The fact that though we Christians fail to do the matter justice, the ancients upon the contrary recognised that the Creator and the Giver of Life cannot be rightly spoken of as belonging to one sex and one alone, is not the only fact which those who examine relics of antiquity, such as the coins of the Roman Empire, with a view to ascertaining what evidence is derivable from them that bears upon the history of the symbol of the cross, should ever bear in mind. Another point to be kept in view is the evolution of the Christian symbol now known as the Coronation Orb.
This compound symbol, which plays so prominent a part in the regalia of a Christian Monarch, also crowns the topmost height of many a Christian Temple including both St.Peter's at Rome and St. Paul's at London. And it is noteworthy that it bears a certain resemblance to the representation of the Apex, once worn by the Salian priests and afterwards by the Pontifex Maximus and the Flamens generally, which appears upon ancient coins of theFabiagens; the office ofFlamen Quirinalishaving been hereditary in the Fabia family.
Upon other coins also, what is said to be meant for the pontifical apex occurs as a round ball surmounted by something very like a cross, in the hand of a female figure representing Rome; exactly as the so-called Coronation Orb is to be seen upon coins of later date in the hand of this or that Christian Emperor.
The evidence as a whole, however, favours the supposition that the Coronation Orb, instead of having been derived from the Apex of the Pagan priests and thus signifying the claim to priesthood or headship of the church so often made by monarchs, is a development of the round object, frequently unsurmounted by anything, so continually to be met with upon ancient coins of Rome in the hand of this or that God, Goddess, or Ruler.
This being the case, it is a matter of veryconsiderable importance that we should be quite sure what the round object in question used to signify, and should base our assurance upon the results of personal investigation rather than upon the assumption that the popular explanation is necessarily the correct one.
Though the round object in question was, as stated, in days of old often used as a symbol by itself, it was sometimes, and, as time rolled on, more and more frequently, surmounted by a small female figure with wings; which figure was a representation of Victory. This figure was, after the establishment of Christianity as the State Religion of the Roman Empire, gradually, and only gradually, supplanted by the figure of the cross.
Although several writers of note assume that the initiative in this direction was taken by Constantine himself, the first step seems to have been taken upon the death of Constantine, when a coin or medal was issued on which the deceased monarch is called a God and is represented as holding a round object surmounted by the so-called Monogram of Christ; a symbol continually referred to by Eusebius and other writers of the fourth century as a cross.
Later on an instance occurs of the Monogram surmounting a round object held by a female figure representing Rome. This is upon a coin issued by Nepotianus, a nephew of Constantine.
Passing on to the reign of Valentinianus II., we find that that Emperor issued a coin upon which a round object surmounted by a cross is to be seen in the hand of Victory herself. This would appear to have been the first instance in which what we should call a cross, supplanted the representation of Victory as a small female figure with wings, as a symbol surmounting the round object which we are considering.
A similar coin was issued by Theodosius I., surnamed the Great; the last of the Emperors of Rome whose rule extended throughout the whole of the Roman world.
The instances named are, it will be understood, the exceptions to the general rule during a considerable period. And upon many of the coins of the Emperors mentioned, as well as upon those of the intervening Emperors, the round object held by those rulers is surmounted by either a Victory or a Phœnix; usually by the former, but in several instances by the latter.
The first ruler who causedhimselfto berepresented as holding a round object surmounted by an ordinary cross, was Theodosius II., Emperor of the East.
The fact that for a long time the Victory, the Phœnix, and the Cross, were made use of as symbols which might be substituted one for another, is worthy of special note. For the facts that the round object held by Theodosius II. is as often surmounted by a Victory as by a Cross, and that a Victory instead of a Cross was often used by succeeding Christian Emperors, tend to show that the Victory, the Phœnix, and the Cross were allied in signification, and equally connected with the round object the nature and meaning of which we are about to enquire into.
The reader may possibly object that no case has been made out for such enquiry, inasmuch as not only did the cross in course of time entirely supplant the Victory, but the round object from first to last, and whether unsurmounted by anything or surmounted by a Victory or a Phœnix or a Cross, signified the world upon which we dwell, the round world, and nothing but the world.
Such is, of course, the popular assumption;based upon what we are taught in school books and in standard works of reference. But, as a matter of fact, in many cases the round object admittedly signified an apple; the Golden Apple of the Hesperides: a well known phallic symbol. Whenever a round object unsurmounted by anything is to be seen in the hand of either the Sun-God Hercules or Venus the Goddess of Love, it admittedly may have been, for it admittedly often was, a representation, not of the world, but of the Golden Apple. And not only does it so occur upon a very large number of coins, but in some instances we see the Victory surmounting it; recalling to our minds the fact that victory, as signifying the triumph of Life over Death, had a phallic as well as a martial meaning, and is achieved every time that a man is born into the world as a result of the tasting of the fruit of the Tree of Life or of the knowledge of good and evil.
Moreover, though the fact is now for some reason or other ignored, the so-called Coronation Orb of Christian Monarchs was itself once known as the Golden Apple. It is so referred to in important Latin documents of the Middle Ages; for instance in the famousBull of Charles IV. regarding the Imperial elections, wherein we read of the right of the Counts Palatine of the Rhine to carry the symbol in question at the coronation of their Emperor. And to this very day the so-called Coronation Orb is known throughout Germany and Austria asReichsapfel, the Imperial Apple.
It is therefore by no means certain that the round portion of the Coronation Orb which thus caused the name of "the Golden Apple" to be given to this compound Christian symbol, is not, like the cross above it, to some extent a phallic symbol.
Every one should know the classic story of the Golden Apple; how the tree which bore the Golden Apples grew up in the Garden of the Hesperides in honour of the wedding of Hera, a goddess who more or less personified the female sex; how the Golden Apples are variously said to have been dedicated to the Sun (Hellos), to the Sun-God (Dionysos), and to the Goddess of Love (Aphrodite); how the Sun-God Hercules as one of the twelve labours which represented the months, slew the Serpent which guarded the tree, and plucked the fruit; and how the Goddess Eris, who alone of allthe deities was not invited to the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis, revenged herself by throwing among the guests a Golden Apple inscribed "To the fairest," and Paris awarded it to the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite or Venus.
