Who Do You Admire Among the Anceints?

There are plenty that I admire, but since I have to choose, I will say Claudius. He was able to navigate the dangerous imperial purges of Tiberius and Caligula's reigns. Despite his lack of experience, Claudius proved to be an able and efficient administrator. He was also an ambitious builder, constructing many new roads, aqueducts, and canals across the Empire. During his reign the Empire began the conquest of Britain. So here's a nod to Claudius I, last of his line.

 

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@Alegandron and @FitzNigel: FitzNigel's post is correct on both points: The caduceus-like symbol of three circles with a line through it is believed to mark coins of Ashoka, but since all the Indian punch marked coins of that era are anonymous, it's ultimately a guess. A highly educated, carefully deduced guess, but still a guess. I have one such coin attributed to Ashoka, but it is in the safety deposit box and I don't have a photo. It's similar to your two examples.

 

Thank you.

 

I admire the people friendly she-wolf of Rome.

 

LOL, naw... According to the Book of Alegandron, she was fattening the little whelps up. She planned to eat them later... but then the story of Rome got in the way... The End.

 

I think the resulting fratricide exposes the she-wolf's terrible parenting skills. But I guess even Adam raised a Cain...

 

I'm a David Livingstone fan myself.

 

haha! who would get "i'm making a career of evil" then?><

 

i presume...

 

He wasn't depicted on coins until long after his death. How about Jesus:

 

Jesus was one cool dude. He looks like a fun 1960s hippie on my coin. Look at the eyes.

 

I agree with this pithy summary of an emperor who was underestimated most of his life.

This isn't to deny his faults, which were many (he apparently had a cruel streak and might have been a bit over-zealous in rooting out his suspected enemies) but in my admittedly limited knowledge of Roman emperors, I have a lot of admiration for Claudius' public works and orientation toward the greater good of the Roman people and empire.

 

I worked in Washington DC for 35 years and left with a feeling that I could forgive a wolf eating a kid that was going to grow up and be a politician. What our modern world need now is a good pack of hungry wolves.

 

i'm finishing that up now, picked it up for 2 bucks at a flea market!

i do admire MA's writing.

 

Here are a few of mine:
Antoninus Pius
Among Roman Emperors I agree with many others who have posted here that Antoninus Pius had the most peaceful and stable reign. It was as good a time as any to be a Roman I would think. Even his name Pius means something like "dutiful in affection". Maybe he got it from seeing to Hadrian's deification, maybe from his relations with the senate, maybe from the care he showed to his family or maybe all the above. Anyway here is my newest example

Obverse: Laureate head right
Reverse: Aequitas standing left, holding scales and pertica

Antoninus Pius
Trajan
However, I also think it is fair to realize that Antoninus Pius would not have been able to enjoy such a peaceful reign without the previous efforts of Trajan and Hadrian, particularly Trajan. Trajan in particular had a reputation for fairness and moderation and was pretty unanimously loved by ancient historians, even contemporary ones. Cassius Dio writes that “his association with the people was marked by affability and his intercourse with the senate by dignity, so that he was loved by all and dreaded by none save the enemy." I wouldn't want to be a Dacian or a Parthian then though...

Trajan's column
Pericles
He is not on a coin but an honorable mention from Greek history is Pericles. He gets a lot of criticism for his role in the lead up to the Peloponnesian War and his unsuccessful strategy in it but he seems to have genuinely cared about the welfare of his people. His whole war strategy seems to have been centered around losing as few Athenian soldiers as possible. When he was dying of plague on his deathbed he told his friends that the thing he was most proud of was that "no living Athenian ever put on mourning because of me."


Cool thread @gsimonel

Edit: correction. Pericles is on a modern Greek coin. I know he wasn't on any lifetime coin issues and I don't think on any later ancient coins after he died?

 

i have a couple with different punches

 

http://www.naijatabloid.com/2017/03/wow-this-ancient-coin-showing-bearded.html

 

My mother, a genuine bona fide Hippy, always said, what this country needs is a 'benign dictator'. I do agree. But, alas, how does one define either 'benign' or 'dictator'?

 

a benevolent despot?