Carinus must have been doing some wrist curls! Post your coins with bizarre human anatomy! LOL! But when you're a celator pressed for time, cranking out dies as fast as possible, you don't care about proper proportion. Here's the coin: Carinus, Augustus AD 283-285 Roman billon Antoninianus; 3.80 g, 21.1 mm, 12 h Lugdunum, AD 283 Obv: IMP C M AVR CARINVS AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust, right Rev: SAECVLI FELICITAS, emperor in military attire, standing right, holding transverse spear and globe, officina mark D (=4) in right field Refs: RIC 214; Cohen 120; RCV 12354; Hunter 37; Pink, p. 22, series 4.
Speaking of hitting the gym, this thracian satyr didn't skip lunge and squat day! Just sayin, look at those calf and buttocks...probably just over compensating so his massive phallus doesn't look so disproportionately large (fortunately my coin is pretty worn in this area).
I find it more interesting that he has a cord going from his bicep to his underpants...or is that an IV?
While unusual for other coins, the dies for these often show the glutes and calves cut straight down which requires shooting from an angle to show the effect. From the top, we see no relief. The right side of mine has quite a bit of doubling which also shows better from an angle.
Several Romans show a crab claw hand which depicts a way the hand was held with fingers together and curved opposite the thumb. Does anyone know a link discussing ancient hand gestures? Probus Septimius Severus
I seem to recall once seeing a reference to a book or article on hand gestures in antiquity. The closest I can come to right now is the following reference to a book in our collection: Bodies and boundaries in Graeco-Roman antiquity / edited by Thorsten Fögen and Mireille M. Lee Published Berlin ; New York : Walter de Gruyter, c2009 has a chapter on pp. 15-44 called: Sermo corporis : ancient reflections on gestus, vultus and vox / by Thorsten Fogen. I can't deal with it today for want of time, but if time permits next week, I'll try to have a look into it.
Yowsa. Satyrs got back! That fella left his nymph saying, "Hubba, hubba. My satyrs got some meaty taters!" (a stretch, i know. But when you spend 20 minutes trying to think up something butt related that rhymes with satyr, you go with what you got). Seriously though, you aren't kidding about angles. That looks like 2 different coins.. Thanks for the tip
Valentinian couldn't quite understand why he was always asked to be the goalie when his friends played soccer.