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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 4199682, member: 99554&quot;]I&#039;m amazed every time I start a new &quot;Challenge&quot; by the generosity of CT&#039;s members and also by the wide diversity of coinage which is posted here. Most of the time, Roman and Greek coins are showed in those threads. For some time I have been brainstorming myself to find a subject that can expand the sampling when we emphasize a certain iconographic characteristic. I believe I found one. The <b>beard</b>. We all know it is for millenium a symbol of virility, a sign of wisdom, strength, sexual prowess and high social status for men. (I would especially not be accused of sexism by women suffering from hirsutism, but the female disciples of Annie Jones are rather rare).</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Jones%2C_Annie.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>A picture taken in 1900 of Annie Jones, a bearded lady...</p><p><br /></p><p>In Ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia, India and China, it was common to wear a long <b>beard</b>. Even Assyrians and Phoenicians proudly wore it. For the Hebrews, there was even a law forbidding the shaving of this masculine attribute :&quot;<i>Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard</i>&quot; (Leviticus 19:27). Herodotus (II, 36) says the Egyptians shaved the hair both of the face and of the head. For the men it was a sign of mourning or of slovenliness to let the hair and <b>beard</b> grow. For this reason Joseph, when taken out of prison, shaved before being brought into the presence of Pharaoh. (Gen.41:14) However, false beards as well as wigs were worn by the Egyptians. For a Greek, a real man had to have a <b>beard</b>. The Spartans punished cowards by shaving off a portion of their beards. Alexandre the Great imposed an impeccable shave on his army! Obsessive mania? Hair phobia? Nothing of that ! In reality, it was a clever ploy so that enemies had the least amount of grip possible in hand-to-hand combat. </p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,g_auto,h_1248,w_2220/f_auto,q_auto,w_1100/v1555926977/shape/mentalfloss/96845810.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>An Egyptian false beard</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Beards</b> remained rare among the Romans throughout the Late Republic and the early Principate. Celtic and Germanic tribes were in fact called &quot;<i>barbarians</i>&quot; ( from barbarus &#039;stranger&#039;, and barbe &#039;beard&#039; in french). Even if Augustus let grow a <b>beard</b> in mourning for the death of Julius Caesar, Hadrian was the first emperor wearing a beard, according to Cassius Dio (the greek biographer Plutarch pretend he did it to hide scars on his face ). Until the time of Constantine I the emperors appear in busts and coins with <b>beards</b>; but Constantine and his successors, with the exception of Julian II, are represented as beardless.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Iulianus_Flavius_Claudius._Giuliano_l%27Apostata.jpg/1298px-Iulianus_Flavius_Claudius._Giuliano_l%27Apostata.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>Julian as portrayed by Giovanni Battista Cavalieri (1583)</p><p><br /></p><p>So now the time for the <b>Challenge</b> : show us your examples of bearded character or deities on coins.</p><p>Welcome to Roman, Greek, Parthian, Baktrian, Indian etc... collectors !</p><p><br /></p><p>P.S. And don&#039;t forget: &quot;<i>The beard does not make the sage&quot;.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>Maximianus Herculius</p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>[ATTACH=full]1077333[/ATTACH] </i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>Septimius Severus</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1077334[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Tetricus</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1077336[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Licinius I</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1077339[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i></i>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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