The Lighthouse, an emblematic building of Alexandria, was depicted on coins issued by the city during the Roman period for nearly a century. The engravers of the city’s mint, who in all likelihood had the monument before their eyes, have thus left a precious visual testimony of its ancient appearance, allowing us to highlight the permanences and variabilities in the representation of the monument.

 Coins with the Lighthouse

The first appearance of the Lighthouse’s image on the reverse of certain Alexandrian coin issues dates back to the reign of Emperor Domitian, in 91/2 CE. The Lighthouse is the main subject, and the engravers sought to capture its essence by highlighting its monumental structure. Their attention focused on the representation of its structural elements, namely its base, its access ramp, the first and imposing square section surmounted by a cornice, the statues of marine tritons blowing into conches at the corners, the second polygonal level, the third level (absent or reduced to a dot beneath the summit statue), and the summit statue itself, standing and holding one or two attributes. This first representation marks the beginning of a long series of bronzes featuring the Lighthouse.

During the reign of Trajan, Domitian’s successor, a new variation was introduced. The lighthouse, in addition to being represented alone, is now associated with Isis Pharia, holding a sail. These two motifs were successively taken up by Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius. Commodus, the last Roman emperor to depict the Lighthouse—this time on billon tetradrachms issued in 188/9 CE—breaks with this iconographic tradition and places it in a maritime scene, associated with a merchant ship cleaving the waves.

Figure 2. Type(s) au Phare en usage par empereurFigure 2. Type(s) au Phare en usage par empereur

Correlation with the Texts

It is indeed this notion of monumentality that emerges as much from ancient texts, both Greek and Latin, as from the monetary imagery. The structure, which rises over several stories, as indicated by Strabo, certainly appears as a lofty tower of remarkable construction. With the exception of the famous fire that guided sailors, the coins might depict the few architectural or ornamental elements mentioned by ancient authors.

Could the two dotted lines located on a lateral face, at the same level as the lintel of the main door, refer to the commemorative inscription mentioned by Pliny the Elder?

Was the statue that of a Zeus Soter (Savior) as might be suggested by epigram 115 of Posidippus, who resided in Alexandria during the time of Ptolemy II Philadelphus? Although the coins do not allow us to settle the matter—especially since it is unknown whether the summit statue was the same in the 3rd century BCE and the late 1st to mid-2nd century CE—they at least offer us an idea of its appearance at the beginning of the Roman period: a standing male figure, slightly in contrapposto, one arm bent holding a staff with an unidentifiable end, the other arm outstretched with a hand presenting an attribute.

The Engraving

 The city’s engravers, who had to miniaturize the building onto a die, sought to represent the elements of the Lighthouse that seemed to them the most striking and essential for the depiction of the monument, while taking into account the technical constraints of the exercise: a matrix of about 25 to 35 mm in diameter to be engraved in intaglio and in reverse. Beyond simple architectural observation, various parameters must be considered in the analysis. The space occupied by the lighthouse on the coin (namely whether it stands alone or is part of a composition, associated with Isis Pharia or a ship)—and therefore the space available for its engraving—as well as the potential desire for a perspective rendering, have an impact on its depiction.

Figure 3. Percentage of recorded coins by type

Since the mint could call upon several engravers, the different hands at work could sometimes, within the same year, introduce differences in the representation of the monument. Stylistic choices and their evolutions over time and across reigns must be considered, as well as what stems from a direct observation of the Lighthouse versus the copying of earlier coins.