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<p>[QUOTE="DonnaML, post: 7787659, member: 110350"]I see the figure as male, and thus agree that it's Mars.</p><p><br /></p><p>I've posted this interesting article in the past about the personification of Virtus being female, with a number of examples: <a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/reverse_virtus.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/reverse_virtus.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/reverse_virtus.html</a>. Regarding a VIRTVS legend sometimes being accompanied by a male personage such as Mars or the emperor, the article also addresses that type of image, arising from the tension inherent in having a female personification of the manliest of virtues, i.e., martial valor -- essentially, manliness itself. See <a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/reverse_virtus.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/reverse_virtus.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/reverse_virtus.html</a> :</p><p><br /></p><p>"Virtus embodies manly courage and strength of character. There were powerful female figures in Roman culture, but these were generally goddesses like Minerva, not mortals. So, having a female personification of these qualities sometimes presented difficulties to the propagandists. As a result, coins often showed, not Virtus herself, but a soldier or the emperor with a "VIRTVS" legend to indicate that the army, or the emperor, was valorous and manly. In fact, a whole range of characters were brought into play. Here are some. . . ."</p><p><br /></p><p>The article proceeds to give various examples of coins with a VIRTVS reverse legend accompanied by images not of VIRTVS herself but of the emperor, or a soldier, or Mars.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here's my own obviously female example of Virtus on this Hadrian dupondius, with her bare right breast (although I think the placement of the parazonium is no coincidence, speaking of manliness):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1336779[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>This portrayal of Virtus on a coin of Trajan [not mine] is also clearly female, but also has a rather suggestively-placed parazonium to lend some ambiguity to the scene.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1336781[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="DonnaML, post: 7787659, member: 110350"]I see the figure as male, and thus agree that it's Mars. I've posted this interesting article in the past about the personification of Virtus being female, with a number of examples: [URL]https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/reverse_virtus.html[/URL]. Regarding a VIRTVS legend sometimes being accompanied by a male personage such as Mars or the emperor, the article also addresses that type of image, arising from the tension inherent in having a female personification of the manliest of virtues, i.e., martial valor -- essentially, manliness itself. See [URL]https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/reverse_virtus.html[/URL] : "Virtus embodies manly courage and strength of character. There were powerful female figures in Roman culture, but these were generally goddesses like Minerva, not mortals. So, having a female personification of these qualities sometimes presented difficulties to the propagandists. As a result, coins often showed, not Virtus herself, but a soldier or the emperor with a "VIRTVS" legend to indicate that the army, or the emperor, was valorous and manly. In fact, a whole range of characters were brought into play. Here are some. . . ." The article proceeds to give various examples of coins with a VIRTVS reverse legend accompanied by images not of VIRTVS herself but of the emperor, or a soldier, or Mars. Here's my own obviously female example of Virtus on this Hadrian dupondius, with her bare right breast (although I think the placement of the parazonium is no coincidence, speaking of manliness): [ATTACH=full]1336779[/ATTACH] This portrayal of Virtus on a coin of Trajan [not mine] is also clearly female, but also has a rather suggestively-placed parazonium to lend some ambiguity to the scene. [ATTACH=full]1336781[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
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