The story of the Garden of the Hesperides is at heart one with that of the Garden of Eden; for it is obvious that the same phallic meaning underlies each, and that they are but different versions of the same allegory.
It may here be called to mind that it has this century been discovered from the cuneiform inscriptions of Western Asia, that Eden was the name given by Babylonians in days of old to the plain outside Babylon, whereupon, according to the legends of that city, the creation of living beings took place. Also that much evidence has accrued which, impartially weighed in the balance, leads clearly to the conclusion that the all-important commencement of Genesis, which forms as it were the very basis of both the Jewish and the Christian Scriptures, was borrowed by the Jews from Babylon. And that it was in reality aBabyloniantradition or series of traditions of far older date than any writing of purely Jewish origin, has not only been amplyproved by recent discoveries, but might indeed have been guessed from its reference to the Tower of Babel or Babylon.
Nor is this all, for among the age-old relics discovered in Western Asia is a pictorial representation of the allegorical Temptation and Fall.
Upon this noteworthy piece of evidence the Tree of Knowledge or Life, with which the figure of the cross was identified by the early Christians; the Serpent, which in all countries and every age has been more or less identified with the sexual powers; the Man; the Woman; and the Apple; are all represented. And it is important to note that, according to the cuneiform inscription upon another time-worn relic in the British Museum, the Babylonians of old, at a time when the descendants of Jacob or Israel were without scriptures of their own, had a tradition to the effect that the fate of our first parents—who, thanks to a wicked Serpent of Darkness, tasted of the forbidden fruit which grew in the "Garden of the Gods"—was placed in the hands of "their Redeemer."
It should also be pointed out that this voice from the dim and distant past distinctly states that the Redeemer in question was—the Sun-God.
In ancient days the so-called forbidden fruit or apple seems to have borne somewhat the same symbolic meaning that the egg did. But while the apple not only represented Life, but also, and primarily, that union between two sexes or principles which produces life, the egg more or less lacked the latter meaning, and, on the other hand, signified Existence in a wider sense than the apple did.
TheCosmositself was an egg according to the conceptions of many of the ancients; and few ideas were more widely spread, or can be traced further back, than the one that the whole visible creation emerged from the original Chaos or Darkness in the shape of an egg.
The egg also, and above all, signified the Sun-God, as the acknowledged Giver of Life and Saviour of Life. Hence the prominent part which it played in the various religious mysteries of the ancients, and also the fact that the Egyptians represented the Sun-God Ra as giving forth such utterances as "I am the Creative Soul of the celestial abyss. None sees my nest, and none can break my egg." The egg referred to, was of course the Sun itself.
Even our Christian custom of exchangingeggs at Easter is more or less derived from Sun-God worship, being a survival from customs practised long before our era at that particular period of the year, the time of the Vernal Equinox or Pass-over of the Sun, when the Orient Light crosses the Equator to rise once more in the Northern Hemisphere.
Nor are these the only facts connecting the egg with Sun-God worship, for the Sun-God Apollo was of old represented as born from the egg of Leda, and the Sun-God Osiris was also said to have been born from an egg.
Moreover the Chinese believe that the first man was born from an egg, the Orphic hymns speak of the "First-Begotten One" as "egg-born," and the Greeks fabled that their Sun-God Dionysos sprang from the cosmic egg.
As to the origin of the Coronation Orb, it is noteworthy that no finer or more natural symbol of Power could have been fixed upon than a representation of that ball of fire which was so frequently spoken of in bygone ages as "the Orb," and from which all earthly life and power may be said to proceed.
However the available evidence certainly seems to show that the round object we are consideringis more likely to have signified the cosmic egg than the solar orb.
In any case the object in question cannot be shown to have represented the world upon which we dwell and that alone; and nothing is more likely than that so famous a symbol should, like the cross which now adorns it, have more or less signified Life.
It should also be pointed out that this symbol of Power may have signified, not so much that the Ruler who used it laid claim to world-wide dominion, as that he held in his hand power over the lives of others; and, possibly, also that he claimed to be, as the vicegerent of the Sun-God and Giver of Life, the only legitimate Saviour of his country.
The facts that the symbol was used in clays of old by others than the Emperors whose sway extended over the whole of the Roman Empire, and is nowadays considered the rightful symbol of every Christian Monarch however limited the area over which his power is felt, should also be borne in mind; though not of much value as evidence, as even petty rulers have been known to boast that they held the world in their grasp.
It should however be remembered that thoughthe ancients, struck by the dome-like appearance of the sky and the circular movements of the constellations, conceived the cosmos or universe to be spherical, and in some instances even constructed celestial globes upon which to record the movements of Sun, Moon, Planets, and Stars, it is doubtful if a single one of them considered the world upon which we dwell to be spherical. Also, that many a Christian Monarch has used the Coronation Orb as a symbol of power, and yet believed the earth to be otherwise than a globe in shape.
In this connection it should be pointed out that the round object which the ancients represented Atlas as supporting upon his shoulders, usually in the presence of Jupiter, was not as is vulgarly supposed the earth, but the heavens; Hesiod telling us that Atlas bore heaven with his head and hands, Ovid that upon Atlas rested heaven and all the stars, and other writers of bygone ages that Atlas was a king who first taught men that heaven had the shape of a globe.
It is of course possible that the ancients may have conceived the earth to be otherwise than spherical, and yet, because the horizon whichappears to limit its extent seems to be circular, or for some other reason, have considered a round object to be a representation of it.
Even where, however, the ball-like symbol we are considering may have represented something other than the Golden Apple, the probability is that it seldom if ever represented the earth.
For as, though the ancients may have conceived and spoken of the world we live upon as being "round" in the same sense as a circular coin is round, they did not think of it as being a globe, it is obvious that the ball-like symbol in question is much less likely to have signified the—in their belief—non-globular earth, than it is to have been a representation of something which they did consider to be globular.
Such is the nature of the evidence which tends to show that we Christians may be mistaken in supposing that our famous symbol the Coronation Orb represents the round world upon which we dwell, surmounted by the instrument of execution upon which Jesus died.
