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Caesar's elephant and snake: what do they mean?!?
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<p>[QUOTE="Terence Cheesman, post: 3635834, member: 86498"]I am not so sure. What is interesting about the design is that the snake seems to be in the act of striking back against the advance of the elephant. One of the more interesting aspects of Caesars early issues is that his name and his alone appears on the coinage. This is in stark contrast to that of his enemies. One could see this as admission that he is in fact a rebel, but he is in fact forced into fighting against an unjust ruling system that is trying to crush him. On this issue the elephant is clearly the aggressor, attacking the snake while its back is turned. The elephant could very well be seen as representing the optimates. Some like Pompey, Scipio as well as others would have associations with that animal. I suspect that the imagery is that elephant attacking could represent the political maneuvering that forced this conflict and as a good servant of the state Caesar had no choice but to fight. If the chronology is correct, this would be his first issue. I think he would want to make a statement. Denarius of Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Minted in Africa 47-46 B.C. Obv Head of jupiter right Rv Elephant adv right. Cr 459/1 CRI 45 4.14 grms 17 mm [ATTACH=full]975618[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Terence Cheesman, post: 3635834, member: 86498"]I am not so sure. What is interesting about the design is that the snake seems to be in the act of striking back against the advance of the elephant. One of the more interesting aspects of Caesars early issues is that his name and his alone appears on the coinage. This is in stark contrast to that of his enemies. One could see this as admission that he is in fact a rebel, but he is in fact forced into fighting against an unjust ruling system that is trying to crush him. On this issue the elephant is clearly the aggressor, attacking the snake while its back is turned. The elephant could very well be seen as representing the optimates. Some like Pompey, Scipio as well as others would have associations with that animal. I suspect that the imagery is that elephant attacking could represent the political maneuvering that forced this conflict and as a good servant of the state Caesar had no choice but to fight. If the chronology is correct, this would be his first issue. I think he would want to make a statement. Denarius of Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Minted in Africa 47-46 B.C. Obv Head of jupiter right Rv Elephant adv right. Cr 459/1 CRI 45 4.14 grms 17 mm [ATTACH=full]975618[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
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Caesar's elephant and snake: what do they mean?!?
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