Q. Pomponius Musa AR Denarius. Rome, 66 BC. Diademed head of Apollo to right; Q•POMPONI downwards behind, MVSA upwards before / Hercules standing to right, wearing lion skin headdress and playing lyre, with club at his side; HERCVLES downwards to right, MVSARVM downwards to left. Crawford 410/1; RSC Pomponia 8. 4.05g, 19mm, 5h.

Extremely Fine; attractive old cabinet tone.

Acquired from Edward J. Waddell Ltd., inv. # 54208;
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 106, 9 May 2018, lot 431.

Known in Greece as Hercules Musagetes, or leader of the choir of Muses, and appropriately shown here playing a lyre, his worship was often associated with that paid to the nine virgin goddesses of poetry and civilisation. It is difficult to account for this seeming abandonment of Apollo's maiden companions by the God of Song himself to the protection of another and inferior divinity, however such were the contradictions and inconsistencies of the superstitious patchwork which formed the Greco-Roman system of deification. The subject before us has been reasonably supposed to indicate, by an allegory, that the cultivation of intellectual pursuits rests secure under the guardianship of strength and courage, and that the heroic genius of Hercules can be worthily proclaimed only through the influence of the Muses.