Although, however, most points have now been touched upon, including the important fact that the so-called Coronation Orb of Christian Monarchs used to be called, even by Christians,the Golden Apple, the idea that it may have been thecrux ansata, or Egyptian symbol of Life (an upright oval, perhaps signifying the female principle, set upon the top of thetau, orTcross, and thus turning into a complete cross what is really an incomplete one, and may be supposed to have signified the male principle),reversed(e.g., Archæological Journalxlii. 164), should at least be mentioned. It ought, however to be pointed out that the Orb is even more like the ancient symbol of the planet sacred to Venus, the Goddess of Love, reversed.
Even this point does not exhaust the subject in hand; for the fact that in days of old we used to represent the Christ as the Pagans represented the Sun-God,viz.,as standing by the Tree of Life and holding a round object meant for the phallic apple, has not yet been dealt with in any way.
It is however desirable that before discussing the matter further we should ascertain the nature of the evidence, regarding this and kindred subjects, derivable from the coins of the Roman Empire.
Bearing in mind the matters mentioned in the two last chapters, let us now pass in review the coins struck by the Romans, and make a note of such features as may, directly or indirectly, bear upon the history of the cross.
The first cross we meet with on the coins in question, is upon one of Julius Cæsar; who was appointedFlamen DialisB.C. 87,PontiffB.C. 74, Military Tribune B.C. 73, Quæstor B.C. 68,Pontifex MaximusB.C. 63, and Dictator B.C. 49.
The cross in question consists of the nameC. Cossutius Maridianusarranged as a cross of four equal arms. And it should be noted that it is admitted, even by such well-known authorities as Mr. C. W. King, M.A., that the name was so arranged out of compliment to the officialin questionbecause his name had reference to the meridian sun.46
Upon a coin struck by Cæsar's heir, the almost equally famous Augustus (Consul B.C. 43, Emperor B.C. 29—A.C. 14), about twenty years before our era, we see a head of the Sun-God Bacchus upon one side; and on the reverse a man presenting a military standard, the banner of which is ornamented with a St. Andrew's cross.
Two other coins of the same reign and about the same date, have upon them representations of military standards bearing the same symbol.
Upon another coin struck by Augustus we see a crescent with a star or radiate sun within its horns, the ancient phallic symbol adopted by the followers of the prophet Muhammad centuries later.
A similar symbol occurs upon the coins of Hadrian (A.C. 117—138).
Upon two coins of Antoninus Pius (A.C. 138—161) we see the Sun-God Hercules plucking the Golden Apple from a tree around which the traditional serpent is coiled.
On another coin of the same reign the Sun-God Hercules can be seen holding a round object which admittedly represents the Golden Apple; that symbol both of the Sun-God as (1) the bi-sexual Giver of Life and (2) the personification of the Male Principle, and of the Goddess who represented (1) the Love of the two sexes and (2) the Female Principle.
Upon another coin Jove holds a similar looking object.
Many coins issued in the name of Annia Galeria Faustina the wife of Antoninus Pius, and by Marcus Aurelius (A.C. 161—180), and in the name of his wife Annia Faustina, have upon them representations of Venus the Goddess of Love holding a round object which is admittedly meant for the Golden Apple. The favourite legends areVenus Victrix,Venus Felix, andVenus Genetrix, and of phallic import; and in one instance the Goddess of Love holds an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes as well as the phallic apple.
Other coins of Marcus Aurelius or his wife have upon them representations of Eternity as a female figure holding a round object. In some cases the round object is surmounted by a Phœnix.
Upon a coin struck by Lucius Aurelius Verus (A.C. 160—169) that ruler is to be seen holding a round object surmounted by a Victory.
On the coins of Commodus (A.C. 180—192) sometimes Jove and sometimes the Emperor holds a small round object. A Victory in some cases surmounts it.
Venus holding the Golden Apple—that is, a round object which in such instances is admitted to have represented the Golden Apple—is to be seen upon many coins issued in the name of Lucilla, the sister of Commodus.
Upon coins issued by Caius Pescennius Niger a small round object surmounted by a Victory is to be seen in the hand of Jove. On a coin struck by Septimus Severus (A.C. 193—211) we see Rome represented as a female figure with a shield at her side marked with a cross.
Upon another coin we see the Goddess of Love holding a round object admittedly meant for the Golden Apple, while a child is stationed at her feet. The legend isVenus Genetrix.Among the coins issued in the name of Julia Domna, the wife of the last named Emperor, are nearly a dozen varieties upon which Venusis represented as holding a round object. A crescent occurs upon the reverse in some instances.
Upon several coins of Caracalla (A.C. 211—217) we see that Emperor holding a small round object surmounted by a Victory; upon others he is to be seen holding a Victory only.
Various coins issued in the name of Fulvia Plantilla the wife of Caracalla, show us the Goddess of Love holding a round object. The legends areVenus FelixandVenus Victrix.
In the reign of Elagabalus or Heliogabalus (A.C. 218—222) a coin was struck on which we see the Goddess Astarte, Ashtoreth, Ishtar, or Venus, holding a cross.
Venus holding a round object is to be seen upon many coins issued in the names of Soæmias the mother of Elagabalus, his wife Julia Aquilia Severa, Julia Mamma the mother of Alexander Severus, and his wife Orbiana.
On a coin of the Emperor Decius (A.C. 249—251) struck at Mæonia, we meet with the so-called "Monogram of Christ" upon a Roman coin in the formMonogram of Christ 3for the first time.
Upon a coin of Trebonianus Gallus (A.C. 251—254)Eternity is represented as a female holding a small round object.
On another coin of this reign we see a Phœnix instead of a Victory upon the round object held by the Emperor.
Many of the coins of ancient Rome acclaim the Sun-God as the Saviour, and upon a coin issued by Gallienus (A.C. 254—268) we see the Sun-God Apollo holding a cross.
Upon a coin issued by the younger Valerian we see the Sun-God holding a small round object.
A coin struck by Tetricus (A.C. 267—264) has upon its reverse a representation of the Sun-God holding a round object, while in the field near the Sun-God is a cross.
On a coin issued by Claudius II. we see the Sun-God Hercules holding a round object admittedly meant for the Golden Apple.
