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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Jwt708, post: 2972966, member: 32619&quot;]Love this type and the history behind the the star of the reverse!</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/media/jwt-166-silus-horseman.5658/full" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>ROMAN REPUBLIC. M. Sergius Silus </p><p>AR Denarius, 19mm, 3.9g, 9h; Rome, 116-115 BC.</p><p>Obv.: Helmeted head of Roma right; ROMA and XVI monogram behind, EX•S•C before.</p><p>Rev.: Soldier on horseback rearing left, holding sword and severed Gallic head in left hand; Q M SERGI below, SILVS in exergue.</p><p><br /></p><p>The above coin celebrates the military exploits of Marcus Sergius, who John Anthony rightfully described as the Roman Republican Rambo. I&#039;m going to let Pliny explain this one:</p><p><br /></p><p>Nobody - at least in my opinion - can rightly rank any man above Marcus Sergius, although his great-grandson Catiline shames his name. In his second campaign Sergius lost his right hand. In two campaigns he was wounded twenty-three times, with the result that he had no use in either hand or either foot: only his spirit remained intact. Although disabled, Sergius served in many subsequent campaigns. He was twice captured by Hannibal - no ordinary foe- from whom twice he escaped, although kept in chains and shackles every day for twenty months. He fought four times with only his left hand, while two horses he was riding were stabbed beneath him.</p><p><br /></p><p>He had a right hand made of iron for him and, going into battle with this bound to his arm, raised the siege of Cremona, saved Placentia and captured twelve enemy camps in Gaul - all of which exploits were confirmed by the speech he made as praetor when his colleagues tried to debar him as infirm from the sacrifices. What piles of wreaths he would have amassed in the face of a different enemy!</p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>Natural History, </i>Book 7 Chapter 28[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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