, although the solution is simple and leads in an unexpected direction. The panegyric in question was delivered at Trier in 313 before Constantine and describes the victory over Maxentius and the reception at Rome; it then reports the honours, among which the senate dedicated a signum dei and Italy a shield and a crown. What that signum was has occupied scholarship repeatedly and has occasionally been confused with the statue mentioned by Eusebius.

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Suggested citation

R.-Alföldi, Maria: Signum Deae. Die kaiserzeitlichen Vorgänger des Reichsapfels. In: Jahrbuch für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte 11 (1961), pp. 19–32, Tf.2-3.

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