Upon a coin issued by Aurelianus we see the Sun-God holding a round object surmounted by a crescent.
On a coin issued by Vabalathus we see the Sun-God Hercules holding a round object admittedly representing the Golden Apple.
Upon a coin of Numerianus (A.C. 283—284) we see the Goddess of Love holding a roundobject surmounted by a Victory. Such instances as this should be specially noted, as nothing distinguishes the round objects so surmounted from those held by Venus which admittedly represent the Golden Apple, and the present fashion of our symbol the Coronation Orb or Imperial Apple is due to the fact that a century later Theodosius II. Emperor of Constantinople started the idea of substituting a cross for the Victory.
Upon several coins of Carinus (A.C. 282—284) we see the Sun-God holding a small round object.
On other coins of this reign Eternity appears as a female holding a small round object surmounted by a Phœnix.
Upon the coins issued in the name of Magnia Urbica, wife of Carinus, on which we see Venus holding a small round object which admittedly represented the Golden Apple, the Crescent frequently accompanies the representations of the Goddess of Love.
On coins issued by Diocletian (A.C. 284-305) we see both Jove and the Sun-God holding a small round object; like the Emperor himself. A Victory in some cases surmounts it.
The Sun-God Hercules holding a round object which admittedly signified the Golden Apple is to be seen on other coins issued during this reign.
Among the coins issued by Diocletian's co-Emperor Maximian, is one bearing a representation of the Sun-God Hercules in the Garden of the Hesperides near the Tree encircled by the Serpent he slew. The Sun-God holds a round object representing a Golden Apple plucked from the Tree in question.
On the reverse of another coin bearing the names both of Jove the All-Father and Hercules the Sun-God, we see the latter represented as holding a round object, admittedly meant for the Golden Apple.
In some cases where Hercules holds the Golden Apple-for instance, upon a coin bearing the legendHerculi invicto Aug.—the Golden Apple is surmounted by a Victory.
A coin issued by Constantius Chlorus, the ruler of Gaul and father of Constantine the Great, represents the Sun-God Hercules in the act of plucking a Golden Apple from the famous Tree.
A coin issued in the joint names of Galeriusand Constantius Chlorus, bearing the legendGenio Populi Romani, has in the field on the reverse side a cross, which takes the place occupied upon otherwise similar coins by a star-like object not improbably representing the sun.
Such are the more striking features of the evidence which can be obtained from the Roman coins issued prior to the accession of Constantine to the throne of Gaul.
The reader will have seen that the symbol of the cross occurs several times upon the coins in question, and in almost if not quite every instance in connection with the Sun-God.
The fact that upon a coin of Julius Cæsar, and therefore before our era, a cross admittedly occurs as a symbol of the sun, will also have been remarked.
It will also have been noticed in how very large a number of cases the round symbol which was a precursor of our Coronation Orb admittedly signified the Golden Apple, and therefore was of phallic import.
Another point which the reader cannot very well fail to bear in mind, is that where the Goddess of Love, as the representative of the sex whose felicity lies in motherhood or thevictorious production of life, is seen carrying the symbol in question, the surrounding legend is VenusGenetrix, orVictrix, orFelix, or some variation or other of the same; and that the said legends are obviously phallic in signification.
If we also keep before us the fact that the Golden Apple whether held by the Sun-God or his complement the Goddess of Love, was at times surmounted by the figure of Victory for which Christian Emperors gradually and only gradually substituted the figure of the cross, it is curious to note that in early Christian representations of the Christ he is often to be seen with the Apple or forbidden fruit of the Tree of Life or of the knowledge of good and evil.
When the Christ is in such cases depicted as a youth, the phallic apple is usually to be seen lying near him; but when the Christ is represented as a man, it is placed in his hand.
For instance a good example of the Christ holding the fruit of the Tree of Life is reproduced for us in the well known work on the likeness of Jesus by the late Thomas Heaphy.47Here we see, in a picture which occurs upon aglass ornament found in the Catacombs of Rome in the tomb of a Christian named Eutychia, an illustration of the Christ standing by the side of the Tree of Life. The rays of the Sun surround the head of the Christ, and in his hand is the phallic Apple.
It will have been remarked that the round object to be seen upon innumerable Roman coins in the hand of this or that ruler or deity, and popularly supposed to have always represented the round world upon which we dwell although it is at the same time believed that the world was not then considered to be round, frequently occurs in the hand of a female figure representing Eternity. It is self-evident that a representation of the world we live on is less likely to have been so placed than a symbol of Life.
A still more striking fact, which cannot fail to have been noticed by the reader of the evidence from the coins of ancient Rome quoted in the earlier part of this chapter, is that in several instances a Phœnix and not a Victory surmounts the so-called orb. For the story of the Phœnix was derived from the Egyptian City of the Sun.48And the fabulous bird in question was,according to Tacitus as well as Herodotus, specially connected with the temple of the Sun-God at Heliopolis.
Upon this point it may be added that the famous story of the Phœnix seems to have been known to the writer ofJob; the Septuagint version ofJobxxix. 18, being "I shall die in my nest and shall multiply my days as the Phœnix" according to some of the best authorities.
The various ages allotted to this allegorical bird had reference to the calendar; as indeed we learn from Pliny, who tells us that"The revolution of the Great Year in which the seasons and stars return to their former places, agrees with the life of this bird."49
This is borne out by the periods spoken of as the lifetime of the Phœnix; as among them are one of 600 years, the Great Year referred to by Josephus and others, and one of 1,461 years, which was the Sothic period of the Egyptians.
It is also clear that, like the Victory and the Golden Apple it surmounted, the Phœnix and its wonderful egg were not only connected with the Sun-God, but also had a phallic signification.
The problem as to whether bird or egg first existed scarcely applies to the fabulous Phœnix and its equally fabulous egg, and need not be discussed here. Suffice it to say that the round object from which that Christian symbol the Coronation Orb is descended, though it may at times have more or less represented the world upon which we dwell, seems to have primarily signified, as associated with each other in idea, both the Golden Apple of Love and the Phœnix-like life principle enshrined in the Egg, both the egg-likeCosmosor Universe and Eternity; but in all, and through all, and above all, the basis of all power whether finite or infinite,viz.,Life.
