Salus - the goddess relevant to our time

One of my last purchases of 2020


Galba (July AD 68-January AD 69). AR denarius (17mm, 3.46 gm, 5h). Rome. IMP SER GALBA-CAESAR AVG, laureate head of Galba right. Reverse. SALVS GEN-HVMANI, Salus standing left, right foot on globe, rudder in left hand, sacrificing from patera in right hand over lighted, garlanded altar at left. RIC I 211. RSC 234b.

Salus is the goddess of safety & well being of both the state and the individual. I cannot think of a more relevant ancient god that could apply to the current time. Let us hope Salus brings us good health & stability /unity to the nation ahead of the new year. Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

post your Salus examples if you’d like

 

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Nice Denarius, @Steelers72 .

Here is a Salus from the Roman Republic


RR Man Acilius Glabrio 49 BCE Salus Valetudo snake Craw 442-1a Sear 412

 

Excellent Galba portrait and reverse!
Here's Livia as Salus:

 

Wonderful coin, @Steelers72!

How about a T-Bone?


Trebonianus Gallus, AD 251-253.
Roman AR Antoninianus, 3.78 g, 24 mm, 7 h.
Rome, AD 253.
Obv: IMP CAE C VIB TREB GALLVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right, seen from behind.
Rev: SALVS AVGG, Salus standing left, feeding serpent, rising from altar, out of patera with her right hand and holding scepter in her left.
Refs: RIC 46a; Cohen 117; RCV 9649; Hunter, p. cvi.

 

Wonderful denarius. A dream coin; but according to Heritage, it is still for sale ??? Here's a Victorinus with Salus :

 

That's a beauty!!

My favourite Salus is stuck in Gallienus's beard:

 

PRINCIPATE SALUS


Roman Imperial
Hadrian 117-138 CE
AR Denarius
3.34g
Rome mint
Obv: Bare head r.
Rev: Salus standing r, feeding snake coiled round alter
Ref: RIC 267

 

Beautiful coin, I love that reverse.


Tacitus AE Antoninianus. 275-276 AD. Rome mint. IMP CM CL TACITVS AVG, radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right / SALVS AVG. Salus standing left, holding sceptre, feeding serpent rising from altar. Mintmark ; XXIΔ. RIC 93.

 

Love the portrait of Galba @Steelers72

 

A Nerva Salus:
Nerva's coins, like this one of the year 96 (the year of his accession), have the legend P M TR P COS II
When the second issue started to be struck is not exactly clear, they have the legend P M TR P COS II DES III PP which says that Nerva was consul designate (97 AD). The third issue was struck from January to September 97 and has the legend IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P COS III P P

Rome 96 AD
17 x 18 mm, 3.134 g

RIC II Nerva 9; Cohen 132/Fr.2;

Obv.: IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P COS II P P, Head of Nerva, laureate, right
Rev.: SALVS PVBLICA, Salus, draped, seated left on throne, holding two corn-ears downwards in extended right hand, left arm resting on arm of throne

​

 

Nice Galba! Here's a Salus on reverse of a Crispina sestertius with more rare COMMODI obverse legend (RIC 672B).

 

My first ancient coin shows Salus on the reverse. So far I've had good health so I think it's working.

Roman Empire
265-267 CE | Gallienus
Rome Mint
AE Antoninianus | 2.26g | 21mm
Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate bust right
Rev: SALVS AVG, XII, Salus standing right feeding serpent in arms
Ref: RIC 274a​

 

Here's a Republican denarius that hasn't been shown:

D. Silanvs, 91 BC, Crawford 337/2c.
Obv: Head of Salus right, SALVS below, Φ before; all within torque as border.
Rx: Victory in biga right, ROMA below; D SILANVS L F in exergue.



Phil Davis

 

Very very nice!

 

MAN ACILIUS GLABRIO ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS ACILIA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: SALVTIS, head of Salus right
REVERSE: MN ACILIVS III VIR VALETV, Salus standing left holding serpent
Rome 49 BC
3.37g, 20mm
Cr442/1a, Acilia 8

SEVERUS ALEXANDER
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: IMP C MAV R SEV ALEXAND AVG - Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
REVERSE: P M TRP II COS II P P - Salus seated left, feeding snake on altar
Struck at Rome, 223 AD
2.7g, 19mm
RIC 32, BMC 117, C 239

 

One of the many Salus types issued by Antoninus Pius. Here RIC 906 which was also a cleaning project.

Frans

 

Beautiful denarius.

 

My only Salus coin (the same type as Alegandron's), together with an explanatory footnote.

Roman Republic, Manius Acilius Glabrio, AR Denarius, 50 BCE (Harlan and BMCRR) or 49 BCE (Crawford), Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate head of Salus right, wearing necklace and earring, with hair collected behind in knot ornamented with jewels, SALVTIS upwards behind head / Rev. Valetudo* [Harlan says portrayal is of a statue of Valetudo] standing left, holding snake with right hand and resting left arm on column, MN•ACILIVS [downwards on right] III•VIR•VALETV [upwards on left] [MN and TV monogrammed]. RSC I Acilia 8, Crawford 442/1a, Sydenham 922, Sear RCV I 412 (ill.), Harlan, RRM II Ch. 30 at pp. 229-238, BMCRR Rome 3945. 17.5 mm., 3.98 g.



* Valetudo was essentially another manifestation of Salus (portrayed on the obverse), the goddess of health and well-being -- a concept sometimes “extended to include not only physical health but also the general welfare of the Roman people, the army and the state.” John Melville Jones, Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins (London, 1990) at p. 276. This is the only Roman coin to depict a personification of Valetudo. See id. at p. 314. Crawford (Vol. I at p. 461) says that “perhaps” these types refer to the story that the first Greek doctor to come to Rome practiced on the gens Acilia’s street, and that “it is also possible” that “expectations of a Caesarian victory influenced the choice of types.”

Harlan dismisses the “first Greek doctor” story (pointing out that the actual story in Pliny characterizes that doctor very negatively, giving no reason to commemorate him) (see RRM II at p. 231), and vigorously argues that the coin was actually pro-Pompey, not pro-Caesar. He asserts out that Acilius was Pompey’s stepson for a brief period of time, born in Pompey’s house (stating that he was the son of Aemilia, Pompey’s second wife, who apparently divorced Acilius’s father to marry Pompey while she was pregnant with Acilius, although she died in childbirth and Pompey soon remarried to Mucia Tertia). Harlan suggests that the specific inspiration for the depictions on this coin was Pompey’s grave illness around the time the coin was issued, and that the coin equated the health of Pompey with the health of the Republic: “If the coin is dated to 50, by the end of the year, anyone who saw Salus and Valetudo on the coinage could only call to mind the national concern, and then the universal relief and thanksgiving over Pompey’s return to health. Whatever the intended meaning, certainly by the end of the year 50 the coin could easily be seen as a piece of Pompeian propaganda proclaiming that they are the ones protecting the state and Caesar is the threat to the safety of the Republic.” (RRM II at pp. 232-233.)

Harlan also estimates, based on the number of known different obverse and reverse dies, that nearly 11 million of these denarii were minted (the most during this time-period), and suggests that they were intended to be used to pay the 130,000 troops that the Senate authorized Pompey to raise in preparation for the coming conflict. (Id. p. 234.)

 

Andres2
Nice Pius denarius, which is not RIC 305 but RIC 181. The 305 is TRP XXIII and SALVTI AVG COS IIII and sceptre instead of rudder on globe.

Frans