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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 3503064, member: 19463&quot;]Wikipedia says:</p><p>&nbsp;<span style="color: #0000ff">In the other hand Tranquillitas holds some sort of animal in her outstretched hand. Most experts believe to be a Roman Dragon (&quot;draco&quot;), a symbol associated with the military ensigns (banners) all of the Roman Legionary Armies during the period of the Empire, as well as by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacians" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacians" rel="nofollow">Dacians</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthian_Empire" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthian_Empire" rel="nofollow">Parthians</a>. Again, this would be a reference to the tranquility afforded by the protection, fidelity, and valor of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_army" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_army" rel="nofollow">Roman army</a>.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #0000b3">There is a dissenting opinion, that being that the animal held in Tranquillitas’s hand is not a dragon, but rather a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capricorn_(astrology)" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capricorn_(astrology)" rel="nofollow">capricornus</a>, which would tie in with the maritime theme of the transportation of Egypt’s grain harvest across the Mediterranean to Rome. The capricornus was a marvelous animal with the forequarter of a goat with prominent horns and the hindquarter terminating in the tail of a fish, said in mythology to be a manifestation of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_(mythology)" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_(mythology)" rel="nofollow">Pan</a>. According to myth, Pan’s transmutation into a capricornus was to escape the wrath of Typhon – and occurred as Pan threw himself into a river. The capricornus was often depicted on Roman coinage in conjunction with a rudder, again tying to the maritime transport so critical in moving grain into Rome.</span></p><p><span style="color: #0000b3"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tranquillitas" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tranquillitas" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tranquillitas</a></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #000000">I see a capricorn.</span> [/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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