It is therefore not surprising to find that the monarchs of ancient days claimed to rule by divine right as vice-gerents of the Sun-God, to whose favouring influence all earthly life is traceable; and caused themselves to be represented, upon Roman coins as receiving the Golden Apple, and upon Egyptian monuments as receiving the Cross, from the Sun-God, as the symbol of their authority.
Yet another point to be borne in mind, is that we Christians are expressly taught that God the Father and God the Son are as nearly identicalas the ancients considered the Central Fire, which they deemed the Parent of all things, and the Warmth and Light issuing therefrom to be; or the Sun's disc and the emanations therefrom; the Christ being represented as saying "I and My Father are one" and "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." For though we describe ours as aco-equalTrinity, no such identity with either God the Father or God the Son is affirmed of God the Holy Ghost, and it is remarkable that in our ancient illustrations of the Three Persons, both the First and the Second are represented as holding the so-called globe and Cross, while the Third, even where depicted as of human shape like the other two, is not.
The fact is that the co-equality of the Holy Spirit of a God who is Himself, as Jesus declared, a Spirit, is an idea which did not find much acceptance among Christians till a comparatively late date and is the outcome of confused thought. And the separate personality of this Spirit of a Spirit being entirely a Christian conception, and without a counterpart in the theology of the ancients, few if any Pagan symbols such as the so-called globe and the cross would have been associated with it in any case.
We are more or less in the habit of assuming that just as Paul, the founder of the catholic faith, was converted, not altogether by reason but as it were by force and with the rapidity of a flash of lightning, under the rays of a meridian sun ("Aboutnoonsuddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me,"Actsxxii. 6; "Atmid-day,"Actsxxvi. 13), so Constantine, the establisher of that faith as the State Religion of the empire in which Paul was so proud of his rights as a citizen, was in similarly rapid fashion converted by the appearance of a miraculous "cross" of light and an accompanying legend above a meridian sun ("Atmid-day," Eusebius,Vit. Const. I.).
But, as has already been pointed out, this alleged vision of Constantine is said to havetaken place during his march upon Rome in the year A.C. 312; and during the remaining twenty-five years of his life he acted rather as if he were converting Christianity into what he thought most likely to be accepted by his subjects as a catholic religion, than as if he had been converted to the teachings of Jesus the Nazarene.
The fact is that Constantine was favourable to our religion out of policy rather than conviction; and if after refusing so long he did indeed, a quarter of a century after the alleged vision, consent to be baptised when ill and dying, policy doubtless swayed him even then. Anyway, as has already been stated and will now be seen, the evidence of his coins conclusively shows that the God to whom Constantine from first to last attributed his victories, was—the Sun-God.
Upon one coin issued by Constantine we see upon the reverse a nude figure crowned with rays, with the right hand elevated toward the east, and a round object in the left hand. In the field is a cross widened at the extremities, and the surrounding legend is a significant one,Soli Invicto Comiti. This coin was struck years after the alleged conversion of Constantine, andthe combined reference to the Sun-God and use of the cross are worthy of special notice.
Upon two somewhat similar coins of Constantine the cross is placed within a circular wreath of bay or laurel.
On another coin with the same legend we see the same nude figure crowned with rays, representing the Sun-God and carrying a round object; while in the field we see the Gaulish symbol, sometimes called a cross, which by the addition of a loop was, as we shall see later on, turned into the so-called Monogram of Christ.
Upon a coin with the anything but Christian legendMarti Conservatori, is a cross with four equal arms.
On a somewhat similar coin with the same legend, the helmet on the reverse is ornamented with the so-called Monogram of Christ.
Upon another coin we see Mars leaning on a shield adorned with the so-called Monogram of Christ, the legend beingMarti Patri Conservator.
On a coin issued in the name of his son Crispus during the reign of Constantine, we see two Victories holding a shield upon a pedestal marked with a cross of four equal arms.
A similar cross appears upon a coin issued during this reign in the name of another son of Constantine.
Upon a coin bearing the inscriptionConstantinus Max. Aug.we see upon the reverse a cross of four equal arms.
On an otherwise similar coin a compoundtaucross of four equal arms,tau cross, appears.
Upon a well-known engraving of a coin in theAnnales Ecclesiasticiof Baronius, theMonogram of Christ 3form of the so-called Monogram of Christ appears upon the helmet of Constantine. Some authorities, however, state that this is copied as the familiarMonogram of Christ 3in error; what appeared on the helmet being the Gaulish symbolasteriskwith a dot representing a star near the top of the vertical bar. Such a dot can be seen in a similar place upon two or three coins bearing the legendVirtus Exercit.
On another coin the legendGloria Exercitussurrounds two soldiers holding military standards, between which is the symbol of the cross.
On a somewhat similar coin the compound tan cross, of which we have already noted an example, occurs between the standards.
A cross of four equal arms appears upon a coin bearing the legendPax Publica.
A coin issued during the reign of Constantine the Great in the name of his son Constantine, has upon its reverse a cross of four equal arms, the extremities of which are rounded.
On an otherwise similar coin the compound tau cross appears.
Upon a coin bearing the inscriptionConstantinus Max. Aug.a cross of four equal arms occurs near a soldier armed with spear and shield.
On the reverse of one coin we see two soldiers holding military standards, and between the standards the so-called Monogram of Christ appears.
A coin of similar type was issued during the reign of Constantine the Great in the name of his son Constantine.
Upon a coin which on the obverse bears the inscriptionConstantinus Max. Aug., we see upon the reverse Victory carrying a palm. In the field is the symbolMonogram of Christ 4. The surrounding motto isVictoria constantini Aug.
Several coins with the legendGloria Exercitushave upon the same side two soldiers with alabarum or military standard between them, upon the banner of which is the symbolMonogram of Christ 4.
On a coin with the legendVictoria Cæsar NNwe see Victory carrying a palm. In the field is the Gaulish symbolasterisk.
The reverse of another coin has the legendConstantinus Aug., and represents Constantine as holding a labarum or military standard terminating in a round object. Upon the banner is the symbolMonogram of Christ 4.
