Gallienus, corn, dream, crown, transgender
It has traditionally been argued that, when the emperor Gallienus (253-68) struck aurei depicting his bust wearing a crown of wheat stalks, he intended to signal some sort of union with Demeter or a similar goddess. A neglected passage from Tacitus (Annals 11.4) suggests that this bust type had no religious significance, but was intended solely to celebrate the emperor’s care for the grain supply. Consequently, the legend GALLIENAE AVGVSTAE about the imperial bust on some of these coins was probably intended in reference to the grain supply (annona) symbolised by the crown of wheat stalks rather than to Gallienus himself.