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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 1127982, member: 19463&quot;]Randy&#039;s new Apollo is the Rome mint version of a coin that is also found from Alexandria but not from the Syrian mints.&nbsp; The same type was used under Pius and Aurelius leading to the theory that it shows the statue of Apollo that was recorded as being placed at the Rome mint in the time of Trajan.&nbsp; There is a similar type of Commodus where the lyre is shown on a pillar identified by the coin inscription as the Palatine Apollo.&nbsp; I really don&#039;t know if these were really different statues of if the coin version here just omitted the pillar which was needed to support the heavy lyre on the marble version.&nbsp; The lyre type appears again on the Antioch mint Anonymous Pagan coins of the Great Persecution c.311 AD.&nbsp; Several of these lyres are shown on my Apollo page:</p><p><a href="http://dougsmith.ancients.info/apollo.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://dougsmith.ancients.info/apollo.html" rel="nofollow">http://dougsmith.ancients.info/apollo.html</a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The similarity to the earlier Rome types makes you wonder if the statue was moved or copied so that it was associated with Antioch by that late date.&nbsp; </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Of the Roman/Greek gods, Apollo is unusual in several ways.&nbsp; First, his name was the same in Greek and Latin.&nbsp; He had quite a number of functions including light and music with enough different attributes that one needs to suspect a statue is Apollo anytime the figure is attractive rather than strong.&nbsp; Apollo was the god of most things that were pleasant.&nbsp; Manly/macho types won&#039;t be him but anything showing grace or refinement probably is.&nbsp; He appears nude as often as dressed but, when dressed, it is often in clothes that 21st century eyes might see as effeminate.&nbsp; Of the gods, Apollo is the one most often seen as having &#039;ambiguous&#039; gender by modern standards.&nbsp; Interestingly, Apollo&#039;s sister Diana was goddess of the hunt and shown as a bit more masculine than most goddesses.&nbsp; More females (Minerva, the personification Virtus) were shown with masculine attibutes and attire while other males of the pantheon were unquestionable masculine (often nude).&nbsp; </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>If you are looking for a coin &#039;speciality&#039; that allows gathering a large number of very different coins (both Greek and Roman), consider working on a set of Apollos.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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