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<p>[QUOTE="Curtisimo, post: 3635795, member: 83845"]This was indeed a fantastic article (one of many during a masterful tournament run!). I remember being engrossed by it then and I was equally so rereading it now.</p><p><br /></p><p>You do a great service to this theory. It is also a beautiful coin.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Okay, I’ll play <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> below are just some of my very in-expert thoughts on the type. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]975600[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>One thing that just doesn’t sit right about the new theory is that I just don’t see Caesar giving such pride of place on his coins to anyone other than himself. I don’t doubt that Caesar wasn’t above a petty jab at his enemies but the elephant on the coins comes across to me (and I would assume most casual observers) as the dominant figure of the whole coin design. It certainly seems to be dominating the “snake” figure and looks powerful and formidable. The coin would be more of a compliment in that way than a put down to a supposed enemy. We are talking about the first living Roman to put his portrait on a coin... is it really likely he simply deferred that same real estate to an enemy that was still a threat?</p><p><br /></p><p>If I were forced to give an opinion on meaning I would guess there is a connection to Caesar’s name.</p><p><br /></p><p>You mention this above but I think it deserves some additional context. The etymology of Caesar’s name is not known but some of the theories proposed in ancient times are that he got the name because he was balding (derived from the Latin word for hair) or that he was born by Caesarian section (from the Latin “to cut”). Neither of these is particularly flattering and may have been propaganda by his enemies to mock him. The other known ancient etymology is that he got the name from an ancestor who killed an elephant in the Second Punic war against Hannibal. This would be a prestigious reference whether it was true or not and Caesar was not above self aggrandizing (especially if he was aware of the mockery of the name). It may be telling that the name Caesar is right under the elephant which would be as strong a corollary as you could make!</p><p><br /></p><p>It’s also worth noting that Caesar used elephants as part of his triumph that he celebrated for his victory over Gaul so he clearly had an affinity for the animal.</p><p><br /></p><p>As for the snake...</p><p>Well it could still be a symbol of the civil war or it could even be a Carnyx even though it doesn’t look like one. Either way I think it is probably more likely that the snake represents an enemy in some way and not the other way around.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Curtisimo, post: 3635795, member: 83845"]This was indeed a fantastic article (one of many during a masterful tournament run!). I remember being engrossed by it then and I was equally so rereading it now. You do a great service to this theory. It is also a beautiful coin. Okay, I’ll play ;) below are just some of my very in-expert thoughts on the type. [ATTACH=full]975600[/ATTACH] One thing that just doesn’t sit right about the new theory is that I just don’t see Caesar giving such pride of place on his coins to anyone other than himself. I don’t doubt that Caesar wasn’t above a petty jab at his enemies but the elephant on the coins comes across to me (and I would assume most casual observers) as the dominant figure of the whole coin design. It certainly seems to be dominating the “snake” figure and looks powerful and formidable. The coin would be more of a compliment in that way than a put down to a supposed enemy. We are talking about the first living Roman to put his portrait on a coin... is it really likely he simply deferred that same real estate to an enemy that was still a threat? If I were forced to give an opinion on meaning I would guess there is a connection to Caesar’s name. You mention this above but I think it deserves some additional context. The etymology of Caesar’s name is not known but some of the theories proposed in ancient times are that he got the name because he was balding (derived from the Latin word for hair) or that he was born by Caesarian section (from the Latin “to cut”). Neither of these is particularly flattering and may have been propaganda by his enemies to mock him. The other known ancient etymology is that he got the name from an ancestor who killed an elephant in the Second Punic war against Hannibal. This would be a prestigious reference whether it was true or not and Caesar was not above self aggrandizing (especially if he was aware of the mockery of the name). It may be telling that the name Caesar is right under the elephant which would be as strong a corollary as you could make! It’s also worth noting that Caesar used elephants as part of his triumph that he celebrated for his victory over Gaul so he clearly had an affinity for the animal. As for the snake... Well it could still be a symbol of the civil war or it could even be a Carnyx even though it doesn’t look like one. Either way I think it is probably more likely that the snake represents an enemy in some way and not the other way around.[/QUOTE]
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