On a coin bearing upon its obverse the inscriptionConstantinopolis, we see upon the other side a figure of Victory and a cross of four equal arms.
On another coin bearing the same legend we see upon the reverse Victory standing upon a ship, and to the left the so-called monogram.
Upon another coin we see the same symbol above the wolf and twins of the city of Rome.
A rare coin bears upon the obverse the inscriptionConstantinus Max. Aug., and on the reverse, surrounded by the legendSpes Publica, a labarum or military standard the handle or base of which transfixes a serpent. Upon the banner three globules are embroidered, and thesymbolMonogram of Christ 3appears above the cross-bar from which the banner hangs.
Upon one medal or coin of Constantine we see the significant legendSoli Invicto Aeterno Aug.inscribed around the quadriga of the Sun-God Phœbus.
On another piece struck by Constantine the Great, the Sun-God is given the titleComes Aug.;Companion, Guardian, or Saviour, of the Emperor.
Upon several coins we see the legendComiti Aug. NN,and, surrounded by the same, the Sun-God holding a small round object.
On numerous other coins also, the Sun-God is represented as holding a small round object.
Other significant Sun-God legends to be met upon the coins of this alleged Christian Emperor, areComis Constantini Aug., Soli Invicto, Soli Comiti Augg. NN, Soli Invicto Com. D.N.and the like.
Upon a coin bearing the legendSoli Comiti Aug. N.we see the Sun-God presenting Constantine with a small round object surmounted by a Victory.
On a coin with the legendPax Augustorum,Constantine holds a standard ornamented with a cross.
Upon another coin Constantine is to be seen holding what is said to be a representation of the Zodiac.
On a coin issued in his own name, as upon others already mentioned as issued in the names of his sons, we see two Victories supporting a shield upon an altar ornamented with a cross.
Upon a somewhat similar coin the altar is ornamented with the star-like object which in days of old so often stood for the radiate sun.
A coin with the inscriptionDivo Constantino, and on the reverse the legendAeterna Pietasand a representation of Constantine holding a round object surmounted by the symbolMonogram of Christ 4, though usually included in the coins of that Emperor was evidently struck after his death and deification.
The same remark applies to a somewhat similar coin, which has an additional symbol in a plain cross in the field to the right of the Emperor-God.
It should be noted that the question here arises as to how far it is fair of us to claim this cross and so-called Monogram of Christ asChristian and at the same time denounce as Pagan the deification of Constantine referred to upon the same coins.
As to the coins of Constantine the Great as a whole, it need only be remarked once more that while upon many of the pieces struck by him Constantine attributed his victories to the Sun-God, not upon a single one of them did he attribute them to the Christ; while it was ever the Sun-God and never the Christ whom he alluded to on his coins as his Companion, Partner, Guardian, or Saviour.
This being so, how can we honestly claim that the so-called Monogram of Christ, and other forms of the cross, were ever placed upon his coins by Constantine as symbols of the Christ, yet never as symbols of the Sun-God?
Passing on to the Christian successors of Constantine the Great, we are at once met with the significant fact that Constantine the Second issued many different coins bearing a representation of the Sun-God holding a small round object; and, as the surrounding legend,Claritas Reipublicae.
Another coin of this son of Constantine the Great, and one which deserves special attention, has upon its reverse a Cross and a Crescent in juxtaposition, as if the cross signified the sun.
A very similar coin has the symbolMonogram of Christ 3between the military standards.
Upon another coin we see on the reverse both this Christian Emperor and the Sun-God; the former holding a small round object, andthe latter crowning him. The surrounding legend isSoli Invicto Comiti.
The reverse of another coin bears the same Sun-God legend, and represents the Sun-God as holding a small round object.
Upon another coin we see Constantine holding a small round object surmounted by a Victory. On the reverse is the symbolMonogram of Christ 3.
Constans I., another son of Constantine the Great, issued a coin on which he is represented as holding in one hand a simply formed labarum or military standard consisting of a straight pole terminating at the top in a crossbar, from which hangs a banner bearing the symbolMonogram of Christ 3; while in the other hand he holds a small round object surmounted by aPhœnix.
Constantius II., yet another son of Constantine the Great, issued a coin on which is the symbolMonogram of Christ 3between the lettersΑandΩ(?ΑΡΧΩ); the legend beingSalus Aug Nostri.
On another coin is Constantius II. as the Sun, upon one side; and upon the other the symbolMonogram of Christ 3between the letters alpha and omega once again.
Nepotianus, a nephew of Constantine theGreat who took Rome in A.C. 350 but was killed as an usurper the same year, issued a coin on the reverse of which, surrounded by the legendUrbs Roma, is a female figure representing Rome and holding in her hand a round object surmounted by the symbolMonogram of Christ 3.
The symbolMonogram of Christ 4frequently occurs upon the coins of Valeus (A.C. 364—378). And upon one coin of this Emperor we see the letterΡsurmounting a cross; surrounded by the legendGloria Romanorum.
Upon a coin of Valentinianus II. we see Victory holding a round object surmounted by a cross, the legend beingVictoria Augustorum.
On the coins of Theodosius I. (A.C. 378—395) we find representations of the Emperor holding a round object surmounted by a Phœnix, and of the Emperor holding a round object surmounted by a Victory; as also of Victory holding a round object surmounted by a cross.
This Emperor Theodosius I., better known as Theodosius the Great, after securing sole control of the Roman Empire brought about the final disruption of the world-wide dominions of Rome by bequeathing them in two portionsto his sons Arcadius and Honorius; the elder, Arcadius, becoming Emperor of Constantinople and the East, while the younger, Honorius, became Emperor of Rome and the West: A.C. 395.
Less than a century later,viz.,between the years A.C. 475 and 480, the Western Empire was finally extinguished by Odoacer; the Eastern Empire surviving it nearly a thousand years, lasting as the latter did from the partition in A.C. 395 to the capture of Constantinople by Mahomet II. in A.C. 1453.
