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Julia Domna provincial with a strong Athena Promachos reverse
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<p>[QUOTE="Shea19, post: 6490295, member: 90981"]I recently added this large provincial bronze of Julia Domna from Cilicia, which is definitely my favorite new coin of the year so far. The reverse has a great depiction of Athena Promachos brandishing a spear and thunderbolt, and it has a striking resemblance to a famous statue of Athena Promachos that was buried in the Vesuvius eruption in Herculaneum (a few miles down the road from Pompeii). The coin was struck on a nice big flan, and it also has a pretty portrait of the empress on the obverse.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1259054[/ATTACH]</p><p>Julia Domna, Cilicia, Isaura, AE Tetrassarion (29 mm, 15.06 g), circa 205-211 AD. IOYΛIA ΔOMNA CЄBAC Draped bust of Julia Domna to right./ Rev. MHTPOΠOΛЄΩC ICAY-PΩN Athena Promachos advancing right, wearing aegis over her shoulders, holding spear in her left hand and brandishing thunderbolt with her right.</p><p><br /></p><p>Athena Promachos translates roughly to "Athena who fights in the front line", and represents Athena leading soldiers into battle. I think that a fierce-looking Athena Promachos was a perfect reverse pairing for a powerhouse woman like Julia Domna.</p><p><br /></p><p>The picture below shows a famous statue of Athena Promachos in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples (recovered from a villa in Herculaneum), which features the goddess in a nearly identical pose, with an aegis draped over her left arm and a Corinthian helmet.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1259191[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>If you look at the statue and coin side-by-side, the similarities are clear.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1259192[/ATTACH]</p><p>When looking at the two side-by-side, I noticed an interesting detail. In the statue, there is a gorgon (possibly Medusa) on the aegis on Athena's left arm. If you look at the corresponding spot on the aegis in my coin, it looks like there <i>might</i> be a gorgon depicted there as well. The gorgon is not noted in any of the descriptions of the coin that I've found, but I think it's reasonable to speculate that's what it may be.</p><p><br /></p><p>To be clear, my coin couldn't possibly be based on this <i>particular</i> statue, which had been buried by Vesuvius for more than a century before this coin was struck. But given the similarities, I do believe that my coin was based on the same design that the Herculaneum statue was based on. I would think that there must have been many other similar statues and images showing Athena Promachos in the same pose at the time, which have since been lost, but we are fortunate that this statue was so well-preserved.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Please post your favorite Athena reverses, any goddesses/gods ready for battle, Julia Domna provincials, or anything else relevant!</b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Shea19, post: 6490295, member: 90981"]I recently added this large provincial bronze of Julia Domna from Cilicia, which is definitely my favorite new coin of the year so far. The reverse has a great depiction of Athena Promachos brandishing a spear and thunderbolt, and it has a striking resemblance to a famous statue of Athena Promachos that was buried in the Vesuvius eruption in Herculaneum (a few miles down the road from Pompeii). The coin was struck on a nice big flan, and it also has a pretty portrait of the empress on the obverse. [ATTACH=full]1259054[/ATTACH] Julia Domna, Cilicia, Isaura, AE Tetrassarion (29 mm, 15.06 g), circa 205-211 AD. IOYΛIA ΔOMNA CЄBAC Draped bust of Julia Domna to right./ Rev. MHTPOΠOΛЄΩC ICAY-PΩN Athena Promachos advancing right, wearing aegis over her shoulders, holding spear in her left hand and brandishing thunderbolt with her right. Athena Promachos translates roughly to "Athena who fights in the front line", and represents Athena leading soldiers into battle. I think that a fierce-looking Athena Promachos was a perfect reverse pairing for a powerhouse woman like Julia Domna. The picture below shows a famous statue of Athena Promachos in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples (recovered from a villa in Herculaneum), which features the goddess in a nearly identical pose, with an aegis draped over her left arm and a Corinthian helmet. [ATTACH=full]1259191[/ATTACH] If you look at the statue and coin side-by-side, the similarities are clear. [ATTACH=full]1259192[/ATTACH] When looking at the two side-by-side, I noticed an interesting detail. In the statue, there is a gorgon (possibly Medusa) on the aegis on Athena's left arm. If you look at the corresponding spot on the aegis in my coin, it looks like there [I]might[/I] be a gorgon depicted there as well. The gorgon is not noted in any of the descriptions of the coin that I've found, but I think it's reasonable to speculate that's what it may be. To be clear, my coin couldn't possibly be based on this [I]particular[/I] statue, which had been buried by Vesuvius for more than a century before this coin was struck. But given the similarities, I do believe that my coin was based on the same design that the Herculaneum statue was based on. I would think that there must have been many other similar statues and images showing Athena Promachos in the same pose at the time, which have since been lost, but we are fortunate that this statue was so well-preserved. [B]Please post your favorite Athena reverses, any goddesses/gods ready for battle, Julia Domna provincials, or anything else relevant![/B][/QUOTE]
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Julia Domna provincial with a strong Athena Promachos reverse
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