Presentazione di D.I.A.N.A, Digital Atlas of Numismatics in Antiquity

In the field of Numismatics, several sites exist, that allow visualization, query and sharing of data about ancient coins. Some of these web solutions make it possible to visualize maps showing the location of mints, or finding sites. DIANA “Digital Iconographic Atlas of Numismatics in Antiquity” is a web application that provides an in-depth analysis of ancient coins specifically considering the details of their iconography, chronology and the geographical location of their mints. We are displaying the criteria of cataloguing coins in the DIANA Atlas according to our standardized language and, above all, how a user can search for any iconographic subject, both as a main type and/or as a secondary element, aimed at reconstructing its diatopy and diachrony. We have chosen the subject ‘fish’ that is largely widespread in Sicily and Magna Graecia, especially in relationship with nymphs and river-deities, that well represent the civic identity of each issuing polis. DIANA also allows to switch from objective data to their interpretation. Especially in Sicily and also in Magna Graecia, Thessaly and Cyprus, the distribution of the type “Female Personage standing with phiale in her hand” regards the eponymous ‘nymphs’ and Aphrodite. The figurative and semantic 'interferences' between the City personifications and the goddess are reflected in the research in the DIANA Atlas. In the Hellenistic age the type of the female figure performing a libation has been extended to the Tyche poleos, Artemis, Kore and Demeter-Isis. It outlines the ‘adaptation 'of the image to the new historical and cultural contexts.