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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 2663186, member: 81887&quot;]One last Roman coin for now:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]591302[/ATTACH] </p><p>Roman Empire. AR denarius.&nbsp; Antoninus Pius (138-161 AD).&nbsp; Obverse: Laureate bust right, ANTONINVS AVG PIVS PP.&nbsp; Reverse: Liberalitas standing with cornucopia and account-board, TR POT COS IIII LIB IIII.&nbsp; Struck 145 AD.&nbsp; RIC 155.</p><p><br /></p><p>Most of the ancient rulers whose names are famous today are notable either for their military success (Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, etc.) or depraved debauchery (Caligula, Nero, etc.).&nbsp; Very few people today, other than ancient history buffs and numismatists, will recognize the name of Antoninus Pius (138-161 AD).&nbsp; He did not lead any great military campaigns, and his personal life was temperate to the point of boring.&nbsp; During his rule, the Empire was largely at peace, and it was a time of prosperity throughout the provinces.&nbsp; Unfortunately, peace and prosperity doesn&#039;t make for interesting history books, so Antoninus Pius languishes in obscurity.</p><p><br /></p><p>The reverse type feature Liberalitas, or Liberality, which is roughly equivalent to generosity.&nbsp; This type is often used when an emperor made a donative, or gift of cash to the Praetorian Guard in celebration of some event (and, not-so-secretly, as a bribe for their continued loyalty).&nbsp; The legend &quot;LIB IIII&quot; indicates the fourth donative undertaken by Antoninus Pius, which was made in 145 AD on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter Faustina Junior to his heir Marcus Aurelius.</p><p><br /></p><p>Also note that the numeral 4 occurs twice on the reverse, and both times is shown as IIII instead of IV.&nbsp; The ancient Romans almost always wrote 4 as IIII.&nbsp; I vaguely recall reading somewhere that this is because they didn&#039;t want to risk offending the god Jupiter by writing IV (the first two letters of his name), but I don&#039;t know where I read this, and frankly it sounds unlikely to me.&nbsp; I would greatly appreciate it if someone has a citation.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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