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<p>[QUOTE="DonnaML, post: 4587404, member: 110350"]A naked male figure on a reverse with a "Virtvs" legend, like the ones shown, is definitely supposed to be Mars -- displaying the qualities of "virtus" -- and is <u>never</u> supposed to be the actual personification of Virtus. Why? Because the personification of Virtus is <u>always</u> female (because the word is grammatically feminine) and is always, or almost always, portrayed with one bare breast. See my comment in another thread at <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/is-there-anything-more-macho-than-the-emperor-as-virtvs.361356/#post-4563273" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/is-there-anything-more-macho-than-the-emperor-as-virtvs.361356/#post-4563273">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/is-there-anything-more-macho-than-the-emperor-as-virtvs.361356/#post-4563273</a>. But please ignore the penultimate paragraph, in which I suggest that a couple of Republican coins might show Virtus as male; see [USER=89514]@curtislclay[/USER]'s subsequent comments refuting that suggestion. See also the article at <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>, on the female personification of Virtus.</p><p><br /></p><p>As I said in my comment:</p><p><br /></p><p>Perhaps one way of looking at it would be to draw a narrow distinction and to think of the actual personification of "Virtus" <i>per se</i> as being female, while thinking of the many clearly male, fully-clothed figures on VIRTVS AVG reverses [or the naked figures of Mars!] as representing the qualities and attributes of "Virtus" -- which, of course, are stereotypically male in the first place; "virtus" is usually translated as "valour" in old numismatic dictionaries and other works -- rather than as being Virtus herself. As the article at Forum states, "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."</p><p><br /></p><p>As for the coin posted by [USER=82549]@gsimonel[/USER], supposedly showing Virtus in military dress on the reverse, I can't enlarge it and can't tell if the reverse figure has one bare breast. If yes, it's Virtus. If no, clothed or not, it's not the personification of Virtus, but is simply a soldier displaying "valorous" qualities.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="DonnaML, post: 4587404, member: 110350"]A naked male figure on a reverse with a "Virtvs" legend, like the ones shown, is definitely supposed to be Mars -- displaying the qualities of "virtus" -- and is [U]never[/U] supposed to be the actual personification of Virtus. Why? Because the personification of Virtus is [U]always[/U] female (because the word is grammatically feminine) and is always, or almost always, portrayed with one bare breast. See my comment in another thread at [URL]https://www.cointalk.com/threads/is-there-anything-more-macho-than-the-emperor-as-virtvs.361356/#post-4563273[/URL]. But please ignore the penultimate paragraph, in which I suggest that a couple of Republican coins might show Virtus as male; see [USER=89514]@curtislclay[/USER]'s subsequent comments refuting that suggestion. See also the article at [URL]https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/reverse_virtus.html[/URL], on the female personification of Virtus. As I said in my comment: Perhaps one way of looking at it would be to draw a narrow distinction and to think of the actual personification of "Virtus" [I]per se[/I] as being female, while thinking of the many clearly male, fully-clothed figures on VIRTVS AVG reverses [or the naked figures of Mars!] as representing the qualities and attributes of "Virtus" -- which, of course, are stereotypically male in the first place; "virtus" is usually translated as "valour" in old numismatic dictionaries and other works -- rather than as being Virtus herself. As the article at Forum states, "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." As for the coin posted by [USER=82549]@gsimonel[/USER], supposedly showing Virtus in military dress on the reverse, I can't enlarge it and can't tell if the reverse figure has one bare breast. If yes, it's Virtus. If no, clothed or not, it's not the personification of Virtus, but is simply a soldier displaying "valorous" qualities.[/QUOTE]
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