Moneta
Moneta, the mother of the Muses
- I The mother of the Muses, a transl. of the Gr. Μνημοσύνη: Μνημοσύνη Moneta, Gloss. Philox.; cf. Cic. N. D. 3, 18, 47; Hyg. Fab. praef.: filia Monetas, Liv. Andron. ap. Prisc. p. 679 P.—
- II A surname of Juno, in whose temple at Rome money was coined: cum terrae motus factus esset, Ut sue plena procuratio fieret, vocem ab aede Junonis ex arce exstitisse; quocirca Junonem illam appellatam Monetam, Cic. Div. 1, 45, 101; cf. id. Phil. 7, 1, 1; Liv. 7, 28, 4; Ov. F. 1, 638; 6, 183; Val. Max. 1, 8, 3; Lact. 2, 7, 11: ubi nunc aedes atque officina Monetae est, Liv. 6, 20, 13.—
- B Transf.
- 1 The place for coining money, the mint: ad Philotimum scripsi de viatico, sive a moneta, sive ab Oppiis, i. e. taken from the mint or borrowed from the Oppian usurers, Cic. Att. 8, 7, 3; Sid. Carm. 23, 41: monetae officinator, master of the mint, Inscr. Orell. 3227: monetae aequator, ib. 3228.—
- 2 Coined money, coin, money (poet. and in post-Aug. prose): victaque concedit prisca moneta novae, Ov. F. 1, 222: nigrae, i. e. aereae, Mart. 1, 100, 13; Paul. Sent. 5, 25, 1: falsam monetam percussisse, id. ib. 5, 12, 12: probata, Vulg. Gen. 23, 16.—
- 3 A stamp or die for coining money: a novā monetā, of a new stamp, Mart. 12, 55, 8.—Hence, trop.: communi feriat carmen triviale moneta, of the common stamp, in ordinary style, Juv. 7, 55: jam tempus est quaedam ex nostrā, ut ita dicam, monetā proferri, Sen. Ben. 3, 35, 1: nomina Graeca Latinā monetā percussa, of the Latin stamp, Ap. Apol. p. 298, 33.
- 1. = Mnemosyne;
- 2. bijnaam v. Juno; in haar tempel op het Capitool bevond zich de munt (zie moneta
- 1. ).
a surname of Juno among the Romans, by which she was characterised as the protectress of money. Under this name she had a temple on the Capitoline, in which there was at the same time the mint, just as the public treasury was in the temple of Saturn. The temple had been vowed by the dictator L. Furius in a battle against the Aurunci, and was erected on the spot where the house of M. Manlius Capitolinus had stood. (Liv. 4.7, 20, 6.20, 7.28, 42.1; Ov. Fast. 1.638, 6.183.) Moneta signifies the mint, and such a surname cannot be surprising, as we learn from St. Augustin (De Civ. Dei, 7.11), that Jupiter bore the surname of Pecunia; but some writers found such a meaning too plain, and Livius Andronicus, in the beginning of his translation of the Odyssey, used Moneta as a translation of Μνημοσύνη, and thus made her the mother of the Mutses or Camenae. (Cpmp. Ilygin. F/h. Praef.) Cicero (de Div. 1.45, 2.32) relates an ctymological tale. During an earthquake, he says, a voice was heard issuing from the temple of Juno on the Capitol, and admonishing (monens) that a pregnant sow should be sacrificed. A somewhat more probable reason for the name is given by Suidas (s. v. Μονῆτα), though he assigns it to too late a time. In the war with Pyrrhus and the Tarentines, he says, the Romans being in want of money, prayed to Juno, and were told by the goddess, that money would not be wanting to them, so long as they would fight with the arms of justice. As the Romans by experience found the truth of the words of Juno, they called her Juno Moneta. Her festival was celebrated on the first of June. (Ov. Fast. 6.183, &c.; Macr. 1.12.) [L.S]
- moneo, the mother of the Muses, C.—A surname of Juno, as the goddess of recollection, C., L., O.—(Because money was coined in the temple of Juno Moneta), a place for coining money, mint, C.—Coined money, coin, money, O.—A stamp, die(late); hence, Communi carmen monetā, of the common stamp, Iu.
(ἀργυροκοπεῖον). A mint. In Persia the king enjoyed the sole right of issuing gold money (see Daricus); but the cities on the coast of Asia Minor coined copper, silver, and even electrum coins at pleasure; and the different satraps struck silver money bearing their own names. In Greece proper and the Greek colonies each State or πόλις issued such money as it chose, so that a great variety of Greek coins have come down to us. Fully 2000 mints are known to have existed prior to the fall of the Roman Empire (A.D. 410). Sicily had more than fifty different mints, and even the little island of Ceos had three. The cities of Magna Graecia in Italy issued coins of a general uniformity, as did the Aetolian and Achaean Leagues. Under the Romans the Greek cities ceased to coin silver money, except a few favoured ones like Antioch, the Cappadocian Caesarea, and Tarsus, though copper coins were still struck in many towns of Greece and Asia.
As the Roman dominion extended over Italy, the State gradually put down the rival issues of Oscan, Etruscan, and other non-Latin coinages, and introduced a uniform system. At Rome, however, various personages at different times controlled the mintage. In the city, money was usually struck under the direction of three officials, the triumviri monetales; but generals in the field and abroad issued money as they found it necessary, placing upon it not only their names but their effigies. When Augustus assumed the supreme power he took to himself the sole right to issue gold and silver coins, leaving to the Senate the mintage of copper. Hence copper coins of the Empire bore the letters S. C., indicating that they were issued by authority of the Senate.
The ancient processes of minting were very simple. One engraved die was let into an anvil, another into the end of a metal bar. Between the two was placed the blank, roughly cast into the required shape and size and heated red hot. A single blow of a heavy hammer on the upper end of the bar usually finished the coin, which was then removed by a pair of tongs. Collars and milling were unknown. See numismatics.
A name given to Iuno (q.v.) as the goddess of good counsel (from moneo), under which title a temple was built to her on the Capitol. Attached to it was the mint (Livy, vii. 28), which on this account received the name of moneta.