Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161). AV aureus (20mm, 7.11 gm, 6h). NGC Choice XF 5/5 - 4/5. Rome, AD 147. ANTONINVS-AVG PIVS P P, laureate head of Antoninus Pius right / TR PO-T-COS IIII, Roma enthroned left, palladium in right hand, spear in left; shield set on ground at side. RIC III 147c. Calicó 1655. Attractive portrait on flan with subdued luster. Roma, the female personification of Rome, was from Republican times shown as a tall woman in military garb, carrying a spear and shield. She incorporated aspects of Bellona, the Roman goddess of war, and her sister warrior goddess Minerva. The Palladium was an archaic wooden statue of Pallas Athena (Minerva's Greek guise) that was supposedly rescued from a burning temple in Troy by the hero Aeneas, and carried by him to Italy, eventually finding its way to the Temple of Vesta in Rome.

HID09801242017

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