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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 7893533, member: 19463&quot;]18.&nbsp; My favorite Septimius with Apollo is this AE25 from Nikopolis ad Istrum showing a variation of the Apollo Sauroktonos type.&nbsp; Ordinarily we see young Apollo reaching out to &#039;grab&#039; the lizard on a tree trunk but here his left hand (viewer&#039;s right) is steadying a thinner plant while his right (viewer&#039;s left) is pulled back holding a smaller branch.&nbsp; I have seen this described as a dart with which Apollo intended to kill the lizard (right of his knees?) but I am less than convinced as to this detail.&nbsp; Is he using this smaller branch to &#039;swat&#039; the critter?&nbsp; We see what we want to see.&nbsp; Perhaps the best part of this coin is what I consider to be a portrait of fine style showing Septimius looking a bit tired.&nbsp; I purchased this coin from PeteB in 1999. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1362250[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>PeteB threw in a smaller and more worn example as a bonus.&nbsp; It is the most oval (15x20mm) of all the Nikopolis assaria I have seen but still shows the &#039;darting&#039; pose to advantage. Here the lizard is a bit higher up the branch and is shown from the top rather than the side.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1362253[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>My most clear Sauroktonos is a Geta which has been shown on CT many times.&nbsp; It is a well executed &#039;grabber&#039; showing the right hand inching slowly toward the lizard.&nbsp; It does not belong here since it has a Geta obverse but I have never seen a Septimius version with style this good.&nbsp; Please post yours.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1362262[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>The &#039;grabber&#039; pose is what we see on the version in the Louvre (a Roman copy - the original is lost). I do not believe the name Sauroktonos (lizard killer) is appropriate here since the boy is trying to catch the lizard rather than kill it.&nbsp; Boys of my age bracket from the regions with lizards (anoles in the southern US) occurred tried to grab/catch such beasts, usually to be released.&nbsp; Art historians see what they want to see.&nbsp; They want to show Apollo in training for his killing of Python.&nbsp; I see a boy grabbing an small lizard.</p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Apollo_Saurocton_Louvre.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>The coins are better evidence of the intent of Praxiteles in the original.&nbsp; On the Louvre copy, the left arm, the right hand and the lizard&#039;s head are modern restorations.&nbsp; My coins are as they survived without additions.&nbsp; I do believe the arm should be holding the tree trunk It bothers me that we have the different pose variations including the &#039;darter&#039;.&nbsp; In the time of Septimius did the city of Nikopolis own two statues?&nbsp; Possibly. Were either of them the original?&nbsp; Probably not.&nbsp; Copies of great art from the past were very popular in that time.&nbsp; I would like to know what the original, original showed.&nbsp; Praxiteles was 700 years before Septimius.&nbsp; That is long enough time for several copies, modifications and repairs.&nbsp; Coins, we might add, were freed from the need for support braces made necessary by the bronze and marble media.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p>The Vatican has one, too.&nbsp; Art books tend to gloss over the matter of repairs and restorations.&nbsp; Coins, more likely, are what they are. We all see what we want to see. </p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Beeldhouwwerk_Apollo_Saurottono_ROMA_-_Museo_Vaticano%2C_Apollo_Saurottono_%28titel_op_object%29%2C_RP-F-F01141-ES.jpg/485px-Beeldhouwwerk_Apollo_Saurottono_ROMA_-_Museo_Vaticano%2C_Apollo_Saurottono_%28titel_op_object%29%2C_RP-F-F01141-ES.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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