282 Ulisse Aldrovandi

an owl at his feet, signifies Aesculapius. Alternatively, a man standing and leaning on a staff encircled by a serpent also denotes Aesculapius; in such cases, one often sees the figure of a woman handling a snake, representing Hygieia, the goddess of health. According to Erizzo, these images were struck to signify that the true health and well-being of the entire world rested in the Prince whose likeness appeared on the other side of the coin.

Now that we have turned to figures of men, one can see on the coins of Domitian the image of a venerable man who appears to stretch out his right hand to three women kneeling outside a temple. This displays the arrogance of Domitian, who, in Erizzo’s view, wished to be worshipped as a god.

It should be noted in passing that before the dictatorship of Gaius Julius Caesar, only the likenesses of gods were struck onto coins, especially those whom antiquity held in singular honor. On a silver coin of Aulus Postumius, there is an engraving of a man before an altar extending his right hand toward a bull; in this way, the ancients depicted a priest sacrificing to Diana.

When three men dressed in priestly robes are seen before an altar with many animals lying at their feet, Erizzo believes they show the Emperor performing sacred rites. Alternatively, a man in priestly garments leading a sow into a temple denotes a Consul giving well-deserved thanks to Diana for a victory, as anyone can observe on a bronze coin of Marcellus.

There is no shortage of coins featuring figures of armed men, which take on various meanings. According to Erizzo, an armed man on a coin leaning with his right hand on a shield and holding a spear fixed in the ground with his left signifies the god Mars. When an armed man with a shield and spear is seen as if marching, the same author identifies him as Mars the Defender (*Mars Propugnator*). On a silver coin of Caracalla, one can see a man equipped with a helmet, breastplate, greaves, shield, and spear, representing Mars the Avenger (*Mars Ultor*); this same image appears on a bronze coin of Mamaea and a silver coin of Hadrian. In another instance, on a bronze coin of Vitellius, an armed man appears in a helmet, breastplate, and greaves, holding a club in his left hand and a winged Victory in his right, which some say represents Mars the Victor (*Mars Victor*), though we can see the same figure with a dagger and a trophy on a bronze coin of Antoninus Pius.

However, when the coin images show a man wearing a helmet and armor, holding a scepter in his right hand and a spear in his left while pressing his right foot upon a tortoise, it represents Honor, according to Du Choul, who claims to have seen such a figure on a bronze coin of Vitellius.

Indeed, a man holding a spear in his right hand and an orb in his left represents the Emperor as Master of the World. When this same figure has a naked captive with bound hands at his feet, Erizzo interprets this to mean that a tyrant has been overthrown by the Emperor. And when the same armed man, with a spear in his right hand and a scepter in his left, presses his left foot upon a man prostrate on the ground, flanked on either side by men with vessels from which water flows, Erizzo suggests it signifies the Emperor’s conquest of Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Parthia after routing the enemy; the vessels pouring water are understood to be the Araxes and Euphrates rivers. Alternatively, when this same figure on coins presses down a man lying on the ground with an urn, Erizzo shows it to be the Emperor defeating Germany. Furthermore, that same author, considering an armed man on coins who holds a javelin in his left hand and seems to crown a man laden with arms and spoils with his right, with two captives seen at his feet, remarks that one should infer a victory over Germany was won.

Similarly, a man standing, holding a spear in his left hand and extending his right to a kneeling woman who appears to hold an orb in her hands, indicates that Italy has been restored by the Emperor; Erizzo identifies the figure of the man as the Emperor and the woman as Italy.

Moreover, a man leaning on a spear, accompanied by a woman holding a ship's rudder in her right hand and a cornucopia in her left, along with another woman crowning the man with her right hand, denotes the Fortune and Victory of the Emperor, according to Erizzo.

When an armed man grips a spear in his left hand and addresses several armed men from a platform—as can be seen on a bronze coin of the Emperor Commodus—then, as Du Choul wrote, it signifies Loyalty (*Fides*). In other coins, armed men sometimes appear as a group of soldiers standing with attentive ears, accompanied by the inscription *ADLOCVTIO* (Address). For they wished to signify what needed to be done; indeed, listen