It was, as stated in a previous chapter, upon the coins of an Emperor of the East,viz.,Theodosius II., that the first example occurs of a representation of an Emperor holding a round object surmounted by a cross; though, as has been noted, instances of Victory carrying an object so surmounted had previously occurred. And it need only be added that the symbolsMonogram of Christ 3andMonogram of Christ 4, often the centre of a circle or surrounded by a circular wreath of bay or laurel, continually occur upon the coins of the Eastern Empire, the symbolasteriskfrequently, and the undisguised solar wheel,Solar Wheel 1upon the coins of Eudoxia, Theodosius II., Leo I., and others.
The evidence of the coins of the Roman Empire given in this and the two preceding chapters, coupled with the too-often forgotten fact that the only form of cross which could possibly be a representation of the instrument of execution to which Jesus was affixed was the very last form of cross to be adopted as a Christian symbol, cannot, it will be seen, lead the unprejudiced enquirer to any other conclusion than that the cross became the symbol of Christendom because the advent of Constantine and his Gauls made it a prominent symbol of the Roman Empire. And that the symbol in question was not altogether unconnected with Sun-God worship, should be equally clear to the reader.
The so-called "Monogram of Christ "—a term which has at one time or another been applied to each of the symbolsSolar Wheel 1orasterisk,Monogram of Christ 1orMonogram of Christ 3, andMonogram of Christ 2orMonogram of Christ 4, as but variations of one and the same symbol—deserves a chapter to itself.
Though not first placed upon the coins of the Roman Empire by Constantine any more than was the right-angled cross of four equal arms or the so-called St. Andrew's cross, the symbolMonogram of Christ 3was, like theXcross and the many varieties of right-angled crosses of four equal arms, first brought into prominence as a Roman symbol by the Emperor in question.
From the evidence at our disposal it would appear that Decius was the first Roman rulerto make use of this form of the so-called Monogram of Christ. Anyhow, as has already been remarked, this symbolMonogram of Christ 3occurs upon a coin of the Emperor Decius struck at Mæonia about A.C. 250; and therefore more than half a century before the days of Constantine. And it is noteworthy that it was as a Pagan symbol that theMonogram of Christ 3thus first appeared upon the Roman coinage.
The coin in question is a bronze one, and the "Monogram of Christ" occurs in the centre of a Greek inscription surrounding a representation of the Sun-God Bacchus; and, apparently, as an amalgamation or contraction of the two Greek letters equivalent to our R and CH,viz.:the Greek lettersΡandΧ.50
Why these particular letters should have been contracted, is, however, uncertain; and the question arises as to whether theMonogram of Christ 3first arose as a contraction of such Greek letters, or as an amalgamation of the Roman lettersΡandΧ, or as the crossXplusthe GreekΡ(our R) as the initial letter of the Greek name for Rome.
Moreover if it be decided that the symbolfirst arose as a contraction of certain letters, yet further questions arise;viz.;in what order those letters were first read, and what word they first represented.
Before going into such matters as these, however, it is important that we should fully realise how certain it is that the so-called Monogram of Christ was originally aPagansymbol. For even if this be not considered demonstrated by its occurrence upon a Roman coin long before, according to our Church, the Christ caused Constantine to use it as the military standard of the Gauls, it is clearly shown by its occurrence upon many relics of pre-Christian date.
The so-called "Monogram of Christ" can be seen, for instance, upon a monument of Isis, the Virgin Mother of the Sun-God, which dates from the second century before our era.51Also upon the coins of Ptolemaeus; on one of which is a head of Zeus Ammon upon one side, and an eagle bearing theMonogram of Christ 3in its claws upon the other.52The symbol in question also appears upon Greek money struck long before the birth of Jesus; for instance upon certain varieties ofthe Attic tetradrachma. And theMonogram of Christ 4occurs upon many different coins of the first Herod, struck thirty years or more B.C.
Whether the PaganMonogram of Christ 3and the PaganMonogram of Christ 4originally had the same signification or not, is uncertain.
Almost equally uncertain is the date at which we Christians first adopted these Pagan symbols as Christian symbols because they could be interpreted as formed of the two first letters of the Greek wordΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ,Christos, Christ.
The probability is that Christians had at least drawn attention to this possible interpretation of the symbols in question before the days of Constantine. But this scarcely renders less noteworthy the fact, shown further on, that the favourite symbol of the Gaulish warriors, the solar wheelSolar Wheel 1orSolar Wheel 2, was sooner or later altered by their leader intoMonogram of Christ 1orMonogram of Christ 2to please the Christians; while the symbolsMonogram of Christ 3andMonogram of Christ 4were also made use of by Constantine.
Which form of solar wheel, monogram, or cross, was that actually carried by the Gauls in triumph within the walls of Rome and set up by their leader in the heart of the Eternal City, is not quite certain. But it is clear that asboth theMonogram of Christ 3and theMonogram of Christ 4appeared upon coins struck before our era, Constantine cannot very well have been ignorant of the fact that these were originally Pagan symbols, when he favoured the addition of a loop to the top of the vertical bar of the Gaulish solar symbolsSolar Wheel 1orasteriskandSolar Wheel 2orPlusin order that what his Gaulish army venerated as triumphal tokens might be accepted as symbols of victory by his Christian supporters also.
That this Gaulish monarch did so alter, and for the reason named, the symbol or symbols venerated by his troops, is admitted by, amongst others, that well known writer the Reverend S. Baring Gould, M.A. For, referring to the solar wheel as a symbol of the Sun-God venerated by the ancient Gauls, this author tells us that Constantine"Adopted and adapted the sign for his standards, and theLabarumof Constantine became a common Christian symbol. That there was policy in his conduct we can hardly doubt; the symbol he set up gratified the Christians in his army on one side and the Gauls on the other. For the former it was a sign compounded of the initial letters of Christ, to the latter it was the token of the favour of the solar deity."53
As the fact that both theMonogram of Christ 3andMonogram of Christ 4were in use as symbols before the commencement of our era thoroughly disposes of our contention as Christians that the so-called "Monogram of Christ" had its origin in the formation of a monogram out of the two first letters of the Greek wordΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ(Christos, Christ), it is clear that these symbols must have had some other origin.
