page_title: Radiant crown
hierarchical_section_title: Radiant crown
caption_attribution_description: English: GORDIAN III. 238-244 AD. AR Antoninianus (4.59 gm). Struck 242-244 AD. Antioch mint. IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right; PAX AVGVSTI, Pax standing left, holding branch and sceptre. RIC 189a; RSC 174a. Good VF. Italiano: GORDIAN III. 238-244 d.C. AR Antoninianus (4.59 gm). Struck 242-244 AD. Antioch mint. IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AVG, testa radiate, busto verso destra con drappeggio e corazza; PAX AVGVSTI, la Pace in piedi verso sinistra, tiene un rametto ed uno scettro. RIC 189a; RSC 174a. Good VF.
context_page_description: A radiant or radiate crown, also known as a solar crown, sun crown, Eastern crown, or tyrant's crown, is a crown, wreath, diadem, or other headgear symbolizing the sun or more generally powers associated with the sun. It typically takes the form of either a horned disc to represent the sun, or a curved band of points to represent rays.
  In the iconography of ancient Egypt, the solar crown is taken as a disc framed by the horns of a ram or cow. It is worn by deities such as Horus in his solar or hawk-headed form, Hathor, and Isis. It may also be worn by pharaohs.
  In Ptolemaic Egypt, the solar crown could also be a radiate diadem, modeled after the type worn by Alexander the Great in art from the mid-2nd century BC onward. It was perhaps influenced by contact with the Shunga Empire, and a Greco-Bactrian example is depicted at the great stupa of Bharhut. The first ruler of Egypt to wear this version of a solar crown was Ptolemy III Euergetes.
  In the Roman Empire, the solar crown was worn by Roman emperors in association with the cult of Sol Invictus, influenced also by radiant depictions of Alexander.
context_section_description: A radiant or radiate crown, also known as a solar crown, sun crown, Eastern crown, or tyrant's crown, is a crown, wreath, diadem, or other headgear symbolizing the sun or more generally powers associated with the sun. It typically takes the form of either a horned disc to represent the sun, or a curved band of points to represent rays. 
  In the iconography of ancient Egypt, the solar crown is taken as a disc framed by the horns of a ram or cow. It is worn by deities such as Horus in his solar or hawk-headed form, Hathor, and Isis. It may also be worn by pharaohs.
  In Ptolemaic Egypt, the solar crown could also be a radiate diadem, modeled after the type worn by Alexander the Great (as identified with the sun god Helios) in art from the mid-2nd century BC onward. It was perhaps influenced by contact with the Shunga Empire, and a Greco-Bactrian example is depicted at the great stupa of Bharhut. The first ruler of Egypt to wear this version of a solar crown was Ptolemy III Euergetes (246–222 BC).
  In the Roman Empire, the solar crown was worn by Roman emperors in association with the cult of Sol Invictus, influenced also by radiant depictions of Alexander. The solar crown worn by Constantine, the first emperor to convert to Christianity, was reinterpreted as representing the "Holy Nails".
  Much later, the radiant crown became associated with Liberty personified. This may first appear in the Great Seal of France from 1848 (and subsequently under French republics), and is best known from the Statue of Liberty.
caption: Coin of the Roman emperor Gordian III, 240's AD: Gordian III (shown in profile on the obverse) is wearing a radiant crown
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