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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Nemo, post: 2862785, member: 58462&quot;]Wow, great coins again in this thread.&nbsp; The OP aureus is just fantastic!</p><p>Here are a few of my favorites.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]682326[/ATTACH]</p><p>TITUS, as Caesar. 69-79 AD. Rome Mint AE Sestertius (36mm, 26.62 g). Struck 72 AD. O: Laureate head right, T CAES VESPASIAN IMP PON TR POT COS II R: Titus in military dress, cloak flying behind him, his horse rearing as he attacks prostrate Jew who is armed with sword and shield. SC in exergue. RIC 430, Hendin 1524, Ex Harry N. Sneh Collection Gemini Auction X, ex Goldberg 41, part of lot 2841 (Alan Levin Collection)</p><p><br /></p><p>It is likely this coin refers to a battle recorded in Josephus Wars Book V Chapter 2, where Titus was ambushed by Jews who “leaped out suddenly at the towers called the &quot;Women&#039;s Towers,&quot; through that gate which was over against the monuments of queen Helena.” </p><p><br /></p><p>Cut off from his men, the account goes on, “So he perceived that his preservation must be wholly owing to his own courage, and turned his horse about, and cried out aloud to those that were about him to follow him, and ran with violence into the midst of his enemies, in order to force his way through them to his own men. And hence we may principally learn, that both the success of wars, and the dangers that kings are in, are under the providence of God; for while such a number of darts were thrown at Titus, when he had neither his head-piece on, nor his breastplate, (for, as I told you, he went out not to fight, but to view the city,) none of them touched his body, but went aside without hurting him; as if all of them missed him on purpose, and only made a noise as they passed by him. So he diverted those perpetually with his sword that came on his side, and overturned many of those that directly met him, and made his horse ride over those that were overthrown.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]682331[/ATTACH] </p><p>Vespasian AR Didrachm, Caesarea, Cappadocia mint, 76-77 AD</p><p>O: Laureate head of Vespasian right, AYTOKPA KAICAP OYЄCΠACIANOC CЄBACTOC. (Emperor Vespasian Caesar Augustus)</p><p>R: Laureate head of Titus right, AYTO KAI OYЄCΠACIANOC CЄBACTOY YIOC. (The Son of Emperor Vespasian Caesar Augustus)</p><p>- RPC 1650&nbsp; Yes, this ones a bit of a cheat!</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]682333[/ATTACH] </p><p>Titus AR Denarius Rome Mint, 80 AD</p><p>O: IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, r.</p><p>R: TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P; Tripod, with fillets streaming out l. and r., on which are ravens r. and l., and in the center, dolphin over wreath: (&#039;exuviae&#039; of Apollo, for &#039;pulvinar&#039; of Apollo and Diana (?)).</p><p>- RIC 131 (R), BMC 82, RSC 323a</p><p><br /></p><p>Reka Devnia hoard, recording only 3 specimens with ravens and the dolphin and 24 specimens of the regular type with only the dolphin. The dolphin, ravens, laurel and tripod are all symbols of Apollo. His most famous attribute is the tripod, the symbol of his prophetic powers. It was in the guise of a dolphin that Apollo brought priests from Crete to Delphi, explaining Apollo&#039;s cult title &quot;Delphinios&quot; and the name of the town. He dedicated a bronze tripod to the sanctuary and bestowed divine powers on one of the priestesses, and she became known as the &quot;Pythia.&quot; It was she who inhaled the hallucinating vapors from the fissure in the temple floor, while she sat on a tripod chewing laurel leaves. After she mumbled her answer, a male priest would translate it for the supplicant.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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