Assuming that the symbolsMonogram of Christ 3andMonogram of Christ 4had the same origin, and the same signification, and that if theMonogram of Christ 4was a combination of two letters the Greek or Latin T (instead of X) was not one of them; or rather, as these would be very considerable assumptions, more or less confining our attention to theMonogram of Christ 3as the more likely of the two to have arisen as a combination of the Greek letters P and X; let us in passing briefly enquire into the origin of the so-called Monogram of Christ as a Pagan symbol.
If we seek for that origin as a combination of the first two letters of some other Greek word than Christos,Christ, and for the moment assume the lettersΡandΧto have occurred in the same order as in that word, we see at once that the monogram may have been derivedeither from the word Chrestos,Good, or the word Chronos,Time, or the word Chrusos,Gold.
There is, by the way, another curious connection between the three Greek words in question. For the name of the famous god Kronos or Cronos was often speltΧΡΟΝΟΣi.e., Chronos.54And this god Chronos—the father of Zeus; and more or less a personification of Time, the Old Father from whom we are all descended—was identical with Saturn, while the Saturnian Age was, as in Virgil's fourth eclogue, ever that spoken of as the Golden age when the ancients were referring to what they pictured as the good old times.
It will not do, however, to assume that if the symbol we are considering first arose as a combination of the Greek lettersΡandΧ, they were of necessity taken from, and representative of, a word in which they occur in the same order as inChristos. And the fact that in theMonogram of Christ 4, if not also in theMonogram of Christ 3, theΡis the leading feature, gives emphasis to the point in question.
If we suppose that the so-called monogramarose as a combination of the Greek letters in question occurring in the orderΡ Χ, the student of such matters can scarcely fail to note that the letters in question occur in that order as the centre both of the wordΑΡΧΗ, theHead, Chief,orFirst;and also as the centre of the kindred wordΑΡΧΩ,to be first, the only remaining letters of which, and therefore the first and the last of this word as of the old Greek alphabet, are, as will be seen, Alpha and Omega, the letters so continually placed on either side of the symbolMonogram of Christ 3in Christian times.
In this connection it should be pointed out that according to some of the best authorities the firstMonogram of Christ 3which occurs upon any Roman coin, coming as it does after the letteralphain a Greek inscription, should be taken with that letter as forming theΡΧofΑΡΧ, the latter being an abbreviation of some form or other of the titleArchon. This title was that given to the dignitary who was at one and the same time the chief magistrate of the state and its chief priest, and it may be worth remark that as Bacchus was the deity worshipped in Lydia, the Archon in question would therefore have been the chief priest of the Sun-God.
Several writers have, in their zeal for our religion, outrun their discretion, and gone so far as to assume that the existence of the so-called monogram of Christ upon this coin of the Emperor Decius is due to some Christian having been employed in turning out the coin in question, and having inhiszeal surreptitiously introduced a symbol of his faith. But though gravely supported by more than one great authority, this is obviously an absurd position to take up. And in any case the facts remain that it was in this instance placed over a representation of the Sun-God, and had for centuries been in use as a Pagan symbol.
Passing on, however, we have next to note that, as before hinted, even if the symbolMonogram of Christ 3arose as a combination of two letters, though we know that symbol to have been often used as a contraction of the Greek lettersΡandΧ(our R and CH), there is no proof that it arose as a combination of two Greek letters; and the symbol may have arisen as a combination of the Roman letters P and X.
It should therefore be pointed out that in the inscriptions which have come down to us from the Gaulish Christians of the sixth, seventh, andeighth centuries after Christ, the symbolsMonogram of Christ 3andMonogram of Christ 4are continually used as contractions of the Latin word PAX,Peace. For though the fact that the Monogram was often so interpreted by Christians centuries A.C. can by no means be considered evidence that it was thus that it first arose as a Pagan symbol centuries B.C., such a possibility should be kept before us.
But did the so-called Monogram of Christ first come into being as a combination of two letters; Greek, Roman, or otherwise?
Even this is not certain, for this pre-Christian symbol may originally have been a cross, as a symbol of Life and of the Sun-God,plusthe Greek letterΡas the initial character of the word "Rome" in what may be called the court language of the time.
Such an explanation would more or less account for the variationsMonogram of Christ 3andMonogram of Christ 4; these being obviously the natural ways of adding the letterΡ, signifying Rome, to the crossesXandPlusrespectively.
All the foregoing references to the origin of the so-called monogram as a Pagan symbol of pre-Christian date, are but speculations however. Its origin cannot be ascertained for certain.
The revival of this pre-Christian symbol, and the prominence given to it upon the coins of the Roman Empire,are, however, traceable. And, as has been shown, they are traceable to Constantine; who induced the Christians to accept as the Monogram of the Christ, and therefore as a Christian as well as a Gaulish symbol of victory, the Solar Wheel venerated by the Gaulish conquerors of Rome.
Nowadays the so-called Monogram of Christ is almost always reproduced for us asMonogram of Christ 3orMonogram of Christ 4; but the fact that Constantine sometimes so used it should not blind us to the facts that it was at first usually the centre of a circle, like the spokes of a wheel; and that the undisguised solar wheelSolar Wheel 1appears upon not a few of the coins issued by the Christian successors of Constantine, while since his reign the solar wheelSolar Wheel 2and many an artistic variation of the same have been Christian symbols, and when in our ornamentation of ecclesiastical properties we omit the circle we as often as not make the cross itself wheel-like by rounding the extremities and widening them till they nearly meet.
Moreover it should not be forgotten that itwas evidently one form or other of the solar wheel of the Gauls,plusthe politic loop to one of its spokes, which Constantine and his Gaulish warriors are said to have seen above the meridian sun, with the divinely written legendΕΝ ΤΟΥΤΩ ΝΙΚΑ,By this conquer, attached. For though that miraculous symbol is referred to as a "cross," the Monogram itself was so referred to; and Eusebius, after telling us that the Christ appeared to Constantine and commanded him to make a military standard for the Sun-God worshipping Gauls, "With the same sign which he had seen in the heavens," expressly describes this as composed of "Two letters indicating the name of the Christ, the letter P being intersected with X at the centre." And on this particular Labarum of Constantine, as on the majority of the Labara represented upon his coins, theMonogram of Christ 3was the centre of a circle or circular wreath, like the spokes of a wheel.55